▎❝ The best perfumes & colognes from vanity to yours. ❞

How we smell is one of the most important things about us. Long after we’ve left the room, our scent lingers. Not only does it offer us individuality and set us apart in a crowd but it can also be a silent expression of our personality. What we choose to smell like can say a lot about us and someone’s fragrance can unlock secrets to their personality if you know what you’re looking for.

Do you smell sweet like vanilla and lemon or are you a mystery by wearing harder to place scents like amber and pomegranate? All of this is important and shouldn’t be taken lightly when choosing a perfume or cologne. This is especially true when you’re deciding on your signature fragrance to be identified most with.

There are many things in your beauty routine or wardrobe that you can cut corners on but not your smell! It’s too impactful to go cheap on. I know this because I am a self admitted scent snob. I have tried many different perfumes, body mists, lotions—honestly everything—and the one thing I noticed is that the designer brands do have something over the generic ones. For what it costs, it just seems worth it for the wear.

Just a spray of my favorite Versace perfume before I go to sleep and I wake up still immersed in it. The bottle was expensive but I use less of it because of how long it lasts and I don’t need to spray as many times initially because of how strong it is so in reality, it’s probably a bit of a wash compared to the lower cost perfumes that may seem like they’re more cost effective but are they really when you have to restock much more often because of frequent reapplications?

It’s very Versace

Versace is the longest lasting perfume I have found no matter which scent from their brand that I wear. Whether it’s Versace Bright Crystal or Versace Eros for women, I always feel as if I smell like Aphrodite incarnate. Versace fragrance is my favorite and I adore it so much, I gifted it to my parents who now only wear Versace. My mother really liked the smell of pear and her outdated Jessica Mcclintock perfume was becoming harder and harder to find so I took a gamble for her birthday and bought her Versace Yellow Diamond sight unsmelt—which I don’t recommend doing, by the way. I trust this brand and it worked out for me but it could’ve gone terribly wrong. Versace has just never let me down.

She was so impressed and she loved it so much that for Christmas, I got my father Versace Dreamer cologne for men. Again, it was a major win and now every time we go out somewhere nice, he bathes in it. He might wear it a little too strong but honestly, let him live his best life—he’s not hurting anyone.

My own signature perfume is from Versace and in my travels, I’m often stopped and asked what I’m wearing. Then of course there’s those guys that always lean just a little too close and don’t want me to know they’re sniffing me but boys, I know. I’ve always known and just pretend not to notice to spare us both. At first I thought it was strange but I’ve learned to embrace it—I’d smell me too. I refer to these incidents as “sniffenings”.

So naturally, if anyone were to ask me to recommend a good perfume or cologne brand, I would suggest Versace. Their fragrance prices are considerably lower than other designers like Chanel, Dior, and Gucci based on my own shopping analysis from stores I frequent. Their scent is the longest lasting of any other perfume I’ve worn by far. I just feel like for the price and the quality, it’s the best deal but again, that’s my opinion. I find Versace perfumes to be buildable as well which is nice if you’re really trying to create a unique smell for yourself or you wear a lot of lotions.

Belles of the ball

My second favorite perfumes and the one that I often wear with my Versace scent to make soften it for day wear is Beautiful Magnolia by Estée Lauder. I also have the sister fragrance, Beautiful Belle, which I ordered by accident but have loved ever since. I will admit that I think these perfumes are a little pricy and they rate up there in cost with some designer brands but they are also lovely fragrances with decent wear. I wouldn’t say they last over night but they don’t fade quickly either so they are still lovely.

As I mentioned above, when I want to soften my signature Versace fragrance, I will add one of these floral scents so it’s sweeter especially for mornings or mid day wear. By the time the secondary Estée Lauder fragrance I’ve layered wears off, the Versace is still present but lighter making the transition easy. Both of these Estée Lauder fragrances are buildable and layerable which I enjoy because it adds versatility to wearing them though they are fine on their own.

I appreciate that Estée Lauder has Beautiful Magnolia because magnolias are one of my favorite flowers alongside roses and it is incredibly hard to find a good perfume that does the magnolia scent justice. I have the Gucci Flora Magnolia perfume and even though there are hints of it you can catch on the wind, I would not say that I smell the fragrance of magnolias very strongly which is disappointing when that’s specifically what you’re looking for. Beautiful Magnolia is the perfect perfume for anyone in search of a good, reliable magnolia scent.

Gucci did good

In my quest for the perfect magnolia perfume, I got my hands on a small bottle of Gucci Flora: Gorgeous Magnolia. Though I don’t smell the magnolia flowers as strongly as I do with Beautiful Magnolia from Estée Lauder, I do like this perfume. For anyone who likes flowers, this fragrance is a must to consider and it leaves a very clean, fresh impression on me.

The first time I put it on, I immediately thought that it smelt as if someone had bottled the entire smell of Longwood Garden’s greenhouse conservatory. I know this smell well because I frequent the conservatory. That’s exactly what this perfume smells like to me—a greenhouse full of beautiful, dew covered flowers. I can’t separate out which flowers I smell very well, I just know that I smell freshness. If spring had an entire fragrance devoted to it, this is what it would be. It’s actually rather neat to have a perfume leave that strong of a legacy but they say scent is one of the biggest triggers for memory.

This perfume lasts longer than other designer perfumes though I don’t think it lasts quite as long as Versace. It lasts longer than Dior, Oscar de la Renta, and Estée Lauder—in my opinion—which would rank it second in my current list of longest lasting perfumes. The price is expensive for the bottle size and I don’t t like how much it costs even if it lasts longer than the others because it still doesn’t last as long as Versace which I priced out to be a little bit less expensive depending on where you shop. Other than that, I think this is a fantastic perfume and I am curious to try other fragrances from the Gucci Flora line so maybe I’ll write a follow up to this.

Oscar for the everyday woman

The very first perfume that I ever got was Oscar de la Renta Bella Blanca. This was back before I knew much of anything about designers or fragrances, I just happened upon it at the local department store and fell in love. I still love it and wear it even now. Like the Gucci Flora line, Oscar de la Renta has other fragrances in his Bella line that I’m itching to try but for now, I have only worn Bella Blanca which I will discuss.

This is such a lovely, clean scent. If you’re looking to smell nice but not be too overpowering, this might be a good option for you. Though it’s delightful, it’s soft. Orange blossom is the most prominent undertone that I smell whenever I wear it but it expertly blends with the jasmine and rose that are also included in this perfume’s notes. Bella Blanca is probably one of the most elegant, fresh, and clean perfumes that I have on my vanity and it’s often overlooked in favor of larger, more popular brands.

Bella Blanca is the most buildable and versatile fragrance that I have ever owned. It’s so layerable that I have yet to find a perfume, lotion, or body mist that it doesn’t elevate. We’ve all accidentally purchased fragrances that we’d like to try that end up being terrible. As someone who enjoys perfumery, this has happened to me countless times. I could write an entire post just about how I’ve been conned into terrible fragrances which might be depressing if I didn’t have Bella Blanca.

When I say that this perfume fixes other perfumes, I mean it. I don’t like to waste money so if I get a fragrance that I don’t particularly like but it’s not completely awful, I will mix it with my Bella Blanca or other perfumes I have to change the scent until the bottle is gone and then never make that mistake again! It’s magic! To me, this is the perfect perfume for the everyday woman but what would I know?

Considering it’s still a designer fragrance, is buildable, and has a pretty good wear time, Bella Blanca’s pricing is fantastic! I’ve seen it sold online at Walmart for under $40 which is a steal. Bella Blanca is a safe bet for anyone wading into the waters of fragrance or classy women just looking for that affordable luxury smell on a budget. If you’re into the clean girl aesthetic, this is for you.

Oops Dior did it again

Another perfume I have is Miss Dior: Blooming Bouquet. This is one of the loveliest smelling perfumes I have ever had but there is also a major problem—it doesn’t last long on me. Which is actually really upsetting and disappointing considering the scent is heavenly. You really want to smell it forever, not just an hour. It was heartbreaking, honestly. I adore the scent and would still purchase this perfume simply for that reason but it’s short lived so I can’t endorse it as strongly as the others I have.

Now, Dior is expensive—depressingly expensive—sell off your cats kind of expensive. I got the roller perfume and don’t come for me! I had never tried it before and there was no way I was spending that kind of money for something I’d never smelled—a big focus on this blog is about saving money, after all! I knew it was a gamble but I also had a full bottle of Bella Blanca to fix it if it smelled like a sewer so I went for it.

Well Miss Dior was as delightful as advertised but she faded so quickly. It felt like only thirty minutes after I’d put it on, I couldn’t smell it. I don’t know whether it’s just me or it’s the fact that I had a roller instead of an actual spray perfume but it’s never made a difference to me with other brands. It does smell good, I will give Dior that! Miss Dior itself is a popular fragrance which I got for my mother. She liked it but had the same conclusion—it doesn’t last long.

This wouldn’t be as big of a deal if it wasn’t so expensive but when you’re paying that much for a perfume, you want it to last and it feels like a bit of a rip off because of how many times you end up reapplying just to get your fragrance. You go through more perfume and guess what that means? More money for Dior. For a luxury fragrance, I don’t approve. Versace is expensive but it lasts forever so you can justify the price with less replications. Dior is expensive but still requires frequent reapplications—I’ve read other reviews saying the same thing on their website.

I love the perfume and I would probably get it myself just because I like it but I would not suggest it to anyone else given these concerns. I just don’t feel it’s a good deal and I can’t in good faith tell anyone who reads this to run out and get it. Dior does have a sister fragrance to this one that I’d like to try, Miss Dior: Roses N’ Roses, so when I decide which organ to sell on the black market to pay for it, I will let everyone know how it went. Again, that’s a lot of money for an unreliable fragrance.

Sold on Chanel

I got a large bottle of Chanel #5 for Christmas last year and it was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. Listen, before you come for me, I am honest. Scroll up, I just trashed Dior and that was hard to do because I love other departments of that brand but I won’t lie to you. I don’t care how many websites, documentaries, or celebrities you hear talking about Chanel #5, it is not worth the hype. Listen to me. Keep your kidney. Don’t sell it for Chanel, please.

Marilyn Monroe is still an icon over 50 years after her death but she can keep Chanel #5. Unless you want to smell like your grandmother, it’s probably not for you. I have not smelled other fragrances from this brand and after smelling this one, I think it’s a blessing. I felt such guilt when I opened it on Christmas and hurried to put it on because my mother was watching me excitedly and I was like, ” . . . but how do I tell her?” You know? Because you never want to be ungrateful and I know how expensive it is. So I sat there and tried to find some nice things to say about it—as you do.

And then she laughed very merrily at my misfortune, leaving me confused. She knew what it smelled like before she got it for me and she hated the smell but she wanted to see my reaction because she also knew that I desperately wanted to try it and she didn’t think I would’ve believed her if she said I wouldn’t like it. She will stop at nothing to prove she’s right and she was. She also got it for a fraction of the sticker price so she felt it was worth it. My god, I smelled like a retirement home—like a Bridge team. It was not at all what I was expecting based on the “timeless elegance” campaign they have for it. It’s the most famous perfume in the world, I was expecting something more . . . fabulous.

If you like this perfume, please don’t take this personally because they say that the same fragrance can change on different people because science. On you, it’s probably magnificent but on me, it was horrible. But I will say that it lasts quite awhile so that’s good if you like Chanel perfume, but after about 5 hours of it, I hated myself. As an experiment, I tried it on my friends to see if it smelled the same on them and to me, it did, so I mainly keep it as a decoration now—a vanity trophy of Chaneldom and a reminder that the world lies.

If I really want to wear it, I wear it with Bella Blanca and when I do, I actually really like it. Mixed with Bella Blanca, it fixes a lot of the powdery, antiquated, undertones that Chanel #5 has. The Bella Blanca mix brings it back to life and pulls it into the 21st century so if you do like this Chanel perfume but you’re looking to experiment or spruce it up, spray some Bella Blanca with it and see what kind of wonders it works!

The two mixed together smells more like what I thought Chanel #5 would smell like on it’s own. In my opinion, it’s not worth the price tag or the hype but it does last a long while so I suppose it beats out Dior and I’d place it under or tie it with Gucci. Bella Blanca will wear off quicker than Chanel so if you wear them both, you’ll need to reapply Bella Blanca at least once to keep up the blend.

Smells like a secret

I have several fragrances from Victoria’s Secret that I will probably dedicate a separate post to sometime in the future. I will speak generally about this brand rather than focusing on each one individually due to volume. Each fragrance that I’ve tried from Victoria’s Secret has a few things in common; they’re unapologetically feminine, they’re beautifully packaged, they’re true to the VS branding, and they are strong when first applied but dissipate somewhat quickly—at least in my experience.

If you want to smell like an angel who just emerged from a luxurious bubble bath, this is the kind of perfume that you’re looking for. I do think it smells cheaper than some of the other brands that I use but it still smells good and I wouldn’t say that I feel like I smell cheap whenever I wear it. The scents are more surface level to me like the frosting on a cake rather than something I feel saturates my skin like other scents I’ve mentioned in paragraphs above. Victoria’s Secret scents are like sprinkles on the cake of your body.

I have the following fragrances; Tease, Heavenly, First Love, Love, and Bombshell. I’d like to get more samples of their newer perfumes because it’s been awhile and the ones I listed above are what I’ve been alternating between for the last few years. I like all of these fragrances and think that they’re perfect for everyday wear, a girl’s night out, or a girl’s night in. Obviously I have my favorites but none of them were disappointing.

When I am not going anywhere and know I’ll just be around the house, I will wear these mini fragrances to save my designer perfumes. I like smelling good any time, any place so that requires a lot of different types of perfumes and price ranges. Given that they are less expensive than some of my other perfumes, these options are not only cost effective but necessary.

Though I wish the scents lasted longer, I won’t complain for the price—you can get your hands on these mini fragrances for under or around $25. Bigger bottles will obviously cost more but Victoria’s Secret has a fantastic range when it comes to their fragrance prices especially compared to other brands. A bigger bottle of Heavenly might cost around $50 but you can get Bombshell Seduction for $33 on Amazon so there’s definitely room for budgeting, price comparisons, and deals. As I mentioned, the mini fragrances aren’t expensive at all and make for great alternatives to buying the full size bottle for a fraction of the cost—they also fit in your handbag.

I would recommend Victoria’s Secret perfume and I do feel that it’s very girly and true to it’s branding. Honestly, every fragrance I’ve purchased I could tell was from Victoria’s Secret. These would be good for anyone just getting into fragrances or someone whose looking for some affordably sweet smells. The Victoria’s Secret Pomegranate & Lotus body lotion and mist is also a favorite of mine. I wear it religiously these days and for what it’s worth, I found that the body mist and lotions are true to scent. I have purchased body mists advertised as the same scent as a lotion only to find subtle discrepancies but this is not the case with Victoria’s Secret. Victoria knows how to make a lotion, ya’ll.

Priced to smell

Well, that was as quick tour of the fragrances and perfumes on my vanity. I love perfumery and am always looking to expand on my collection so I will probably be writing another post sometime in the future but for now, I hope I’ve left you with some good feedback because finding a good perfume can be hard whether you’re a complete beginner to fragrances or you just like trying new smells.

It may seem easy in a world with so many different options but the reality is, many of these perfumes aren’t worth the price tag and luckily I’ve been discerning enough to find some really amazing ones that are affordably within reach. In the case of designer fragrances that are often over hyped and commercialized, there’s no guarantee that just because a bottle is from a big brand name that it’s actually a good investment for you.

As I mentioned above, I have been disappointed by some of the biggest luxury brands there are when it comes to perfume so do your research—read reviews! Find something affordable that works for you and don’t be afraid to mix scents. If you accidentally buy a perfume you don’t like, don’t throw it out immediately! Try to fix it with one of your other ones to see if you can make it work before you make the decision to just trash it. Remember that there’s a difference between “cheap” perfume and “affordable” perfume. Always aim to smell expensive while getting a good value. Perfume is an investment and should last you.