Layering Ambivalence

I suck at layering perfumes. Well, I might actually be brilliant at it, but in general, I'm too big a coward to wear two perfumes at once, certain I will leave the house thinking I'm all that until I realize I smell like pee.

Here are a few layering ideas I have experimented with lately (on paper strips only, not on my skin):

Knowing/White Aoud

Narcisse Noir/Sycomore

Parfum Sacre/Black Aoud

Borneo/Rumba

Jolie Madame/Paloma Picasso

My inner critic - and resident buzz killer - says, "why on earth would any self respecting perfumista layer Borneo, Sycomore or Black Aoud, which are masterpieces in their own right?"  

I know, I know.  Jeez. 

For one thing, I've got all of these perfumes that are first and second runners up in the daily rotation.  Honestly, I'm not sure what to do with them beyond giving them away, using them for room sprays or wearing perfume to bed every night (been there, done it).  Plus, layering seems a creative way of breathing new life into 'meh' perfumes. Let's call it Scent Reincarnation.

Whatever the reason, there is only one combination, so far, that I know works on my skin: Hermes Hiris and Mentafollia by Guerlain.  Both perfumes are a tad annoying on their own (Hiris is a bit dour, Mentafollia a bit "here comes little miss peppy"), but together the combo is spring-ish and minty, with a mud-and-sticks undertone. It simply works.

My perfume layering experimentation is sure to continue and one day very soon, I swear, I will gather my courage, take the plunge and "spray on a pair."