Floris London is auctioning off “the last 60 bottles available in the US of their exclusive and prestigious No. 89 men’s fragrance”. 25% of the proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation…
A friend very kindly sent me some Malmaison by Floris so that I could wrap up last week’s posts on carnation (see Lorenzo Villoresi Garofano, Etro Dianthus, Caron Bellodgia). I had not smelled it in several years, and was surprised to find how closely it matched my memory — it is lovely stuff.
Malmaison was originally released by Floris in the first half of the 19th century; it was reformulated and relaunched in 2000. I do not know the notes, but it is reportedly based on the “rare Malmaison carnation“, and it is closer to the modern conception of a soliflore than any of the other carnation scents I’ve discussed so far. The top notes are, quite literally, a burst of fall spices…
Night Scented Jasmine, released by Floris last year as a limited edition in honor of their 275th anniversary, has been added to the regular line:
Enchanting and sensual, this warm floral fragrance…
A flame inside a beautiful cobalt glass on my dresser unleashes not only a blue tinged soft light, but also a wonderful scent. The fragrance is tart and crisp with enough sweetness to lend a nice balance and to meld all the notes together. One moment, it is a plate laden with grapefruit slices sprinkled with sugar and lemony coriander seeds; the next, it is a bouquet of garden herbs about to be chopped in the course of dinner preparations.
The fruity scent of the Grapefruit and Rosemary candle was my introduction to the Floris room fragrance range…
I have posted about gardenia perfumes before (see Kai, Jo Malone Vintage Gardenia, and a few more gardenia fragrances). Here are a few more that I tried recently:
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Pink Gardenia: In the Beaux Arts line, with notes of bergamot, gardenia, tuberose, ambergris and musk. It starts very light, with a touch of bergamot. The gardenia note comes on next, but stays very soft and low, then fades into a tuberose blend with a warm musky dry down. Much softer than all the white flowers might lead you to assume, and nicely done, although I prefer her Nouveau Gardenia…
Another corpse flower has bloomed at Western Illinois U, & they're expecting 2 more... http://t.co/oRnROz6j (& they've got live video)