I mentioned Serge Lutens Rahat Loukoum the other day as an example of a gourmand; that’s all it took for me to break it out today. It’s been almost a year since my last wear. I have the 2 x 30 ml travel sizes with refillable spray, not the bell jar. I’m only halfway through…
Tea Break: London Strong Brew
I found a new black tea I like, Selfridges London Strong Brew, while ordering En Passant by Frédéric Malle. The bags contain a fine powder that looks like dust left from a higher grade of leaf bags on the machines that manufacture them, and some enterprising person said “Hey we can sell this too!” And…
Prin Mandodari — Drive-by Review
Wearing Prin Mandodari from a sample swap. Extrait strength, it opens incensy and slightly spicy over muted florals when first sprayed. Then it says “Aldehydes!” like the Beastie Boys shout “Hey Lady!” These are the old-school aldehydes from Chanel No. 5 and Givenchy Ysatis, not the softer, heady ones from Encens Mythique d’Orient. Good news,…
I smelled Bleu de Chanel in the wild
So this time I accosted the supermarket check out guy. I was shopping fruitlessly for canned tomatillos, an item I imagine you could find at any corner grocery in the Southwest. But this is a Massachusetts supermarket, home of three shelves of bottled salsa, 50 kinds of spaghetti sauce, and 20 varieties of canned baked…
REVIEW — En Passant by Olivia Giacobetti, Éditions Frédéric Malle
If you think there’s nothing Olivia Giacobetti could do to improve on the beauty of lilac, you’d be wrong. With En Passant, she leveled up to make a natural bouquet from a totally lab-created accord.
You want a FRESHIE? (I will beat this drum until it breaks)
The term freshie is so vague as to be virtually meaningless. Take a look at this cutout of the fragrance wheel and see how many areas fresh notes covers. Freshie leaves a ton of room for interpretation. Since these subgroups have their own names, why dance around what you want with something vague like freshie?…
Jovoy Rose Millésimée Extrait
For me, Jovoy Rose Millésimée is the rose of Hades Aidoneus, the god of many names, the receiver of many, blooming in the Fields of Asphodel, watered by the River Styx. And though it is so not me, holy fuck is it good!
Of Course Influencers Are Scamming Their Employers
Google must know I’ve read about this, or else there’s a lot more buzz about this than I thought. It’s an interesting topic. Reminded me when I was first on LinkedIn, I took some webinar and ended up buying connects. A bad idea that got exponentially worse, I had no idea who these people were…
33, by Chris Rusak
So, I’m playing psychic fragrance tag with a group of similarly obsessed aromaphiles, where you suggest a fragrance for one or more others. It’s hard to suggest for a few of them because it seems like they have smelt or own everything. I was reluctant this go-round to suggest anything since, for me the first…
I stalked a guy in the supermarket to ask what he was wearing
In a recent discussion in a fragrance forum, my take was in New England, complimenting strangers is few and far between. Not that we’re unfriendly – it’s just how we roll. Then this happened: Back of the store, dairy, some guy is in front of milks. I’m looking at butter. He’s standing no more than…
The Perfume Baby 