perfume critic, perfume reviews, Silver Factory, Bond.NO 9, Montale, Tuberose Gardenia estee Lauder, Sniffapalooza Magazine

Coney Island

Bond No. 9

by Juvy Santos

I was privileged enough to sniff Coney Island

at Sniffapalooza. It was my 'first sniff' of the day,

and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Michel Almairac's works for Bond No. 9

have been good to me. I started with the effervescence

of Scent of Peace, moved on to the suntanned

skin scent of Fire Island, and fell for Bryant Park's girly

pinkness. West Side's become a staple of honeyed-rose

comfort. His fifth scent for Bond no. 9, though, may

become my favorite of the lot before the year is out.

Bond no. 9's Coney Island does what it sets out to do--it is

a 'fun' scent in every sense of the word. This ain't Mitsouko,

people. Nor is it meant to be. It smells young, and carries

itself like it has no worries in the world. It's not a particularly cerebral fragrance, either, but it does provide me with just enough complexity to keep me interested. The structure of the fragrance itself is distinctly pyramidal. A very realistic 'margarita mix with booze' note sets the stage, not too sweet, and not nearly as synthetic as one would fear. This is that same combo of tequila and acid green stuff that, ahem, scented far too many parties than I want to admit to. It was a pleasure to sniff a cocktail note that hadn't been sugared to the point of smelling like a Jolly Rancher candy, and an even bigger pleasure to find that it evolved past its boozy top notes and into the promised caramel/chocolate middle.

The margarita mix does linger on, but on me, it is the caramel note that makes its presence known. This is a caramel off in the distance--like the scent of caramel popcorn from a passing vendor, for instance, rather than the caramel-on-steroids blast one gets from a fragrance like Aquolina's Pink Sugar. I must admit, after having heard the notes, I did expect something far sweeter. But Coney Island, while 'fun,' distinguishes itself by restraining its sweetness. Yes, it's a gourmand...but one with a bit more restraint than your typical Eau de Cotton Candy. For a little while, it's almost like eating caramel popcorn while drinking margaritas...which, as far as I'm concerned,

sounds like a damn good time.

All that aside, Coney Island distinguishes itself on my skin in drydown. After a good half hour or so, it's a wonderfully clean, slightly salty, cedar and sandalwood blend. Edges are slightly muted with vanilla. Faint traces of its earlier caramel and tequila still linger, but for the most part, it feels light and airy.

I can easily see myself wearing this to a State Fair, or on the boardwalk, or while wearing shorts and a tank top waiting for a roller coaster--places where my other summer staples may fail to satisfy. It didn't feel right to be wearing Goutal's Eau du Sud while I stuffed my face with funnel cake last summer, for example, but I've a feeling Coney Island would fit right in.

Parfums MDCI

by Kathy Patterson

According to the Parfums MDCI Web site, they are a small team of passionate perfumers who work by the concept that fine fragrance should be treated as art, not as a commodity. It is clear to see that the opulence of the Renaissance, with its tradition of incredible sculptural works, is the inspiration for their line. The magnificent flaçons in which their perfumes are sold are essentially glass columns, or pillars, as in classical architecture, that are topped with either a crystal or Limoges porcelain bust. They are in themselves works of art (hence the high price). But what of the scents housed within?

When I first dabbed on each of these fragrances, I thought, "these are not worth $600! There is absolutely nothing special about any of these." After sniffing them again, I still had that thought... but I did notice that the scents had changed almost dramatically into something far more special than my first perception led me to believe.

Ambre Topkapi (PB1)

Notes: bergamot, grapefruit, pineapple, melon, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, basil, thyme, lavender, oak moss, vetiver, sandalwood, rosewood, leather, Darjeeling tea, amber, musk, vanilla, jasmine, violet

"Ick, a typical men's fragrance with citrus and lavender," was my first thought on this one. True, that's what it smells like at first, an anonymous drugstore aftershave. Then bam! Tangy pineapple! I sniffed again and detected herbs, then a floral quality, something a little powdery, a cross between sandalwood and violets. The barest hint of leather. And then the amber arrives along with a bit of musky vanilla. In the drydown, there is still a bit of a bright tangy note, the tea most likely, and a dash of the lavender, that keeps things lively. And then much further along, the amber takes center stage.

Although intended to be a masculine fragrance, I find this to be extremely unisex, and it is my favorite of the line.

Invasion Barbare (SB1)

Notes: grapefruit, bergamot, violet leaves, white thyme, cardamom, lavender, ginger, cedarwood, vanilla, musk

At first sniff, this one was the most interesting of the bunch. The opening is a bit of bergamot garnished with a healthy dose of cardamom. The scent is soft, almost powdery, and nearly gourmand in quality. Plenty of vanilla blends with lavender in the drydown, with a barely detectable woodsy base. Invasion Barbare is oddly named, as it is far from barbaric, nor is it invasive. It is in fact a very comforting scent, with a cuddly masculinity.

Promesse de l'Aube (FK1)

Notes: mandarin, lemon, ylang-ylang, jasmine, sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla

This starts out with a burst of citrus and the hint of white flowers. There's also a very perceptible vanillaic sweetness, that makes the composition start off much like a very sophisticated lemon meringue pie. The ylang and jasmine are very subtle, which I appreciate, and the sandalwood lends a powderyness to the drydown.

Rose de Siwa (FK2)

Notes: lychee, peony, hawthorn, Moroccan and Turkish roses, violet, cedar, musk, vetiver

An almost boozy opening, heavy on the peony, with a slight tropical sweetness, transforming into a very dry rose with a little of the "cold cream" quality of YSL Paris. There's a wee bit of powdery violet adding a bit of sweetness to the end, with the cedar and vetiver playing very minor roles. This is a delightful rose scent, almost happy, yet with a grown-up seriousness.

Enlevement au Serail (FK3)

Notes: bergamot, mandarin, ylang-ylang, jasmine sambac, tuberose, rose, wallflower, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver

Perhaps one should wear this while listening to my favorite opera, Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio although I do not think of ylang-ylang and tuberose when I think of a Turkish harem (which I will admit, is very seldom, if ever). Very much an elegant chypre fragrance (oakmoss or not) Enlevement opens up with lots of white flowers and a little bit of citrus. Soon the white flowers fade to allow a bit of rose to peek through with the sweetness of vanilla and a powdery sandalwood note. The slightly humid note of the tuberose persists through the drydown.

Thanks to Nancy of Fishbone Fragrances for getting a set of MDCI samples into my hot little hands. -KP

Montale Velvet Flowers

By Kathy Patterson

Notes: rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, peach blossoms, saffron, sandalwood

Velvet Flowers opens with an almost overpowering powdery floral cloud and lots of fruit.

The powder settles down pretty quickly to reveal the buzz of white flowers drenched in

a very sweet peachyness. After a few minutes, the slightly medicinal scent of saffron

makes a brief appearance, providing a much-needed tempering of the outrageous peach.

Much later in the drydown, the sandalwood tempers the fruit even more, although it

never quite overtakes it. The peach scent has a lot of staying power, but even it

calms down as time passes, leaving behind a soft memory of its velvet skin.

Montale Powder Flowers

Notes: rose, jasmine, osmanthus flowers, Atlas cedar, tonka bean

Powder Flowers is a sweet powdery floral, more like rose and violet than rose and jasmine.

The powdery quality is evident from first sniff, and it eclipses a certain other perfumer’s Baby

Powder scent by a mile. Montale’s powder is soft and sweet, with just a wee suggestion of

that plastic doll’s head smell that some baby products have.

In the drydown, the cedar tentatively emerges, but the addition of wood does not alter the

soft powderyness one bit. And the vanillaic quality of the tonka bean only adds to the

sweetness. Although I’m not doing a side-by-side comparison, I am reminded of Caron’s

Farnesiana, with its extreme sweetness and the overall powdery characteristic of many Caron fragrances.

Tom Ford Private Collection

Tobacco Vanille

Perfume Review by Tracy Figler

I slept with Tom Ford last night.

When the last of my Spring Sniffa purchases arrived late yesterday, a low cloud ceiling hung over the Sierra. Biting wind and stinging hail blew in from the west. With a wintry storm pressing down on the mountains, a long night with Tobacco Vanille fit the bill. One of the twelve new releases in Ford’s ambitious and pricey Private Collection, Tobacco Vanille is a cold-weather spice fragrance.

Using one of my favorite testing methods, The Bedtime Technique,

I sprayed the backs of my hands half an hour before slipping under the covers.

For heavy sleepers, this may be a waste. For me, awakened often by the

mere hum of an expanding universe, it is the perfect way to experience the development of a scent, and to see how it looks in the morning.

To my nose, four notes appear. Out of the bottle comes cinnamon -- potent

and, I’m sorry to say, ordinary. Cedar shavings hang behind it, more

prominent in sillage than on the skin, but minor. Of course there is vanilla,

but it is more white noise than note, and demurs to the oily, wet cinnamon.

Tobacco with a tannic edge emerges slowly and remains until the end.

Even for a spice lover, an excess of cinnamon hijacks this fragrance. It is a bully.

Other than the arid west, few climates can provide the rarefied conditions this demanding scent requires. Ford’s roots include Santa Fe, which may be where this vaporous blend would be most at home. In the tonic mountain air of New Mexico, always redolent of burning pinion, Tobacco Vanille would be a natural. In an office in Manhattan, it would be cloying – out of character and out of its element.

Ford’s packaging is impeccable. Gold foil and embossed brown paper cover the rectangular box. An equally handsome brown bottle matches the scheme, making a classic and elegant presentation. 1.7 ounce EDP, $165.

Guerlain's Cherry Blossom

By Juvy Santos

In honor of the official blooming of sakura in Japan, I've decided to do a

series of blogs on what might be my favorite flower.

In Japan, the blossoming of cherry trees is a serious business.

There's a 'cherry blossom' forecast that tracks the trees in bloom, from

the south and to the north every year. Sakura products saturate the market.

You can get anything from sakura tofu, sakura noodles, sakura bento,

EVERYTHING. Right now I'm having sakura tea, in fact, and when I get home,

I'll have half of a treat known as sakura-mochi. BUT that's an entirely different

post. Back to the subject at hand.

You KNOW you're a crazed Japanofiendperfumista when you realize that

you need, want, crave and are crazy about this fragrance. You KNOW it's

bad when you make the Saks SA find one of the last few .25 oz parfum

bottles in the United States and have them ship it to your door, and, not

even blinking at the price, smack down cash for it.

You KNOW it's even worse when you take said bottle with you to work,

'just to look at it,' dab a tiny amount on your wrist (despite having doused

yourself earlier with Bellodgia), and are still sniffing it at lunchtime (ignoring earlier applied Bellodgia), pondering the pale pink box it comes in, wishing there were still 1 oz perfume bottles available, because $300+ is 'a small price to pay' to feel this high. Suddenly this little bottle of parfum, decried by so many in its EDT form as 'insipid,' the epitome of 'fruity floral mediocrity,' and 'fleeting' has captured my mind, my heart, and my nose.

And while this may be a passing fancy, right now, just right now, my entire being is in song. I don't care if everyone else thinks this little confection is the lowest of the low of all Guerlains. I don't. All I know is that somewhere in the depths of my mind, I'm underneath a blooming cherry tree, on a blanket with a bowl of tea, numerous sweets, and an orchestra of koto players at my command. And gentle winds are blowing the petals to the ground while the sky is a deep blue above me. I can imagine myself unfurling in the sun, wearing a kimono the color of these blossoms.

Never mind that Pittsburgh is awash in rain right now, that the buses

are jammed in traffic, that even when the weather IS nice, there ARE

no cherry trees within my reach. Never mind all that. Never mind the

fact that I work as the lowest of the low in a law firm that values

nothing I can give. Never mind. And forget the fact that I will not be

able to sit underneath blooming cherry trees this year...work and

time prevent me from doing so.

This...high...is what the essence of perfume should be. Cherry Blossom

does everything it's supposed to, and does it so effortlessly that I don't

really care that it's not Mitsouko. Right now it's displaced Mitsouko

and all those other Guerlains in my Top 10. I would sacrifice my

bottle of LHB parfum right now for a bigger bottle of the Cherry Blossom

parfum...The parfum version has a staying power that far outstrips its

lesser counterparts. The EDT was more powdery and slightly drier. It

didn't last as long. It didn't surround my body in a soft, invisible armor

that protected me against the evils of fluorescent lighting and copier jams.

This is light and wind and youth. The citrusy opening with the green tea

lifts you, plays with you--this, to me, is what makes this fragrance what

it is. And the drydown...the drydown isn't the same powder that turned

me off of the EDT...it's a softer skin-scent...the kind that's bloomed on me.

As for Guerlain's strategy...It's not a younger market they're appealing to--

it's the Japanese market. This may explain the crude adjectives attached

to the names--'Crazy,' 'Lovely,' 'Fruity.' I won't count Cherry Blossom along

the same lines as Insolence or the Aqua Allegorias. Cherry Blossom wasn't developed for the US market. It's too soft, too 'barely there.' Cherry Blossom doesn't fit the mold of the normal fruity-floral, either. It's far too

subtle...and it's definitely a Guerlain. The 2007 limited edition, Cherry Blossom Fruity, MAY in fact fit the traditional fruity-floral mode, but I have no idea...I've not smelled it.

Anyhow...I may wear unrelieved black for every day of the workweek, but I assure you...today my soul is PINK.

She Smells Sea Shells By The Sea Shore

By Kathy Patterson

The weather is getting warmer, finally, and I know people are already starting to think about the beach. Not me. Although I live on the East Coast and am not far from the Atlantic Ocean, I'm not one to long for the smell of the ocean or to feel a salt spray on her face. When I was a kid, "going to the beach" meant a trip to our family's cottage in Riviera Beach, MD. There was a beach at the end of the road, with the waters of the Chesapeake Bay lapping gently at its edges. The sand was full of shells, broken beer bottles, and pebbles ready and waiting to cut the sensitive underside of a city kid's bare feet, and the murky green waters brought a never-ending supply of dead fish and globs of rotting seaweed. When I ventured into the smelly liquid, I had to beware of jellyfish and a fierce undertow.

Once in a rare while, my family would go to Ocean City, or up to Atlantic City, in New Jersey. My preference was a hotel with a swimming pool, so I could avoid the beach and the uncomfortable sensation of scratchy sand in a wet bathing suit bottom.

For you folks who have more pleasant memories of the seaside, there are lots of fragrances available to keep your mind on the beach year-round. Some, like Bond No. 9 Fire Island and Hamptons, smell of salt air and warm skin. Others are more evocative of suntan lotion, as in the coconut-tinged Estee Lauder Azuree Soleil. And still more are reminiscent of exotic isles, with whiffs of tropical fruit and yet more coconut, like Creed Virgin Island Water.

Here's a list of beachy scents. Can you add more?

Anna Sui Dolly Girl on the Beach, Ava Luxe The Beach, Bobbi Brown Beach, Body Shop Beach Bliss

Bond No. 9 Fire Island, Bond No. 9 Hamptons, CB I Hate Perfume At the Beach 1966, Creed Virgin Island Water

Escada Sunset Heat for Him, Estee Lauder Azurée Soleil , Profumum Acqua di Sale , Satellite Ipanema

Annick Goutal - Eau d'Hadrien

By Kathy Patterson

Annick Goutal is one of the more niche-y perfumers that my local Nordstrom always seemed to carry. I never paid them much attention, because AG scents are largely on the floral end of the spectrum, and

that's never been my preference at all. Now that I'm spending more time discovering the various types of floral notes, I recognize that there are some of them that I actually like. A lot. This week, I will talk about

a few of my favorite AG scents, starting off with one that is in the citrus family. Eau d'Hadrien is celebrating its twenty-sixth birthday and is one of the original fragrances in the Annick Goutal line.

Notes: Sicilian lemon, citrus tree, cypress, grapefruit, ylang-ylang

Refreshing, and not at all sweet, Eau d'Hadrien starts with sparkling citrus, lots of fresh tangy lemon with the slight bitter edge of grapefruit.

Undercutting the brightness of the citrus notes is a smoky-edged woodsy note that anchors the composition, along with a bit of gentle ylang that becomes stronger as the citrus fades. It reminds me just

a little bit of Hermes Un Jardin Sur Nil, but not as sweet, and more definitely lemon than grapefruit.

Eau d'Hadrien is a very Mediterranean scent that makes me think of summers on the Amalfi coast, with its candy-colored pastel architecture and bright sunshine that makes the sea seem so astonishingly blue. Not that I've been there of course, but a girl can dream!

FIVE NEW ONES BY CB I HATE PERFUME

by JAMES DOTSON

Accidents can be so good.

The other day I smacked over my vial of Wild Pansy.

It promptly hit the ground, neatly shearing off the base

and pumping the juice across the floor. While I was

mopping up, surrounded by beautiful purple-black flowers

and crushed leaves I decided that I really loved my

room smelling this way. This was the perfect roomspray.

All the upscale boutiques and hotels have their very

own scents now, used to “style” their interiors.

Why do they have to be tepid green tea and

vanillaesque things? If there are any captains of the design industry reading this right now, I plead with you to call Christopher Brosius to make something elegant and haunting for you that will be leagues better than what is out there.

That is why I am glad that CB exists - because his creations are definitely not perfume. They are tone poems or artistic constructs that you can inhabit, like a secret grotto or the quiet corner of a museum. They remind me of one of my favorite decadent 19th century novels, J.K. Huysmans’ A Rebours. The main character is the fantastically dandified hyperaesthete, the Duc Jean des Esseintes, who cloisters himself in his country estate to blend obscure fragrances and decorate his pet tortoise with jewels. He spends his days and nights creating artificial dreamworlds. His marine room is fashioned from tar-impregnated wood with portholes that admit a silvery green light filtered through quivering mechanical fish. He tells us why:

“By these means he could procure himself, without ever stirring from home, in a moment, almost instantaneously, all the sensations of a long voyage; the pleasure of moving from place to place, a pleasure which indeed hardly exists save as a matter of after recollection, almost never as a present enjoyment at the moment of the actual journey, this he could savour to the full at his ease...”

And here are five new dreamworlds from CB I Hate Perfume.

GREENBRIAR 1968 (based on a memory of his grandfather, his sawmill and stone house). Deeply handsome and elegiac, this begins with fresh milled pine and the echo of cool granite and fades to a gentle leather with soft tobacco and hay. It is a faded old flannel shirt that you want to cuddle with as you drift to sleep.

UNDER THE ARBOR (crushed grape leaves, twigs and old wood, moss). On the blotter this smells precisely like a deeply shaded afternoon garden that was just watered. When it hits my warm skin, a sugary Grape Kool Aid note springs out which then dries to beeswax and plum, oddly reminscent of Balenciaga’s Rumba. Because my evil skin chemistry makes it go all Jolly Rancher on me, I prefer this as an ambient scent.

ETERNAL RETURN (an ocean archetype with notes of sea air, ship,

cypress and rosemary). I am severely prejudiced here. Those early

90’s blasty ozonic colognes will forever grate my nerves like an

endless tape loop of George Michael music. But I decided it was

time for me to buck up and smell the ozone, and I must admit that

CB has been quite restrained in his use of this oceanic note

(is it Ultrazur?) which settles down into a sensation of cool air

and a suggestion of amber and precious woods. Reigning over

it all is a dry and bitter-green cypress, like a cliffside stand of

gnarled trees shaped by the sea winds.

I AM A DANDELION ( a refinement of his dandelion accord featuring

a new milky note). This is a big surprise and my nose was glued

to my arm with this one. So unlike anything I usually care about,

this mysterious lactonic scent creates a creamy nougat chord that

swirls with the luminous jasmine sambac greeness to make me feel

that I am sprawled on the lawn on a summer morning with my eyes

closed, purely happy.

WILD HUNT ( a forest archetype blend of fir, pine, old leaves, moss

and mushrooms). This is a pagan symphony of Graeco-Roman gods,

of Silvanus and Pan and a retinue of satyrs and fauns. I smell the

forest floor, resins and sweet sap trodden by cloven hooves, and it

just gets better and better until the warm dark truffle shows up; a

fragrance that is what ecstatic religion is meant to be.

www.cbihateperfume.com

James W. Dotson, M.D.

As soon as he could crawl, James dragged himself into the garden and began

smelling the scented pelargoniums and purple bearded iris. He began

precociously reading peculiar old herb books and attempted to prepare Hungary

Water from rosemary. Since alchemy was not a contemporary career choice,

he became a psychiatrist with a fondness for deeply strange things. His

current interests include the neuropsychiatric aspects of olfaction, cross-

disciplinary studies of smell, healing and magical perfumes, and all things

odorous. James enjoys meeting fellow flaireurs and olfactophiles and feels

they represent a superevolved form of humanity.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Rose Opulente

Review

By Diane Artzberger

Imagine a room covered in rich brocade, Old Masters on the wall, velvet chaises with

lovely ladies reclining in their finest silk gowns. This is what I see and feel in Rose

Opulente from Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier. The fragrance was an immediate love.

Not all fragrances give you a picture but this one clearly did.

The rose is rich, not powdery, but perhaps a bit dusky. It is rose petals drenched in rich red wine. Lush, and well, opulent. Rose Opulente changes little from opening to drydown; it begins and remains a beautiful strong rose touched with that wine accord

(although wine is most certainly note in the notes). The notes are Turkish and Moroccan roses, jasmin, ylang-ylang, clove, musk, ambergris, sandalwood. I don’t get a lot of the other notes, but a slightly musky base is there to temper all that rose, with a bit of amber too.

This is not a perfume for the non-rose lover, or one who shies away from real depth and strength in their fragrances. It has great lasting power and good sillage. I know every time I get a waft of it, I feel so good, it just makes me smile, and want to recline on one of those chaises with my richly bejeweled gown in a deep shade of red and smelling oh so good.

Virtue & Valor

By Kathy Patterson

I can't remember how I stumbled upon this particular scent -

probably on one of the message boards I frequent - but I was

intrigued by the company's Web site and their mission

statement.

"Established in 2003, we at Virtue & Valor inc.

are dedicated to bringing you unique and inspired fine fragrance

products."

"We are motivated by the virtuous women of the Bible and want

the women of today to see themselves in them as they triumphantly

faced their fears, endured their hardships with valor, walked in the strength of God, and embodied virtue. "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a women who fears the Lord, she shall be praised" (Proverbs 31:30).

"We want to counter the mainstream cosmetic products promoting immodesty, rebellion, selfishness, materialism, and so on. Granted, there are some beautiful perfumes on the market today, but many of the names make one blush. With our products, you can be proud to tell people who you are wearing."

Our exclusive Virtuessence® line is designed to put you in the mind and place of those whose physical beauty we have never seen, but whose actions and heart created a legacy - each in their own way."

"We capture the mood and essence of each woman we feature. Our flagship product, Virtuessence of Esther®, takes in the scene of Ancient Persia with the flower gardens, sweet incense, and rich oils. Walk with Esther as she bravely strides the halls of the palace to approach the King in order to save her people.

Virtuessence of Esther Notes: lily, orange, ylang ylang, cinnamon, ginger, jasmine, clove, vanilla, amber, musk, patchouli, frankincense, sandalwood."

It's refreshing to find a perfume that contains such powerful floral notes as lily, ylang, and jasmine, yet doesn't smother you with any of them. The orange note is there, but is equally subtle and blends beautifully with the lily and ylang. The spices too, are present but not overpowering. I can detect the cinnamon and ginger right away, but not the clove. Yet, the spices with the orange give the impression of a pomander, but one sitting in a bowl of white flowers. And all so light and subtle as to be almost ethereal, yet not wimpy or weak in the least.

The musk note comes out earlier than the drydown, almost at the beginning of the composition, and I think it's part of what keeps the floral notes in check. The frankincense is the most prominent of the rest of the basenotes, and I can also detect the vanilla and a tiny bit of patchouli. There's still a bit of tangyness around too, and cinnamon.

Esther is a gorgeous scent with nice staying power. I'm not usually a fan of oil-based scents, partly because of the, well, oiliness of them. But the oil base used by Virtue & Valor is a dry oil - it sank into my skin immediately and did not leave a slick on the surface.

As far as I can tell, Virtuessence of Esther is only available from Virtue & Valor online, at the price of $70 for 12ml. Samples are free, for $2.50 postage. And isn't the bottle gorgeous?

http://virtueandvalor.com/

Midsummer's Day: Summerscent is upon us!

By Juvy Santos

Upon rummaging my sample bag, I chose to review Marjorie Midgarden

Fragrances' Summersent, a 'fragrance dedicated to all women,' and

sporting the fairy from John Atkinson Grimshaw's 'Spirit of the Night.'

It seemed fitting: a fragrance 'of' summer and having the requisite

Midsummer's fairy art on it. The website tells us to 'imagine the golden

scent of summer surrounding you all seasons.' Of course, I was skeptical.

The ad copy felt cheesy, and I feel ill-at-ease reading lines about a fragrance

'celebrating woman - capturing her possibilities - visualizing her potential.' I am not

fond of overly sexualized perfume campaigns, but neither am I fond of being

courted like an attendee of a self-help conference

("visualizing my potential").

The heart is in the right place, though, and that's what counts. Further googling revealed

that the woman pictured in the ad campaigns was a mother of three, not a model.

Marjorie Kitzrow, creator of the brand, believes that "a lifting up of mind and spirit is

long overdue in our consumer culture. Images of women need to be believable …

women full of hope, promise, intelligence and good taste." That's something I can get behind,

though the website irks me with its non-links and self-forwarding pages. I remembered

quicklysniffing Summersent during the Takashimaya foray at Sniffapalooza,

and recalling it to be a Floral. You see, until very recently, the Juvy did not 'do' florals.

Summersent is part of the vanguard of big florals out there making their way onto skin.

At first sniff, Summersent truly is a heady fragrance--I smelled ylang-ylang,

jasmine, and *some* orange blossom. Some green, definitely a 'honeyed'

sweet quality to it. Listed notes include Italian jasmine, Moroccan orange blossom,

cassis flower, and genet; and the base notes are a blend of white musks and

honey nectar. It remains quite heady for some time--and then begins its transformation

into a greener, more vegetal scent--though it never becomes green enough to be called

a 'green' fragrance. This seemed unusual to me--most fragrances begin green and then become more floral. But Summersent does the opposite on my skin. It almost has a note of wilting flowers, just the tiniest hint of the water in a vase after the flowers in it are no longer fresh. I love that. And please, don't let what I just said scare you--it is the tiniest hint of vegetal decay, and far outweighed by the avalanche of white florals. And it may be my skin chemistry, to boot. It is this 'heart' stage that I like best, the stage in which Summersent truly distinquishes itself from other big florals out there. It is a bit of a chameleon in this respect, not linear at all. In extreme drydown, it resembles Bond no. 9's West Side in honeyed, floral sweetness.

Summersent isn't a 'fresh' or 'transparent' fragrance--no one would mistake it for a Goutal. But it feels inherently sunny, like flowers stewing in the sunshine, or a garden in the late afternoon. It isn't dark at all. I would have no trouble pairing it with a white sundress and galivanting about the neighborhood, or perhaps to a picnic. It has more than enough substance to stand out, but isn't odd in any way. A comfortable, easy-to-wear scent, well blended and well-crafted. The honey-like component would make it easily adaptible to cold weather--in fact, I think I may *prefer* Summersent in the autumn.

Summerscent's parfum bottle is a study in Victoriana prettyness: a diminutive flacon, topped with a faceted crystal ball, whorls of roses and vines, and accented with Swarovski. Summersent and I will probably maintain an amiable relationship, but I do not think Summersent is 'me.' I don't find Summersent full-bottle-worthy, but it is a lovely, well-crafted, long-lasting scent, worthy of the love of many. I'm sure it'll be FBW for at least some perfumistas...I know Raphaella of Sniffapalooza Magazine loves this.

You can purchase Summersent at Takashimaya in New York, as well as in Von Maur department stores.

Quotes from:

http://www.gcimagazine.com/beautyunion/people/3873232.html?referHub=y&referPath=/beautyunion/people&referSectionName=Beauty%20Union%2

Divine L'Inspiratrice

By Kathy Patterson

Divine started out as one fragrance sold by Yvon Mouchel

in a tiny shop in Dinard, a resort in Brittany. People bought

it, loved it, and told their friends. Now there are five scents

in the Divine line, L'Inspiratrice being the latest.

While at Takashimaya during Sniffa, I was being pestered

by the Divine SA. I had a sample of L'Inspiratrice for a

while, tried it and didn't like it, so I was not interested in his

wares. Going through my box(es) of samples the other day,

I found the little vial and decided to give it another shot.

This time, I was much more appreciative of the scent.

It opens with a boozy red rose, lush and sexy and full. There's a creamy sweet layer under the rose, and a bare whisper of powder, a combination of ylang and tonka bean and vanilla. In the drydown, the rose stays bold and the creaminess remains, but a bit of patchouli and vetiver sneak in to ground the scent.

L'Inspiratrice is a rich and warm scent, sexy yet comforting. Unlike other rose and patch fragrances, Rose Barbare and Voleur de Rose among them, the patchouli here is definitely a supporting player and not a star. To my nose, L'Inspiratrice is more similar to a spicy vanilla-y rose like Menard's L'Eau de Kasaneka, which I prefer.

Notes: rose, ylang-ylang, vanilla, tonka bean, vetiver, patchouli

Olivier Durbano

By Kathy Patterson

As a jeweler myself, I am somewhat fascinated by the recent wave

of jewelers-cum-perfumers: Joel Arthur Rosenthal's JAR line, Solange

Azagury-Partridge's Stoned, and now Olivier Durbano.

Seven fragrances are planned for his unique Bijoux de Pierres Poèmes

(Perfumes of Stones Poems), each one unearthing fragments of buried

memories and emotions, the scents themselves linking to precious or

primitive stones -- contemporary talismans to offer to a world in search

of pureness, harmony and serenity. (Luckyscent.com) Two have so far

been released: Amethyst and Rock Crystal. I had the opportunity to sniff

them briefly on paper strips at the Spring Sniffapalooza. After obtaining

samples, I was able to judge them on my skin.

Rock Crystal

Notes: orange, pepper, coriander, cardamom, cumin, olibanum, benzoin,

myrrh, cistus, sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, everlasting flower, oakmoss, musk

Rock Crystal is a very crisply dry incense scent, with a nice dose of

pepper and a variety of other spices--coriander and cumin being most

obvious to my nose. The cumin does not possess the b.o. quality that is often associated with that note; it merely brings an aromatic warmth to the scent. The opening of this fragrance reminds me of the somewhat acrid characteristics of English pipe tobacco, yet in a pleasant way. It also has a church-like aura about it; although it has many notes, it also possesses an austerity.

The drydown is a bit less dry than the opening, with sandalwood taking over for the cumin, causing the incense of the West to lean a little more to the East. I think Rock Crystal is a very well-crafted and subtle fragrance that should be especially well-appreciated by those who enjoy the Comme des Garçons line of incense scents.

Amethyst

Notes: bergamot, pepper, grape, raspberry, incense, palisander wood,

jasmine, orris, vegetable amber, sandalwood, musk, vanilla

Amethyst, despite its name, isn't a "purple" scent for me. It starts out fruity,

like a bowl of fresh tart raspberries with a dose of black pepper so hearty it's

almost sneeze-worthy. Beneath the pepper note, the raspberry moves aside

to make room for a lovely palisander and incense combo flavored with a dry

vanillaic orris. The drydown exhibits touches of sandalwood and musk, and

the dusty pepper quality eventually fades away quite a bit to reveal the bowl

of fruit once again. Ok, maybe this scent is a pale lavender sort of purple,

like that of a cape amethyst, but not the lush and rich royal purple that one

conjures in the mind when seeing the word "amethyst."

Like Rock Crystal, Amethyst reminds me of a Comme des Garçons scent,

perhaps a bit like Guerilla 2, although less sweet and a bit softer. It's a lovely close-to-the-skin scent that will find admirers, no matter the hue.

(Image of Amethyst bracelet by Olivier Durbano, from OlivierDurbano.com and bottle from Lucky Scent.com)

Osmanthus

by Kathy Patterson

I love the smell of the Henri Bendel Osmanthus candles sold at Bath and

Body Works--an intoxicating green floral scent that may well be my floral

HG. I hoped that all osmanthus products smelled the same, but was sadly

disappointed to find that is not true! In my head, osmanthus should smell

like apricots and green tea, and a bright and slightly grassy green. I've found

three scents so far that are primarily osmanthus, but none of them quite

measure up to my high expectations.

The Different Company

Osmanthus

Notes: osmanthus fragrans (China), leaf green, bergamot, orange, tangerine,

rose, rose bay, castoreum, hay, musk

This opens with a quick burst of citrus, strongly bergamot like an eau de cologne, then the scent of green leaves. There's a floral aroma in the background that strikes me as slightly antiseptic, like the smell of bandaids. That soon fades, leaving a musky drydown. I'm not sure if I smell the castoreum, but then again, I don't quite know what beaver secretions should smell like :::wrinkles nose at the thought::::

Keiko Mechuri

Fleurs d'Osmanthus

Notes: Japanese golden osmanthus, white datura, tuberose, green notes

Where's the osmanthus? This is more a tuberose scent, very white floral and jasmine-like. The drydown has a green grassy quality and a creamy warmth. Overall, it smells like a florist's shop full of fresh blooms. Pretty, simple, fresh, but not what I wanted it to smell like!

Hermes

Osmanthe Yunnan

Notes: tea, orange, freesia, osmanthus, apricot

Opening notes of tea and orange and the slight funk of dried apricot blooms into a delicate floral that so far is the closest match to my beloved HB candle. Quite delicious, but unfortunately very fleeting. Osmanthe Yunnan starts to fade within 10 minutes, assuming a dusty apricot character with a very subtle background floral. That's all well and good, but I would prefer the orange and tea aromas to stay in the foreground and not fade away completely.

Kathy Patterson has had an interest in fragrance all her life. Some of her fondest

memories involve digging through her mother's toiletries and playing with her scented soaps.

(She hated Mom's Youth Dew though.) At the ripe age of 40, Kathy discovered niche

scents and Sniffapalooza. Now she's getting out of hand with the perfume collection,

and her husband Neal thinks she's maybe a little crazy.

Kathy is a jewelry designer/graphic artist/research analyst who lives in Baltimore,

MD with her loving hubby and two cats. You can find her all over the place as theminx,

including her site, http://theminx.com.

Le Baiser Du Dragon Parfum

By Ida Meister

Le Baiser Du Dragon, by Cartier, is one of those fragrances that possesses a

different character in the parfum. My supposition would be that it was originally

created as one, and that the other forms followed in turn...

I base this on one of the lessons the amazing Liz Zorn taught me, a few months back.

She said that each fragrance is created by the perfumer with a particular strength

or form in mind; that is why, when one experiences something that really ‘sings’,

it was likely created for that purpose, originally.

This would explain why many eschew all but the parfum in Baiser.

For one thing, the wearer rapidly becomes anosmic, even though the notes listed

are potent in their raw forms. For another, the notes aren't necessarily situated where

you'd normally expect to find them.

Top: Neroli, Gardenia, Amaretto accord Heart: Cedar, Iris Base: Vetiver, Patchouli, Amber, Benzoin

The opening is fleeting, with neroli barely nodding, and gardenia lasting a bit longer...Amaretto accord?

Slightly almondy bitter/sweet, the heart lasts only a few beats as well. We are more accustomed to having iris and gardenia in the middle, but not cedar- and it's pretty hard to find that. Sometimes you pick up more patch, sometimes more vetiver- but the base is very smooth, a satiny base.

Dragon is a strange choice of appellation. This is a smoky whisper, not dragon breath. Rather snuggly, I find.

[Dragons are supposed to represent the union of Heaven and Earth, so, in that sense, it's plausible]

The unctuous body cream makes this last a lot longer- layering it helps a lot.

I recommend trying the extract, and applying on several areas at once, in order to get the full effect. It can be a real beauty, if it sings for you. [It sings for me, but it's moody!]

My Summer Favorites

By Raphaella Brescia Barkley

My favorite summer fragrances are in no particular order, they all are beautiful and each is different. I am sorry that I did not write about each one but as you can see, (I don't have Mark David on the payroll) my list is long- For new fans of fragrance-please see the “Samples to Purchase” link for samples so that you may explore some of these for yourself.

Azuree soleil by Tom Ford-Estee Lauder

Tuberose Gardenia Private Collection Estee Lauder

Ellie Perfume by Michel Roudnitska

Carnal Flower by Fredrick Malle

Acqua Chiara by I Profumi di Firenze

At The Beach 1966 by Christopher Brosius

Datura Noir by Serge Lutens

To See a Flower by Christopher Brosius

Cradle of Light by Christopher Brosius

Mayotte by Guerlain

For Her by Bond No. 9 for Sak’s (to be released soon)

Jardin Blanc by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Sa Majeste La Rose Serge Lutens

Do Son by Diptique

Coeur de Fleur by Miller Harris

White Flower by Yosh

Frangipani by Ormande Jayne

Soleil de Capri by Montale

Rose Barbare by Guerlain

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by L’Artisan

Tuberose by Profumum

Passion Annick Goutal

Frangipane by Chantecaille

Chinatown by Bond No. 9

New York Fling by Bond No. 9

Chelsea Flowers by Bond No. 9

Park Avenue Bond No. 9

Tubereuse Criminelle by Serge Lutens

1000 by Jean Patou

Joy by Jean Patou