A different take on a candle for Valentine's Day? From Arquiste, Little Paws: "Dedicated to dog lovers and their furry best friends. An elevated take on a familiar, comforting scent. A candle inspired by Chorizo, our resident pup's little paws. With notes of orris butter popcorn, corn chips, ambergris, ylang-ylang and vanilla musk." $65 for 255g at Arquiste.
Good evening, Now Smell This: it has recently come to my attention (to paraphrase actor Drew Droege playing “Chloé Sevigny”) that I crave gourmand perfumes. At least, that’s what a dozen “trend pieces” have recently told me. The trend cycle goes around and around, of course: people have liked wearing vanilla-accented and/or sweet-smelling fragrances for a long time, whether you look back a century to Guerlain Shalimar or just twenty-odd years to Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, Aquolina Pink Sugar and Britney Spears Fantasy (with its then-novel “cupcake accord”). Where to begin, if you’re curious about some of the latest gourmand scents? New releases are spawning at an unprecedented rate these days, and I can’t even pretend to be fully up-to-date, but here are two freshly “baked” fragrances that I’m enjoying, plus one from 2021 that has also captured my imagination.
I’ve been trying for a while to make the term “fleurmand” catch on, but it hasn’t, which is a shame because I’d love to use it here to describe Régime des Fleurs Fleur Éclair…
I’m writing this review on the first day of autumn, and I have to admit that I started stocking up on my fall basics a few weeks ago. Although I don’t need more fragrance in the same way I might need more black tights or a new coat, I do think about updating my scent selections for cooler weather, and maybe adding something new to the mix. Even in the constant onslaught of new releases, there are a few brands that still get my attention; two of them are Frédéric Malle’s Editions de Parfums and Arquiste.
Last year, Frédéric Malle launched Heaven Can Wait, developed by perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I first tried this perfume; I initially sniffed it from a lab bottle in a Editions des Parfums boutique, then sprayed it on myself at a launch event, then purchased a travel-size bottle…and somehow never got around to reviewing it, but it’s back in my rotation this fall…
Niche line Arquiste has launched Almond Suede, a new unisex gourmand leather fragrance…
Niche line Arquiste has launched Venice Rococo, a new powdery floral fragrance…