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Diptyque Kimonanthe ~ fragrance review

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Even the most jaded perfumistas like myself are not immune from the occasional jerky motion or drool as we read about a new fragrance. I’m sometimes brought out of the glazed-eye/nodding-off stage when a new perfume is by a house I love and a perfumer I admire, has a great list of notes and a well-done backstory. Diptyque Kimonanthe, the newest fragrance in the La Collection 34 series, sparked desire (and hope) for all these reasons.

Diptyque provided me with some of my earliest (and greatest) niche perfume experiences: I’ve owned (or own) L’Eau Trois, L’Ombre dans L’Eau, Olène, Ofrésia, Oud Palao, Tam Dao, Philosykos, Oyédo, Eau d’Elide, Eau Lente, Jardin Clos, L’Autre, L’Eau and Virgilio. I won’t even mention countless candles and gallons of Essence of John Galliano room spray…

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Comme des Garcons Dot ~ fragrance review & a quick Comme des Garcons poll

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Comme des Garçons Dot circle

Dot is the latest fragrance release from Comme des Garçons. It comes in the melted light bulb bottle,1 which I did not like in clear glass, but which looks great fun in opaque black with polka dots (see below). Also in its favor, in my book at least, it’s supposed to be about osmanthus, one of my (yes, many) favorite floral notes: “The aim was not only to capture the smell of the flower but to reproduce the mysterious allure that penetrates the air of a park filled with Osmantus trees in bloom.”2

Throw in a few berries, and Dot pretty much follows its lists of notes…

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Osmanthus: The Scent of Happiness ~ out of the bottle

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osmanthus

This is my last post as an official writer for Now Smell This.1 It’s been a huge opportunity and a real thrill to write for the blog that first woke me up to perfume, and I will miss my regular gig very much. But I’ll see you in the comments section, and I’ll be easy to find, so instead of getting weepy or nostalgic, I simply want to say thank you and offer you a bouquet of osmanthus blossoms.

I admit that, as bouquets go, it isn’t much to look at. The flowers, white or yellow, depending on the variety, are simple and very tiny — you could easily hold a hundred in the palm of your hands. The greenery of the variety that grows in the Southern U.S., where osmanthus is widely known as the Tea Olive, is unremarkable. But none of that really matters. This bouquet is not for display, it’s a nosegay, and as soon as you bend your head to sniff, your eyes will be closed in bliss.

I think of osmanthus as the scent of happiness. It smells of warm, ripe apricots, good black tea (maybe a Ceylon, with its floral notes and natural sweetness) and soft leather. It’s a luscious, velvety scent, rich and delicious, but the sunny, citrus-kissed fruit and the tannic tea notes keep things from getting too serious…

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Serge Lutens Nuit de Cellophane ~ perfume review

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Sweet osmanthus

Nuit de Cellophane was released by Serge Lutens in early 2009 as part of the brand’s export collection. The press release for this fragrance includes a typically Lutensian snippet of prose-poetry and dialogue, but the sample-vial card offers a more concise description: “The night embodied in scent and sight. Chinese osmanthus.” Nuit de Cellophane’s list of notes includes jasmine, osmanthus, carnation, lily, almond, honey, sandalwood, and musk.

I hope my “perfumista” credentials won’t be revoked when I reveal that I’m not a Serge Lutens fanatic. I admire the line’s artistic philosophy and many of its fragrances (and I did own the original Shiseido Féminité du Bois years ago), but although I can appreciate the scents in an abstract sense, I somehow don’t enjoy wearing most of them. Even Sa Majesté la Rose, the rose soliflore of the line, which would seem to be a good fit for my tastes, rubs me the wrong way. (Is it the geranium that bothers my nose? the honey? I’ve never been able to figure it out.) Long story short, I respect Serge Lutens from a distance, but the house’s aesthetic just doesn’t fit me. On the other hand, Nuit de Cellophane sounded like the type of sweet floral that usually appeals to me, and if it turned out to be a non-Serge-like scent, as many diehard Lutensians lamented, then I would probably like it…

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