More limited edition collector fragrance bottles, with the usual disclaimers: in most of these cases, the juice is unchanged, just the bottle is “special” (or not, as the case may be), and some of these may not be available in the US.
From Hermès, a special edition of 24 Faubourg: “A beautiful, limited-edition bottle of 24 Faubourg eau de parfum natural spray by Hermès is filled with the classic woody, floral and amber scent you’ve come to know and love.” $169 at Nordstrom, size unknown…
I’ve experienced autumn in several places. When I was growing up in the ‘tropics’ (Virginia), the arrival of autumn was marvelous — no more steamy heat or mosquitoes. One of the first signs of autumn was the arrival of glass jugs of amber-colored fresh apple cider, for sale at orchard stands along almost every road. I tried to find an apple scent for this post (and for my perfume “collection”) in honor of apples and cool weather, but I was unsuccessful. Any suggestions? (Donna Karan DKNY scents need not apply.)
My early college life in New York City proved the Big Apple was not much different from Virginia in summertime, except for the added smells of simmering garbage on the streets. But autumn in New York was great; all the food cart aromas, even the exhaust fumes, smelled nicer mixing with the cool, marine air surrounding Manhattan, and the autumn leaves in Central Park added a dry, “woodland,” hay-like scent to the crisp air.
When I lived in L.A., autumn was pretty much like any other season (warm and sunny), except for days when the ferocious Santa Ana winds made autumn feel like I was standing in front of an open oven door…and the oven temperature was at 450° Fahrenheit. I’ve never in my life been more lethargic than during hot weather in Southern California, nor have I reached for cooling Eaux de Cologne more, applying them morning, noon and night.
Now I live in the Pacific Northwest…
Labor Day means so many things: among them, a day to commemorate the working class; the end of summer; the start of a new school year; and for the sartorially correct, the last day to wear white shoes and seersucker. What perfume feels right to you for Labor Day?
Here are a few choices of the top of my head:
Estée Lauder White Linen: O.K., I admit I chose this one for its name. From the sound of it, White Linen should herald summer and tea parties on long, sloping lawns with people dressed like Jay Gatsby playing croquet. The truth is, White Linen is sharp and clean and infinitely more versatile than its name implies, as long as its wearer has combed her hair and powdered her nose.
L’Artisan Parfumeur Piment Brûlant: Time for summer salads and barbeque! Piment Brûlant smells like a freshly snapped red bell pepper on a bed of vanilla-scented rose petals and cut grass…
Hermès will launch Epice Marine, the latest in the Hermessence series, in September. The theme, as captured in the name, is spices and the ocean, and the fragrance was developed in a sort of collaboration between Hermès house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena and chef Olivier Roellinger…
Eau de Mandarine Ambrée is one of two new 2013 offerings in the unisex Cologne Collection at Hermès, the other being Eau de Narcisse Bleu. Both were developed by house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, who notes that Mandarine Ambrée “is quite immediate, the other [Narcisse Bleu] is more complex.” The same contrast might be drawn between the last two additions to the series, Eau de Pamplemousse Rose and Eau de Gentiane Blanche,1 and once again, I find that I prefer the immediate: Eau de Mandarine Ambrée is easily my favorite; Eau de Narcisse Bleu, like Gentiane Blanche, is arguably the more interesting of the pair but was just a tad too mild for my tastes.2
Mandarine Ambrée, which features mandarin, passion fruit and amber, has a similar sparkling start as the Pamplemousse Rose, albeit with much less (but surely some) grapefruit. It’s bright and cheerful, with a beautifully juicy and tart mandarin note that gradually gets fruitier, fuller and sweeter, and then slightly woody, with a sheer amber base and a slight dash of vanilla. It isn’t heavy…