Ripley’s Scent Game
Four scents inspired by the Patricia Highsmith masterpiece
Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley created a cinematic universe that still ripples through culture. The “Ripliad” spans five books and spawned a 1960 French adaptation called Plein Soleil, the iconic 1999 film starring Matt Damon and Jude Law, and the recent 2024 Netflix series Ripley (pretty to look at, ultimately unnecessary). There was also a 2009 BBC Radio 4 adaptation, two stage productions, and the 2003 film The Room was (weirdly) inspired by Ripley’s obsession with Dickie. Across decades and formats, the appeal endures: Tom Ripley, seducing and conning his way through Italian coastal paradise.
Glamorous, suspenseful, quietly deranged—it’s one of our favorite thrillers. (And we *love* thrillers.) (And one of us is Italian. I won’t say who :). Ripley’s world feels fragrant: Mediterranean wind laced with salt, smashed figs on warm tile, Fernet in sweating glasses, cigar smoke curling through Vespa exhaust. Below, we join the cult of Patricia Highsmith fanfic and dive into four fragrances that conjure her evocative fictional world.
Chypre Palatin by MDCI Parfums
At one point in the book, Tom smells a French perfume called Stradivari on Marge as they embrace. It doesn’t exist anymore, but it was a spicy ‘oriental’ in very dramatic packaging back in the day, billed as a “perfume with a love song in its heart.” It’s also the scent that Marge asked Dickie to buy on that fateful trip to San Remo (RIP king).
Chypre Palatin is my fantasy of what Marge smelled like wearing that perfume after Dickie’s departure. She was no longer a little sunburnt serving up happy hour in the courtyard, no, now she was mourning—looking chic and crazed in black, a sadly sweet scent conjuring her man’s memory at every turn. Chypre Palatin lives up to its name—classic warm, dry chypre leads the way—but adds a spicy leather accord that just smells like a wealthy woman scorned. It opens vintage and powdery (your grandma, the one you actually liked), but it dries down into rich, musky, vanilla-y resin (that one picture of your grandma where she’s a total babe). A perfume made for pining, that’s for sure.
Hot or cold? Flustered.
Sparkly or fluffy? Fluffy like a pile of old silk scarves in a thrift store bin.
Zodiac sign? Capricorn sun, Scorpio moon.
Color? Dusty pink.
Song? “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” by Irma Thomas.
Who wears it? Hot widows.
Room in the house? Parlor of an old Victorian Mansion.
Animal? Spoiled Mini Poodle who might be 100 years old.
Drug? Nostalgia.
Place? By the window in a snowstorm.
Texture? Mink fur coat.
Signature drink? A three-finger pour of bourbon to quiet the nerves.
Introvert or extrovert? Lifelong extrovert living like a recluse in a period of depression.
Favorite word? “Soulmate.”
Vampire or angel? Vampire who can’t be bothered to seek out victims.
Gardenia Passion by Annick Goutal
Gardenia Passion is a discontinued white floral that evokes the kind of rich women who still write hand-written thank-you notes. It’s built around creamy gardenia, jasmine, tuberose, and orange blossom, softened by labdanum, vanilla, and oakmoss. On skin, it feels warm and slightly overripe, like a bouquet left too long in a hotel suite. It’s the perfect scent for Meredith Logue, the insecure heiress played by Cate Blanchett in the 1999 adaptation. Like Meredith, Gardenia Passion wants to be seen as elegant and worldly—it was inspired by Goutal smelling Gardenia on a trip to Kyoto—but it can’t help revealing something naive. It’s expensive, sincere, and a little gauche. There’s an underlying tragedy to her presence.
Hot or cold? Warm like the sun hitting a silk kimono.
Sparkly or fluffy? Fluffy like a $5000 cat.
Zodiac sign? Cancer sun, Libra rising.
Color? Pearl.
Song? “You Belong to Me” by Patsy Cline.
Who wears it? American debutantes in Paris.
Room in the house? The guest room with a vanity.
Animal? Said $5000 white cat.
Drug? Xanax folded in a napkin.
Place? Shuttered balcony in the French Quarter.
Texture? Porcelain.
Signature drink? Champagne.
Introvert or extrovert? Extrovert with a breathy voice.
Favorite word? “Darling.”
Vampire or angel? Angel in a slip dress.
Ichnusa by Profumum Roma is the greenest fig you’ll ever meet. Not sweet, not milky, not overtly flirtatious—just fig leaf, sap, and dry grass under a salt-stung breeze. We see it on Peter Smith-Kingsley, the gentle British friend who sees Tom Ripley clearly and loves him quietly. There’s no pretense here. Just photorealistic stillness: Mediterranean countryside at peak summer, myrtle bushes warming in the sun, crushed leaves. Profumum Roma is an Italian house, and Peter is the only character who truly belongs in the world Ripley is trying to inhabit. He’s not a tourist, and neither is this scent. Like Peter, it’s unassuming but stays with you long after the boat has left.
Hot or cold? Cool Mediterranean breeze.
Sparkly or fluffy? Sparkly silver sun glistening on the sea.
Zodiac sign? Virgo.
Color? Celadon.
Song? “Tree Among Shrubs” by Men I Trust.
Who wears it? Dickie Greenleaf’s more understated friends, the ones who actually speak Italian.
Room in the house? The olive grove.
Animal? Egret on the water.
Drug? Aspirin in a leather toiletry bag.
Place? Sardinia.
Texture? Fig leaves rustling in the wind.
Signature drink? Crisp, mineral white wine.
Introvert or extrovert? Introvert all day.
Favorite word? “Naturally.”
Vampire or angel? Earth Angel.
Mantes La Jolie by Astier de Villatte
Another positively green scent, if you’re nasty—Mantes-La-Jolie is a town in the Île-de-France region that inspired this slutty little verdant perfume. There’s something deeply erotic to me in the platonic ideal of a midday European lunch. A sun-soaked veranda, thin linen fabric, a hint of cigarette smoke, a pour of cold booze. It’s Marge beaming whenever she brings Dickie a drink, fresh-faced and knowing she’s so getting laid later. Mantes La Jolie muddles mint with basil, serves you a slice of heirloom tomato on a crispy piece of toast. Green, fresh, and underscored with blooming, blinding Jasmine underneath it all. Like if a Caprese salad was a really hot guy, basically.
Hot or cold? Hot day, cold drink.
Sparkly or fluffy? Effervescent.
Zodiac sign? Cancer, total softie.
Color? Red gingham.
Song? Nel blu dipinto di blu!
Who wears it? Tomato girls...
Room in the house? La terrazza.
Animal? Ladybug on the basil plant.
Drug? Macrodose of Vitamin D.
Place? Mongibello ;)
Texture? Juicy.
Signature drink? Basil mint gimlet with a cherry tomato garnish.
Introvert or extrovert? Introvert in the streets, freak in the sheets.
Favorite word? “Supple.”
Vampire or angel? Bellissimo angelo.