Four Quiet Stunners I Can’t Shake: Eshal, Above The Waves, Rose Abricot, Aldebaran

I tested four perfumes across a single windy day, one on each wrist and each coat sleeve. By the time I reached the station, I’d already decided which one I’d wear on a second date. No campaigns, no puffery, just my nose and the city air.

Let’s start with NVC Creations Eshal. “Luminous” isn’t a mood here, it’s a texture. Eshal settles like pale silk on warm skin, a sheer floral-musk that glows rather than shouts. It’s the kind of brightness that makes everything else feel cleaner and more intentional. If you want a daytime signature that reads polished and contemporary, Eshal lands it without breaking a sweat.

Then Etat Libre d’Orange Above The Waves surprised me. Tea and incense can go moody or monkish, but here the blend feels buoyant. Think gentle steam from a teacup meeting airy resin, a little saline edge, a lot of quiet focus. It’s meditative with backbone, unisex to the bone, and ideal for people who want serenity with character. The sillage is well-mannered, the presence undeniable.

Anthropologie Rose Abricot is elegance done the unfussy way. The apricot is soft and ripened, never sticky, and it melts into a petal-smooth rose that keeps its composure from start to drydown. There’s a tender, skin-close finish that feels like clean chiffon. Office safe, date friendly, a perfect layering partner if you like to nudge your roses into something more velvety.

And then there’s Marc-Antoine Barrois Aldebaran. Shines is right. If you know the house’s taste for sleek, mineral brightness, Aldebaran polishes that idea until it catches the light. It opens with a crisp, almost metallic sparkle that slides into modern woods and a cool, luminous aura. It’s not a roar, it’s a tailored blade, and it wears like good posture. Projection is tidy yet persistent, the kind that gets you a second glance in an elevator.

Quick hits:

• NVC Creations Eshal - radiant, sheer, daytime-chic
• Etat Libre d’Orange Above The Waves - tea and incense clarity, calming but not soft
• Anthropologie Rose Abricot - apricot-rose elegance, intimate and versatile
• Marc-Antoine Barrois Aldebaran - star-bright modernity, refined presence

Four different routes to sophistication, no theatrics required. I’ll be keeping Eshal for clean mornings, Above The Waves for focus, Rose Abricot for silk blouses, and Aldebaran for nights when I want my orbit to be unmistakably mine.