North-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & Winter -- Part 3 {Scented Thoughts} {Perfume List} {Shopping Tip}
End of a fall day in Paris
If you missed the previous installments, here they are: Part 1, Part 2
Today, we continue to follow the thoughts and experiments of Anya McCoy of Anya's Garden, peruse the fall perfume catalog of Fabienne Christenson of Perfume Possets who announces an upcoming perfume Elegance and intrigues us with her Cambienne which changes with the seasons. We meet with Ayala Sender of Ayala Moriel Parfums, an independent perfumer from both Israel and Canada who also makes tea, chocolate and offers among other things a very Canadian-smelling perfume inspired by the maple syrup festivals.
"...I needed to determine what do the cool temperatures do to
the intake of air in the nasal passages in the absence of humidity? How can a
perfume be constructed that would work well in that atmosphere when I live in
the tropics and cannot walk outside and test? Well, a huge bowl of ice cubes
held under my face while sniffing the progression of the drydowns on MoonDance
and StarFlower helped!
The cool, floral softness of MoonDance can be paired with slightly chilled
nights and mornings when you wake up and find frost on the ground. A light,
very, very light touch of mint, cooling and refreshing, starts the MoonDance,
almost imperceptible, but a great combo with the woody violet flower and dusky,
dry rose of true Rose de Mai from Grasse. A slight splash of apple-scented
Roman Chamomile appeals to the engrammes of those raised in northern climates
where the apple is a true harbinger of Fall. Since I do not use synthetic
scents, and there is no natural aromatic yet available with an apple scent, I
used the Chamomile to that advantage. It's more like a slightly dried,
concentrated apple scent with a bright edge, and it plays off the tuberose
heart/base note as the perfume slides into a warm, cozy, skin-hugging sensual
drydown.
StarFlower is a chameleon-like sexy gourmand fragrance, almost deceptive in the
almond, cherry and lemon opening, then raising the temperature quickly with
tuberose that melts into a chocolate, maple and patchouli drydown that seems to
pair beautifully with leather coats, turtlenecked sweaters and boots. It's dry
and serene, not sweet at all after the initial topnotes, and utterly enveloping
in its warmth and sensuality. That to me is Winter up north, being wrapped in
something new and comforting, the promise of wintertime romance and snuggling
by a fire."....
Smell Expensive for Less with these 6 Perfumes: Your Practical Shopping Guide to the Scent of Moneyed Privilege
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
How to smell like you have gold ingots in the bank while keeping this idea as a hypothetical?
Here is your shopping guide to smelling expensive. Some perfumes just smell like mink fur and rows and rows of pearls yet can be had for a little more than pennies but a lot less than what people might think just getting a brilliant whiff past you. Shhh..., don't say what perfume you are wearing if they ask you.
As a preamble I want to say that I do mean to draw a distinction between sophisticated-smelling and expensive-smelling fragrances. For example, 1000 de Patou smells more sophisticated and elegant to my nose than literally expensive although certainly a silver spoon in the mouth from birth can be assumed.
Estée Lauder is a champion in this category of affordable aspirational perfume. This company has always been on the side of women from the beginning when Youth-Dew was sold in oil bath to let them feel more relaxed about indulging on themselves, and more importantly, not waiting for a momentous occasion to ask their husbands to buy perfume for them.
Knowing by Estée Lauder is one of those chypres that have a near-regal sillage. It is not that intimidating fortunately. In fact, men love this scent in my experience and it smells, somehow, like gold bullions.
Yours for only $29,50 for a 0.5 oz bottle or $50 for a gift set including the body cream. You don't need to put on a lot, the perfume is quite rich...
North-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & Winter 2 {Scented Thoughts} {Perfume List} {Shopping Tip}
A view of Paris fall from last year. You can spot the French gardening principle right away: trees need to look tailored, like clothing. Isn't Paris the capital of fashion? The lines were so straight I had to make them dance a little.
North-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & Winter 2
We continue our excursion into the visions of fall and winter translated into personal fragrances by North-American independent perfumers. These are such glorious seasons, there is such richness of sensations when the world seems to have become more economical of its natural bounty. Maybe it is time, more than ever, for man-made scents to relay nature?
Isn't it a testament to these perfumers' sense of independence that they choose to interpret the seasons rather than follow trends? In individual observations lie kernels of truth.
Today, we get inspiration from Anya McCoy of Anya's Garden who as a Miami-based perfumer has launched for the first time into the challenging exercise of creating fall and winter perfumes in a tropical environment; Candice Jurko of CJ Scents relies on her friends instead of focus panels for testing new scents and proposes to keep things simple with just a dash of sophistication ; Fabienne Christenson of Possets Perfume has a rich catalog of fall and winter scents but first let us hear her on the seasonal change of taste; Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume reminds us that unique personal memories color our perceptions of the simplest smells...
American perfumery is as varied as its landscape. One of its most notable traits is the fact that in spite of the presence of giant corporations like Coty or Estée Lauder, there exists a strong breed, I am tempted to say, of independent perfumers who appear by contrast even more like the necessary missing pieces of a vast puzzle. And without them, one could argue, American perfumery would be forgetting the flip side of anonymous efficiency, large-scale organization and big business, that is, originality, primitivism, naïveté, a sense of community, intimacy, individualism and let us not forget, the can-do attitude. If we only had the big labels, we would still have rivers of perfume, but we would have less of a certain moral spirit, the individualist one. And I don't know really what is America without the individual.
She or he is like the flavor of home-grown local herbs added to a standard national recipe...
My 2009 Halloween Shopping List: Ambiguity {Beauty Notes} {Perfume List}
To help you out make that mad dash to the beauty and perfume counters for Halloween 09, here is what I think will help you prep in the most ghoulish yet stylish way and usher in The Moooood.
Also, bonus, see at the end my recommendation for the Scariest Movie in the Universe if you want to rent a genuinely unsettling film.
The only black lipstick I have found that truly worked for me this year is Mac Bat Black Cream Colour Base. (That and last year's Lancôme Piha set.) You can use it to create creepy shadows on your face: turn your eyes into evil hollows and your cheekbones into graveyard material before their appointed time, or use it on your lips to whip up an interesting, slightly melancholy look. The color has enough subtlety and Bordeaux pigments in it to look like a fashion statement rather than a leftover inspiration from Halloween.
Wait, you tell me that you are confused -- isn't this meant to be a Halloween post?
Yes, but it's also meant to be useful beyond Halloween. I think I used the word stylish...
Perfume Cravings In The Fall: Cornucopia of Dark Fruits {Fragrance List} {Perfume Reviews}
Vertumnus by Arcimboldo, 1591
Here is a List of Fall Perfumes I compiled last year in the beginning of November 2008 and which did not make it to the blog, somehow. I then felt an urge to wax poetically fragrant about squashes, orange-colored leaves, figs, prunes, and all that procession of good things that make up the autumn season and its festivities. After that I went into hibernation or rather the list decided to hibernate.
I completed it today and added two perfumes that were not out last year. I also took out several to leave us with a list of 13 cornucopia perfumes for fall2009. They are of course the Best and the Top and the Must-Try and everybody's potential Favorites of the season (this is just to attract your attention, take it with a grain of salt). No but really, they are the Best!
So I said this on November 2, 2008 as the weather was inspiring me,
With the first genuine autumnal chill in the air, the one that does not just feel just plain cold, sharp and intrusive at the end of the summer but suddenly is full of the promises of fall delights thanks to the associative powers of sensation: crisp air, crystalline, transparent atmosphere contrasted with indoors warmth, flaming colors hovering above the earth -- have you noticed how in the fall, at one point, you look more up and less at the brown and putty hues on the ground? -- I have started to crave one family of smells in particular, that of wine-y fruits, liquorish-y perfumes, cognac-y compositions...
Prompted in part by reader Carly's request to come up with suggestions for vanilla perfumes and by my recent experience of catching the most voluptuous whiff of crème brûlée wafting from a lady who managed to turn the classic Shalimar into a sexy mysterious dessert, I decided to think of and look around for fragrances that give pride of place to that decadent accord or reveal a facet that is very close to that sensation.
Ironically, Shalimar which is listed here and pioneered the use of Vanillin note was once thought to be the anti-dessert scent, the one that had escaped all suspicion of facility and gourmandise. The creator of Chanel No. 5 perfumer Ernest Beaux once famously said, "When I use vanilla, I make crème caramel, whilst Jacques Guerlain creates Shalimar."
- Shalimar
Try it to see if your skin catches this facet. It is ironic to propose Shalimar for its crème Brûlée effect since when it was launched perfumers admired it for its capacity to eschew the dessert-y impression. But sensitivities evolve, formulas evolve, and your skin may sweeten it. The potential is definitely there.
- Hypnotic Poison Elixir
This is the version that is most like a decadent crème brûlée before trailing off into an almond-y sillage. I detect, if memory serves me well, a hint of saltiness that is, like in cooking and baking, the needed pinch to add more interest.
- Wanted by Elizabeth Arden
It's new, it's sexy and has a rummy, spicy crème brûlée like softness to it...
The Sex Factor in Men's Fragrances: 11 Best & Hottest Men's Colognes - Part 2 {The Fragrance List}
Life is paradoxical. After coming up with my list of sexiest men's fragrances in 10 minutes or so, it took me several days to be able to focus again on publishing it. Meanwhile, I wrote about why my list was not ready for publication yet some ideas around why a man needs a woman to help him choose those steamy scents in Part 1.
I toyed with the idea of adding a couple of perfumes but decided to stick to the original list after re-smelling Jules by Dior, a once-very-sexy scent for me that seems to have lost that character. And If I did not think about it immediately, I suppose it means that it did not leave such a mark on my psyche.
So, here is my list composed on an instinctual level. If I happen on other particularly sexy scents for men, I will make sure to add a part 3, part 4 etc....
Different Kinds of Sexy:
• Plain Sexy: Kenzo Jungle pour Homme. I don't know exactly how it manages to do that and I don't really want to know, but it's a scent that readily plants a masculine atmosphere of woods and a sensual aura of virility. Not all woods are very masculine, you realize, some just smell like the timber with which lumberjacks are associated. With Kenzo Jungle pour Homme, there is like a masculine holographic presence materializing at your side, the palpable ghost of a man. It smells like the effect of "a boyfriend's tee-shirt."
• Sexy-Sweaty(Sexy-Hot): Eau d'Hermès. The scent of a lupanar sold by a very chic house so it's okay and your good taste and good morality won't be questioned. I still can't believe my nose that such an indecent perfume is available on the market and not even safely tucked away in a niche perfumery brand. As soon as you wear it, you will feel as if all your clothes had fallen at your feet and you are tripping on rumpled bedsheets. The key note of cumin gives it a very frank sweaty and naughty vibe...
"Hi, I just want to know what are the sexiest and most attractive fragrances for men, thank you"
The part where the commenter wrote "I just want to know..." is worth its weight in gold or should I say, civet? The word "just" seems to be glowing in the darkness of our common misconceptions. It translates as: I (barely) and politely listened to what you had to sayt but now let's talk about the real business at hand because I am a man on a single-minded quest and I need your help. The comment, in a rather sophisticated fashion actually, is signed "man" to convey even more straightforwardly the bare simplicity of this message-in-a-bottle. Like the Unknown Soldier, there you have an anonymous Unknown Man who absolutely knows that what he wants, every other man wants. Full stop. Hence a spontaneous claim to universality. Forget about the Kultur, the aesthetic appreciation, the perfumes-under-the-limelight, the fragrances that schmooze, the frisson of newness, the challenges of pushing back the boundaries of perfume technology. Just talk to me about what really matters under those blue heavens: Sex, Seduction, the desire to be irresistible.
The interesting part is that a man bent on seducing needs a woman to guide him in his olfactory choices as women are the ones that care most about how a man smells. Indeed, according to Donald A. Wilson and Richard J. Stevenson in Learning to Smell: Olfactory Perception from Neurology to Behavior,
"At a psychological level, women report that a man's smell is the most important determinant of attraction, and, not surprisingly, given this emphasis on smell, women spend something approaching 3.4 billion US dollars per year on scented products (Hertz & Cahill, 1997)"
At a behavioral level, the data is "somewhat more equivocal."...
Best Unique-Smelling Perfumes for a Unique You on Days Like Valentine's Day: Part 1 {Scented Thoughts} {Perfume List}
As announced previously last month, here is my follow-up article on the idea of turning to "Perfumes That Smell Unique Because You Are Unique" on how to pick fragrances that have an unique signature to them and seem to defeat the notion of fluctuating "skin chemistry" the most. That reflection is motivated by Hermès Vanille Galante. It is also, I realize, the second article in our Perfume Streetwear column where scents come alive in the hustle and bustle of a city, in the beautiful anonymity of strangers you pass by that smell familiar, or perhaps not.
Psychology and perfume, love and scent, all these partners seem to have been brought up in the same house since their childhood and share existential affinities. As I have come to reflect a little about the topic of uniqueness as applied to the perfume one wears (leaving aside the personality of the wearer), some fragrances seem to possess an uncanny ability to retain their personality whole even when worn by thousands of different people (statistically speaking). It makes you wonder exactly how these particular scents can resist melting into people's skins and blending in with their "skin chemistries" whatever that notion may cover in reality other than a somewhat vague metaphor with a pseudo scientific ring of legitimacy to it.
A perfumer like Jean-Paul Guerlain does not believe in skin chemistry and imply tongue-in-cheek that unless you haven't washed for some time all perfumes should smell the same on different people's skins. Another perfumer like Jean-Claude Ellena has said that on 1000 skins one perfume smells in 1000 different ways. Others attempt to classify people's skins according to their innate, never-evolving, inborn scents, correlated to their hair color or even race...
Perfumes To Wear on Election Day 2008 in the Long, Long Lines {Perfume List} {Perfumista on a Shoestring}
Goats are smelly
The Get-Out-The-Vote (& Grab-A-Scent-On-The-Go) Perfume List
It is a priori tricky to attempt to draw a connection, many will perceive as superfluous, between perfume-wearing and election day, but as I have been reading on a steady stream of accounts describing the grueling waiting-period people have to endure to cast in their votes, I decided it was time to call attention to what perfume can do for the morale of the citizens.
Those who are already aware of the psychological effects of perfume, such as perfumistas, have a unique opportunity to canvass their neighborhoods and distribute samples of scents as rewards and effort-sustaining devices (while downsizing their collections)...
"Boys in Car, Halloween" by Peter Hujar, 1978, Howard Yezersky Gallery
I was scratching my occiput seeking late inspiration for a Halloween-perfume article when I happened on this post from last year, which had slipped out of my mind. The picks still feel relevant so I am posting the list again:
I just want to update my comments about Halloween in France a bit by saying that although Halloween is not a big, momentous celebration in Paris there are still signs that it is celebrated...
White Musks Part II: Top White Musk Trails To Try Out {Perfume Short (Reviews)} {Perfume List}
Mainbocher Corset, Horst P. Horst, 1939
Following my last article on the unadvertised, nay, covert trendiness of white musks in Paris, in complete contradiction of course with broadcast Gallic preferences for foul odors, here is a list of top white-musk trails to try out. By white-musk perfumes I refer and pay attention here to perfumes that are the animalistic equivalents of soliflores - I once used the term solabestia to point to those compositions that single-mindedly decide to achieve the smell (or reek, some would admittedly prefer to say) of civet or musk or castoreum or ambergris. Now, I am also starting to like the sound and the look of solibête. And by this therefore I do not mean the numerous fragrances - too numerous to count - that end with a white-musk sweep of the tail in the base notes.
The more I think about it, the more I want to know who came up with that purely abstract antinomic idea of musk as and how come we do not have white civet and white castoreum bottled yet. In spite of the fundamental weirdness of the concept playing on symbolic inversion like black soap and black gloss or even black face-cream (cf. the new Le Soin Noir by Givenchy), not just people, but crowds love it.
The particular selection I propose is based on a mix of historic, qualitative and trendy criteria: 1) they are included because they are are those fragrances that have been on the perfume scene long enough to suggest that, maybe, these specific cleaned-up musks are popular and are here to stay; 2) they are defining or paradigm-shifting, have enough personality to be considered the best in their categories and you simply must try them out to make up your mind about what suits you or does not; 3) finally, we bring in two newcomers because one always needs to keep updated and unearth new scents.
TOP 7 WHITE MUSK PERFUMES TO TRY OUT: WHAT WHITE MUSKS PARISIANS MIGHT BE WEARING TODAY by Marie-Helene Wagner
THE BODY SHOP WHITE MUSK (1981)
The classic of classics as far as simple, unadulterated white musk fragrances go. It is probably the one that is the most easily accessible and affordable in Paris. In the US, it is one of the brands in this category that is the most imprinted upon people's retinas. If you are thinking: but hang on, what about Jovan White Musk sold at Walmart for a few miserly bucks? This one appeared a good 10 years later, in 1991 ( in case you don't know how to count). Jovan is more simplistic than TBS White Musk, nice, but somehow flatter and more one-dimensional. I did mention the fact that I would look at "simple" white musk scents, but there is a form of simplicity that relies on hidden ornamentation, as TBS White Musk shows...
What Fragrance for What Kind of Man? {Perfume List}
Looking for fragrance gift ideas for Father's Day? Here is a cool list, courtesy of Guillaume Crouzet from L'Express Styles. Even if you do not read French, you can still get the meaning of this style-exercise by looking at the pictures on the right. So what should the Adventurer, the Trendy Man, and the Romantic-at-heart wear?
By the way, we loved the latest Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! I think it's the most sophisticated film in the series and I never laughed so much watching an Indiana Jones....
14 Safe Fragrances To Offer On Mother's Day Or Any Other Day {Shopping Tips} {Perfume List}
Safe Fragrances For Mother’s Day - May 11th 2008!
These are fragrances we recommend as potential gifts for Mother’s Day (or if you are looking for a safe present on other occasions) when you have no idea what to offer and your mother is leaving no subtle hints to help you. They are suggestions that might be especially good for moms who are not into perfume but whom you feel would be pleased to receive a scent as a present.
What do we mean by “safe fragrances”? It means mostly that they are safe to offer. Sometimes we test a perfume and at the end derive an impression that it would be well liked by a fairly wide circle of people. Intuitively they appear to us as compositions that offer a certain sense of restraint and elegance without showing too many strong facets. They are generally easy to wear but are not that easy and pandering to the lowest common denominator as to feel bland and uninteresting. In fact, it is quite an achievement to reach this quality of being. Receiving them, we hope, will provide the same sort of pleasure as that of receiving a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
This one comes on top of our list, the rest of the list is free style. Elegant, discreet, feminine but still capable of making you feel excited about it. It is the equivalent of a crisp white feminine shirt worn by Grace Kelly. A masculine version is in the works but otherwise this composition is so versatile, it feels it could be worn by a man.
A modern chypre with a very good sense of balance; it is very pleasurable to wear. Again, it is elegant, feminine without having just good manners to show for herself, but a real charm.
A Bit Riskier But Still Safe
In these two some notes - ripe full fruits - stick out more, yet they retain a sense of, again, balance and elegance that is easily transferable to a number of different personalities. Their glowing warmth is very appealing.
The equivalent of a warm classic tweed made out of a sensual rich material.
• Badgley Mishka
A wonderful fruity chypre with a warm stewed fruit effect. It is elegant but somehow easygoing too. It offers great diffusion and is extremely long-lasting. It is a scent that never quits on you, in a good way......
11 Effortlessly Chic Spring Fragrances: The Classics
Here are some suggestions for wearing spring fragrances, in several installments.
Today, I turn to the "effortlessly chic" category. By that I mean that as lighter, fresher perfumes these perfumes tend to dress down a bit but not overly so. They retain an air of elegance and sophistication about them mixed with a dose of studied nonchalance and casualness.
Why should some perfumes be considered to be particularly appropriate for spring time? Their vernal quality is suggested by their rich, yet still frail floral notes, their freshness, and their luminosity bespeaking of the spring equinox and daylight-saving time.
Green notes that are just a bit crunchy also contribute to this feeling of smelling half-open buds. These scents to me offer transparent, airy, cool nuances rather than ripe, decaying ones.
When brainstorming about the topic, I had to realize that the house of Guerlain had been particularly committed to offering interpretations of springtime perfumes. Nina Ricci too, although only one of their scents is mentioned.
1- Diorissimo
No list about perfume classics embodying the yearning for spring would be complete without Diorissimo by Dior. Composed by master-perfumer Edmond Roudnitska in 1956 it remains a central reference as the lily-of-the-valley fragrance as it has come to embody the very spirit of spring for generations of wearers.
The scent of Diorissimo is like drinking muguet-scented champagne on the pristine empty streets of a clean and empty Paris in the wee hours of the morning listening to the distant sound of party laughters. You feel like you own the city of lights and spring, both. It too should have been called Joy......
Halloween - Perfumes from the Crypt....... {Perfume List}
The Oriel Window, Lacock Abbey by William Henry Fox Talbot, 1835 or 1839
Halloween is upon us and with it the possible question of what perfume to wear to partake of the festivities or honor the dead. Halloween is not really celebrated in France. There was an attempt in the 1990s to implant the tradition there but it eventually failed although by 2000 it seemed to have picked up a bit. By 2006 however Le Monde and Le Parisien both declared Halloween to be dead.
One can still remember an encouraging picture in a daily showing a spectacular row of pumpkins at the esplanade du Trocadéro with the Eiffel Tower in the background. It seemed to be opening a Roman Appian way or inroad into French culture. But somehow the symbolism of the pumpkin never took hold nor the horror movie cultural references past a few fashionable force-fed years. One can see it as a fashion, like the Christmas trees garbed in artificial snow and dyed in red or blue a couple of years ago in Paris and it soon died as a new tradition. Perhaps what the French were lacking was a vibrant Irish community to keep the fire of Samain burning. Cultural resistance to a wholesale import of a cultural practice now perceived as very American is faulted too.
Halloween in the US on the contrary is a monster event for the majority. The olfactory images it conveys are rich or at least potentially rich.
But before we leave the shores of France, a country where a tradition of Halloween perfumes could have developed, we can evoke an immediate All Saints' Day association with the scents of Chrysantemum and Immortelle flowers that are laid out on tombs on the day of La Toussaint . We know one perfume that can suggest this tradition and it would work well in the US too with its dark maple syrupy tones, Sables by Annick Goutal........
Halloween party invitation on an old ice truck by Walker Evans, 1973-1974.
Musk Hall of Fame: A List of the Best &/or Most Talked About Musk Perfumes {Perfume List} {Perfume Short (Reviews)}
Without further ado, here is our Musk Hall of Fame list that offers short and longer reviews of eminent musk perfumes and our very favorite ones (at the end).
• Auric Blends Love
A subtle clean yet warm musk oil perfume with woodsy undertones
• Auric Blends Egyptian Goddess
The most popular perfume in the line and a mild sexy floral Egyptian musk that blooms beautifully on the skin making you think of natural flowers.
• V’Tae Egyptian Garden
It smells like a musk perfume from the Egyptian antiquity would, steeped in herbs, mysterious unguents, and secret macerated formulas. It used to be worn by a high Egyptian priestess and evokes the honey, date, and almond effluvia that wafted from her well-oiled and well-massaged body. Longevity is so-so.
• Gap Musk
A clean discreet, and lightly sweet white musk oil.
• Coty Wild Musk Oil
The oil, we think, is better than the alcohol-based versions. A sweet woodsy musk oil reminiscent of high school dates for many people.
• Kiehl's Original Musk Oil
This is another classic musk oil that we also prefer in the oil-based formula. It was discovered abandoned in a turn-of-the-century to 1920s vat labelled "Love Oil" in the basement of Kiehl’s, established 1851. Everyone went crazy for it decades later. A musk oil with a marked floral lily of the valley facet, which is a natural phenomenon associated with musk in small quantities.......
Perfume Layering Suggestions by Jean-Claude Ellena {What Celebrities Love To Wear} {Perfume List}
If you thought professional perfumer-composers shunned perfume layering, you were wrong. Fragrances considered to be masterpieces and classics of perfume history can all be tweaked to make them smell....different, equally or more interesting. Here is a little guide to perfume layering by a master perfumer, Jean-Claude Ellena, the author amongst others of Van Cleef & Arpels First, Bulgari Eau Parfumée Au Thé Vert, Terre d'Hermès, Hermessences, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil, Cartier Déclaration, L'Artisan Bois Farine etc.
PERFUME COMBINATIONS SUGGESTED BY JEAN-CLAUDE ELLENA
No5 de Chanel [to enhance the] Iris: Après l'Ondée (Guerlain) [to enhance the] Masculine notes, aldehydes and lavender: Tabac Original.....
List Of Fragrance Gift Ideas For Mother's Day - 10% Off At Fragrance X {Perfume List} {Shopping Tips}
Still looking for inspiration for a fragrant gift for Mother's Day on May 13th 2007? Here is a list of Mom's Day perfume gift ideas from Fragrance X.com. They offer 10% off your purchases. I realized they carry a number of niche brands and even sell samples. So the big question now is, is your mother a "Nurturing", "Desperate House Wife" or "24/7" mom type or ....? Check it out:
• The Fashionista– She shops in the hippest stores and wears the latest styles even before you do. She’s chic and always makes a fabulous entrance. She’ll flip over Prada Perfume, Dolce and Gabbana’s By Perfume, and Alberta Ferretti’s Femina Perfume , a contemporary blend of green mandarin, guava, with a drydown of sandalwood, amberwood and vanilla......
Love Potions Or My Top Super Sexy Scents for Valentine's Day & Beyond {Scented Thoughts} {Perfume List} {Shopping Tips}
Valentine's Day is upon us; don't you feel the excitement? I have a date with my husband and I know what cologne I will be offering him (see below included in the list of perfume recommendations for V Day.) I have taken this opportunity to compile a list of perfumes I think are particularly sexy - men on the street tend to sniff harder around these or smile brighter smiles - or which alternatively have that reputation and that I plan to try. They are usually one of two kinds for me; either they offer a kind of dry, feminine, and sophisticated sillage which puts a certain seductive distance. Or they are perfumes that have been made to blend in particularly well with your skin. I am not referring to one's personal body chemistry but to fragrances that explicitly use ingredients or bases that enhance the scent of one's skin.
Perfumes as Love Potions
In popular parlance, terms like "love elixir" or "love philter" and even more commonly "love potion" have come to designate perfumes that have such mysterious effect ascribed to them as to be capable of arousing extreme sensual thoughts and even invite deeper amorous feelings through the sheer power of their scents. The very word "philter" speaks of love as it comes from Latin "philtrum" which borrowed the term from Greek "philtron" which in turn is derived from Greek "phileo" meaning "to love".
We see a transfer of meaning from the original notion regarding what a love potion is. Originally - and nowhere else is it more famously illustrated than in the myth of Tristan and Isolde in the West - a love potion would have had to have been ingurgitated so that the magical combination of the various ingredients contained in it would have had the effect of securing eternal love through their absorption.....
Sexiness Expert Dusan Z Offers a List of Perfumes To Wear On Valentine's Day {Perfume List} {Men's Colognes}
“I’m too sexy for Milan,
Too sexy for Milan, New York and Japan.” An Article by Dusan Z
Yeah, I wish. Picture your granny (no disrespect to Grannies Worldwide) in Victoria’s Secret’s latest lace extravaganza. Yep, she is sexy, not me. From time to time, though, I like to slather myself with a certain scent believing it will give me the aura of sexiness that I desperately need around me. The one that always manages to arouse (only me, of course) is Opium Pour Homme. Ah, oh, ooh and all manner of interjections come out of the bottle. It’s hot, smoldering, spicy and rich and so plush and creamy in the drydown that I just want to sneak off from seeing eyes and have mindblowing sex with myself. (Did I just say that out loud?). For a more intimate atmosphere I suggest the velvety EDP as it lacks the jarring fresh note in the EDT which will, however, make you stand out in the crowd......
Smell Like Home For The Holidays by Luckyscent {Shopping Tips} {Holiday Gift Ideas}
From the niche perfumery Luckyscent and in particular the lovely Michelyn Camen comes the idea of a selection of fragrances and candles that was especially put together for those of us who won't be able to share the joys of the holidays with our families. A fragrance can be like a presence and so these carefully chosen aromas will fill you with memories or prepare for new ones.
I don't know about you but after perusing their selection I couldn't help but think that these would be great choices to use in the period prior to the holidays in order to make these last longer than a couple of days and prepare us for the spirit of the season. I especially envision myself starting to burn holiday-themed candles in the period of the Advent...
Beautiful Black Perfume Bottles & Smelling Black {Scented Thoughts & Perfume List}
I have finally come up with a list of Beautiful Black Perfume Bottles. Writing down these names and comparing the bottles amongst themselves made me realize certain common points that they share and some of the ideas regarding the treatment in black of perfume bottles. I will pick a few to see if the contents match the aesthetics of the flacon.
I have already come up with the thought that some perfumes should be dressed in black to convey the full impact of their personalities, like Dzing!, Femme, Youth-Dew, Royal Secret, Réglisse, Sables, Patchouli Antique, or Lonestar Memories (yes, Andy). Which brings me to think that Coffee scents, as I see it, would be enhanced by black flacons for containers although if that became a dictum it would soon become boring. When I try imagining a coffee scent held captive in a pink bottle, it somehows makes me feel ill in the stomach...
Scented Thoughts: Patriotic (American) Perfumes to Wear on the 4th of July, Some Modest Suggestions
Patriotism on holidays which celebrate national independence is expressed through many semiotic activities and foci of symbolic activities worldwide. In America, manifestations of patriotism vary from region to region of the American motherland (or is it a fatherland we should be speaking of?) -- in Boston for example, people feel Bostonian by going to listen to the Boston Pops -- but we can rest assured of two things: there will be national barbeque-partying and fireworks illuminating the many corners of the sky all over the 50 United States tomorrow.
From an olfactory standpoint, we can muse on and say that the 4th of July smells in the base notes of gourmand smoky burgers, burning hot coal, gunpowder, tangy, sweet and sticky tomato ketchup, rich boozy beer and maybe sweet cotton candy and apple pie with spicy cinnamon and let's not forget, musky sweat. In the heart notes there are green grass, tangy-green citronnella, soft wheat, aqueous cucumber, sweet corn, iceberg lettuce notes, and a dash of car interior and car polish. In the top notes you might find fresh mint, tart pink lemonade, coca-cola, frosted ice cubes, and light, cool, and fresh baby powder notes. This olfactory rêverie may smell hellish a priori to some but since each year the same note combinations reappear and people still throng the 4th of July events, you might have a formula of success here.
Napoleon once haughtily remarked, "Impossible n'est pas français" (something like, "the word 'impossible' is not to be found in the French language.") This seems to be the motto of many a perfumer today and since many of them are French you might get a phenomenon of double-whammy hubris due to the fact that they are French and due to the fact that they are perfumers.
In any case, since no one has yet dared to combine these multifarious aromas of the Fourth in a single bottle, let's turn to alternative, ready-made solutions to express patriotism and love of the motherland through perfumes. How shall we convey that patriotic message? It is often said that olfaction is the neglected sense and hence, in our case, a clearly neglected source of rich patriotic symbols. As of today, it is not consciously tapped into by the vast majority of the population to express patriotism alongside with wearing star spangled sartorial signs. So if you contemplate wearing something more celebratory of Americaness than just deodorant, please read on and see what my practical suggestions are.
This is part II of my review of my library of scents for the summer. It is more than probable that by the end of this summer I will have made new additions to this list of favorites, especially so since I have decided that perfumes were like movies, able to set a mood, an atmosphere and easily consumptible in succession in the space of a day. A good dry down should last longer than a film though. This is on the reception side. On the creative side, I have come to think that the best artistic analogy for perfumery is cuisine. In keeping this idea in mind I understand better why perfumes can be variations only of a core recipe idea, rather than unique works of art. At the same time, it may well be that perfumery experiences unique constraints and deals with a different material altogether. It will probably take decades to sort this out. The Cour de Cassation in France has recently decided that perfumes did not merit copyright protection and that authorship in perfumery was a shaky idea. I think that they reached this conclusion because they laid great emphasis on the traditional heritage of French perfumery, the idea that all this know-how was accumulated over the centuries and that it has become part of the texture of society. Therefore perfumes, like recipes, should be reproduced with variations in accordance with your taste and the raw materials at hand. The uniqueness of a scent may well lie in the search and the finding of uniquely harmonious proportions, the creation of a superior recipe to be appreciated by the finest of palates, and the quality of the material used. But, just like one's taste for food can be eclectic and is influenced by one's personal history, one may well love both simple tastes, even childish ones, and more complex ones. Since the mega hit that Angel was and still is and the development of gourmand scents or notes as a result, the association between food and perfumes has become closer. And now, oenologists like Ginestet create perfumes because they see the intimate parallel existing between wine and fragrance.
So after this excursus which may explain why one may want to taste different variations of the same type of food or perfume, here is my list:
Although no musk is officially included in this fragrance, as far as I can tell, it has a marked musky accord of the raw, uriney type. It smells like sophisticated sweat.
L'Autre by Diptyque
This one is very spicy and very musky. The musk note or accord is of the raw, dry, uriney variety. It smells like the armpits of a sexy, unshowered man, pardon my bluntness and giggle of delight.
Egyptian Garden by V’Tae
It has a pronounced musky accord or note blended together with spices. It starts off smelling like the sweeter type of musk one finds in Musc Ravageur and ends up smelling slightly uriney. It has a great, spicy, and animalic drydown which I find very sensual.
Jasmin de Nuit by The Different Company
It's a very musky jasmine. It is an interesting dualistic perfume associating the animalic with the floral while managing to keep these two themes separate from each other.
Perfume List: European Father's Day Fragrance List
Here is another list of masculine fragrances for Father's Day from France. Some of these fragrances are available in the US, such as YSL Kouros Eau d'Eté, Hermès Terre, Herrera Aqua, and Givenchy very Irresistible for Men. And just for fun, I have translated some of the psychological characterizations attached to the fragrances.
Expert in manliness, Maddox, writes in the Alphabet of Manliness that the hetrosexual man (yes, not heterosexual) is, or should be at least, deeply weary of any scented concoctions that are meant to be applied onto a manly body, "Acceptable fragrances for men are: sweat, grease, rum, or some combination thereof." You decide. I think it's a call for a new manly celebrity fragrance called Maddox which would include these daring notes.
It now strikes me how the word "manly" nowadays cannot be used without some nuance of irony, while the word "womanly" can still be utterred without provoking the same type of grin. The term "feminine" is widely used, in particular, when describing fragrances.
My Google searches retrieve 1, 770, 000 occurrences for the expression "masculine fragrance" and 274 000 for the expression "manly fragrance." Regarding the expression "feminine fragrance" I find the highest number of occurrences with the number 2, 730, 000 and for "womanly fragrance" the lowest, 90, 100. I still think that "womanly" flies better than "manly".
I will have to think more about these discrepancies...
Perfume List: Scents for Father's Day...Out with the Old Spice!
I received this list, "Out with the Old Spice!", from Luckyscent and thought it might help you start thinking about the best-suited fragrances for the dads you know and love around you. Father's Day is on June 18.
BTW, it is of interest to know that Old Spice was initially released in 1937 as a women's fragrance under the name Early American Old Spice for Women, but was quickly converted to a men's fragrance after just one year and re-issued in 1938 as Old Spice for Men. Initially, the Early American Old Spice for Women purported to develop a feminine colonial theme.
The fathers' types list:
•For the Outdoorsy Dad, opt for Divine's L'Homme de Coeur. With this masculine mix of juniper, cypress, and wild vanilla, he'll be transported to his favorite camping spot with one sniff.
•The Mogul Dad has no time to waste on weak aromas. He'll choose the rich and complex Bursch by Acqua di Bella. It's a deep blend of woody incense and myrrh with aromatic traces of pepper and coriander.
•Your Rock and Roll Dad will jam to the captivating aromas of Dorissima's Narziß, a favorite of Trent Reznor. It's a fresh mix of warm herbs, sweet green, fig leaves, and royal sage.
•The Metrosexual Dad appreciates the finer things in life. Kisu, a brand new scent from Tann Rokka, is a sleek embodiment of Asian traditions, with smooth and exotic hints of cedar, rosewood, and ylang ylang. Jude Law's already wearing it, and your discriminating dad will love it too.
•A Gourmet Dad will devour what you've cooked up when you give him Idole by Lubin, an exotic brew of rum, saffron, sugar cane, and bitter orange peel. His taste buds will tingle with this thoughtful gift.
Photo credit: Mildred Grossman (1916-1988) Untitled (Father and child at the Pilgrim Prayer March, Washington, D.C., 1957) Silver gelatin print
A list of the best scents for each season according to a perfumery buyer at Fenwick's Department Store and the manager of L'Artisan Parfumeur in London (be warned that there are annoying pop-up ads on the site). Check out the other articles on perfumes on the same site.
Perfume List: 5 Types of Fragrances for 5 Types of Men
Here is a digest of a posh list of masculine scents as compiled by French journalist Claire Mabrut for the Figaro, September 28, 2004:
- The Man with the British Touch: he is chic but he is also an eccentric, seemingly conservative and classic in his appearance, but revealing a bit of a nutty personality.
What should he wear? Falsely classic scents which are a bit skewed:
• London for Men, by Paul Smith (his clothes are also by Paul Smith) • Brit for Men by Burberry, inspired by 70's icons Keith Richards and Mike Jagger • Original Vetiver by Creed (when in the City) • Penhaligon Racquet's Formula (when in the City) • Sonia Rykiel Grey when he goes back to France (where he is allowed to be more sensual apparently)
-The Business man: on the go, organized, busy. He favors a discrete type of elegance.
• L'Essenza di Zegna (his clothes are by Zegna) • Ferre Lui de GF • Jil Sander Pure for Men • Carolina Herrera Chic
-The Bourgeois-Dandy: he just doesn't know how to behave ordinarily. His perfumes as well as his clothes and art objects are meticulously researched. Each ingredient in his perfumes must correspond to his personality.
• Cologne Blanche by Hedi Slimane for Dior (based on an 18th century recipe) • Colognes à La Russe, à L'Italienne et à La Française by Institut Très Bien • Guerlain L'instant for Men • Hugo Boss Baldessarini (when on a romantic date)
-The Luxury Sportsman and Traveller: he drives luxury cars, goes yachting and travels to exotic destinations
• L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu (brought it back from Africa) • Issey Miyake L'Eau Bleue • Roger & Gallet Cologne (reminds him of Sicily) • Salvatore Ferragamo Incanto for Men
-The Mountain Type: he likes to be seen at hip ski resorts. Likes refinement and follows fashion. He is also a seducer.
• Armani Black Code • Escada Magnetism for Men • Gucci for Men • Yves Saint Laurent M7Fresh (when he skis)
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Knowing by Estée Lauder is one of those chypres that have a near-regal sillage. It is not that intimidating fortunately. In fact, men love this scent in my experience and it smells, somehow, like gold bullions. 
A view of Paris fall from last year. You can spot the French gardening principle right away: trees need to look tailored, like clothing. Isn't Paris the capital of fashion? The lines were so straight I had to make them dance a little.
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