"Customized fragrance is wildly appealing to people because it presents an opportunity to collaborate creatively with a perfumer," Balahoutis said. But here, the custom experience costs $6,000, which is arguably more than most people will spend on perfume in their lifetime.
— Alexandra Balahoutis of Strange Invisible Perfumes on the line's bespoke service, quoted in L.A. custom perfumers: Memoire Liquide, Strange Invisible, Smell Bent at the LA Times, where you'll also find several related stories: Golden age of perfume in the air?, The right perfume for your age, When perfume becomes a nuisance (or a health issue), Men's cologne lines get manlier and Rating celebrity perfumes: In Bloom, Siren, Queen and Malibu.
I don’t know. I’m really intrigued by Memoire Liquide and would love to spend an afternoon creating a few things. We’ve also tossed around the idea of going to New Orleans, and I told the CEO if we go, I have to swing by Bourbon French to do the same there.
I can’t see myself paying $6000, but for a couple hundred dollars that I might spend on something else, it seems like a fun and personal experience I could treasure for years. 🙂
It’s a lot cheaper than some other bespoke options (Kurkdjian, Cartier, etc)! But I wouldn’t do it either.
I am sure that I will cross that $6k threshold in about 1.5 years!
Yes, I don’t think most of these writers know anyone who collects. Also, that LA Times article about allergies and perfume was a total cop out. Mere filler. I’m dismayed how many other publications are quoting from it.
At least the Golden Age of Perfume article gets it right.
Hmmm. Not going to think of when/if I will, I’d rather not know!
Yeah, Ann, when I saw $6,000 I thought, “Think of how many bottles that could buy!” But if you do the math… Only 85 bottles of a $70 bottle. If we get more realistic and look at spending an average of $135 a bottle, it’s about 44 bottles. So… yep. We’re probably all already there. Or have long passed “there.”
aaaaaaaahh! ONLY 85 bottles??? That’s nothin’.
LOL 😉
I became serious about perfume late spring/early summer, and I have passed the $6,000 mark – but some of them were gifts! I also don’t find 85 bottles of perfume an outrageous number either. Perception is everything. I also think it is completely reasonable to spend $50 a hank for camel yarn that was handspun in Monolia with the name of the spinner and which herding community she lives in handwritten on the ball band. I just bought two of them yesterday.
Oh dear. Sorry you did the math. Was just reading something yesterday about how many lattes equaled the price of a new car…that was upsetting too, LOL…
Yes, but perfume is a necessity! A latte is not! 🙂 So it’s ok to spend $6,000 on perfume. In a year. Or less.
Now ask me about the panic attacks I get whenever my credit card bill comes!
I don’t know. I sure do like buying lattes!
Lattes and perfume are equally important for me 🙂
A friend of mine calculated her annual capuccino budget when she was in grad school. It made her twitch, but she concluded it was worth every penny because it kept her sane and that mini-pleasure made life worth living.
Yeah. I think that’s about my take on it.
I second that. I crossed that line years ago.
Well, I’m sure several of us will spend $6000 on perfume in our lifetimes… but not on ONE perfume!
PS: Ann, you’re behind schedule. Under target.
Collectively, we probably spent that much today. Ack.
Scary thought and probably true!
Could be worse. Could be wasting it on lattes.
LOL!
Perfume, even after it’s gone, can still be cherished by looking at the bottle adn smelling the residuals. Of course we all know the way lattes go.
Yes! I *am* behind schedule. I’ve only bought 1 bottle so far in 4th Q (and a pack of mini frags – does that count?) !! Which is a total shock. A handful of pre-selected fragrance gifts are expected soon. But those don’t count right?
I have a growing must have list. All my frag funds are tied up in holiday presents for others, so I am not very patiently waiting for this to change! Thank god for swaps right now hooking me up with the good juice. Yes, I wore the Noir Epices yesterday… 😉 I am right now totally lemming for the Kenzo Flower Essentielle … and some Natori…. and some Sacrebleue…. and and and…. Yes, that $6K mark is not far off for me!
Ann: Did you finally try the Essentielle? I really need to get my hands on a tester of that.
I was so happy to see Franco quoted in these articles. I love those folks at Lucky Scent!
Obviously, I devoured the Image section of the Times on Sunday. I was elated that they devoted most, but not all, of that section to fragrance. Next time they should get it right and do nothing but perfume articles. 🙂
Hugs!
Yes! And it’s a nice mix of articles.
So Luca Turin liked Tiare. I’m really looking forward to trying that one.
It’s really pretty, although so far I do not seem to love it. Very much worth trying though!
Me, too. The nice folks at Beauty Habit sent a sample with an order a while back, and I haven’t even tested it on my skin. I found it sort of “meh” in the vial. Guess I’ll give it a test drive.
I think that’s a different Tiare…LT liked the new one by Ormonde Jayne 🙂
GUH – yes you are right. BH doesn’t even carry OJ. It was from another batch of samples I got somewhere else. Sorry!
Damn you, Luca! I don’t have much money left.
You’ll just have to get your swap fix on. 😉
And am I the only one who wishes that they wouldn’t share the names of all of “our” perfumes?
LOL! Don’t be greedy, now 😉
Bespoke perfumery doesn’t really appeal to me, probably because I enjoy the process of sampling lots of fragrances. If I had one made for me, I’d feel compelled to be “faithful” to it, and even fragrances I don’t want to live without, I still don’t want to wear every day. But my perfumiscuity is expensive; even as an impoverished graduate student, I’m pretty sure I left that $6000 on perfume milestone in the dust some time ago.
Yes, it does seem way more appealing if you’re a one-scent person.
“Perfumiscuity”–love it!!
That is catchy.
Nice. Better than usual, since they actually called up a couple of people instead of just posting quotes from the first things that showed up on Google.
Robin — did you see that the New Yorker (Patricia Marx) did a little side bar on the new Frederic Malle boutique on Madison Ave? It was nice to see it there…
It was a nice little writeup. However, it made me want to slap people who, within the first few comments of the article said “oh…the decor is frumpy.” I know we can all be mean, but I think there’s a difference if you at least try to be constructive.
Yes, and in the middle of the Givaudan flavors article now — it’s fascinating.
I thought so, too. Especially the bits about what feels “natural” to people and the idea that when you get down to the molecular level it’s understandable that scientists would have a hard time making those distinctions. And of course, the whole article is really argument for the primacy of smell over taste–the woman he profiles is totally a nose first!
Yes, agree!
The whole article is also a decent argument for avoiding all processed foods, LOL…the secrecy in this field is easier for me to understand than the secrecy on the fragrance end.
I’m pretty sure I’ve already spent $3,000 so I am halfway there! And $6,000 sounds reasonable to me considering I read somewhere that a French perfume house was offering a bespoke service for 60,000 euro and that gets you the first bottle only … !
The Cartier & Guerlain programs are both very spendy. As is L’Artisan’s, and Francis Kurkdjian’s.
Oh if only we had money to burn. I’m getting frugal in my old age.
I wish I was.
If I indulged in spending $6000/bottle, and then fell in love, I’d be doomed to repeat the sale at least once a year. And then I’d have to worry about what happens when I fall OUT of love, as I invariably do., being quite the perfumicuous woman. 🙂
Ack…but I would think refills would be MUCH cheaper!
eek squeeck..time to consider the sultan of brunei again….
actually i think this would be a disaster for anyofus on nst….once we would have one…we would definately need a second and a third and…..forever..hey, i haven’t even started on the tauers yet!
Get started on the Tauers! Cheaper, anyway.