It’s that time of year again: fall is here! And with it, of course, Julia’s top 5 autumn fragrances that are so wonderfully cozy, warming and enveloping that it’s hard to resist them. Creations that are perfect for the start of the cooler season, that can be worn on sunny, golden days in October as well as in foggy, dull and gray November weather. We are in the time of year when the same is slowly coming to an end. Next month sees the start of the Advent season, the mental preparation for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and then it will soon be 2025. Insane, isn’t it?
We have also put together the matching sample set Cozy Autumn Vibes Vol. 2 for these five autumn creations, which includes the five wonderful fragrances that I would like to introduce to you in more detail below. Ideal for anyone who likes to sniff their way through different compositions, who wants to get to know new brands or as yet unknown perfumes. If you prefer cozy, warm, gourmand, spicy and seductive creations that are perfect for the cooler months of the year, you should definitely get your hands on one of our coveted sample sets. Because as always: only while stocks last! 🍂🍁🎃
Encens Suave – Matière Première
It was only in February of this year that I introduced you to the Matiére Première collection, including my first candidate for this top 5 fall fragrances: Encens Suave, like the brand’s other creations, was created by founder and perfumer Aurélien Guichard, who wanted to create “a blend with addictive potential”.
He combined the eponymous incense with the ingredients benzoin resin, bourbon vanilla, labdanum (cistus) and coffee. It sounds quite seductive and, in my opinion, it smells exactly the same. An eau de parfum to fall in love with, to let yourself go and immerse yourself in. Perfect for anyone who loves incense and prefers sweet and spicy compositions.
Encens Suave opens right away with the protagonist. The incense is extremely sophisticated, lucid, bright, transparent, with a greenish tinge and underpinned by delicately spicy and subtly leathery nuances. This incense is well-tempered and therefore significantly less cool than usual. The labdanum brings gentle, sweet and smoky facets to the composition by Matière Première, which combine with the bitter and dark notes of roasted coffee. The benzoin resin provides fine, creamy accents, while the vanilla underlines the sweet moments of the cistus.
A beautifully composed, elegant and very harmonious homage to incense that I absolutely love. Wearable for any occasion and a wonderful companion on cooler days. Chapeau!
AlUla – Penhaligon’s
AlUla hasn’t made it into the fragrance diary yet and I don’t really know why. Because Penhaligon’s creations are always high up on my must-review list. As part of the seductive and opulent Trade Routes Collection from one of my favorite British fragrance houses, this eau de parfum is almost mandatory in the ranks of these top 5 autumn fragrances. The ingredients incense, plum and vanilla give a good overview of what is to come. AlUla was inspired by the place of the same name in Saudi Arabia. “Located at the crossroads of continents, AlUla was for centuries a transshipment point for caravans on the frankincense trade route, which connected Asia, Africa and Europe and was traditionally used to transport high-quality goods.”
In the opening of AlUla, the smoky and resinous notes of incense provide a certain coolness that is underpinned by powdery, mineral accents. In addition, there is a pronounced dryness that absolutely reinforces the desert association that I spontaneously have when sniffing the eau de parfum. The plum reveals dark, not overly sweet fruity nuances that combine with creamy facets. The spices – I sniff a colorful mix here and not just the aforementioned vanilla – pick up speed as the fragrance progresses before the composition ends with warm, balsamic-resinous notes.
AlUla is an oriental, spicy-fruity fragrance which, despite the power of all the ingredients, is always well-balanced and finely balanced. This eau de parfum is almost transparent and at the same time impresses with its excellent longevity and medium presence. Perfect for the cooler season, very elegant and stylish. A typical Penhaligon’s that is sure to delight many and has not found its way into this top 5 list of fall fragrances 2024 for nothing.
Tabac Nomade – Houbigant
The Orientale Collection from Houbigant is inspired by the Orient. Tabac Nomade is one of the four fragrances in this line that I had the pleasure of presenting to you here in October 2023. Bergamot, rose, spices, tonka bean, saffron, tobacco leaves, leather and vanilla are the ingredients of this creation, which revolves around tobacco as a raw material. All four fragrances in the collection have a special, noble and exquisite note at the heart of the composition, reminiscent of “the mysterious lands of the Orient”. Perfumers Antoine Lie and Luca Maffei were responsible for the creative realization of all four eaux de parfum.
Tabac Nomade delights my senses with lovely, fruity nuances that smell of honey-sweet aromatic tobacco leaves, lush spices and powdery suede. Tonka bean and vanilla add greenish-spicy accents, while the rose lends the creation a certain airiness and lightness, but also emphasizes the honey nuances of the tobacco with its nectar sweetness.
Gourmand, spicy and oriental, this Eau de Parfum, ideal for cool and cold days, is an olfactory treat with an advent touch that is very round, harmonious and, despite everything, relatively transparent. Perfect for those with a sweet tooth!
Dance of the Dawn – The Different Company
Perfumer Émilie Coppermann created the patchouli interpretation Dance of the Dawn for the label The Different Company, combining the ingredients black pepper, mandarin, pink pepper, driftwood, iris, vanilla, patchouli and musk. It is a fragrance based on the carefree lifestyle of the 1960s and 1970s and is intended to give it a modern twist. A song by the British rock band Yes called “The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)” served as a source of inspiration, as I told you in my article from October 2022.
In the opening of Dance of the Dawn, I sniff out a relatively gentle and dry pepper spiciness that is underpinned by a citrusy freshness. I don’t smell the tangerine per se, the citrus notes are rather more tart and don’t reveal any sweetness. Therefore, I bet on the fruit peel and less on the sweet and tangy juice of the tangerine. They are soon joined by the equally dry nuances of driftwood in soft gray tones.
Also the lovely spicy notes of vanilla appear in this creation from the house of The Different Company and give the previously rather tart-dry fragrance a certain sweetness, which almost seems floral. Perhaps iris and patchouli also have their olfactory fingers in the pie here, because the more creamy than powdery notes of iris also gradually perfume my skin and test strips. The patchouli is also very creamy with subtle earthy woody nuances that blend beautifully into the overall artwork. With it, the fragrance acquires consistency and durability. Soft and calm, the eau de parfum slowly fades.
Santal – Headspace
Santal from Headspace reviewed Harmen in January 2023. I am happy to add his interpretation of the eau de parfum below, because honestly, that’s exactly how I feel about it. Perfumer Julien Rasquinet, who presented the fragrance Jest from Andrea Maack in my last post, used the ingredients red fruits, saffron, sandalwood, rose, incense, patchouli and vetiver for Santal. Friends of the noble wood with the first name sandalwood will really enjoy this creation.
So here we go. The names leave no doubt about which main ingredient it is about in each case. Santal will therefore in all likelihood revolve around sandalwood. Julien Rasquinet’s creation starts surprisingly sweet with fruity, slightly liqueur notes accompanied by lovely, delicate saffron. Sandalwood shows here balsamic soft and velvety woody. It is only cautious accents that the other notes rose, incense, patchouli and vetiver. None of them are pushing their way to the front. Thus, Santal appears harmonious, modern and as if from a single mold. Surprisingly light and carefree, a cocooning fragrance for difficult days.
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