Layering - it might be easier than you think.

Some say you mustn't, Calice Becker most memorably said "that's like throwing bricks in the air and hoping they'll come down as a house". With no respect intended, I say, its nothing like that! Fragrances are collections of ephemeral diffusive aromachemicals whose purpose is to titilate our olfactories. I say experiment all you like, it doesn't have to hold a roof up and keep your family dry. It's a light and unimportant thing, it is play. These volatile aromas will interact in mostly predictable, but sometimes surprising and delightful ways. I don't think I'd be much chop at composing a fragrance from scratch, but I do have fun and lots of success in experimenting and riffing on elements of existing "finished" fragrances. Why is layering easier than you might think? In modern perfumes, a very small variety of chemicals make most of the volume of the vast majority of scents available. If you are judicious about your approach and think about the structure and elements of the fragrances you're using, it's hard to go far wrong. And if you do, well you will have learned something. And it's probably not very far to the shower. In your house. Made of bricks.

Here's a few ideas to demystify this game, if you're game! It does seem I'm quite intuitive about fragrance layering, something in a scent will put me in mind of another and I'll get experimental. My instincts are pretty good, and when I analyse it, are guided by a number of underlying strategies.

1. Accentuate

Here I will use a simple fragrance to highlight or emphasise a complex perfume. For example, Annick Goutal's Neroli gives a lovely lift to the opening of L'Heure Bleue parfum, bringing out the lovely orange blossom and imparting a greener edge to the top. One of the more simple violet fragrances like L'Artisan Parfumeur Verte Violette floated over L'Heure Bleue or Après L'Ondée brings a new delight. In a similar way Annick Goutal's Le Chevrefeuille turns Joy into ecstacy giving just a little more tingle and sparkle to the opening. I am lucky to have some luscious body cremes DK Labdanum, No.19 and Diptyque Crème Riche mean I can add buzzy warmth, cool tenacity or rosy incense at will. I have a wonderful collection of essential oils which I add to unscented lotion to accentuate some aspect of the fragrance I intend applying later.

2. Additive indulgence

Here I use fragrances of similar complexity with different nuances to build an overall scent upon my good self. Quirks of my fragrance application are evident in this: some of the scents seem at home on my abdomen, some on arms, some misted over a scarf on my way out. As a fancier of the violet fragrance, this is something I particularly go in for with those. I will also add complex beauties from similar fragrance families, rosy attars harmonising with Amouage Lyric Woman and I adore the effect of Amouage Jasmin attar with Etat Libre d'Orange Jasmin et Cigarette.

3. Counterpoint and Juxtapose

Sometimes I want to ruffle the cool green of Givenchy III with some dirty Kingdom or add the gourmand Angelique Noire to the garden beauty of Annick Goutal's Eau de Camille. Who doesn't love a picnic?

** I do strive to avoid unintentional layering. I wash my clothes and my self in unscented products. Ocean Breeze laundry liquid and AppleBerry shampoo are not going to have a meaningful dialogue with anything in my fragrance wardrobe.