What smells sexy? No doubt, we all differ when answering that question. Vanilla, apple pie and “sweets” in general (so often referenced as scents that drive men wild) make me feel like a kid again, hanging out in my grandmother’s kitchen waiting for dessert to come out of the oven. Lavender, Bay Rum and fougère fragrances remind me of sad Sundays and interminable church services. I love most florals, especially indolic ones — tuberose, jasmine, osmanthus, rose, heliotrope, linden, lily, lily of the valley, orange blossom, pinks, narcissus — but they never ignite bodily lust in me (though they make me, especially in winter, lust for florist shops, garden centers and specialty plant catalogs). Incense? Nah…too spiritual and “dry.”

Much sexier are: greens (galbanum) and hay (a wrestling match on the lawn or a strip-tease in the barn loft can be fun); cured tobacco (pre-burn, when its musky, post-tryst character throbs — give Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Cuba a try); vetiver, bitter orange and grapefruit (clean “sweat” aromas bringing to mind damp necks, armpits and…pardonnez-moi while I splash some cold water on my face)…

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Last year, a friend from India gave me a gift of a 12 ml bottle of Mysore sandalwood extrait, and every time I wear it I swoon — it’s glorious, intense, almost smoky and certainly spooky (like a ghost, Mysore sandalwood is rarely encountered but when it is, you can’t believe your nose). I’m not a snob and I’ll take any real sandalwood I can get; Memo Quartier Latin is a sandalwood perfume that uses great-smelling Australian sandalwood.¹

I’ve encountered all sorts of edible goodies that contain “perfume” ingredients of one sort or another. Fruit and spice flavors abound in all manner of cooking; jasmine, violet, lavender, orange blossom and rose scent syrups, ice creams, cakes, puddings and custards…

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