We Aim To Slay

Earlier this year I introduced the idea of selecting your signature scent: the fragrance that becomes your calling card, instantly alerting people to your presence when you arrive and lingering long after you leave.

Since then I’ve been experimenting with layering, testing new scents, and even creating my own super blend! Let’s get into it!

Fragrances 101

Let’s start with the basics: perfumes and fragrances have been used by humans for thousands of years, spanning back to “ancient times” and religious uses – there’s even incense recipes recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics! They gained popularity [in the U.S. especially] during the 19th century when they went through a sort of rebranding, becoming an “everyday luxury” with the use of synthetic ingredients.

You may have encountered the terms “perfume,” “eau de parfum,” “eau de toilette” and “parfum” – and the difference between them is as subtle as the product they describe. According to Yves Saint Laurent, “each of these fragrance types denotes a particular concentration of fragrance oil – and therefore intensity.” The concentration of the fragrance oil will be highest in a parfum (up to 40%), an eau de parfum will be in the middle (about 15 to 20%), and eau de toilette contains the lowest concentration (5 to 15%). A higher concentration of perfume oil allows for a more intense scent which tends to last longer throughout the day.

And that’s just on the high end of things! As time went on, scents became available in nearly every iteration – body oil, dusting powder, body mist, hair perfume, and more!

What Makes a Smell?

Once we’re discussing what a fragrance smells like, we’re talking about the “notes.” According to Perfume Direct, “you will often see top, middle, and base notes being used to describe a fragrance,” which refers to the layered blend of ingredients. The top notes “are what you smell immediately after spraying.” The middle notes (also called the heart) “are considered to be the main body” and last longer than the top notes. And, the base notes are “the longest lasting, mixing” with the “middle notes to create the full body.” According to the article fragrances are divided into four note families – Ambrée Notes (also known as Oriental Notes), Floral Notes, Woody Notes, and Fresh Notes.

Ambrée notes are typically “warm, sweet, and even a little spicy,” and include a wide scent variation such as “floral ambrée, soft ambrée, and woody ambrée.” Floral scents tend to mimic the sweet and dainty scents of the flowers included in the recipes – frequently including rose, jasmine, lilies, and peonies. Woody fragrances are considered warm, “with a mysterious and captivating scent” that uses “wood-based smells like cedarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, and amber.” And, Perfume Direct explains that the scents in the “fresh” category typically include “citrus, water, and green notes” and explains that they have “refreshing, zesty and vibrant smells.” 

Like the graphic above shows these scent families can be broken down into specific ingredients, and each of those ingredients can be associated with a color. A quick search online can break it down into general terms:

• Red is typically associated with amber, spice, rose, and gourmand notes
• Orange and Yellow are typically associated with zesty, sunny florals, citrus & fruity notes
• Green is typically associated with nature, freshness, grass, herbals, leafy, woody notes
• Blue is typically associated with ocean & aquatic scents, airy & soft notes
• Purples and Dark Purples are typically associated with opulent flowers like lavender or iris
• Pink is typically associated with sweetness, florals, soft, powdery
• Black and Dark Brown are typically associated with oud – I had to look this up because it’s a main ingredient in a scent I’ve been wearing a lot! Oud is “an intensely fragrant, rare, and valuable resinous oil derived from the heartwood of Aquilaria trees in Southeast Asia. Often called “liquid gold,” it forms when the wood is infected by a specific mold, prompting a dark, fragrant resin.” – musk, leather, woody, traditionally masculine scents
• White and Clear are typically associated with notes described as light, clean, soft, musky, and delicate white florals

Spritzing Outside My Comfort Scents

In the past I collected a wide array of perfume samples in the only way I knew how – adding them to my online orders from Sephora! Cost efficient, yes, but a method that didn’t guarantee I would love what arrived. Lately I’ve been going back through the collection, and have really been enjoying scents outside of my usual scent families:

But, as I said, there were also several scents that didn’t resonate due to the heavy use of roses:

Spritz Responsibly

During the holiday season I saw an ad for MicroPerfumes, an e-commerce company based out of California that decants designer perfumes into travel and sample sizes – making testing and purchasing incredibly affordable! And while I was sold on the concept, I didn’t place an order until last month when (for the grand total of $30 USD) I purchased six sample sizes.

Right off the bat I selected two scents I really enjoy: the men’s cologne Spicebomb Infrared by Viktor & Rolf, a long time favorite, with notes of “red fruits, pink pepper, saffron, cinnamon, red pepper, tobacco, and benzoin (a sweet, vanilla-like aromatic resin from Styrax trees)”; and Alien by Thierry Mugler, with notes of jasmine, woods, and amber. As a purple scent, I wasn’t surprised that I liked Alien on first spritz. And similarly, Spicebomb Infrared is not my first men’s cologne, as I explained last time, but it was one of my favorites until I opened the rest of the order.

To select the additional four scents I filtered by ambrée and citrus notes until I had selected; Haltane by Parfums de Marly, Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo, Alexandria III by Xerjoff, and Versense by Versace.

Haltane by Parfums de Marly

With notes of clary sage, lavender, bergamot, praline, saffron, oud, and cedar, this men’s cologne embodies a man who rides incredibly expensive horses. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it, and truly, I wear this scent nearly everyday!

Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo

When I first opened the bottle the scent was so subtle – with notes of toffee, patchouli, pear, orchid, orange, greens – that I could barely register what I was smelling. Then I wore it for the first time, on a day that was going poorly from the start, and didn’t like how the scent came across. I fear this was another case of phenomenal packaging, as I’m obsessed with all things snake print!

Alexandria III by Xerjoff

Alexandria III contains a complex blend of notes: lavender, palisander rosewood, cinnamon, Bulgarian Rose, cedar, Lily of the Valley, Laotian Oud, Thailand Oud, sandalwood, musk, amber, and vanilla. For all of that, it gives off the softest and most delicate scent, almost like baby powder with something subtly spicy in the background. On me the rose scent does pull forward quite a bit, but I think this could become a great base fragrance for layering!

Versense by Versace

Like the scent that kicked off this entire journey (Lime Sands by Skylar), Versace’s Versens is a bright green fragrance that offers crisp and zesty citrus vibes through notes of: bergamot, cedar, orange, cardamom, citruses, fig, sandalwood, olive tree, musk, sea lily, jasmine, narcissus, and pear. But rather than the beachyness of Lime Sands, picture a springtime fruit salad!

The Art of Layering

Now that I’ve amassed this collection I had to come to terms with a simple truth: there were scent profiles I didn’t like. But, as someone deeply committed to environmental conservation, I refuse to discard these perfumes just because I don’t want to wear them. So, what to do?

Earlier this year I was going through my collection and randomly selected the Chloe Eau de Parfum which contains my least favorite scent of all: rose. I did not realize how strong the rose scent would be until I was surrounded by it, and began desperately searching for another scent to mask the roses. Almost by accident I discovered Chloe’s perfect compliment – Replica Beach Walk by Maison Margiela – and much like that scene from Ratatouille, I knew I was on to something!

What makes these scents pair so well together? From a color theory standpoint, they are the same color. I would classify both of these as beige scents: outdoorsy like the browns, but light like a white or clear. The notes in Chloe are: peony litchi, freesia, rose, lily-of-the-valley, magnolia, Virginia cedar, and amber. The notes in Beach Walk are: bergamot, coconut milk, lemon, jasmine sambac, ylang ylang, sea notes, musk benzoin, and cedarwood. All of these floral notes combine to give a fresh and sweet smell, while the earthy base notes are grounding this blend and cutting through the sweetness.

But not all blends are used to mask! I recently posted my thoughts on layering Versense by Versace over Florist by Ellis Brooklyn (gardenia, lily-of-the-vally, tuberose, ear, jasmine, honeysuckle, bergamot, and lemon) – pink and green really are my 2026 combo! – and was delighted by the combination; I felt like I had instantly transported to some sort of posh garden party!

I approach scent layering in two distinctive ways. Like the Chloe and Beach Walk combination, I selected fragrances that were nearly identical in the bottle and contained similar scent profiles. That’s a practice that can be translated across all color-and-scent families.

But when selecting two entirely different fragrances – like Balinese Coconut by Nest (notes of coconut, Tiare flower, musk, and salt) layered beneath Rich Pistachio by Wish, available at Target! – I’m using the Ratatouille approach: unexpected but harmonious! Layered together, I felt as if I had crash landed into Disney’s Moana!

A D.I.Y. Blend!

This past weekend my mom hosted my sisters and I for a crafting night and we made our own jars of Egyptian dusting powder!

Throughout the Middle Eastern (or SWANA) region, dusting powders have been used throughout history for both hygiene and luxury. They tend to feature “natural, scented formulations to combat heat and odor,” and historically have included powders such as “bean flour, chalk,” and more. And in some cultures, the recipes included refined scented powders such as “sandalwood, camphor, and dried roses.” After doing some research, my mom found an Egyptian recipe to follow and here’s exactly what we used and how we used it!

To start I have to thank my mom, Stacey, for buying these super adorable jars and creating this individualized kits for us! Each kit included the jar, two poufs, a mini container of baby powder, cotton rounds to add the base oil and scents, and a sweet treat to eat while we crafted!

As I explained above the bulk of this creation is powder: we used a combination of baby powder and baking soda to help target odor. But, the base of this layer is oil! My mom offered an array of body oils including some solid oils – which I tried to use, but wasn’t successful with so I ended up using olive oil! Apply a good amount of oil to the first cotton round and lay that in the bottom of your jar before covering it with your powder of choice. This is also the layer where you’ll want to add your baking soda!

And most importantly, fragrance! We were each told to bring two or three perfumes that we really liked, but I’ll caution that you end up using a lot of perfume, so this a great craft to use sample sizes!

I selected Balinese Coconut by Nest to use as my base scent; 11:11 by Lake & Skye as my middle layer; and originally selected Replica Beach Walk as my top note, but ran out very quickly so I supplemented with Lime Sands by Skylar.

Sadly, this craft is not about instant gratification. The longer you leave your jar to marinate (at least 48 hours), the longer those scents will mingle and create something unique and special. As I ended up creating a very summer-centric blend, I won’t be opening my jar until June 1st! Until then, I’ll be giving it a little shake each morning to help mix all of the layers together. But, we all created such unique blends, I know they’re all going to smell amazing once we open them!

• My mom (pink) used a base of Garden Alchemy’s Nazzar Oil, a blend of Soft eau de parfum by Al Rehab and Obsession by Calvin Klein, and on top Eillish by Billie Eillish
• My sister Shelby (teal with yellow flowers) used an oil called Cosmic Dreams and blended the scents Soft eau de parfum by Al Rehab and La Vie Est Bella Vanilla Nude by Lancome
• My sister Molly (yellow) used a Victoria’s Secret body oil in vanilla and Garden Alchemy’s Rich Bitch oil and the scents Ellish by Billie Ellish and Le Monde Gourmand’s Paradis Tropique
• My teenage sister (teal with pink flowers) and her best friend (powdery blue) ended up making several jars each after finish these ones

What Do You Think?

The deeper I delve into the world of fragrance and perfumes, the more I learn and the more things I want to try! You can find all of these fragrances listed on the ‘Shop‘ page via Benable and ShopMy.

Share your favorite scents in the comments below, and share your own dusting powder creations by submitting your blends and photos via email to WeAimToSlay@gmail.com! 

I’ll be back next week with a mini series to help us all pack for our upcoming vacations!

Have a great rest of your week, and remember to SLAY!