Dear Olivia:
First, let me say that I am a huge fan of your work. When the first fall clouds start to roll in, I arm myself with Tea for Two and let the rain fall. When I’m on another iffy blind date, I show my personality and strength (and just plain feel good) with a dose of Dzing!. Premier Figuier was the first fragrance that really opened my eyes to the possibilities of scent, how a fragrance’s first breath can even tell the dirt on the fig tree’s roots. Thé pour un Eté, Passage d’Enfer, En Passant, Safran Troublant….your oeuvre boggles the mind.
But every artist has the occasional dry spell — especially one working as hard as you do, and I want to make sure that you are always fixed with ideas. So, with my compliments, please file these away:
Cottonwood Morning, or, if you prefer, Matin du Cottonwood: The sweet, leafy wood scent of cottonwoods by the river, just as the sun begins to warm them. The pioneers called cottonwoods “Bam” trees, shorthand for “Balsam of Gilead”, shorthand for a fragrance that mixes nature with heaven.
Eau du Kitty: You might have to find a specialty house to launch this one, but I guarantee it would be a blockbuster. Capture, if you can, the smell of pure love that you get when you bury your nose in the fur of a clean, happy cat. (Some people might substitute “baby’s head” for “cat”.) I wouldn’t mess around with dog smell. On a good day, my dog smells like a bag of Fritos.
Entre Nous: Remember that fabulous Diane Kurys movie, Entre Nous, where the two heroines, good friends, sit on a picnic blanket? It is a summer afternoon in the 1950s, and they talk about the war and their husbands, and wonder about their future. Listening to her friend, one of the women dips her finger in a glass of wine and dabs it behind her ears. She talks and laughs. Bottle that one.
Weekend au Lac: O.K., imagine waking up in a cabin by a lake in Montana. It’s a cold morning, but in the other room someone has made a fire in the wood stove and has started coffee. The chill scent of the lake and pine trees permeates the room, but you are cozy under a pile of quilts. I’d say that someone is frying bacon for breakfast, but pork might just be too much for this perfume. But hey, you’re the artist.
Aged Volkswagen: I’m thinking of the special combo of ancient rubber, oil, and horsehair — even though a Volkswagen shouldn’t have horsehair in it — that permeates an old bug, especially when it’s warm. You could always add the complexity of an abandoned cup of Coca Cola under the seat or a box of vegetables from the CSA in the back. The windows are rolled down, and someone spilled a bottle of Coppertone.
This should get you started. Once you’re finished with these, if you’re really ambitious, you can work on In the back of the Little Debbie Snack Cake Truck. All I ask is for a large bottle of the finished product.
Respectfully, Angela
Note: image via abc-luxe.
Angela, this is one of the best posts I have read. Brava!
I like all your ideas and especially so the Eau de Kitty and Weekend au lac.
Giacobetti has some aces up her sleeves, but as you say there might come a dry spell at some point.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you! I do love Giacobetti's fragrances.
Love your letter, Angela!
I am particularlyl fond of the idea of a scent of the cabin by the lake. I can relate… And also the picnic and the wine. Fabulous inspirations!
Thank you! So far no one seems impressed by the Aged Volkswagen idea. I must be the only one who as a kid was crammed in the back of a bug in August with too many siblings and bags of groceries…a formative memory.
I completely agree with Cottonwoods in the Morning and the smell of a clean cat – two of my personal favorites! I love the idea of recreating perfect moments in perfume…
I had smelled cottonwoods for years before I knew what it was that was so sweet, damp, and green when I was hiking along a river. It's funny how so many of my perfect fragrance moments, though, are related to food. I was tempted to add Un Air de Mac & Cheese, but I didn't.
Great letter indeed, and it once again reminds me of how great a perfumer Olivia is. She has some of the world's most raved about pieces on her hands. Regarding the Volkswagen, yeah, I guess you had to be there. Eau du Kitty would be very interesting… so is Weekend Au Lac, which got me to think of a weekend in a snow cabin. Would snow translate into a perfume?
I think snow would be fabulous in a perfume–crisp, cool, and present but barely perceptible. Maybe like Malle's Eau d'Hiver?
Yes! on Weekend au Lac and Cottonwood morning. I think she should also do Eau de Camp — the smell of firewood and green and toasted marshmallows and chocolate.
Actually, Skai by CdG reminds me of the smell of clean cat fur, especially a bit into the drydown.
Lovely article, lovely and funny suggestions.
Yes on Eau de Camp! We could include the slight, musty scent of tent canvas and a hint of the bourbon that the camp counselors are glugging after hours.
I haven't spent enough time with the CdGs–your comments reminds me to do it. I'll definitely check out Skai. Anything that would bring back the scent of darling Scooter (RIP)….
Angela, this is a great post! Olivia Giacobetti makes some of my very favorite scents. I loved your suggestions, especially about the Eau de Kitty…one of my lovely cats smelled delicious, kind of like watermelon, but not exactly…one of my cats sucks at keeping himself clean, so he smells like dirty socks, not so yummy. His feet smell like popcorn, which is kind of bizarre. I'd like to make a suggestion, too – Eau de Griffith Park. At night, especially after a rain, this park smells so amazing…a combo of wet pavement, eucalyptus, jasmine, leaves, soil…sounds weird, but smells wonderful. Thanks for this post.
Eau de Griffith Park would be amazing. There's something really wonderful about the ozone smell after a rain, when it's been dry for a while–sort of clean and dirty at the same time. Mixed with eucalyptus and jasmine it sounds divine.
So glad you see the beauty in that scent, too! There's also some sage thrown in, at certain times of the year.
Wow, what a great, great post. I read it twice in pure pleasure. My sister and I used to fight over who got to sleep in the pop-top part of the VW camper, but it never smelled quite as good as the bug, that vinyl kitchenette note always ruined it for me … Giacobetti is the author of many of my biggest loves, and what stuns me reading your post is I am confident she could make any/all of these. I would like to add Mesa Summer — the smell of the desert southwest in July. Pinon, juniper, sand, dirt, wildflowers, jackrabbit, ozone, cloud, thunderstorm building over the mesa… you can see the rain over THERE, miles away across the canyon, and you can smell it before it reaches you. Living in NM made me feel like I was eating mushrooms about 10% of the time.
Mesa Summer sounds completely compelling–I can smell it from your description alone. I like the jackrabbit note. Now I'm getting a strong urge to go camping.
ROTFL – I love it! Let me know when the Little Debbie one is finished….
If the Little Deb EdT ever makes an appearance, I'll definitely invite you to the roll out party!
Angela, what a lovely witty letter. I'm sure Olivia Giacobetti would appreciate. As for the perfumes, “Entre Nous” sounds perfect.. where do I pre-order? Montana chill, coffe and bacon might be, uh, not enough parisien for her to catch it but who knows?
Let's wait and see.
Thank you for the compliment! Maybe Olivia will decide to take a vacation in Montana. There are probably a few movie stars with ranches who would take her in.
Oh man, I haven't had a Little Debbie snack in forever! I loved those Little Debbie brownies. Crud. I know you were trying to inpire perfume, but now I'm just flat out hungry. Hee!
This was a great open letter, and such fun to read. Thanks!
My favorite Little Debbie snack are the Swiss rolls. They are absolutely foul and irrestible.