Things I did not do this week: I did not finish the second part of Things I wish I'd known as a newbie perfumista. Nor did I finish the follow-up post to Perfumista tip: on lists of fragrance notes, why they matter & why they don't. I did, however, watch most of the first season of Flight of the Conchords (any fans?), and I made serious headway in clearing out untried perfume samples. So the week was not totally wasted.
Still, here we are on Friday with nothing to post, again, so I'm taking a suggestion from reader Santemon for a poll topic: describe the custom fragrance of your dreams, and name the perfumer you'd choose to have develop it for you.
I've already mentioned one of my dream perfumes. It's a "very green jasmine, bright and sparkling and just a bit indolic, over masses of dusty incense and a tiny dollop of dark woods". I am really torn on the perfumer choice, but after much thought I've decided on Daphne Bugey.
Note: image of bearded iris, Two-tones (cropped) by Noël Zia Lee via Flickr, some rights reserved.
Oh, I love your bespoke fragrance and the choice of a woman to create it.
I'm not sure what I would want in a bespoke fragrance, R, but it would be floral/spicy/woody, that's for sure.
And in the same spirit, I would ask Celine Ellena (sorry, Dad!) or Calice Becker to create it for me, but Michel Roudnitska and Francis Kurkdjian would be on my short list if those young women turned me down.
Have a great, if not lazy, weekend darling!
I think I want Mark Buxton or Annick Menardo to make their version of Djedi for me.
R, you can't believe how long my “short list” of perfumers was. What I'd really like is to have about 10-15 perfumers each do a version for me. Nice dream, eh?
I LOVE Flight of the Conchords! I always tease my husband about his “business socks.”
I'd ask for a honeysuckle/orange blossom that sparkles like champagne. I'm not sure who the best nose for it would be–I'm a JCE fan, but this doesn't seem up his alley. I'm open to suggestions.
Hey, that sounds awesome!
Very, very nice dream. You could have your “short list” create a whole perfume wardrobe for you!
It's business time, baby! LOL — that was the most brilliant song they've done so far, I think.
And I want your scent too, that sounds great, and perfect for the hot weather we're having. I don't think it sounds like JCE either.
LOL — sure, why not have Pierre Guillaume make your dream scent shirtless? I'll take the parfum Musc Maori too. Your Maurice Roucel scent will no doubt be brilliant but doubt it will be something I'll wear, so I'll leave that one to you 😉
Oh love this poll. I don't know, may be the outcome of mine would be deadly horrible, but anyway I'll try (from top to base notes): guava, sweet pea, fresh cut grass, bamboo, daffodil, ginger lily, Chinese rice flower (mock lemon), syncamore…
perfumer would be JCE if possible 🙂
Oooh! Well, for my first of several dozen (!) I'd have one made just for this summer, to mirror the scent of an ocean beach on the Gulf Islands here on the West Coast in early August. It would have green blackberry vine, blackberry blossom (slightly honeysuckle-almond-y) sun-warmed, ripe blackberry (more musky than sweet), a warm mineral/sand accord, sweet cedar and cedarwood. Celine Ellena, you'll have to put a rush on this!
That would work too! Have a great weekend, R.
Hey, Celine Ellena is getting lots of action here today! I happen to be wearing L'Artisan Mure et Musc, and deciding for the millionth time that it ain't for me…
I think Olivia Giacobetti. I want an ephemeral rose and saffron scent. It's easy for rose to be a femme fatale … this time I want subtlety, elusion and allusion. Now you see (smell) it, now you don't. Nothing drama queen, more mysterious muse. And if I go on any longer, the attempts at alliteration will kill us all. xoxo
I always find this question so interesting and impossibly difficult to answer. I've tried in a very scientific sort of way to determine what is the linking factor that I love (i.e. notes, style, etc.) in my fave perfumes – and can come up with pretty much NO common ground at all. The only semi-intelligble thing I can say is that I like “scratchy” perfumes, or chord fragrances that contrast a smooth or creamy quality with “noise” (high-pitched synthetic, citrus, salty, herbal or floral notes).
After long and painful consideration of genius living perfumers (Patricia de Nicolai! Flechier! Nagel! Kurkdjian! Sheldrake!) I must say I think Christophe Laudamiel would do a great job on the kind of thing that interests me. Very underrated fellow. Aurelien Guichard, you are welcome to stop by to take my specifications, as well.
So embarrassing when you forget a genius. Andy Tauer, comon over any time.
I'm trying to picture that, M. Would it be sort of like Safran Troublant with the proportions reversed?
I don't think there is a linking factor in my collection either. I just have always wanted that particular jasmine.
But hey, I don't think of CL as underrated — he gets tons of press. Whereas how many consumers have ever heard of Nagel or Flechier? Or maybe I'm off base…
Yes, actually, I can think of a few more variations on Incense rose I'd like to have. In fact, he could do my jasmine-incense, couldn't he?
My nose is so strange … I love Safran Troublant for what I perceive to be its aerosolized-faintly peppery-sandiness. I get nothing vivid from it and virtually no rose. I do get a kind of mildly stimulative gentle spiciness. So, yes. I would like more (some) rose this time but a different quality of saffron … diffuse and liquified somehow. And a mystically dominant rose. *honestly, you know I'm not this florid a writer. Writing briefs for perfume must turn people into this.* xoxo
Well, there was a lot of media hoopla about the Perfume movie coffret, I suppose. I just don't hear his name from perfumistas much on the blogs or boards. If you look at dream perfumer posts/comments, it's often JCE, Roucel, Giacobetti – and now lots of Duchaufour and Kurkdjian. (Menardo, too, lately.) I like your Bugey choice, by the way. It's important (ha!) to take into consideration who would handle your request well.
Oh, that is true…he isn't a “perfumistas's darling” at the moment, maybe.
Yeah, I guess I meant he's underrated with people who actually seem to care about this stuff. Yes, we're nerds! 😉
On the Bugey issue – did you ever come around to Le Labo Neroli? I keep meaning to check that frag out.
my bespoke scent might be (and im really not sure because im so schizo about perfume anyway…) a really really spicy one w/ tons of cardamom, some tobacco, and a base of dry smoky vanilla. i dont know who i'd get to make it, maybe andy tauer. maybe i actually could pitch the idea to him casually on his blog…. 😉
I would like something with a wild, pagan soul, a scent with notes of fire, smoke, lots of wood, rocks and a drop of… blood.
And a perfumer? I think Roucel or Duchaufour (well, after all it's only 15000 euros at L'Artisan – so if I have spare 15k, I'd know what to do with them;)
I would like to have Neil Morris make a scent for me with lots of smoky vanilla, honey, lilac, and cedar. Kind of a weird combination but I know he could do it and make it smell great!
My 'short' list of perfumers is rather lengthy as well – Roucel, Duchaufour, Maisondieu, Lie, Giacobetti, Grosjman, Guichard (pere et fils), Delville,
Ellena (pere et fille), Buxton, Appel, Ropion, M. Roudnitska, Feisthauer, and young Givaudan star Natasha Cote.
I want leather, amber, patchouli, violet, iris, vetiver, rose & a healthy dose of hedion…
And my bottle must be created by the extraordinary Pierre Dinand
Ok, I pick Patricia de Nicolai. I'd like a scent that captures the life of a maple tree, with a green sappy note in the opening that mellows to the tang of the leaves in the fall, with a rich syrup note that's not overwhelming and not too sweet, sinking into that wonderful smokiness that the leaves smell like when they burn. There would have to be a dry incense note to temper the syrup stage. JCE is welcome to create his version as well, in his spare time, since the concept comes from his *life of a rose*. I think it's him, anyway, I'm too lazy to look up the name of the scent. Yours sounds heavenly, R! I wish someone would get busy and create it already. 🙂
I have several bespoke fragrance requests:
1. Linden & Verbena combo that sparkles and lasts all day for the summer
2. Milk + Pepper + Rose petals
3. A Peony fragrance that smells very similar to a huge bunch of real peony flowers – but in a perfect imaginary world – with wisps of spring air and blue skies and a little smidgen of dirt and edginess to cut the “pollyanna” quality
4. Dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, almond and honey – but not ultra sweet – only subtly sweet
But I would have no way of choosing the appropriate perfumer. I would love to have a few “vying” to make these fragrances for me… 😉
I would like Bertrand Dechaufour to make me the most awesome spicy dark incense scent ever.
That sounds gorgeous, silversheep! And it's just Andy's style, I should think. Let us know if he buys the pitch!
You know, it would be hard to pick anyone other than Duchaufour, but he's already given me Timbuktu, Amouage Jubilation XXV, and Avignon… so I'm not sure what more I could ask of him in the incense realm.
So, for the heck of it (sorry, JCE), I'd go with Olivia Giacobetti and I'd let her know I was partial to something woody with some green topnotes, but basically, I'd just let her work her magic without too much micromanaging.
You know, I like Mure et Musc just fine for a fruity kick, but I realized awhile after I bought my bottle that what I really probably wanted was COLOGNE Mure et Musc. Dang flankers.
I had the pleasure of meeting Natasha Cote at a Sephora fragrance master class. We spent a half day with her sniffing individual notes and went through each classification of women's fragrance sniffing classic and modern interpretations of each. It was a wonderful experience!
That's quite a short list!
I have tried the EdT and the Extreme, but the Cologne is even lighter than the reg. EdT, right? I haven't tried it.
Hey, but “aerosolized-faintly peppery-sandiness” is perfect! Have this idea now that you could layer CdG 888 w/ something to get what you want, but that isn't as much fun as an OG bespoke, of course.
You know, I never even went back to it. I should. Except that I already love so much of the Le Labo line that it feels like I should leave a few of them alone, LOL…
Tarragon, even! That sounds intriguing.
I would choose Victoire Gobin-Daude…anything not too floral
Yeah, it's a bit lighter but also seems the Cologne is a different formulation as well with more citrus in the top notes. I'm satisfied with the regular EdT, but I think the original sample I had was Cologne. Probably not enough of a difference to lament.
Is that what L'Artisan wants for a custom scent? Cheaper than Cartier or Guerlain, I guess!
That really is a weird combo…can't picture the lilac in there! Trying to think of layering combinations that would come close, but they don't sound tempting, LOL…
It could use more citrus — it needs more “sparkle”, for me anyway.
I don't know the “life of a rose” reference at all, but your life of a maple tree sounds great. Do you like Serge Lutens Chene? That one is oak but it is syrupy too.
Wow, I'll take your #1 & #2 especially. There must be a milky rose w/ pepper already? But I can't think of it.
My scent? Same old dream: a warm May night in NW Georgia or SE Tennessee; the air is heavy with wild honeysuckle, wild roses, and warm, damp earth and rocks. It's rained recently. Heaven.
no I just put all the notes that I thought are nice together really… I want it to bgin with some kind of fruit, thought guava is nice cos it has this refreshing, light but creamy scent, and hopefully can somewhat add some light sweetness to the green grassy notes I adore. Then I thought I might add some florals to back up the greens, I love ginger lily and daffodil's refreshing fragrance, Chinese rice flower is supposed to be really nice…
well that's the rationale behind my composition, probably that doesn't make any sense at all …. hehe
Sigh. I do miss the GD line.
Wouldn't I love to know who made Bolt of Lightning!
I want Andy Tauer to do a feminine flanker to Lonestar Memories – Lonestar Daydreams? Notes: prickly pear, green honeysuckle, jasmine, lilac, cedar, vetiver, tonka and sandalwood. Starts out cool and sweet (morning in Austin), moves into a lazy, warm, rank floral (midday), then dries down woody (dusk).
i'd want Jean Claude Ellena (sorry, kid, love your Dad) to make me a green stem fragrance, minimalist, that smells like the chilled blast out of a fresh florist fridge. And it has to smell exactly like that, with no jasmine, no gardenia, no tuberose and no musk.
And I get to watch him make it.
Gee as I made the suggestion, I had better post something! I think I would sit down with the wonderful Linda Pilkington of Ormonde Jayne and work out a scent based on creamy sandalwood incense, layered with the smell of rich milky indian sweets and rosewater, pistachio, perhaps a note of chai, and spices such as clove and cardamon, topped off with a sparkling burst of pink pepper and light citrussy florals. Something that goes from bright and sparkling to rich and sweet to warm, dry and comforting. It's something I think she could do really well.
I don't know how well this would turn out, but I just came up with what I thought would be an ideal scent, copy… hell, I even have a campaign and a bottle idea. xD
I was walking along, sniffing my beautiful Eclat d'Arpege Summer. It's a well-done floral with just a hint of creamy fruits in the opening. (It turns a little waxy on me after a bit but I counter that by building up a very mild sweat; that brings back my lovely heart notes.) Anyway, I want to drop the fruit and take those flowers (rose, jasmine, and violet, apparently) placed on top of a great wooden thing and covered with the smell of a light rain. For woods, I was thinking of maybe cedar, Lebanese woods (a la my odd-duck favorite, the original Eclat d'Arpege) and maybe a third, still sorta-light wood. Top that with a NATURAL rain-y smell and I think I could be in love. I'd really like it if the florals weren't fleeting though. How frustrating those five-second whiffs are!
I have no idea of perfumers, save… Duchaufour? I don't think this is up his alley, though. I dunno. >…<;;;; Actually, I'm sniffing my sample of Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste (which I'd own but not buy for myself) and I think those would be interesting on a light wood base, too. Maybe I could just get a beautiful wet wood base that layers beautifully with florals? xP
What a great poll !! Late to the party, but my choice would be Tom Ford. Yes, he rocks my fragrance world :)) Not sure what it would smell like, but it would involve woods, a hint of vanilla, maybe a touch of leather, heliotrope, jasmine, incense. I am pretty sure I am forgetting other favorite notes 🙂 I am sure he'd come up with a great juice.
CB I Hate Perfume's Black March has elements of that….you need to get CB working on the modifications!
Oooh, I'd take that in a second.
I'd take yours too. In fact, reading this whole thread has expanded my own list of “dream scents” — thanks for the poll idea!
Forget the warm spring night. I want what you're having.
I would like to go back in time & meet Roudnitska & have him create a bespoke perfume for me using the luscious perfume ingredients of the mid 20th century. (maybe except for civet) My dream perfume is intensely green with a narcissus heart. Does anybody here have access to a time machine??
Top Note: lime, just the slightest touch of mint
Heart: lily-of-the-valley, waterlily
Base: oakmoss
A salt sea air accord runs throught it all.
Perfumer: Mathilde Laurent
Name: “Endless Summer”
Bottle Designer: Dale Chihuly
I haven't been at this long enough to know any of the perfumers but I made my own bespoke (more or less – lol) long ago: Vanilla and patchouli with carnation, hyacinth and black narcissus. If I layered Patchouli Noir with CdG Red Carnation it might be close. I still have it, actually, but it is about 25 years old. I have always liked the dark spice flowers.
My other one is a true jasmine and neroli. For a perfume I would want it pretty simple, but I would love a cologne that captured that, along with a little grass and warm air (maybe a touch of linden?). I have a zillion essential oils – I should play around with them.
And what a bottle that would be.
My vision is of earthy patchouli and Haute Alps or English lavender, heather, and maybe real carnation or some real flower essences that invoke a scent that recalls it. That feels pretty refreshing on a hot summer day.
OR conversely, earthy patch., (again) with the right touch of vetivert, blue spruce and agarwood
frankincense sacra, frankincense frereana, ambrette seed
labdanum abs., cypress, guaiacwood, and may chang.
Just a little something different. I'd like Ineke to create it. I'd be more than open to her suggestions.
Yes, I read about the price somewhere (on Scented Salamander?)
Well you have yours very well thought out! Trying to think of a fragrance w/ a “natural” rain-y smell, that is hard to come by. Maybe CB I Hate Perfume Black March…
Not a bad idea: just let OG do what she wants. That usually makes me happy! Wish she'd resurrect L'Ether while she's at it 🙂
Sounds like you could maybe layer some of the TF Private Blends, no? Pretty sure they cover all those bases.
Have you tried Roudnitska's Dior Dior? Not too far off from what you want, and gorgeous to boot.
Dearest Robin… After reading the poll's title I remembered that I've said something about a dream scent before on NST… I used the helpful google thingie on the site, and I found that I said this about the Davidoff Adventure:
“The notes on the Davidoff sound near perfect to me.
I will wait and see how the black sesame plays out against the rest, but if you exchange the black sesame for “linden” or “violet leaves” or well.. BOTH.. there you have my dream scent! ”
So.. my dream scent goes like this: “mandarin, lemon, bergamot,linden, violet leaves, mate leaves,black pepper, pimento, cedar, vetiver and white musk.”
And the perfumer would be… Mmmmm. Nicolas Mamounas, who did Globe de Rochas.
I read up on Christopher Brosius and it does seem like he could fulfill my first fantasy perfume. He's my pick. In the meantime, I'll have to be content with his other wares. ;D
My personal fragrance would be heavy on the vanilla but lacking the sickening sweetness of so many vanilla fragrances. There would be a good pinch of sandalwood and white musk, a tiny pinch of amber, cedar, and rose, hints of fresh hay, bergamot, bitter orange, lychee and spice (cardamom and clove come to mind), and an ever so teeny dose of dry grass and salty air. I would want it to unfold like a book, with each progression or chapter referencing the one preceding it, and hinting at the one to come. I envision about 6 stages…forget top heart and base notes! It could be great or it could be just a God awful lump of mush, so I'd have to have the right nose. I suspect Francis Kurkdjian or Olivia Giacobetti could do it, but I'm picking them only because I love some of the work they've done, not because I think they'd be a particularly good fit for this fragrance. By the way, I'll call it “a la Memoire de Jeanne.”
Thanks for the challenge. That was fun!
I would happily have Neil Morris or Maurice Roucel create the fragrance of my dreams. It would have basenotes of Sandalwood, Bourbon Vanilla, and Musc. There would be a bit of pepper, maybe some orange blossom, and a hint of some pink flower (not sure which), and be soft warm and sexy.
I got to meet Neil in NYC at Sniff, and he was a lovely man. His fragrances are wonderful.
I wish I had a zillion essential oils to play around with, that sounds like fun! I'd still rather have a perfume by somebody else though — I doubt my own ability to come up with a decent combination.
He makes some really lovely scents, and I love his “water” formulas.
Interesting pick — I would not have pegged Ineke to make something so dark/earthy/woody. I think of her line as so fresh & clean. But nice of you to be open to her suggestions…I think I want Daphne Bugey to do just as I say, LOL…probably not what a perfumer wants to hear.
Nice mix, and Mathilde Laurent is a great pick. She does custom for Cartier so it's within reach if you've a gajillion dollars to spare…
Hey, but Jean-Claude Ellena did Globe. Mamounas was something like house nose at Rochas at the time so probably oversaw it, but it is an Ellena scent.
And have you smelled Adventure yet, does it come close? I have not even seen it anywhere.
God, I didn´t know that HE did Globe.
Sneaky Ellena!
Ok I surrender, let him do my bespoke scent! 🙂
I totally agree on “Adventure” have not seen it nor smelled it yet.
And the Davidoff's get rush-shipped here (Argentina fuelled the Cool Water money-machine during the 1dollar-1peso happy 90's)
I'll post or write as soon as I smell it.
These are all wonderful! If anyone ever gets their wish, I hope we get to hear about how it turns out. For myself, lately I have a strong preference for masculines. I'd like to smell something with no fruit or aquatic notes, and I know I like rose, geranium, and galbanum, although not necessarily together. Ideally, it would probably remind you of an Italian George Clooney type. Guaranteed to confuse people, smelling such a scent emanating from this middle aged woman. The perfumer? I'd like Christopher Brosius to collaberate with Olivier Gillotin (10 Corso Como). CB is so talented, but I would want someone to temper his literalism.
See, I knew I could brow-beat somebody into picking JCE, LOL…
You had me up to the “salty air” part…I'll take my bottle just before they add that last ingredient!
Today my bespoke fragrance would be an mint, apple, clove and vanilla fragrance (an dark woody vanilla). I'd like to have the perfumer that made SL Rousse to develop an interesting and dark concept about this notes (I'm inspiring it on Demon in The Dark, the lush soap that is perfect!)
Neil Morris does custom work, I think? So presumably you could save your pennies & have it done. Maurice Roucel, maybe not 😉
Ha — if anyone gets their wish, I'd rather not know — I'd be too jealous! Could not focus on your idea after hearing “Italian George Clooney type”, but will see if I can get over that & concentrate later…
I like things discovered in an ancient sunk ship / Egyptian pyramid / Mayan temple etc. I'd probably take Egyptian anything, since whenever I look at the old temples I have the odd feeling of having beren there when they were all new.
And the fragrance? Apart from Un Jardin sur le Nil :-), probably something with incense, sandalwood, musc a hint of jasmine and green bamboo, and lots and lots of cardamom.
Aha, then you'll have Christopher Sheldrake interpreting Lush — sounds good to me!
See, that shows how disappointed people would be, smelling my dream scent out on the street, looking around, and seeing… me. Ha!
I'd love something with amber/powder/leather notes, but I don't know who the fragrance designer would be. I'm sorely lacking in that area of my perfume knowledge!
LOL!
I don't really know who would be good at those notes either!
Perhaps the Fendi sisters??
The fragrance of my dreams would be named “Beloved”
the notes would contain: freesia, wisteria, pepper, bluebells and pink grapefruit
the heart would be: ivy, peony, pink muguet, hyacinth and pear
the base would be: carnation, musk, amber and cashmere woods
I would like to add some tiara, rose and sandlewood somewhere, but I worry I already have to many notes. Although I have seen notes with a plethora of notes, i.e., Beautiful love.
L'eau d'Issay had a lot of these notes, but it wasnt as flowery or sexy in the dry-down as I'd hoped.
Robin, I know I'm so picky, but can you think of any fragrance that has a few of the notes I'm going for? I guess I'm a woody floral girl…maybe I don't care if is mainstream of niche. I'll have to save this post, unless you see some glaring contradictions-notes that won't work together. Please help, I haven't smelled something I like for a loooong time.
Help? but of course always joy to everyone
-Becca
…oh, and I'd love for Annick Goutal to make it and bottle it.
Becca, nothing comes to mind that even comes close, I'm sorry!
Oh don't be sorry. It is a dream after all. It's probably pretty generic after reading more seasoned perfumista's bospokens.
Does it sound like those notes would work together though?
simpler: I would like a fresh sparkling opening, a soft green floral heart, and a sensuous dry-down.
Maybe someone can think of something like that?
I like your bespoke Robin, I would probably buy it.
wishing and hoping-Becca
Seriously, I'd have no idea what notes would work together! But now your description is too vague…it seems like it would fit a huge percentage of scents, LOL>..