Lately I've been indulging my penchant for fragrances by buying testers. It's the perfect way to try out scents without the commitment or trip to a department store or boutique. I've found it interesting to try a few scents over the same period of time to play them against each other, tease out their different qualities or similarities, and to pick a favorite or even my next full-bottle purchase.
This round, I sought out scents from two perfumers that are always popping up on cool girls' wishlists and beauty shelves: Byredo's newly released Mojave Ghost and Serge Lutens' Ambre Sultan. Byredo's Ben Gorham takes an approach to developing scents that's exactingly aesthetic and up-to-the-minute but also rooted in nostalgia and dreams. Serge Lutens is a French photography, beauty and perfume creative known for styling for the likes of Vogue and Richard Avedon (also a hero of Riccardo Tisci), and I was inspired to pick Ambre Sultan after my Q&A with The Cut's Editorial Director, Stella Bugbee, who's also scent obsessed.
I expected Mojave Ghost to be a musky, desert-y unisex scent based on the name and description, so I was surprised when I was met with the smell of sweet pear with my first spritz. I have to admit it was more feminine than I thought it would be, and it was so different from what I expected that I was put off. But of course with scents, you have to wait and see. When the tropico-floral top notes settled down, what enveloped me was a lighter, more subtle muskiness that said: refined; pulled-together; womanly; expensive; esoteric; bohemian; intoxicating.
Ambre Sultan I also expected to be musky, mysterious and unisex, and in this case it turned out to be closer to true. Without the floral aspect of Mojave Ghost, it was a straight-ahead but deep and moody take on sandalwood. At first I thought it settled into whiffs of grandpa-cologne territory, but more and more it ended up feeling: feminine; powdery; rich; spicy; far-flung; powerful; soft.
I'm not sure I could choose a favorite between these two as they offer very different and compelling moods. But I have a feeling I'll still be thinking about them both when the testers run out, and then time will tell.
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