Crazylibellule and The Poppies launched 26 Juin (Ile d’Yeu) in 2009, as the first fragrance in a promised series called “Tous les matins du monde.” Although Crazylibellule is known primarily for its solid perfume “Crazysticks,” 26 Juin was released in a liquid cologne format as well as a solid stick. Its fragrance notes include orange, peach, plum, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, orange blossom, cardamom, black pepper, precious wood, vanilla and musk.
Ile d’Yeu is an island off the west coast of France; I’ve never been there, but I can imagine that it must be a lovely place to spend a mid-summer day. 26 Juin has the refreshing, effervescent feeling of a traditional Eau de Cologne, although its composition is described as a “fruity hesperidic floral.” There’s quite a bit of citrus in the top notes, including something lemony. The rest of the fragrance gives off a freshly-sliced peach note, the suggestion of a few green leaves, and a very cheerful plum-and-rose heart that would appeal to fans of Annick Goutal Quel Amour!. 26 Juin (Ile d’Yeu) is fizzy and juicy, sweet and tart, like a summer cocktail or a bite of candied fruit…
I am the restless type. Every eighteen months, I get thoroughly fed up with our living quarters — the creaky floors, the electric stove and lack of water pressure, that bathroom window that won’t open — and decide we should move. My husband puts much less stock in clean slates, being a skeptic with a good memory. He resents the higher rent and costs associated with changing residences, but he always acquiesces with the faint hope that I will keep the new apartment cleaner. (Ha!) And so, a couple of springs, falls and high summers over the last decade, we’ve spent our days packing clothes, dishes, Playmobil figures, perfume and one metric ton of books into boxes. Even after ruthless purges1 and some inevitable breakage, it seems we end up with more stuff in the new place than we had in the old. Since our last move two weeks ago, I’ve been wandering through the chaos aimlessly, moving papers and knick-knacks from one pile to another.
One of the few pleasures of re-locating is finding things of interest you never knew you lost. Around here, things of interest fall into three categories: 1) perfume samples; 2) books; and 3) jars of gourmet condiments and jams we will never use. Push back the couch and a dusty vial of Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale rolls out. Dismantle the bookcase and both a sample of Divine L’Homme de Coeur and a copy of Robertson Davies’ The Rebel Angels emerge. There is an atomizer of Histoire des Parfums Noir Patchouli in the desk drawer with the income tax documents. Ah, old friends! With more than two new fragrances released each day now, it sometimes seems as if I first encountered these scents in the ancient past, rather than only a few years ago. With forgotten favorites in hand, it’s easy to start feeling pretty testy about the rate of release in the perfume industry. But wearing the finds is the best cure for my scent cynicism: they still smell wonderful and they remind me of all the treasures in my collection. Without spending another penny, I could probably spend years surprising and enjoying myself with the samples I already have.
If you’ve been interested in fragrance for a while, you don’t need to go to the expense and trouble of moving to remind yourself to re-try perfumes you’re already encountered…
A promo for the Crazy Sticks from Crazylibellule and The Poppies. In four parts; I’ve posted two here. If you want to see them in order, watch the video just below, then watch this and this. The last one is below the jump.
I recently complained about fragrances like Dolce & Gabbana Rose The One that disappoint me when they rely so heavily on predictable gimmicks of celebrity, sex appeal, and the status of a designer label (often to the neglect of the perfume itself). Companies like Crazylibellule and the Poppies, on the other hand, delight me when they present their fragrances with some light-hearted and allusive story-telling, an interest in the connection between scent and memory, and the reminder that you can wear fragrance just to please yourself.
The Les Bâtons de Parfum collection from Crazylibelulle is positioned (and priced) as a higher-end range, and its three scents are thematically linked with three times of the day. The Bâtons are twice the size of Crazylibellule’s core collections, the Crazysticks (10 grams, rather than 5 grams), and they’re packaged in nicely weighted metal tubes that close with a satisfying clicking sound, like high-end lipsticks. Their perfume solids are very slightly pearlized, to leave the faintest trace of shimmer on the skin…
My guess is that most obsessive perfume samplers have the equivalent of Robin’s purgatory basket. As someone who suffers from chronic indecision, I have a large collection of scents I just can’t decide whether I like or not, separated into a series of elegant “snack-sized” plastic freezer bags. Every couple of months I retrieve all of these baggies and place them on my bed, along with two larger plastic tubs, which house, respectively, fragrances in the current rotation (scents in good standing) and samples that I see every couple of months when I perform this ritual (the tub of no return). I spread the contents of the purgatory bags over my duvet and begin picking through the vials and atomizers, sorting them into piles: judgement rendered, cult favorites that need one more try, scents that have somehow eluded skin-testing. Like Robin, I always end up with a pile of scents that stubbornly resist categorization and tubbing. As my spouse looks on with bafflement and mild disapproval, I return these fragrances to the twilight, limbo land of the snack bag.
The firmer, sterner souls among you probably agree with my husband. With multiple new fragrances being launched every single day, why does anyone bother trying to puzzle out their complicated relationship with one? Well, my problem is that I often prefer the interesting to the simply likable…
