Paired fragrances for her and for him, after many years of disgrace, have again become relevant. True, despite the common name, bottle design and advertising campaigns, the characters of these perfumes are often radically different.
Have you ever met a married couple who would buy exclusively perfume duets for themselves and decide every morning under what common aroma name they will spend their day? If such families exist, they do so more out of mischief than in the name of unity and harmony. Although, judging by the commercials, paired fragrances are aimed precisely at this, carrying a certain general idea, message, memory, mood. In other words, they seek to bring couples together.
Marketers give perfumers specific tasks, such as expressing the unforgettable moment of the first meeting, as in Lacoste Timeless. Or urge us not to hide tender feelings with the help of United Dreams Together, United Colors of Benetton. The Wanted men’s and women’s perfumes celebrate explosive and reckless relationships. And the new couple Tiffany&Love is love in all its gender manifestations. The most intriguing message comes from the new perfumes In Love With You Freeze for her and Stronger With You Freeze for him by Giorgio Armani.
Accompanying this launch will be an advertising campaign in which lovers “freeze” a moment of happiness so that it lasts forever. But even if the eyes are thrilled by beautiful words and shots, and the ears by the soulful melody of the soundtrack, the last word still belongs to the noses. Moreover, in the case of paired fragrances, both feminine and masculine.
“For a long time on TV they played an advertising promo for fragrances, where a couple in love splashes in a fountain, escaping from the summer heat in an unfamiliar city,” says 26-year-old Anastasia. “It was so similar to our recent adventure while traveling in Europe that, inspired, we decided to go and buy ourselves these perfumes as a memory of that moment. But, bringing the blotter to his nose, my young man grimaced, saying: “There is no summer and no fountain here.” And he asked me not to buy the female version, even though it was not bad, saying: “I don’t want you to smell of our distorted romance.” Although I’m sure if I came perfumed with these perfumes, he would approve.
Apparently, due to such inconsistencies in the minds, paired fragrances went out of fashion for a long time. The peak of their popularity was in the 1990s, when the legendary duets L’Eau Par Kenzo and L’Eau D’Issey came out. Then there was a moment of general insanity on water unisex compositions. And these couples are on trend. Seeing such success, other brands followed suit.
Many even began to add gender partners to existing hits. This is how men’s versions appeared at Dune, Dior; Opium, Yves Saint Laurent; Eau De Lancome and others. But these “companions” did not enter the history.
In the mid-2000s, the fashion for paired fragrances subsided. The period of various versions has come. Therefore, male compositions needed their own, separate names, and female ones – their own. Now, the perfume world has expanded so much that there is enough space for everyone: independent launches, their flankers, niche ones, eco-friendly ones, and, of course, paired compositions.
It is especially interesting to get acquainted with the latter. Not only to choose a fragrance for yourself or as a gift, but also to understand what kind of partner the world’s best noses represent next to you. Agree with their opinion or not – decide for yourself.
Latest innovations in pair perfumery
Boss The Scent Absolute. Created by perfumer Louise Turner, the women’s version opens with notes of honeyed peach, which are soon joined by the fragrance of coffee beans. The composition is completed by vetiver and vanilla. The masculine Boss the Scent Absolute was created by Bruno Jovanovich, who claims that the mondia root and maninka fruit accords he uses are aphrodisiacs. It remains only to check it in action.
At the “good girl” – Good Girl fragrance, Carolina Herrera, a friend appeared – Bad Boy. The name is not accidental; because it is known that good girls like to choose bad guys. True, the newcomer’s composition does not at all correspond to its name and the motto “It’s good to be bad!”
Quite classic and solid, this perfume was created by perfumers Quentin Bisch and Louise Turner. The composition belongs to the oriental-spicy group and sounds with notes of green bergamot, pepper, sage and tonka bean. The massive and weighty flask-lightning embodies the heroism and strength of the main character.
Beautiful in execution and concept duet Tiffany&Love in boxes of the iconic turquoise color cannot but attract attention. Key words for perfumers were: tradition, America, blue, unobtrusive sexuality. And, of course, love. The United States and Tiffany’s traditional turquoise color are personified in both fragrances by notes of blue sequoia. The rest of the wishes of the perfumers in each fragrance reflected in their own way.
The male composition was created by Nicolas Beaulieu and Sophie Labbe. They managed to put together a special chord, “marrying” cypress to cardamom, and thereby fulfilling the order of the personification of love. The blue color for Tiffany is also embodied here in juniper, which has just such berries. And ginger, sandalwood and mandarin are responsible for unobtrusive sexuality.
Women’s Tiffany & Love – the creation of Honorine Blanc and Marie Salamagne – opens with a blue basil accord, which was bred on the plantations of Kenya specifically for this perfume. A song of love from neroli sounds in the heart. And the mentioned American sequoia became the base. As you can see, the brand’s mandate is fully fulfilled!
United Dreams Together, United Colors of Benettonand bursts with positive energy. The masculine version opens with citrusy notes of bergamot and mandarin, transitioning into chords of lavender, velvety geranium and fragrant thyme. The female “half” is bergamot, currant, peach, magnolia, rose and jasmine.
The already mentioned pair by Emporio Armani promises not only to freeze your love forever, but also to please the sense of smell right now. Girls are offered a fruity-floral mix of notes of bergamot, cherry, pear, mandarin, jasmine, peony and lily of the valley. For young people, a citrus-woody-fougère fragrance of lime, ginger, mandarin, lavender and sage is addressed.
Two new Gucci Guilty Love Edition specially designed for Valentine’s Day. The girlish fragrance in a matte pink bottle has a fresh fruity-floral sound, with a touch of chypre and an accent on the floral fleur of narcissus, framed by bergamot, grapefruit, raspberry and violet. Men’s Gucci Guilty Love Edition belongs to the spicy-fougère-herbal type. The dominant note of his composition is ginger, played with bright citrus and spicy peppery notes.