Posted by Kevin
on
8 February 2012
Imagine seeing a friend in person after almost fifteen years apart — perhaps gray hair and wrinkles will startle you, or you’ll be amazed at how unchanged he is, or how your friend has finally learned to dress (no more neon colors, chicken-sized athletic shoes, or gym pants).
I’ve not “seen” (or smelled) my old flame Etro Magot1 since 1998 — back in the day we were very close, in fact, Magot was once all over me. After an affair that lasted a good two years, Magot went his way, I went mine, and I never thought of revisiting that “relationship” till now.
“Original” Magot’s fragrance notes2 were lime, lemon, tuberose, jasmine, iris, lavender, clove, peach, vanilla, cedar, patchouli and musk. I remember Magot as a dark, intense Oriental perfume — a fragrance that went from a syrupy brew of flowers and spice to a rich, opulent powder-house of peach-saturated patchouli, amber and oak moss.
My old “beau” has changed…
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Posted by Robin
on
7 February 2012
They like jasmine over at Lush. Whenever I’m feeling particularly wealthy (a rare, and entirely delusional state) I pick up some of their Jasmine & Henna Fluff Ease hair pre-treatment (about $22 for 220g). My hair most certainly needs some pre-treatment, followed by some treatment and then perhaps some post-treatment, but I buy it for the (massive) wallop of jasmine, which lasts right through a shampoo (or two). Once, and only once, I bought a very small travel size of their Flying Fox shower gel ($10 for 100 ml, which mind you doesn’t look like nearly so much product in shower gel as it does in perfume) — another decent wallop of jasmine. And then there’s the Lust fragrance, which arguably out-jasmines both the Fluff Ease and the Flying Fox, and adds a hefty dose of candy to boot.
But their best known jasmine product is probably the Silky Underwear dusting powder. I love the smell,1 but I’m not a big user of dusting powder so I’ve never bought it. I was tempted when they released the same fragrance in a solid perfume,2 but I still didn’t bite…
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Posted by Angela
on
6 February 2012
The archetypal image of Valentine’s Day is a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Done right, the box is wrapped in lightly padded vermillion satin, and the chocolates are rich and silky smooth — no grainy cherry filling here. Of course, next to the box is a lush bouquet of fragrant flowers. It’s romantic, timeless, and sure to melt the coldest heart. To me, its perfume equivalent could only be Guerlain Attrape-Cœur.
In 1999, Guerlain released Guet-Apens Eau de Parfum as a limited edition and named Mathilde Laurent as its nose. The fragrance was reissued in 2005 as Attrape-Cœur, this time credited to Jean-Paul Guerlain. (I’ve also seen Maurice Roucel’s name tossed in as a contributor to Attrape-Cœur.) In 2007, Guerlain released an Eau de Toilette formulation in duty free shops and named it, oddly, Vol de Nuit Evasion. (To make it even stranger, Vol de Nuit Evasion was packaged in a L’Heure Bleue/Mitsouko bottle, but labeled with the classic Vol de Nuit parfum logo.)
In French, guet-apens means “ambush.” I think Attrape-Cœur (“heart catcher”) is a more fitting name for the fragrance…
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Posted by Robin
on
6 February 2012
Today we’re helping Linda, who wants to find two new perfumes. One should be a daily “signature” scent, and she’d like the other to be a romantic fragrance for special occasions. She can pay up to $100 each. She’d prefer perfumes that aren’t too popular or mainstream, although that’s not a deal-breaker, and she’d like them to be pretty but interesting — they don’t have to be complicated scents. She has good access to perfume stores. Here is what we know about Linda:
She’s in her mid-20s and lives in San Francisco, where she works as a pharmacist.
She says she is slow to catch on to new trends — she prefers simple and classic, with feminine touches. Her favorite piece of clothing is a grey draped cashmere sweater from J. Crew.
Linda is shy when meeting new people, but can be bright and goofy once she gets to know them better.
Linda likes notes of osmanthus, champaca, white musk, sandalwood, orange blossom and cedar…
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Posted by Robin
on
4 February 2012
It’s time for the weekend poll — Aunt Violet: “What’s a weekend?” — and this weekend, we’re scenting the cast of Downton Abbey. Scent as many or as few as you like, and please, there is no need for historical accuracy — Julian Fellowes has not been stifled by such considerations, so neither will we.
If you don’t watch Downton Abbey, feel free to scent a character from your favorite TV show.
I’ve been thinking about Aunt Violet…
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