Holy Grail - Have you got one and what is it?

I feel like Donkey from "Shrek" -- "Me! Pick me! Oh, Me!"

I have a Holy Grail! Everyone who knows me much here knows.

kai

I'd never heard of it, and didn't pursue gardenia fragrances at all. I was in the Cosmetic Market -- OMG, I remember the very moment, standing in front of the Fresh and Diptyque. The kai was behind me, with the bath stuff. I thought "What's that stuff?" I opened it up and considered whether it might be a lipgloss. Sniff, sniff. Uhm, I played it safe....put some on my wrist. WOW! Man, it was great!

Then I looked at the price and left.






I couldn't get it off my mind.





I bought a bottle. And then another bottle. And then some lotion. And then another bottle, and some more lotion, and a candle. And then some body glow. And then two more bottles at once. Then a gift set for my neighbor. And then, a man I was out with said it was the most seductive thing he'd ever smelled (that's not exactly what he said, but that was the gist of it.) And several of my friends commented how good I smelled, along with a few cashiers, over time. One man in a vestibule said 'I smell rain!' but he walked past me and stopped for a second, looked me straight in the eyes and said "Wow." He wasn't flirting, he was honestly startled, and paused at his car door, and looked back to me. I just know he was considering coming back to ask me what it was.

I could go on.

I think it's like falling in love - maybe not at first sniff, and maybe not forever everytime, but when you find "the one" I think you just *know*

Who are Mills and Boon?

I wish I could be like Shycat here, but I guess I'm just not even close to a 'one scent'/'HG scent' girl. I need them all, and love them all, and keep my collection growing and expanding... The only ONE I'm faithful to is my dear husband.

Mills & Boone is Harlequin here in the US. Don't ask me how I know that, I just do.

I also tend to wander between fragrances, but my idea of an HG is a fragrance that is always appealing, always suitable, and one that has an instant impact on my mood. Right now, that HG is Je Reviens - it's a light floral, it's a warm amber, it's delicate, it's sensual, it's old-fashioned, it's still unique and stylish... it really seems to work anywhere, at any time.

Aahhh <lightbulb goes on> I read Harlequin books in highschool. Yep, just a few years ago. Then I fell madly in love with my husband, and they seemed foolish.
I saw my husband a few weeks ago. He seemed OK. Much thinner.

I'm beginning to think that HG is a myth, at least for me. My preferences are so wildly diverse and subject to whimsy and idiocy that I wonder if a true HG is something that isn't subject to the big AHA! moment, since this month's AHA! will be next month's ebay sale. Therefore, the HG must be something that isn't dramatic, entertaining, or victim of love at first sniff. It must be something quiet that sits in the back of the cupboard, probably ignored a good deal of the time, but taken as refuge after two weeks of Icky Perfume Days or Hideous Sample Week. And it must be something that never has an off day or a WTF? moment, which means it has to wear as well in winter as it does in summer and never, ever make you wish you had worn something else.

I submit Tam Dao as this fragrance. It isn't exciting; in fact I sold my bottle of it on ebay and then had to run out and buy another. It never gets in my way, it suits my lifestyle, it makes absolutely no demands on me, and it is always accessible and approachable.

I have a couple of others that may stand the test of time. I think La Haie Fleurie has always worked for me as a floral, and I've never regretted applying it, which is more than I can say for many things I own. Fleurs de Citronnier also always seems right.

There's a comfort factor with HG (for me), more than there is a statement or an image or a projection of personality.

I think I found my Holy Grail a few months back. It's was one of the Frederic Malle's that I got sent to test. The sample was very generous, in a lovely
spray bottle and I fell for it hard. I need to save up for a full bottle - it's not cheap. It made me feel very special, had a kind of aching nostalgia about it and was incredibly beautiful. I wouldn't wear it every day - it's too special!
It would be like playing the same piece of music over and over and eventually being less impressed by it.
I'm talking about IRIS POUDRE.
My more approachable and available HG that never fails to garner masses of compliments is Balanciaga's CRISTOBAL. These two are my current loves.

I seem to pick up Holy Grails at least four times each year. And after some time (like when the clock strikes twelve in a fairy tale). a Holy Grail transforms into a Grail and then into a ordinary cup. Falling in love and geting bored. But if you would force me to live the rest of my life with only one scent, I would choose Jicky (and shame on Guerlain that they discontinued the bath range). Jicky, the perfect one, following my moodswings, lovely in summer and winter, morning and evening. Jicky, so lovely even on my husband that a woman stopped him in the shopping mall to ask what he was wearing.
Not falling in love with a scent for a short while, but eternal love (well, more than thirty years is almost eternal) will weave the threads real Holy Grails are made of.

Ha ha, your post reminded me of my own search for the holy grail! Alas, I haven't found mine either, but searching for the 'one perfect perfume' to use as my signature fragrance is what brought me to this website in the first place and keeps me addicted. My ideal perfume had to have a name, bottle and fragrance that all held a special fascination or significance for me. Coincidently, I recently thought I had found it in Femme by Rochas! But then I realised there is one particular note I would love to dominate my holy grail and sadly I do not find it in Femme. And so my search goes on... hope you find yours soon.

Can we have HGs of particular notes? My HG of patchoulis is Santa Maria Novella. When I smelled it, I knew that it was patchouli which gave other perfumes a certain attractive quality for me. Not every patchouli has it, only the best. My HG of sandalwoods is Etro Sandalo. When I smelled it, I knew how to identify the floating, diffusive warmth of sandalwood in fragrances.

It's interesting how my HG evolved. After purchasing numerous fragrances from niche houses to consumer fragrances my HG came to me by accident. I was in Paris in September and I bought a bottle of Norma Kamali Perfume at Colette. I never heard of it and didnt' even know that Norma Kamali made a perfume. I 'tested' it first on my wrist walked out of the store. About an hour or so later, I had to go back and purchase it. It's that good on my skin! Upon returning to the U.S. I did my research on the internet and read that Norma Kamali also made Incense which is more suited for men and can create a third fragrance by layering both Incense and the NKPerfume. This combo really convinced me that it's something special. Now, I layer them both and it stays on my skin for hours. I specially love how I can control the floral in the perfume and the smoky/musky scent of incense. I absolutely love this combo and can honestly say that I've found my HG. As for my other scents, I 'm still going to enjoy them, but for now, the Norma Kamali combo feels just like 'home' to me.

A true Holy Grail can be difficult for those of us who just, across the board, appreciate perfume.

I love Shycat's Kai stories (I'm a Kai fan myself) but I think I enjoy too many other fragrances to keep to wearing just one.

I've noticed I sometimes have seasonal HGs. Feminite du Bois I love in the autumn, Shalimar in winter and Bulgari pour Femme in early spring. If it's a sticky summer I reach for Eau de Patou. Night time I'll usually wear one of 3- Coco, Kai, or Montale Intense Tiare.

People tend to love Shalimar and Lolita Lempicka on me. I like them both, but if I had to pick one it would probably be Shalimar. Every once in a while, when I wear Shalimar, I'll find myself thinking it's one of the most beautiful fragrances ever created. Still, I don't think I could wear it exclusively.

Strangely, I know in my heart that Fracas is one of my Holy Grails. The other one is Shaal Nur. They are both quiet scents on me, although if I get a hug someone will most surely comment favorably. I found them both by accident and initially wasn't going to try either of them.

When I finally found Fracas I actually didn't quite "get it." It was sort of fruity on me and oddly reminded me of Chloé (one I like but already have.) Later on another sample somehow came my way. This time it was like a lightbulb turning on- it was so beautiful and soft and fresh I knew I had to get a bottle. Since then I've gotten two more bottles plus the parfum.

Shaal Nur was introduced to me by a dear perfume friend. She had a bottle and gave me a generous decant. The first time I smelled it I was intrigued. I remember saying, "Wow, this should be someone's signature scent!" At first I mostly wore it during the summer time and not too often. Suddenly, in early winter I had a craving for it, after that I couldn't stop wearing it and started wearing it regularly year-round.

There is a third fragrance that is sort of like a HG- I consider it more of a "soul" fragrance though. I layer it with just about everything because I love the incense note it brings to other perfumes. This one is Norma Kamali Incense. I don't really wear it by itself too often for me to consider it a HG, but I wear it so much with everything else, that it often feels like the "heart of the matter." I know if I couldn't wear it, I'd be miserable and I definitely feel it's a perfume I've been searching for my whole life. Does that make it a Holy Grail?

This is interesting.

As for kai, I wore it all summer, even when I tried to stop. I was drawn to it against my will. I did feel the regret of an addict, because it robbed me of my pleasure in my other summer fragrances. But I lightened up, since I figured it was a just a fragrance, and gardenia at that, so that come winter the weather would detox me. It's been a bit of a relief, although some days I feel a trifle restless and dissatisfied with my entire collection (looking for that buzz!)

My other HG for cooler air is Bulgare Rose Essentielle. I've got my fourth bottle of it.

I don't think a HG has to be 24/7/365. I do think it has to have stood the test of time, and be several bottles into itself, and be the absolutely perfect magnetic fragrance for it's season or situation.

I'm so young in the fragrance love affair I can only judge by what I've loved the longest, even though a year is not so long.

I can say both Rose Essentielle and kai were profound love at first wear, which got better and more appreciative over the year, with respect given to their sheer reliablity of uplifting-ness.

I have other fragrances I think I will wear a lot over time, and repurchase when needed. A few fragrances already have back up bottles behind my bathroom towels on the top shelf. Eau de Camille, Un Lys, Fumerie Turque, and Chinatown come to mind. And I feel pretty sure Sacrebleu will follow, but you know, it's just too soon to tell!

I'm a little saddened about this whole HG issue :-(
For almost a year I've been totally haunted by Montale's Black Aoud. From the first time I tried a sample I was smitten.
Then, the last time I wore it around my BF, it didn't smell quite right. I'm now afraid to try Black Aoud again for fear of having that same reaction. I know myself - when I start having doubts, the relationship usually doesn't last...
For me an HG has to always be there for me, or it can't be my HG.

I don't have a Holy Grail and quite honestly don't care much for having one. I love to wear different fragrances and I even dislike wearing the same one two days in a row, unless I've only just bought it. I do have perfumes that I have used over a long period of time, but I've always alternated them with others. I also tend to think twice before buying another bottle of something I've finished, generally I only do it if I know the perfume is going to be discontinued, otherwise I just prefer to move on to something new.

I love your Kai story! I have to try it now.

My Holy Grail is Monsieur de Givenchy. It was the first that I was ever given. As a gift when I was very young.. like 8 or 9 years old. I didn't wear it much as a kid, but the smell just takes me back.
Its like when Adam unsheaths his sword and becomes He-man.. Same thing for me when I put this on..

I have a holy Grail womens scent, but I don't know what it is.

An East Indian family was walking into Tim Hortons, I was holding the door for them, and one of the ladies was wearing something absolutely Earth-Shaking. It was a floral of some kind, quite possibly a soliflore, Jasmine??
Whatever it was, if that stuff illicits the same response in everyone, I think the bottle could be sold for a thousand dollars.

I guess my current HG is that I'm convinced there is a pre-WWII classic out there with my name on it and I can't seem to find it (unless Chanel No. 19 counts?).

I was a history major, I love antiques and old books, wear vintage jewelry, so something like Apres L'Ondee or Mitsouko out to be perfect, right? It bugs me no end that Apres L'Ondee opens with a top note that reminds me of diaper changes (there must be anise in Desitin ointment), and that I have to wear Mitsouko for about 3 hours before the hay note calms down enough for the spice and floral notes to develop. Maybe the EDT samples I got on eBay were flawed. Bellodgia was just wrong top to bottom on me. I'm still holding out hope for Jicky, En Avion or maybe Poivre.

What's silly about this is that I'm kvetching to myself about finding a classic HG when I've recently found newer scents I could really love (No. 19, Iris Poudre and Une Rose). I suppose it's partly grass-is-greener syndrome, partly the researcher in me wanting be sure I've considered all options before shelling out for Malle, partly just the thrill of the hunt. I guess we all need aspirations...

Anyway, I'm glad I don't have to commit to just one fragrance.

No, but only because so many women's scents live alongside each other in the my pantheon of olfactory goddesses. For example: Fidgi, Bellodgia, Diva, Fleurissimo, Paris, Galanos, Youth Dew, Private Collection, Datura Noir, Scent Intense, Tabac Blond, you name it. Naming a "number one" scent among women's scents, too, is difficult for me in that (aside from Shalimar and Shalimar Light), I don't wear them. I just smell them on women (and the occasional drag queen -- esp. Ungaro's Diva). Fidgi ranks very, very high in my book, but there are just SO MANY delicious scents out there that I hate to give Fidgi alone the Hera/Juno position in the aforementioned pantheon.

Ambre Narguile for now. Making a trip to NYC in a couple of weeks to buy a full bottle. While this is a very comforting scent for me, it also mentally transports me somewhere else at the same time -- it leaves me with visions of far off and mysterious places like Petra and Marrakesh.

I'm far too new to this perfume thing to have a holy grail as of yet; there are just so many that I haven't tried. However, SL Iris Silver Mist really stands out. I was a little underwhelmed but intrigued the first time I tried it. I tried it again a few weeks later and it seemed like it had changed in my absence and a slight sweetness that I had found lacking seemed to have emerged. I chalked that up to the fact I had been sampling all day and it was layered with something else (not even sure what anymore.) Then I tried it again, and it was even better! It just keeps getting better. It's got so much of what I want: it's subtle yet has presence, it's comforting (to me) yet unusual, has a bit of sweetness but is off set by an elegant, bitter note. I think it's one of the most unique fragrances I've ever smelled, but not offputtingly so. I feel like I can wear anytime, anywhere, in any mood.
But there's just so much else out there, you know?

I'm still hoping, but often harbor an atheistic attitude about a holy grail scent. Having sniffed 400 scents in two years and finding only a dozen I like tells me (A) my olfactory senses are actually crippled and/or (B) I'm just a bitch to satisfy.


The up side of the continued Grail Quest is that it makes for a splendidly selfish hobby.

Pure coinsidence!

Of course I sniffed and sniffed, everywhere I went (Paris, Germany, London). I bought from the web (pure from descriptions), I ordered samples etc.
But the best perfumes I just walked upon. Of course whenever I have time I walk into a perfumeshop and try and try...
My holy grail? I think that whenever one searches, one cannot find. The best till now for me is Serge Lutens / a la nuit. The best jasmine fragrance. Not too sharp, not too heavy, good staying power. Recently I bought Jo Malone's Tuberose, this is number two. The best Tuberose fragrance.
But to be honest I am still looking for the best rose fragrance. ( dont's ask me why) Serge Lutens is too sharp, I profumo di Firenze too old fashioned, Tea rose from perfumers workshop too heavy. Keiko Mecherie's Damascena too modern, Rose absolue from Annick Goutal too earthly. That is my holy grail: the best rose fragrance.
Question: what is the best rose fragrance? Any suggestions?

Creed Fleur de The Rose Bulgare -- true, long-lasting, full blown red rose

Pennhaligon's Elisabethan Rose -- true, long-lasting, fresh, dewy, white rose

I'm a big Nahema fan, it's just beautiful, with more development than the two above but very much a rose fragrance.

I do not care for SL's rose, or LV's, or L'Artisan's.

Outside of the niche houses, I'd suggest Givenchy's Very Irresistible (sweet, young, anise-laced rose), Stella Rose Absolute (dark, dusty rose with hints of amber and sharp bergamot) and the Body Shop's Cassis Rose (not long-lasting, but a big blast of sweet blackcurrant followed by a very true and luxuriant tea rose - one of the only rose fragrances that actually works well on my skin).

ive had so many, started with creed REL, then i got it.. then it was serge lutens... then i bought it... versailles pour homme... bought it... caron tabac blond... then i bought it... i think thats the way its gonna be ...

The 'perfect rose' is always subject to personal preferences, mood and season, I find.

I enjoy several different 'roses' from dewy fresh true 'old english garden', to intense and incensy, to soft and powdery and through to boozy and sweet.

Here are some roses of note that I own or appreciate and recommend you try on your discovery journey of all things rose:

Crabtree & Evelyn Damask Rose - fresh, true rosebud cologne
Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Eau Fraiche - delicious delicate pink rosebud at dawn
Crabtree & Evelyn Evelyn (Rose) - full blown rose garden - gorgeous!
Guerlain Nahema - Sophisticated fruity rose
The Body Shop Cassis Rose oil - feminine fresh fruity tea rose sadly fleeting
The Body Shop Tea Rose oil - intense longlasting tea rose fresh with a delicious cooling 'edge' of green. Perfect in summer
The Body Shop Sequin Sparkle oil - a limited Edition rose blend that starts out sharp but softens into a lovely feminine white rose. Quite classic and sophisticated but still young and fresh.
The Body Shop Ananya oil - this is a cool weather rose dominated floral that is surprisingly sophisticated with a delicious edge of spice.
Hermes Rouge - rose & myrrh. Starts out sharp and powdery sens to seductive ambery musk. Adult.
Crown Perfumery Marechale - Amazing fresh Elizabethan style rose
Crown Perfumery Crown Rose - pure, soliflore homage to the old rose - very British!
Coty L'Aimant PdT - blended with jasmine, orchid, sandalwood & musk. Classic, powdery with sexy troublesant musk base.
JC Brosseau Ombre Rose l'Original - similar to Coty L'Aimant but more innocent, more honey and less musk.
L'Artisan Voleur de Roses - very dark. Deep rose and patchouli with plum. a black rose.
Yves Rocher Rose Ispahan - This is a very sweet candied rose, fruity with a boozy character which reminds me of rose wine. Similar to JPG Classique EDP.

Judging from your love of SL A La Nuit and Jo Malone Tuberose - I recommend you check out the C&E perfumes, The Body Shop roses and also the Rosines range.

Good luck in your search. Happy Sniffing!

Thanks everyone for the answers to my question!!!

To be honest, I owned and tried: Nahema, Cassis rose, L'artisan (yek), Ispahan, Rose absolue by Goutal, La rose de rosine, Evelyn by Crabtree (this was great, till they changed the scent), Comme des garcons series red: rose.

Talking about the holy grail!!! Maybe I just want something that isn't there! Like the Dutch saying: the grass is always greener at the neighbours.

I will try the Penhaligon's (which I tought was very old fashioned like) and Creed.

Greetings.

I change HG's about the time the bottle has run out. Chanel 5, Shalimar, & Opium are one's that I never tire of, but Almond is driving me wild at the moment. I go around now with a cloud of almond around me, Can't seem to get enough of it lately. So anything that is dominated by almond would be my present HG.

My "holy grails" (there is no way they could be embodied in a single scent) are qualities rather than specific fragrances. I would love to find a fragrance with a sort of bakeshop/florist accord (perhaps with a bit of fruit in the background), very evocative of my childhood. I was very excited about a review of Frank LA: "It smells like a flowershop without being floral and like a bakery without being sweet." (http://www.luckyscent.com/shop/detai...ection=2&rv=on) it sounded PERFECT! Unfortunately, on me it was just sort of "meh". I was sooo disappointed

I would also love to find something that evokes vacant city streets at about 3.00 on a rainy winter morning in a major city, something that evokes the contrast of steel, concrete, and asphalt, and exposed flesh, with some faint hint of undefined menace in the backgound. Haven't found that yet either, but am wondering if CS Scent Intense mightn't come close (I'm going by the reviews I've seen i haven't been able to find this in Denmark so far).

And some days I'm in the mood for something silly and fruity, but that is never hard to find.

I am enjoying reading all of the HG stories or the "I tried but, it hasn't happened yet" stories. Thanks for starting this thread Gumoosh.

I have been wearing perfume for a long time now. OK let's just say for five decades to round things off. I am sure that each decade brought what I thought at the time was my HG scent. I can't even remember all of the names of them. That is one of the many fun things the the big "M" will do to a person. Although I think I pretty much have always stayed in the Oriental. Woodsy or Chypre families

I thought that I had found my HG perfume in Angel by Thierry Mugler. My friends regard it as my signature scent. It was the only fragrance when I first started wearing it, that lifted my emotions so delightfully. Although now I only wear the Angel Voile Celeste Celestial Body Lotion because the perfume, EdT, or even Angel Innocent smell too strong to me. Then I thought I found my HG in Gucci Rush. Yet that isn't quite it either. Recently I have found that the scents that I used to like, no longer appeal to me at all. I also am finding that the scents on me, that men used to compliment me on, are no longer getting any comments. I am off in search of my Holy Grail perfume for my next decade. As ever the true romantic that I am, I know that I will find it.


P.S. TDDanae - Have you tried Almond Cookie Body Spray by Carol's Daughter? That one reminds me of a touch of Italian pastry and all things good.

I have to say that right now, my HG is Youth Dew Amber Nude. I love this fragrance start to finish, and I enjoy smelling the different notes in each stage of its development.

No HG here... I am the owner of 19 bottles, and none of them is so outstanding that it will always be perfect.

The more bottles I own, the farer away from a HG I get, it seems like.

When I started with frags as a teen, and for ten years on, I only had one bottle at the time. And this bottle I found a HG. How I loved them! Ma Griffe, Rive Gauche, n:r 5, Trésor, Roma....

Today I have 19 frags. They are all very nice, and good for different situations. But they are turning out to be accesoires... No HG no more...

I am planing to get less bottles, just to come closer to a HG. Most probably I already own my HG.

Reading this post, I was inspired at how some of you are reminiscing how your HG has changed over time. How true that the scents which appeal to me have changed, motherhood made a huge difference.

As a teen, I remember stealing Mom's Je Revien for special occasions. That scent stands out in memory.

As a young mother, I owned and devoured a bottle of Jessica McClintock, and Tresor, likewise. Now Tresor is too heavy for me. Maybe as a reaction to that, I avoided fragrances other than the essential oils I use in my massage therapy practice.

Then, I went to Paris and all that changed....I found Basenotes...
Since finding you all, these are my top loves at the moment....

Aimez Moi, En Avion and Parfum Sacre (Tabac Blond is delectable, but needs its "moment" for wearing) add Farnesiana and Opium

If I had to choose one perfume only, I would be hard pressed to choose between the first three Carons I listed.
Of the three, I think En Avion is perhaps the most complex and non linear as one travels through the day with it. In my mind , this depth is what holds me. Labyrinthic.
It has a powdery, flower aspect, but also a rough gritty touch to it. It goes all over the place over time. You gotta love that.
Aimez Moi is most comforting and earthy. It just makes me feel all cozy, huggable and good when I wear it. Though Farnesiana makes me feel like this, too, Aimez Moi has an edge with me because it seems to have more contrasting elements within it and I find this to be delightful. LIke En Avion, it covers more territory. Parfum Sacre I find to be transcendent and elevating. Decidedly feminine and beautiful. Brings me to a higher place. You want to wear a long flowing dress and carry flowers if possible, but not necsessary, because when you wear this , you are wearing a pretty dress already in your mind.

Thanks for listening.

Yes! I had/have an HG!

The Body Shop Rose Musk (discontinued woody-floriental) + 2 parts The Body Shops Vanilla (vintage circa 1990) with The Body Shop White Musk powder (vintage circa 1990) on top. That was my HG for years and years until the fragrances were discontinued and reformulated! I hear Bal A Versailles smells similar to my HG mixture but I've not tried Bal A Versailles yet.

Then I floated in no-man's-land for a while, not wearing any fragrance at all. I flirted with Anais Anais and Lou Lou. I tried TBS Peach and White Musk. Nothing was as good as my HG.

Then I got No. 5 as a gift from a boyfriend. It was love at first whiff (unlike the boyfriend), and while the relationship did not last, my affair with No. 5 continues to this day - particularly in the parfum form. I am pretty sure it's been reformulated though - damn it.

Then I discovered Basenotes and some other fragrance/makeup related websites. I test other things but I can't imagine not having No. 5 around.

I have bought some oils and EOs since I joined Basenotes but nothing blows my socks off the way No. 5 did. I've been using TBS Tea Rose in the summer for the past two years. I guess TBS Tea Rose is okay too. I'm looking for a variety of alternatives to smelling the same all the time.

:-)

Farnesiana parfum is mine.

I´ve always had a "thing" for Fracas, long before I came to own my first bottle.
Friends of my mother´s used it when I was just a little girl, about 5-8 years old, and I can vividly recall the atmosphere surrounding this hypnotic scent; dim lights, cheerful laughter from women dressed in tight black dresses, sky-high heels, pearls, red lipstick-mouths sipping White Ladies and smoking thin cigarillos.
I used to hide behind a curtain (mom thought I was asleep, of course), admiring the ladies and just acheing to grow up so that I could be a part of it...
Now, that I own a bottle, I still love it, it IS my Holy Grail, but I must admit I don´t use it that often...

This is the scenario I am looking for. I haven't found my Holy Grail yet though.
However, I would like to find it. I dream of having ... two fragrances, simply and purely, forvever...or at least, for a long time.
One for warm/every-day and one for cold/evening.

No more fuss, no more restlessness, no more "maybe this one will smell better", no more constant switching and ephemeral relationships with perfumes.
I love "signatures" and I like women who act like they don't try too hard and they are not into "discovering themselves".
They simply throw on their their "time-tested" style and perfume (with the necessary fashion-of-the day little updates) and then forget about it and go on living their lives being involved in "others", not in "themselves".

I would love my son to always remember how "mom smelled" and have some warm, timeless, elegant associations.
I would like to smell like LOVE and SENTIMENT forever.

Former Holy Grail scents for me were Mystere de Rochas, Knowing, Paloma Picasso, Coco and D&G red cap.

I still go back to them, but none of them are something I wear every day.

A recent purchase just may be on its way to my list of Holy Grail.....Cabotine. For some reason, it's always wonderful, no matter my mood. It may make the list yet!

The closest thing to a holy grail scent I've found is Gaultier2. I'm sure this isn't THE ONE...but I'm enjoying it immesely in the meantime.

HG? Not right now, but I have had several during my life

As a teen, I loved (and still love) Vol de Nuit. I had read St Exupery's work and when I saw Vol in a department store, i tried it an was smitten. I wore that for dates and occasions but still bought cheaper brands for daily use (Aphrodesia, Aquamarine, Geminesse and Aquarius come to miind)

Throughout graduate school and into my 30s, I loved florals. A mentor of mine wore Oscar parfum in the classroom and I thought that was the most stunning thing ever. Naturally I wore that and considered parfum a hallmark of wisdom and sophistication. I also wore Le de Givenchy and it was Le that I wore on my wedding day. I still have an unopened bottle squirreled away.

While I was a busy mom of school kids I didn't concentrate much on scent. In my forties I went through several bottles of Cabochard, Eau Fraiche, Diorrissimo, Dioressence, and Venezia depending on the season.

Now I am utterly promiscuous with scents. My girls are all adults now and I am adjusting to their independence and trying to find new ways for myself personally, professionally and with fragrance as well. I also looks back at my 50 years and long for discontinued scents that I associate with other arts of my life. If you don't know what looking back longingly means now...you will.

I was always a parfum devotee and specific scents have taken on grail status not only because I love them, but because a whiff and a wearing can
make me look back with joy with laughter and sometimes with sorrow and make the memories less fragile.

Here's to former grails Vol de Nuit, Oscar and Cabochard! I love you old friends!

Seems like ages ago since I first read this thread. I threw out my Opium, still like it, but my skin started turning it too spicy. My favorite now is Le Baiser Du Dragon. I have to say favorite for I cannot see myself ever wearing any one scent for too long. I just love too many. Still love, love, love almond and yes scentofu, I have tried Almond Cookie, thank you, and haven't found an almond I don't love. That is a great story about the Kai. Someone sent me some and I was surprised because I have not liked gardenia and Kai was really nice and did not smell so much like gardenia to me.

I'm loving Almond Blossom by DSH perfumes.

http://www.dshperfumes.com/sale_page.asp

Thank you BlueIsis, will have to give it a try.

I just re read my post and its amazing how things have changed in the time since I wrote this.
En Avion, Aimez Moi and Parfum Sacre are still at the top of the list, but after so much more sampling, others are nudging up to Holy Grail position.

Aimez Moi will always have a special place with me.
Tabac Blond has nudged its way to being a fragrance I would not want to be without.
Right now I am SMITTEN with Eugenie and Carnal Flower.
I can't help myself.

THese things take time, it seems.

I've come to terms with the fact that my Holy Grail is, as its name suggests, ultimately unattainable... or, in other words, the scent that I most want to try is always my Holy Grail, until I actually try it, at which point my Holy Grail is the fragrance that I want to try NEXT.

Still, if any fragrance currently in my collection fit the bill, it would be Carnal Flower.