Small Moments of Scent: The £3 incense from the nose behind Baccarat Rouge 540
A perfume industry secret from the maker of TikTok's viral fragrance
I kept noticing the same perfume in changing rooms or restaurant bathrooms - it was soft, fruity and full-lipped. It smelt like an expensive hotel room, I couldn’t place it. Without looking too much like a creep, I’d follow girls (they were always girls, around 21) down the street, taking in greedy gulps like a modern-day Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
I then read about Baccarat Rouge 540 and realised it must be that. I knew all the other fragrance hits. It was a relief in one way, and not in another, as the perfume in question cost around 200 pounds.
As a perfume brand founder, I have given up on buying new perfumes, I make my own now, and I live a mostly happy life, doing without new formulations by others. Disclaimer: I still have an extensive archive collection from my previous life as a beauty editor, but I haven’t added anything new for years. But this one was getting up my nose and inside my head. A trip to Harvey Nichols confirmed what I had been smelling was indeed Bac Rouge. I knew it before my nose met the scent strip. it was like seeing an actress in real life and thinking she was a friend for a split second.
There’s nothing I love more than a viral scent, for its tribal nature and for bringing perfume into the conversation. We all know a Birkin bag or Nike Air Max, but perfume rarely crosses over in the same way fashion does. For Baccarat Rouge 540 by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, the hype stems from the rumours that, the formula has been duped in Cloud by Ariana Grande. Was I smelling Bac Rouge or Cloud?
This viral perfume is for a generation who loves dupe culture. Zara has ripped off Bac Rouge too it’s called Red Temptation, and according to the shop girl, it’s their best seller. Bac-Rouge (and its many knock-offs) is what Tom Ford's Black Orchid was to my generation, and Santal 33, or Glossier YOU to generations in between.
Papier d 'Armeni - Incense Papers - £3.20
And long before his perfume was a hashtag on TikTok, Kurkdjian made the formulations for two of the scents (Papier Rose and Arménie) in my favourite paper incense collection: Papier d 'Armeni.
I've decided to kick off my mini-series: Small Moments of Scent with these amazing little books of incense papers. In the series, I’ll highlight something ‘low-brow’ (cheap) or seasonal from nature you can find easily in a hedgerow or chemist to smell now, to help you stay in the moment throughout the year.
Papier d 'Armeni incense papers are first on my list because they are everything I love about the perfume world. When you know where to look, you can find something that smells beautiful, costs less than 4 quid, and was created by a cult perfumer behind the world’s most-wanted scent.
I always stock up on these sweet vintage-style booklets of incense papers whenever I’m in France. They’re sold behind the counter in most pharmacies. You simply rip off a strip, concertina the paper ‘accordion style’, light it, and quickly blow out the flame to encourage wafts of sweet musky smoke.
The original is called Tradition and is inspired by the benzoin that Amenian families burnt in their homes in the 19th century to ward off illness and invite comfort.
The mother of essential oils
Benzoin is a creamy and woodsy essential oil, rumoured to be one of the original ingredients of Coca-Cola. That gives you an idea of its medicinal but vanilla scent. It's gentle and universally popular in my natural perfume workshops. According to Highsnobeity, Coca-Cola is a trend in perfume right now.
When you slash the bark of the styrax plant, benzoin oozes out like caramel to protect the tree, that’s why it’s known as ‘the mother of essential oils’ for its healing and protecting properties. It was the OG 'cosy scent’ before that this term got appropriated by Starbucks pumpkin lattes and synthetic cinnamon candles.
Kurkdjian’s creations for the collection build on the benzoin but add in more sophisticated notes: Arménie is an earthy mix of lavender, myrrh, and cedar, and Rose is a powdery Turkish delight bloom finished with a smoky musk.
The tiny booklets are perfect for travel, and there’s no better feeling than unpacking in a new place, hanging up your outfits, opening the windows onto a new view, and locating yourself with the scent of incense. I have a very sensitive nose, and usually the hot air, or smells from a new street are part of the joy, but occasionally a vacation apartment can smell stale, or strange, and incense helps me land.
Only the French would have something as frivolous as incense designed by a world-class perfumer offered at the point of sale in their pharmacies. What could be more essential than indulging your senses when you pick up your prescription?
A colleague once posted me some from her trip to Paris because I had banged on about them to her at work, and I could smell them before I opened the envelope. It was such a treat on a dark winter morning.
They make the chicest stocking filler that’ll last all year long. To order in bulk go to their website: and if you are in the UK this website has French pharmacy essentials. I couldn’t pick a favourite: try all three.