A new school year, a new love affair, a new home — all these things offer the chance for reinvention. We're somewhere new, or around new people, and we have the opportunity to present ourselves in a new way, or better yet in a way that's more true to ourselves. For fragrance aficionados, these beginnings cry out for a new perfume.
After spending a year in a job that felt like a bad relationship, I cast my resume into the job pool and came up with two job offers. I took the job that was riskier financially but looked like it would be more satisfying personally, and the decision has paid off big time. Every morning I wake up early and rework the draft of a mystery novel in progress (featuring a perfume-loving protagonist, of course) then ride my bicycle downtown over the heavy green river to an office full of dedicated, diverse people. Afternoons I work on freelance projects at home with my dog on the couch in my office and a cat in my lap. All that and the coffee is good, too. Could life be nicer? It truly feels like a new day.
Naturally, I'm itching for a new perfume to celebrate this new beginning. Whatever perfume I choose I'll associate with this time in my life. I'd like to try a fragrance that stands apart from the often leathery, chypre-heavy, green, vintage selection in my perfume cabinet. At the same time, I'm not sure I'm ready to head into anything too wildly divergent — say, one of Jean Claude Ellena's more ethereal Hermessences or a scent named after a molecule. Something fresh, but with depth and interest, would be perfect.
A few months ago I smelled Bois 1920 Sutra Ylang and was intrigued, but didn't have $160 to shell out for it. Sutra Ylang was citrusy, yet sweet with bay leaves, and the ylang ylang gave it a creamy feel. It smelled modern, but still old-fashioned enough to connect with my love of crazy-patterned dressing gowns from the 1940s and etched crystal cocktail glasses. It could be the ideal "new beginning" fragrance.
The problem is that I didn't get a sample of it, and my memory of Sutra Ylang now is hazy. It could be that if I lived with it for more than an afternoon I'd hate it. But, an online retailer has it at a discount, and until midnight tonight they're offering another twenty percent off, bring the price down to about a hundred dollars. I've had my finger poised over the "add to basket" button off and on all day. Should I buy the bottle of Sutra Ylang or not? If I buy it and it's a mistake, I'll have wasted all that money. It's certainly happened before. On the other hand, nothing ventured, nothing gained. This could be the scent that ushers in a whole new life. Surely you understand?
As I press the "checkout" button I tell myself, Hey, it's a new day. Why not take a risk? It could just pay off big.
Wow, good work on the new life, Angela. I just got out of a “bad relationship” job, too, and am hoping for something better soon. Especially since there are all these samples and decants and FBs that I want and can't buy!
I have an interview tomorrow and am deciding which perfume to dab on – something professional yet unobtrusive like CdG 2, I think. Just a dab, so as not to overwhelm.
Your new perfume sounds like it will be divine, and you can't beat the discount!
Indeed it is a new day, Angela! And since one never knows how it may turn out, we can always be hopeful.
Go for it!
Hugs!
Good luck with the interview! I bet you wow them. I really do think that if it's at all possible to leave, a person shouldn't settle for a bad relationship job, so I'm behind you 100%.
I never was able to order Sutra Ylang because the blasted website wouldn't show the coupon code section. I'll have to try again, though–the discount was extended a few days. Of course, now I wonder if I should try something else instead…
A new day in more ways than one, that's for sure. Thanks for the encouragement!
Oh darn! That kind of thing screws me up – I start thinking it's an omen, whereas originally I was listening to my gut, so do I listen to my gut still or the omen?? Argh.
Oh, and thanks for the good luck wish!
Go team Angela!
I know! You think exactly like I do.
You're welcome, of course.
Thanks!
Angela, bag yourself a bargain – the Bois 1920 range costs £95 in Selfridges and my brother is lamenting the fact that Classic 1920 is too much to ask his sister to get him for Xmas though I ran to Idole for his birthday. $95 would have been another matter!
I must say I thought Sushi Imperiale a little wacko for my tastes, so if it was me (a lover of creamy ylang-containing things – Promesse de L'Aube, Plus que Jamais, AP Maitresse), I would just check that the notes for this Karma Sutra Ylang Utang do not sound anything similar, and then I would “pressez le bouton”, as my old boss used to say.
If it doesn't work out, there will be a NST-er to take it off your hands for the price you paid, I feel sure of it. Not least for the considerable cachet of its being “pre-owned by Angela”. Speaking for myself, at least.
Well, I did it. Read your comment and spent the cash. Now I'm $100.40 poorer but will be watching like a hawk for the UPS delivery truck. This time the site did let me put in the coupon code. I hope it's as great as I remembered.
Idole is a pretty great gift! I think my brothers run more to Old Spice.
There's a reason that scent stuck in your head and you hankered for it to celebrate your new job; in your shoes I would have ordered it, too, especially on sale. Good luck in the new job and with the novel. Let us know if and when it gets published!
Thanks for the helpful rationalization–you're right, it really did stick in my head. If Robin is game, I might do a review of it once I've lived with it (assuming it arrives all right).
The novel is a lot of fun. It's more trashy than literary, so I keep quiet about it to many of my writer friends, but I figure that anything that gets me out of bed at 6 am to do it must be worth it.
I am so glad idealism and imagination abide in Angela. I can use a dose of it everyday. I am low of idealism. And my imagination has been has been damaged by to much bad reality. But your simple other side of the coin writing helps me imagine imagining again. So don't ever stop. It's a cynical world, and too many of us fall victim to it. You see it all lot in this blog. Mea culpa.
I hope your purchase works out well. If not, sell, or use your optimism.
Thanks for making me remember to enjoy the journey and not the results.
less cynical,
Becca 🙂
Somebody (here? another group? dunno) says trashy novels are her “palate cleansers” between weightier stuff, so sounds like your book will be the perfect sorbet!
Imagination and optimism are two qualities that I want to have, so I'm glad that you see them.
Imagination is, I think, what allows people to see beauty. And stories (which are beautiful, too, of course). Imagination makes a trip on the bus a fascinating and funny window into humanity when it could just be a smelly, cramped ride.
Optimism is harder because you get burned more often. I always think of the part in Howard's End, though, when the father is described as someone who chooses to be an optimist and counts the times it's let him down as small payment for the benefit of thinking the best of people and situations.
I hope so!
An airport blockbuster with added perfume sounds like a winning combo to me. As I did with The Guide, I would pre-order this one! :- ) I have a secret penchant for Kathy Reichs' page turning forensic thriller, but would happily swap the mounting bone count for fictional trips to department stores, ideally with some relationship complications for the female protagonist. Secret assignations in the men's fragrance department of Nordstrom. Her husband sniffs an unfamiliar Tom Ford on her and the game is up.
Going back to the Sutra Ylang, we do all share a big collective responsibility now for tipping you over the edge. If, for any reason, the unfortunate state of “post purchase cognitive dissonance” should happen to set in, we will either find an individual buyer for it or have a whip round on Paypal. The good news is, you have already sniffed it. So unlike some of us flip-flopping newbie perfumistas, your nose probably doesn't deceive you on a first pass.
One thing that puzzles me is that the notes listings I can find don't mention ylang ylang anywhere. Are we supposed to infer it from the name, I wonder?
Also, in support of the general principle of impulse purchases – and with Farah in tow to generally egg me on and make me carry out my plan – I am going to buy Rose Kashmirie at the weekend from the very nice Rosines lady in Harvey Nicks. I heard a rumour on another site that RK is a limited edition, so obviously speed is of the essence. Yes, I have sniffed it, but I haven't used up my sample, so a degree of impulse is still involved. Plus I have got lots of form for retrospective FB regrets.
“Only connect the prose and the passion”….
….or failing that, just go with the passion!
Great advice!
Good luck! I just started over too and went from L de Lolita Lempicka to Daisy Marc Jacobs. While Daisy wasn't perfect at first, in a weird way it gave me room to grow and that was nice.
“Airport blockbuster with added perfume”? That must be from a review I haven't read! I'll google it immediately.
I like to read mysteries from time to time, too. Right now I'm chewing on a Ross Macdonald novel full of dames and hilarious similes but gorgeously tight writing. At the same time, I'm reading some Annie Dillard, Coetzee, and rereading Chekov stories before bed.
I think the Rose Kasmirie sounds like a great purchase, and I envy you Farah's assistance.
What a great way to describe a perfume–giving you room to grow, that is. I feel like I know just what you mean.
Hey, Angela, congrats!
I can't remember ever trying Sutra Ylang. I went online and read some reviews — things like, “too heavy for me,” and “smells like something from an old lady's bathroom” — which frankly bode very well for you, in my opinion, given your tastes!
I hope you do a follow up post telling us how it worked out. BTW are you allowed to tell us the etailer and the discount code?
Oh March, you totally have me pegged! Heavy, anything “old lady”, and I'm hooked. I just read a positive review on Vetivresse, so I'm extra excited. If it comes, I'll make sure you have some to smell.
Robin posted the site and code on NST a week ago or so, so I'm sure it's fine if I pass it on again: parfum1.com, and the code, good through Veteran's Day, is fallextrapw for 20% off.
Congratulations! And I'm sure you'll enjoy the bottle.
Thank you! Are you a ylang ylang fan? I can't remember. Roses, yes. Geranium, yes. 1980s decadence, yes. Aldedhydes, big no. But I can't remember on the ylang.
Congratulations, Angela, on the exciting new adjustments to your life! I especially like the sound of your afternoons. I'm sure your dog and cat love them, too!
Sutra Ylang sounds really pretty! Is it anything like Boucheron? An online description and listed notes somehow brought Boucheron to mind.
I'm getting so much vicarious enjoyment reading about your new routine. Best of luck with your new job, and of course with your new purchase. I share your love of the leathery chypres that seem to call for a serious lipstick color and a fox fur stole, but I agree that something new is called for to commemorate your new role. Hopefully the Sutra Ylang is it. Next year, I think I will be soliciting your advise on a milestone commemorative purchase.
I don't remember Sutra Ylang being much like Boucheron–it was lighter, more fresh smelling. But I'll let you know for sure when it arrives.
And what could that milestone be? A new PhD, maybe? The purchase of a chateau in the Loire Valley (if so, please let me visit). Finally getting through all those episodes of Mr. Ed?
Untitled
You can live on other's imaginings
and sneer at other's idealism
and suck your thumb
and draw the curtains
or in three seconds
choose courage
and imagine the idealism
with patches to serve as banners
and hope the call you crazy
Rebecca J. Helms (Becca)
It's a rough draft and there is more. But it reminded me of your Howard's End comment. I have always had do's and cats. I have watched many of them die in all possible ways. Thus-my son has decided he will never own a pet because he has seen me tore up inside too often. But as I wrote about my beloved cat Tabitha on her passing, “… but I would have traded a moment of your life, for this inevitable end.”
Wow, I'm going to bum bloggers out. With enough bad luck, cynicism is always easier.
But you've got me thinking more about the journey!
And really, do'nt cha?
-Joy,
Becca
major correction…I WOULDN'T have traded a moment of your life for this inevitable end.
A mystery novel and a trashy one at that? Sign me up, oh yes!!!
Seriously, I'm dying to read it – please let me know when you get it published 🙂
You busted me on the Mr. Ed reruns…kidding. Not a Ph. D., just hopefully getting my MA at the age of 46. I'll solicit some suggestions for what I can reward myself with later, as the time grows closer. Maybe I will sign up for one of Robin's polls! “Help Existentialist find a new perfume”.
Thank you for the poetry! It definitely is easier, and safer, to be cynical. But it's also less rewarding, I think. And I know what you mean about losing pets. It's wrenching, but in the end it's always been worth it. If you want the joy, you might have to suffer some of the pain.
You are so nice! I have a draft finished but a goodly amount of editing before I'm ready to show it to anyone, let alone an agent. But if it ever sees the light of day I'll let you know.
Yes! You should do it. It would be fun to help find a celebratory perfume. I'll start stockpiling samples for you.
I will! It will be fun to see who comes up with what. Time for bed (here on the east coast, anyway).
Nighty-night.
“Every experience is clay, and what it becomes is what we make of it.” OK, so I made that up, but optimism is what helps you see the invisible in that lump of clay and pursue it. I'm glad you bought the perfume, this seems like the perfect moment for it. And you can always resell it if you decide you don't like it.
Impressively quotable! I see it on a Starbucks cup (although I think the quotes on Starbucks cups should be more useful, along the lines of “Don't cut your own bangs” or something like that).
Thanks for the support on buying the perfume, too.
V, suddenly it occurred to me that the “airport blockbuster” comment didn't refer to Sutra Ylang but to my book. (Duh.) And here I thought there was some review out there comparing the perfume to duty free offerings….
Let me add, that not that your quote ISN'T useful, because, of course, it is.
Congrats on your purchase…and your new job! Sounds perfect! And the UPS men never do come fast enough, do they?
As for Idole, that is a fantastic gift, but my brother is also the “Old Spice” type. I'm just glad he grew out of the Curve stage. 🙂 That stuff was potent- the dark green bottle, you know? With the gold writing? Bane of my existence in middle school. 🙂
Not enough experience with it in perfume, but I did enjoy it as my 'added essential oil' last time I got a massage.
I love this positive post! I've been in the same mood lately and it's also had me searching for a new fragrance “mate”. Something I'm excited about, is coming to the realization that houses wear like the work of clothing designers on people; it's great to search for a perfect fit in many places but when a house has a special chemistry with you, sometimes excitment waits for their new releases or other fragrance options within the house. There's something comforting about having a new experience (new composition/notes combos) in juxtaposition to familiar “signature” accords. It's like a beautiful new day heightened by a lifetime of memories. Patou, Serge Lutens and Borsari do this for me—even if everything they release isn't my absolute style, each “fit” well enough and wear beautifully on me, so it's just a matter of choosing favorites or sampling newbies. Perhaps I won't always choose amongst them–some other scent from another place may hold my attention for a while—but I doubt I'd travel through life entirely without them. Classics, loyalty and comfortable self-expression; I guess this means I'm “grown-up”. Finally!
The relevant point I was trying to make (before waxing fragrant about loyalties and careening off your topic): If enough fragrances by “Bois 1920” have worn exquisitely on you, it should be safe to buy new releases unsniffed. Even if the new purchase doesn't become the apple of your nose, it's unlikely to result in a total devastation of buyer's remorse (that reserved for the over $150.00 fragrance purchases).
No indeed, it was a compliment about your new oeuvre in progress!
Congratulations on your idyllic sounding new work life! How wonderful! And I can't wait for your book. You write so well that you often trigger my own imagination, something I really appreciate and enjoy in a writer. For instance, the image of you riding your bicycle downtown “over the heavy green river” puts me in mind of the perfume L'Ombre dans L'Eau, which I think would be a terrific title for a mystery novel. But whatever your title is, please put me on the pre-order list, too.
I hope that you will find Sutra Ylang to be even better than your memory of it and the perfect enhancement to all the new situations you are in. But if not, it has been my experience that there are a lot of very nice swappers out there with amazing perfumes to exchange for mistaken purchases. Some of my most favorite scents have recently come to me as “extras” tucked into swap packages. Swapping, like reading blogs, also has the potential to construct perfume narratives, populating them with people you would otherwise never meet in places you might never go, with tastes and opinions that can potentially expand your frame of reference. Even the occasional villainous swaplifter adds a certain amount of drama to life. (And now while there are a couple of good sales going on, I think I may have talked myself into pursuing one of my own lemmings–if only to add to my swapping stash!)
This was an amazing read: I also started a new job Monday and celebrated with a bottle of Dior Homme from Sephora. Best of luck with your new endeavour. 🙂
Thank you! Yes, I know exactly the bottle you're talking about. To tell the truth, I have a soft spot for Old Spice, anyway.
A massage? That sounds really good. Well, if and when the Sutra Ylang comes in…
It really is nice to find a perfume house with a style that works with you–congratulations! The search is so fun, though, too.
Good point! Well, I've tried some of the Bois 1920s, but I haven't lived with any of them. And you're so right that a little heartache over $100 is nothing compared with $160. In any case, I'm hopeful that it will be a good one.
You are so nice.
What a genius idea to name a mystery–heck, a series of mysteries–after perfumes! You are on to something there. Hmm.
I've found some real gems through swapping, too, and you're right. I'll make sure to save the box just in case.
Congratulations on the new job and the Dior Homme! I love that one.
Angela 🙂 Cheers to you for turning over a new shiny green leaf. I bet you love the perfume even more than you thought…
(celebrating milestones/ turning points/ new beginnings with FB purchases = wonderfully commemorative- or at least I am also guilty of this logic…)
That's my thinking, exactly. Besides, it does make sense. Smell is so evocative–coupling a new smell with a new situation is a good way to cement the feeling in my brain.
A hearty congratulations and best wishes to you on your new job, and your novel!
Thank you!
And you know, “Don't cut your own bangs” is really good advice. Voice of experience talking here.
Hey, I didn't pull that out of thin air. I could have added “…especially late at night after a couple of glasses of wine.”
Or after two cups of cappuccino, which is when I did mine, resulting in a kind of weed-whacker approach. Luckily, they grew out. I think it's a brilliant thing to put on a Starbucks cup.
That's the good thing about bangs. As you say, they grow out.
Congrats, Angela! Let us know when the novel will be released. I'm sure you'll have a huge fan base with those of us who love your writing on NST. 🙂
As for the Sutra Ylang? Psh, BUY IT. New stages in life deserve to be ushered in with style. And $100 isn't really that much. Besides, if you don't like it, you could just sell it on EBay. You have a $65 price range to play with.
I recently did much the same thing, except I just got out of an actual bad relationship, and I'm actually searching for a new job too, just to complete the picture. II bought a hideously expensive bottle of perfume to turn over a new leaf, and it really works on some level. You have my full support.
Congratulations on your new day, too! I did buy the perfume and am waiting not-so-patiently for it to arrive. What perfume did you buy?
Bond no 9 Chinatown, my HG! I'm so glad I bought it. Wearing anything else feels like a lie.
Is the Sutra Ylang working for you?
I'm liking it, thanks for asking! I can't say it's changed my life, but it's a wonderful everyday sort of fragrance. By the way, I bought a purse spray of Chinatown, too.
Great! That's a good one.
Yay! Chinatown is like a contagious smile.
What a wonderful description!