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Choosing a fragrance is kind of like love at first smell. There’s no logic to it — just an emotional “gotcha” feeling. Our taste in everything keeps changing, so why shouldn’t our noses rove? There are more than 100 new fragrance launches every year, and most of them have a trendy here-today-gone-tomorrow life. Certain scents are best-sellers with a consistent following (and FYI, there is no such thing as an age-appropriate fragrance). They make loyal partners even if you have a few wild fragrance flings. These 10 pass the sniff test every time.
1. Shalimar Eau de Parfum by Guerlain. The 1925 powdery-smoky-vanilla-floral perfume is the grandmother of many modern scents. Still going strong at 93, its spicy kick and sexiness sneak up after the first ladylike whiff. Let the citrus top notes settle as your body heat turns the combo of jasmine, rose, patchouli, leather and incense into Mata Hari. Yup, it’s pricey — but heavier scents used sparingly are empowering.
2. Eternity Eau de Parfum by Calvin Klein. Like the namesake diamond eternity ring, this modern green floral is timeless. Since 1988 it has never waned in popularity. The classic blend of citrus, floral and woods — freesia, lily of the valley and spicy carnation — comes together in a light-handed way. It's more watercolor than oil painting.
3. Fracas Eau de Parfum by Robert Piguet. This black-bottled elixir started the white-floral trend in 1948. Everyone from Madonna to Martha Stewart loves the fusion of tuberose, gardenia, white narcissus and lily of the valley grounded with sandalwood and vetiver. As with any famous scent, ignore reviews that claim today’s Fracas (or whatever you wear) is not the “original.” All perfumes get silently updated depending on flower crops year to year, with the substitution of synthetics for banned animal-derived ingredients. The current Fracas, reformulated in 1998, is the real deal.
