I Have a Degree in English—These Eight Fragrances Remind Me of My Favorite Reads
Photo:
@emmanuellek_
Key Notes: King William pear, freesia, and patchouli
We're starting strong with the book that kick-started my love for 19th century literature. I can't remember a time when Pride and Prejudice didn't cross my mind at least once a day. In some ways, it's my version of TikTok's Roman Empire. Jo Malone's English Pear & Freesia captures the sweetness and familiarity of the English countryside through the eyes of Jane Austen while the addition of bright freesia is all it takes to transport me to the halls of Darcy's Pemberley.
Key Notes: incense, tonka absolute, and ambrette seed
Whether you've somehow fought through the roughly 822 pages of Tolstoy's novel detailing the affair between socialite Anna Karenina and Count Kirillovich Vronsky or have watched the 2012 film adaptation starring Keira Knightley as the titular character, you know just how memorable the story is. Inspired by the scent of rich blooming night florals, a single spritz of Ambrette de Noir always brings to mind the wonder, excitement, and intrigue of a scandalous romance.
Key Notes: white musks, steamed rice accord, mimosa, blonde woods accord
Diptyque's newest intimate perfume is a light and fresh white musk fragrance inspired by paper. According to the brand, "the name of this creation brings together water and paper," immediately reminding me of Woolf's fascination for the power held by paper and pen for the furtherance of womankind. In her famous essay, she explores social injustice and women's lack of free expression, underlining the importance of women having to have money and a room of their own to write fiction.
Key Notes: pomelo, saffron, juniper berry, black violet, blonde woods, vetiver, and raspberry
As a descendant of enslaved West Africans, I was inspired by Beloved to educate myself about the lives of my ancestors. The Toni Morrison novel tells the story of a broken family of formerly enslaved people whose home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Inspired by the ideas of unity and inclusion, Byredo's Black Saffron is as haunting and all-embracing as the award-winning novel.
Key Notes: honey, velvet orchid accord, and vanilla
This Tom Ford fragrance combines sparkling florals with glamorous mystique, the latter of which F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel is rife with. The novel's plot follows the life of young artist Anthony Patch and his flapper wife Gloria Gilbert, whose love for excessive partying leads to their eventual downfall. While we can't travel back in time, using Velvet Orchid brings the heyday of New York's café society back to life (not to mention it's housed in a gorgeous art deco bottle).
Key Notes: muguet, fresh citrus, magnolia, vetiver, sandalwood, woods, and musk
Henry's Rose's criminally underrated woody fragrance shines with notes of muguet, white woods, and vetiver for a scent that, to me, evokes the moors Jane Eyre crosses during her hasty exit from Thornfield Hall after coming face to face with a secret seemingly known to everyone in the country estate but her. This perfume is airy and fresh with a hint of something else… perhaps mystery paired with a haunting past.
Key Notes: French wisteria, watery notes, Bulgarian rose, and imperial jasmine
A romantic and a humorous critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century, A Room With a View opens in Florence, Italy, where a young English woman, Lucy Honeychurch, swaps hotel rooms (and eventually spends time with) George Emerson. Nest New York's ethereal, floral, and youthful Wisteria Blue screams an Edwardian summer spent wandering through the rolling hills of Northern Italy to me.
Key Notes: pepper essence, orange flower petals,
Ian McEwan's Atonement is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel set over three time periods detailing an upper-class girl's mistake in response to a budding romance between her old sister Cecilia and her childhood friend Robbie Turner. Their relationship begins in a library, sparking a chain of tumultuous events. Warm and spicy, Whispers in the Library is exactly what I would imagine Cecilia to be wearing during her post-dinner tryst with Robbie.
Key Notes: pear accord, lily-of-the-valley, rose absolute, white musk, Indian patchouli, and ambrette seeds
Key Notes: verbena, ozone, green lead, lavender, lily, amber, and cade wood
