Fragrances of the Week
• Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud
• Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood
• Bath & Body Works Viva Vanilla
• Body Sprays: Lattafa Asad, Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood, Bath & Body Works Floral Fantasy, Bath & Body Works Wild Vanilla
• Body Wash: Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’mores
• Shampoo: Personal Care Coconut Vanilla
My theme for the week was “Autumn Woods.” It’s so hard to keep in the spirit of the season when the weather is still giving me Summer at 80º, but I tried! I think the mix was pretty woodsy, sometimes overly so.
Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood is just classic woods. It so nice and cozy, but not as warm as others. It is perfect for a woodsy feel in unpredictable weather. It would have worked just as well on a cool fall day as a warm one. I did find layering the cologne and the cologne mist to be unnecessary. They didn’t really add anything to one another, so unless I needed a refresh midday, they were better in combination with other things.
Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud is similarly woodsy, but warmer with its vanilla base. I reached for it more than anything else during the week because I really enjoy the balance it has. I enjoy a traditionally “masculine” fragrance, but I find it limiting to only wear things marketing as such. Intense Oud lands in a very unisex place and for that reason is perfect for layering to pull out the desired effect.
Bath & Body Works Viva Vanilla was a let down. I hadn’t used it before, but had purchased the eau de parfum after trying the fine fragrance mist. It was pleasant enough, but not strong at all and after a short time, non existent. The mist works at that strength, but I expect more from an EDP. Again, it was fine, but that’s about it.
This week I used Lattafa Asad deodorant spray. I have in the past paired that with Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud and got a strong ashtray scent that was very off-putting, so knowing that might happen I waited for the Asad to dry down a bit before applying the fragrance and that solved the problem. That’s good to know; I was worried about bringing the foul odor back, but apparently it is avoidable. This week the two worked well together, giving fallen leaves in a damp forest.
To get the “Autumn Woods” result I wanted, I relied on three fragrance mists to be layered on top of everything. Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood leaned into the masculine woods, Bath & Body Works Floral Fantasy leaned into the floral & feminine, while Bath & Body Works Wild Vanilla sweetened things up if needed. Wild Vanilla is made for layering, and I think it added just enough sweet tropical notes to take the vibe from temperate forest to tropical jungle, but without overpowering anything. Floral Fantasy kept us temperate, and I wore it a few times during the week on its own. It’s not my absolute favorite of the Everyday Luxuries line, but it is very pleasant. Floral without being too floral, and it stayed present for a long time.
For Justin this week, I was going for spicy dessert. While his body mists worked well for that, my insistence on always giving him masculine scents meant that it was hard to lean into gourmand. When I didn’t realize what he was wearing on one day, I thought he had achieved something that smelled like sunscreen. In the summer, I like that accord, but I was confused by it. That was the Old Spice. My brain sorted it back into the bin it belongs in once I knew, but that was a strange thing. Old Spice is nice though, as was Modern Gentleman. I do think I need to lean more into fun stuff for Justin. He actually likes a lot more, especially gourmand stuff. He also really likes masculine scents, but refers to them as “grandpa colognes,” so I’m not sure he loves them entirely. He might just be responding to the nostalgia, which I understand. I have a visceral reaction to Coty’s Aspen, but only because Dad used it when I was a kid. In slightly different combinations, those notes do nothing for me. I’ll try amping up the fun for Justin and we’ll see how that goes!