Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
Browsing by category: perfume talk

L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue ~ fragrance review

Posted by on 16 Comments

In France, south of Arles, lies Camargue — a UNESCO-designated biosphere. Camargue is known for many things: its ancient-breed white horses, flamingos (and many other migrating birds), salt production, Camargue red wild rice (referenced in today’s perfume Le Chant de Camargue*) and the Course Camarguaise — Camargue’s brand of bloodless bull-fighting (or “race”). Though the stately black bulls of Camargue are individually known and are not killed in this “sport,” I can’t imagine it’s much fun to be chased, teased, enraged and prodded under a hot sun in front of thousands of screaming humans.

Bulls — one of the world’s unluckiest animals…

Read the rest of this article »

Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre ~ fragrance review

Posted by on 18 Comments

If you’ve focused on the “poudre” part of Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre, never fear: it isn’t a powdery scent. Instead, it’s a well mannered, spicy leather. Confusing the matter further, grain de poudre actually refers the stiff but smooth finish of fabrics used, for instance, in blazers and handbags.

Perfumer Quentin Bisch developed Grain de Poudre as part of Yves Saint Laurent’s Vestiaire des Parfums series…

Read the rest of this article »

The swapmeet, episode 15

Posted by on 120 Comments — Comments are closed

Chrysanthemum

The swapmeet (episode 15) is open for business! PLEASE read the instructions! (For those of you who refuse to read the instructions, please do not respond to anyone else’s comment except to say that their email address does not work. ANYTHING else you need to say, say it in an email. If you insist on responding to a comment, I will delete your comment. If you want to know how to swap for something, see #6 below!) For people who would like to chat in addition to, or instead of, swapping, there will be a poll along shortly.

Don’t know what swapping is, or you know but you’ve never tried it? See here. You can also take a look at the feedback from episode 3, episode 4, episode 5, episode 6 and episodes 7-8, episodes 9-10.

Please, do not participate if you do not have time to mail your items within the next two weeks! Another swapmeet will be coming up in the spring…

Read the rest of this article »

Regime des Fleurs Chloe Sevigny Little Flower ~ fragrance review

Posted by on 19 Comments

A collaboration with film and fashion icon Chloë Sevigny, Little Flower is Régime des Fleurs’ provocative take on Sevigny’s favorite bloom — the rose. . . . Thérèse of Lisieux, a late 19th century French nun who died at the age of 24, was referred to as ‘The Little Flower’ and became the Catholic patron saint of flowers.

Well, if you were trying to come up with a fragrance that would sound irresistible to me, you couldn’t do much better than that. I’m a life-long lover of rose perfumes and a former Catholic schoolgirl still deeply influenced by my religion’s iconography. I’ve also been following Chloë Sevigny’s work (and style) ever since her 1994 profile in The New Yorker, so I already know that she’s a serious perfume fan who used to wear Comme des Garçons Rose…

Read the rest of this article »

Chanel 1957 ~ fragrance review

Posted by on 50 Comments

Yesterday afternoon, I walked a stretch of Paris’s gritty 19th arrondissement with a friend who lives here. “Every neighborhood has its own personality,” he said. “Yet it’s all Paris.” That’s a good way to describe the fragrances in Chanel’s Les Exclusifs line, including the latest, Chanel 1957. Each of the fragrances has its own personality, but each is Chanel. The difference is that 1957’s personality is enough like an aura to complement your own personality, too.

Olivier Polge composed 1957, and its notes include white musk, bergamot, iris, neroli, cedar, powdery accents and honey. In short, 1957 is all about layers of cloud-like musk…

Read the rest of this article »

Back to Top

Home
Archives
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z