Before becoming a beauty editor, my background was in English literature (more specifically, novels and essays produced by women through the 19th and 20th centuries). Spending so much time in the company of books provided endless inspiration and intrigue in my daily life, transporting me to places and introducing me to people I never knew I needed before cracking open a cover. Between essays, presentations, and tests, I spent every possible moment in college reading to my heart's delight. Trust me—I have the horrible eyesight of a classic bibliophile to prove it.
Whenever I get the opportunity, I love drawing connections between some of my favorite literary works and the scents I wear on rotation. Keep reading for a look into my world with eight gorgeous scents to spark your imagination and five must-have home fragrances to help set the ambience before you dive into those pages.
1. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813)
"You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever." — Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pride and Prejudice
Key Notes: King William pear, freesia, and patchouli
We're starting strong with the book that kick-started my love for 19th century literature. I can't remember a time when Pride and Prejudice didn't cross my mind at least once a day. In some ways, it's my version of TikTok's Roman Empire. Jo Malone's English Pear & Freesia captures the sweetness and familiarity of the English countryside through the eyes of Jane Austen while the addition of bright freesia is all it takes to transport me to the halls of Darcy's Pemberley.
2. Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (1878)
"I've always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, just as he or she is, and not as you would like them to be.” — Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina
Key Notes: incense, tonka absolute, and ambrette seed
Whether you've somehow fought through the roughly 822 pages of Tolstoy's novel detailing the affair between socialite Anna Karenina and Count Kirillovich Vronsky or have watched the 2012 film adaptation starring Keira Knightley as the titular character, you know just how memorable the story is. Inspired by the scent of rich blooming night florals, a single spritz of Ambrette de Noir always brings to mind the wonder, excitement, and intrigue of a scandalous romance.
3. Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own (1929)
"Have you any notion how many books are written about women in the course of one year? Have you any notion how many are written by men? Are you aware that you are, perhaps, the most discussed animal in the universe?” — Virginia Woolf
Key Notes: white musks, steamed rice accord, mimosa, blonde woods accord
Diptyque's newest intimate perfume is a light and fresh white musk fragrance inspired by paper. According to the brand, "the name of this creation brings together water and paper," immediately reminding me of Woolf's fascination for the power held by paper and pen for the furtherance of womankind. In her famous essay, she explores social injustice and women's lack of free expression, underlining the importance of women having to have money and a room of their own to write fiction.
4. Toni Morrison's Beloved (1987)
"The future was sunset; the past was something to leave behind. And if it didn’t stay behind, well, you might have to stomp it out." — Toni Morrison
Key Notes: pomelo, saffron, juniper berry, black violet, blonde woods, vetiver, and raspberry
As a descendant of enslaved West Africans, I was inspired by Beloved to educate myself about the lives of my ancestors. The Toni Morrison novel tells the story of a broken family of formerly enslaved people whose home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Inspired by the ideas of unity and inclusion, Byredo's Black Saffron is as haunting and all-embracing as the award-winning novel.
5. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
"A woman should be able to kiss a man beautifully and romantically without any desire to be either his wife or his mistress.” — Gloria Gilbert, The Beautiful and Damned
Key Notes: honey, velvet orchid accord, and vanilla
This Tom Ford fragrance combines sparkling florals with glamorous mystique, the latter of which F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel is rife with. The novel's plot follows the life of young artist Anthony Patch and his flapper wife Gloria Gilbert, whose love for excessive partying leads to their eventual downfall. While we can't travel back in time, using Velvet Orchid brings the heyday of New York's café society back to life (not to mention it's housed in a gorgeous art deco bottle).
6. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847)
"All my heart is yours; sir: it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile me from your presence forever." — Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre
Key Notes: muguet, fresh citrus, magnolia, vetiver, sandalwood, woods, and musk
Henry's Rose's criminally underrated woody fragrance shines with notes of muguet, white woods, and vetiver for a scent that, to me, evokes the moors Jane Eyre crosses during her hasty exit from Thornfield Hall after coming face to face with a secret seemingly known to everyone in the country estate but her. This perfume is airy and fresh with a hint of something else… perhaps mystery paired with a haunting past.
7. E.M. Forster's A Room With a View (1908)
"A rebel she was, but not of the kind he understood—a rebel who desired, not a wider dwelling-room, but equality beside the man she loved. For Italy was offering her the most priceless of all possessions—her own soul.” — E.M. Forster
Key Notes: French wisteria, watery notes, Bulgarian rose, and imperial jasmine
A romantic and a humorous critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century, A Room With a View opens in Florence, Italy, where a young English woman, Lucy Honeychurch, swaps hotel rooms (and eventually spends time with) George Emerson. Nest New York's ethereal, floral, and youthful Wisteria Blue screams an Edwardian summer spent wandering through the rolling hills of Northern Italy to me.
8. Ian McEwan's Atonement (2001)
"Dearest Cecilia, You’d be forgiven for thinking me mad, the way I acted this afternoon. The truth is I feel rather light headed and foolish in your presence, Cee, and I don’t think I can blame the heat."— Robbie Turner, Atonement
Key Notes: pepper essence, orange flower petals,
Ian McEwan's Atonement is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel set over three time periods detailing an upper-class girl's mistake in response to a budding romance between her old sister Cecilia and her childhood friend Robbie Turner. Their relationship begins in a library, sparking a chain of tumultuous events. Warm and spicy, Whispers in the Library is exactly what I would imagine Cecilia to be wearing during her post-dinner tryst with Robbie.
More Scents to Set the Ambience
Key Notes: pear accord, lily-of-the-valley, rose absolute, white musk, Indian patchouli, and ambrette seeds
Key Notes: pine, lavender, musk, and amber
Key Notes: sage and oat milk
Key Notes: verbena, ozone, green lead, lavender, lily, amber, and cade wood
Key Notes: sandalwood
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