I might have expensive taste when it comes to perfume, but Maison Margiela’s cult-loved line of eau de toilettes called Replica is the rare breed of fragrance that smells worthy of a $300 price tag but is actually less than half of that. The cozy, time-and-place-inspired collection features some of the most beloved scents in the industry (ahem, By the Fireplace will always be a classic), but at just $135 a bottle, it’s also one of the most cost-effective ways to smell really, really good without sacrificing your bank account’s well-being. Think about it this way: If you were to give yourself one healthy spritz per day, that breaks down to just 37 cents per wear. I mean, how can you resist that? So as an ode to our love for Replica, we reached out to Maison Margiela HQ for an official ranking of the most popular Replica perfumes to date. Curious to see which bottle is taking home the gold? Keep scrolling! Plus, discover the 12 runners-up you also need on your fradar. (Fragrance plus radar—get it?)
When I was a kid, my grandfather was somewhat of a cigar aficionado—I spent many an afternoon watching him comb the shelves of his favorite cigar shop, searching for rare finds. This probably explains my proclivity for looking for tobacco notes in perfumes, as these notes tend to remind me of a specific moment in time.
Luckily, tobacco notes in fragrance seem to resonate with other people, too. Every time I wear a fragrance with tobacco notes in it, it’s almost guaranteed that someone will ask me to tell them what fragrance I have on. Keep reading for the top ten fragrances that have tobacco notes and what makes them smell so alluring.
Your skin deserves the VIP treatment. When deciding which beauty products to invest in, pausing to consider how your skin may respond to a fragrance may not always be a top priority for all perfume wearers. But for people who have sensitive skin, knowing which fragrances won’t irritate your skin is a game-changer.
While the word “hypoallergenic” is tricky when it comes to perfume (fragrances are known allergens, after all!), there are some perfumes that are better for sensitive, allergy-prone skin than others.
When shopping for perfume, be sure to read the label if you fall on the sensitive side. Try to avoid perfumes that have ingredients such as acetone, linalool, phthalates, and parabens. These ingredients can irritate allergy-prone skin. Take the time to discover perfumes that are safe to use. Believe me—your skin will thank you in the long run! Read on to see the perfumes and brands that are best for allergy-prone, sensitive skin.
Photo: Giorgio Perottino/Getty Images for Fondazione Prada
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Wednesday.
Why Prada is appointing new leadership As announced Tuesday, Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada are appointing Andrea Guerra CEO of Prada Group. The shift comes as Bertelli, aged 76, and Prada, 73, are preparing to pass the reins on to the family’s next generation. (Their son, Lorenzo Bertelli, 34, has taken on an influential role at the company since 2017.) While the younger Bertelli is projected to take over Prada within the next few years, the company plans on first appointing external talent before easing into its new generation. “The market is likely to react positively to the management changes. While Lorenzo Bertelli has been instrumental in some of the initiatives of the group… it would have likely been too early for him to take on the role as group CEO,” says UBS analyst Susy Tibaldi. {Business of Fashion}
Chanel’s Éric Pfrunder has passed away Éric Pfrunder, Chanel‘s director of images for three decades and Karl Lagerfeld‘s close creative partner, passed away on Monday at the age 74. According to his son Jasper, Pfrunder had been suffering from a longtime illness. Throughout his prolific career, Pfrunder and Lagerfeld produced a range of editorial shoots for magazines such as American Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. “Eric was a precious member of the Karl Lagerfeld family, he will be sorely missed and will always be remembered as a crucial part of Karl’s history,” says Pier Paolo Righi, chief executive officer of Karl Lagerfeld. {WWD}
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What’s driving renewed interest in perfume? While scent may not have previously been a priority when getting ready, the past few years have brought about a surge of interest in perfume. The trend is spearheaded by enthusiastic young people on social platforms like Twitter and TikTok, as well as the rise of scent podcasts and even emerging fragrance influencers. “I think a lot of it does have to do with, oddly, the brandification of yourself as an individual. Scent is just the next dimension of how you represent yourself and how you express yourself…” says Tynan Sinks, host of the podcast “Smell Ya Later.” Brands like Fragrantica and Soliani are creating new palettes of unfamiliar scents that cater to every demographic, leading to this renewed interest in personalized scents. {Nylon}
I’m not sure when, where, or why, but somewhere along the line, perfume gift sets began to accumulate a bum rap in terms of their giftability. Deeming them cliché, cheesy, or lazy, some people seem to think perfume sets, and fragrances in general, are an easy way out—thoughtless, they might say. However, we very much beg to differ.
First, wearing and choosing a fragrance is one of the most intimate and personalized ways to adorn and express yourself, and thus, gifting a fragrance, if some thought is put forward as to who your giftee is, is highly personal. So there’s that. Second, we don’t know about you, but perfume is one of those random categories of beauty we don’t necessarily splurge on for ourselves. A mascara that we’ll wear every day? Of course. A serum that claims to give us baby angel skin? Why not? But an expensive scent we may only wear on special occasions or when we’re feeling a certain way? Eek, immediate balk. Thus, gifting a loved one a beautiful, high-quality perfume set is a great way to show your love and appreciation for them, and we have a hunch it will make them feel downright special.
To lend a helping hand as people who receive, test, sniff, and sort all the best fragrances for a living, we’re featuring 25 of the best perfume gift sets we’d personally love to receive this season. From warm and spicy to fresh and clean to a little bit of everything, we’ve got your back. Keep scrolling!
One thing the internet isn’t short of during the holiday season is gift guides. Gifts for your boyfriend, your dad, your sister, your best friend, your cat…there’s a list out there just waiting to be read.
However, there is one fatal flaw in ultimate gift-giving lists on the internet: you become basic. Somehow, every website catches on to the trendiest gift of the year and everyone buys it for everyone.
Scrolling through social media can be equally as taxing because you may get the same recommendation four times in a row. Plus, who even knows what influencer is being paid to say they love a product when in reality it sucks?
I’m recently feeling a bit scorned by TikTokers who convinced me to buy a few products from Haus Labs that lacked in all areas. But I can’t just blame the TikTokers–the five star rating on Sephora also fooled me. So, I’m feeling a bit wary about what to buy and who to trust.
Luckily, because I buy into so many trends, I’m no stranger to disappointment from social media recs. Some call me silly, I call it a necessary experiment. Why wouldn’t I try products that make others feel beautiful? I want a share of their elation.
If you’re looking to get someone in your life a gift that is social media approved, you’ve come to the right place. I am an unashamed consumer who has bought into many TikTok trending products. And now look, you’ll have a great gift as a result. Dare I say you’re welcome?
Without further ado, here are my favorite social media-inspired gifts for the TikToker in all of us:
Makeup
Essentially anything from Sephora has gone viral at this rate. Makeup brands are actively competing to release the newest product that will be featured on any influencer’s TikTok.
There are quite a few brands that truly live up to the hype from TikTok. Look for these brands and viral products when you go to the store next:
Charlotte Tilbury
Kosas
Makeup By Mario
Hourglass
Hair
I love haircare products for gifts because no one talks about how expensive healthy hair can be. For the HairTok lover, try out these brands that make a serious difference.
Color Wow
Kerastase
amika
OUAI
Fragrance
PerfumeTok has blown up recently. I’m constantly seeing dupes and reviews on my FYP which has made me put more of an emphasis on what perfume I’m wearing. A scent is a great gift for everyone, so why not one of these viral ones?
You can never go wrong with a trendy gift inspired by TikTok That is, if you know where to look. Don’t waste your time sifting through influencer advertisements and just come straight to me–the self-proclaimed professional. go straight to me…the self-proclaimed professional.
All products featured are independently selected by our editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.
We love all things beauty here at Who What Wear, but if there’s anything we love above all, it’s fragrance. We could talk about fragrance for hours on end and would not get sick of it. We’re constantly Slacking about new fragrance launches, our favorite perfumes of all time, and how a certain scent smells on our body chemistry. It’s truly a lifestyle.
I personally use fragrance as a way to enhance however I feel that day. When I first started wearing perfume, I wanted to find a signature scent or something I could wear every day that would remind people of me. (Funnily enough, I chose Tom Ford Black Orchid, which you’ll find on this list.) As I got older, I realized that fragrance could be more than something someone remembers about you. Fragrance can be a form of self-expression—the perfect finishing touch to an outfit, a way to evoke an old memory or a way to match how you feel.
Senior beauty editor Erin Jahns feels the same way about fragrance that I do. We set some time aside to decide definitively what we think the best fragrances of all time are. Don’t worry—we’ll still Slack back and forth about perfume, but now we have a guide to reference as a starting point.
Of all the psychological benefits beauty products can provide — from a gorgeous lipstick that affirms one’s gender identity to a go-to curl cream that helps improve both a bad hair day and confidence levels — fragrance has always struck me as one of the most influential. A beauty nerd by trade, I’ve amassed quite the elaborate (some might say obsessive) collection of scents that I treat not dissimilarly from my clothing wardrobe, choosing which notes best convey how I’m feeling on a given day. Even if your fragrance wardrobe isn’t as extensive as mine, the practice of selecting a perfume based on mood isn’t that uncommon.
As fragrance brands strive to develop products that can attract consumers in a very crowded marketplace, incorporating more advanced aromachology (the study of the connection between odors and human behavior and emotions) into new formulas is becoming increasingly popular. That’s why I was eager to see how The Nue Co.‘s latest release, Water Therapy, compared to its previous three “functional” fragrance options, and whether it would elicit a different emotional response.
But first: How exactly does fragrance have an effect on mood? Memory, emotion and scent are all closely linked, according to Venkatesh Murthy, Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard. During a 2020 panel discussion titled, “Olfaction in Science and Society,” he explained that odors travel through the limbic system, the part of the brain involved with emotion, memory, and behavior. That’s why many of us have scents that precipitate a memory or two, like smelling an ex-partner’s shampoo in a crowded elevator, or the way a restaurant’s new dish can take you back to cooking at your grandmother’s house as a kid. Complex feelings like heartbreak, happiness and love can get tangled up in these moments of olfactory interaction.
Photo: Courtesy of The Nue Co.
As for designing a perfume that will trigger a specific emotion, it’s first crucial to understand the link between scent notes and cognitive response. When developing her first scent for The Nue. Co, called Functional Fragrance, founder Jules Miller looked to the Geneva Emotion and Odor Scale (GEOS) which was “developed to measure the subjective affective experience elicited by everyday odors.”
Whereas earlier scent studies often asked participants to select emotions from a list of 22-480 possible options (like fear, anger, sadness, pride, love, desire and more), the GEOS utilizes 36 representative terms within six groupings: Sensuality, Relaxation, Pleasant, Refreshment, Sensory pleasure and Unpleasant feeling. In other words, the nuanced manner of attributing scent with emotional response is becoming easier to navigate with tools like this study, and that, in turn, equates to more advanced perfumes for aromachology buffs.
Water Therapy, The Nue Co.’s newest release, is inspired by so-called “blue medicine,” or the “belief that water positively impacts our mental health with its relaxing, stress-relieving benefits,” per the brand. The scent uses olfactory technology to simulate the feeling of being surrounded by water. With calming notes of seaweed, cardamom, vetiver, sandalwood, salt, and rose, it is designed to soothe tension, balance mood and reduce stress — all things the average New Yorker like myself could benefit from on a daily basis.
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If, like me, you categorize the ocean, a pool, or really any body of water that you can lazily flop into as a happy place, you’ll absolutely feel drawn to Water Therapy. I’d equate it to that crisp, earthy smell after it rains on a cold spring morning when you know a lake is nearby — all soothing elements that I’d swear can lower my blood pressure.
Photo: Courtesy of The Nue Co.
I’ve gotten to try out this new scent and, compared with my experience using a previous perfume from the brand, Mind Energy — which is designed to increase focus and boost brain function — Water Therapy definitely makes me feel more inclined to slow down and chill. Whereas the former is my fragrance of choice on mornings when my iCal is scheduled down to the minute and multiple deadlines are looming, the latter is for when I can finally close my laptop and exit the solitude of my workspace to enjoy a meal with close friends. It’s languid and gentle, and I find that I’m constantly bringing my wrist to my nose to inhale the scent, which I’ve found honestly only gets better as my skin heats up throughout the day.
Only time will tell if The Nue Co.’s latest release will lower my stress levels and help me relax in the long term, but I’m definitely going to enjoy working my way through the vivid azure bottle to find out.
Please note: Occasionally, we use affiliate links on our site. This in no way affects our editorial decision-making.
Ashley Benson is officially getting into beauty. And she’s doing so via a route plenty of celebrities have taken before: On Tuesday, the actor introduced ASH by Ashley Benson, an eponymous fragrance brand that also marks her first-ever solo business venture. (She had previously co-founded sunglasses label Privé Revaux in 2017 and craft spirits brand Thomas Ashbourne earlier this year.)
ASH by Ashley Benson’s debut range includes two scents, with additional fragrances set to launch in 2023. There’s East 12th, a rose-and-cedar blend inspired by New York City’s East Village, and The Eighth, a mix of bergamot, musk and cashmere wood inspired by Paris’ Eighth Arrondissement.
Photo: Courtesy of ASH by Ashley Benson
According to Benson, scent has played an important role in her life. As she tells Fashionista, it was her grandmother who first got her interested in personal fragrance at a young age. Then, in adulthood, Benson began to experiment with mixing and layering different perfumes on her own. “All my friends and people I worked with would ask me what I was wearing,” she says. “They would say that I’d leave this scent every time I walk into the room, or whenever I left my jacket on set or something. I never told anybody [what I was wearing], though, because I didn’t want anyone to steal my formula.”
This passion for scents, combined with Benson’s love of world travel, serves as the basis for the brand. Benson was visiting Morocco three years ago when the idea to create a fragrance brand first struck her, she tells Fashionista.
“I went Morocco on vacation and I happened to go to a fragrance merchant there in Marrakesh,” she recalls, noting that she bonded with the merchant for hours. “That’s when I first started to smell all kinds of different notes, and I actually created my own scent there for the first time. Literally two months after that, I got a call about doing a fragrance line, and I immediately said yes.”
In a span of 21 months, during which the fragrances went through more than 60 rounds of product testing, Benson reimagined some of the scents she had encountered during that trip to Morocco — and yet the resulting eaus harken to New York and Paris instead.
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“I just want people to feel confident and in their own element while wearing this perfume and knowing that they can afford it,” she says. “I want people to wear these perfumes and remember where they were when they wore them. Fragrance, in general, is a very personal thing to put out there, and I’m happy I got to tell my story within it.”
Benson has dubbed The Eighth her personal favorite because it “takes me back to all the memories I’ve had in Paris,” she says, citing frequent stays at Hotel Costes. The color of the fragrance bottle is actually based on the French hotspot’s black lacquered walls and red velvet couches. “Every time I’m in Paris, it just brings me back to the energy there. It’s sexy, it’s intimate and it’s very much my vibe, so I wanted to reflect that in this scent.”
Photo: Courtesy of ASH by Ashley Benson
East 12th, Benson’s other inaugural perfume, references New York City, which the Los Angeles native has called home for the last six years. “I felt kind of thrown into the city, especially without really knowing the ins and outs of it,” she remembers of the time when she first arrived. “I didn’t really have a lot of friends when I moved here, either, so I spent a lot of time to myself exploring the city and finding who I am as an adult going into my 30s. Obviously, you’re so different in your early 20s, and I think it was really necessary for me to do. I feel very much in my element here and in every facet creatively, I thrive here more than I do in L.A.”
When asked to pair each scent with one of her on-screen characters, Benson assigns The Eighth to Hanna Marin from Freeform’s “Pretty Little Liars,” but adds that she’d probably wear both of them. As for East 12th? “I feel like [it] would definitely be Brit from ‘Spring Breakers,’” says Benson. “I also just finished an upcoming Amazon Prime Video series, and the character reminds me of her. She’s just very elegant and stylish and kind of gives me off more of a European vibe, so I think that character would be The Eighth, too.”
ASH by Ashley Benson fragrances will retail for $79 (for the 50mL bottles) and $25 (for the 8mL bottles). They are available Tuesday on ASHbyAshleyBenson.com, and will launch on Scentbird’s direct-to-consumer fragrance subscription platform on Thursday, Nov. 17.
I’m not going to call anyone out, but I will say there are a handful of people in my inner circle who make holiday shopping stressful—not because they’re difficult people but because they have irritatingly great taste. In years past, I’ve had more gifting-related breakdowns in shopping malls than I care to admit, all in a quest to find the perfect presents for the people who matter most to me.
I pride myself on my gift-giving abilities, so the stressful process is always worth the joy that comes on the other end. But this year, I’ve decided to put my sanity first and change up my shopping approach. What’s my strategy? I’ll be focusing on the one thing all my people have in common: really good style. The only thing missing from their near-perfect ensembles is a fragrance to pull it all together. The good news is Sephora‘s expertly curated selection of scents makes it surprisingly easy to find exactly what you’re looking for in a pinch—even for the most challenging people on your list. Keep scrolling for nine standout fragrances that would make exceptionally good presents for anyone with impeccable taste. (Even the bottles are just as chic as they smell.)
Newsweek magazine has teamed up with Statista to conduct the research. The most promising online shops were selected based on their growth potential and future prospects. MAXAROMA.com was ranked #1
Press Release –
Oct 25, 2022 09:00 EDT
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y., October 25, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Newsweek and Statista ranked 1,000 stores across 39 categories in eight different groups. With almost 100 stores, Fashion (Single-Brand) is the largest fashion retailing sector. MAXAROMA scored the highest among all the websites looked at for Health and Beauty.
Passion for perfume and Niche Fragrances, exceptional customer experience, Building a Community, Transparent, and Education. These are just some of the aspects of MaxAroma that set us apart from the rest of our competitors in the e-commerce space.
They are not just an e-commerce platform, but a community of fragrance lovers and collectors. Our luxury marketplace is about discovering new scents, finding a perfume that’s perfect for you, and building a lifetime experience.
MAXAROMA is a family-owned business started in 2011 out of a love for fragrances. The founders grew up in a house where scents were always used. After four years of offering products on different platforms, MAXAROMA was launched in 2016. Their main focus is providing the best customer experience from day one. The priority has always been delivering fast, easy returns and working with artisan niche companies.
Since 2016, the company has been educating itself about e-commerce and consulting with various fragrance brands and industry leaders to create a platform for a better user experience. Partnering with more than 50 perfume houses and building a strong online presence.
The retailer offers fast shipping because it’s important for customers to receive their items in less than three business days. To meet this objective, free Two Day shipping (MAX2DAY) has been offered on many products since 2020.
MAXAROMA Fragrance Collection has grown significantly, with over 130 Different Brands.
Methodology
The Best American Online Shops were identified after passing tests based on 51 criteria.
More than 9,500 online stores were identified through various sources, including Statista, online directory sites, and price comparison websites. Those who had the highest number of US visitors in 2020-2022 were evaluated further. We focused our research on companies that sell products online, including subscription-based services and C2C marketplaces (such as eBay). Shops were classified by their main offerings into 39 categories. After passing an initial screen, candidates were evaluated using 41 objective criteria and 10 subjective criteria on seven dimensions: structural and usability, user experience, customer service, payment, purchasing and delivery, technical functionality, and the likelihood of buying. A survey of approximately 6,000 American online shoppers was done to determine whether they were satisfied with their shopping experience at different websites. A sub-score for each category was then computed, and a final score out of 10 was assigned to each store. You can download the complete methodology here.
Lucky for us, you don’t have to book a trip across the pond to get your hands on a bottle. The 1.6-ounce size is available on Amazon for a very doable $26, which officially makes it the most affordable scent in our arsenal of French fragrance staples. What, exactly does the oil smell like, and why is it so special? Well, it has multitasking powers, for one. As a dry oil, it’s supremely hydrating, but it’s light enough to be used anywhere on the body—try it on your strands to make your next slicked-back style a snap.
Even though it soaks into the skin and leaves behind a noticeable satiny glow, it’s the opposite of greasy, and you’re also left with that now-famous scent featuring delicate notes of orange blossom, magnolia, and vanilla. Last but not least, there’s the 98% natural origin of the oil’s trademark ingredients. Seven precious botanical oils (tsubaki, argan, macadamia, borage, camelia, hazelnut, and sweet almond) team up to deliver an impressive host of benefits, such as anti-pollution protection, antioxidant-induced brightness, diminished stretch marks, and long-lasting moisture. Obviously, we’re buying about 10 bottles. Click below to get your own bottle and then keep scrolling to discover more best-selling French favorites from Nuxe and the other French pharmacy gems our editors go wild for.
