I managed very little perfume shopping in New York this past weekend, but I did get in a quick trip to the new L'Artisan boutique in Soho. It is a very small shop — 10 people would just about fill it to capacity. The fragrance testers are displayed on a bar running the length of the shop; shelves on the walls hold the room fragrances and sachets.

They do have the new La Chasse Extreme, and they will have the 2005 summer limited edition, Extrait de Songe, in April. Emmanuelle, the sales agent, describes it as "cottony". They are also expecting a shipment of the hard-to-find Jour de Fete.

They will send fragrances anywhere in the United States but the details have not yet been worked out so I don't know what they are going to charge for shipping.

The shop will be hosting fragrance seminars for small groups in the future. If you'd like to be on their mailing list, you can call them at (212) 334-1500. L'Artisan is located at 68 Thompson Street, between Spring and Broome.

Other perfume shopping possibilities in the neighborhood: L'Occitane, Aveda, Bagutta Life (unfortunately closed for renovations at the moment), Prada, La Perla, Kate Spade, and Sephora.