It is often love at first sight and not first smell for perfume aficionados. The attraction of seeing a beautifully shaped bottle encourages perusers to choose particular scents, and then — love it or hate it — the nose becomes boss in picking a perfume.
The sense of smell differs according to the season, with lighter fragrances preferred for summer such as Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream, whose fruity opening is followed by heart notes of jasmine, lychee and blue wisteria, while white daisies only appear on the pretty bottle.
Mediterranean-inspired Artisan Acqua for men is another designer fragrance from John Varvatos, whose attention to detail typically seen in his garments have been transferred to this bottle clad in hand-woven rattan.
Fashion and fragrance also meet in Tralala Eau de Parfum, the new fragrance from Penhaligon's inspired by British designers Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff. This playful perfume has top notes including whiskey while the bottle's whimsical stopper features a chic doll's head with an oversized velvet bow.
Well into winter, deeper scents typically take over the fragrance wardrobe. Jo Malone London's launch of the Cologne Intense collection brings six sensual scents with a dark and dangerous edge, such as Tuberose Angelica, Velvet Rose & Oud, and Amber & Patchouli.
Described as audacious as dark smoky eyes and lacquered red lips, Jasmin Rouge is a saturated spiced floral from The Tom Ford Private Blend Collection of 16 fragrances designed for connoisseurs.
Intense reinterpretations include heightened florientals: Jean Paul Gaultier Classique donning a golden corset and Armani Code Ultimate in a deep blue bottle draped with lacelike flowers.
Reinvented with a deeper modern chypre accord, Si Eau de Parfum Intense is bottled in a black flacon with a 3D effect inspired by handblown Murano glass.
Highlighted by an elegant chypre signature, Sisley Eau du Soir makes a wild comeback for Christmas 2014 with the bottle boasting a golden zebra print against lapis-lazuli tones evoking a savannah's deep blue sky before night falls.
Yves Saint Laurent Edition Art collection is a collaboration with Norwegian artist Gardar Eide Einarsson, who makes bottles works of art through abstract paintings of masculinity, for a trio of L'Homme fragrances.
