BY DESIGN : Barely There
This season even a perfume-phobe could be converted. Heavy fragrances have been replaced by incredibly light, appealing scents that are lemony, grassy or reminiscent of freshly brewed tea. Some are genderless, following in the footsteps of the still wildly popular CK One. In the 1980s, formidable fragrances took entire rooms hostage. The new arrivals are refreshingly meek. They are available at department stores and drugstores, except as noted.
WEIGHTLESS WONDERS
This year’s big trend. These perfumes are so transparent they seem to float, and in some cases won’t be detected by anyone but the wearer. Some are old favorites that have been gently diluted, softened-up like comfortable jeans. Clear bottles make the point: These scents are as fresh as crisp celery.
Pictured:
* Pleasures, a delicate floral from Estee Lauder.
* Aqua di Gio, the essence of Armani’s Gio cut with water.
* Chanel No. 5, now offered as an alcohol-free body mist called a “voile” that’s as sheer as the floaty fabric of the same name.
Also worth considering:
* Accenti, Gucci’s fruity floral.
* Un Air de Samsara, a softer version of the Guerlain classic.
* Alfred Sung Forever, an airy freesia and lily of the valley blend.
* Laila, made of Norwegian wildflowers. Only at Nordstrom and Fred Segal Melrose.
* Ghost Myst, a sweet, citrusy floral by Coty.
* Charlie White, Revlon’s ‘90s version of the venerable Charlie, for the daughters of women who grew up with the original.
(ALMOST) GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT
Although not quite Betty Crocker in a bottle, food-based scents evoke the seductive smells of the kitchen. Clever perfumers have figured out how to put chocolate, vanilla, fruit, honey and herbs into sprays meant for external use only.
Pictured:
* Deci Dela, new from Nina Ricci, is a fruit salad scent of peach, raspberry and melon mixed with hazelnuts and flowers. Wacky packaging is fruit colored too.
Also worth considering:
* Angel, by Thierry Mugler, is now out in limited-edition bottles and as bath salts called Stardust. This distinctive scent includes chocolate, vanilla, caramel, fruit, honey and herbs. And not a flower in the mix.
* L’Eau D’Issey Pour Homme is Issey Miyake’s lemon-lime men’s scent.
IT’S GREAT BEING GREEN
Green fragrances are the most exhilarating, says the appropriately named Annette Green, president of the Fragrance Foundation. Green Water, for example, “denotes nature and has that note that’s like cut grass.”
Pictured:
* Green Water, created by couturier Jacques Fath in 1947, was recently relaunched in the United States. A grassy men’s fragrance with hints of lemon, it has been enthusiastically appropriated by women.
* Green Tea is the delicious, clean scent of Bulgari’s Eau Parfumee, a unisex fragrance. It’s a favorite of Sharon Stone.
* Banana Republic’s Green Vine scented soap and shower gel, in a slick toothpaste tube, smells like foliage.
* Bowling Green by Geoffrey Beene is a woodsy fragrance for young men sold at JCPenney.
FANTASY IN A BOTTLE
For some women, a vanity lavished with beautiful flacons represents the height of femininity. Does it matter what’s inside these fanciful containers?
Pictured:
* Escada Acte 2’s futuristic glass column topped by a swirling metal spiral. The fragrance is a mix of floral, spice and musk.
* If your fantasy is to swim in fragrance, the jumbo bottle of 24 Faubourg holds more than half a gallon of Hermes’ new floral, woody, amber scent. Smaller sizes are available.
* Ozbek is a freesia-peach scent housed in a minaret from Istanbul, hometown of designer Rifat Ozbek. Exclusive to Barneys New York.
* Estee Lauder’s Knowing is now packaged in a compact disguised as a miniature glittering shoe. Only at Neiman Marcus.
* Bulgari’s eponymous women’s scent has the aroma of jasmine tea and comes in small, gold-flecked Murano glass bottles.
Also worth considering:
* Havana, the new men’s scent by Aramis, is the best-looking bottle in the men’s department: a tapered, translucent azure blue cylinder.
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Styling by DONNA DEAN / Los Angeles Times
