TGIF! Our community project for today is Perfumer Spotlight...name a perfumer you don't think gets as much attention as s/he should, and wear one of their perfumes.
As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.
I get no points, or possibly negative points. It is the last day of my vacation, and I admit I am not wearing perfume again today, and I meant to get up early and think of the fragrance I would be wearing if I was at home and had access to my perfume cabinet, but instead, I slept very late. My apologies; I will do better next week.
For those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2015, where I'll try to always have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is New road, looking towards bay, Provincetown, Mass. via Boston Public Library at flickr; some rights reserved.
No need to apologize, Robin. You are on vacation!
I’m wearing two perfumes from the all-natural perfumery, Phoenix Botanicals: Meadow and Fir (notes include: violet, linden, wild flowers, fir, amber, resins, and myrrh) and Triple Vanilla and Cacao.
Meadow and Fir smells like sun-warmed forests that I have visited in the Sierra. It is quite beautiful and is an excellent bedtime scent. Fir and chocolate smell great together, and the combination of Meadow and Fir and Triple Vanilla and Cacao is divine.
The perfumer calls Meadow and Fir a “luxurious treat for the nature lover.” I concur.
I am *very* on vacation this year. Plus, we stayed up late last night to see the last Jon Stewart.
I am going to miss him SO MUCH!
Yes, we are too.
Us too…
Have you tried Olympic Orchids Seattle Chocolate? I haven’t but wondering if it’s similar (the chocolatey forest thing). I’ve been meaning to order a sample of that.
Seattle Chocolate is fabulous
Seattle Chocolate is what showed me how great fir and chocolate smell together
I LOVE the first half of Seattle Chocolate, but on my skin, it starts to smell like perfume and that note dominates for hours. I really encourage you to try it for yourself. You might want to try Blackbird (forest with blackberries; not too sweet, as I recall) by Olympic Orchids, as well. I’ve only tried my Blackbird sample once, but I remember liking it.
I considered Blackbird but sounded similar to SSS Forest Walk which I had already. I have to revisit her site someday.
Blackbird is fruitier than Forest Walk. Both are fabulous.
this Meadow and Fir sounds great!
It is
I have the perfume oil, and I learned a great tip from someone on NST that prevents the perfume from being contaminated by one’s fingers: dip the tip of a cocktail straw into the bottle.
You smell great! I love Meadow and Fir, and I think highly of Irina Adam’s line.
I have (and love) Night Bloom. I really need to try the rest of her line.
Wearing CdG Red Carnation.
You smell great!
Thanks kindcrow. I hate the heat and humidity right now but it smells so good when it likes to be sticky! Lol.
And may I add that you smell fabulous. Love the fir note!
I went for Bolshevixen by Smell Bent, which is intensely hazelnutty and then sandalwood. I definitely think Brent from Smell Bent could stand more attention. His perfumes are very simple/legible but made with high-quality ingredients and often remind me of more expensive niche perfumes.
Nutty woods. Love it ????!
If you love hazelnut you HAVE to try it!
Ditto on Smell Bent!
Ditto ditto on Smell Bent! I can’t find Bolshevixen on the Smell Bent website. Is it an older smellie?
It was in one of the holiday sets — so probably limited edition. Sorry!!
Geez… got all excited about this one!
I think I read somewhere that it had been reissued (as another holiday LE) under a different name–Something Vixen or Vixen something. I thought the original name was clever, but apparently some people found it offensive.
Oh, that sounds nice!
Any other recs for favorite Smell Bents?
I’m wearing one of my last few drops of vintage Estée Lauder Knowing extrait today in memory of Elie Roger, who created two of the (in my opinion) staggering achievements of modern perfumery, Clinique Wrappings, exploding fireworks in a bottle, and Knowing, an incomparably great chypre that pretty much marked the end of an era.
What moving post!
Hurrah! And god I wish I had some vintage Knowing extrait…
Great pick!
Totally agree with you on those perfumes’ excellence and status in the Perfumenon. I didn’t know they were related, but it partially explains why I love them both so much.
I have never smelled Wrappings, but now I will make a point of it! There are lots of great new things to try in these comments – what an excellent topic.
Now I wish I had worn Knowing! I agree about it being the end of an era, the last of the great classical chypres which could be bought at the department store counter. Now you have to turn to niche and pay a fortune for that sort of thing.
Paco Rabanne’s La Nuit came out a few years before Knowing but to me pushes the boundaries too far. Wonderful, but in practical terms, unwearable.
I had a small bottle of Knowing from the early 90s, and I wish I still did. I remember how enthralled I was at the time – it knocked Coco off of my signature winter scent throne.
Vintage Knowing is a beautiful and I have had good luck finding older bottles on eBay.
No apologies necessary! You’re on vacation, you should sleep in. That should be a rule, or something
My pick for today is John Pegg of Kerosene. I can’t say I love everything I’ve tried, but they’ve all been well done and interesting. And I love the names and overall aesthetic of the line. I’m wearing Copper Skies today. It starts off rough, I mean really rough, kind of oily and sour. I almost scrubbed it off in a panic. But after only a few minutes it settles into a smoky, spicy amber. It would be the perfect thing for hiking in the woods on a crisp fall day. Love it!
Thank you!
I would agree with that — I really like a few of the Kerosene scents, and wish they did smaller sizes.
Love the brand.Pretty Machine and Dirty Flower Factory are both awesome from Kerosene
Just met John at indigo perfumery and he is as wonderful as his Perfumes!
Black vines is pretty amazing even if you are not a licorice fan!
I love Kerosene. I’ve got a few full bottles and more on my wish list.
Wearing Lorenzo Villoresi Ylang Ylang which is definitely on my full bottle wishlist. It will either be this or Shanghai Lily for my birthday next month
I really like LV Dilmun and Donna. I’d like to smell the entire line.
Usually Teint de Neige is the only one people have heard of
I’ve only tried Dilmun, but I love it. LV Ylang Ylang is going on my sample list.
Robin- Have you thought about what you are going to wear when you return?
No! I admit that when I’ve thought about home, I’ve been thinking about the zillion things I have to do (or get my son to do) in the one week before his band camp starts, since school starts right after that. Late August is always about back-to-school stuff. In September, I will start to think “properly” about perfume again
LOVE today’s postcard! Makes me want to be there.
I couldn’t think of a perfumer who doesn’t get as much positive attention as deserved, either because I’m still too much of a newbie to have that kind of frame of reference, or because the ones I’m familiar with receive just exactly as much love as they probably deserve.
So I went with a fragrance that I don’t see mentioned often, if at all – Dior’s Cuir Cannage. It may have been an overly bold choice for a slightly muggy day, but I love it. It starts out a tiny bit peaty, like Cuir de Lancome, but then settles into a beautifully spicy leather that’s just a bit edgier than Cuir Mauresque. Mmmm.
We have not been up to Provincetown this year, but the beaches in Chatham are if anything more scenic, even if there don’t seem to be as many vintage postcards.
I had the same thought–how can I choose a perfumer who doesn’t get much attention, when I’ve only heard of the ones who’ve been written up in blogs?
Im afraid i didn’t have a perfume [that i know of!] by an underrated perfumeur in my collection, so i’m wearing what i consider to be an under rated perfume, Gucci Rush, one of my favourites, its fun, cheerful and bright, it strikes me as botega veneta’s less sophisticated sibling!
I can see the connection there!
Awesome choice, mayfly! I love Gucci Rush! My mom wore it when I was a teenager, and she gave me her almost-empty bottle. I didn’t really know anything about perfume at the time, but I thought it smelled milky in a fantastic way. Also, the bottle is amazing. I love Bottega Veneta now, too, so I suppose that makes sense.
So glad you mentioned this! Per Fragrantica, the nose of both Rush and BV is Michael Almairac. He also did the new Balmain Ivoire, Burberry Body, a bunch of Bond no. 9, including West Side (my favorite Bond scent), many of the new Chloé scents, Chopard Casmir, Joop! Homme, and more.
About a month ago i looked up west side in fragrantica, then clicked on the perfumer link, and was dazzled by just how many perfumes i knew or recognized in his oeuvre.
Today i plan on wearing West Side from the sample i have at work. Thanks, Michael A!
I didn’t know that about Almairac and all those fragrances. I’ve never actually smelled Gucci Rush, but I really like BV & Casmir.
Nice pick. Gucci ought to do some high end flankers of Rush.
I’m wearing Parfums de Nicolaï Eclipse. Patricia de Nicolaï is of course well known and loved here, but this is one brand I really would like to be better known to the wider public. The scents are lovely and mostly very approachable, the prices reasonable and the quality excellent. World would be a much better place if Nicolaï was mainstream and some of today’s mainstream was very, very niche (not sure Patricia has any ambition to be ubiquitous, but a girl can dream).
It’s also sort of an apology for missing the Parfums de Nicolaï shops on two of my recent trips.
I doubted between Patricia de Nicolai en Isabelle Doyen, and I chose the latter. Ofcourse she is also well known and loved among the perfumista’s, but I read somewhere in an interview with her that she is racing around Paris in an old and dented small car, and was still packing the bottles (with Camille) in boxes for shipment (she was not complaining btw)…I would wish for a bit more freedom for such a great perfumer. Probably the new AG owners made an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Also LT called Isabelle’s output masterful but boneless florals…I think she deserves much more than that!
So I am wearing Heure Exquise.
And I fully agree with what you write about PdN, and to a certain extent the same applies to AG IMHO.
I had not thought of Isabelle Doyen, Hammelis, but I totally agree. The range of her AGs is impressive – from Eau du Sud to Songes to Mon Parfum Cheri par Camille – and don’t forget the extraordinary Turtle Vetiver series.
Heure Exquise is simply as exquisite as its name. One of my early and fav HGs. Goutal is one of my favorite houses.
I think Patricia will forgive you. It’s a pity that Eclipse is no longer made, it’s such a beautiful green floral.
Sortilege by Le Galion, the reissue. Perfumer is Marie Duchene. Im not keen on the mustiness of most vintage perfumes, and I adore this re-interpretation. It has a vintage feel, without the ‘old perfume’ mustiness. Not sure if she did any of the others (too much homework!
), but I think they are all really nice, and well done.
I don’t like that mustiness, either. Better for our wallets
I love vintage perfume, but there are some brands that don’t smell good to me, and Le Galion is one of them. Don’t know if it’s the style or particular ingredients that spoiled.
I can use up any unwanted vintage Le Galion! I love my micro-mini of Sortilege.
Sure, you are alederberg at what?
Gmail. Wow! That’s so nice of you! I was going for jokey cutesy; I hope I didn’t land on entitled. I’ll look for your message, nozknoz, and maybe we’ll work out a swap or something. Thank you!!
I recall liking vintage Snob when I tested it, but that was so many years ago now I don’t remember it. I think I used up my sample.
All week, I couldn’t make up my mind. I was either going to wear Smell Bent Disco Nap or Parfums di Nicolai Jardin Secrete from a nice little sample I have. I think both Smell Bent and Nicolai deserve more attention, although Nicolai has the “pedigree” for sure. What happened was this: I had a nice lunch yesterday with a much older lady who is leaving my library board after many, many years of devoted service. She presents me with a bag full of unopened perfumes that her MIL gave her over the years!!! Gasp!! Some real goodies. They remained unworn b/c of allergies, etc. Long story short, there was a gorgeous padded black box of a fragrance I’d never heard of. Henry Dunay Sabi. So, I had to look this up and discovered a litany of gorgeous notes by nose, Richard Loniewski, who is the brother of this jewelry designer, Dunay. Anyway….. this edp is just gorgeous! It’s classic old school greens, chypre stuff. What luck! It kind of makes me think that Chamade and VC & A First had a little gorgeous green, flowery baby. So I’m suggesting that perhaps more of us should know about Sabi, and apparently the talents of Richard Loniewski. Cheers!!
What a great luck AnnS! Very lovely story and how thoughtful. (MIL=most important love, life companion, loved one? still learning
Mother in law. Not most people’s most important love! Lol
Ha! Also not here…
Double ha on that one, but my own MIL wears Shalimar. This woman’s MIL had lots of money to spend on very expensive accessories and shoes, apparently, b/c she also gave lots of spendy handbags to my board officer.
How sweet.
OH DEAR GOD SABI. Someone gave you Sabi. That they didn’t wear. That’s a very beautiful green floral (my favorite genre, of course).
This board volunteer has really severe allergies and it seems like MIL was indifferent to this problem. The Sabi is really special – such a surprise!
Poor lady. Allergies are rough… it just made me sad that it sat around lonely because its owner was unable to wear it.
But so glad you have it now!
Sabi is great. My mother wore it a few years back after sniffing a Neiman Marcus catalog scent strip and falling in love. Very elegant.
What a thoughtful gift!
I should clarify, thoughtful for you. It was a little passive aggressive from the MIL to her DIL…
I don’t know that it was passive aggressive, b/c she was also good at gifting rather expensive hand bags, jewelry and shoes. Seems like she was just in a kind of gift mode and stuck to it.
Ah, gotcha. More of an oversight than a perpetual power struggle (not that I have that with my MIL. No, not at all…).
I will definitely enjoy this!!!
I’m glad you got lucky!
Ann, what a great story, and what a kind board member! Please continue with the reports on all the fab goodies!
I will – I’m kind of attempting to challenge my anxiety over LOTV. Tomorrow I want to test this bottle of Woods of Windsor Iily of the Valley that was in the mix.
Oooh! That is an LOTV I haven’t had the chance to smell yet. Do let us know what you think of it!
Neat story! Enjoy!!
Thank you! I will – I have a feeling some of the bottles will end up in a swap meet though.
After wearing it yesterday, I simply needed more Safran Troublant, so I’m wearing that again. No points for me today, but then again, I hadn’t come up with anything for the theme anyway. Looking forward to other people’s choices. Happy Friday all!
You smell lovely!
Thanks for yesterday’s warm welcome- this really is a lovely corner of the internet! Today I’m in Providence Perfume Company Summer Yuzu. The perfumer is Charna Ethier. Unappreciated, I think, because the brand is fairly new, and because not everyone is interested in exploring natural perfumes.
Summer Yuzu is all citrus and tomato leaf on me, bracing and somehow festive. I went to the Providence Perfume Co. shop and sampled liberally, and came away with this scent because I’d been looking for a citrus with some character, and because I’m a sucker for a tomato leaf note.
Sounds lovely. I love tomato leaf too
I adore tomato leaf too…now I miss my CB I Hate Perfume Memory of Kindness (which is also a great perfume name).
That’s a good one! I also like Corsica Furiosa, the opening of which smells to me like someone has pushed a lawnmower through a kitchen garden: very green, with tomato leaf and mint and other herbs.
Yep, love that one too!
I am wearing Acqua Colonia Mandarin & Cardamom. I love the scent and wanted a great citrus cologne after yesterday’s scent fiasco. I have know idea of who the perfumer is. I really don’t know anything about individual perfumers, other than what I have learned on the Friday community projects.
I want to try that one. Are you in the United States like me? If so, where did you purchase it?
I am pretty sure that I got it either at Fragrancenet.com (where with the coupon it is less than $16.00 for 1.7 oz), or off of Ebay.
Thanks!
I forgot about the theme for today, but I can still kind of participate. My SOTD is Jasmine White Moss by Estee Lauder. This particular fragrance was actually a discontinued scent from Lauder’s “Private Collection”. Estee’s granddaughter Aerin Lauder actually put this particular fragrance together. She has since started her own line in the Lauder franchise and I think she is a force to be reckoned with. People have mixed reviews on her line, but I think she is so underrated, Her fragrances are more young, fresh, and hip but still with that Lauder twist to it.
I was given a sample of Amber Musk when I bought a bottle of Estée Lauder Tuberose Gardenia. I huffed it guiltily for 6 months before I capitulated and bought the small bottle. I felt like somehow I was betraying the original line of house Lauder which is well represented and loved at my house. Almost like I was not allowed to like both.
I am wearing Le Labo Poivre 23, a Natalie Lorson scent. I really like this one, plus love Lalique Encre Noir and Givenchy Oblique Rewind. I am looking forward to trying her Cuir 28 for Le Labo when my sample arrives.
I don’t know how much attention this perfumer has received, but this week I have been wearing FM Lys Mediterranee, an anniversary gift from my husband. Yes it was very sweet of him, but basically I wrote it down on a piece of paper and said, here buy me this please. The perfumer is Edouard Fléchier who also created Poison, Poison Tendre, Davidoff and Une Rose. LM is a gorgeous fresh lily with top notes of bergamot and sea salt. Usually any perfume that is aquatic or ozonic repulses me. I live by the ocean and the marine accord in LM is even better than reality.
Lys Med is so nice – and just vaguely salty.
(That’s how I get my perfume gifts too: “Honey, I bought my birthday/Christmas/anniversary/Mother’s Day present for you to give me.”)
Same here! No one is disappointed
Is also how i got my engagement ring/wedding band set….lol
A boss once said to me, “if you don’t ask, you don’t get”
Gorgeous. The only one I’ve tried other than LM is Poison, which was downright poisonous on me, but LM is beautiful (thanks, Cobra Rose!), and I don’t like aquatics either.
I decided to use today’s theme to focus on a couple of more under-the-radar fragrances that I picked up while traveling and really enjoyed. Truth be told, I don’t really know if these are actually under-the-radar, but they were entirely unknown to me at the time.
This morning I’m wearing Frau Tonis Linde Berlin, which I bought at their shop near Checkpoint Charlie. The only name behind Frau Tonis that I could find was Stefanie Hannsen, who is the founder. I really liked all of the Frau Tonis fragrances.
In the evening I will switch to Andrea Maack Sharp, which I bought in Reykjavik earlier this year. My friend bought Coal, and we were both so excited by all of Andrea Maack’s fragrances.
After reading some of the above comments, I definitely want to check out Parfums de Nicolai, especially since they seem reasonably priced and have smaller sizes!
I heard about the Frau Tonis linden fragrance on NST. Linden is one of me favorite notes and I’ve been looking for a linden soliflore to use when my Pre de Provence Linden Flower EDT runs out. Several Frau Tonis fragrances interest me, and I think that shipping to the U.S. might be free in some cases.
One of *my* favorite …
Thought maybe it was talk-like-a-pirate day and nobody told me – I was all prepared to be miffed.
That brand sounds interesting, and what a great souvenir of Berlin!
Thanks for sharing info on Michael Almeirac, Nebbe, really interesting! i love several of those perfumes. I haven’t had a chance to sample any Bond no. 9 perfumes yet, i will definitely try too, next time i’m in London!
My pleasure! Is fun to share this hobby with others. Do report back after you try the Bonds. I am curious to see what you think
Madonna Truth or Dare for today’s challenge!Perfumer Stephen Nilsen.He also did Truth or Dare Naked as well as Vera Wang Lovestruck.My other choice would have been anything from my Byredo stash,as I ADORE everything Jerome Epinette has ever done,including his work for Atelier.And it doesn’t hurt that Jerome is really really pretty as well…lol.
Lol! Being easy on the eyes never hurts!
SOTD is Golden Cattleya by Olympic Orchids. Out of the handful of samples I tried this is the only one I really liked a lot. Her fragrances are definitely unique. But I love the whole PHD- scientist- turned -orchid grower/perfumer and am hoping Ellen Covey’s fragrances are finding some love.
I love this line and especially the Dev scents!
I’m wearing HdP’s 1740 by perfumer Sylvie Jourdet, who I think did most of the early HdP’s. It’s a wonderful Immortelle laced leather that has a beautiful ambery drydown. Still my favourite of this line, although I have to admit I kind of gave up trying their creations after the tuberose trilogy.
My other option was to wear the original Divine, but I couldn’t find out who the perfumer was. I’m guessing Richard Ibañez since he has worked with them on more of their scents. It can’t have been Yann Vasnier as it came out in 1986.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
I saw she created Moulin Rouge too!
Looking forward to 1740
In recent years, my shopping philosophy has been to purchase products made in the U.S.A. as much as possible, especially from non-franchise, locally owned businesses. And so I’ve enjoyed supporting Sonoma Scent Studios and the new Dame Perfumery Scottsdale, both of which have been written about fairly frequently. A third indie (niche?) perfumery I like to support is Annie Oakley Perfumery in the tiny town of Ligonier, Indiana, near the Shipshewana Amish country and not too far from South Bend. Although Renee Gabet, its owner and perfumer, started the company back in 1980 as a way to earn extra income as a single parent, it’s rare that anyone’s heard of her and very little is online. She remarried, the company has grown and is now a family enterprise. I stumbled upon her perfumery while traveling through the area and enjoyed a tour through the immaculately clean laboratory-like business. The fragrances are hand-blended and use many essential oils. She has several fragrance lines for women and men, offers an array of essential oils and ‘eclectic remedies’ as well as body products and even a calming/soothing scented product line for your horse!
My favorite is Morning Dew with its lovely lilac note. Today I’m wearing Sunset – jasmine/sandalwood/patchouli/white musk – its soft jasmine smells like my potted jasmine outside on our deck, still blooming its scented heart out and enjoying summer.
If you’re ever in the area, do seek it out and enjoy the tour!
Sounds wonderful! What notes are soothing for horses?
There are various products for both horses and their riders that use lavender essential oil to calm as well as aid training.
That’s fascinating. I’d love to hear more about that.
Here ya go: http://www.annieoakley.com/journeys-equestrian-supplies.aspx
Lavender scent components have been shown to slow down the rate of auditory nerve conduction. It’s calming because you receive auditory stimulation at a reduced rate. Good to calm you down. Impairs performance on cognitive performance tests, tho, so you probably shouldn’t wear lavender perfumes in situations where you have to be at peak cognitive form.
Thanks for the tips on these US perfumers. Of course I have a bunch of SSS…. But am not familiar with the others. When I was reading your comments it also made me think of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. I really enjoy quite a few of her fragrances and wish I could summon a trip to Boulder to smell them all!
Oh wouldn’t that be fun! I’ll go with you Ann. I like Boulder a lot.
And I was actually in Healdsburg a few years ago, just before I learned about SSS! It’s a beautiful place.
I totally failed here – I forgot the assignment, and put on Mitsouko, by Jacques Guerlain, not forgotten, not neglected, not under-appreciated.
Just love this stuff! I see mention of other chypres here – I might have to collect up some samples – I don’t have many other primarily green perfumes…
I did the same thing, and put on Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt. I have my days mixed up.
I look forward to the first crisp days of fall when I generally enjoy Mitsouko the most.
I’m wearing Dzing today, so I’ve mainly failed at the project, except that Giacobetti’s IUNX line has no US distribution–insofar as that constitutes under-recognition, I would like to see it corrected!
Scent twin!
I’m celebrating the great Francis Fabron with the tiniest spritz of L’Air du Temps (the summer in Lithuania has so far delighted us with either 16 or 32 degrees Celsius, and this week falls into the latter category).
Hee! Such a delightful summer…
Wearing a fav from my top ten list (which, like the Tardis, contains more than it should): Diptyque L’Ombre dans l’Eau. I love the origin story of Diptyque, founded by three creative friends: Christiane Gautrot, an interior designer; Desmond Knox-Leet, a painter, and Yves Coueslant, a theater director and set designer. Another friend, Dido Merwin, made floral potpourris for their shop. One day, as the story goes, she picked blackcurrants for jam and roses for bouquets. Raising her hands to her face, she was “overwhelmed by the wondrous smell” of black currant leaves and roses on her hands, and Desmond Knox-Leet was inspired to capture the moment in L’Ombre dans l’Eau.
The perfumer was Serge Kalouguine, who composed several of the wonderful early Diptyques. At first, I could not find out much about him, other than that he worked as a Nose at Fragonard for more than 30 years and trained Laura Tonatto, but I finally found these two articles from 1988 and 1998, respectively:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1988/09/25/a-nose-by-any-other-name-the-flavors-and-fragrances-of-southern-france/ab32b0ce-90a1-4006-abae-df10d5ee6b74/
http://airwolf.lmtonline.com/news/archive/082398/pagea13.pdf
I’m struck by the originality of his compositions, from L’Autre in 1973 through L’Ombre in 1983 to Virgilio in 1990. I wonder if, given the opportunity, he might have have continued to innovate, like Bertrand Duchaufour. Or was it the creative, artistic Diptyque founders who shaped the uniqueness of these perfumes?
That would be one of my favourites too…thanks for the interesting information. ‘Shadow in the water’ almost sounds like a good title for a Dr Who episode, too!
Good point!
I call our blue Subaru Forester the CARDIS sometimes. Sometimes it seems to be dimensionally transcendental
That’s perfect – there’s a parody to be filmed of this. You don’t happen to have a very long neck scarf, do you?
I crochet and knit, so the scarf could be arranged
**
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Great story, and all the more reason to get to know the early Dyptique’s (if they are still available).
My fragrance collection is bigger on the inside, lol!!!
Ha!
Jean Kerleo. Back in the late 90s when I was based in Germany I had the Yohji Yamamoto perfume which I wore all summer . I haven’t worn it since but I found it a really ‘interesting’perfume…in a good way…and more approachable than my other perfume which was Helmut Lang. Reminds me to check out Jean Kerleo….who is that masked perfumer?
Wearing Union’s Holy Thistle. According to Fragrantica, Anastasia Brozler is the nose behind this one. I’ve never heard of her, and don’t recall her name coming up on NST. But I like this scent a lot.
Another brand I haven’t tried yet, and should.
Her name sounded slightly familiar to me and I think it’s because of her 2009 book, The Scent Trail: How One Woman’s Quest for the Perfect Perfume Took Her Around the World (which I haven’t read yet, either).
Ooooh, that sounds like my kind of book. I’ll have to check it out.
That sounds really interesting…
Sample of the day is Parfums DelRae Debut. Michel Roudnitska is well loved and rightfully so. I was practically drooling (tmi?) over AnnS’ Sabi, so I ran to my sample stash and grabbed the first green floral scent I could think of, and Debut is it.
I am positively thrilled each time I wear Debut, Wit, or Amoureuse. These DelRae fragrances remind me of The Guide’s description of a Chanel (No. 5?) as “an ideally proportioned wonder, all of a piece, smooth to the touch and solid as marble, with no sharp edges and no extraneous fur trimming, a monument of perfect structure and texture.”
Well then. My shout out today is for DelRae Roth and her appreciation of the French art of perfumery. Without her there would be no Debut.
Merci beaucoup, DelRae.
Well said!
I love Amoureuse as well! And I wish I had some of Wit. I’d already have a bottle of Coup de Foudre if fragrance funds weren’t an issue. DelRae certainly does a good job – no apologies for their big fragrances. I am definitely feeling my luck with the Sabi, but it smells so much like a lot of other luxurious green chypres – it makes me also think of my vintage Hermes Amazone. Such a beautiful and almost lost genre.
Speaking of luxurious green chypres, have you ever tried vintage Scherrer? (have to read up on Sabi)
I am longing to try the parfum Delrae brand, especially Wit, thats the Daphne scent isn’t it?. There are so many wonderful American perfume brands that arn’t available in UK, and either don’t ship here, or its prohibitively expensive.. [sigh], i am also envious reading descriptions of SSS and Dawn spencer Hurwitz fragrances too, they all sound wonderful!
I adore DelRae but the line is no longer obtainable in Europe, which is such a shame.
I get no points. I’ve been traveling for work all week and took along two perfumes, Eau Claire des Merveilles and Cuir d’Ange, which both worked as plane- and conference-friendly scents. I’m back today and wanted something less restrained and polite, so I’m wearing Dzing, generously applied.
SOTD is Mugler Fougere Furieuse again. The perfumers listed are Olivier Polge and Jean-Christophe Herault. I have never heard of J-C H but in addition to the Mugler Exceptions, he is credited with Florabotanica and CdG Amazingreen, both of which O like. There is also one for Luciano Soprani called “Sulky,” which I want to smell because the name makes me giggle!
Not O like; I like!!
I’m not sure if this is cheating, but today I plan to wear A Quiet Morning by Miller & Bertaux – by a perfumer I *wish* I could appreciate, but can’t because I don’t know their name. This is one of my top 5 though, so if anybody does know please share. Or do monsieurs M&B compose the fragrances themselves?
Created by Francis Miller and Patrick Bertaux….nice perfume, eh.
I’m wearing Samarinda by Providence Perfume Co. today. The perfumer is Charna Ethier, who is, in my estimation, a genius. I blind-bought 3 – 7.5 ml fragrances from Beauty Habit, and I like all three of them (Hindu Honeysuckle and Divine are the other two). I definitely want to try more.
I love her Ginger Lily and Moss Gown and think she is a terrific nose as well!
My plans for participating in today’s project were foiled by an emergency trip to the vet with one of my cats. He seems okayish now, and we’re back home waiting for some test results to know what the problem may be.
I’m wearing Silences now, which is my go-to for every occasion. A quick search on Fragrantica reveals that the perfumers were Gerard Goupy, whose last creation was Lancôme’s Magie Noire, and Jean-Claude Niel, whose only perfume creation was Silences.
Healing wishes to kitty! I’ve worn Silences a few times this week. Wonder what happened to that perfumer after his one creation. It’s a great one at that. I’ve been meaning to try Magie Noir. Have you tried it?
Thanks for the healing wishes,, Elisa P!
Well, I did a dumb thing. I know I bought samples of both Magie and Magie Noire. I also know I tested one, hated it, and passed it on. What I don’t know is … which one. Whoops. Oh well, now I know to make notes on what I sample so I don’t repurchase. Cuz that one dumb thing has happened several times now.
Best wishes for your cat!
I hope everything is okay with the kitty.
Silences and Magie Noire (the original version, not the current reformulation) are both in my top 5, and I was wearing Silences in honor of M Goupy even before I saw your post. Nice to know that you are, too.
By a horrible coincidence we had an emergency trip to the vet with our kittie too yesterday. Fingers crossed for both our furry ones.
A little sample of Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle, which is by Bruno Jovanovic, which I have nothing else by.
Perhaps I have never worn in it in the right weather, but it is the perfect wood pudding today.
shut up, “which”?
That was a consideration for me today, too but didn’t feel right for the heat here. Wore it a lot this past winter. Garnered many compliments-more than I’ve ever gotten on a perfume (which is almost never).
He also did Thirdman Eau Nomade, which was my pick for a 3-star (or lower) perfume. If he can make things I not only dislike, but usually have to scrub (aquatic musk, iso E super) into a scent I like, he’s clearly very talented.
Rochas Moustache, apparently ‘signed’ by Therese Roudnitska, and apparently her only signed composition among personal fragrances. It’s unclear to me exactly who did what, on this scent and on those credited to her husband, Edmond. Below is as far as I’ve gotten in my research. All of these sources are from a website last updated in 2009 that appears to have been maintained by their son, Michel, in the name of an organization that he says they co-founded and TR seems to have run: http://www.art-et-parfum.com/index.htm.
1. in English, labeled links about Edmond:
http://www.art-et-parfum.com/roudnitska.htm
2. including this La Vie d’Edmond, in French, written by TR in 1997:
http://www.art-et-parfum.com/textes/viedmond.htm
These two are about Therese, both in French.
3. Presumably this one was put together by Michel for his website:
http://www.art-et-parfum.com/therese.htm
4. and this obituary published by JC Ellena:
http://www.art-et-parfum.com/images/hommagetherese.jpg
I remember Turin says something about TR being a skilled perfumer in her own right, and I am curious to know more about her and her work as a perfumer.
Now that I have these questions, I find it particularly irks me to realize that in years when everyone can be expected to know better, Malle has spotlighted husband and son as authors, and TR only as muse / model. I’m not saying that this is a reasoned judgment, but that it grates.
This may sound incongruous, but now I wish I’d kept my decant of Le Parfum de Therese….
I’m supposing Malle did that because Thérèse was not the author of this perfume but the inspiration.
My comment is awaiting moderation, probably because I posted a bunch of links to the same website. I’m hoping Robin is not spending her vacation time moderating, so I’ll just double-post that I’m wearing Rochas Moustache and thinking about the perfumer Therese Roudnitska.
ahh!! I have wished to try Moustache. Do tell more about it.
I’ll post more about it later from a proper keyboard. Meanwhile I’ve got enough to share a sample if you’d like. Drop me a jeemayl. I’m alederberg.
I failed to give any thought to this project but in looking up who created Prada L’Eau Ambree, which is what I’m wearing today, I see she – Daniela (Roche) Andrier – created a whole bunch of excellent scents such as another current favorite, Knot, and Infusion d’Iris which many seem to love.
I have to admit I don’t pay as much attention to the perfumers as I should. It’s interesting to see all of their work and how that one scent fits in, somehow.. three cheers for the perfumers that bring us all so much pleasure!
Total fail today: I wanted Cuir de Lancome and nothing else would do, even though I don’t think Calice Becker is thought of as a perfumer who gets less attention than deserved.
Every time I wear it, I find myself thinking, “Why don’t I wear this more often? It’s basically perfect.”
Cuir de Lancome is perfect. I got so lucky to have some, and I think if I had to pick a fragrance to be a signature, CdL would be it. I treasure my bottle!!
I utterly failed this challenge! Grade = D-. I’ve loved all your comments, though, and have learnt a lot.
I’m now settling down to work through the weekend wearing a very unseasonal but enlivening Cristalle.
Cristalle is never wrong!!
Wearing Le Labo’s lovely Baie Rose 26. It reminds me of roses and champagne. It’s noticeable yet soft, modern yet has a vintage feel and boy does it last.
Wow – that sounds gorgeous! I’ve only smelled two from the Le Labo line. Now you have made me very curious!
I have spent some time with a number of samples from Mona di Orio’s Nombres D’or line. The Oud from this line is covetable and had I the means I would get a full bottle. A beautiful, savory, wearable oud. The Musc is quite gentle and comforting and the Ambre, complimented by my scent phobic boss. These are beautifully constructed, office friendly, haunting perfumes. I am reluctant to launder the shirt I wore the day I sampled the Oud. The scent left therein is superb. Spendy, but under appreciated.
I thought this theme would be a stumper for me, but then I remembered that Luca Turin in the Guide had said something about the perfumer of Etro Shaal Nur being underrated. I looked him up (on NST’s very helpful Perfumers list) and I had actually tried two of his other perfumes: Etro Messe de Minuit and Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs. So my pick is Jacques Flori, and I’m wearing the beautiful OeF, with its gorgeous orange blossom and nutmeg (and jasmine, etc). I don’t think the ‘fumes are under-appreciated, but you don’t hear his name bandied about much.