What makes a scent a party perfume? Is it a boisterous, lusty floral? An overdose of sexy musks that can only be smelt when you’re dancing so close to someone your noses almost touch?
According to Jessie Willner and Hanover Booth, founders of the aptly named Discothèque, it’s a bit of both.
“A party fragrance is this incredible alchemy of loud and intimate. It’s about creating a scent that can cut through a crowded room but also feel intensely personal when you’re pressed close to someone on a dance floor. In a sea of bodies, sweating, dancing and living in the same moment, your fragrance becomes this invisible signature—something that shows individuality, while being part of this collective experience.”
In terms of what that party perfume smells like, the secret is not to get too hung up on specifics or prescriptive ‘sexy’ and ‘energetic’ perfume notes. Perfume is arguably the most personal element in your beauty arsenal, so follow your nose and it will lead you to a scent that either charges you up for a night out or leaves you feeling confident and sensual.
It’s more about creating the sense “that anything can happen, that you are completely and utterly alive in this moment,” say Jessie and Hanover. “A great party fragrance should make you feel like you’re standing on the edge of something extraordinary—whether that’s a dance floor in Tokyo, a hidden club in New York, or just having the most incredible night of your life. When you spray it on, you should feel transformed—like you’re stepping into a version of yourself that has always existed, but you’ve never quite had the courage to unleash it before.”
The only advice you may want to follow is to look for a perfume that has depth and noticeably changes on your skin, taking you from daytime freshness to velvety flower petals, musks and woods at dusk. An added bonus is that these scents anchor themselves to the skin, ensuring they are also long lasting.
“You want a fragrance that changes as you move, as the night progresses,” say Jessie and Hanover. “We connect most with notes that start one way and then evolve—maybe something that begins sharper but softens into something warm and intimate.”
This evolution was also front of mind for Merit CMO, Aila Morin, when she launched the brand’s new fragrance Retrospect. “Clean fragrances often veer towards a daytime, ‘fresh laundry’ type of scent,” she notes. “With Retrospect, we wanted to create something clean that is more ambiguous and complex – it has that freshness to it, but it evolves throughout the day, finishing with a more musky layer. The base notes lend themselves nicely to a sexier, nighttime feeling.”
Need more inspiration? Keep scrolling for our pick of the best party perfumes…
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR’s Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
