Post-Party Fragrances: What to Wear When You're Hungover

My weekend gift to you. Go out and party with abandon.

We’ve all had days where we’ve gone a little overboard on the drinking and/or partying and wake up feeling like death. Yes, this may be a scenario where it’s safer not to wear any fragrance, lest you miscalculate and make your hangover worse, but wearing nothing is unacceptable to the committed fragrance enthusiast. You will overcome your pounding headache and nausea to put something on anyway, so it should be something compatible with your miserable state.

There isn’t any scent that will make your hangover go away, but there are certainly scents that will make it worse (see every fragrance on this previous post). What we’re aiming for here is something that will not tax your senses any further and won’t turn your post-party headache into a full-blown migraine. Specific categories of fragrance you might want to avoid include:

• Big stinky classic chypres: Once I woke up with the tiniest headache from drinking a couple glasses of red wine with dinner. I put on about four sprays of Paloma Picasso and that tiny headache bloomed into a migraine by noon. J’ai regretté !

• Super sweet gourmands or gourmand-adjacents: Just the thought of wearing Pink Sugar or some marshmallow-rose concoction like Delina while hungover is making me nauseous.

•  Florals: even lighter florals tend to sharpen and feel more severe when you’re hung. Jasmine, rose, or other bold florals can be overbearing and headache-inducing. Anything indolic turns into a nauseating poop bomb.

• Powdery or musky notes: a rooty iris is borderline acceptable but a super powdery one? Blech, no.

Honestly, this is a scenario where almost all of my favorite perfumes are off the table. So what’s on the table (aside from those sticky wine glasses you couldn’t bother to clean up at the end of the night)? Woods. Particularly soft woods. This is the time to bring out your calming, creamy sandalwoods. Also, cooling, aromatic herbs like mint and rosemary and maybe a little citrusy pick-me-up if you’re not too far gone.

I’ve been partying a bit more than usual recently and I’ve been quite lucky to somehow avoid hangovers despite doing everything completely wrong. The other day I met up with some friends in the early evening and proceeded to drink like 6 beers outside in the sun after not eating anything but a large popcorn and Diet Coke at a movie theater several hours earlier. I didn’t even drink any water when I got home. I just fell asleep and miraculously awoke the next day completely fine aside from a bit of rebound anxiety (wondering if everyone liked my karaoke rendition of Patsy Cline’s Walking After Midnight). God has smiled upon me and I am truly blessed.

So, in hope of maintaining my good party karma, I present to you my favorite hangover fragrance choices. I’ve grouped them by hangover intensity, so the first fragrances are appropriate for when you are mildly hung, and the later are for when you are essentially incapacitated. Any fragrance in the later categories is appropriate for the former, but use caution working the other way around—fragrances containing citrusy notes like those found in the first category can seem piercing and shrieky if you are in the thralls of a more intense hangover.

Hangover Intensity: Level 1

Slightly Hungover, basically fully-functional aside from some lethargy and mild ickiness

Eau de Cologne - Roger et Gallet

If you’re not too hungover, a fresh, bracing, citrusy traditional cologne can be just the thing to get you going the morning after a night of drinking. This type of fragrance is inherently ephemeral as well, usually only lasting a couple hours at most due to its low concentration of fragrance oils (around 2-5%) and the type of materials it typically contains, which have lower molecular weights meaning they will evaporate relatively quickly. The Roger et Gallet Eau de Cologne has a zippy citrus opening that is refreshing and light, which is helpful when you wake up and feel lethargic and slightly headache-y and need a little motivation to get out of bed. It also contains notes of rosemary and lavender, which are calming and reassuring. Since this type of fragrance is so ephemeral, you can move on to a more typical option (whatever that is for you) later in the day once you’ve fully recovered.

Other options: 4711 or Eau de Cologne Imperiale by Guerlain. There are many fragrances of this type (it’s a very old style of perfume, dating from the 18th century), and most of them are relatively similar.

Green Tea - Elizabeth Arden

Green Tea starts out citrusy and bright, which makes it a good “wake up” fragrance similar to a traditional Eau de Cologne. It also contains refreshing herbaceous mint and fennel notes and, of course, a soothing green tea accord for which the fragrance is named. It’s optimistic without being cloying or too bright. The Arden 90s-style “clean living” feeling is also a good psychological counter to any unsavory activities you may have participated in the night before, such as smoking cigs or doing bumps of ketamine on someone’s living room floor. It’s the perfect motivator to get you to your morning yoga class when you’re fence-sitting on whether or not you can make it. 

Another option: For a calming mint-green tea scent without the citrusy opening, try Roasted Green Tea by J-Scent. This one is actually more versatile than EA Green Tea since the citrusy notes are absent, so if you’re more-than-slightly hungover it will still work. It has a strong 90s vibe as well; I recall my older sister had a fragrance very similar to Roasted Green tea in the mid/late 90s but I have no idea what it was (maybe something from The Gap?). If you have any idea what it could be, please let me know in the comments!

Hangover Intensity: Level 2

Typically hungover, a moderate headache, dehydrated, mildly nauseous and anxious

Wonderwood - Comme des Garçons

This is my ideal hangover scent and the one I probably go to the most. It has never once given me a headache or made an existing one worse. Wonderwood is a grounding symphony of woody notes that are perfectly buoyant against a burgeoning hangover. The woods are bolstered by peppery spices that add interest and zing without going sharp or cloying the way citruses or florals can when you’re in a post-party state. The spices also add freshness and open up the composition, keeping it from feeling dense and claustrophobic, which I think makes it easy on the nose and your hungover brain. The incense-y base is also soothing and a good backdrop for reflecting on your late night shenanigans.

Another option: For a dark, moody wood scent that ups the incense, try Ebene Fume from Tom Ford. It is a wood extravaganza similar to Wonderwood, but the overall effect is somewhat more spiritual; perfect for reflecting upon What You Did Last Night and resolving to do better/never drink again. Wear it when you totally meant to go to church on Sunday but you’re just not gonna make it.

Petrichor - Marissa Zappas

Meditative and earthy with a dry, clay-like vetiver that wears relatively close to the skin. It’s the smell of baked earth after the rain when the ground has dried, with an ozonic, mineral freshness that will help settle your anxious brain and stomach. Perfect for a gray day of lazing in bed while you recover from too much fun the night before, nursing a tea and being doted on by your partner. You may be a degenerate party girl, but for a little while you can visit a serene pastoral landscape and soak into the earth.

Another option: For a grassy vetiver scent that’s a bit more woody and less earthy, try Mississippi Medicine by DS and Durga.

Escentric 01 - Escentric Molecules

Escentric 01 maintains the Zen-like vibe of the soft woody fragrances in the next category, but offers a bit more interest through some fresh-spicy notes. It opens with a pink pepper note that’s a little zingy and metallic, and gradually matures into an iris-tinged wood that stays nice and soft without going powdery. This is a close-wearing skin scent that won’t radiate too far from your skin, which is ideal when your nervous system is overwhelmed by a hangover. 

Another option: Try Juniper Sling by Penhaligon’s for a similar aromatic skin scent that keeps the fresh spiciness of Escentric 01’s opening but forgoes the woody ISO-e Super base and adds a smidge of sweetness to round out the composition. It’s also very short-lived so it’s a good choice if you’re unsure if you can handle an all-day fragrance.

Hangover Intensity: Level 3

Puking in the bathroom, head in a vice-like grip, extreme hangxiety, actively wishing for a lobotomy/death

Santal du Pacifique - Perris Monte Carlo

The olfactory equivalent of someone petting your hair and whispering, “shh, shh, it’s going to be okay.” Santal du Pacifique is the softest, most comforting sandalwood scent. Perfectly balanced between dry and creamy with a light touch of salty savoriness that keeps the composition from becoming too powdery. The wood here is the star—all other notes just bring out different facets of the sandalwood. The overall effect is neutral and buoyant, perfect as an antidote to the anxiety that often accompanies the morning after a night of drinking.

Another option: For a sandalwood showcase that leans creamier, try Santal Complet by Fragrance du Bois. A small caveat applies if you’re particularly sensitive to vanilla or amber notes, as this fragrance contains both and as such might veer a little too sweet for hangover territory, depending on your own perception of such scents. If you can get into a coconut-sandalwood vibe without the sunscreen connotations or overt tropicality, this might be for you.

Papyrus Oud 71 - Parle Moi de Parfum

Don’t let the name fool you, this contains zero oud or oud-adjacent notes. It is a light, calming, spa-like papery wood fragrance. A perfectly sedate rendering of an empty sauna room or sweat lodge. It is absent of anything that could become cloying, intense, or challenging. Balanced and serene—an environment of support and recovery. Parle Moi de Parfum was founded by the perfumer Michel Almairac’s large adult son, and apparently this is essentially a recreation of Almairac’s Gucci Pour Homme from 2003, which is now discontinued and commands a hefty sum on eBay.

Another option: Try Universal Flowering’s Daddy for a similar savory, airy wood scent to Papyrus Oud 71 that leans a little more “antique store” than “spa”. Daddy is a beautiful soft Hinoki wood supported by a subtle earthiness that gives it a bit of mystery.

---

Drink some water, take some ibuprofen, and let me know what you wear when you’re hungover.

More soon <3