Elisabeth de Feydeau, author of A Scented Palace, on Marie Antoinette's daily bathing habits:
Each day, she dipped in a tub laced with a confection of blanched sweet almonds, pine nuts, linseed, marshmallow root and lily bulb, then rubbed her body clean with a sachet of bran.
A Scented Palace is about Marie Antoinette’s perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon. You may remember that last year Francis Kurkdjian recreated Sillage de la Reine, one of the perfumes Fargeon developed for the Queen, after Feydeau discovered the recipe in the French National Archives. You can read more about Sillage de la Reine at Osmoz (in French, and can I just add that the packaging does not live up to the romance of the back-story?); the quote is via an article by Bethan Cole in today's UK Times Online.
In other perfume news, George Dodd of Aroma Sciences hopes his new Spirit of Scotland fragrance, based on the aroma of malt whisky, will "form the basis of a new Scottish perfume industry". The fragrance will debut this fall, and includes notes of vetiver, narcissus and rose, blended to "recreate the traditional smoky and peaty smells of island malts such as Talisker and Laphroaig." Read the rest of the article in the Scotsman.
I have some info about the packaging on my blog. They are actually preparing both a prestige edition in Baccarat crystal and a limited edition in Portieux crystal for June and July respectively.
The Scottish malt whiskey fragrance sounds nice. I could wear one based on Lagavullin myself.
It'd be nice if it had an oceanic character too! Like an Islay malt, a whiff or two of seaweed and someething slightly medicinal to it.
I went to two bookshops yesterday and both shops said that they had 1 copy in, but could they find it? No. Not to worry though, one of them is ordering it, so I should have it by next weekend.
As for George Dodds' whiskey scent. He has had one out for men called Robbie Burns for ages now, in fact I went through a bottle of it 2 years ago.
Will be curious to hear how the book is, B. I don't think it comes to the US until June.
Thanks!
Prince,
Thank you for the info; I saw they have a women's version of Robbie Burns too. It sounds very tempting and I want to get it both for me and my husband now.
It looks like you enjoyed it thoroughly:)
Gotta love MA! No matter what the historians may say, she knew how to create a toilette. I bet she was the cleanest person in the kingdom, don't you? LOL!
But seriously, the book sounds fascinating, especially since her comprehensive biography by Antonia Fraser did not delve into any of this. So how comprehensive could it have been?
Hugs!
The Feydeau book looks interesting, I may end up buying it when it comes out in the US. Didn't read the Antonia Fraser though! Hugs to you too
Thank you so much, R!!! So very excited about “A Scented Palace!” Sounds exactly like something I really want to read right now… release date is June 22 on Amazon, so exactly one month to go! The review mentioned “swan's down powder puffs” and that just got me. Since I learned Caron had those, I've been wanting one ever since, and doubly so now!
I've been tempted by the powder puffs at Caron several times, and I don't even wear powder. They are just so cute!
As promised Robin, here are my thoughts…
I have finished reading it! It is very brief and a mere 130 pages long.
De Feydou has done a very good job with her subject because I should imagine that they information wasn't very easy to come by. She was awarded the Prix Guerlain for this book, she is also a professor at ISIPCA, so perfum is in her blood.
Some very interesting points are raised, no less the fact that the rumour about Mairie Antoinette was wearing Houbigant perfumes when she was arrested may well be wrong.
The 2 appendices are interesting. One is about the source materials that were used in his perfumes and the other is about extraction methods that Fargeon used at the time. Both these parts were actually taken from a book that that Fargeon wrote in 1805.
Thank you B, so glad to hear it is worth reading even if rather short. I will keep an eye out for it this summer!