Thursday, November 18, 2010

Angry scents

This morning I woke up seriously angry with the world (somewhat with myself) but mostly just angry. So, naturally, I wanted my perfume to reflect my state of mind and say to everyone who comes near me today to back away, because I'm angry and a mean - something (I won't write down what all went through my mind). The reasons behind my anger are not important now, but I'm sure we all have our angry moments.

Anyway, I stood in front of my perfume collection and had no idea what to put on that would reflect my angry state of mind.
So, I need some help now. Do you know of a scent that can make your anger waft around you?
In the end, I put on Serge Noire, but it's not meeting my angry expectations.

And as a side note, I contemplated putting on some Chanel 19 from a sample I unearthed some days ago and that caught me completely by surprise. I've tried 19 several times (because a character from Anne Rice novel wore it and I wanted to know what the fuss was about) and each time I tried it, there was nothing there for me to like.
Until I tried that sample. Oh my, I can now see why people who knew perfumes a decade ago are angry with the IFRA. I want a bottle of THAT Chanel 19 that came from my sample, not the one I've been smelling around here.
Btw, that's just one more thing to be angry about.

So, please, any angry scent recommendations would be welcome. :)

24 comments:

  1. I don't know all perfumes that you have but Black Cashmere reflects (to me) what you are saying :D

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  2. I remember Luca Turin describing FM Une Rose as an "angry rose". Would that be a contender?

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  3. Bellatrix, Black Cashmere for me is just sexy (and somewhat comforting). :)

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  4. Vanessa, I'll give it a try but if that's the rose I have in mind (I keep thinking I tried FM rose scent) then it's too powdery for me to work. But it wouldn't be a first for me to think I know what I'm thinking about just to end up getting it wrong. :)

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  5. A really interesting question! Perhaps an animalic scent?

    Also, I did a little research, and according to fragrantica.com, Humiecki & Graef's "Askew" was composed to "reflect anger and fury". The notes listed are birch tar, cardamom, leather, ginger, vetiver, grapefruit and Egyptian mimosa. I don;t know if that helps, but it was a fun little quest for me!

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  6. I think Psychotrope by PG, jasmine and leather, a little smokiness, has that high keyed tension which might be appropriate. Beautiful too.

    How bout those big blasters from the 80s like Poison, they might be loud enough. I also think you might find something in CB I Hate Perfume, in the dirt or smoke subheadings...

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  7. Wow - this was me two days ago. I also wanted an angry scent, I also tried Serge Noire, and I was also unsatisfied. It's possible that Fumerie Turque would have done the job - on some people it's a friendly fireside scent, but on me it's dangerous tigers.

    Next time I'm going to wear Tubereuse Criminelle. Angry, vengeful decaying flowers.

    On the No. 19, have you tried the modern extrait? It's hard to get (I ended up begging a friend who was going to France to get me some), but I think it's lovely, while I have no use at all for the other modern strengths. It's my "don't mess with me" scent, but that's not quite the same as an angry scent for me.

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  8. JoanElaine, I like the way your suggestion sounds (and I love the list of notes). :) I have to find a sample of that - soon!

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  9. Lucy, I did think some big and bold white flower might do the trick but I love them so they are more likely to make me lose myself in them. :) But paired with leather, that just might work - besides, I really love PG stuff and haven't tried this one, so I have to get myself over to Viktor Koncept for trying this.

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  10. CF, I just read your post. Unbelievable! We also went through same ideas. :D
    I haven't yet tried the 19 extrait, I sort of lost all will for trying it after being disappointed here. But I'll try and find some to see if that's going to work.
    I agree with both you and Lucy that some strong white flowers might be the way to go. TC is a good choice.

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  11. Heeley's Spirit of the Tiger might work. I use Bakir as my personal angry scent- it's beautiful, but like a severe slap in the face!
    -M

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  12. Bandit is an angry scent on me, all bitter and leather. If I'm not angry before putting it on, it annoys me throughout the day and I'm cranky by evening.

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  13. M, thanks for the tips. Spirit of Tiger already feels right just by the title. But I had to google Bakir, never heard of it before but now I read some opinions, I see why you said it was like a "slap in the face". I am so interested now in what it smells like!

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  14. Well Josephine, that would certainly fit the bill. :) And keep my anger alive and well. :D
    Do you know that I still haven't tried Bandit, after all these years of reading about it? It now seems like a serious lack in my perfume knowledge quest.

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  15. for me probably L'heure Bleu- it says I'm complex and it's okay to be complex, interesting even, being angry is part of life- I've been berating myself for it all day but life isn't all sunshine and nor are people!

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  16. Rose, I couldn't agree with you more (that's why I instantly dislike people who always smile, that is an unnatural and fake state to be ALL the time, and I did meet one or two persons like that). And lately I've been getting more and more evidence that people aren't very sunshiney.
    I'll give L'Heure Bleu a try, thanks. :)

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  17. I could tell you some that MAKE me angry...

    Seriously, though, I think that the loud ones are overrated. It's the quiet, dark ones that have more of a capacity for insidiousness. Take Bandit for example. It will creep up and abscond with your wallet any second. Cristalle will stab you in the back. Mitsouko will exclude you from her dinner party.

    So watch out for chypres and leathers.

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  18. Joan, thanks for the ideas. Making you angry, huh?
    It seems I might venture more into the land of chypres for anger. :)
    In my case (I love leather scents), the leather only makes me feel unattainable, cool and sexy. And a bit dangerous. ;)

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  19. I have heard that for someone who feel anger the best scent is made with violets, I have not tried this one but maybe April Violets by Yardley. Or Apres l'Ondee by Guerlain, Bois de Violette by Serge Lutens...

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  20. Vintage Lady, would that be to lessen the anger or to prolong it? Because I wanted to make mine visible. :)
    But in my case (as I'm not terribly fond of violets, unless they hide in a perfume and I'm not aware they're there) that would actually work in making my anger work. ;)

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  21. Oh Oh:-) I misunderstood completely here! That wouldn't work then as it would make you feel like a true languid, calm, tender violet for sure :-)

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  22. :D, I thought that might be the case.
    Btw, I am so rarely truly angry that when I am, I seem to want to enjoy the moment.

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  23. How about Caron's Coup de Fouet (aka Poivre)? The name means whip crack, surely an angry thing, and the pepper note strikes me as angry.

    It is a strange angry scent if ever there was one.

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  24. Hi Tourbilion, thank you for the suggestion! :) I've never even heard of that one before but now I'm very much interested. Sounds appropriate.

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