Mixing Colognes?

[phooi]

I was catching up on "The Sartorialist" and came across his post entitled "Do You Blend Perfume?" dated Jan. 3, 2007. The most interesting section was all the comments. I didn't know that many people were into mixing scents. I've never thought of doing it myself but thought I'd put this out here...

Does anyone here mix scents?

 

[rach2jlc]

I do. Sometimes it's called "layering," but some fragrances are more prone to this than others. You can't just pick two of your favorites and spray them on top of each other. For example, if you like Dior Homme and you like Issey Miyake Pour Homme, you'd never want to mix them. They have totally different dynamics and notes that don't go well with each other.

Often, one will mix a single-note or more subtle fragrance with something else; like a heavier leather scent with something floral or a darker scent with something a little lighter to change the dynamic. There's a fragrance by Bond no. 9 called "new Haarlem" that is quite well suited to this; it mixes/blends/layers quite well with any number of different scents and it also does well on its own. Two others that are pretty good to blend are Jil Sander's PURE and Helmut Lang'd EDC and EDP.

 

[Maharlika]

I layer Andy Tauer's L'Air du desert Marocain with Norma Kamali's Incense. They work very well together. I always get a compliment.

 

[jimmyfresno]

You do have to be very careful when layering unless you know what you're doing. I happen to like layering sandalwood with leather or tobacco, a very natural and earthy combination for men. I also happen to like vintage Cabochard, a very hard to find women's scent based on leather and chypre (fern, oakmoss, etc) and layer it with some of the more modern incense scents like Comme des Garcons Incense series. The popular gimmicky fragrance "DZING!" also layers well since I think it's too sugary sweet in full concentration on its own, but it adds a nice vanilla/rubber accord. Essential oils also layer nicely with fragrances. Citruses or florals add a nice top note interest to very heavy basenote-rich scents.

Don't mix Cool Water with Brut, or TAG with Aramis, and get rid of the Drakkar Noir from your closet; there usually isn't any chance of disquising discount outdated perfumes and they smell very dated.