Ad copy for most perfumes leaves me cold, or laughing. Aspirational advertising (looking at you, Aerin Lauder) feels icky and old fashioned. Sexy images can be fun to look at but I don’t see a handsome half-naked (or fully naked for that matter) man in an ad campaign and then run to Nordstrom to buy the perfume he fronts. Occasionally, I come across an interesting perfume bottle I’d like to own, but it’s usually a vintage bottle selling at an exorbitant price. I’ve never bought a contemporary perfume for the bottle alone (my bottles stay out of sight in a dark, cool cabinet their entire “lives”).

Advertising that can get to me includes (who knew?) perfumes inspired by dead French people¹ — the likes of Marquis de Sade, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoléon Bonaparte, Louise de La Vallière, Marie-Antoinette, Empress Eugénie, George Sand, Léonora Dori Concini, La Maréchale d’Ancre and Colette. A list of intriguing botanical fragrance notes or places I love or want to visit (travel-porn perfumes) can entice me, too.

Today, I’m reviewing two fragrances that ignited wanderlust based on ingredients and locales, with great bottles thrown in as a bonus…

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