French niche house The Different Company has launched Oud Shamash:
A spiritual journey to the heart of the Far East…
Posted by Robin on 27 Comments
French niche house The Different Company has launched Oud Shamash:
A spiritual journey to the heart of the Far East…
Posted by Erin on 140 Comments
Blech. Despite being born a May baby, I have never been a fan of spring. I’m sure it’s different in the other parts of the world, but every year, people above the 39th parallel in Europe and North America stand on street corners at this time of year, leaning at a 75 degree angle into gusting drizzle, and insist: “It wasn’t like this last year!” Trust me, it was. The mud, the wind, the Easter snow or hailstorm, the false hope of that one giddy day near April Fool’s when the sun shone and the warm breezes blew, like in a laundry detergent commercial, before the rain and gray chill returned — it all happened last year. I am not a pessimist. It is merely that I believe in the motto of mothers everywhere: let’s not get worked up here. Crazed displays of Birkenstock sandals and patio furniture will only end in tears. I support measured celebrations of spring’s small pleasures. For one, it is ramp season. Perhaps you have received your tax return. The road salt has melted away and you can go to 2D movies without being subjected to aliens, robots or robotic aliens. And it is time for some of your freshest, prettiest, newest fragrances to grace the air.
Composing a Top 10 for this most uncertain of seasons, I have tried not to dwell on lost favorites or the flood of recent scents I’ve missed. Jean Patou Vacances, Gobin-Daudé Sève Exquise, and L’Artisan Jacinthe des Bois are all gone and it somehow felt irresponsible to include them in the list. I have vintage samples of the many spring classics that have been damaged or ruined by reformulation — Balmain Vent Vert, Caron Violette Précieuse, the silver fluidity of Diorissimo, the mysterious smoky-green of Worth Je Reviens, the original Dior Fahrenheit’s honeysuckle-and-wet-blacktop — and I use them sparingly and despairingly. I have not tried MDCI Un Coeur en Mai, Byredo La Tulipe, ElizabethW Magnolia or CB I Hate Perfume Wild Pansy and am trying to convince myself that I don’t need to do so. With no further excuses, my Top 10 of Spring…
Posted by Robin on 57 Comments
The Different Company has launched Pure Virgin, a new musky floral unisex fragrance:
Pure Virgin is born from a simple idea: create a simple…
Posted by Robin on 254 Comments
Fall? Bah, humbug. I’m a summer person. The best thing I can say about fall is that at least it isn’t winter yet.
That’s me a couple of years ago, opening the Top 10 of Fall by complaining that it wasn’t summer. Imagine how I feel now. There is nothing good I can say about winter except that at least it’s already part of the way over. So, let’s move on to the perfume, shall we?
Citrus. Angie recommends avoiding citrus in winter; instead, she says you should find a good tropical fragrance to psych yourself out of the winter doldrums. She’s right that citrus doesn’t really have the same effect when you’re wearing several layers of warm clothing, but it cheers me up all the same — some winters, I wear an awful lot of citrus. I’m including two in this category. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Pamplemousse is cheerful, reasonably long-lasting, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. As an added bonus, it layers nicely with just about anything. Aftelier’s Candide costs more (and is perhaps more accurately termed a citrusy floral), but it’s so happy, it makes me smile just to think about it…
Posted by Robin on 92 Comments
De Bachmakov is the latest from the The Different Company. It celebrates artistic director Thierry de Baschmakoff’s Russian origins and the Année France-Russie; if you go to the dedicated website, you can read (or download) a sort of travelogue that explains some of the inspirations for the unisex fragrance.
De Bachmakov was developed by perfumer Celine Ellena, and the notes include bergamot, shiso leaves, coriander leaves, freesia, jasmine, nutmeg, cedar and craie douce.1 It is supposed to evoke the winds of Asia and the sun hitting the forests of Siberia and buds pushing through the snow in the spring.
De Bachmakov starts bright and zingy and cold…