Aoud Ambre is undoubtedly one of the most voluptuous fragrances from
Montale Paris. The luxurious layers of warm amber scattered with rose
petals are supported by the intriguing tobacco and honey richness of Oud,
the mystical and highly prized resin. Like a passionate embrace,
the woody notes cradle the radiance of amber, softening it up with
the sweet spicy accord.
I first tested this a year ago; I absolutely
hated this since all I could smell was
tobacco. I re-tested this again recently
and now consider this to be an
incredibly sexy fragrance for women.
Montale Aoud Ambre is perfect for fall and winter especially if you
are in the mood for something other than a “straight amber” scent. "A very old oud combined with a magnificent Eastern Amber for a duo with vitality thanks to the Cystus ladaniferus from the Indies and to 50 other components, the oud is feminine, refined and sensual par excellence." This is a luscious rose floral with amber and the slight hint of tobacco vanishes quickly. Everything about this perfume is perfect.
romance/drama, classic tear-jerker Marlon Brando movie “Sayonara”.
This is not a typical “pink” fragrance; this is not for little girls with sweet tastes as some of the commercial houses seem to be gearing to. Chinatown is for a goddess. It is all women. The opening, heart and dry down are one of the best out of my fragrance collection. A stunning and glorious fragrance, it is also oddly calming and healing, as if I am in beautiful garden.
Chinatown's bottle in plum blossom, pearl-colored on one side, fuchsia on the other - featuring 300 Swarovski crystals studding each floweret is show-stoping in itself. The Juice matches up to the bottle. Chinatown also comes in a bottle without the Swarovski crystals.
Top Notes: Peach Blossom, Bergamot
Middle Notes: Gardenia, Tuberose, Peony and Orange Flower
Base Notes: Patchouli, Cedarwood, Vanilla, Sandalwood, and Cardamom & Guaiac Wood
Coeur de Fleur means “Heart of Flower”. “Heart of Flower”
conjures up so many images I had as a child staring deep
into my grandmother’s prized flowers, looking for answers.
To “go into” the heart of a flower is a heady fantasy and this
fragrance speaks just that.
A beautiful image for a beautiful perfume that is one of the original
fragrances blended for Miller Harris. A base of Florentine iris,
amber and Madagascan vanilla supports a heart of sweet pea,
mimosa, Egyptian Jasmin, raspberry and peach to make a warm,
but intensely feminine impression.
This graceful scent captures the loveliness of a day in late spring
- riotous with flowers, rich with the golden promise of summer just
ahead. A beautiful well blended and unusual floral. The EDP
is long lasting and the dry down is just as fragrant as a spring day.
This is one of my favorite fragrances that I cannot do without.
Miller Harris is available at Miller Harris and Saks
Jean Patou 1000
By Raphaella Brescia
This is said to be a “classy fragrance" recommended for “special occasions”
or "evening wear”; I disregard reading these little quotes on perfume
sites as I will always wear these "type" of fragrances during the day.
1000 is healing, just knowing how hard the perfumer worked at creating this
luscious and gorgeous perfume. It starts out strong and then softens to a
dreamlike and luscious white cloud. Patou 1000 is an exotic fragrance that
is blended with jasmine, Chinese Osmanthus and Bulgarian rose, with
underlying notes of Grasse and Sandalwood, patchouli and violet.
This classic fragrance received its name for being selected as the perfect blend after 999 other blends were rejected. Created in 1972 after ten years by the great Jean Patou perfumer, created by Jean Kerleo. With careful blending and perfecting, "1000" is an exuberant, modern fragrance from the house of Jean Patou. Its name comes from the number of submissions that were rejected before the scent was chosen. Known as "the essence of extravagance," the scent is made from a jasmine essence that takes over seven million flowers to produce a single kilogram. This was first introduced as a true haute couture fragrance; made to order upon request before it was produced for the public.
Montale Blue Amber
By Raphaella Brescia
From the Montale web site: “The main features of the Parfums Montale are their love of scents from
the Orient and Arabia, through its enchanted history. Perfumers from all around the world have chosen
precious Woods including Frankincense, Balsam, Amber, Cedar and thousand other wonderful scents
to create the MONTALE perfumes. "Its aluminum bottle has been especially developed to guarantee
that the perfume is preserved for a long time in a dark place, the light being the main enemy of perfumes
and rare essences”.
“Italian bergamot and bourbon geranium give Montale Blue Amber dynamic impressions. The heart-note
contains coriander and the warm base is of ambergris assisted by the sweetness of vanilla. The
luxurious Aouds are fragranced ointments extracted from the oils of the Arabian Oud Tree. Oud
is precious oil from the bark resin of Aquilara - known as Ud (also Ouf or Aoud) - oil. Only trees of a
certain age (50 years) deliver this essence. Aouds are the sole perfume of kings and sultans since
the dawn of time and are believed to possess aphrodisiac properties. Montale fragrances consist
of the most precious raw materials in high concentrations”.
This is a magnificent perfume that speaks of warm, golden amber, rolled in rich vanilla, fresh and orangey bergamot and soft earth notes. Mysterious and sultry, Blue Amber is an absolute must lovers of amber.
Blue Amber notes: Italian bergamot, bourbon geranium, coriander, patchouli, vetiver, amber, vanilla.
Bois de Iles is part of the Chanel Rue Cambron Collection.
Bois de Iles was created in 1926 by Ernest Beaux, a
Russian émigré. How lovely to be able to discover this
enticing perfume in the year 2006, and it smells as modern
as the sun rising. I cannot use the word “classic” on Bois de Iles,
but “timeless” and “stunning” will suffice.
What is fascinating about this fragrance to me is the
blending of wood and floral, so beautiful, I am speechless.
Bois de Iles is a woody perfume that unfurls slowly. The hot
and bewitching notes of Sandalwood and Vetiver are enhanced
with the indulgence of the Tonka Bean and Vanilla, between
Bitter Almond and Gingerbread.
Its floral middle note of Ylang-Ylang is refreshed with a hint of
Damask Rose and unified by Royal Jasmine. The ensemble is
lifted by aldehydes that light up each ingredient to bring out its
individual beauty. Both the EDP and EDT are stunning.
BOIS DES ILES is a woody scent with a flowery heart. Notes
include aldehydes, bergamot, neroli, peach; jasmine, rose,
lily of the valley, iris, ylang-ylang; vetiver, sandalwood, benzoin, musk.
Only available at select Chanel fragrance Boutiques.
Call the Chanel Fragrance Boutique at 15 East 57th Street in New York City at (212) 355-5050
Alamut by Lorenzo Villoresi
By Raphaella Brescia
The latest fragrance from perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi.
I find this to be a perfect fall/winter fragrance for walking in the
fall leaves, Christmas shopping, baking cookies or just laying
around feeling luscious. This scent is warm and comforting yet
a tad glamorous and sexy. After reviewing the notes below,
I can see why. Staring at the ruby red bottle, I imagine that a
ruby gem would smell like this fragrance.
The notes are:
Osmanthus, Rose, Jasmin, Rosewood
and exotic flowers, Narcissus, Tuberose,
Ylang Ylang, Orange Blossom, Labdanum,
Amber, Musk, Amyris, Sandalwood, Patchouli,
Benzoin, Leather.
“A warm and sensual fragrance, a journey to the Orient, a fragrant
arabesque. The rich, opulent and velvety flowers of a Thousand
and one night, dreams of secret gardens in the moonlight of the fresh oriental night. The enveloping scent of rare and precious woods, the seducing embrace of Tonkin Musk, the profound and mysterious aroma of Amber”.
“The ancient Persian castle of Alamut inspired Lorenzo Villoresi to create a fragrance capturing the opulence of its fabled gardens. Luxurious like brocaded silk and warm like Middle Eastern nights, Alamut unfolds in layers of jasmine and osmanthus. Made intoxicating by the narcotic richness of narcissus and tuberose, the heart of the composition melds into the sensual base of woods and amber.
Mitsouko is homage to the heroine of 'La bataille', the novel by Claude Farrère. It is the story of an impossible passion:
Mitsouko, a beautiful Japanese woman and the wife of Admiral Togo, is secretly loved by a British officer. In 1905, when war
breaks out between Russia and Japan, Mitsouko awaits with dignity the outcome of the battle, nobly overcoming her
feelings. The bottle is identical to that of L'Heure Bleue. It is said that the two bottles open and close the period
between the beginning and the end of the war.
This classic fragrance, created in 1919 with an earthy heart of oakmoss and peach, sets a standard for chypre perfumes
that others have since tried to duplicate. Mitsouko, which means “Mystery” in Japanese, remains utterly unique,
cloaked in a sensuous air.
Guerlain is among the oldest perfume houses in the world. It has a large and loyal customer following, and is held in high esteem in the perfume industry. Perfumes by Guerlain are often said to be inspired by the scent of confections, as a result of a common vanilla and amber accord in many of their fragrances. This unique attribute is often referred to as the "Guerlinade". A perfume by the same name was launched by Guerlain in 1921. I have fallen in love, head over heels, with this mossy, woody Chypre. An incredible blend of fruity aromas combined with woody notes on a subtle amber base. This is another fall/winter scent that is absolutely stunning.
Mitsouko is classified as a refined, woody and mossy Fragrance. This feminine scent possesses a magical blend of exotic fruits and spices. Mitsouko, which means “Mystery” in Japanese, remains utterly unique, cloaked in a sensuous air.
People Of The Labyrinths
By Kathy Patterson
Dutch fashion label People of the Labyrinths released their long-awaited second perfume, A Maze
on January 20th. Their first fragrance, Luctor et Emergo, apparently named after a Dutch
football (soccer) team, has had a cultish following since its release in 1997. Not having experienced
the earlier scent, I took advantage of Lucky Scent's great sample program and ordered myself one of
each to test.
Luctor et Emergo
Notes: precious woods, vanilla, fresh grasses, white florals, almond, cherry
This starts off as a warm fuzzy slightly woodsy vanilla with hints of cherry or almond, like an ice cream
float made with Suburban Almond Smash (regional Baltimore soda of the past) and vanilla ice cream,
all wafting over a gentle white floral. Some people claim there's a Play-Doh quality, but I smell only
baby powder and marzipan. A sweet, but not cloying, and gentle fragrance.
Chopard Casmir
By Kathy Patterson
Notes: mango, coconut, peach,
bergamot, jasmine, geranium,
muguet, amber, musk, vanilla,
sandalwood, patchouli
I think this is one of my all-time favorite fragrances--I've just
started my fourth bottle! On me, the opening notes are fruity,
mostly peach with maybe a touch of mango, and the coconut is nonexistant. The drydown is soft and very vanilla, with touches of amber, musk, and sandalwood. There's also a bit of a medicinal twang, somewhat like saffron, which may be the geranium, or the patchouli, however, I detect no floral quality at all. I'm constantly amazed that this fragrance contains so many notes I do not like (coconut, jasmine, muguet, patchouli), yet overall I find it astonishingly lovely. Although Casmir is an oriental, it's not a heavy or dark one. My preference is to wear it in the cooler months, but really, it's light enough to be worn all year around.
Black Orchid is a provocative potion that is mysterious and sensual, the first fragrance from the deliciously controversial Tom Ford. “I intend to create the first true luxury brand of the 21st century” says Ford. The black orchid, a rare, hybrid bloom, has the most desirable fragrance of all. Black Orchid opens with heady notes of truffle, incense and dark chocolate.
Ford is one of the most successful designers of recent decades, who transformed the ailing Gucci into one of the world's largest and most profitable brands, redesigning Gucci itself, and leading it on a rags-to-riches journey from near-bankruptcy. He has also created Youth Dew Amber Nude for Estee Lauder.
Black Orchid’s opening note of truffle is blended with ylang-ylang, bergamot and black currant. The middle note combines orchid, with the intensity of flowers, fruit and lotus wood. The oriental base is dark chocolate, incense, patchouli, balsam, sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver.
Love it or hate it, this is a compelling concoction that demands attention. Black Orchid does, in fact capture the scent of the orchid. The opening of Black Orchid is luscious and heavy, beckoning like a siren. This is an “in–your-face” fragrance, strong like Carnal Flower, but to me without the depth of beauty. It is not a disappointing fragrance, however, it is a somewhat disturbing one. Maybe it’s the opening truffle note.
According to the New York Post “Page Six”, Tom Ford asked the Estee Lauder executives to make his Black Orchid smell like a “man’s crotch”. I understand that only Tom Ford can get away with saying that. I understand what he was getting at - but aside from that, how can I find beauty in something that smells like...well, you know. Black Orchid is a "tad" raunchy on me. I also know that Black Orchid will have many fans as well as those who will dislike it.
After having the opportunity of wearing so many beautiful niche fragrances, I wonder if I can be objective about Black Orchid. Perhaps Black Orchid will ultimately win me over and I can be talked into moving back to the mainstream again.
-Raphaella Brescia
(Tom Ford comment confirmed by New York "Post Page" Six Editor Richard Johnson)
Bond No. 9 Bryant Park
Three Member Reviews...
Fragrance Review 1
By Diane Artzberger (Dartz)
A new fragrance is on the horizon from
perfume house as Bond No.9
Bryant Park makes it debut on
March 1 of this year. The new
fragrance is the 28th in the line
and has been created by perfumer
Michael Almairac.
Bryant Park is currently well known
as the site of the semi- annual fashion
week shows. Bond No. 9 describes
it this way: "Imagine an oasis of
unflappably serene greenery,
improbably nestled in a canyon of skyscrapers
down the street from Times Square, in the heart of midtown Manhattan.
I Profumi di Firenze
Miele Rosa
by Kathy Patterson
Notes: Sicilian wild orange blossom, honey, Damascus red rose
This is a very evocative scent for me. Every spring during my Catholic childhood I
participated in a ceremony known as the May procession. This involved a solemn
parade of parishioners following a statue of the Virgin Mary, crowned in roses and
borne on a flower-decked bier. I am also reminded of the scent of hundreds of lit offertory
candles that fill the front of the church on this day of celebration.
Miele Rosa starts off with a very strong somewhat powdery rose with a delicate honeyed
undertone more like beeswax than honey itself. I also detect an incense-like quality and a
slight scent of woods. In the drydown, the rose softens quite a bit to meld with the soft honeyed quality of this fragrance.
According to the I Profumi press materials, Miele Rosa is the first collaboration between Los Angeles artist and beauty entrepreneur Miryana Babic and the Florentine perfumer Alessandro Morsiani. Inspired by the bathing rituals of the ancients, Miryana sought to create an all-natural aromatherapy-type of perfume that conveyed the sensuality and luxury of a honey, milk and rose petal bath. Miele Rosa pays homage to this royal feminine tradition, slipping one back into time as the perfume soothes, allures, and heightens the senses.
Miele Rosa is a limited edition perfume sold exclusively at Barneys New York.
($98 for eau de parfum, 50 ml.)
60's MOD DRESS
KATE MOSS GETS HER OWN FRAGRANCE
CELEBRITY SALES ON THE DECLINE
Women’s Wear Daily has reported that supermodel Kate
Moss is signing up for her own fragrance contract with
Coty. This was announced shortly after Gwen Stefani
announced her deal with Coty to market her own line
of fragrances.
From the WWD site Steve Mormoris, senior vice
president of global marketing for Coty Beauty, in
describing the fragrance concept, said it was "a mix
of elegant and risqué," with smoky rose and black
undertones and a vintage English feel. He added that
the "complicated floral" scent reflected the duality of
Moss. "It captures the two sides of Kate:
the good Kate and the bad Kate," said Mormoris.
The fragrance, which has yet to be named, is slated to be
launched in Europe, the Middle East and Australia in
September, followed by an introduction to North America and
Latin America one year later.
A week later after this announcment, WWD also reported a story
on the decreased sales for "celerbartiy fragrances".
During the holiday season of 2006, the growing supply of
celebrity scents lost luster as sales for fragrances such as
Vera Wang Princess and Juicy Couture emerged in the forefront.
I can't wait to see what "black undertones" are in a fragrance. -RB
Bond No. 9 Bryant Park
Kathy Patterson (The Minx)
Bryant Park is the latest fragrance from New York-based perfumer Bond No. 9. It was created by perfumer Michel Almairac, and is described as "a rose-patchouli concoction with pink pepper added for dissonance." Although their last new fragrance, West Side also has notes of rose and amber, the two scents are quite different. Notes: rose, patchouli, pink pepper, lily of the valley, rhubarb, raspberry, amber.
The opening is of tart rhubarb and tingly pink pepper with a floral background note. The patchouli, combined with the pepper, gives Bryant Park a sexy earthiness, and the raspberry is dry, not sweet.
After a few minutes, the floral background notes surge forward, causing the overall scent to become more "perfumy," then fade back down again to let the amber peek through. The drydown--the best part and definitely worth waiting for--is a lovely amber floral that still carries the tang of rhubarb
and raspberry.
Dig that groovilicious Pucci-esque bottle!
NEW RELEASE OF KAI EDP
I love gardenia fragrances in the summer, The Yves Rocher, the Molinard, Sarah Horowitz Thran’s Gardenia, as well as the cult classic favorite, Kai perfume. Who knew that such a modestly priced perfume could pack such a punch?
The new release of Kai perfume spray at the new niche fragrance store
I should make myself write these three words a hundred times on
a chalkboard, "I will never again commit to a fragrance on a first
perfume date." Until we have spent enough time together to
assure compatibility, no marriage should occur. It's a lesson
I learned years ago when it comes to men, so why-oh-why did I
succumb to the first wink of handsome Czech & Speake No. 88?
Sunspots, hormones, biorhythms...who knows?
Over at Basenotes. a long string of bloggers wax rhapsodic about
the rosy sandalwood concoction But my appreciation is limited
by a childhood scent memory. A rainy-day activity centered
around a boxful of pins, beads and sequins, which I used to
stud a bar of white soap -Sweetheart soap, I think. The laboriously
bejeweled oval then sat on the back of the toilet, a shrine to my
six-year-old creativity, filling the room with clean scent.
No. 88 is truly beautiful. It's balanced, it's gorgeous, it's timeless and it's soap.
I know, I know, it's me; I'm the problem in this relationship. I'm damaged goods. It's C&S's signature fragrance, but, for me, this old-world juice is the quintessential bathroom smell. Clean and fresh, indeed, but not modern.
Alas, MasterCard had already consummated this star-crossed union; so I'm willing to give it another try. Perhaps in a few months, on a hot, dry summer afternoon, elegant No. 88 will be at his best and we can share another quiet afternoon- to see how things develop.
Baby Powder
By Kathy Patterson
“As clean and as fresh as it gets, just like the proverbial freshly powdered
baby’s behind. But nothing ever comes to be exactly as you expect it to.”
That description bothered me a little. What did it mean by “nothing
comes to be exactly as you expect?” Especially following the phrase,
“powdered baby’s behind.” It’s a clean behind, right?
Demeter’s Baby Powder scent is not quite Johnson & Johnson; the top notes
are somewhat plastic-y and slightly astringent. It is oddly not at all powdery,
but more crisp and fresh. Putting aside the obvious – it’s supposed to smell
like baby powder, and it does have that effect – I can also detect an almost
almond/cherry smell in the drydown, with another note that’s faintly wintergreen.
It actually reminds me more of the Love’s Baby Soft that I wore as a teenager
than something I’d put on a baby’s bottom. Overall, Baby Powder is a pleasing
soft and gentle scent, that although does not smell exactly like baby powder,
it is evocative of baby toys and other reminiscences of youth/childhood.
Since Easter is right around the corner, my thoughts are already gearing towards spring and summer fragrances. It’s time to pack away the ambers, spices and all the scents of winter. Right about this time of year I start craving the white flowers, the florals and roses. I start dreaming of Do-Son, White Tuberose, A la Nuit, Joy, the Fleur de Oranger’s, Yosh White Flowers, Fiori di Capri, Coeur de Fleur, Chinatown, Chelsea Flowers, my list is almost endless. It goes on to Tonatto’s Ambrosia, Parfums de Nicolai Just un Reve, Carnal Flower, and Jardin Blanc. I dream of carnations, lilacs, of iris, jasmine, frangipani and gardenias. You can see how this equates into fragrances for me. Since I collect just as many spring and summer fragrances as I do fall/winter, I am going to start with two on my spring-summer list and work my way down each week.
Ecume de Rose by Parfums de Rosine
By Diane Artzberger
At first sniff this was a “ perfect rose” to my nose. Ecume de Rose smells so like the fragrance you get when you stick your nose into a large tea rose bush that is growing outside your home. I get a tiny touch of powder, and find the fragrance a bit old fashioned but only a little. Ecume is a really refreshing perfume, and one that has become a favorite. Despite the many notes listed, I really smell mainly rose with a slight tang of something else, the something that makes it an outside rose instead of an inside rose bouquet, but not something sweet. I found it to stay fairly linear, even though it is not really a linear fragrance. The Rosine line in general is very nice, but this one, to me, is a standout, more so than La Rose or Rose d‘Ete. The sillage is light and it is fairly long lasting.
Notes include : blackcurrant leaves, water lilies, dune roses, vetiver, white musk.
mermaid artwork courtesy of Karen J. Hatzigeorgiou
Blowing the winter months behind us, the warm scents of
summer transport us to a place of sunny days, warm
honeyed skin and soft sand between our toes. Slipping
us out of our heavy coats, Estēe Lauder’s limited edition
new fragrance collection, Summer Fun bursts with
whimsical, relaxed scents, perfect for easy summer days.
Infused with the barefoot, anything goes, style of summer,
the Estee Lauder Summer Fun fragrance collection has
combined the spirit of summer with some of Estēe Lauder’s
favorite fragrances, Summer Fun pleasures, Summer Fun
Beyond Paradise and Summer Fun Beautiful.
Each fragrance’s signature bottle is dressed in a delicate,
leaf pattern, evoking the ethereal feeling of summer. Summer
Fun pleasures is wrapped in a peachy pink pattern, Summer
Fun Beyond Paradise is draped in a summery purple, and
Summer Fun Beautiful is adorned in elegant pink.
Exuding the energy of a carefree summer, the Summer Fun
fragrance collection delivers three refreshing new fragrance
sprays in light, refreshing concentration perfect for all over
body application.
Summer Fun pleasures, Suggested Retail Price: $49.50
Summer Fun Beyond Paradise, Suggested Retail Price: $49.50
Summer Fun Beautiful, Suggested Retail Price: $49.50
Estēe Lauder Limited Edition Summer Fun Fragrance Collection will be available at all Estēe Lauder counters and www.esteelauder.com in March 2007. Available also at Bergdorf Goodman's for the upcoming Sniffapalooza event.
Photograph and release courtsy of Jessica Malone of Estée Lauder Global Communications
Chanel Exclusif's Reviews
By Kathy Patterson
Today I got my hands on samples from the eagerly-awaited
Chanel Exclusifs line. I was so excited, I could barely wait until
dinner was over so I could rush to my office and test them.
(My husband always makes a lovely dinner and it would be
cruel to make him wait while I overindulge my already spoiled
olfactory sense.) Let me tell you it was well worth the wait.
I picked the three that I thought I would like best from their
descriptions. It was difficult to find listings of the actual notes
used in these fragrances, so I can't be sure of exactly what
I am smelling, besides the obvious. I list the notes I could find
and go from there. I must say that I am very delightfully surprised
that I like all three, and it is hard to pick a favorite, although at
this moment, I am leaning slightly towards the Eau de Cologne.
No.18
Notes: ambrette seed
No. 18 starts off with a slightly musty and dry note with a vegetal
quality, vaguely metallic, like a root of some sort, with a non-spicy
white pepper edge (a la L'Artisan Poivre Piquant perhaps). Soon a
musky soapiness reveals itself, sweetish and very pleasant. The
drydown has a heavier musk smell, that of the ambrette, with a
bit of funk. Not unpleasant mind you, like dirty underpants or
sweaty men (although I hear some people like that sort of thing),
just a little animalic.
Coromandel
Notes: amber, vanilla, patchouli
A sweet and powdery oriental with tinges of leather, a dash of
something akin to orange peel, some spice, some smoke, and
a soft vanilla with a dash of patchouli. It reminds me a bit of both Anné Pliska and Fifi Chachnil, but without the former's old-lady quality (on me - I know it has lots of fans) and sans the rose of the latter. Not as spicy or bold a scent as I expected, but more refined and ladylike.
Eau de Cologne
Notes: musk, neroli, vetiver, bergamot, citrus
Eau de Cologne opens with sweet and bright citrus notes that dries down to a very aromatic and musky neroli fragrance. Simple, fairly straightforward, and completely delicious.
31 Rue Cambon
Notes: iris, labdanum, jasmine, sandalwood
This fragrance is an oakmoss-free chypre that opens with a very dry and peppery note that has an earthy, dirt-like metallic tang,
somewhat like carrots. The scent then becomes more floral, with a musky and leathery tone. There's a very Chanel quality to this
scent--elegant, expensive, complex. The only Chanel I ever wore was Coco, in the 80s, and although the scents are different, they
are connected in my mind. 31 Rue Cambon has a nice bit of patchouli in the drydown, an earthy sensuousness that is not unpleasant, although my husband thought it had a suggestion of body odor. Try it and judge for yourself. I'm not a big fan of chypres, but as I quite like this one, it must be oakmoss that I don't care for. (I am a heretic, I know.)
A crisp green fragrance, "intended to evoke stems, leaves and springtime," Bel Respiro opens with just that stemmy-ness. Then there is a rush of notes, as if walking through a garden full of herbs and fragrant blooms on a hot summer's day while drinking a glass of iced green tea sweetened with honey. Bel Respiro reminds me a bit of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca, without the mint. It's very pleasant, sweet and green, with the honeyed note becoming more prevalent in the drydown.
28 La Pausa
Notes: orris
This elegant and chilly scent opens with the same sort of earthy root smell as 31 Rue Cambon, then becomes a mild white floral. I really can't find a whole lot to say about this one; I think it's pretty unremarkable, and the scent is not particularly long-lasting. Meh.
I'm actually pretty surprised that I like 5 of the 6 scents, although I personally consider only one of them worthy of joining my collection as a full bottle--Coromandel.
Special thanks to Allison and Jennifer at the Chanel Fragrance Boutique, located at 15 E. 57the Street in New York City.
Chanel Les Exclusif's are also available at Bergdorf Goodman nationwide.
Mandy Aftel
Tango and Cognac Reviews
By James Dotson
Some perfumes are like musical phrases, and others like a photograph or a one-act play. Mandy Aftel’s perfumes are like beautifully bound antiquarian books. Reading a book is not a passive act. You have to make the effort to sit quietly until you enter the world of the writer, until her mysterious lodestone of creativity falls into your head trailing with it bits of places, characters and events. Her perfumes require the elements of attention and time to unleash their stories so they will never appeal to those who do not possess a passion to explore antique fragrant worlds.
Tango is composed of choya nakh (smoked seashells)
and champaca. It is described as a winter fragrance but
what I see when I open this book is a story of darkness
and spirituality. At midsummer, for only a single night,
the Night-Blooming Cereus produces a waxy white flower
scented like a phosphorescent jasmine shimmering
over honeydew melon and wisteria. Tango starts with
this glistening white flower but the flower transforms into
a full moon above the sea. Out of the waves arises the
indigo-skinned goddess Yemaya, and around her neck
are black pearls, corals and purple cowries dripping with
seaweed and spices. From her hair emanates an incense
of storax and balsam that fades into an imperial leather.
Tango and Cognac were created as a pair and are meticulously crafted with Ms. Aftel’s palette of extraordinary essential oils and absolutes. Like most naturals they stay close to the skin and fade to a soft powdery presence after a few hours. Due to the scarcity of the materials, they will never be produced on a large scale, but they are available at Henri Bendel’s in NYC and online at aftelier.com.
Sniffapalooza members will be happy to note that Mandy offers her perfumes in samples and minis so we don’t have to run out and look for decants on ebay.
Cognac is her newest perfume and it is created almost entirely from food notes: green cognac, sarsaparilla root, fresh ginger, olive absolute and blood orange. This opens to a candied orange with notes of cherry liqueur and buttery olive bread. he sarsaparilla is uncanny. It makes me feel that I am seated in a 19th century apothecary sipping a root tonic but then it hovers into invisibility. Next there is something tactile like cat fur (is it costus?) and I can picture a smoke-blue Scottish Fold cat with large cognac eyes quietly lapping at a porcelain bowl on a marbled green floor. The drydown is an egg-cream soda amber. Like a cat, Cognac is quietly chic and will only approach if it senses you are a cat person.
Lavender Martini
By Diane Artzberger
Icy, cool crisp, fresh. These all describe Demeter’s Lavender Martini.
Lavender Martini bursts onto your skin with a crispness that feels like
a soda sparkling on your skin. After that cool burst, the lavender comes
out softly. It’s lavender on the rocks basically, which if you think about
it, would be part of a lavender martini. There is a floral bit here, but
also a touch of sweetness, as well as the more aquatic note that
would be the vodka of the drink. It took me a few times to come
around to this, but I really like it now. It is an excellent refresher
for daytime, just as the label says, a pick me up. Demeter describes
Lavender martini as feminine and sensual. I am not sure I completely
agree on that, I don’t see it as very sensual, or overly feminine.
It is a not quite what I would call unisex, but almost.
Demeter continues with their unique, fun line of colognes.
This is a solid addition to the line.
Demeter Lychee
By Diane Artzberger
Lychee from Demeter reminds me a lot of Yves St. Laurent’s
In Love Again perfume. Most of us think of that as a grapefruit
fragrance, but after smelling Lychee, I can see that it is also a
lychee fragrance. Perhaps too, the lychee smells a bit like grapefruit,
as that note does also come through here. There is a burst of
fruitiness right off, and it stays very much there, with tropical punch
aspects to it, befitting the fruit that it gets it name from. I can detect
an herbal floral-ness as well. ( Lychee is part of the herbology line)
This would be a wonderful fragrance for beach or boardwalk strolling
or that Bermuda vacation. Sweet, zesty and not complicated.
Lychee is longer lasting than I expected. It stayed on
and sniffable for quite a few hours
SKY by Gendarme
By Dr. James Dotson
I am not one to watch reality TV shows but every once in awhile
I just have to. It gives me the frisson of that rubberneck, gawking-
at-the-horrible accident-on-the-freeway feeling. So, after watching
one of those “trading places” genre shows I suddenly thought...
hmmnn, wouldn't it be great to try “trading perfumes” for a day
where you were transported to someone else’s life and forced to
wear all their fragrances?
The rules would be : NO SCRUBBING, no matter what, even if it was Giorgio. Inspired by this mad impulse, I decided to reach
into my sample bag from the LA Sniffa and pick out something I would never wear. This is how I got to know SKY.
While we were at the LA Sniffapalooza we had a chance to listen to the dapper Topper Schoroeder describe the genesis of his original Gendarme fragrance. I don’t know if it was just that the name “Topper” is so damn cute or what, but he was a pretty adorable person and sure knew how to spin a great story. But I have to admit that to me Gendarme smells exactly like Woolite.
I have used Woolite for years and it is a great product but I do not ever want to put Woolite on my skin until the day that pashmina starts growing out of my arm. SKY is another fabric softener scent. It starts off with something that suggests a pale blue-grey color , perhaps it’s lavandin (which is a hybrid of true and spike lavendars) and then leads into a soft camphoraceous-herb note that reminds me of the white sage that grows in the mountains near San Diego. After that it coasts into the valley of synthetic musk's.... I would guess Galaxolide and Cashmeran and a few of their friends.
When I was staying at a beach house north of San Francisco recently I tucked it into my luggage. I sprayed SKY liberally over the comforter which was a bit musty from the sea air. Let me tell you, SKY smells incredible on fabric, and created an instant clean-sheet sensation. It is perfect for hotel rooms but does not really do it as a personal fragrance for me which causes Professor James to predict that it will be incredibly popular.
Creative Scentualization
"Finding the perfect fragrance for you can bring you into the moment and remind you of who you are and what you love," says Sarah Horowitz-Thran, founder of Creative Scentualization.
I had a chance to preview these recently in Los Angeles and I found both of them to be absolutely beautiful.
Ms. Thran is a meticulous perfumer and her scents are very well blended as well as lovely. These are full bottle worthy.
Perfect Gardenia
Sensual, innocent and alluring.
This is the first fragrance created in the Perfect Perfumes line and it is still one of our most popular. Floral scents such as gardenia are, for many people, highly evocative of romance. Women of all ages have had powerful reactions to this fragrance, the most frequent comment being that it is the most authentic replication of a gardenia's scent they have ever encountered
Perfect Veil
Clean, subtle and provocative. The concept behind this scent was to recreate the smell of clean, naked skin ... only better. Exquisite and subtle when worn
alone, it may also be layered to increase any fragrance's warmth and staying power. This scent captured an immediate following upon its release as well as the attention of the national press. Perfect Veil is enjoyed by both men and women.
Angelica meets Lilac and Mandarin meets Basil-Ever since they first appeared in 1999,
each Aqua Allegoria fragrance, remarkable for its boldness, inventiveness and luminous
grace, is eagerly awaited…Modern heirs to a distinguished history, the collection
enchants us each season with a new chapter, as the great family of Guerlain’s
Eaux Fraîches grows.
The beautiful and elegant fragrances give star billing to an unexpected raw material,
which finds its most perfect expression in the lightness of an Eau Fraîche. Each one
celebrates a flower, a fruit or an aromatic plant, elevating it to a special status in high-
class perfumery.
For spring 2007, Guerlain has taken the olfactory imagination to new heights, creating,
with Angélique-Lilas and Mandarine-Basilic, an unexpected coupling of two carefully
selected ingredients. The solo becomes a duet, a love match between two materials,
a marriage of aromas: first, lilac falls for angelica, then, mandarin captures the heart
of basil…
AQUA ALLEGORIA Angélique-Lilas
This aromatic floral scent, marrying angelica and lilac, resembles a fragrant hymn to
romanticism, filled with delicacy and the sweet lure of tenderness. Jean-Paul Guerlain
dreamed up this encounter between the wild flower and the garden flower to make it
the most inventive and romantic of olfactory marriages.
Half plant, half flower, the beautiful angelica conceals beneath its virtuous airs,
the presence of shining notes that might almost be guilty of the sin of pride…
In the shade of its blooms, it also harbors green and luminous notes with subtly
sensual musky accents. It is this very ambiguity that attracts the perfectly innocent
white lilac, whose miniature blossoms exhale a fresh and delicate fragrance with
accents of lily of the valley. Sweet, light and subtly honeyed, lilac is the epitome of the floral
note.
It was a bold move to marry angelica with lilac, the contact between them bringing out each one’s
full splendour. To celebrate this union between the flowery fragrance and the feigned innocent,
pink peppercorns, Seville orange and jasmine make up the first sensual notes… An excellent introduction that allows the heart notes of angelica and lilac to savour their new happiness and allow, beneath accents of ylang-ylang and heliotrope, a new femininity to filter through…
Top Notes: Pink Peppercorns, Jasmine and Seville Orange
Heart Notes: Angelica Lilac Ylang-Ylang
Base Notes: Cedar, Heliotrope
AQUA ALLEGORIA Mandarine-Basilic
AQUA ALLEGORIA Angélique-Lilas
An unexpected union…Basil adds spice to mandarin in a burst of freshness that evokes
the advent of a new olfactory story, written by Marie Salamagne (Firmenich) and inspired by
an original idea by Sylvaine Delacourte.
Mandarin was born in China. Basil hails from India. While geography may not have destined them
for one another, their noble status has made this a match of equals. A genuine gift of nature that
made it delicious, mandarin fell under the spell of basil’s charm. This “Royal Herb”, with its thousands
of virtues, is a veritable treasury holding infinite olfactory pleasures, from aniseed to pepper, from
green to spicy.
The name alone brings a promise of freshness. As she goes out to meet her new destiny,
mandarin brings with her an entourage of the most sparkling maids of honour. Clementine and blood
orange add their joyful and voluptuous accents to a cocktail of fresh and generous citrus fruits that
puts the bride centre stage. For her bouquet, a garland of white flowers set in a ribbon of ivy. Then
basil unfurls its remarkable fragrance of aromatic herb: among bursts of spice and aniseed notes,
it holds citrus zests and echoes the energizing and hearty notes of green tea.
The union of mandarin and basil is intense: it gives birth to a sparkling, radiant, luminous
Eau de Toilette. This new combination is cast in a light veil that mingles amber transparency
with the elegant purity of noble woods.
Top Notes: Orange Blossom, White Peony, Green Tea, Ivy Roman Chamomile
Heart Notes: Mandarin, Basil
Base Notes: Amber, Sandalwood
Price: $50 each 75ml Eau de Toilette Available: April 2007 at Sephora, Bergdorf Goodman and Sephora.com
Press release and photographs courtsy of Julia J. Sloan, Manager of Public Relations, Parfums Givenchy and Guerlain
Ipanema Review
Satellite Paris
By Victoria Owen
Ahhh I close my eyes and I breathe in - Ipanéma.
The warm breeze of summertime in Rio, toes in hot summer sand,
the salty smell of the sea on my skin. My tall drink at hand and all
is right with the world.
A delicate blending of the notes renders the composition just perfect.
Not to salty, not too ozone, not too fruity or sweet. Like a soft sexy
whisper again your skin, it's dreamy and exotic, and downright sexy.
"As a seashell polished by the wave
The turquoise smell of the ocean around a sand bank
Lying in the sun, pleasure of the beach ...
Blue foam of a summer romance "
As if the tantalizing description is not enough, feast your eyes on
the vivid turquoise juice and the bottle topped with beach jewelry charms.
If this isn't enough to make a winter-bored perfumista buy unsniffed,
I don't know what will.
Notes: Ylang, orange, grapefruit, freesia, sandalwood, coco, white flowers,
tonka bean, vanilla, sea accord, patchouli
If Fire Island was a little too lotion smelling for you, try this little escape to Rio.
hours,usually in multiple layers while I meander through a smellscape of Japanese aloeswood incense, beeswax votives and fading room sprays. And I firmly believe that bottles labeled parfum d’interieur ought to be misted onto my neck, while Mitsouko EDT smells incredible on my couch. Recently I became concerned that my car was missing out on all this. My Mini Cooper has provided me with deep warm seats and dark jazz to accompany many a rainy afternoon and deserves more than a cherry blotter card on the rear-view mirror.
In my pioneer days of environmental fragrance I tried stuffing the ashtray with oakmoss from my local herb store after charging it with lavender absolute. It was great except for the tendency for clumps of moss to jump off onto the floor.
Then there was the electric diffuser that plugged into the cigarette lighter. It was a perfect use for all of those forgotten perfume sample vials. You just upended one onto the pad and you had a good half hour of throw, though unfortunately the reason we put samples in drawers is because they often don’t smell so hot.
I don’t know why it took me so long to take my bottle of John Galliano down to the car. I mean, it had been everywhere else. It had already made several trips to work. I think I took it to Trader Joe’s once. So, I carefully spritzed the carpets with it, then randomly aimed it all over the dashboard and every which way and quickly slammed the car door shut so it could steep awhile.
When I opened the door of my Mini later, it was not my
car. It had become some kind of new Mini-Jaguar chimera.
When I closed my eyes I saw dove grey suede, carved
oak and a distant cypress branch wreathed in fog.
The juice is by Olivia Giacobetti (creator of Dzing!
and other L’Artisan greats), and supposedly inspired
by Galliano’s idea of a Russian Orthodox Church.
The notes listed are birch, iris, leather, moss, myrrh,
vanilla and musk. What I perceive is a pronounced birch
tar Russian leather accord over deliciously dry spicy-
balsamic myrrh, with wafts' of tobacco and ambergris.
After the initial campfire smoke settles, it does not evolve
much but has a good longevity, and my car still
maintained its aristocratic leather aura for days.
It’s a perfect example of a composition that is relatively
linear yet manages to be deeply beautiful both on the
skin and everywhere else.
Last month at the L.A. Sniffapalooza we were trolling
through the Beverly Hills Santa Maria Novella when
Marlen Harrison of Perfume Critic pointed out a bottle
way up on a side shelf: Nostalgia, cologne that smelled like an old car. I knew that if my car could smell like a basilica, then there was no reason why I could not smell like a car, just hopefully not the “new car” bouquet of outgassing volatile cements and PVC plastic. The initial splash let out a blast of benzene, a chemical best known as a gasoline additive and a solvent for degreasing metal. A petrol rubber haze hovered over angular leather and something sharp, green and precious woodsy.
Nostalgia is a pug-ugly perfume, as rapturously ugly as a scarred Italian gangster in a charcoal pinstripe suit who throws you into the backseat of his vintage Bugatti and roars off into a noir landscape. Yes, this is a good thing and I bought a bottle immediately.
Tom Ford Azurée Soleil
By Kathy Patterson
Tom Ford's Azurée body oil was a huge success
when it was released last year; people rhapsodized
about it being summer in a bottle. This April, its fans
(and everyone else who didn't get a chance to grab
some while it was available) will have another chance
to test this modern reinterpretation of a classic.
As with Youth Dew, Tom Ford has left his mark on
another Estée Lauder fragrance. The original Azurée,
released in 1969, was a woody citrus fragrance,
"inspired by the pure light of the Riviera." The new
version, however, is more of a fun-in-the-sun California
beach scent. Light and warm, Azurée Soleil is redolent
of coconut, tiare flower and jasmine, with a subtle spark
of citrus. The coconut is not of the cloying type one
might find in a tropical drink but rather the light and
mild sweetness of coconut water, the refreshing liquid
within the nut. These notes are wrapped in a warm
cloud of woods and amber, touched with a dollop of
caramel. And like Youth Dew Amber Nude, this
scent has an old-fashioned quality that makes
one nostalgic.
Azurée Soleil is a skin scent - skin in the summertime.
The first whiff took me back to my childhood in the
early 70s, forming a clear picture of my mother as
she sits on the beach in her yellow bikini, wearing a
chustka (kerchief) on her head to keep the sand out of her hair.
She smelled of suntan lotion and shampoo,combined with her
own natural fragrance.
We didn't go to the beach much, but I recall this one particular week-long trip,
taken by Mom, my little brother, and me (Dad had to work), as being
a wonderful time.
Although not exactly, Azurée Soleil smells enough like Mom to bring
Once in a while a perfume comes across your nose that captivates you
for reasons that you can’t express in a meaningful, concrete way, like
this note did that, and this one did this, because it is hitting an
emotional chord that defies description - like smelling the cologne
your first major love wore when you haven’t smelled it in years.
Jessica Dunne commissioned Michael Roudnitska, son of Edmond
Roudnitska - creator for the Parfums Delrae fragrances, Noir Epices
for Frederic Malle, Eau Savage for Dior, etc., - to create Ellie in honor of
her grandmother.
Notes of bergamot, tangerine and cyclamen in the top, a heart of lily of
the valley, jasmine, gardenia, rose and fig leaves, and base notes of
vetiver, sandalwood, musk, vanilla and coconut. I am a total green note
‘ho, adored the Gobin Daude Sous le Buis and Seve Exquise,
but usually Lily of the Valley leaves me cold, along with
coconut and vanilla, so my approach on this perfume was
with trepidation – we would either be sworn enemies or BFF.
This opens smooth, velvety, earthy green. It is the smell of spring
in the garden, when you are elbow deep in dirt, stems, twigs and new
flowers that are blooming, but not hit the peak of the bloom, just have that slightly green flower smell. The vanilla and coconut keep the green and earthy components elegantly smoothed out as it dries down, but it is not a sweet perfume, nor is the green bitter. It is perfectly balanced perfection. I’ll try and not add all the other things I’m thinking, like genius, masterpiece, I want to marry Michael Roudnitska so he will make a perfume this beautiful with my name on it (sorry, sweetie, we’ll have to work out the bigamy thing – those people on that HBO series did!).
Available only at Heni Bendel’s at this time for $185 for ½ ounce. Yeah, I know, I know!
But it is totally worth it, and I have a plan. They have a website, and we have already started the Make This Into an EDP Campaign, which you can join. Just hit the Contact Us button on the www.elliedperfume.com website and let the absolutely kind owner know how much we need this in an EDP so more people can love it as it deserves to be loved.
-Patty Geissler
Editors Note from Sniffapalooza Magazine: I have had the opportunity of hearing from the perfumer, Jessica Dunne, regarding her new perfume. We will be conducting an interview next week. She told me that she was thrilled to find Sniffapalooza Magazine, and that she loved reading my piece on my grandmother's flower fields. (Coeur de Fleur)
"I completely identify with your incredibly vivid memories of how 'simple and perfect' life felt while surrounded by the fragrance of her flowers. I too was inspired by my grandmother, Eleanor, to pursue my passion for perfume, and named my first perfume, Ellie, after her. It has just hit the shelves, and is carried exclusively at Henri Bendel in New York. Creating the scent was truly a labor of love – a process that took almost two years. My grandmother loved to find obscure fragrances on her travels. I have incredible memories of how graceful and elegant she was, and how fabulous she always looked and smelled. I endeavored to create a scent that was reminiscent of my favorite memories of her from childhood, yet infused with a modern and fresh sensibility."
She goes on to state that “She felt strongly about creating a luxurious product rooted in the time-honored art of perfumery, not something created in a laboratory. I went to Grasse, France, the heart of traditional perfumery, and worked one-on-one with master perfumer Michel Roudnitska. What evolved over the course of our collaboration is a scent that is fresh, clean, and ladylike, and created in small batches to maintain quality and authenticity. I worked just as hard to make the bottle design and the packaging a reflection of the personal nature of the scent. I wanted the bottle to have a classic feel reminiscent of the beautiful bottles that I remember seeing on my grandmother's dressing table. Each box is put together by hand and is meant to feel like a special, hand-wrapped gift."
"My early memories of perfume worn by the important women in my life fueled my desire to delve into unfamiliar territory armed only with my passion for fragrance. I knew that perfumers were artists, and have always respected their incredible skill."
Before leaving Takashimaya for a bit of fresh air, I detected a
vanilla-y floral scent wafting about as I walked by the Vertigo Parfums
display. The rep was quite eager to share a sniff, so I asked her if I
indeed smelled vanilla. She replied that it was Vertigo, the line's first
scent, a sweet white floral with a musky drydown.
Vertigo opens up with both white flowers and musk, with a fresh
cleanness, like a particularly fragrant shampoo. There's a bit of citrus
up front, a tiny amount, more lemon than orange, that takes on the
dusty quality of the dried peel of the fruit. There is also a green quality
to the scent, although nothing I would call "lush." White flowers take
over the middle of the fragrance, nothing standing out in particular but
blending together harmoniously. The drydown is an ambery muskiness
that comes out to join the white floral party. Oddly enough, I can't find the vanilla,
unless it is part of the pervasive sweetness of the scent as a whole. Sweet, but not quite cloying, Vertigo is a pleasant and cheerful summertime scent that would do well with young or youthful women.
Vertigo Notes: California lemon, Brazilian orange, lush greens, May muguet bells, Egyptian jasmine, Indian tuberose, vanilla planifolia, long-stemmed white roses, galbanum, Brazilian rain forest "Tears of Venus," ylang ylang, white amber, sheer sandalwood, white musk's
Hypnotica is not quite as sweet. It is a "floral, fruity, musky" scent that opens
with a berryish note that's as much fruit as leaf, and a bouquet of white flowers
that manages to be light and airy, with that clean marine-esqe or ozone quality
to it that reminds me very much of CK One. The drydown is faintly woodsy, with
a lot of white musk.
Not a particularly unique or interesting fragrance, but the packaging is quite,
er, hypnotic. Stare at the pattern on the side of the box and it will seem to
be in motion. Focus on any one of the many ovals that make up the pattern,
and it will stop moving. The heavy crystal-like bottle has a spiral carved into
its base, continuing with the theme of hypnotic motion.
Hypnotica Notes: blackcurrant leaf, seringa, Water fruits, jasmine,
orange blossom, muguet, cyclamen, sandalwood bark, cedarwood, white musks.
FERME TES YEUX
JAR PARFUMS
By James Dotson
JAR likes it dark. During a London
retrospective exhibit of his jewelry he
made people stumble through a
blackened room with only flashlights
to illuminate the vitrines filled
with his baroque gems.
In the basement of Bergdorf’s, in a
plush alcove barely lit by a pin spotlight,
I was introduced to perfumes with no
names. As the glass box with the fragrance
infused cloth was revealed, all questions about
notes and ingredients were met with
silence. It was like floating into a lost temple of Atlantis, through a marble chamber lined
with statues of immensely old empresses and sorcerers, and long-dead gods all carved
from fire opal and translucent mauve jade.
The nameless creature that called to me was Ferme Tes Yeux ( Close Your Eyes).
Other reviews have described it as “vile,” “a Stephen King novel,” and “Tom Cat and
rotting flowers.” All true. But alien things don’t yield their secret selves to first
impressions. I tried to take it apart in my mind. There are no top notes.
Just a wave of civet, ambergris and jasmine laced with clove. Sometimes there is incense,
and something remarkably like a roomful of stargazer lilies. I think I sense cassie,
white lily absolute, and carnation. For me, this is the heavily animalic scent of 18th
century Versailles. It rises majestically like a regal french vampire from her tomb of undead lilies,
but in a moment this supernatural creature can shapeshift into a leopard with a heavy gold
collar of Burmese rubies and black coral.
I can’t think of anything else to say about it since it is so utterly unlike other contemporary perfumes.
And who would wear it besides me? I imagine that someday soon as I am walking downtown, a lapis
blue Bentley full of rich Italian Satanists will slow at the crosswalk, roll down the window to track my
There’s a brute wildness in the fennel-wands....Reverence it well.
Euripedes, The Bacchae
The is nothing else like it, a perfectly realized creation from Gary McNatton and Henri Fornier of Symrise, as precisely delineated as an antique botanical print of a wild fennel plant. It’s alive... growing in front of you, each feathery and quivering leaf radiating an air of pure green anise, with a veil of crushed stems and golden yellow umbels, camphoraceous and redolent of wood, hay, pepper and incense.
Once upon a time, the holy fennel was venerated as the scepter of the god Dionysus. But now it lies broken and forgotten in vacant lots beneath the rotten orange sun of Los Angeles. I can only hope that this heralds the resurrection of this delicious herb that has long flavored the bitter-green beauties of Absinthe and Chartreuse. To inhale it, is to drink in a gemmed stream of iridescent green-gold scarabs.
Fragrance Reviews
Now, add chandelier-lit mega-tents, A-list designers, world-class models, press, buyers, and, oh yes, racks and racks of next year’s clothes, and you have the paradox that is today’s Bryant Park."
The fragrance itself contains notes of rose, pink pepper, patchouli and raspberry, among others. The juice opens with a burst of berry, this flashes quickly by and flows into a light slightly sweet rose with the pink pepper peeking out. Bryant Park is a sunny fragrance, zesty without being a citrus. The patchouli comes quietly to the fore and mixes with the rose; this seems to give Bryant Park a somewhat effervescent feeling. This is not a girly fragrance, nor is the rose strong and overt. This is a rose that gently washes across your skin as it unfolds. The other notes mingle throughout to balance it all very nicely.
For those worried about a new rose-based fragrance from Bond No. 9 so soon after the release of the also rose based West Side, they needn’t have. These two couldn’t be more different. The notes here are subtle and tempered by each other. After a couple hours of wear the light touch of berry and pepper seem most prominent. This perfume seems to stay close to the skin, but that may change when a spray is used as opposed to dabbing on. Bryant Park is a light fragrance, a breezy, warm day in a bottle. The lasting power is good, as most Bond No. 9 fragrances seem to be, and the sillage is soft.
Fragrance Review 2:
By Christine Lewandowski
Bryant Park is the 28th fragrance released by Laurice Rahme's Bond No. 9. Just as the famous (and would be famous) designers display their collections at Fashion Week providing a continuous sequence of changing visual images, Bryant Park possesses a wonderful chameleon-like quality for our olfactory senses. You will be amazed. However, Bryant Park should
be tested numerous times; both daubed & sprayed, on the skin. Moreover, it does make a difference.
The notes of Bryant Park are Lily of the Valley, Rhubarb, Pink Pepper, Rose, Patchouli, Raspberry & Amber. The development is primarily linear but with a “twist”. It lasts so long you have to revisit your wrist to notice the changes. Bryant Park has amazing longevity, 14 hours after one application. The fragrance does not have a lot of “le sillage”, but instead remains close to the skin. As always, test on you own skin before making a purchase decision. After about 3 tries, I have decided that Bryant Park is indeed full bottle worthy.
by Kathy Patterson
Demeter Sweet Delights Vanilla Ice Cream
“Demeter’s Vanilla Ice Cream is sinfully rich, but also bright, warm and inviting,
like the summer’s day that inspired it. ”It took 200 years and the determination
of Demeter Fragrance Library, however, to turn ice cream into wearable fragrance.”
Thanks to the jolt of alcohol in my too-soon first whiff, Vanilla Ice Cream
smelled quite a bit like a vanilla liquor or even vanilla extract at first.
Then a slightly burnt sugar aroma of cooking caramel came forth, sweet and
delicious, with creamy undertones, like a crème brulee. My husband swore he
detected coconut in it as well, and when I thought about it, I decided he was right.
In the drydown, this caramelly-vanilla reminds me of Goetzes’ Caramel Creams
or, completely inexplicably, like Licorice Allsorts, particularly the ones that are
mostly coconut cream with just a thin strip of licorice (not that it smells like licorice,
it’s just the overall impression I am getting).
So while I can’t say this smells like vanilla ice cream (personally, I don’t think vanilla
ice cream—or any other flavor, for that matter—has much of a scent), Sweet Delights
Vanilla Ice Cream is pretty delicious. It’s a sweet, but not cloying, vanilla that has
enough going on to make it interesting, and will be a pleasant addition to my
vanilla collection.
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If you, unlike most of the folks I hang out with, want just one or two perfumes, Bryant Park would be an excellent choice for your daytime fragrance. Just as we have one or two items as staples in our wardrobe, Bryant Park fills the very same role in perfume.
If Bryant Park was a runway model & I was a sports type announcer, here is what I would say: Que the music: The Girl from Ipanema “And next we have Bryant Park, latest from the House of Bond. She sparkles, full of life, bouncy-step (lily of the valley) with a twinkle in her eye (rhubarb). She crinkles her perfectly sculpted & freckled nose (the pink pepper) as the most glorious of smiles envelopes her beautiful face (a soft rose).
Reaching the end of the walkway, she stops makes eye contact with some lucky member of the audience and gives them an almost unperceivable wink of her long lashes. (The patchouli, which believe me, IS unperceivable) As she turns to retrace her steps, a small breeze lifts the scent of sensual summer berries over the crowd (raspberries & amber) and everyone says “Aaaahhh”.
In the Rosine line, each perfume is uniquely different and Ecume de Rose is no exception. Ecume de Rose opens with a refreshing burst of bright water lilies and black currant leaves, conjuring images of a morning walk in a garden
near the ocean. The fragrance then melds into the heart with a fresh bouquet of
dune roses and rose attar with a wonderful base of light woodsy
notes of vetiver, amber and white musk.
How perfect the name, Ecume de Rose or “Rose Foam”. I have images of mermaids and sirens, the lure of the temptress, rising out of the ocean, shimmering blue waves crowned by soft green and white foam. Out of this, grows the wild rose, this enchantress. There is an exciting wildness of Ecume de Rose, conjuring a romantic magical image, indeed, of an ocean goddess that just happens to be right next to a spectacular flower garden that leads straight to my heart.
Nympho Image/Art above courtesy of Carol Tipping FRPS.
Carol Tipping FRPS is also with the Royal Photographic Societywww.rps.org
