For the Love of Perfume, Fashion and All That is Fabulous: Paris (Part 4)

I envisioned our next day in Paris as the day of luxury: visiting all the big luxury boutiques at Avenue Montaigne, Rue Cambon and Saint-Honore and culminating to a fabulous dinner at L’Avenue at Avenue Montaigne at night. Still, as any true perfume lover knows, there is always room for perfume! Avenue Montaigne is one of my favorite places in Paris (if not the whole world) and I spent the better part of the day going in and out of its stunning boutiques: Gucci, Jil Sander, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior… At Dior I had my first proper sniff of La Collection Particuliere which consists of Passage N°4, N°8 & N°9, all encased in beautiful bulb atomizer flacons. As much as I adore Dior (the Montaigne flagship is probably the best boutique in Paris and both this time and two years ago I have been served most excellently – the atmosphere is wonderful and the service simply superb) I have to say that I was not very impressed by the perfumes, if only when considered alongside their prices. The rose especially left a very bad impression, smelling fragile and superficial (I have to disclose I did not test these on skin, however). I was most impressed by N°8, a cheerful and feminine musky violet-iris composition which I would be very, very happy to wear if it did not cost over 300 euro! It is definitely worth sampling if you are looking for a great iris scent.

Leaving Avenue Montaigne I spotted a pink sign up ahead at rue Clément Marot. Something inexplicably flashed in my brain; I knew I had to explore it. “Do you see what it says?” I panted excitedly to my boyfriend as we approached nearer. He grinned. “No, but I can see the logo.” he replied naughtily. “What is it?” “Hello Kitty!!!” What?? Dear reader, you might not know this about me, but I have this almost obscene obsession with the Japanese cat! Even shopping to my heart's content a week earlier while in Greece at a licensed Hello Kitty pyjama/babydoll shop my taste for all things Sanrio had not yet been satiated (it never is). The boutique at at rue Clément Marot is called Victoria Couture and it only sells Hello Kitty things (clothes, accessories, jewelry). I went a little crazy in there. The store owner burst out laughing and told me I was like a kid in a candy store. Thankfully my obsession only messes with my brain up to a certain point - I did not actually feel compelled to shell out thousands of euros so that I can hang a diamond encrusted kitty head from my neck. I did leave with a pink velour bag however (pictured right), large enough to use at the gym and to take with me to the beach while vacationing in Mykonos later this summer. It has already given me so much pleasure, it makes going to the gym even more fun! And I realize this probably makes me sound very frivolous and silly. I’m sorry… I can’t help it. I LOVE Hello Kitty!

We proceeded looking for the Arabian Oud Shop, but when we reached rue de Marignan we found it closed, as in closed down. Asking around at shops close by didn’t lead us anywhere, but fortunately we decided to take a walk on Champs Elysées and favored by luck, we almost immediately stumbled upon the shop’s new location. The shop smells so strong that even when it is closed (as we discovered when passing in front of it the next day late in the evening) you can actually smell it out on the street! Inside the shop we were greeted by an exotic, rather handsome yet thoroughly unpleasant man, whose every word and behavior confirmed my suspicion of his being a raging misogynist! His restrained yet tinged with covert aggression behavior immediately made me feel ill at ease. Conversation flow, or rather conversation of any kind was impossible to achieve. The awkwardness was palpable in the air. I wanted to sample the perfumes and even though I made my preference for initially testing on a blotter before committing to skin space clear, he insisted on covering every available inch of skin on my arms with various oils and perfumes. Some of them were beautiful, some of them not really my cup of tea. All of them were unique and strange, and truly worth a sniff for any perfume lover worth his salt if only to open up new horizons in his personal olfactionary. Almost all of them were too strong and too far removed from what I would consider wearing myself. Not actually because they are so exotic and strange – that was not actually the problem. It was the fact that many of them smelled musty and spicy in a dirty amber sort of way, reproducing the scents found in headshops and tiny stores selling Indian paraphernalia and cheap eastern rugs and batik fabrics in which the scent of oils and incense burnt throughout the years has seeped into every fiber. What I mean to say is, the strength of the potions, combined with the dirty amber/incense smell simply does not smell chic to me. I do not want to wear something that makes me feel less than elegant. I don’t want to smell like a dreadlocked hippie chic covered in beads. I don’t want to smell like my nails, feet and hair are dirty.

We were the only customers in the shop and the atmosphere was electric with unease. In fact, the situation became so difficult, I can’t help but giggle when I think back to it, for it ended up being cartoonishly unbelievable and funny! Allow me to illustrate. The counters have a hollow under the glass and when peering downwards you can see among other things, oudh wood. In a desperate effort to make conversation, I asked politely with a smile “Is this oudh?” (pronouncing it “OOD” as the French tend to do). He however misheard me and looked at me with obvious outrage at my ignorance: “YES, it is WOOD. It is the most precious wood!” Oh dear! Not having learned my lesson (LOL!) I decided to try a little humor next: “May I ask you a silly question?” “No!” he told me with the calmness of a serial killer, before I had the chance to…err…charm him with my humorous question. After that I thought it best to shut up and say as little as possible. I should have walked out there and then, but my curiosity had the better of me. I wanted to return home with at least a few things to explore from the Arabian Oud Shop so I sprung for the smallest and cheapest size possible, a few ml really, of Black Amber, Myrrh Flower and White Musk. The proverbial cherry on top was when I paid at the register. Even though I was the one who had paid, he handed the bag to my boyfriend and thanked him not even giving me another glance. Wow. Just wow.

I will tell you more about my impressions on these three oils later in July, once I’ve actually finished with the Paris Perfume/Travelogue and once I am back from the Sniffapalooza in London, because there is a lot I want to say, both on these three as well as on animal notes (black musk, deer musk etc) and on Arabian/Eastern oils in general. Please look forward to it, I haven’t talked about this before, but I’m ready to break my silence.

We stopped at a café with the excuse of a quick pick-me-up cappuccino (and vicious arm scrubbing in the bathroom) before continuing down Saint Honoré to visit various boutiques. This included a perfume stop at Hotel Costes for Olivia Giacobetti’s IUNX line of perfumes. The young woman working the shop was delightfully sweet and gentle and guided me to smell the perfumes in order so as to not overwhelm the nose, explaining that since the last two are very strong, the beauty of the lighter first ones would be eclipsed if they were smelled last. I found no fault with this line of thinking so I happily complied, but it became instantly obvious to me that the lighter ones held no charm for me anyway. Give me the strong stuff, baby! Complex, dark and utterly strange and mysterious, the last two (Ether and Splash Forte) were indeed totally ‘me’. Splash Forte is the heaviest of the lot, with intense spicy notes of bay leaf, clove, cinnamon and cumin. Both Ether and Splash Forte share the same willful character, but Splash Forte is decidedly more masculine and the sales assistant happily agreed with my estimation. I asked to test Ether further (the original sniffing was through long vertical tubes) as I found it just as brave but much more feminine. Ether is at once luminous and dark, like a magical dark cloud that sparkles and crackles with multicolored jolts of electricity as it carries through the air. It employs a beautiful incense accord (myrrh, benzoin, woods, mmmmm) which seems to shift and change constantly, over a bed of sweet-sweet sandalwood and feminine flower notes. The sweetness is held in check by the dry bitterness of saffron and it’s all just magic. I did not buy a bottle, but I still have a blotter with the scent and its price (130 Euro for 150ml of EdP, pretty good, hmm?) and I have to tell you, it is still redolent with the beautiful scent. There is a huge collection of ambience scents in candle and stick format and the variety is fantastic. I instantly wished most of the scents would be made available in perfume. The SA informed me that the old line is slowly being re-introduced, so we have great things to look forward to.

After visiting the boutiques at rue Cambon (where the picture at the beginning of this article was taken in front of Chanel’s flagship) we took the metro (oof, some rest!) and made our way to the Jardins du Palais-Royal. One of the things I love about Parisians is how they make use of public spaces like gardens and parks. Other European capitals I’ve visited have shown me desolate faces of parks and gardens, lonely, deserted. Others are only used in the weekend and are mostly quiet during the week. When they are used they seem to be used in a solitary fashion presenting an image of quietness. Parisians however seem to take great joy in making great use of these spaces (and why wouldn’t they, they are beautiful!) which always seem lively and filled with people of all ages: children, young couples, workers on a break and silver-haired septuagenarians alike. The image of the couple kissing on the left might not be quite Robert Doisneu’s De Baiser de l'hôtel de Ville, but I think the boyfriend did an excellent job of capturing my feelings about the garden and the atmosphere in the park that late afternoon.

Under the shade of the arcades, we made our way to the quiet of Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido to revel in the beauty of Serge Lutens’ creations. I was very impressed with the (at the time of the visit) newest creation, Nuit de Cellophane which smells amazingly feminine and utterly perfect to scent a creamy neck and sensuous collarbone over a strapless cocktail dress at an evening summer party. It is at once innocently playful and very, very sexy and I must say I do not agree with criticisms that this is not in the spirit of Lutens. Personally, I believe that it makes perfect sense in the context of Lutensian florals. It snuggly fits between Tuberose Criminelle and Un Lys, giggling like the younger, frothier sister. I was given some wax samples as well as a miniature bottle of Chergui and left with the sweet taste of candied violet petals (they are rather decorative and completely fitting the atmosphere of the shop, these little purple candied mountains offered to customers) in my mouth.

After making a complete round of the arcades we exited and made our way to rue de Richelieu to visit Patricia de Nicolai, but unfortunately the shop was just closing. To my immense surprise I found a new Maître Parfumeur et Gantier boutique right next door (does MPG consciously make a habit of setting up shop next to PDN? Because they also have boutiques right next door to each other at rue Grenelle!). The boutique was ‘functioning’ but unfinished and looked very much like a work area, in fact I had to do a triple-take to ascertain whether it was open for business. By the time we agreed it was indeed open, both myself and my boyfriend had started feeling the tiredness of the day creeping in and we decided to leave MPG for when we would visit rue Grenelle on another day so that we could return to the hotel and rest for a couple of hours in order to be fresh and good looking for our dinner at L’Avenue. Leaving MPG for another day proved to be a mistake, but that’s a story for another day. (…to be continued)

Join me again tomorrow for another installment of the Paris series where we explore (with enthusiasm!) Montale among other perfumed delights.

Images: Myself in front of Chanel’s rue Cambon flagship, pink velour Hello Kitty bag via www.regencies.com, the Arabian Oud store from outside and again from inside as the crazed misogynist was decanting my oils into vials, a kiss at the Palais Royal gardens, the arcades at Palais Royal.

PS: To get a better look at the images click on them to enlarge. I don't normally go into the trouble of saying this as I presume all of you already knew that, but the one with the kiss is particularly sweeeeeeet when enlarged. Love the captured public display of affection, especially since a complete stranger is sitting right next to them!!

Borneo 1834 by Serge Lutens : Perfume Review

There are many perfumes which put the focus on patchouli currently on the market, but few have inspired as much devotion or as many ravings among perfume aficionados as Serge Lutens’ Borneo 1834. While it might not be my favorite rendition of patchouli within the Lutens Line – Fumerie Turque has that honor, actually a far more complex scent than Borneo, but still centering around a most gorgeous patchouli scent and adorning it with leather, prominent, fabulous tobacco and accents of fruit and honey, for that extra pissy hiss that drives me absolutely mad- a patchouli series on any self-respecting perfume blog would be incomplete without a review of Serge’s patch hero. As Marina of Perfume-Smellin’ Things mentions, Borneo 1834 gets its name from the year patchouli was introduced to Europe wrapped in the luxurious imported silks in order to act as an insect repellant. The fabrics retained the beautiful aroma and the European high society is said to have subsequently developed a taste for the scent which was associated with luxury.

Borneo 1834 begins with a tantalizing, subtle gourmand opening, presenting accents of anise, licorice and beautiful, sweet and herbal tarragon to the nose. This beautiful lightly sweet trio renders the top notes clearly aniseedic and very reminiscent of Histoires de Parfums’ 1826. But while 1826 continues to focus on the aniseedic elements and to supplement the beauty of patchouli with the sweetness of oriental notes such as vanilla and sweet ambers, Borneo 1834 slowly lets go of the aniseedic elements completely and gets darker and dryer with time. The aroma of roasted coffee that has been shyly wafting in and out since the opening now manages to find a secure foothold and blooms on the skin deliciously, spreading its inky darkness over an extremely delicate undercurrent of golden, caramelized floralcy. The scent of patchouli itself, so far seemingly sleepy and subdued seems to suddenly surge forward, its dominant nature finally revealed for all to see. Its rendering is so grand it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to claim that it inspires awe, almost demanding a moment of silence from the wearer. The famous Borneo 1834 chocolate aspect enters fashionably late, just when the ballroom is coming to life. Swathed in a cloak of shimmering bronze, it is actually cacao, not chocolate, and an excellent pure, dark Dutch cacao at that. There are intimations of the same smoky, deep and round tobacco found in Fumerie Turque accenting the luscious blend as well, lending a purely exotic richness to the fragrance. In the drydown the dryness further relents to reveal resins both smoky and round, balsam to the woody, leafy character of the beautiful patchouli.

Testing Borneo 1834 in the past few months has been rather revelatory, for the notes listed were few and as such I was expecting a rather linear, even monotonous scent. What I found however, was far from it: this beautiful woody oriental has a gorgeous structure and is anything but linear. Its changes are both fascinating and enticing and each stage is well worth individual attention. One thing that surprised me, is that I did not get a camphorous note from this at all (something that most online reviewers report). As such I find myself wondering whether different batches of Borneo 1834 have different qualities, or whether the export Borneo differs from the juice offered at the Salons du Palais Royal (I have been testing the export version for the year 2008). If you have any information on this, please do share.

Perfume for the Occasion: Perfumes for a Stressful Day

Might certain scents help in alleviating stress? When TMH of For the Love of Perfume and I were discussing this month’s Perfume for the Occasion feature, we thought it would certainly be an interesting question to explore. Influenced by the fact that October was a rather hectic and stressful month for both of us, we felt that others too, might wish to read a few suggestions on which fragrances might promote calm, and help in easing stressful feelings away. For my part, I decided to put the focus on aromatherapy and I have to say, it has been great fun looking into this subject. The essential oils most often suggested for the purpose of alleviating stress turned out to be bergamot, jasmine, lavender, neroli, rosemary, chamomile, and to a lesser extent, ylang ylang. The question is, of course, do they really work? As a student, I am lucky to have free access to many scientific journals that allowed me to research the issue further. After reviewing several articles, the answer to the question of whether these actually work was a definite “yes” for some of these oils (bergamot, lavender and rosemary), and a clear winner had emerged: Lavender, which appears to be the most beneficial of the three. Specifically, lavender has been shown to have major benefit in stress related disorders, to decrease cortisol levels and reduce mental stress. Shall we then, take a look at a few lavender suggestions together?

· Jicky by Guerlain: I couldn’t make a post about lavender and leave Jicky out, of course. Having said that, Jicky remains a mystery to me. To me, Jicky still seems like a chameleon, ever changing colors. Sometimes its lavender scent seems long-lasting, enveloping me in its slightly camphoraceous aroma for hours. Other times I lose its trail relatively quickly, finding myself left all too soon with a slightly leathery, earthy vanilla, and struggling to detect the lavender that made it seem so controversial to my nose initially. Sometimes Jicky seems wildly animalic, making me think I must have it, but the next time I try it, it turns into sweet innocence and I find no reason to add it to my collection. Despite the mystery, Jicky does seem like a good suggestion to me, as it contains both lavender and bergamot oil.


· Lavender by Floris: Admittedly, the opening notes make this fragrance appear rather scary at first: This is an intensely herbaceous lavender with a rather sour opening. However, it soon calms down to a light, elegant and most pleasant blend of lavender with a touch of geranium and hints of rosemary. The result is very dry and aromatic giving an impression of chic simplicity. This is definitely my favorite of today’s suggestions! If you wish to treat yourself, I wholeheartedly suggest splurging on the Lavender Tranquility Set as well, and indulging your senses on the evenings you really need to relax! The Lavender Tranquility Set contains the Lavender Moisturizing Bath & Shower Gel, the Floris at Home Lavender Candle and the Patchouli & Lavender Sleep Enhancing Pillow Mist. The candle is my absolute favorite part of the set, smelling like a very sweet, gentle lavender. (It is the sweetness that gets me! – I want this translated into a body mist now please!) The shower gel is very herbaceous, smelling like true, dried lavender. I like this a lot, because it smells exactly like the lavender-filled, tiny cotton cushions my dad used to bring to me to put in my drawers when I was a little girl. The pillow mist is a dry blend of lavender and patchouli, which makes the pillow smell wonderfully fresh and crisp. Although intense at first, the scent soon becomes quite natural – I do not find myself conscious of the aroma as I fall asleep. In fact I only sense it at first when my head hits the pillow, and it is very pleasant, as though the pillowcase had just been washed. Still, make sure to test this before buying. Patchouli can be difficult and the purpose of these products is to help you relax, not keep you awake!

· Encens et Lavande by Serge Lutens: I am very ambivalent about adding this one to today’s post. Let me be honest: I do not like Encens et Lavande. I certainly would not wear it myself. Still, I decided to use it as the third suggestion for a lavender fragrance to try in times of stress, if only because it is very interesting. (who knows, aside from the natural properties of lavender, perhaps the surprise element this fragrance offers will create enough a distraction to forget about stress for a while too :) But let me get to the point: Celery. This is certainly not the only Serge Lutens fragrance that has a definite celery scent, Mandarine Mandarin is another example, but surprisingly perhaps, I love it in Mandarine Mandarin – it somehow blends in perfectly with the rest of the notes. In Encens et Lavande the celery is not only extremely pronounced but very discordant as well: It antagonizes the lavender every step of the way until it (finally) disappears. For as long as it lasts (give it at least an hour or two...) it completely ruins the fragrance –for me at least. What is very interesting however, is how salty, how savory, Encens et Lavande is, and I attribute this to the dreaded celery as well. If only for this strange savory character, I do suggest you try Encens et Lavande at least once. Another interesting, but once again discordant, note in Encens et Lavande, is sage. I love sage, and the note is very true in this fragrance, but it is too pronounced for me to appreciate it. It completely overpowers the lavender for as long as it lasts. Or perhaps I can only appreciate sage in Diptique, what can I say? All is not negative however. Encens et Lavande does finally dry down to a very soothing, soft lavender a couple of hours after it is first applied. It then tends to smell like a very traditional masculine lavander cologne, with soft musky undertones. I still wouldn’t wear it just for the pleasant dry-down, but truth be told, it is pleasant. Perhaps Gris Clair would have been a better choice, but unfortunately it is one of the Lutens I consistently overlook and thus have no sample of. Is it a good lavender scent? How does it compare to Encens et Lavande? Do let me know!

Lastly, I have to admit that personally, when I am stressed I either feel like exploring something new to distract and relax myself, or I get this strong sense of being compelled to wear a specific (different every time) scent. It feels a bit as though my body is asking for the specific thing it needs when this happens. Which scents do you use when you are stressed? Do you self medicate with perfume like I do, or perhaps cannot stand scents at all in times of stress?

Images: www.freefoto.com, Author’s own and commons.wikimedia.org

Perfume for the Occasion : Winter Holiday Scents

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years Eve ... All sorts of Winter Holidays are fast approaching, and even though it is still early, the beauty world is already busy, with companies like Givenchy already releasing this year’s holiday limited edition products. Alright, I’ll admit, it is a tad early to start contemplating winter holidays, but when TMH of For the Love of Perfume and I started discussing this month’s Perfume for the Occasion feature, we were both taken by the idea of writing about it anyway! And after all, the long, cold winters do seem to gain pace and become bearable when we have the holidays to look forward to! Now, I chose to concentrate on Christmas Holidays and not spread this feature’s focus to the rest of the winter holidays for several reasons. For starters, I have been daydreaming about Christmas for a while now. As the weather gets cold and dreary, planning my yearly Christmas-time trip definitely keeps me going. I can’t wait to see my family and old friends again! Secondly, I felt it would be presumptuous of me to write about Hanukkah or Thanksgiving when these are holidays I’ve never experienced myself and whose atmosphere eludes me. There are few things I know about either of these holidays, and even though I am utterly crazy about apricot filled Sufganiyot, this hardly qualifies me as an expert. So, rather than offend with my lack of knowledge, I found it preferable to write about something I know instead. As for Halloween, I found it hard to get further than typical apple-centered perfumes like Be Delicious and the new Nina – which I happen to hate. I would have loved to have a pumpkin fragrance to suggest, ever since I fell head over heels in love with the scent of last year’s limited edition L’Occitane pumpkin candles, but so far I have been unable to find one. Do you have a pumpkin scented suggestion for me? Please do share if that is the case!

• The One:
  If I were forced to limit my suggestions to only one perfume for the Christmas Holidays, Lolita by Lolita Lempicka would definitely be the one. With notes such as anis, heliotrope, vanilla, licorice and tonka, this beautiful gourmand-oriental scent has no trouble bringing to mind Christmas candy canes and lovely confectionary delights suited to the holidays. This scrumptious scent manages to be at once sweet and deeply sexy, without being sickly. And even though it definitely has a lot of presence, it stops short from being as oppressing as its Angel cousins. It is not just its gourmand qualities that make this perfect for Christmas though: Lolita’s character is exuberant, happy, full of confidence, making it a perfect choice for the season in which all the unlikely, attention grabbing, festive outfits have their day. Even the ornamental flacon seems to match the bauble-studded season, making application a primer for the parties that are sure to follow.



• Family Lunches:
  Be it is ham, game or turkey that is on the menu, many, if not most, families follow the tradition of coming together for a Christmas Day lunch. And even those not bound by family obligations on the day are often invited to festal lunches organized by their close friends. Whether you are the guest or the host in this occasion, the choice of perfume is a delicate one in this instance. The spread on offer is likely to be elaborate and the cook will have labored long and hard in the kitchen to make sure everything goes according to plan. The focus is meant to be the warm atmosphere, the interpersonal relations and the delicious meal prepared for this special event. It is not the time to draw attention to oneself with an heavy, intricate sillage monster. The often-overlooked Fleurs de Citronnier by Serge Lutens is perfect for the occasion. Artfully moving and at the same time subtle, Fleurs de Citronnier opens with a very realistic rendition of a lemon tree with focus on the beautiful scent of the blossoms. In the drydown, this gorgeous fragrance turns into a beautiful skin-scent, softly reminiscent of creamy lemon-cookies, icing sugar and powder. It truly is a wonderful creation that will perfectly accompany a meal from starter to desert.



• Christmas Shopping:
  No, no, no, I am not talking about hideously rushed, last-minute Christmas shopping. This is not about shopping with a list, or with a definite purpose. This is about going downtown, visiting the beautifully decorated shops during the holiday season. This is about indulgent, leisurely shopping, when every moment is savored and enjoyed. Don’t you just love seeing the city streets filled with well-dressed men and women enjoying the holiday spirits? Do you also love seeing everyone’s happiness reflected in their faces? Isn’t the hustle and bustle of the shops exciting in that time of the year? Isn’t it easy to picture, even now, how everyone quickly rushes into warmly lit cafes for an indulgent cup of chocolate viennoise as it gets dark? I dare you to forget about how tiring Christmas shopping can be this year. Do it early, then use the holiday shopping excursions for much more leisurely pursuits. Yes, go out there, see and be seen! Wear your winter city-best, wrap yourself in a luxurious cashmere pashmina stole and exchange your flats for heels. The perfume that fits the occasion best? It has to be Shalimar, true queen of luxury when it comes to ambery orientals. Its vanillic, slightly animalic amber character will keep you warm and safe, protected from the cold winds. You will be in your own bubble of comfort while at once exuding charm and sophistication. I love opoponax in wintry weather and Guerlain’s Shalimar makes wonderful use of this delightful note. I know it is a difficult perfume, but even those who can’t love it will surely agree, there’s no other like it for the occasion. Allow yourself to be a lady of leisure even for a day and I know Shalimar will hug you for it.



• The Office Party:
  This is one occasion where you are required to be festive and controlled at the same time. Choosing an outfit is hard enough already and most women fall back to the safety provided by their favorite Little Black Dress. The equivalent of “festive yet controlled” perfume-wise for me is Burberry Classic, which is at once spicy, effervescent and joyful without compromising maturity and sobriety. It is as safe, as versatile and also as sexy as a Little Black Dress. It is a skin scent with unique appeal. It will be good enough for the office party and it will be great for an evening in front of the fireplace too. It will do for coffee or tea with friends in a little cafe whose windows are misted over and it will do great for informal seasonal visits to family and friends. It will set you apart, but it will not draw unwanted attention. In other words, it is perfect. You can read a full review of Burberry Classic here.



• New Year’s Eve:
  Giving a definite pick for this one night would be unfair. New Year’s Eve is already riddled with enough too-high expectations and oftentimes subsequent disappointments to risk wearing a perfume you are not entirely sure about. So even though you might be tempted to bring out everything that’s new out on that night, including your scent, my advice is to stick with your one of your established, dearest, most treasured perfumes. Ideally, you have a number of those! If so, choose the one that sparkles, the one that makes you feel confident and optimistic, and of course, sexy. Lasting power is of great importance too, as you will likely be busy until very late. A last piece of advice: Don’t be afraid of big scents for this special evening. Go all out, indulge, make your heart be glad with whatever it desires!



• Home Scent:
  If you are lucky enough to be a domestic goddess who will spend a lot of time baking wonderful goodies and regularly throwing orange and mandarin peels in the fireplace, there is no need to read this section! Your house will already smell delicious due to your efforts, you admirable creature! For those of us who are more...domestically challenged (or, aherm...lazy...) though, some solution has to be found to make the house smell Christmassy. I swear by Marks & Spencer’s yearly limited edition Frankincense & Myrrh burner oil. The smell is gorgeous – everyone who steps into the house immediately exclaims how wonderful the house smells. The scent is spicy, with orange-glazed cinnamon and cloves overtones, which give the house a beautiful, warm atmosphere. I love this so much, I stockpile during the holidays just so that I can use it throughout winter.

Images Courtesy of: www.freefoto.com and http://commons.wikimedia.org

A La Nuit by Serge Lutens & Gardenia Rain by Ava Luxe : Perfume Reviews

I keep returning to Greece every summer. I begin my trip by going to the mountains and I end my vacation by going to an island, a different one each year. I revisit countless tastes and smells each time, tastes and smells that mean so much to me, intertwined as they are with colorful memories. I plan to visit many of those memories as I write this blog and I wish to start this journey with the white florals of summer, so abundantly found on the Greek terrain.

On each and every one of the islands I visit, jasmine is a constant nightly companion. Taking a walk in the night, whether that would be in the daedal, labyrinthine streets of a Cycladian island, or on the wider, more spacious streets of say, Lesbos or Syros, I’ve always ended up being unwittingly led by my nose at some point, following the magical redolence of its flowering vines. I usually don’t even manage to realize that it is the jasmine’s trail of scent that I am following, I just know that I have to reach the source. And I am left ensnared, peering in the darkness, until my eyes find it, in all its glory. Whether it’s hanging from an unassuming whitewashed wall, a broken down fence, or a majestically intricate old iron gate of a mansion, I’ll always stop and stare and hide my nose in its growth. I’ll twine my fingers in its vines and shake gently, to make the scent waft in a yet more heady cloud and stain my fingers with its essence. I’ll always cut a sprig and put it in my hair, then put it on my nightstand before I go to bed, so that I fall asleep with its scent next to my nose. In the morning, the magic will be gone, but that is not regretful. That is part of the jasmine’s thrill, she is the blooming queen of the night. With such a characteristic smell, one would think that someone would have captured the essence of the jasmine’s blooms earlier. But every perfume that proclaimed to bottle its scent has been failing miserably. The oils would be too strong, too pungent, too mellow; the sprays too fresh, acidic or soapy. But Serge Luten’s A la Nuit is just perfect. It’s jasmine in its truest form: seductive but soft, sweet but never overwhelming. It engulfs the wearer with the flower’s auspicious character. It makes one feel as though something beautifully romantic is bound to happen any minute now. It makes one feel young and feminine. I keep reminding myself I am not a florals-sort-of-person. I keep reminding myself I like my fragrances either strong, sexy and decisive or musky and comforting. I keep asking myself what in the world draws me to this creation. I guess the only adequate answer I can give is that A la Nuit is a true masterpiece. It has the power to turn the heathen into a believer. It is the only substitute there could ever be for the real thing.

Even though I’ll thoughtlessly and unrepentantly cut sprigs of jasmine for my hair, I reserve only the lightest touch for gardenias. I cannot resist lightly caressing the creamy-colored blooms in order to feel their leathery texture and it never fails to amaze me, how such a dense and fleshy flower can emanate such heady and rich aroma. I’d never so much think of cutting or mistreating one of those treasures. And treasures they are, as they are so hard to care for, and even healthy plants often fail to bloom. Gardenias won’t bloom in very hot environments and like moisture. The places that I find them in Greece thus are the mountainous villages I visit in the summer. It is common to see this amazingly beautiful flower planted in rusty, square iron boxes, which have been cut in half for this purpose. But this should not be mistaken for a Greek lack of appreciation for this flower. According to my grandmother, gardenias love rust. They ‘feed’ on it, she used to tell me when I was a child. You could please the gardenia even more by putting a rusty nail in the soil with it. Is this true? I don’t know, but if I ever tried to grow a gardenia I’d certainly be diligent in feeding it this treat, seeing how successful they are in Greece! Ava Serena Franco’s Gardenia Rain is a very successful rendition of the flower that always manages to take me back to a village, high up in the Greek mountains. It makes me feel I am in the shade of a plane tree, drinking a cool glass of water, enjoying the scent of the gardenia flowers around me, planted in their wonky iron pots. If you are looking for the smell of gardenias, don’t try Chanel’s version which smells nothing like it... Don’t even go for Gardenia Musk, a more soapy version by Ava-Luxe. Instead, try Gardenia Rain from the same line.


Pictures: Jasmine courtesy of www.hanini.org, gardenias courtesy of www.systbot.uu.se and rusty nail courtesy of waveofmodulation.typepad.org