Emmie Chats – My Perfume Collection

I feel like everyone has that one thing that they feel like they are supposed to like, but for whatever reason, just can’t get into. For me, that thing was perfumes. I always liked them in theory, but I also felt like I would never use them. Thank goodness that’s changed!

In the space of less than a year, my perfume collection has exploded and I wanted to sit down today and chat about what I had in my collection. Some of these are old faves and others are more recent editions to my collection. So, as always, let’s jump right on in!

I’ll start with the fragrances that inspired this post. Specifically, the SUMMER FRIDAYS THE TRIO PERFUME OILS (sold out at time of writing). These are a collection of three summery fragrances that came out at Mecca late last year. The scents being Vanilla, Crisp Citrus and Coconut. I’ve mentioned before that the citrus one is by far my favourite (a theme that will continue). But I do sincerely hope that Summer Friday’s either re-releases this collection or brings them out individually.

I was going to avoid samples (I’d be here all day). But I did pick up the KAYALI DISCOVERY SAMPLER KIT – $36.00 during the Black Friday sales last year. And you all blew up my DM’s wanting to know my thoughts about them. Now that I’ve had them for a little while, I can do something of a definitive ranking of the eight scents in the set. My personal opinions, of course!

1. Sweet Diamond Pink Pepper – Fell in love with this pretty much instantly. The perfect blend of spicy and floral.
2. Citrus – I love a zesty, fruity scent. But this scent is on the more subtle side. Very fresh and clean. A great one for summer.
3. Deja Vu White Flower – The scent that reminded me why I like floral. This is so lovely and feminine, without being too overpowering.
4. Elixir – Stronger on the florals than Deja Vu, but more sensual (if that makes sense).
5. Musk – I wanted to hate this. But it definitely grew on me. I’m so used to musk scents being so off putting that it took me a while to get around to using this. But I love that it has a woody note with the sandalwood.
6. Invite Only – I wanted to love this. But I can’t wear it for too long. The scent is so funky and unique on it’s own. But it just doesn’t work with my body chemistry. This is why we buy perfume sets, y’all!
7. Vanilla – I feel like if you enjoy Vanilla scents, you’ll be all over this. But it wasn’t for me.
8. Utopia Vanilla Coco – Yeah, I just don’t do coconut in perfumes. They have never worked on me and I just get annoyed by them.

Staying with Kayali, I recently got my mitts on their newest scent KAYALI EDEN JUICY APPLE 01 – $40.00. And already I am chomping at the bit to buy the next size up. To the point where it’s tied with Pink Diamond as my favourite Kayali scent. Where Pink Diamond is spicy and floral, Eden is fruity, sweet, and everything I could possibly want out of a perfume like this. It’s the fragrance I’m wearing today and I am obsessed!

KEY NOTES – Top: Juicy Red Apple, Blackcurrant, Pink Grapefruit, Lychee, Middle: Wild Berries, Raspberry Blossom, Jasmine, Rose Centifolia, Dry: Vanilla Flower, Amber Crystals, Sugared Moss, Sensual Musk

Getting into some Aussie brands now. And last year, beloved candle brand Glasshouse released an entire collection of their bestselling candles as Eau De Parfum’s. I was very kindly gifted all four of the scents. And in a case of sheer luck, it was my favourite scent GLASSHOUSE FOREVER FLORENCE EAU DE PARFUM – $99.00* that I was sent as the full size (the other three were deluxe minis). This is a perfume that I love in theory (it really does smell exactly the same as the candle). But not in practice. And it all comes down to wear time. Out of the four scents, this lingers for the least amount of time. Which is a shame, because it does smell incredible. I mostly wear this at home so I can frequently reapply

KEY NOTES – Top Notes: Peach, Pear, Citrus, Middle Notes: Jasmine, Heliotrope, Peony-Rose, Lily, Base Notes: Musk, Amber, Sandalwood.

The other three scents that got released in this new collection were A TAHAA AFFAIR, MIDNIGHT IN MILAN and KYOTO IN BLOOM. And out of the three here, shockingly, A Tahaa Affair ended up being my favourite! As a candle, I genuinely hate it. But as a perfume, it’s truly unlike anything I have smelled before. A rich blend of brown sugar, caramel, vanilla and coffee. With just a hint of Jasmine to keep things interesting. Kyoto In Bloom is also pretty awesome. Very floral and fruity. And it lasts for ages on the skin to boot. Midnight In Milan, I just couldn’t vibe with. It’s very rose heavy. Rose being a scent I genuinely don’t enjoy. But I do want to seek out some of the other Perfumes that they have launched.

I love mentioning that Designer Brands also does their own range of Eau De Parfums. I believe these launched last year and I have two that I genuinely enjoy. DESIGNER BRANDS IN YOUR ELEMENT EAU E PARFUM – $14.99* was how I discovered I loved black pepper in my perfumes. This is citrusy, spicy, warm and incredibly inviting.

KEY NOTES – Juicy citrus combines with a fresh marine accord, unveiling notes of lemon, pineapple, and black pepper with a subtle woody base.

DESIGNER BRANDS FORCE OF NATURE EAU DE PARFUM – $14.99* however is exactly how I think a woodsy man smells. Definitely the more masculine of the two, but I love how it works with my body chemistry.

KEY NOTES – Freshness of cardamom, the woodsy elegance of vetiver and the smooth warmth of Tonka bean.

And now we have an example of a perfume purchase that can be attributed to peer pressure. Who Is Elijah has been all over my Instagram feed for the better part of the year. And when I saw that my local boutique was now stocking them, I had to try at least one of them for myself. The one I really wanted, Haze, was out of stock at the time. But I instantly fell in love with WHO IS ELIJAH HER HER EAU DE PARFUM – $99.00. Again, I am all about the citrus scents. But this one is different to all of the other ones I have as it’s paired with the likes of Rosemary and Cedarwood. Giving it a more warm, almost autumnal feel.

KEY NOTES – Head: Citrus. Bergamot. Grapefruit. Vetivert, Heart: Floral. Orange Blossom. Petitgrain. Rosemary, Base: Dry Amber. Cedarwood. Musk.

Finally for the Aussie made perfumes, we have the one that basically bought this whole obsession on. My beloved SSAINT PARFUM SMOKESHOW EAU DE PARFUM – $109.00. Think warm, spicy, smokey, sultry. Just perfection in a bottle. I’ve already talked this one up to death. But I do insist that you seek it it. Because it’s going in the grave with me.

KEY NOTES – Top: Pink Pepper, Orange Citrus, Clove Spice, Middle: Chestnut, Juniper Berry, Cade, Base: Cedarwood, Cashmeran, Balsam of Peru, Vanilla

We’ll wrap this up with some bougie boi’s. And let me tell you, they don’t get much bougier than MAISON MARGIELA REPLICA SPRINGTIME IN A PARK – $49.00. I’ve told this story a million times over on Instagram, but for the newbies. I very nearly bought this perfume back in November of 2019 while I was on holiday with my then boyfriend. It was on that trip that he proposed and I still had the scent of this perfume on me when he did. So, I knew that I wanted to wear it on my wedding day. I only bought the 10ml as that was the only one available online at the time. But seeing as it’s almost empty, I’ll certainly be picking up a bigger bottle soon.

KEY NOTES – Pear, bergamont, blackcurrant, lily of the valley, royal jasmine, damask rose, musk, ambrox and vanilla.

Next up, quite literally the newest addition to my collection, CALVIN KLEIN DEFY EAU DE TOILETTE – $89.00. This only showed up on my doorstep on Tuesday (I won it in a recent giveaway). But this is the newest fragrance from Calvin Klein. And while I definitely need to use it a few more times, I do enjoy how clean this smells. Very citrusy and woodsy. But still light for what is being marketed as a men’s fragrance (but to me? Fragrance is fragrance).

KEY NOTES – top notes: bergamot oil, mandarin oil and cedar leaf oil, heart notes: lavendar absolute, sage clary oil, violet leaf, base notes: vetiver oil, amber, musk.

If you are a fan of clean scents, however, you absolutely need to try OUAI DEAN STREET EAU DE PARFUM – $92.00. This is something of an outlier in my collection. You’ve now seen something of a pattern in my collection. Lots of citrus, lots of spice, and the occasional ultra femme and floral. Dean Street couldn’t be any more different. It has that hint of fruitiness and floral. But on me, it reminds me of clean laundry and I can’t get enough of it. This is the fragrance I chuck on when I’m just having a chill day.

KEY NOTES – Top Notes: Mandarin, Lemon, Grapefruit, Apricot, Middle Notes: Rose, Magnolia, Muguet, Violet, Base Notes: Amber, Linden, Blossom, Musk.

And lastly, we have my other recent obsession MARC JACOBS PERFECT EAU DE PARFUM – $150.00. I have actually always had a soft spot in my heart for Marc Jacob’s fragrances. But I couldn’t say no to this. First of all, that bottle is a piece of art! This scent, for me anyway, definitely falls into the more femme and floral side. But I like that it isn’t a conventional floral scent. The Cashmeran gives it a funky, woodsy quality. And it’s such an easy perfume to wear.

KEY NOTES – Top: Daffodil, Rhubarb. Middle: Almond Milk. Base: Cashmeran.

And that is, at the time of writing, my current perfume collection. Phew, this ended up being much longer than I thought! Let me know what your must have perfumes are in the comments below. Because I could always have more!

Cheers and love
Emily xo