Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday, 12 May! If you missed it, check out part 1.
From Roots Rose Radish, solid perfume compacts in Jasmine & Clary Sage, Rose Frankincense & Patchouli, Vetiver & Lemongrass and Ylang Ylang & Grapefruit. $45-65 at Beautyhabit…
I can’t believe it’s been five years since my last Top Ten Spring Fragrances list, but yes, a look back confirms that fact. My tastes haven’t shifted much since then, yet I can somehow come up with plenty of new favorites. Of course, there are the fragrances that I consider part of my springtime “hall of fame”: Guerlain Apres l’Ondée and Chamade, Frederic Malle En Passant. These come into rotation every March or April, come rain or come shine (and lately, it’s been mostly rain). But, beyond these classics, I’m easily able to compile a list of other fragrances I’ve been wearing or will be wearing over the next month or two.
What to wear when the calendar says Spring, but the weather is still chilly and damp and dreary? I love to don Frederic Malle L’Eau d’Hiver during that indecisive kind of weather, perhaps because it walks a fine line between warm and cool, soft and crisp…
Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle is the first entry in a new collection from the Frédéric Malle brand: XXX par Frédéric Malle, in which Mr. Malle promises to “translate the world of people and brands that [he admires] into scents”.1 The Belgian designer Dries Van Noten is up first, and most long time readers could probably guess that I don’t know Dries Van Noten from Adam, but after reading in Wikipedia (where else?) that Mr. Van Noten does not do haute couture because “I’m a little naive but I don’t like the idea of showing things that you don’t sell in a store”, he has already stolen my heart.2
Reportedly, it took 18 months for Malle to translate the Van Noten universe into scent, working with perfumer Bruno Jovanovic:
Then I tried to make Bruno understand the essence of Dries’ world. I spoke about the different themes and recurrent materials that my hero often uses: Indian embroidery, XVIIIth century engravings, or the very graphic and colorful prints that he juxtaposes to create unexpected harmony — just like a perfumer does…
Next up from Frédéric Malle will be Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle, a new fragrance made in collaboration with the Belgian designer, and the first of “a series of fragrance portraits of highly creative, interesting people”…
Over the years I’ve built a stable of favorite cold-weather fragrances and have only added and dropped off a few each year. To spare you a recap of perfumes I mention all the time, I’m grouping ten perfumes I like into ten winter-activity categories. I hope you’ll chime in with your own favorites, and be sure to check out more winter favorites at Bois de Jasmin :: Grain de Musc :: Perfume Posse :: Perfume Smellin’ Things.
This category is kind of a joke since I don’t know how to ski, and, frankly, the whole deal sounds like a good excuse for a broken collar bone. But après ski? Sign me up. When I picture après ski, I think of an early 1960s lodge in Gstaad — like the one in the Pink Panther movie — with women in sweaters and bulbous mink hats and men in turtlenecks and dark glasses. Everyone drinks from brandy snifters and speaks several languages. It’s glamorously ridiculous. Serge Lutens Santal de Mysore is my après-ski perfume choice. It’s boozy, woody, and warm, and would be a terrific accompaniment to a shoulder-high fireplace and a copy of Valley of the Dolls…
