New Year's Eve perfumes to get you in the party spirit
What makes a scent a party perfume? Is it a boisterous, lusty floral? An overdose of sexy musks that can only be smelt when you're dancing so close to someone your noses almost touch?
According to Jessie Willner and Hanover Booth, founders of the aptly named Discothèque, it's a bit of both.
“A party fragrance is this incredible alchemy of loud and intimate. It's about creating a scent that can cut through a crowded room but also feel intensely personal when you're pressed close to someone on a dance floor. In a sea of bodies, sweating, dancing and living in the same moment, your fragrance becomes this invisible signature—something that shows individuality, while being part of this collective experience.”
In terms of what that party perfume smells like, the secret is not to get too hung up on specifics or prescriptive ‘sexy’ and ‘energetic’ perfume notes. Perfume is arguably the most personal element in your beauty arsenal, so follow your nose and it will lead you to a scent that either charges you up for a night out or leaves you feeling confident and sensual.
It's more about creating the sense "that anything can happen, that you are completely and utterly alive in this moment," say Jessie and Hanover. "A great party fragrance should make you feel like you're standing on the edge of something extraordinary—whether that's a dance floor in Tokyo, a hidden club in New York, or just having the most incredible night of your life. When you spray it on, you should feel transformed—like you're stepping into a version of yourself that has always existed, but you've never quite had the courage to unleash it before.”
The only advice you may want to follow is to look for a perfume that has depth and noticeably changes on your skin, taking you from daytime freshness to velvety flower petals, musks and woods at dusk. An added bonus is that these scents anchor themselves to the skin, ensuring they are also long lasting.
Powerful scents that last.
“You want a fragrance that changes as you move, as the night progresses," say Jessie and Hanover. "We connect most with notes that start one way and then evolve—maybe something that begins sharper but softens into something warm and intimate.”
This evolution was also front of mind for Merit CMO, Aila Morin, when she launched the brand's new fragrance Retrospect. “Clean fragrances often veer towards a daytime, ‘fresh laundry’ type of scent," she notes. "With Retrospect, we wanted to create something clean that is more ambiguous and complex – it has that freshness to it, but it evolves throughout the day, finishing with a more musky layer. The base notes lend themselves nicely to a sexier, nighttime feeling.”
Need more inspiration? Keep scrolling for our pick of the best party perfumes…
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
Inspired by the buzz of a Tokyo nightclub, Call For A Good Time is bright, exhilarating and joyful. A fresh snap of yuzu, heady night-blooming jasmine, shimmering musk and nose-twitching pink pepper dance on your pulse points, making this the perfume equivalent of a giant mirror ball in the sky – or a light-up dance floor.
Fittingly, Merit has collaborated with Completedworks for party season so you can purchase a limited edition set featuring the Retrospect fragrance and a stunning pair of gold earrings. As Aila explains, “jewellery can complete your look, much in the way that a spritz of fragrance can.”
The opening of Retrospect is very clean and pretty with crisp pear, fizzy aldehydes and an array of petals (jasmine, rose, violet) before drying down to a hazy, powdery cloud of musk and earthy moss. There's something woody that cuts through the entire scent, making it the type of perfume that seductively unfurls in the dark corners of a bar. For more reviews on Retrospect, read our 5 People Test.
If you prefer a liberal spritzing of body mist over your hair and limbs rather than a conventional perfume, Phlur's Amber Haze is a party-perfect option. Woody with addictive wafts of spicy saffron and sweet vanilla, the jasmine and musk give it a heady, carnal quality that beckon you over for a second sniff.
Meet the sultry floral that centres around an actual virtual flower - a jasmine note created by AI to capture its true-to-nature airy scent. The initial burst of florals is an energising jolt for daytime before it settles down to after-dark musk and ambrette, that melt together to create a nuzzly, second-skin scent.
An ode to the buzzy energy of New York City, this fragrance seems to evolve almost as quickly on your wrists, moving swiftly from zippy pink pepper to a burst of blousy florals (rose, tuberose and jasmine) before settling down with creamy woods. It reminds me of a night out in the Big Apple - the excitement of getting ready, cocktails with friends before finding a cosy bolthole for dinner and a nightcap. I haven't met anyone yet who hasn't commented on how good this warm, woody floral smells.
Like all of the perfumes in Victoria Beckham's collection, 21:50 Rêverie is inspired by a personal memory – in this case, a night in Java surrounded by thousands of tea lights. The raw vanilla has a dark earthiness that takes the edge off the sweetness to create what Victoria herself describes as a “dirty vanilla”. Perhaps the ultimate scent to couple with a Dirty Martini?
@khloekardashian/InstagramThe initial flower bomb of crystallised rose petals is softened by the nibbly nuttiness of praline, powdery musks and soft woods. Spritz it just before arriving and you'll make a head-turning entrance; but the scent trail you'll leave in your wake when you exit the club is sweet, warm and sexy.
