The best thing about fragrance is its ability to elicit emotion – it has the power to change the way we feel, and alter the energy we bring to a room. These days you can channel almost anything through fragrance: power, confidence, hotness, the purity of baby skin or clean laundry… But sometimes, we crave something more obscure. Sure – plants, flowers and woods are wonderful but what about smelling cold, metallic or like the future?
Right now, at the height of A.I. and digital everything, there’s a new guard of personal scents that give off notes of electrical equipment, lacquer and oil. Not in an off-putting way, but in a sleek way – think metal boots in the snow, cool silver, coins, Pris from Blade Runner – punk-ish but also super clean.
The best perfumes that smell robotic and futuristic, below.
Le Labo Aldehyde 24
Putting this at the top of the list because it’s my personal favourite that fits into this category. It is a city exclusive, so you might need to travel to Dallas to get your hands on it, but the scent is specifically designed to ‘cool down’ its wearer (apt, given Dallas is known for soaring temperatures). The refrigerated metal effect is caused by a huge amount of aldehydes, white flowers and a tiny bit of musk.
Ganymead
By the legendary perfumer Quentin Bisch, Ganymead is named after the largest moon in the solar system. Discovered by Galileo in 1610, it orbits around Jupiter – a silvery planet covered with salty oceans. The inspired scent is light, mineralic and slightly worn (there’s notes of aged leather). Other-wordly, strange and addictive are words that come to mind.
Creed Silver Mountain Water
A cult classic, Silver Mountain Water is more rooted in reality – think clean water, the colour white and the freshest mountain air you can imagine. But its purity gives it an unnerving edge – a disarming fragrance for minimalists.
Escentric Molecules Molecule 01
The original synthetic skin musk scent, Molecule 01 smells like nothing and everything all at once. The singular note inside it, Iso E Super, takes on a life of its own depending on the wearer. Futuristic but primal. Perfect if you want to smell mysteriously attractive but also entirely like yourself.
Hermes H24
While categorically a male fragrance, H24 is super clean and herbaceous with a cooling effect – there’s clary sage and oak moss but also an overdose of scarlene, a synthetic molecule known for its icy, metallic finish.
Celine Cologne Celeste
This has a newborn powdery sweetness to it, but there’s a sheet metal edge; musky but cold at the same time. It’s youthful and fresh, with just a touch of clinical starkness – something I imagine Patrick Bateman would wear.
D S & Durga Steamed Rainbow
Mandarin, resins, almond flowers, vetiver and vapour – this smells like the air after a summer electrical storm. Imagine wet concrete, steam, sweetness and lightning.
Chanel Platinum Égoïste
A self proclaimed perfume for extraverts, Égoïste is a very fresh blend of clary sage (I’m sensing a theme) plus lavender and geranium. It’s very vibrant and tingly – the concept is that the cologne replicates the cool, slick luxury of pure platinum.
Maison Francis Kurkdijan Gentle Fluidity Silver
This perfume almost vibrates in the bottle. It’s aromatic and metropolitan – an olfactory interpretation of a concrete jungle.
Comme des Garcon Concrete
More concrete, this time from Comme des Garçon. Described as an exploration of destruction, construction and creation, Concrete is dry, dark and heavy. With urban notes of cumin, clove and musk, it’s a dystopian city scape that is, surprisingly, very beautiful on the skin.
Maison Margiela Celestial Whispers
Metal, cold smoke, moons, stars and auras. This fragrance is equal parts dark magic and bright light (think myrrh, aldehydes, incense, musk and cedar).
Images: Maison Margiela, Leta Sobierajski for Comme des Garçon
