My perfume wishlist changes all the time, sometimes several times a day. There’s also a sub-wishlist of hard to obtain or obscure scents I’d love to try. Here’s what’s on my current Must Try rotation. If you’ve smelled any of these scents, please comment, I beg you.
La Mome by Balmain (rose, freesia, pink berry, violet, raspberry, myrrh, iris, musk, opoponax, amber). Exclusive to Marionnaud in France. The scent is released alongside the film La Mome dedicated to Edith Piaf.
Miss Charming by Juliette Has A Gun (mandarin, rose, lychee, musk, gourmand notes)
Lady Vengeance by Juliette Has A Gun (rose, patchouli, vanilla).
Essencia do Brasil by Natura (breu branco tree resin in Brazil). Supposed to be a smoky, honeyed, resinous scent.
Eau Hegemonienne by Guerlain (bergamot, lemon, lavender, herbs, sandalwood, vanilla). Originally created in 1890, right after Jicky. An aromatic hesperidic scent with a hefty price tag.
Miss Carlota - a French beauty salon and spa.
Lait Miel (bergamot, peach, apricot, jasmine, violet, tuberose, heliotrope, tiare, monoi, honey, coconut milk, chocolate, vanilla, dried fruits, caramel).
Rose Jasmin Fleur d’Oranger - a voluptuous floral bouquet.
Ambre Musc Santal (citrus, floral notes, patchouli, sandalwood, cistus, vanilla, benzoin, musk).
Images source: osmoz.com
March 7th, 2007
Please welcome my first contributing writer, Elena Singh! She shares her experience with the new Chanel Les Exclusifs at the boutique in Las Vegas.
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Las Vegas is the city that, like a giant funnel, pulled all human sins into its neon-lit innards and these sins spin around in an endless mad dance. The vices charge the city with electric energy through the vigor of their sheer multitude and force of their longing for something else: a new beginning, a promise of better life, a desire to forget the past and detach oneself from the present.
This last weekend, Las Vegas amplified my own little penchant for fine perfumes and I ended up with three bottles of Les Exclusifs in my overstuffed suitcase. As a perfume fanatic, I always thought of myself as being one of those sinners who is never happy with her possessions and who, like a pathologically unfaithful lover, is always looking for something or someone better beyond the horizon.
As I approached perfume counters or unpacked another set of decants I realized that my chances of being serene desire-free celestial being anointed with her “signature scent” are pretty nil. Like a gambler trying her luck over and over again and enjoying the thrill of the game, every sniff of new perfume puts me in a bliss-like meditative state. I finally realized that for me the pursuit of happiness is more significant then happiness itself and quite frankly, I am not sure if I want to reach the perfume nirvana just yet. Being an insatiable desire-driven sinner is way more fun! Now let’s hit the casino floor and continue our glorious perfume gamble!
The Chanel boutique at the magnificent Wynn hotel met me with bright lights, fourteen hundred dollar sets of candy-colored plastic bangles (yes, plastic), Saturday morning Vegas crowds, stressed out assistants and depleted stand of Les Exclusifs. Where are the ambery Coromandel and the aromatic 31 Rue Cambon? Why are there two bottles of Cuir de Russie and tester cards for only six fragrances? How do I get rid of my family so I can really concentrate on resolving such upsetting issues? And – most importantly: why did Eau de Cologne disappear within the course of three minutes that it took me to find a salesperson? Oh, in what a scary world we live…
As the lovely and enthusiastic Liz informed me later, they sold out of Coromandel and Rue Cambon almost right away, and I was buying the last bottle of Bel Respiro (which was actually true, as she grabbed the last bottle from the shelf). Aside from Bel Respiro I purchased No.18 and my beloved Bois des Iles in Eau de Toilette form. Liz also included all samples of Les Exculsifs and two beautifully crafted Chanel booklets describing the entire line. Lucky me.
Today I would like to talk about No.18. The second I sprayed it and walked through its cloud I thought to myself: “This is definitely a Chanel.” I do not think of myself as a type who easily falls for marketing lines, but maybe Monsieur Polge is right: there is a bright and dry aspect to the fragrance, almost reminding of luminous sparkle of a clear Tiffany diamond. I did not realize that the ambrette seed that became this composition’s main theme had such complex facets and would lend itself to such fresh interpretation.
As I smelled the fragrance for the first time, almost immediately I had an image of a young bride, her face covered by a sheer stiff white veil. She is standing in a sun-filled room, with dust floating in soft yellow light as warmed roses and irises decorating the space give off their odor. The bride is shy and a bit scared of the uncertain future awaiting her, but she is also excited to spend her life with a young man she loves so passionately; she smells a bit of musk and soap and she is relieved that their affair will not be clandestine anymore. They are going to be man and wife.
I feel that the last thought is brought to me by a certain level of formality that No.18 retains. Yes, it has the powdery opening and the sunny citrus note to it and it has the flowery aroma developing later, it does resonate with a bit of musk and a hint of good soap, but it also possesses a clear, dry, almost architectural angle to it. For myself, I concluded that it must be a dry iris note that gives the scent this sparkling crystal feel. This angle almost decisively underlines the entire composition, lending it a beautiful and distinct tone.
As for me, I am quite happy with No.18 - it is easy to wear and will be wonderful for warm summer days. But – the gamble continues as I have been promised a call as soon as Coromandel is back in stock.
March 7th, 2007