Alexandra Grant of To Vogue Or Bust shares her favourite perfumes

Alexandra Grant is a Vancouver-based blogger whose platform, To Vogue Or Bust, has grown exponentially since she debuted online in 2010. Her beautiful outfits, combined with a holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle, have made her blog a must-read. Since starting, Alexandra has contributed to FASHION Magazine, and worked with brands like The Gap, Aritzia and Roots. We sat down with her—virtually—to get a take on her attitude to fragrance and what scents she can and can’t live without.

QUESTION: What is your favourite scent memory of childhood?
ALEXANDRA GRANT: Sunscreen! I was a competitive swimmer and a water baby through and through, so this smell reminds me of swim meets with my best friends on my team, the beach and long days spent playing at Kits (Kitsilano) Pool.

Q: What was the first fragrance you bought yourself and why did you buy it?
GRANT: Dior Addict! I was living in France at the time and, being a hardcore tomboy, had a whole series of revelations on the finer, femme things in life while living there. My host sister brought me to a perfumery and we spent two painstaking hours trying different ones on—this one just wore best on my skin.
Q: What does your favourite fragrance say about your personality?
GRANT: My favourite fragrance is Chanel Chance or Coco Mademoiselle; both are femme but very wearable. I’m very much a girl but I’m not girly per se; I like to feel feminine without feeling trite.

Q: What makes you notice a fragrance?
GRANT: Usually one that’s associated with memory—so many different perfumes have been part of my life at different junctures, so whenever I catch the scent of one of them, my whole being lights up.

Q: How many fragrances you own?
GRANT: 10 to 15.

Q: How many fragrances do you regularly wear?
GRANT: Probably 3-4, though it rotates by season.

Q: What do you smell like?
GRANT: I like both tropical and floral notes, so most of my body products and fragrances capture those scents.

Q:  Who is the best smelling person you’ve ever met, and what did they smell like?
GRANT: My boyfriend! I have no idea what he smells like but it’s a smell that’s only his: clean, fresh.

Q: If you could bottle the scent of a favourite place/city/memory/moment what would it be and please describe the smell.
GRANT: I would do both the beach here in Vancouver (sunscreen, sand, salt) and the heady scent of Maui (tropical flowers, earthy notes).

Q: How important is fragrance to your life, to your sense of style?
GRANT: Very important—unless I’m sick, not a day goes by that I don’t finish my look off with scent. While I’m all for finding a signature scent, I don’t think I’ve quite found mine yet, so for now I cycle through a few different fragrances that definitely have respective aesthetics they get spritzed with!