I’m willing to bet that for most of you female readers, resting on your dresser at home are several little bottles, translucent and vibrant with colour, simple or abstract in their geometry, each of them containing an elixir that envelops the air around you.

Perfume is the invisible accessory, which invades both the skin and the mind, and we chose each scent because, beyond the design and the packaging, it activates our imagination, generates desire, invokes memories and awakes feelings.

On a purely biological level, our sense of smell is linked to the brain by the same system responsible for our emotional life and memory, a system whose connection with the outside world is nothing more than the two little holes in the nose. This is how aromas act as emotional triggers, meddling or contributing to our life’s reflection.

With the arrival of the Toronto International Film Festival, I thought, why not follow my nose straight to the heart, and take a quick whiff at how a few select fragrances on the market this year match up against some of the most aromatic flicks.

Let’s start with the film Like Crazy (Drake Doremus, USA), a story that comes from and to the heart. It’s a story of a pure romance tested by distance, exploring the bittersweet moments of the first love and relationships, for which the sparkling and addictive fruity floral fragrance “Love Struck” by Vera Wang is its homologous eau de toilette.

Love Struck’s lotus blossom conveys the purity, while the fresh mandarin and precious wood are combined in a captivating and delicate way, celebrating the perseverance of romance in modern world.

Lets keep exploring love in W.E (Madonna, UK), through the mysterious connection between two women confronting the consequences of desire. For this, I suggest you seduce the air around you with “Forbidden Euphoria” by Calvin Klein, a fruity-floral-oriental fragance ripe with the mysterious and romantic spirit and notes of frozen raspberries, peonies and orchids with a warm mystical background of woods and musk.

But for those who prefer fresh fragances and stories, the sweet notes of wild strawberries, the lightness of jasmine and white woods of “Hot Pink Daisy” by Marc Jacobs, are ideal to accompany the beautiful story Love, Peace & Misunderstanding ( Bruce Beresford, USA), a comedy that, like the perfume bottle, brings hippie and flower power to mind.

The biopic, The Lady (Luc Besson, France/ UK) is a story of the heroism of the woman who was at the core of Burma’s democracy movement and Nobel Peace Prize. A story of greatness, humanity and freedom that could only be represented in perfumery by Balenciaga with “L’essence”, a vital green freshness, simple and elegant. It is a rainforest inside a precious gem.

Finally, I would propose a dynamic and vibrant fragrance such as “Oh Lola” by Marc Jacobs and combine it with the film 360 (Fernando Meirelles, UK/ Austria/ France/ Brasil). Pears and raspberries are the love notes of the story, magnolia flower suggests the movie’s freshness and modernity, and a magic halo of vanilla will give the charm of suspense in a film that tells intertwined stories from different cities and countries in a unique, engaging way.

Cinema — its more than visual, its olfactory wonderment this season.