Perfumes with the Best Sillage (and how to figure it out)

Perfume wearers and boats have more in common than one might reasonably suspect. Sillage (pronounced as see-yazh) is a French word that means “wake”, as in the airplane contrails criss-crossing the skies or the waves left on water by a passing ship. But it’s also used to describe the scented trail created by perfume. Sillage defines the degree to which fragrance emanates from its wearer and diffuses into the space around them.

Sillage is an important quality to keep in mind when buying a perfume or when selecting it for specific occasions. Big sillage scents are the most complimented because they’re easy to notice, but their distinct presence may make them inappropriate for restaurants, theatres, or some office environments. On the other hand, a fragrance that doesn’t bloom at all is rarely satisfying. The goal is to find the right sillage for your mood and lifestyle.

Often sillage is confused with richness, based on the assumption that fragrances laden with plush, deep notes like vanilla, woods and ambers create the strongest scented aura. This is not always the case because sillage is determined by the diffusive nature of the perfume ingredients. For instance, one of the most radiant materials is hedione, an aromatic that smells like lemony jasmine in soft focus.

Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage, a basil and bergamot cologne created by perfumer Edmond Roudniska in 1966, made hedione an indispensable part of the perfumer’s palette, and today it can be found in a variety of fragrances, from soft floral bouquets like Van Cleef et Arpels’s First to rich gourmands like Thierry Mugler’s Angel. Those who smell hedione in its pure state for the first time are often surprised by its ethereal quality, but there is no doubt about the powerful effect it creates in combination with other notes.

Just as light blends like Bulgari’s Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert and Prada’s Infusion d’Iris have a pronounced sillage, so do certain saturated and lush fragrances like Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue and Yves Saint Laurent’s Paris. L’Heure Bleue’s sillage is legendary, and while forming a rich trail of spicy iris, orange blossom marshmallow and musk, it’s nevertheless luminous. Paris’s trail is even bolder, in line with the big hair, big perfume aesthetic of the 80s. Some fragrances blend characteristics of effervescence and opulence, such as Chanel Misia, Lalique Encre Noire, and Ormonde Jayne Ta’if.

The easiest way to determine the level of sillage is to spray a paper blotter with perfume and leave it in the room for fifteen minutes. If upon entering the room you can distinctly smell the scent, you’re in possession of a high sillage fragrance. Now you can decide how big of a trail you want to leave and proceed accordingly.

What kind of sillage do you prefer? What are some of your favorite “big sillage” fragrances?

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

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68 Comments

  • Fazal: Victoria, help me understand the difference between sillage and projection. Are they the same thing more or less and is it fair to say that we should not even be using the word projection because sillage is just a more suitable term.

    I am definitely not someone who believes in monstrous sillage. As I mentioned not long ago, I think the perfume should not be detectable beyond personal space. I may even hypothesize that relatively introvert perfume wearers prefer low sillage while more extrovert perfume wearers prefer high sillage. January 22, 2021 at 7:22am Reply

    • Victoria: Projection or diffusion are used to describe the effect that you feel instantly. Sillage is something more lingering. So, you can have a fragrance with a big projection, but low sillage, like a classical cologne. It’s explosive and bright, but being volatile, it doesn’t linger. Of course, modern ingredients like hedione, musks, ambery woods, etc. help to create perfumes that are both diffusive and lingering. January 22, 2021 at 7:34am Reply

      • Fazal: Thank you, this is a very helpful explanation. January 22, 2021 at 8:08am Reply

      • Klaas: Oh, how interesting! Another thing learned 🙂 January 22, 2021 at 11:38am Reply

        • Victoria: Glad that it was helpful. January 23, 2021 at 5:54am Reply

      • Wanda: Victoria,
        I’m trying to discern, what it is that I find common to basically all of the Diptyque colognes I find to forward, but the same. I believe it could be described as a projection? January 24, 2021 at 11:51am Reply

        • Victoria: Do you mean the ingredients in their base? January 25, 2021 at 2:49am Reply

    • annemarie: I’m not sure about the introvert/extrovert parallel. I’m an introvert and love a perfume with great sillage.

      I think of introverts as people needing alone time to gain energy, while extroverts gain energy by interacting with people often. An introvert may still enjoy human contact, and be happy to engage attention with a statement perfume. They may enjoy trying different personas and dressing up or down with different perfumes.

      Final thought: someone who dresses quietly in neutral colours and classic styles might accessorise with a statement perfume, or vivid lipstick, or one striking piece of jewellery. The great thing is experiment and have fun! January 22, 2021 at 10:07pm Reply

      • Fazal: You may be right. I think I meant to say projection instead of sillage now that Victoria has helped me better understand the difference between the two. Your descriptions of introverts and extroverts are accurate.

        However, I have noticed that you can often spot introverts and extroverts by the way they interact with others in a social gathering. Extroverts like to draw attention to themselves while introverts would rather blend in and prefer long intimate conversations to working out the room as extroverts do. This is why I hypothesize that extroverts would prefer huge projection since they don’t mind attention while introverts would prefer perfumes with low projection that are only noticeable to those within personal space. January 23, 2021 at 6:38am Reply

        • Marion Eve: Hmm. I used to perform in front of relatively large crowds, telling colorful tales of my quirky life, and singing full throated. I LOVED it! But as a teenager, I almost threw up prior to giving a speech in class. Interestingly, now I loathe all types of parties, large or small, even 4 or 5 over to dinner. I cannot bear weddings, funerals or crowds at movie theaters or downtown. A LOT of this may have to do with COVID, and how it’s stripped me of a lot of social etiquette know-how, but even in the “before” times, I always went for the farthest corner at a house party. So, I have zero fear of piping off, loudly, when I can, but in a group setting, I shrink away. My perfume choices are the type that would “scare a maggot off a gut wagon” ( a “Wyomingism” or could clear a stadium. My favorites are Bal a Versailles, Absolue Pour le Soir, Habanita, Salome, and Maai. Huge village!! In polite society, I try to tone it down and wear, say Chanel 1957. So I’m an intro-extrovert, I guess. I want to make a statement, but slip the room and leave everyone with my scent trail, for good or bad. One cool thing about mask-wearing is that it does dull one’s sense of smell, but then when I take off the mask, VOILA, my own fabulous scent comes rushing back to me. AND, one last thought, I wear a mask for all the right reasons, but if I had to be honest, it’s because the LAST thing I want is to get infected and lose that sense of smell for a scary, mysterious period of time. YIKES! January 23, 2021 at 1:14pm Reply

          • Peter: Hi Marion Eve. Three of your favorites (Bal a Versailles, Salome + Maai) are Diva powerhouses that I choose to wear at home. January 24, 2021 at 12:15am Reply

          • Fazal: Thanks for the comments. I am using the input from you guys to revise my suspicion that introverts prefer low projection and extroverts prefer high projection. I guess the link is weak or even non-existent, contrary to what I thought at first. January 24, 2021 at 12:19am Reply

      • Shiva-woman: I completely agree! I’m a college teacher, and when I’m out in front (pre-Covid), I put myself out there. Once home, I’m drained. The battery is empty after 2-4 hours, whatever of intense human interaction. So, I’m not shy or withdrawn, just an introvert who likes to go to a party–and then recover energy-wise later. I love sillage monsters. I want wakes, trails, diffusion, projection. I don’t want to suffocate people in an elevator, but I want my perfume to sing. I also happen to have skin that really does mute many scents. So I’m liberal with the trigger and often don’t get any response from someone unless they move in quite close, or I’m wearing a straight-up oud. Or maybe an 80’s style scent. My skin has always been dry, even as a teen, so I try for moisturizing bases that match the scent in some way to get a bit more oomph, and spray on clothes and scarves as well as hair. January 23, 2021 at 2:26pm Reply

      • Elaina Vayntrub: I agree 100%. I am introvert with neutral tone wardrobe and my most complimented accessory is Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud Satin Mood. That my BIG statement piece. January 22, 2022 at 2:38pm Reply

    • Wanda: Fazal
      That’s an interesting take. I too feel overpowering long range perfume is slightly annoying.
      Can you have a sustained fragrance without this?
      Thank you Victoria , the blotter used to determine the high or low of a perfumes sillage is very helpful January 24, 2021 at 9:38am Reply

      • Fazal: When it’s a perfume with huge projection, I go for one or two sprays only. That does help a bit.

        Or if it is possible to use the perfume as a splash, even better because splash application does not diffuse the perfume as much as spray application. Another benefit of splash application is that you have more control over the amount of perfume applied on the skin as compared to spray mechanism. January 24, 2021 at 10:13am Reply

  • Melissa Rosen: Victoria, what is your very favorite fragrance in this category of perfumery? January 22, 2021 at 8:11am Reply

    • Victoria: L’Heure Bleue by Guerlain for its spectacular sillage and technique. January 23, 2021 at 5:50am Reply

      • Eloise: Do you think the current formulation holds up in this respect? February 13, 2021 at 8:13pm Reply

        • Victoria: Definitely, in my opinon. February 14, 2021 at 5:18am Reply

  • Hilde: For me all florals may have a big sillage, in contrast with woody orientals and fougères which I prefer to be more close to the skin.
    L’Occitane Néroli & Orchidee is I think a perfect example which uses a big dose of hedione to create that sillage. It doesn’t mean that it is one of my favourite perfumes, but I like it.

    One perfume of which I remember the marvelous and big sillage it left behind a woman entering a room, is Yves Saint Laurent Paris. I smelled it the first time 30 years ago, before I knew the perfume myself.
    But I wonder if the sillage of YSL Paris is obtained by the use of hedione or jasmine. I don’t recognise any jasmine-like scent in it. January 22, 2021 at 8:12am Reply

    • Victoria: Paris is build on a different accord (lilac-rose-muguet), but it also has a great sillage. January 23, 2021 at 5:51am Reply

  • Matty1649: YSL Paris is a great favourite of mine. January 22, 2021 at 9:32am Reply

  • Jane: YSL Paris is probably the only perfume with a big silage that I don’t find impolite. The idea of leaving one’s scent strikes me as both romantic and somewhat presumptuous. However if I like the scent i might not mind as much. I wear some big spillage perfumes myself and can see now how an office environment, (whenever we we go back), is d not an appropriate one. My thoughts of spillage as I write this however keep getting muddled with the idea of an 1980’s perfume like Poison or Obsession but of course as you Victoria explained that is not the case. If anything working from home has allowed me to not concern myself with this issue for now. Thank you for your always interesting posts. January 22, 2021 at 10:00am Reply

    • Victoria: Sillage doesn’t have to be the smothering trail of Poison or Giorgio, of course, but you’re right, those fragrances defined how we think of perfume and the trail it leaves behind. January 23, 2021 at 5:52am Reply

  • Nina Z: This is an excellent article and very useful! I didn’t know about that test, and I expect to use it in the future–when I’m around people again, that is.

    I do know from experience that “lighter” perfumes can have a lot of sillage as well as projection. Once I wore what I thought of as a lighter fragrance, Melograno, which is a cologne, to my local health food store and the clerk raved about it, saying OMG, that smells so good. I was embarrassed, but haha, at least she liked it. Normally I wouldn’t want to something with a lot of sillage in a health food store!

    I live in a very perfume-phobic community, Berkeley, CA. So I’m pretty careful about choosing only restrained perfumes for when I go out to eat, shopping, etc. And I never wear any perfume to a yoga class. Fortunately I work at home so I can wear any perfume I love (L’Heure Bleue!) I want at home and in the evening and even when I do my own yoga practice. January 22, 2021 at 11:17am Reply

    • Victoria: Some of the so-called light perfumes can leave a bigger trail than the heavy incense-ambery blends. Plus, people often think that because they’re light, they can be applied generously and go overboard. January 23, 2021 at 5:54am Reply

  • John: One thing I find so interesting about sillage is its sometimes elusiveness for the wearer…in the case of a subtle but wafting sillage like Guerlain Vetiver (perhaps my favourite wake), you almost have to orbit back around to catch it, like a dog chasing its tail. One way I think about projection vs. sillage (and thank you by the way for underscoring that difference, something that gets confused a lot on Fragrantica reviews!) is that projection is the scent’s components — notably the volatile topnotes — by themselves, whereas sillage is the composition midway into the process of mingling with your body’s chemistry… I love Guerlain Vetiver’s sillage because it feels darker and more savoury that the beautiful but rather crisp, sweet and light citrus-infused grassiness I smell in its initial projection; it’s sillage is generally the only time I really detect the tobacco or even leather accords ascribed to GV, which otherwise tend to blend too readily into the overall composition for me to discern and appreciate in their own right.

    My favourite way to detect sillage is to step outside of an indoor environment into a space with a different ambient temperature (especially an outdoor setting); I immediately feel a kind of shivering bloom of the scent layer reacting t the change of atmospheres and with it a little flush of sillage.

    As you might have guessed, I most prefer a sillage that is discreet but persistent. Thanks for the opportunity to talk about it. January 22, 2021 at 12:05pm Reply

    • Victoria: I also like a discreet but persistent sillage, and those kind of fragrances are hard to create. The reason some perfumers achieved acclaim was in no small part to their ability to create perfumes with an excellent sillage (not the one that makes people suffer à la Giorgio). Jacques Guerlain, Sophia Grojsman, Jean-Claude Ellena, Dominique Ropion, Maurice Roucel are in that group for me. January 23, 2021 at 5:56am Reply

      • Klaas: Jean-Claude Ellena is a master of creating light, transparent scents that do have a nice sillage.

        And I remember a friend of mine who used to wear Dune (another Ropion!)…….its sillage was glorious!! It lingered beautifully….. January 23, 2021 at 5:17pm Reply

      • Klaas: Two other fragrances that came to my mind were White Linen and Tresor. They both had fantastic sillage and I know now that they are Grosjman. Fantastic! January 25, 2021 at 4:37pm Reply

        • John: My wife wore Trésor when we were in our early twenties… What a beautiful fragrance it was — and persistent! I once broke a bottle in the bathroom sink and got it all over myself — during a lunch break from art school! I changed and showered, but still returned to school with a more-than-massive sillage… January 26, 2021 at 12:14am Reply

          • Klaas: Oh, it was beautiful indeed! And what a funny story…..well, also a bit sad, a bottle of Treson down the sink…..

            Fahrenheit brings back so many memories. Everybody wore it at the time (was it the 90’s?), especially in clubs! I could still smell it on my clothes and hair (over the cigarette smoke!!) after coming home, and I never wore it myself. Second hand sillage it was!! Unbelievable;-)) January 26, 2021 at 8:20am Reply

    • Klaas: John, your discription of Vetivers sillage is spot on. It is also one of my favorite fragrances as far as scent trails are concerned, and it is very true that its sillage smells different (better) than the scent on skin. January 23, 2021 at 5:12pm Reply

      • John: Thanks Klaas! This was something it took me awhile to understand about Vetiver and it made me start to go back and look at other compositions differently. I’m wearing Dior Fahrenheit right now and noticing how different its (in)famous ‘gasoline accord’ smells in the air around me as opposed to on the surface of skin. January 26, 2021 at 12:16am Reply

  • Brooke: One of the silver linings of being in lockdown in the UK has been wearing massive sillage monsters before lunch time. Things in the past I’ve only worn out when I wanted more space on the Underground. 😀 January 22, 2021 at 1:27pm Reply

  • Annie: How funny and delightful you all are . . . much like the scents you project or leave behind, I suspect. This subject has been an education, and I can only say it again, delightful! Bless you all! January 22, 2021 at 4:39pm Reply

  • Brenda: Rumeur by Lanvin is very likely my favourite perfume. The ‘real deal’ being long gone ~ I haven’t owned a bottle in years. I wanted to share, though, that in terms of silage it most certainly had its fair share. It was rare that I wore it that it was not commented on by men and women alike. When I returned to my office after an outing, it was always lingering there. This was not because I applied a lot…it just seemed to be the nature of the scent. I have the fondest memories of this beautiful perfume. January 22, 2021 at 4:42pm Reply

    • Victoria: That kind of effect is rare! January 23, 2021 at 5:57am Reply

  • Tara C: I love good sillage and most of my perfumes have it, as I go for stronger scents. Yes I did wear a lot of Giorgio & Poison in the 80’s. 🙂

    Yesterday I bathed in a cloud of Guerlain L’Heure de Nuit, today it’s Kilian Love Don’t Be Shy. January 22, 2021 at 6:29pm Reply

    • Victoria: Love Don’t Be Shy is excellent! January 23, 2021 at 5:57am Reply

    • Angeline: it’s been my dream for years to get l’heure de nuit !!! there was just not enough time during my 2 previous trips to paris & of course whatever planned for last year just got derailed… February 9, 2021 at 11:48pm Reply

  • Anne-Marie: Thank you Victoria to telling that test. I think Potrait of a Lady is my sillage monster scent. I remember very well those 80′ and 90′ huge sillage parfums.
    I live very anti parfume country and must be careful what comes to big sillage scents. January 22, 2021 at 7:38pm Reply

    • Victoria: Portrait of a Lady is definitely not for the sillage-shy people. 🙂 January 23, 2021 at 5:58am Reply

  • Elizabeth from Minneapolis: Dear Victoria,

    I am fairly new to perfume and I just have to thank you for this elegant and intelligent trove of your writings. I have just spent a very, very pleasant afternoon reading through many of your essays and reviews. I appreciate your dedicated work! January 22, 2021 at 8:05pm Reply

    • Victoria: Thank you so much for this lovely comment, Elizabeth. Reading it made me very happy. January 23, 2021 at 5:59am Reply

  • Peter: Mahalo Victoria, for another well explained post. Like others, I found the comparison between sillage and projection very instructive.
    I have a funny story about sillage. At the end of a long work day, a friend gave me a ride home. She could still smell my Chanel Coromandel. But, the next day, while driving her father, he accused her of smoking ‘pakalolo’ (crazyweed). The scent of patchouli lingering in the car reminded her Dad of 1970s incense and marijuana. January 23, 2021 at 8:08pm Reply

    • Victoria: That’s funny! Hope that the scent brought back good memories for her father, though. 🙂 January 25, 2021 at 4:42am Reply

    • Tourmaline: She should have asked him how he knew what they smelled like; he might have ended up red-faced! January 25, 2021 at 10:08am Reply

      • Peter: Aloha Tourmaline. I’m sure Dad had memories of wild times in Hippie Hawaii. Parents want to protect their keiki from their own experimentations. January 25, 2021 at 8:28pm Reply

        • Tourmaline: That’s so true. Her Dad’s remark came from a caring place. January 25, 2021 at 11:35pm Reply

  • Mela: One that I have tried recently that I find to be luscious and with great sillage that others seem to appreciate is Nuit Andalouse by MDCI. I have been on the hunt for a new fragrance and this one is currently in the top five. It is by far the one that has garnered the most compliments. I also find myself sometimes rolling back into a gorgeous ripple of it in bed if I have applied in the evening, so I’m pretty convinced it can claim good sillage. I chose to add it to my Lucky Scent cache primarily based on the name as southern Spain is one of my very favorite places. Probably not the best strategy for choosing a scent, but in this case worked out very well! January 23, 2021 at 10:04pm Reply

    • Victoria: Sometimes that’s the best way, since perfume makes you dream. January 25, 2021 at 4:43am Reply

  • Mela: That is funny, Peter. Hopefully your friend did not get in too much trouble as a result of your Coromandel trail. There seem to be a fair number of vast sillage perfumes that smell like cigarette or cigar smoke to me, but I’ve never gotten a “crazyweed” sensation. Angel extrait leaves a trail that smells like the air at the end of an all nighter spent drinking and smoking heavily in a 90s club. I don’t know if that’s the actual smell coming from the juice or if it’s a triggered memory association, but I kinda like it either way! January 23, 2021 at 10:19pm Reply

  • crystalwrists: Is sillage affected by the climate of the room or area? I would think it would be, but in which direction? Higher levels of sillage in more humid environments, or dryer environments? January 24, 2021 at 8:43am Reply

    • Victoria: In general, scents diffuse better in warm, humid environment, rather than cold and dry. For sillage, though, it’s the combination of diffusion and retention that’s important. In cold and humid environment, scent would be heavier and closer to the ground, because water vapor traps scent molecules and slows their diffusion. It means that your sillage will linger. But if it’s too cold, if temperatures drop, the moisture in the air freezes and the scent becomes trapped in dry solids. This means that it can’t be detected well. January 25, 2021 at 2:51am Reply

      • Rebecca: Hi Victoria! Chiming in a few weeks later… I would love a longer post (if you haven’t done one already) explaining *why* some scents are nicer in various seasons/places/weather. I see recommendations for summer scents, winter scents etc. all over the place, but I’d love a bit more of an expert’s take on environment and personal fragrance.

        (would be amazing to be able to incorporate some insight from that into my testing notes! This already helps explain why it took a snowy snowy day for L’Eau D’Hiver to finally click, I tried lots of times in the dry cold and it felt so flat but today it was exactly what the glowing reviews said it could be) February 7, 2021 at 7:32pm Reply

        • Victoria: I think that there were a few of articles in which I covered seasonality and why perfumes smell differently in different climates, but maybe there was not one article that covered it all. Mostly, since the volatility of the aroma-molecules is affected by temperature and humidity, our perceptions change. For me, L’Eau d’Hiver also works best in winter, despite it seeming so delicate. February 8, 2021 at 2:59am Reply

  • Tourmaline: Hi Victoria,

    Thank you for this lovely and illuminating post.

    Thank you also for clarifying for Fazal the difference between sillage and projection or diffusion; that was helpful for me, too.

    Like you, I prefer a discreet but persistent sillage. Going through my list of perfumes, I have discovered that about one fifth of them create a big sillage. I apply only a small amount of these ones – often only one spray, so I hope I am never annoying anyone.

    Only once has a person suggested that I should apply less. That was at work in around 1989, when I had just sprayed on Ciara. Along with fragrances such as Spellbound and Insolence, that is one of my “biggest sillage” scents. The middle-aged colleague who shared the room asked me what perfume I was wearing, and when I told her, she said, “Don’t you think it’s a bit strong?” I replied that I had only just sprayed it on and that I was sure it would soon die down. That probably didn’t happen! In my opinion, Ciara is a fragrance that should come in a dab-on bottle, because even one spray is really too much.

    Perfumes in my collection that I know have a big sillage include the following. (Where I have only a miniature bottle, I have written “mini” beside the listing.)

    1. Green Tea (Elizabeth Arden 1999)

    2. Sunflowers (Elizabeth Arden 1993)

    3. Aqua Allègoria Herba Fresca (Guerlain 1999)

    4. Apple Blossom (Helena Rubinstein 1948)

    5. Honeysuckle {Original} (Avon 1963)

    6. Pur Désir de Lilas (Yves Rocher 2002)

    7. Roses {Original) (Yardley 1970)

    8. Paris (Yves Saint Laurent 1983)

    9. Bellodgia (Caron 1927)

    10. Potion (Lush) – a strong carnation solid perfume

    11. Pleasures (Estée Lauder 1995)

    12. Fleurs d’Orlane (Orlane 1983)

    13. Beyond Paradise (Estée Lauder 2003)

    14. Red Door (Elizabeth Arden 1989)

    15. Diorissimo (Christian Dior 1956)

    16. Rive Gauche (Yves Saint Laurent 1969/2003)

    17. Chanel No. 5 (Chanel 1921)

    18. White Linen (Estée Lauder 1978) – mini

    19. Eden (Cacharel 1994)

    20. Trésor (Lancôme 1990)

    21. Insolence (Guerlain 2006)

    22. Chamade (Guerlain 1969)

    23. L’Heure Bleue (Guerlain 1912)

    24. Bal à Versailles (Jean Desprez 1962)

    25. Spellbound (Estée Lauder 1991) – mini

    26. Nahéma (Guerlain 1979)

    27. Poison (Christian Dior 1985)

    28. Phul-Nana (Grossmith 1891)

    29. Youth-Dew (Estée Lauder 1953)

    30. Opium (Yves Saint Laurent 1977)

    31. Loulou (Cacharel 1987)

    32. Rose Ispahan (Yves Rocher 1996)

    33. Habit Rouge (Guerlain 1965)

    34. Shalimar (Guerlain 1925)

    35. Chantilly (Houbigant/Dana 1941)

    36. Tabu (Dana 1932)

    37. Ciara (Ultima II/Revlon 1973)

    38. Angel (Thierry Mugler 1992) – mini

    39. Lolita Lempicka (Lolita Lempicka 1997)

    40. Butter Cookie (Yves Rocher)

    41. Vol de Nuit (Guerlain 1933)

    42. Laetitia (Rancé 1806/2008)

    43. Diamonds and Rubies (Elizabeth Taylor 1993)

    44. Samsara (Guerlain 1989) – mini & lotion

    45. Unforgettable (Revlon 1990) – mini

    46. Yvresse (Yves Saint Laurent 1993)

    47. Miss Dior (Christian Dior 1947) – mini

    48. Occur! (Avon 1962) – Avon’s version of Miss Dior, methinks

    49. Mitsouko (Guerlain 1919)

    50. Femme (Rochas 1944/89)

    Perfumes in my collection that I THINK have a big sillage include the following.

    1. Chloé “Classic” (Lagerfeld 1975)
    2. Jontue (Revlon 1975)
    3. Tocade (Rochas 1994)
    4. Ombre Rose (Jean-Charles Brosseau 1981)
    5. Jicky (Guerlain 1889)

    I want to add that both coffee and fresh bread have the most wonderful sillage! January 25, 2021 at 8:56am Reply

    • Tourmaline: I forgot to add one of my acquisitions from last year – Marshmallow by MOR, which Fragrantica says was created during the 2000s. It has a HUGE sillage, but I hadn’t yet added it to my perfume list because I wasn’t sure where to put it. In the end I put it with my other musk fragrances, so, in the list above, it would go between Poison and Phul-Nana. January 25, 2021 at 9:11am Reply

    • Peter: Hello again Tourmaline. Ciara and Giorgio are two big sillage perfumes where I’d prefer a quick sniff, rather than be trapped with them in an enclosed office! January 25, 2021 at 8:44pm Reply

      • Tourmaline: I hear you! Actually, I have had a bottle of Giorgio for years, but I’ve forgotten to add it to my Perfume list. So it should be on the list above between Beyond Paradise and Red Door. January 25, 2021 at 11:31pm Reply

    • kerri m: Excellent list! I might add Diva as well 🙂 February 15, 2022 at 11:31pm Reply

      • Tourmaline: Thanks, Kerri.

        I really must try Diva sometime, if it’s still available. I’ve been meaning to for years. February 16, 2022 at 3:10am Reply

  • Anne-Marie: Yes that is so true. First time I when I tested it I overspray it 🙊😂.Then I went to train. Poor fellow passengers 🙈. January 30, 2021 at 9:56pm Reply

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