Finding a Scent that Suits You
We chatted with renowned fragrance expert Robert Gerstner about finding your signature scent, just in time for your wedding day.
Senses are immediately hit with a delicious potpourri of sandalwood, jasmine and patchouli notes upon walking into Aedes de Venustas, a charming parfumerie-slash-jewel box nestled on Christopher Street just a few doors down from the iconic Stonewall Inn in New York City. Tiny vials of artisanal fragrances line the walls, gift-wrapped in velvet and vintage glass. Cult favorites such as Comme des Garçons, Diptyque and Alexa Rodulfo are tucked away in curiosity cabinets, while dim lighting from an oversize chandelier glints off of the glass.
Robert Gerstner and his partner Carl Bradl have owned the boutique for 17 years and their reputation has led them to become the States’ darlings of the perfume industry. Any outside brand that has the desire to launch in the U.S. seeks their stamp of approval, which has an extremely high value on where a fragrance opens in the market. “We’re very critical of what we decide to bring on,” says Gerstner, who has curated artful alchemy from master perfume houses spanning centuries. (A citrus-based perfume-turned-cologne made for Catherine de Medici when she married Henry II is still hand-formulated in Florence and rests on their shelves.)
And every scent has a story. Notable parfumeur Arquiste’s Fleur de Louis was inspired by the historical 17th-century peace meeting between the French and Spanish royal courts, converging at a pavilion on the countries’ border built from freshly cut pine and cedar wood. From the French side, the aroma of rose and jasmine wafted in the breeze. “This would be a great white floral wedding scent!” exclaims Gerstner. As I breathe deep, I recognize the floral with a barely there woody note. According to Gerstner, classic brides repeatedly reach for Carnal Flower by Dominique Ropion, which ended up being my favorite fragrance. “It’s one of his purest and richest concentrations,” he explains. “Nearly 200,000 flowers, hand-picked at a particular time of the day, makes just one liter.” The seductive scent is nothing short of heavenly, and the image of a beautiful bride walking down a gardenia-flanked aisle toward her soon-to-be-wife instantly flashes into my mind.
His clear passion for perfume is as strong as the pepper note in Odin’s Tanoke Eau de Parfum. “It takes 20 seconds when we first see someone to decide whether we like this person or not. But it takes us only 15 seconds for our nose and our brain to instantly make a decision,” he says exuberantly. “There’s a saying in both German and French if you don’t like someone you literally say, ‘I can’t smell them.’”
| 5 Steps to Finding Your Signature Scent:
Know the location and the season you will be getting married. “Weather does make a difference. If it’s cold and dry in the winter your body chemistry is different, as opposed to the hot, humid summer,” says Gerstner. Have an idea of what you gravitate toward. Typical families to choose from are floral, citrusy, green, spicy (traditionally called “masculine”) or clean/fresh. Smell up to eight fragrances on cardboard or paper sticks. “After that our noses are overloaded and we can’t really distinguish anymore,” explains Gerstner. If you are drawn to any of the eight, spritz it on your skin, which, according to Gerstner, is crucial. “You have to smell it with your body chemistry. It can be completely different than what you smell on the paper.” Skin types make a difference, as well. “Take jasmine for example. Someone with very fair skin and someone with very dark skin—two completely different outcomes because of the thickness of the skin,” he says. “And I wouldn’t necessarily show someone with very fair skin a spicy scent.” Because fragrances are built in a pyramid shape, the smell you spritz on isn’t the one that is going to last. “First you have your top notes, those are the first things you smell and, after about 15 minutes, they tone down. Then the heart notes come up. They are usually around for an hour or so. And then the bottom notes come up and, depending on the concentration, that is the smell that should be around for the remainder of the day,” Gerstner explains. Before purchasing a fragrance, spend the day running errands after spritzing a sample and take a whiff every so often to see how it has resonated with your body. “People can really find out what works for them and they come back and say they either need another round or, ‘This is the one.’” |
The art of perfume is a dying breed, with every designer and celebrity having a namesake scent filled with synthetic materials. “There are only a few mass market brands out there that have legitimacy. One is Chanel, clearly, the other is Hermès … yeah, that’s basically it,” he scoffs.
“Everything else is just licensing products and making money. Sure, Obsession by Calvin Klein was a huge success, but it has nothing to do with this,” he notes, pointing to one of the many rare European brands concocted through Old World ways.
Smell is deeply linked with memory, and so it makes sense to wear a fragrance that speaks to you on a personal level and finding that signature scent is a journey, whether it’s for something as fleeting as the summer season or as important as your wedding day. “It’s extremely personal and intimate. We want to take the time. For some people this could be the scent they wear for the next ten years.”
Wanting to bring that personal interaction with those outside of the city limits, they invented a sample service twelve years ago during which they help a customer narrow down to seven or eight fragrances and then send samples of each at no charge (the customer only has to pay $15 for shipping and handling). “It’s crucial that they try it out on their skin, so this way, they can basically do the same process at-home that we do in the store.”
“Every fragrance is so unique in character, in signature. It’s all about your taste, what you like and your personality.”
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As the queen of fragrance Coco Chanel once eloquently stated, “A woman should wear perfume wherever she wants to be kissed.” Considering a bottle of her iconic scent, Chanel No. 5, sells every 90 seconds, even after nearly a hundred years on the market, we’re going to take her word for it.
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