Les Exclusifs de Chanel Sycomore is the greatest vetiver fragrance. Fact.
TikTok-er @itsmetinx, has her wine walks (fill an opaque Simple Modern cup with wine and stroll through the neighbourhood getting quietly tipsy) but I have been taking perfume walks. As a counterpoint to living in sweats 24/7, I drown myself in perfume and walk the streets of north Toronto, leaving a beautiful-scented wake, like a Catholic priest swinging a censer during Mass.
Right now, my perfume of choice is Les Exclusifs de Chanel Sycomore, (75 ml eau de parfum. $240), the greatest vetiver fragrance there is. (I should change the name of this site from Oldish to ‘Vetiver is my boyfriend.’) Genderless and nuanced, this classic from 2008 is for anyone who craves an earthy, herbal smell but is either repelled or just bored by anything patchouli-dominant. It’s kind of sticky, a little bit smoky and herbal, indisputably very fancy and very Chanel.
Sycomore plays beautifully with other scents. If you have an ethereal floral that needs grounding or toughening, a blast of Sycomore can do that easily without even breaking a sweat. But I prefer it on its own, both as a fragrance and as a critical counterpoint to my WFH wardrobe.