A Capsule Wardrobe of Scent

How can you curate your fragrance collection to reflect the changing season?

At this time of the year, we’re folding away our frocks and bringing out the woollen wear. We’re thinking about herringbone jackets while letting our pedicures lapse. The key pieces of our wardrobe should defy these seasonal shifts, however, there is freedom to draw on an autumnal palette and invest in some key pieces. The need to transition from summer to autumn and winter does not need to end there. Creative Director and Founder of STORIES Parfums, Tonya Kidd-Beggs, believes that we should re-evaluate our fragrance wardrobe often to ensure that our perfume of choice is telling a story we want to hear.

Here are some things to consider when editing your scent collection:

It’s Personal

The wardrobe of scent that you compile will be specific to you. How you process smell and the scents that evoke strong emotions will be completely unique. While it is helpful to glean the wisdom of those in the industry, nothing can replace your own nose. Tonya’s advice is to choose the fragrance to which you are drawn: something to brighten the dark days, another that speaks to you of warmth and comfort, a scent for those evenings when you want to stand out and another that grounds you. In Tonya’s opinion, there are no set rules when it comes to picking a scent.

 

‘It is worth taking your time to curate a wardrobe of scent.’

Think Outside the Box

While there are notes that are redolent of particular seasons, that does not limit their wear to a specific time of year. Citrus notes, for example, may be associated with summer owing to their zesty, light aroma. However, there are many dark winter days that could be lightened by a bergamot spritz. The floral notes we might place in a summery category would not be out of place at a Christmas party, especially when blended with notes from other families. These times of transition are a perfect opportunity to try something different. Do not limit your fragrance wardrobe to tried and tested blends. Before she started working with fragrance, Tonya believed she did not like the smell of vanilla. However, she was drawn to certain blends that contained vanilla but did not disclose it as an ingredient. She realized she had developed a negative association based on a name that proved false when she began to trust her nose. Tonya suggests letting go or any preconceived ideas about fragrance and allowing the smells to speak to you. This is the reason she numbers rather than names her blends. She wants customers to respond to her fragrance from their heart, without thinking too much about what ingredients the Eau de Parfum contains.

Fragrance is Art               

If you find yourself in a fragrance rut, it may have something to do with your relationship to perfume. For Tonya, fragrance is art. It is a way of crafting her personal story and issuing an invitation for customers to consider theirs. When you approach a fragrance take a moment to consider the smell. Ask yourself what it reminds you of and whether it evokes any memories. When we shift our relationship to fragrance it can open a world of self-discovery and become a starting point for adventures that we never imagined undertaking.

Try Before you Buy        

It is worth taking your time to curate a wardrobe of scent. You may like the smell of something in the shop but until you have lived with it, you will not know whether it is a perfume worth investing in. A good fragrance will allow all the notes to reveal themselves in layers and this takes time. It is impossible to know how you will feel about a fragrance until you have spent some time with it. The best way to do this is by purchasing samples of a fragrance you like. If you’re struggling to make a decision, Tonya recommends using a 2ml sample bottle  of her fragrance for at least a day or two until you commit to a larger bottle. “You need to know how it responds to your skin and whether you love the story it evokes. You are building a relationship with scent and it is worth investing in the decision.”

STORIES Parfums offers a 1.5ml sample bottle of each of its bespoke fragrances, STORIES Nº. 01 and STORIES Nº. 02.

Try yours today and it might find its way into your autumn/winter capsule wardrobe of scent.