There are a lot of ways to define fragrance types. Day versus night. Floral versus fruity. Clean versus musky. But let's get more specific. The most important question to ask yourself before you spritz is: Do I want to smell like a good girl, or do I want to smell like a bad bitch?
Of course, there's a time and place for both. When you're feeling easy-breezy in a white dress on a sunny day, reach for Chloé's Love Story or Marc Jacobs' Daisy. But when you're heading to Snctm (or just the 6 p.m. showing of Fifty Shades Darker), you're going to want to pick one of the scents ahead.
If you want to dress dangerously, you wear black leather. If you want to live dangerously, you hang around Cat Marnell. And if you want to smell dangerous, you spritz Black Opium.
The original fragrance is so intense, however, that it keeps getting toned down — and this is the latest softer interpretation. But soft is relative. The jolt-you-awake espresso note didn't go anywhere, but once it settles, the new floral additions — orange blossom and gardenia — come out. It's more feminine than its predecessors, yes, but still decidedly not for nice girls who go to bed by 10 p.m.
Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Floral Shock, available at Sephora.
If you imagine the devil wears pink instead of red and hell is toasty rather than scalding hot, then this fragrance makes perfect sense. It's fiery at first, thanks to pepper and grapefruit, but it dries down to a warm, fairly strong blend of woods and Bulgarian rose.
Ex Nihilo Devil Tender, available at Saks.
Did you watch American Horror Story: Freak Show? Are you sad about the end of Ringling Bros.? (You shouldn't be — it's wildly cruel to animals.) Do you secretly like the smell of cigars? Then this fragrance, created by a cool stationer based in San Francisco, will be right up your alley. With heady notes of tobacco, clove leaf, musk, and jasmine — and some crisp citrus for balance — it smells like sneaking behind the fairground tent for a late-night rendezvous after all the lights have gone off.
Austin Press Circus Girl's Trailer Perfume, available at Catbird.
If you actually drink absinthe, you have no need for a bad bitch perfume (and you're probably free-climbing the world's tallest building or something right now, not clicking through a slideshow).
But if you're intrigued only by the idea of the madness-inducing green potion, consider this scent, which also has wormwood in it. It's potent, disorienting (spicy, clean, cool, and woody at once), and certain to start a lot of interesting conversations.
L'Artisan Parfumeur Fou d'Absinthe, available at Sephora.
The most satisfying way to poison someone (we'd assume...) is through tricking them. It'd be too obvious if this fragrance was overpowering and filled with strange notes you'd never heard of, which is why it's a candy-like floral with a splash of vanilla. Spray it on, smile sweetly, then go get away with murder.
Dior Poison Girl, available at Dior.
Just getting a passing whiff of this feels like biting into a piece of flourless chocolate cake — good, but really rich. (Even the brand describes it as an "overdose" of chocolate.) In addition to the cacao, there are notes of cinnamon, jasmine, and patchouli — all of which pack a punch on their own — so you better be feeling hedonistic as hell when you go to put this on.
Kilian Noir Aphrodisiaque, available at By Kilian.
This caipirinha-inspired scent, with notes of bergamot, green apple, cinnamon, and ambroxan, is made for a woman who's larger than life — the one you'll find in a swingy dress, dancing on top of a table, basking in the attention of everyone in the room. Corinne, you listening?
Frédéric Malle Outrageous Special Edition, available at Barneys.
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