In honor of National Fragrance Day today, here’s a list of my all-time favorite scents!

Chanel – Coco Mademoiselle

This along with my last mention on the list is vying for my Best Ever Fragrance title. It lasts the whole day on me and then some. A few sprays on my clothes and I’ll still smell it the day after without any refresher. I can’t get enough of its bold floral notes that gives me vibes of the woman who has it all (money, looks, lifestyle, etc.), but somehow I resist in spraying it on every single day. (Although some of that is necessary as my day job recommends us to not wear heavy perfume.)

Chloe (Original)

I feel like Chloe is Mademoiselle’s younger, lighter floral sister that caters to those who want to channel their inner Cher Horowitz. I turn to this more during the warmer months, and it will be a total experience if I’m wearing it and some creep tries to flirt with me, then I shove him the fuck out and I go “as if!”

Tom Ford – Black Orchid

MY scent for when Autumn has arrived (officially or unofficially) or when I feel like being a vamp or rebel girl. Also goes great when I wear my faux leather jackets.

Estee Lauder – Pleasures

Along with Elizabeth Arden’s Sunflowers and Calvin Klein’s CK-One, Pleasures transports me back to a more almost-carefree time that was the mid 90s. (I say “almost-carefree” because I was on the verge of teenhood then, and my pre-teens years were no blissful walk in a sunny park either.) The gorgeous Liz Hurley (then the face of Estee Lauder, above) in the ads, peak Simpsons on the tube, and there was no such thing as cell phone addiction. *sighs* (Surely not with the bricks that were mobile phones then!)

Gucci – Envy Me

If there’s a perfume that captures the mid to late 2000s for me, it’s Envy Me. I still have the bottle from when it was last sold eons ago, and I still got some left, but that remaining half-ounce is precious commodity. Even a whiff of it takes me back to some fun club-hopping nights, living it up like I was a 2000s-era wild-child starlet a la Lindsay and Britney. Shame that it got discontinued, and while some suggested that Versace’s Bright Crystal is its modern replacement, the vibes (and scent) just aren’t the same.

Dior – J’Adore (vintage editions)

The current version of J’Adore was my jam until I bought an old bottle of it from Mercari on a whim last year. The perfume was from 2003 IIRC, and its smell is far different than its current version. Its floral notes are sweeter, less alcohol-y, and, yes, longer-lasting. Impressive considering that it’s been bottled for now 20 years and it still hits pleasantly. Comparing the old and new versions was where I learned first-hand about perfume reformulation. Why Dior had to change J’Adore’s formula over the years is a head-scratcher to say the least. (That’s not the only dubious move Dior has made, as evident by their, ahem, current face of Sauvage, but that’s another story.) I’ve since bought two more vintage bottles of J’Adore (thanks to the eBay for selling them–albeit in used but very good condition–at very reasonable prices), one of which supposedly came from its debut year in 1999. The smell defines wow. Like with my music, movies, and fashion, in J’Adore’s case, old school is far better than the new school.