In a recent post at Perfume Posse, Musette described her adolescent self as “Geek before Geek was cool”. During a week when I watched The Social Network and contemplated buying a Gregory Brothers / Auto-Tune the News t-shirt, her description was just another sign that we have lived to see the day my mother was always promising me would come: nerds have inherited the earth. We’ve come a long way since the 1980s and nerdom has evolved: gone are the high pants and the pocket protectors (as well as most of the pens), nerds of every gender and race are acknowledged, and globalization and the internet have opened up new, niche fields of nerd inquiry. No longer restricted to math, science, computing and Star Trek conventions, nerds are becoming foodies and bespectacled mixologists, pop musicians, graphic novelists and film bloggers, beekeepers, adventure travelers, market watchers, reality television competitors and whistle-blowing website activists. Nerds have money. They own the best home theatre equipment and make the coolest Halloween costumes. They know the only coffee place in town with a Clover. And, increasingly, some of them are smelling really good.

Perfume is a great hobby for geeks and systems wonks. It can involve hours and days and weeks of research into a secretive, trend-driven and detail-oriented industry. You end up collecting bottles and vials, ordering or swapping rarities through the mail and building storage units or furniture to organize your collection. You exhibit a lot of mavenish behavior, like checking currency conversion websites multiple times a day. Almost every perfumista of long-standing I know keeps a spreadsheet or electronic notepad full of data on sample testing count, fragrance notes, prices, perfumer names or vintage scent markers…

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Just as everyone’s clothing wardrobe benefits from a few low-key, comfortable items to pull on without thinking, perfume wardrobes need the same.

It is present, yet close to the skin — me, but better. I almost feel it rather than smell it.

But if you want a perfume to rest lightly around you, like a second skin…you could do a lot worse.

Those lines were pulled from Angela’s review of Mythique, by Parfums DelRae. Now let’s say that all sounds awfully good to you, but Mythique wasn’t exactly the second skin you were after (as was the case with me: I thought Mythique was lovely, but it did not move me). You’ve got your second chance with Panache, the brand’s latest release. It’s named for a line from Edmond Rostand’s play, Cyrano de Bergerac:

One thing is left, that, void of stain or smutch, I bear away despite you … My panache.

Panache is meant to be a unisex fragrance “centered around” vetiver. I don’t think your average vetiver fiend will find it passes muster as a vetiver scent, and by the same token, if you hate vetiver you needn’t necessarily cross Panache off your list…

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Parfums DelRae has launched Panache, a new unisex fragrance inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac¹ and named for his last word in the Edmond Rostand play:

In the final heartbreaking act, the very last word spoken by Cyrano is panache…

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To me, perfume has a texture. Some fragrances wear like silk velvet, others like a practical gabardine, and still others — unfortunately — like double knit polyester. In summer, I want to wear perfume that feels like chiffon, linen, the fabric of a well-worn tee shirt, or even nothing at all. Here are the 10 fragrances I’ll be probably be wearing most this summer:

When it’s sizzling out, when lifting the bedroom window feels like opening the door of a convection oven, I want perfume that is crisp, cooling, and effortless. In short, I want perfume that wears like linen.

Christian Dior Eau Fraiche is a perfect linen-like fragrance. I have a bottle more than 40 years old that still sparkles and still has the warm chic of real oakmoss. I can wear it to work, after a bath, or while enjoying a gin and tonic at the neighborhood bar and feel fresh and even elegant, if I have to be.

Annick Goutal Folavril is another good linen substitute…

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In its promotional description of Coup de Foudre, Parfums DelRae promises that “regardless of your previous ‘rose’ experience, it is ‘love at first sight.’” I’m always a little amused when new rose-inspired fragrances take this slightly defensive stance, as though we all carry negative preconceptions of rose perfumes and need to be reassured that this flower is actually very beautiful, sensual, and yes, “modern.” I wore my first rose fragrance when I was about eight years old — it was Avon’s Roses, Roses and it was memorably contained in a pig-shaped bottle — and I’ve never turned away from roses, so Coup de Foudre is preaching to the converted, in my case.

Coup de Foudre starts off as a just-picked rose and then turns gently romantic. Parfums DelRae mentions its use of true Rose de Mai from Grasse, in a composition that allows the raw material to shine through, and the natural rose note is definitely evident. It’s bright and clear, with hints of lemon and mint…

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Parfums DelRae has launched Coup de Foudre, the line’s seventh fragrance for women:

DelRae’s objective with ‘Coup de Foudre’ was to create a perfume that captures the ultimate beauty of the rose…

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The event will take place from 11 am to 5 pm at Barneys New York at 660 Madison Avenue, The Foundation (lower level). (via newsletter from Parfums DelRae)

Just as everyone’s clothing wardrobe benefits from a few low-key, comfortable items to pull on without thinking, perfume wardrobes need the same. Can you imagine how it would be to open the closet and find a row of late-1950s silk brocade Scaasi cocktail dresses? A dream come true! But what if they were all you had to wear? Before long you’d be desperate for a pair of well worn Levis and a cashmere sweater. I can easily see Parfums DelRae Mythique becoming my daily comfort wear.

Perfumer Yann Vasnier worked with DelRae Roth to create Mythique in 2009. Roth’s vision of Mythique was inspired by a painting of Diane de Poitiers, French king Henri II’s mistress and one-time owner of Chenonceau, a Loire Valley chateau with a dramatic, two-story gallery on stone arches extending over the Cher river (click here for a virtual tour). Roth mentions Diane de Poitier’s beauty, horsemanship, and habit of wearing only black and white as part of her fascination.

Others might find more interest in the fact that Diane was 19 years older than Henri II. Diane started her career in the royal household as Henri’s governess. When Henri turned 19, their relationship changed…

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Melon is the new black. It is not the new black I was hoping for as I stuck pins in my sweet-fruity-floral voodoo doll, but there you are: be careful what you wish for. If you like melon in your perfume, you are going to love Emotionnelle, the latest fragrance from Parfums DelRae, which opens with the biggest, brightest, juiciest melon (Octavian at 1000 Fragrances: “I've never seen such a huge and hyper realistic melon note…”) ever bottled. You can just about taste it.

Emotionnelle was reportedly inspired by the smells DelRae Roth recorded in her diary on a visit to Paris (why couldn't she have had jasmine and frankincense for breakfast?), but perfumistas will more likely notice the links to Le Parfum de Thérèse, created by perfumer Edmond Roudnitska for his wife…

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DelRae Roth has captured her spirit with Florentine iris and flowers found in the gardens at Chenonceau, the Loire valley castle given to Diane de Poitiers by Henri II…

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