Sex and perfume have gone together since the first cavemen smeared deer musk under his armpits and came home to his cave dreamgirl and he didn't have to club her over the head and drag her off with him - she grabbed his hand and led the way.
Cleopatra seduced with her perfume, according to the stories.
What does make up a sexy perfume, one that gives a hint that you might be down later or at least you'd like to have a play made for you.
The normal sexy perfumes are going to be ones with animalic or indolic notes - musk, ambergris, civet, jasmine, tuberose, gardenia - as well as cumin, which is just sweaty sexy. Vanilla ranks up there too; it's comforting and has a warm embrace that is sensuous if it doesn't get overlaid with too much sugar. Vanilla in a perfume whispers sex instead of shouts.
When I did a search on the internet for sex and perfume or sexy perfumes, some of the results that came up were, um, a little out there. Tommy Girl? Not unless someone has a clean laundry fetish. DKNY Be Delicious? Sex with fruit? Seriously, if the list was published by any magazine, just skip it, it's almost useless, with the exception of one or two "real" perfumes thrown on the list that should be there, the rest are magazine advertisers. Don't believe me? Go smell DKNY Be Delicious, any of them, then report back.
It's not always the animalic perfumes that are sexy perfumes. If a certain smell makes you feel amorous, then that's your sexy perfume. If you feel beautiful and sensual and lusty, it doesn't matter if it's Pink Sugar or Chanel No. 5, that's the one that is going to work for you.
So while there's no clear-cut right answer for everyone, a few of the sexy perfumes for women that most people would agree on:
- Narciso Rodriguez for Her or Him (the oil is amazing)
- Penhaligon's Amaranthine (smut, smut and more smut)
- Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur (sweet musky smut) unisex
- Bal a Versailles (has been noted to smell post-coital)
- Tom Ford Black Orchid - not for me, but it seems to be a crowd pleaser. Who am I to judge?
- Gucci EDP - orange blossom, a little bitter, dredging down to amber and musk (in the clear, heavy, square bottle with brown liquid)
- Frederic Malle Carnal Flower - green, lush tuberose (I say definitely unisex)
- Serge Lutens a La Nuit - beautiful, lilting, narcotic jasmine
- Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely - really great use of musk in a restrained way
- Hermes Eau des Merveilles - ambergris, that is all. If you want to gourmand it up a little, do Elixir des Merveilles. (unisex)
- Guerlain Jicky - all business on top, nothing but smut under (unisex)
- CB I Hate Perfume Cradle of Light - slutty mash-up of musk and indolic jasmine that, yes, is really feral and also incredibly beautiful
- Alexander McQueen Kingdom - cumin, sweaty sex (unisex)
There are more, but you really should discover them yourself, because what puts the sex in perfume for one man or woman is someone else's no-sexy perfume. Oh, sexy fragrance for men? The unisex ones above! But mostly just smell great, and women think woods and spice, together or separate, smell great, like Chanel Egoiste or Ormonde Jayne Isfarkand, Guerlain L'instant Homme Extreme, Creed Aventus, Thierry Mugler A*Men Coffee, Dior Bois d'Argent or Pure Havane. You know, anything but Axe.