best job interview fragrances for women

hepburn suit I am getting ready for another round of academic interviews for professorships and have been plotting my fragrance strategy, and I figured other people would be interested in my quandary: what does a woman wear to an important job interview? She needs to feel empowered, subtly womanly, and happy, but she should obviously wear nothing that could put people off (so out goes one of my favorites, Samsara, which isn’t everyone’s), but what other criteria should she use to judge which fragrance would be best? Here is a list of criteria I came up with, but I’d be thrilled to get your input!

  • the scent should be classic—nothing too unusual, exotic, or oddball, i.e. Chanel’s Cuir de Russie, not Thierry Mugler’s Angel. 

  • the scent should skew masculine. Consider wearing a classic men’s cologne, like Guerlain Vetiver, Geo F. Trumper’s Royal Fern, or Caron Pour Homme. Although it is wrong that we still live in a sexist world, you might as well play the game and mess with peoples’ minds by embodying a masculine category.

  • the scent should be complex and mysterious, something that will intrigue your interviewers subconsciously and make them want to know you/understand you better.  So no soliflores or single note minimalism here—that is, Andy Tauer, not Jean-Claude Ellena.

  • Make sure the ‘tone’ of the fragrance matches the tone of your outfit. If you are wearing a power suit, wear a power fragrance. If you are doing the librarian look, rock an ‘intellectual fragrance’ like Bois des ÃŽles

  • When in doubt stick with the big perfume houses like Chanel, Guerlain, Caron, and Creed, for many of their compositions use a classic, recognizable ‘house’ base that is fundamentally successful and appealing to a broad range of people.

  • Watch out for aldehydes—the bubbly synthetic elements in perfume-- intense citrus, and anything else that would strike your interviewers as “too perfumey”, since many people are—unfortunately—hostile to the very idea of perfume, and aldehydes fit the ‘perfume’ profile.

  • I sort of hate to say this, but consider wearing something fairly mainstream. Although you may be a big fan of difficult niche fragrances, this is often an acquired taste, and we’re aiming for the lowest common denominator here.

 

  • Finally, smell expensive. You want them to offer you the big bucks, right?

Comments

  1. Of course, a fragrance choice might depend somewhat on the conservativeness of the field of endeavor and of the general culture of the area - I happen to live in a very traditional, conservative location and have a degree in that most conservative of fields, accounting.

    The only fragrance I'd consider wearing for a job interview would be Chanel No. 19. It hits many of your criteria: it's classic, and it sits on the assertive side of feminine with its cool green notes, tailored florals, vetiver drydown and that elegant Chanel iris that says, "MONEY!" so definitively. I call it my Seven League Boots fragrance, and it makes me feel confident.

    The only changes I'd make to your list would be to add the stipulations of "Keep the sillage fairly close to your body," and "No orientals or big come-hither white florals, nothing that hints of cleavage or sex appeal," and point out that if you are a woman wearing a hyper-masculine scent like a fougere*, that might appear just as oddball as a niche fragrance in a conservative area like the one I live in. I'd think that a tiny application of a citrus-moss cologne like Eau Sauvage, which has more weight than a plain citrus but seems more unisex than a fougere, might work well.

    *Caron pour Homme seemed unwearably masculine to me, although the Vetiver might be suitable. But if I own and love Chanel No. 19, I'd be inclined to grab it first.

    Nice list! And good luck with your interviews.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much, Mals86,for your input on this!! Chanel No. 19 does sound like the perfect choice, now that I think about it.

    you're right about the sillage too..and the sex-appeal no-no factor.

    I will have to amend my list of guidelines once I've thought it through a little more thoroughly, and I will have to integrate your input! Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  3. LBV, thanks for turning me on to this post! Glad you have also struggled with the issue of the Perfect Interview Perfume.

    Your advice is right on and I will add it to all that is rambling around in my mind.

    Thanks again!

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  4. I am glad it was useful, Josephine! I hope you find the right thing, and I look forward to hearing about it when you do!

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  5. You captured the sentence perfectly. Great advice too! :)
    pheromones for women

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  6. thanks for these interviews, they are really inspiring! http://resume-writer.net/blog/sexist-job-interview-myth-or-reality has an article about the sexist job interview, check whether it is myth or reality!

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  7. Greetings! Maybe I'm not right but no sharp perfume is allowed during a job interview. How can you imagine such a situation? Protect yourself from asking ridiculous questions - follow this blog!

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