Fragrances that Smell Like Cosmetics: an Experimental List

The tender, sometimes playful associations of violet and iris-powdery references account for the popularity of several sweet florals in the market, especially when coupled with the intensely feminine note of roses producing an almost "makeup" vanity-table effect. Here is an experimental list of fragrances that reference cosmetics, especially face powder and retro lipstick, in their scent. 

generative AI borrowed via Pinterest

Cosmetics-smelling Fragrances You Might Try (the list is merely a fraction of what is available):

Accordo Viola by L' Erbolario

Viole Nere by Meo Fusciuni

Blanc Violette by Histoires de Parfums

Irresistible Nude Velvet by Givenchy

Putain des Palaces by Histoires de Parfums

Love, Chloé by Chloé or its dupes, since it's been discontinued

Drôle de Rose by L'Artisan Parfumeur (ditto)

Météorites by Guerlain (the original vintage creation, found in secondary market)

Après L'Ondée by Guerlain

Lipstick Rose by Frederic Malle

Iris Eau de Parfum by Molinard

Kenzo Flower by Kenzo

Fleurs d'Ombre Violette – Menthe by Jean-Charles Brosseau

Balenciaga Paris L'Essence by Balenciaga (also in the secondary market as it's been discontinued)

Violet Blonde by Tom Ford (ditto)

Violette Precieuse by Caron

Violette Fumée by Mona di Orio

Citizen Queen by Juliette Has A Gun 

Insolence Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

L'instant Magic Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

True Love by Elizabeth Arden

Cashmere Mist by Donna Karan

Kenzoki Rice Steam Sensual by Kenzo

Sophistique by Mark

Hush Hush from 2160 Tuesdays

The Maternal History Behind Lanvin's Arpege Perfume

Women in the past especially were mentally tied with a sort of femininity that deviated at times from the sensible, non-glamorous, the image of the caretaker. You imagine a highly strung classy woman that hides her woes behind an immaculate veneer; perfectly coiffed & manicured, wearing delightfully constructed, tailored clothes and maybe a string of pearls. Male filmmakers of the 1940s tended to show this powerwoman stereotype having a meltdown at some point in the plot, perhaps a subtle nod to "punishment" for undertaking more than they should. Pamela Robertson explains that Mildred Pierce exposes this contradiction of female success and societal expectations, "because Mildred's success conflicts with the postwar ideology that demands that women give up their careers." Perfume choice becomes a symbol for that.

  The designer Jeanne Lanvin met her future husband, le Conte Emilio di Pietro, at the Longchamp horse races and would have her daughter Marguerite in 1897. The little girl has been immortalized through the design of the iconic black boule bottle of Arpège. Her nickname was Ririte, but she has been referred to as Marie-Blanche ever since 1920, and she was the inspiration for the many fabulous designs her mother mottos which were envied all over Paris and created the fervent desire to emulate for the daughters of many well-to-do ladies of the higher society. The step from daughters to mothers is a small one and Jeanne would become a legendary couturier in no time! Marie-Blanche would also be the inspiration for her mother's most enduring perfume, Arpège, designed for the 30th birthday of Jeanne's beloved daughter and inspired by Marie-Blanche's musical-referencing comment upon smelling the first mod of the composition: "It smells like an arpeggio would."

  The perfume formula was composed by perfumers Paul Vacher and André Fraysse, while the design of the mother dressing the daughter by Paul Iribe pictured on the bottle has become a modern icon. It's an irony that the passionate love the mother had for her daughter Marguerite would end up drawing them apart. An aldehydic whisper of pure flowers, not very far removed from Chanel No.5 eau de toilette, yet more radiant and effervescent than seducing, maybe thanks to mental associations, the Lanvin fragrance is a treaure trove of stories and wonders. 

  Photos of vintage print advertisements found on Ebay and borrowed for educational purposes only.

Art & Olfaction Awards 2026: The Experimental Scent Summit Where I Presented ScentDia

 

The Experimental Scent Summit (ESS) is presented as part of an ongoing collaboration between Los Angeles-based The Institute for Art and Olfaction and Berlin-based Smell Lab. The Experimental Scent Summit (whose speakers and subjects of 2026 were presented in the official page) is an annual gathering designed to build community and learning in creative practices with scent. As a rule, through presentations, academic and research practitioners share experimental work in an open and unrestrained environment that facilitates collaboration and inquiry. It is a non-profit community event that brought together researchers to share experimental and academic work on scent in an informal, open setting at the beautiful venue of Impact HUB Athens,right in the city center of Athens, below the Acropolis. 

ESS 2026 was co-curated this year by Julianne Lee, Minetta Rogers, and Saskia Wilson-Brown for the Institute for Art and Olfaction, and Klara Ravat for Smell Lab, and the presentations ranged from research findings in the fields of olfaction, history, culture, botany, sound science, and other related academic disciplines; performances and conversations that inspire new ways of thinking about and working with scent. 

the presenters for ScentDia social robotics

   SCENT DIA, the Olfactory Turn in Social Robotics, an interdisciplinary project uniting robotics, philosophy and olfactory art, which was introduced by me (Elena Vosnaki), followed by the more in-depth analysis by Professor of Logic and Science of Philosophy Luisa Damiano and Manos Gerakinis of Manos Gerakinis Parfums. Working with Mari Velonaki, who developed the robot as the 3rd in line in her Diamandini Robotic Series at the University of New South Wales in Australia, and collaborating with manufacturing chemical plant Vioryl S.A., they translated the social cues of the first social robot into the emission of discernible scent, emitted at the discretion of artificial intelligence in correspondence to human cues! 

Social robots, as we explained, are robots able to communicate through social cues and in social contexts, through emotional expressions, language, and posture, and now for the first time through scent corresponding to human interaction. Thanks to SCENTDIA's revolutionary technological innovation, the audience was informed about the new concept of the "social robot" as a "social connector," which opens new perspectives in the contexts in which such technology finds application, such as health care, education, and personal support, marketing, and entertainment. All in all, a very stimulating and enjoyable experience. To quote the Institute of Art & Olfaction's motto as my closing line, "Be kind, be cool, be honest, have fun."

Perfume Photography: Our Beloved Bottles

 

The huge website/webzine of which I have the honor to be a senior editor and manager of its Greek edition for many years now invited a group of authors to post their favorite photos they personally took of their own bottles (Well, a small selection of them, at least!) The above our my very own, photographed over the years with real love and passion. 

Details are as follows: 

A summer collection (from left to right) of Diorissimo EDT, Y by YSL, Rem by Reminiscence, Passage d' Enfer by L' Artisan Parfumeur, and Fleurs d' Oranger by Serge Lutens. 

 Guerlain L'Heure Bleue Eau de Toilette (bottom left) the 1980's wonder swathed in deep teal and cool waterscape blue-green. 

 Guerlain's Jicky extrait de parfum (bottom center) rests atop Courtesan by Diane Haeger, following the life and forbidden romance of Diane de Poitiers. 

 Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle (bottom right) embraced by Tradescantia Zebrina sword leaves.

You can view the rest of our team's stunningly beautiful shots on this link.

Mementos of Youth: How Cacharel Shaped an Entire Era

 

For many middle-aged women, Cacharel was a cultural phenomenon; their fragrances were offered as assuredly successful gifts to young women en masse. And they used to be really good too! 

photo borrowed via Fetherstone Vintage blog

 

Cacharel's Eden from 1994 is the precursor to neon-green compositions like Mark Jacobs Decadence and Thierry Mugler's Aura, which were introduced as trailblazing in recent years, but they were not. Considering that the latter, with its green rhubarb-gardenia accord in the eau de parfum, has sparked comments like "very herbal mouthwash," "grassy soil," "muddy swamps," "musty cellars," "bugs and bug poison," etc., it's not unfathomable that Eden has also been rather challenging for modern audiences. Back then, nevertheless, it was "the newest Cacharel" and its youth appeal was palpable. Every teenage girl and budding woman has fond memories of everything Cacharel made. There was no frog in sight, only princes. 

 Some perfumes were shaped to be gifted as an entry into womanhood, on the other hand. Who could imagine a blockbuster perfume being promoted through porcelain-skinned beauties in soft focus, showing no inch of skin, beyond their necks, set to a baroque soundtrack, in this day and age? And yet Anaïs Anaïs, the first perfume by Cacharel (1978), was advertised exactly like that and became THE reference scent for the early 1980s for droves of young women who still reminisce fondly of it 40 years later. I can tell you right off the bat that it was my first proper, owned bottle of perfume, bought as a gift and offered with the requisite ceremony. The actual scent of Anaïs Anaïs defies the notion of erotic elixirs as something that is warm and sensuous, relying on a rare for today's standards combination of prim lily of the valley (and a few other lilies) with the dusting of whisper-soft leather in the drydown.

After the Victorian oppression, at least as far as the public life of ladies was concerned, women now claimed their sexuality. They took off their restrictive corsets, which were a means of sexual "control" by their spouses. And they cut their hair short, in a bob, as a sign of their unconformity and modernity. Let us recall Fitzgerald's 1919 short story, Berenice Bobs Her Hair. They wore Charleston dresses ending at the knee, often with a deep neckline and a low plunge at the back. They made themselves up with dark, thin lips and dark eyes on a pale face, with thin eyebrows like a stroke of calligraphy. In short, they looked like a vampire, a harbinger of the goth trend. Cacharel used this to great aplomb with their Loulou fragrance, following closely the script which Louise Brooks immortalised as Loulou in the Pabst classic film Pandora's Box. It was an oriental scent, but for young women. Heliotrope, musk, and an abstract heart of flowers touched by a whisper of aniseed from another planet, heaved and sighed in it. As the gloriously musical score of the campaign commercial implied, it was a poignant love story, possibly tragic. Gabriel Fauré's Pavane is immortal. And oui, c'est moi (i.e. "yes, that's me") answering a young man questioning after Loulou, became an indelible memory in our collective memories.