ERIN (ErinEauFraiche) is a Jersey girl through and through, having lived in South Jersey her entire life, specifically in the Pine Barrens. She is a novice gardener and a self-taught photographer with a deep love for nature. Her background is in public relations and communications, and she works full-time in this field within the utility industry. In this article, Erin shares insights into her relationship with perfumery, her personal tastes, and her role as a content creator, as well as the fragrances that have left a memorable impression.
I became interested in perfumery as I was graduating college and beginning to curate my personal style as a young professional. I realized that I had been wearing the same perfume since highschool… then down the rabbit hole I fell! However, it is no surprise that I immediately fell in love with the art, since I was always fascinated with essential oils and the impact of scent on mood.
My favorite scent profiles are subtly sweet, creamy and warm, so I am big on white florals, sandalwood, warm musks, and vanilla. A majority of my collection features fragrances with jasmine, tuberose, or gardenia and the rest are some sort of sweet or spicy vanilla or woody scent! I just love these types of fragrances because I find them so enveloping and comforting, and they make me feel beautiful when I wear them.
The most incredible thing about perfumery to me, is how it makes you feel when you wear it, and anyone who loves fragrance knows exactly what I’m talking about. There are scents I wear to feel powerful, beautiful, alluring, happy, nostalgic, comforted… and there are even ones that can evoke a poignant grief or sadness. Out of all of our senses, scent is most closely tied to our emotions, so it is the closest thing we will ever have to magic potions!
I became a fragrance content creator because I fell in love with the community, and I have always loved photography as a personal hobby, so I found fragrances to be such an exciting and inspirational prompt to work off of.
The unique aspect of my work is that I like to create a visual world in each photo around the scent that is whimsical and dreamy and really transports my audience to my imagination. I try to capture the overall feeling of the scent in an image through colors, textures, light, and props. Even the music I select to accompany each post has been carefully curated to convey the feelings I get from the fragrance.
Like any good work of art, a good fragrance is one that makes you feel something!
The best aspect of ScentXplore is the way it brings the Fragrance Community together. The annual ScentXplore event is a whirlwind of excitement, good smells, familiar faces, and shared passion. I am so grateful we have it to look forward to each year!
In a few words, to me, perfume is art for your nose!
ERIN’S LIFETIME SCENTS
Love Tuberose by Amouage
Probably one of the most “me” fragrances I own, Love Tuberose by Amouage was an instant love for me. It’s everything I adore in a scent – a voluptuous white floral with creamy, sweet, fluffy vanilla and a warm, summery feeling to it. I find myself reaching for this whenever I want to feel ultra feminine and beautiful.
Jasmins Marzipane by Lancôme
Early in my fragrance journey, Jasmins Marzipane was the scent that ignited my love for jasmine. This is a gorgeous, lightly sweet and clean jasmine fluttering over warm, almondy musks. Out of all the fragrances I’ve tried from Lancôme’s sadly discontinued Maison Lancome line, this is my favorite, and it’s the only bottle in my collection that I have a backup bottle of. It’s a must-have for life!
Bread in Chestnut by Scents of Wood
Bread in Chestnut by Scents of Wood is such a special and unique fragrance that smells just like the aroma that fills your house when you have home-made bread baking in the oven. It feels buttery without smelling overtly buttery and is lightly sweet with soft spices and woods. It’s giving me autumnal cottage woodland fairy vibes and I’m really obsessed with it.
Boutique by Perfumology
My go-to fragrance for professional settings has officially become Boutique by Perfumology. This shapeshifting work of art is a sparkling floral woody musk with a fresh apple note that is simply perfection paired with ambrette. It’s clean without being too fresh and it just smells SO expensive and chic.
Sydney Rock Pool by Arquiste
I wear Sydney Rock Pool whenever I want to feel totally cool and beachy – so basically all summer! It’s a salty and sexy aquatic sandalwood with a thin coconuttiness and a fresh tropical floral coming from frangipani. As it dries down, it really melds with your skin and gives you this warm beachy musk that smells like you’ve been at the beach and in the sun all day. There’s also this beautiful mineral accord in there that smells like wet stones and really elevates it into something special.
Santal Complet by Fragrance du Bois
Another love from early in my fragrance journey, Santal Complet by Fragrance du Bois is the fragrance that made me realize how much I adore sandalwood as a note. It is such a creamy and envelopnig sandalwood with a silky coconut note and an airy violet. A dash of lemon gives this fragrance a touch of brightness, but never leads in the composition. To me, this fragrance smells like an island goddess that makes the night-blooming flowers bloom.
Matrix Metal by The Harmonist
Matrix Metal by The Harmonist captures something special that’s hard to put in a fragrance. When I smell it, all I can think of is the fizzy air that floats above a freshly poured ginger ale. You get that tingly in your nose, I have no idea how they’ve done it. Apart from the remarkable texture, the scent itself is a luxurious, ultra clean metallic musk with light woody facets and fresh spices. It feels so natural and gives me a calming grounded feelling.
Celeste by Giardini di Toscana
Celeste by Giardini di Toscana is an absolute dream. I often wear it to bed because I cannot think of a more cozy and comforting scent. It’s a delicious and magical sweet lactonic violet scent that smells like clouds of periwinkle whipped cream. I love spraying this on straight out of the shower before bed; it just puts me in such a cozy mood, and I can always smell it on my pajamas in the morning.
Follow Erin on Instagram @erineaufraiche
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(image credits: Erin)
