Perfumes to Face the Festive Season

Regardless of the cheer all around, the holidays can be tough for many reasons. At The Attic, we've been sharing thoughtful ways we get through it, from embracing time alone to dressing for comfort and perfuming ourselves in strength. Next up, our perfume columnist Mishka Hoosen offers scent suggestions for whatever support you may need this festive, or not so festive season. For more in the series you can read here!

---

Photo by Mishka Hoosen. Perfume images via Fragrantica.

“I’m a firm believer in the power of small, everyday beauty to remind us of who we are, what we value, and what we can strive to be.”

Whatever you’re celebrating (or not), this time of year can be demanding in many ways. Some of us are facing a return to families we have strained relationships with. Others are facing the holidays without the people who mean the most to them. Still, others are celebrating (or saying good riddance) to a busy, sometimes maddening year. But even if you’re about to have the picture-perfect holiday season, it doesn’t hurt to go into it prepared. I’m a firm believer in the power of small, everyday beauty to remind us of who we are, what we value, and what we can strive to be. With this in mind, I’ve put together some suggestions for perfumes you can use to face the festive season. There are perfumes for many moods and needs here, so whether you need olfactory armor to face your politically deranged uncle, or something to envelop you in the smells and comforts of home when you are far from it, I hope these bring you whatever you need, and whatever else the season ahead brings, I hope these bring you joy above all. 

For Courage

I have used particular perfumes as a reminder to be brave many, many times. For me, it was Guerlain’s Mitsouko, which I’ve written about before. Its steady-eyed calm, its quiet majesty, kept my back straight and my head high as I faced a particularly difficult time in my life. If you need something similarly steadying and calm, you can’t go far wrong with a good-quality sandalwood or cedar-based perfume. Tam Dao, by Diptyque, with its deep polish, its air of antique rarities and quiet winter sunlight, is a lovely option for this. If you want to go for something a little fiercer, though, Bull’s Blood, by Imaginary Authors, is one that instantly sparks my most chaotic, brazen tendencies. It’s a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it scent, but God I adore it. Inspired by cigarillo smoke and blood on the dusty streets of Spain, it’s rich and troubling, a swirl of patchouli, rose, tobacco, black musk, and blood accords that glares and sparks. If you’re going to brave a political argument over the dinner table, wear this into battle. I believe in you.

For Comfort

Sometimes, regardless of the actual circumstances we find ourselves in, we need to feel like we’re wrapped up in cashmere beside a roaring fire, cradling a cup of something hot. If you want something to make you feel exactly like that, but with the added bonus of being impossibly chic (think romcom heroine in a Christmas scene), you can’t go far wrong with J’adore, by Dior. Yes, it’s had a reputation as being just a little basic, but honestly that’s because it just doesn’t put a single foot wrong (unless we’re talking about the reformulations). It’s a plush, joyful cashmere cardigan of a fragrance, at once comfortable and flattering. A bouquet of jasmine, rose, musk, and blackberry, it’s luxurious but understated. It’s the graceful smile of the aunt who always breezes in from some glamorous destination, who always gives you exactly the perfect gift, and who somehow also bakes the best cookies. And who wouldn’t want to smell like that?

For Escape

Sometimes, there’s no way through but out. Even if only mentally, these perfumes will help you escape the everyday angst, and lend a breath of stranger, more exciting climes to the usual rituals. For this, I recommend Do Son by Diptyque, for a heady, romantic tumble of tuberose, jasmine, and orange blossom. Inspired by a garden in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, this is like a welcome breeze of warmer climes when you’re feeling a little blue. Conversely, if it’s a bracing, electrifying wind of change you’d like, I heartily recommend Every Storm a Serenade, by Imaginary Authors, which I’ve mentioned before. It’s exactly the right scent for restless walks, unexpected guests, and yearning letters sent across the sea. 

For Coming Home

Whether to your birth or chosen family, or to the place that feels most right, sometimes you need to be surrounded by the smells that feel like home. It may be a little on the nose, but I definitely recommend I’m Home, by LUSH. It’s cosiness bottled, and instantly brings back memories of the houses of dear friends who have taken me into their homes and lives over the years. It’s a warm embrace of cacao pod, vanilla, and benzoin, like walking in from the cold to a roaring fire, the bright laughter of old friends, a splash of rum in your hot chocolate, the warmth of knowing you’re right where you need to be. 

✦

Whichever of these feels right for you, I hope this festive season brings you goodness in whatever form you need it. I hope you take the time to be kind to yourself, to find pleasure and joy in the little things, and that you’re surrounded by the love of what means most to you. Take care, dears, and happy holidays. 

---

Mishka Hoosen is a writer, creative director, and neophyte perfumer living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. His first novel, Call it a difficult night, was published by Deep South Books in 2015, and he is currently working on a book about perfume and the anthropocene thanks to a residency from IFAS. Mishka is The Attic on Eighth’s Perfume Columnist.