This week we’re helping Michele, who says she is a sniff-a-holic. She’d love to find a fragrance that won’t send her family off screaming when they smell her. Something sultry for those rare nights out without her children would be great, but she’d also like to hear suggestions for a fabulous every day signature scent. Her general preference is medium sillage and good lasting power, and she’d like to keep the cost below $200. She has excellent access to perfume stores. Here is what we know about Michele:

She’s in her late 40s, and is told she looks like Claire Danes (if Danes were middle-aged, mind you).

She’s on the professional staff in a school and works regularly with teachers and elementary school children.

She lives two hours from Manhattan in the suburbs with her husband, father, and two sons. Her 11-year-old son has a genetic disorder and life with him is challenging.

Fragrance and make-up are her refuge — they lift her mood on difficult days.

Other loves: cats, birds, cooking, and creating crazy, funny music videos to celebrate the teachers in her school when they retire.

Here are the fragrances Michele already owns: Kai, By Kilian Beyond Love, Love & Prelude to Love, Hermès Eau de Merveilles & Kelly Caleche, Calypso Herbe d’Ete, Dior L’eau de J’Adore, Moynette Paris, Dumont’s Tendre Madeleine, Serge Lutens Datura Noir, Parfums de Nicolaï L’Eau a la Folie (pleasant but maybe too masculine), Loukoum (not sure if this is Keiko Mecheri or Lutens, but she finds it overly sweet and powdery), Narcisco Rodriguez (black bottle) and Ginestet Botrytis…

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