Judge and compare. It’s what we do. We don’t plan it and most of the time we don’t want to, but it’s inevitable. Rigged in our brains as a weird symbiotic means of survival that can most likely be attributed to prehistoric days of hunting and gathering we check out the competition in order to stay ahead of the game. So it can be hard when your mom continually harps on you to be more like your demure cousin or your bae wants you to up the ante in the bedroom after 10 hours of gruelling work at the office. And maybe, the culprit is yourself, you know, like when you pit your daily outfits against your co-workers red-soled shoes and chic ensembles. Well, you can’t change who you are and you shouldn’t. Because you’re pretty great as is. But you can have a little fun (and reprieve from your mom) by adopting aspects of each coveted lady with a spritz of perfume.
Yves Saint Laurent, Mon Paris Parfum Floral EDP
Oh to be the happy, peaceful, confidently elegant woman you see each week browsing the magazine racks at Indigo, her New York Timesand Globe and Mailin hand, hair perfectly smoothed back into a pony as her two carat diamond sparkles in the light. You covert her and simultaneously loathe her easy perfection. And yet, when you spritz on the spiced flower petals and sunshine of this eau it instantly transports you into a state of elegant confidence yourself.
Yves Saint Laurent, Mon Paris Parfum Floral EDP, $165 for 90 ml, available at Hudson’s Bay.
Lise Watier, Watier EDP
You can put down the pearls and cardigans when youpick up this fresh and vibrant scent. Sure, it has good girl written all over it and why not. That’s not a bad thing. Especially when you’re having Sunday dinner at mom’s house.The parfum’s gorgeous blend of jasmine and Turkish rose combined with warm vanilla bourbon, soft sandalwood and barely-there musk will have mom asking you to pass the gravy instead of lamenting about how you should be more like cousin Susie.
Lisa Watier Watier EDP, $85 for 50 ml and $115 for 100 ml, $28, available at Hudson’s Bay.
Prada, Candy Night EDP
Look, feel and smell just as fashionably put together as your colleague in the next cubicle, even if you are wearing skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Warm and sweet with notes of chocolate, tonka bean and musk, swirled into bright bitter orange, vivid iris and spicy patchouli scream haute couture like no other. Because after all, when the devil really does wear Prada you can be both efficient and chic at the office—all at the same time.
Prada Candy Night EDP, $94 for 30 ml, available at Sephora.
Jean Paul Gautier, Cabaret Classique EDP
You’re fun and always up for a good time just so long as it includes sweatpants, Netflix and Uber Eats. Still, on those rare occasions when you opt for a girls’ night out (even if it is on your friend’s couch) you can feel the party-girl part with a dousing of good-time designer Jean Paul Gautier’s glittering limited edition scent. Energetic ginger, gooey marshmellow orange blossom and succulent vanilla and sexy ambergris will have your reminiscing about your wild days or even, acting on them and both are excellent options.
Jean Paul Gautier, Cabaret Classique EDP, $145 for 100 ml available at Hudson’s Bay.
Yves Saint Laurent, Black Opium Intense EDP
Take charge of date night so you can get the zzzs you need every other evening. When you spritz on this fabulously decadent scent you can kick the words, “honey, I have a headache” to the curb, making your bae and you very happy. Replete with a seductive elixir of berries, jasmine, orange blossom and black coffee that are mix-mastered into heady vanilla, liquorice and sandalwood will leave you (and the one you’re with) scent-ually satisfied.
Yves Saint Laurent, Black Opium Intense EDP, $64 for 90 ml, available at Hudson’s Bay.
