For this Inside the Perfume Cabinet article, we feature NST's Kevin. Who better to tell his story than Kevin himself?
I became interested in perfume through gardening. My grandmother got me hooked on plants when I was 8 years old; her favorites were all scented: wallflowers, geraniums (for the leaves’ scent), daffodils, sweet peas, Summersweet, magnolias of all types, Nicotiana alata, evening stock, mignonette, roses, lilies, sweet box, Carolina allspice, on and on. I was intoxicated by those aromas and thrilled when I realized many of the scents were available year-round — in soaps and perfumes.
I remember fragrances my parents owned when I was a child. My father wore Chanel Pour Monsieur, English Leather and bay rum colognes. My mother wore perfume sporadically; she had bottles of Chanel No. 5, Nina Ricci L’Air du Temps, Houbigant Quelque Fleurs, Guy Laroche Fidji (worn the most) and Lanvin Arpège (a friend gave her this every Christmas…and my mother hated it). We lived in a small town but the local drug store, of all places, served up great milkshakes AND a large selection of good perfumes. With milkshake or Cherry-Sprite in hand, I’d peruse the shiny chrome-and-glass perfume section, almost always deserted on weekdays.
Many perfume notes ignite desire in me: hay, mock orange, broom, daphne, daffodil, birch, camphor. Other notes I love are frankincense, immortelle, tobacco leaf, linden, iris, Peru balsam, sandalwood, nutmeg, cumin (within reasonable limits), saffron, and all things citrus (without exception!) -- lime, mandarin, grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, bitter orange. Fruit notes I like besides citrus include banana, pineapple, mango, guava; I'm a 'tropics' guy. I even like oudh when it’s “natural.” Perhaps I love vetiver and rosewood most of all? Sigh...you see why I'm a fragrance nut.
I don’t enjoy Calone/ozone (usually), heavy oak moss, “white” (laundry) musks, caramel, spun sugar, fudge-like/candy notes, carnation (love the flowers in nature, dislike the note in perfume; ditto with lilac, wisteria and hyacinth). Coffee is hit or miss. Iso E Super, Ambroxan and Cashmeran can be problematic for me when they’re the star in a perfume.
If I could choose only ONE perfume in the world, past or present, to appear in front of me, I would become paralyzed with indecision. So: I’m choosing several, and I want them all in original formulations — 1882 Houbigant Fougère Royale (a heavenly scent; the oldest version I’ve found so far was from the 1950s); Jean Patou Chaldée and Colony; “Kyphi” as the pharaohs experienced it; never smelled it, want to: the 1975 version of Halston parfum in the Elsa Peretti bottle. Halston's notes sound sensational: bergamot, marigold, galbanum, spearmint, peach, jasmine, rose, iris, ylang-ylang, cedar, moss, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, frankincense, musk, and amber...whew! Finally, and for the dog-topped bottle alone, D’Orsay Toujours fidèle (1909).
I store my perfume in three places: 1. upstairs in a pitch-black cabinet that is situated over an unused cement-and-stone coal storage space on the floor below; this cabinet stays cool all year; 2. downstairs in the basement (autumn/winter scents stay there in summer, spring/summer scents stay there in winter…to make seasonal fragrances easier to find, and use, upstairs); 3. on my bedside table, I keep lightly scented floral or citrus lotions, a candle or two, and colognes I can wear right before bed – fleeting fragrances.
Sampling mass quantities of fragrance over the years has taught me:
- Never to believe hype or lists of notes in a perfume;
- Never to judge a perfume by its price…or perfumer (perfumers create duds and I assume the final product is what the client wanted!);
- Not to fret about or mourn reformulated or discontinued perfumes (there are plenty of perfumes to enjoy);
- I can’t try all the perfumes that are released each year;
- About IFRA; it would never have been in my consciousness if it weren’t for the perfume blogosphere.
Note: First two images by Kevin — top: his perfume cabinet; middle: his bedside perfumes; bottom image: D'Orsay Toujours fidèle from an advertisement.
Kevin, I like your perfume collection and I think we have similar taste (tho I am a heavy rose perfume lover..not that I love all the rose perfumes out there, but many of them 😉
I saw you listed coffee as a note that is hit and miss..so it is for me..but it made me think of Comme des Garçons Woodcoffee..remember that one? It was one of my fave autumn/winter comfort scents. I do hope they consider releasing it again 🙂
Altså I agree to never believe the hype around a perfume. Too many times I have been disappointed, because I got so excited about the hype and when it was released, I’ll be all like…meh.
Remember Dolce Gabbana By? That one had a nice coffee note, too.
Kevin had some good advice!
Oh yes, that one was lovely as well ????
I wish that one and Issey Miyake’s Le Feu got released again as I miss them much.
I know Kevin advise not to dwell on getting rereleases, because there’s plenty of perfumes to enjoy, and he is right but I do miss a few perfumes I wish still was around ☺️
I guess there are a few old ones that are hard to forget, kind of like Cary Grant, I guess. Impossible to replace.
littlecooling/Angie: never smelled “By” or Woodcoffee either!
Oh, Kevin’s cabinet, what fun! This has ignited a great Chaldee lemming in me and I’m enjoying seeing your perfume shelves. My only wish is for more pictures – I could never get tired of staring at other people’s perfume stashes! I want to see the neat and the messy and the upstairs and the downstairs and zoom in and scan each label!
I’ve started keeping bedtime perfumes too – I like using quieter scents that don’t bowl me over; a favorite is Hermes Voyage.
I love looking at photos of people’s perfume stashes, too! In movies, I’m always scanning the background for perfume bottles.
So do I ????
Me too; my husband has gotten used to me yelling “pause on the dresser PAUSE ON THE DRESSER!”
PS: Decorating magazines are full of perfume-laden dressers and tub-side toiletries…I always have a magnifying glass handy for the paper magazines….
Although it’s almost always a Jo Malone or Chanel bottle. I fish out the magnifying glass for book shelves in magazines too…
Annie A, I know! Sometimes in a magazine bathroom remodel feature you see a Santa Maria Novella, but that’s about it. Jo Malone is way popular.
Regina: wearing Chaldee from the 80s today and smell SENSATIONAL…perfect for the scorching weather, too.
Now that my Eau de Rochas has worn off, I’ll put on some ’80s Chaldee, too, and we can be perfume siblings.
Kevin’s five points of advice are priceless. I am adhering to #1 and #4 by sticking to my current no buy and #3 by lavishly using all of my lovelies with reckless abandonment.
I enjoyed this sneak peak inside Kevin’s cabinet. Thank you, Angela, for this series….
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I love these articles so thanks to Angela and Kevin! I see Eau de Rochas; One of personal summer favorites!
One of mine, too! In fact, it would be perfect for today. Time to splash some on.
One thing I noticed several times now that many people in these articles do not store their perfumes in their boxes. Are they removing the boxes for photo shoot? That alone is a ton of work.
I’ve removed almost all of my perfume from boxes, mostly because I love to see the bottles so much. In fact, earlier today I was cleaning the basement and contemplating throwing the boxes out!
I would love to do that too! I keep my perfumes boxed and stored in a cabinet in an upstairs bedroom with the air conditioning running all summer long.
I know these boxes must take up a ton of space but what if you decide to sell some of them?
Petunia: you’re talking to Mr Lazy Bones, here. I’ve never sold a bottle and I only keep unopened bottles of perfume in their boxes…otherwise, everything is outside its box (and my perfumes never see the light of day, even my bedroom gets no sun thanks to heavy velvet curtains).
I doubt that you are lazy Kevin. Probably just discerning about what you buy!
Maybe I’ll be braver next winter and do the same. My house doesn’t have a basement so my perfume storage options are limited.
I pitch the boxes, no storage space for that and I need to see the bottles to enjoy them. They are all inside a dark walk-in closet.
After my remark that I never use the boxes, I just boxed up a small gift for a friend and it was a perfect fit for my Que Sais-Je box.
Wonderful collection, Kevin, and excellent advice! And yes, that Halston parfum was everything. I used to sneak spritzes from my mom’s bottle.
I have some newer Halston EdT, but I have a feeling it’s not the same as the old parfum. I love it anyway!
I love this feature! Great advice and I adore the second image of bedside perfumes.
I’m thinking I might start storing some of my off-season perfumes in my wine fridge!
Thank you! Sometimes I think about off-season perfume storage, but then I think, what if I want to wear Opium in the heat? (Actually, that sounds awful.)
Thanks for the peek, Kevin! I’m eyeing the Cire Trudon candle and wondering which it is?
I’ve curbed my bottle buying but my room scent habit has made up for it.
I crave scented candles, too! I bought a Cire Trudon candle once and saved the glass. Right now it holds perfume samples.
Great idea! I have 2 small ones nearly done that I’ll repurpose for samples. I’ve been using shot glasses.
They’re too good to throw away!
Elisa: Tadine (sandalwood/perfect for a hot day)
thanks for the tour! I love when we get look – in treat!
I’m glad I’m not the only nosy one!
Thanks for sharing! I see several Diptyques, an AG, a bell jar! And the only one I am 100% sure of is the Immortelle de Corse on the top shelf!
Kevin does love his immortelle!
hajusuuri: good eye!
This was lovely, thank you Kevin!
datura: you’re welcome!
Thanks for sharing! That D’Orsay bottle is splendid!
I agree!
Late to the party, but…Halston! Vintage, real Halston! My mom wasn’t big on perfume, but that was the one she wore. She died when I was 11, and I’ve been trying to get my hands on vintage Halston in recent years. I have so many scent memories, but that’s one of the strongest. I bought a sample bottle, but it’s not original, and it’s a decent perfume, but it’s not quite right.
When you find the right one, you’ll know!
I nearly missed this article! Kevin, love your collection and your storage methods….I’m sure I’ll lose many a bottle in the future before their time, because I love to keep the bottles out! 🙂
Good advice at the end too….too many brands and releases, too little time!
I can’t resist keeping the bottles where I can see them, either! That’s part of the fun of having perfume.