British niche line Miller Harris has launched Violet Ida, a new fragrance inspired by the Graham Greene novel Brighton Rock…
Lazy weekend poll ~ winter reading list, edition 7
The cold weather version of our summer reading poll, edition 7, Neil Gaiman’s birthday 2018.* Tell us about a great book to curl up with on a frosty winter night, and what fragrance we should wear while reading it.
Extra credit: scent Neil Gaiman, or a character in a Neil Gaiman book…
When deep-pile carpet was luxury and Lucite was the future
My grandmother wore Shalimar, perhaps the most famous Guerlain perfume. The first notes of Vol de Nuit are of my grandmother, and beneath that, a scent that is evocative of spaces and surfaces from a lost era. Too bad that grandmother so often recalls a woman whose femininity has become a burden or joke (pink bedroom slippers, doilies). My grandmother smelled like the time when deep-pile carpet was luxury and Lucite was the future. She smelled like the high polish of wood waxed regularly. So does Vol de nuit, and then it lifts right off.
— Julia Berick examines four perfumes inspired by novels. Read more at The Scent of a Novel at The Paris Review. Hat tip to Kevin!
Summer Quartet for Book, Music, Kulfi & Perfume (plus a brief quartet poll)
For me, some of the best summer days revolve around lying on the sofa and reading, listening to music, (taking a nap), and eating and drinking indulgent concoctions (LOTS of gelato, ice cream and cocktails). I surround myself with vases full of scented flowers from the garden — right now there are sweet peas, roses, tuberose, plate-sized southern magnolias, gardenias, phlox, even tiny bouquets of spicy, bright orange marigolds. And, of course, I wear perfume.
For the past three weeks, Seattle has sizzled with temperatures often hovering between 89 and 93 degrees Fahrenheit (31-34 °C); on some days, it’s been downright unhealthy to be outside, with smoke from raging fires reaching us from California, eastern Washington/Canada and…SIBERIA. I feel zero guilt for whiling away a morning and/or afternoon “in contemplation.” Today I’d like to introduce you to my most recent “Summer Quartet” (the individual parts change, but the pattern remains constant)…
Lazy weekend poll ~ summer reading list, edition 8
It’s June — time for the annual summer reading poll!
Please recommend a great book to add to our summer reading lists, and tell us what fragrance we should wear while reading it…