It is almost All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day when the spirits are free to walk the earth. What better time to talk about perfume you want to wear to feel mysterious or perfumes that make you just a little scary. What mysterious perfume fits you this Halloween?
When you want to be the Woman or Man of Mystery, your perfume has to do most of your talking, so I’ve picked out some perfumes that will hold a conversation that only the senses can hear.
If you want your scent to be whispering of old-world elegance, mystery, long conversations in the bar car of the Orient Express, vintage Guerlain Mitsouko or vintage Dior Diorling will do that and so much more. Both of these will not only keep your secrets but start manufacturing them out of thin air as it telegraphs to the world that you are mysterious and mercurial and you might stomp your foot and storm out at any moment.
Gender-bending Mysterious perfume is Caron Yatagan all day long. And it works for the brooding, slightly swarthy guy over in the corner of the bar as well as the woman in the black leather pants and white lacy camisole.
Serge Lutens de Profundis or Arquiste Anime Dulcis drop hints of years in in a monastery or convent, maybe vows left behind for love? What past is hidden beneath her fluttering aroma of chocolate and spices? Something a little more earthy and feral? Oh, yessss. Are there secrets buried beneath the crushed chrysanthemums whirling out from his scarf that came untucked from the beautifully tailored coat?
Dark, veiled, stockings, red heels, almost impossible to see her face. The dark roses of Amouage Tribute Attar shroud her in mystery which no amount of scrutiny will pierce.
Pale, crimson lips, hypnotic eyes, hot and cold, and the Etro Messe di Minuit musty scent of the grave remind you that the danger here is not always alive. Or is it the scent of dry, dark roses from Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady that calls you in closer to him while repelling you?
For hanging out in the graveyard or in the church nearby hiding from whatever chased you in – Comme des Garcons Avignon. L’Artisan Passage d’Enfer if you want to infuse a little white floral to attract an unsuspecting spirit.
You walk through the alley alone at night, a hand reaches out of the darkness for your arm. You tense and freeze. You should be frightened, but the comforting smell of rum, tobacco and immortelle surrounds you, relaxing you, hypnotizing you. As you back up against the wall, you recognize briefly Naomi Goodsir Cuir Velours and then you don’t remember anything more.
A smoky bar full of people who shouldn’t really be there… or anywhere… is wafting Serge Lutens Chergui, Mona di Orio L’Nombres Ambre and Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cherie.
What are the mysterious perfumes you choose to wear? And if you are sitting on the East Coast luckily with power, tell us how it is! i’m nervousing for all of you.
I think I have most of these, so we’ll do a giveaway. Comment to be entered by Sunday November 4, 2012 – either here or on Facebook or Tweet it or share it. Winner will be announced on Monday, November 5, 2012. Make sure to follow this post or subscribe to the blog so you are notified of the post announcing the winner!
This is a great post! I found you via Pyrra.net and I’m so glad I did! You have a beautiful and haunting way of bringing to life the beauty and mystery found in these fraqs. The only problem being, I want to try them all NOW. 🙂
Hey, Shiloh, glad to have you here! What is pyrra.net? all of our comments on this post except yours are missing until later today, I hope they are back. If you came on a link from another website, I’d love to thank them. I followed the pyrra.net and it gave me a not found error?
Ack! I am having trouble trying to get the comments to work on my end! I wrote you a response and it decided not to deliver it! I found you through phyrra.net. Man, I hope I’m not misspelling it again! She’s a fantastic beauty blogger with edge!
Hi, Patty!
Yeah, I’m still trying to figure out comments and leaving comments, and where the comments disappear to…..
I misspelled the site. Oops. It’s phyrra.net. She’s a great beauty blogger and she mentioned your amber perfumes post (which I loved) so, I’ve been reading through your other posts as well! Great site, great info, and I’m putting those perfume samplers fro newbies and intermediates on my Christmas List!
For this Halloween I was wearing my regular Gris Clair which I think is quite mysterious (am curious to try out de Profundis though). If I want to project a special air of mystery, I’ll probably dig out my vintage extrait of Jolie Madame. But if someone wishes to evoke darkness and sepulchers during this season I can recommend Nicolai’s Patchouli pour Homme. (I happened to spill a sample of it in one of my drawers about a year ago and the clothes I keep there still smell of it after several wash cycles; talk about ghosts and haunting!!!). It’s mysterious, smells of rotten earth (in a lovely way) and is quite appropriate for either sex.
Still hoping against hope to win those dark, scary perfumes. I’m a fan of Tom Ford’s Noir de Noir, but don’t have the necessary dollars to wear it very often. I did wear it for Halloween and felt like the deepest, darkest, earthiest rose imaginable. Don’t know what the trick-or-treaters thought, but my husband loved it.
Hi I’ve just found this site and I am liking it a lot. I have subscribed via email. Although I am not quite sure whether I can consider anything in my limited collection of perfumes “mysterious.” I’ll have to think about it.
On another note, I am one of the lucky east coasters, and Sandy didn’t do much damage in my area. I feel for and hope for the well-being of those who were affected negatively.
My Halloween pick was Smell Bent’s Incensed Short Fuse, a sharp spicy frankincense. I’m obsessed with incense scents – I think my time in church choirs has affected my brain…
I’ve reached a stage in my life where I want a deep, dark, beautiful perfume and can’t find the perfect one. I have developed the delusion that I’ll win the sample set and my chosen dark scent will be in there. Fate, get busy!
I’m not wearing any special Halloween perfume, just the remnants of Guerlain Rose Nacree du Desert… meh.
Carter Berger kindly and generously, sent me a sample of Jicky a few years ago. It is still a mystery to me. Never have I had such a love/hate thing with a scent. (Carter lives in N.Y.C. Has anyone heard if she’s okay?)
My Halloween perfume this year was Chocolate Greedy. Reason? It reminds me of Count Chocula ( the cereal), which made me think of vampires so it seemed entirely appropriate to my twisted little mind!! If I was shooting for mysterious I would have definitely gone for Anima Dulcis or L’Heure Bleu, they have an certain enigmatic wistfulness or sadness in common that I like.
I live in inland New England so we were lucky to have a bit of rain and some wind but nothing destructive. My heart goes out to those up and down the coast whose lives have been upended by this storm.
Iris Silver Mist would be my choice for a mysterious perfume, or OJ Woman if I haven’t already finished my sample…
I’m celebrating the return this afternoon of power, and most importantly, the INTERNET! with a big squirt of Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau. After the last trick-or-treater leaves, I’m taking a long, hot shower 🙂
Chanel No. 22 is a mysterious fragrance. The feminine white flowers are disarming; you are drawn in, but then the incense asserts itself and you realize there is mystrious depth to a woman you may have underestimated.
And Poison…well, the name says it all. It has a narcotic and seductive effect – she’s got you before you realize what happened!
I just ordered a big sample of Etro’s MdM because I used up my last one, and it’s so perfect for this time of year. It definitely says “Halloween” to me. I also love the idea of dark & mysterious Mitsouko, maybe some vintage Emeraude (green like a witch’s face?), or a vintage Dior, which makes me think of Agatha Christie mysteries. 🙂
I’m envious of all of you that can actually wear it!
Yup, all of the old Diors have that “figure me out if you can” feel to them.
Ormonde Jayne Woman…it is my black dress, mysterious lady fume!
Yup, it’s my dress up. go out and pretend I’m someone completely different.
The two scents that make me feel like an international woman of mystery when I where them are Black Cashmere and Black Aoud. My ex-husband used to say that I seemed very different to him when I wore Black Cashmere. and Black Aoud gives me beautiful, fantastical dreams when I wear it to bed.
Black Cashmere is defintely all of that. It’s a great scent to slide into and become someone else.
My choice for an other-worldly, disturbing scent has got to be Serge Lutens La Myrrhe: sepulchral marble, dying altar flowers and a few last pale tendrils of smoke. Its off-kilter beauty always makes me feel well, just this side of undead. It puts in in mind of those mossy angel carvings in Highgate Cemetery: exquisite, grieving, eternally silent.
That, of course, did not answer the mystery scent question. But that’s my Halloween perfume choice. I guess By Kilian Incense Oud would be my “mystery” perfume — how DID he mimic the oud?
Yup. You can go down so many Serge scents and get some great mystery, and La Myrrhe is one of them.
I love the way you describe it too, that’s really perfect and beautiful.
Serge Lutens’ Fumerie Turque is a perfect Halloween scent. To me, it has a definite fall feel to it, bringing to mind decaying leaves, musty, shadowy rooms, shorter days and longer nights spent sitting closer to the fire. Makes me want to curl up in bed underneath a goose down comforter with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book. Please enter me in the drawing, as aside from Mitsouko, Avignon and POAL, I haven’t smelled most of the scents you mentioned.
That sounds so lovely, and I do adore FT. It and Chergui are my favorite smoky scents of all time.
I’m a newbie, so my knowledge of perfumes is still very limited, but I think Fire from Heaven by CB I Hate Perfume would give you that nice incense for the church/graveyard scene.
And, in the grey rainy weather, who couldn’t use the toastiness of smoke and incense.
Oh, yes!! That’s a great choice, and I should have thought of that one. I love that so much, it’s a completley different kind of incense and definitely mysterious.
hey, you make great picks. I don’t think you’re that much of a newbie. 🙂
Thank you!
I stumbled on CB’s line by chance and just got my first set of samples from the Perfumed Court today. Now that I know about the world of decants (and I’ll be trying Surrender to Chance next) I’m going to have to do some exploring. Unfortunately, I’ll also have to set some serious budget boundaries.
I’m really enjoying your writing, thank you so much for sharing.
I’ll be wearing Chergui or maybe Like This or maybe . . .
Great ones. I keep forgetting about LIke this! I think i don’t have any anymore. I need a little supply of that. 🙂
Sitting in the dark learning a new appreciation for electricity wearing Ambre Extreme. I was looking for comfort. I will be mysterious tomorrow 🙂
Oh, no!!! I hope your power is back now. It’s so weird to be without power for longer than like an hour. When it happened here a couple of weeks ago, I think it was just 12 hours or so, and I felt so primitive. And not in a good way.
Nice to hear from those in Sandy’s path who are okay — thanks for the updates. I have water damage, but apart from that I’m fine, and I’m grateful not to have lost power! I can’t really come up with a mysterious scent, but Youth Dew kinda scared me as a kid, so I’ll wear that for handing out candy tomorrow. 😉
I know. I was afeared all night because so many of our readers were in the path. I know there are some we haven’t heard from that I hope are only without power and will be back soon telling us stories!
youth Dew and chocolate? Wow. That’s an unexpected combo!
LOVE Messe di Minuit! Incense generally seems dark and mysterious to me.
I so agree with you! I love incense. I can’t wait until I get to the Frankincense and Myrrh post in late November. I’m so looking foward to it!
I like to wear Coming. It is pretty unexpected.
And it’s really nice. I hadn’t ever spent time with it until we were at CB’s in New York this month, and it’s weird, unique and really nice.
I’m in Massachusetts too and am in good shape after the storm. No trees hit the house and we have power so I can’t complain really.
The biggest mystery scent I have is an unlabeled sample. I have no idea what it is. It’s definitely a musky scent of some kind but not too clean. I sniff it and try it now and then to see if my memory of what it is or where I got it kicks in, but so far no luck. Beyond that I’d say Avignon is a good Halloween scent.
Ha! I just found a mystery scent myself. I have a decant and the writing on the label has worn off.
I’m so glad you are all safe! I worried about all of you that I know are on that side of the country.
A Mona? I can’t tell you how man unlabeled samples I used to have. I finally just started throwing them away so they wouldn’t torture me, I don’t even smell them before i do it.
I have Cabochard and L’Heure Bleue, which both seem dark and Halloweeny to me in different ways – Cabochard is the monster and L’Heure Bleue is the melancholy lady wasting away in the negligee, who will end up being buried too soon by Roderick Usher. But for Halloween night? No contest — I’m going with vintage Magie Noire!
They are. Cabochard has LHB trapped as she pines for — whom? Jicky? Derby? Bandit?
Now I need to dig out my Magie Noire!
The most mysterious perfume I’ve ever worn was Magie Noire. For a few years it was my signature perfume, and I used to wear it to work, at a computer software company, dressed in my usual jeans, sweater, and red cowboy boots.
That’s a great one. I should have included it, for sure. It’s one of the best if not the best things Lancome ever did.
My Halloween fragrance is generally Funeral Home, just because I can’t resist the name. Portia has inspired me to add Dirty English to the mix, so I can I am wearing Dirty English Funeral Home. (that might be a good Frankenfume combo…)
tammy, thanks for that one – “DEFH” gave me serious giggles.
Oh, I think I have some of that somewhere. I need to go dig it out. Maybe that with some Black March?
I’m currently wearing Messe de Minuit…I smell pretty creepy.I may wear it again tomorrow because I’m dressing up as Marilyn Manson for Halloween (more sophisticated, suit wearing Manson) and I think M de M is appropriate. Either that or Avignon, I considered a virgin’s blood, I heard it smells great but I can’t find any! (lol, of course!) I’ve been dying to smell De Profundis so I hope I win! Happy Halloween!
mdM is just creepy as can be on me. I think one time I sprayed it on, and it wasn’t. And I got it. Then it hasn’t happened but one time briefly since.
de Profundis is so awesome. I’ve been loving that thing forever, I couldn’t figure out why it just wasn’t getting any attention, so I’m happy it is now!!
My choice for spooky mystery is Lutens Borneo 1834…a deliciously cobwebby come-hither.
Oh, yes! that one is part of my Frankenfume combo, Ithink. I better do that one tomorrow!
I’ve been planning on wearing De Profundis on Halloween (always used chrysanths on the Samhain altars). so I think I’ll stick with that. Though Avignon is sounding good for today.
No one to smell them on me, though–office is in SoHo Manhattan disaster area and subways are closed til God knows when so can’t go to work, husband is in CT monitoring the situation up there. I’m fine, and I think he must have lost power, though he and our house were fine as of about 9:30 last night.
That was a great post, Patty, with so many interesting choices.
Hard to fathom the situation in Manhattan, Francesca – glad you’re OK!
Thanks!
That is my favorite pick. I’m trying to decide if I can do a de Profundis/Avignon/passag d’Enfer combo without smelling too freaky.
I saw the pictures of the flooded subways, that was so weird to see, I can’t imagine. I’m glad you are okay and have power!
Woke up in the middle of the night, still wafting Avignon. Maybe I’ll combine it with DP later today, just to see what that’s like.
My dark and mysterious pick is Black Cashmere. I feel sex-AY when I wear it.
Oh, yeah, a few of those Donna Karan old school ones are perfect!
I’m not a Mitsouko girl, but I’ve worn Mitsouko extrait (from a sample vial) for the past few Halloweens. Don’t wear it any other time. It’s my mysterious scent…
Oh, great pick for Halloween!!!
I always feel mysterious when I wear Bandit. Well mysteriously bad a** that is. We have been lucky…we just got the wind and rain..thankfully no power loss or flooding in my immediate area. I hope that those who were not as lucky are at least dry and warm.
Oh, Bandit is a great mystery perfume! Pretty much any leather can fit that bill, it just oozes mystery if you want it too. Dark, taciturn cowboys and cowgirls, depending on what you want dialed up.
How could you forget La Treizieme Heure? That’s my top pick for dark and mysterious. Also, Velvet Gardenia is dense and wicked – almost toxic. Finally, Encens Flamboyant can be utterly sublime, or spooky, depending on context. I wore it to a Halloween Carnival on a cold night, and found it perfect. I would love to try some of these, especially De Profundis. Thanks for the draw and Happy Halloween!
Well, the post was getting longish. 🙂 I had about 50 more perfumes I could have thrown in, but time constraints this week made me do some bitter, cruel perfume cuts.
You are so welcome!
Here in MA we have power, and it seems not so bad statewide. Thanks for asking! I have a little sample of Avignon, and that sounds perfect for Halloween. Good suggestions!
Oh, glad you are safe and it didn’t get worse for you.
Avignon is always right for Halloween!
Well, I dont have a mysterious bone in my body, but would love to try Naomi Goodsir Cuir Velours, which sounds scarey sexy! Does that count? Maybe if it was a good fit I would be transformed into a Mysterious Undercover Super Sexy Spy with all kinds of clever tools and Handsome Not-Too-Smart Young Men at my disposal- A female James Bond if you will, except I refuse to be accountable to “M”!
I love, love, love that fragrance, love them both. They are both just sexy as hell and beautiful. So they could both be super-mysterious if you just go with it.
I really want some of those Handsome Not-Too-Smart Youg Men at my disposal too. is there a place you can go get some of those? Just one or two?
Hey, Patty! The de Profundis and the Avignon (not together, ha! but that could be creepily interesting) will be my potions of choice for this week.
Oh, I’d put them together! Now i have to try that!
Great post, Patty! I’ll probably wear Mitsouko, because I love it and it won’t project far enough to knock out some of the little kids I’ll be handing candy to. (Thought about wearing Rumba–now there’s a frag that can scare ya!)
Oh, crap, it isn’t snowing, I might have to get Halloween candy! I think I’ll put on that Frankenperfume combo for tomorrow and see if i can scare them off.
DNEM Thanks Patty but when I’m playing International Drag Of Mystery I wear me some Courage by One Seed, Sepia by Aftelier, Byzance by Rochas or Dirty English by Juicy Couture. All give me a veil of anonymity, a whisper of other lands, a dusty, and dessicated or a gayly fragrant while hiding in full view air. But when I’m thinking of being a complete Vamp, no holds barred, killer vixen it has to be Blonde by Versace.
Portia xx
Blonde is completely that. I never could quite pull it off, I don’t think. Maybe I should try again.
The original Poison with its tuberose and grape koolaid accord is scary, too scary for me to wear in fact, so I’ll probably stick with Memoir and call that “mysterious”.
Hi, Sherri! I love Memoir, too, but think you should be scary-bold and wear some Poison. I put some on the other day for old time’s sake and it was pretty nice (but one dab only was enough).
Poison is super-scary. Every time I get near it, I back up into the other room and re-think my scent choices. 🙂
What a fun post – though admittedly I don’t know very well most of your mysterios fragrances…
For what concerns me, this halloween I will be wearing carnal flower: all green, and wicked, and unfriendly-strange and yet complimented upon.
Oh, I know perfumistas will not agree, but to me it’s a witchy kind of fragrance.
After a brief love affair I’ve nglected it for a long time, but now I’ve sort of rediscovered it…
I will match my wicked perfume with some poisonous green hues, in makeup or clothing!
I think Carnal Flower is a great mysterious scent. I even broke down and got that spray for my hair on the days that I think wearing it is just too much!
I have all things CF, I adore that perfume, and I think it will always be one in my top ten. Wow, that’s more commitment than I ever show for a perfume!
I’m wearing Messe di Minuet, in honor of this post, and I think I might wear it all week – certainly it’s perfect for Halloween!
Oh, I just can’t. Every now and then MdM works on me, and doesn’t smell completely crypt-keepr, but it’s been a while since that happened.!
How wonderfully well written. The more I read of your posts though, the more I wonder who I will have to “do in” if I’m to have the chance to sample all of these dark treasures. Hmm … Dior Diorling, with it’s vintage formula may, indeed, recall times long (long) past.
Oh, thanks! Diorling is such an old, mysterious thing, and she will never give up her secrets, she’s taken them to the grave with here, which is where I dug her up to wear her. 🙂
FM Une Fleur de Cassie for the undead.
I’m in the DC area and so far have power – lucky to be in a sheltered location. People in houses next to trees have to worried. I hope March is doing OK!
March is fine. Just talked with her. Power still on, kids have not been choked – yet.
xoA
Thanks, Musette!
Oh, good! I hope your area didn’t get hit too awfully hard. Cassie for the undead is so perfect.
Definitely wearing my Avignon while hanging out in the old cemetary on Wednesday.
Pictures!!!!
Wow. Who wouldn’t love a mysterious scent. I have the Passage d’Enfer and all I can picture is a funeral home.
Yeah, kind of! I always think of it as happier than that, but deeply enigmatic.
I probably should really get on my pile of 40 to be reviewed decants but I’m in no real hurry. If the power goes out because of Hurricane Sandy, I’ll probably have to stick with wearing Mitsouko (current version) for the week. Or I might be sticking with Amouage Memior for Women or Chanel’s Cuir de Russie. Let’s just says it’s a little hairy for me on the east coast (Ohio) because I might have to wear the same perfume for 3 or 4 days. For the past two days it’s been nothing but rain and the wind has kicked up. I’m just hoping for the power to stay on. Maybe I will wear Sycomore.
Your pile sounds like mine. I trust you kept power, yes?
I really do just break out in hives thinking about wearing the same perfume for 3-4 days.