Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Chopin. In Warwaw, the newly refurbished Chopin Museum opens at the Ostrogski Castle. The multimedia displays include one room where visitors can smell Chopin's favorite flower, the violet. You can read more at the museum's website or at Poland's official travel website.
Many thanks to Sophia for the news!
I don't do hats, so I know next to nothing about British milliner Stephen Jones. The Telegraph says “he is the best in the business”*, and I'll have to take their word for it. Jones reportedly met designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons by chance in the Anchorage airport back in the 1980s**, and they've collaborated (on hats and whatnot, presumably) since then. The Comme des Garçons + Stephen Jones fragrance debuted earlier this year, and Jones' description of the scent — “futuristic but rococo” and “a violet that's been hit by a meteorite” — along with the perfect, just-like-a-hat packaging, placed it at the top of my “must smell” list.
The juice was developed by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu, who also did the wonderful Comme des Garçons Hinoki fragrance for Monocle magazine earlier this year, and I'm happy to report that it's exactly as advertised, in fact, if “a violet that's been hit by a meteorite” appeals to you, you'd probably do just as well to stop reading now and get yourself a sample…
Dusting powder is a wonderfully nostalgic treat. It’s not a strictly necessary grooming ritual, but the act of patting a fragranced powder onto the body with a fluffy puff can make anyone feel like the flawlessly beautiful star of a 1930s film, even without a bias-cut satin gown or an Art Deco dressing table. Of course, the use of talc to scent and soften the skin predates Hollywood by a few centuries, so it seems appropriate that some long-established merchants are keeping its tradition alive. Penhaligon’s is a perfumery founded during the Victorian era, and Colonial Williamsburg is the recreation of an eighteenth-century city; appropriately enough, both offer body powders scented with violet fragrance.
Penhaligon’s Violetta perfume, created in 1976, is a soliflore with crisp, green top notes above a clean violet center and a mossy base…
The violet is traditionally associated with the qualities of shyness, modesty, and loyalty. The Bathos Bubble Bar from Lush, however, is not the proverbial shrinking violet. Lush’s catalogue, Lush Times, frequently mentions that violet is the favorite fragrance of Lush’s creator and owner, Mark Constantine. It was also the signature scent of none other iconic personality than Napoleon Bonaparte, who wore violet cologne, gave bouquets of violets to Josephine on their wedding anniversaries, and inspired his dedicated followers to wear the flower as well. The Bathos Bubble Bar, stamped with a glittery capital “B,” aspires to a similar romance and charisma…
Violet Empire was released last month by CB I Hate Perfume, and is said to have been inspired in part by Diane Ackerman’s A Natural History of the Senses. The fragrance notes include CB Violet Empress (a violet accord), elemi, violet leaf absolute, rosewood, mahogany and Russian leather.
Violet Empire is a must-try for violet lovers, although it is not a soliflore in the manner of say, Borsari’s Violetta di Parma. According to Christopher Brosius, the perfumer behind the CB I Hate Perfume line, the violet “perpetually peeps out from behind a shining green veil”, and that is accurate for the top notes, which feature violet on a bed of green leaves and minty herbs. As it dries down, the green fades but does not quite disappear as it is joined by deep woods and a mild trail of leather…
Another corpse flower has bloomed at Western Illinois U, & they're expecting 2 more... http://t.co/oRnROz6j (& they've got live video)