• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources
Browsing by tag: france

Le Jardin du Parfumeur

Posted by Robin on 29 June 2022 Leave a Comment

Set alongside the Châteauneuf Orangery, the Perfumer’s Garden – “Le Jardin du Parfumeur” in French – was created with the support of patron Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and will bring together hundreds of flowering species: traditional plants (rose, jasmine), essences that exude unexpected aromas (chocolate, apple), odorous species, and “mute” or silent flowers, such as hyacinth, peony, and violet, which release no extract that can be used in perfumery, despite having a clearly identifiable smell. As a result, perfumers are forced to replicate their scents synthetically.

A labour of love crafted from the exceptional synergy between the Trianon gardeners and Francis Kurkdjian, this new garden will open its gates in Spring 2023. A number of tours and workshops will be rolled out for the general public, families, school groups, students, and associations.

— Read more in Creation of the Perfumer’s Garden at the Estate of Trianon, from the press office at Château de Versailles.

Musée International de la Parfumerie (and a Story)

Posted by Angela on 23 September 2019 38 Comments

“Better lucky than smart,” Beverly said. I certainly felt lucky. I’d only met her in person the day before, yet here I was, glass of rosé in hand, seated on her terrace in the south of France, the lights of Valbonne in the valley below mirroring the stars.

Almost nine years ago, a friend and I stopped into an estate sale, and I came away with a four dollar bottle of Lucien Lelong Indiscret parfum (the story and a mini-review are here). A few years later, a stranger — Beverly — wrote to me saying that her mother had worn Indiscret, and would I send her a sample? Her mother had died when Beverly was only 18, more than fifty years earlier. I sent her the bottle…

Read the rest of this article »

Friday scent of the day 7/14

Posted by Robin on 14 July 2017 294 Comments

Happy Bastille Day! And yes, I know the French don’t say Happy Bastille Day, or anything like it. Which makes it an even better fit for our community project: see if you might possibly have anything French in your collection that you could wear today? Plus extra points for extra-French-ness, or for silly perfume Frenchification.

What fragrance did you pick? As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you’re not participating in the community project.

I did not plan well for this project when I was packing for vacation. I am not going to be accruing any extra points, but I am wearing French: Hermès Un Jardin Sur Le Nil body lotion…

Read the rest of this article »

The Good Life (including Perfume)

Posted by Angela on 21 May 2012 60 Comments

Garden at La Muse

Spending three weeks at a writer’s retreat in France — a country known for its dedication to the art de vivre — leads me to ponder the good life. What is the “good life” exactly? To me, it can be just about everything that happens beyond adequate food, shelter, and sound health. Living the good life doesn’t have to be expensive. The key is to pay attention and to take risks. As Auntie Mame, my guide in all matters spiritual, says, “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.”

Rather than pontificate, I offer some concrete examples on the good life I’ve experienced over the past few weeks:

Try new things. Oh, I know what an effort it is to get up an hour earlier or attempt a cartwheel twenty years after your last one or extract a saddle of rabbit when armed with nothing but a carving knife and instructions from the internet. It’s a pain. But it snaps you out of your groove and lets you tune in to the good life when it’s actually happening so you don’t miss it. Sure, negotiating public transportation from the Nice airport to my hotel was a challenge, especially when laid on top of jet leg, but it led to my meeting a terrific woman and having dinner at her house prepared by a sous chef from the Hotel Negresco. When life offers you this kind of challenge, see it as an and opportunity and take it. You never know where it will lead.

Take risks. Yesterday, the retreat’s dog and I wandered nearly an hour too far on a trail. I didn’t bring hiking shoes, and a storm had clouded over the distant, snow-capped Pyrenees…

Read the rest of this article »

Cabris and Art et Parfum ~ part two

Posted by Angela on 14 May 2012 44 Comments

muguet

[Ed. note: if you missed it, see part 1 of Cabris and Art et Parfum]

The first niche perfume I bought — the fragrance that plunged me head-first into perfumania — was Frédéric Malle Noir Epices.1 Meeting Noir Epice’s creator, Michel Roudnitska, brought my love of fragrance full circle.

Besides the Art et Parfum lab and office, the other white stucco building at Sainte Blanche is Michel Roudnitska and his wife’s home. Just beyond the house is a T-shaped pool with a long stem where his father, Edmond, swam laps. Closer to the house meanders a shady Japanese-style garden Michel Roudnitska laid out, complete with a tiny bridge and statues of what look to my untrained eye like Thai goddesses. Up the hill a stone’s throw is the monument where Edmond and Thérèse Roudnitska’s ashes are interred.2

I kept a steady watch on the house while Olivier Maure, Art et Parfum’s director, went to fetch Roudnitska. I’ve never had the chance to meet in the flesh someone about whom I’ve read so much and whose fragrances I’ve worn…

Read the rest of this article »

Older articles »

Advertisement

Search

From NST at Twitter

  • "The best gourmand scents for a sophisticated sugar high" (harpers bazaar) https://t.co/SAgN9Cf7tc, 23 hours ago
  • Updated info on Carolina Herrera Good Girl Blush https://t.co/OY8AXDcdIa https://t.co/qvlUuLHFtm,
  • "LVMH and L’Oréal Enter Bidding War for Stake in Aesop" (happi) https://t.co/z1IBHIooH8,
  • "House of Creed partners with Robbi to capitalise on China’s collectible toy craze" (campaignasia)… https://t.co/AtFJUHQSor,
  • @NamiWallace Good luck!,

Browse by...

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022

Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

4 January ~ damage poll
4 February ~ winter reading poll

TBA April ~ swap meet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy

Shop for Perfume Online
Perfume Shopping in New York
Perfume Shopping in London
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books
Fragrance Awards

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2023 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.