After 12 years of writing about and immersing myself in the world of fragrance, it’s not hard for me to say that I know a thing or two about what makes the best perfume, well, best<\/em>. It has longevity, sure, and a head-turning blend, but in truth, the blueprint of a great perfume is based on something that can’t be defined with words \u2013 it’s a certain je ne sais quoi that takes a perfume from “good” to “cult-status.”<\/p>\n And this je ne sais quoi is something I have come to know. In fact, I am famous among my peers for the fact that I can smell a new perfume even before its launch and know whether it will be a hit or not. I can predict which women will wear it, when they will wear it and when How <\/em>They’ll wear it\u2014even if it’s not a perfume that necessarily goes with me. For example, I may not naturally gravitate toward sweet, fruity scents, but I can still say with absolute certainty that Parfums de Marly Delina has the je ne sais quoi to make it a modern classic. As is Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540. As is the Retrospect of Merit. YSL Libre is another. Eccentric Molecules Molecule 01 also has this. And Diptyque’s Orpheon, for that matter.<\/p>\n