Scented strategies for winning hearts on a date

Time to refresh your fragrances? Our fragrance expert has selected three fragrances and a few dating tips for the upcoming Valentine's Day celebration.

Text & Illustration: Ebba Lundberg

Published 2024-02-13

According to American tradition, Valentine's Day should be celebrated with grandeur. We have somewhat adopted this tradition in the Nordics, but celebrate it in a more restrained way. For some, this day passes like any other day. However, for those of you who want to remind someone of your love for them or are planning a first date, Valentine's Day can be the optimal occasion. When choosing perfume for a date, I recommend a subtle and pleasant fragrance to enhance the experience. Namely, the power of fragrance can affect our emotions, strengthen our memories and create lasting connections to the moments we experience. There is no need to feel compelled to buy 100 roses and chocolates for your loved one; instead, you can have fun with a joint activity.

I have collected three suitable activities and fragrances, as well as providing tips on how you can impress with a stylish appearance on this year’s Valentine ’s Day.

Welcoming fragrance on a walk

The fragrance 1917 from Copenhagen-based Frama is a modern interpretation of the timeless Chypre perfume family. This fragrance carries woody notes from Cyprus, where grass and moss meet in enigmatic harmony. For those of you who want to celebrate casually, take your loved one out for a walk in the park wearing a relaxed look together with this fragrance. Maybe you are meeting for the first time, then it is especially important to be attentive and respectful in order to create a comfortable atmosphere. When you first meet, the notes of cedar wood and bergamot set the tone for an elegant and inviting start to your walk together.

Should the weather let you down, show extra consideration by sharing an umbrella or perhaps offering your jacket. Although the latter may feel like a scene from a rom-com movie, there is a subtle charm to offering some shelter from the rain. As the walk draws to a close, suggest something like having a coffee if the mood is right. If not, close with a polite goodbye. The latter feels almost unthinkable when you wear a fragrance as welcoming as 1917.

Mysterious aroma in the restaurant

A timeless and proven tradition on Valentine's Day is to unite over a meal at a restaurant. Boring or ordinary? Absolutely not. Make the evening extra special by spicing it up with a carefully selected perfume that enhances the atmosphere. Kasbah, an inviting fragrance from the Swedish cult brand 19-69, takes you on a journey to 60s/70s Marrakech. With top notes of orange, lime and light honey, it opens up the evening as a harmonious and sweet start. To further enhance the experience and blend in with your fragrance, find a vintage favourite in your wardrobe that is characterised by colours and patterns from the 60s or 70s. Perhaps it is a polo shirt or a shirt that can reflect the scent?

Romantic manoeuvres like pulling out your dates chair and helping with their jacket may be considered old-fashioned depending on who you are dating, but work if you want to come across as a traditional gentleman. Nevertheless, you will probably get further by asking questions, being responsive and curious about your date. In addition, what do you do with the bill? There you simply go by gut feeling and what you think your date would have appreciated.

Masculine perfume at the bowling alley

For the sporty among us, perhaps a meeting at the bowling alley is in order, even though bowling in particular may not be the most up and coming sport. If you do not know each other that well, conversation is usually easier when doing an activity together (it is a great way to avoid the potentially awkward eye contact that easily occurs during a sit-down dinner). For this type of Valentine's Day meeting, I want to highlight a more classic and masculine perfume, namely Green Irish Tweed from Creed. Here, notes such as lemon, peppermint and sandalwood lead the line, compensating for the general sweat and “bowling alley smell” that lies like a cloud cover over the lanes. To achieve the right look at the bowling alley, choose a relaxed style where a pair of dressy drawstring trousers are the focus. Match them with a long-sleeved merino wool polo shirt. You have to accept the involuntary bowling shoes in half red and blue for an hour or two - although they also give a charming retro feel.

Win or not - offer a beer at the end of the night where the real chat takes place. If there isn't a strike when bowling, maybe there will be a strike in love...?