I have a mind that classifies — non-stop. With perfume houses, I often shove them into categories such as:
Holding Steady: Acqua di Parma; Arquiste; Goutal; Chanel; Diptyque; Etat Libre d’Orange; Frédéric Malle; Guerlain; Hermès; Jo Malone; Kilian; L’Artisan Parfumeur; Le Labo; Memo; Ormonde Jayne; Parfum d’Empire
Should Be Better Known: Aesop; Astier de Villatte; Blackbird; Cire Trudon; Salvatore Ferragamo; Vilhelm Parfumerie; Zoologist…
One of my favorite winter-themed songs is the American standard “Violets for Your Furs.” Billie Holiday’s interpretation is the one I love most, although I’m very fond of Frank Sinatra’s version, which was probably the one that introduced me to this song. The nostalgic mood, the intimate gesture, the contrast between a wintry urban setting and some fresh flowers — it would make a wonderful inspiration for a perfume. And now that winter has arrived in my own city, I’m suddenly in the mood for any and all violet fragrances. Here are two new ones that I’ve recently tried…
As I’m writing this review, it’s the day after Election Day in the United States.* We don’t discuss politics here at Now Smell This, so I’ll just say that it’s been a stressful week (and month and year) so far. The current suspense is making me wish I were somewhere other than here, somewhere other than now, although I’m not usually much of traveler.
Come to think of it, I first expressed my non-wanderlust in a review of two fragrances from Une Nuit Nomade, Rose America and Memory Motel. The description for Nothing But Sea and Sky, the latest in Une Nuit Nomade’s tribute to the beaches of New York’s Montauk, caught my eye…
The scent of black tea makes me smile; it can reset my mood from blah to cheerful. Any flavored version of black tea I enjoy tasting, I enjoy smelling, too, even in perfumes. Black tea mixes well with citrus (bergamot, orange, grapefruit, the “classic” lemon), spices, flowers (jasmine, rose), fruits (plum, apricot, peach, berries). Black tea can be sweet, bitter, fresh, or rich and smoky. In Eau Parfumée Au Thé Noir, Bvlgari mixes a black tea accord with bergamot, rose, leather, oud, patchouli and vanilla.
Though I’ve tried Bvlgari’s other Eau Parfumée perfumes — Eau Parfumée Au Thé Vert, Eau Parfumée Au Thé Blanc, Eau Parfumée Au Thé Rouge, Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu — until recently, Eau Parfumée Au Thé Noir was a stranger. I’m glad I discovered it…
The splitmeet (episode 14) is open for business. PLEASE read the instructions! For people who would like to chat in addition to, or instead of, splitting, there will be a poll along shortly.
Don’t know what a bottle split is, or you know but you’ve never tried it? See here.
Please note that the intention of the splitmeet is to split newly purchased bottles of perfume, not to sell decants of fragrances already in your collection! Anyone can join a split, but only people with current, active reader accounts may host splits. Update: in other words, you cannot host a split if you have never commented here before the day the splitmeet opens…