How feminine perfumes use spice
Men's fragrances often use spice for freshness, with pepper, cardamom or ginger at the top. Women's perfumes use it differently. Clove in particular blends with rose and jasmine to recreate the smell of carnation, a flower that yields almost no oil. That is the secret of Opium and Coco. There are three main styles. The great spicy orientals of the 1950s to the 1980s are dense and dramatic: Youth Dew, Opium and Coco. The modern spicy floral sets ginger or allspice on a white flower, like L'Interdit Rouge. The cozy spicy wood, often unisex, plays on clove and roasted chestnut (By the Fireplace) or on tobacco and vanilla (Tobacco Vanille). Finally, pink pepper brings a light and almost fruity spice, which Rose of No Man's Land uses to brighten a rose.
Wearing spice without overdoing it
The big feminine spicy scents rate 4 or 5 out of 5 on intensity. Youth Dew and Opium punish a heavy hand, so one spray at the neck is enough for an evening. These are cold-weather perfumes. In summer, heat amplifies clove and vanilla until they turn cloying. For the office, choose a lighter spice like Rose of No Man's Land or Kalan, which stay more polite. In the evening, L'Interdit Rouge and Coco belong at a dinner table. Spray spicy scents on a wool sweater rather than synthetic fabric, since wool holds the scent longer and softens it. If you have never worn a spicy perfume, start with By the Fireplace, whose clove is wrapped in vanilla. Save Opium for later, once you have learned to love warm spice.
