All in the Family Last year, there were 760 new women's scents, and that's not counting the thousands already lining the display shelves. Where do you start? Narrow your preference to a single family-though be warned: The experts don't always agree on categorizations. If there's a perfume you already love, it undoubtedly has variations­ on·a-theme siblings, cousins, and in-laws that may draw you in, too. -LiNDSY VAN GELDER Fresh inclliding rose, lily, tuberose, marigold, These are the lightest, sportiest muguet, and jasmine. splashes, designed to smell like CLiNIQUE HAPPY: Pink grapefruit meets orchids lemon slices (the citrus group), and lilies in an effervescent fruity floral. fresh herbs and mowed grass (the TOMMY HILFIGER TOMMY GIRL: Fresh and ck green group), or the ocean (the young, with apple blossoms and mint. marine group). DIOR MISS DIOR: The fragrance that, in 1947, • IF YOU LIKE CAlVIN KLEIN CK ONE: launched Christian Dior as a perfume The citrus-and-green-tea scent that put clean­ house as well. It is subtle and greenish. cut unisex fragrances on the map in the '90s. ISSEY MIYAKE L'EAU D'ISSEY: Not as lush as • THEN TRY DOLCE & GABBANA LIGHT BLUE: the others, with sharp floral tones. Concocted to smell like the Mediterranean. ANNICK GOUTAL EAU D'HADRIEN: An almost pure citrus and probably the most Gourmand sophisticated in its class. 1 Purists might scoff that this JO MALONE LIME BASIL & MANDARIN COLOGNE: newish group of fragrances / A citrusy green unisex scent that's like an I'"doesn't deserve a category of instant Caribbean rain forest. ~ , its own, but its growing I' -; popularity speaks to the sensual V i connection between smell Oriental and taste. They won't make you Heavy, sexy, spicy, and usually lick your pulse points, but they have wintry-with a whiff of Middle strong hints of chocolate, vanilla, caramel, Eastern souk- these scents rum, and coHon candy. """ were born to be dabbed on the • IF YOU LIKE THIERRY MUGLER ANGEL: A big I cleavage. fragrance that's frequently called an oriental, _ / • IF YOU LIKE GUERlAIN SHAliMAR: with berry, chocolate, and vanilla notes. Contains most of the vampy, genre-defining • THEN TRY COMPTOIR SUD PACIFIQUE VANILLE • oriental artillery, including patchouli, EXTREME: From a line of mostly gourmand sandalwood, and musk. fragrances, this one ratchets up the vanilla. • THEN TRY YVES SAINT LAURENT OPIUM: An BOND NO.9 NEW HAARLEM: The headiest oriental carried to the incense-y '80s max. coffee aroma this side of Starbucks. EDITIONS DE PARFUMS FREDERIC MALLE NOIR BY KILIAN LIAISONS DANGEUREUSES TYPICAl EPICES: More woody and less sweet than ME: Elegantly fruity, the Damascus plum is many of its spicy relatives. backed up by prune and black currant. DONNA KARAN CASHMERE MIST: Lush and soft, PRADA CANDY: A new arrival, bursting with with lily of the valley notes. caramel and vanilla. BULGARI BLACK: The gritty urban cousin, it smells like a beautiful, intoxicating brew of tea, smoke, and rubber. Chypre SERGE LUTENS AMBRE SULTAN: Often A "Chypre" means Cyprus in French, mentioned by perfumers as their favorite ..: -; " ' ~ and it originally referred to the perfume, it smells like sex (no joke). odd mix of scents of the island's • vegetation: a bit of citrus, some ~ J amber, and a lot of the bitter native Floral U moss. People tend to love chypres In the eighteenth and nineteenth for their sensual complexity or hate centuries, almost all perfumes were them for their mossy dankness. Newer chypres florals. Like real flowers, there's a depart from the mossiness. huge range, and they're prone to • IF YOU LIKE GUERLAIN MITSOUKO: One intermarrying with other families, of the oldest chypres-it launched in 1919­ which is why you'll hear about "floral and easily one of the most gorgeous, greens" and "florientals." with lots of peach and rose notes on top of • IF YOU LIKE FRACAS DE ROBERT PIGUET: the mossy ones. This has been a popular fragrance since the • THEN TRY CHANEL 31 RUE CAMBON: An 1940s and is rich and heady with tuberose updated chypre that's light, lean, and sheer, and jasmine. with extra patchouli and less moss. • THEN TRY CHANEL NO.5: Perfumers might AMOUAGE JUBILAnON 25: A modem chypre quibble that this is not a true floral, since it with a bright bolt of citrus that still manages incorporates the synthetic compounds to please traditionalists. known as aldehydes, but this icon is redolent CHANEL COCO MADEMOISELLE: Another of roses and jasmine. updated chypre, and wildly popular, although ESTEE LAUDER BEAUTIFUL: Dreamy and pure, it purists note that it does promiscuous leaps contains notes from more than 1,000 flowers, into fruity, floral, and oriental territory. .