Month: March 2023

Perfume Chat Room, March 31
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Perfume Chat Room, March 31

Welcome to the Friday Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, March 31 — is your March “going out like a lion”? I think our weather lion has already left the building, though I risk jinxing us by saying so. We had low temps of 40 degrees F earlier this week, and tomorrow it’s supposed to approach 80 degrees. My plants are so confused. I still have daffodils coming up, but my lilies of the valley and roses are also now starting to bloom. One David Austin rose in particular is so fragrant as well as beautiful! It’s called “Fighting Temeraire”, after a famous painting, and it has a strong fruity rose fragrance that carries. This is one of the reasons I love David Austin’s English Rose hybrids — not only are they beautiful, in many colors, but they were bred and selected to be highly fragrant.

David Austin English Rose "Fighting Temeraire"; image from www.gardentags.com
David Austin English Rose “Fighting Temeraire”; image from http://www.gardentags.com

Yes, this rose’s blossoms really are that big! Speaking of fragrance and spring, Portia and I will resume our collaboration on Monday, now that we’ve both returned home from travels, with “Notes On Notes” (first Monday of each month) and “Counterpoint” (third Monday of each month). I’ll give you a hint: the note we’ve chosen for April appears in many green fragrances. Please join us!

I just got in the mail a sample of Parfums Dusita’s new fragrance; she’s running another contest to name it, on the Eau My Soul Facebook page. Are any of you taking part? I haven’t even sniffed it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

Perfume Chat Room, March 24
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Perfume Chat Room, March 24

Welcome to the Friday Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, March 24, and Spring has sprung! We’ve gone in just a couple of days from temps below freezing at night, back to sunny and in the 70s. The pollen is flying everywhere leaving yellow dust in its wake and all over cars. All over everything, actually. Thank goodness for non-drowsy antihistamines!

I still have daffodils, azaleas, and dogwoods in bloom, and one rose bush that has started blooming its head off. In honor of William Morris’ birthday today, NST’s community project is to wear a scent that can be matched with anything to do with him — his art, his designs, his books and poems — whatever. I love William Morris designs, so I matched one of my favorites (actually designed for him by J.H. Dearle) called “Daffodil” with my beloved Ostara, by Penhaligon.

Drawn design for fabric with daffodils
Design for “Daffodil” by JH Dearle for William Morris & Co.; image from the William Morris Gallery.

All the spring scents are jumbled together outside in a charming melange that includes grass, flowers, trees, dirt, and rain. My poor vegetable garden froze solid back in December. I didn’t bother replanting winter vegetables, I just spread more compost so it could “season” until the weather is warm enough to plant again, and the compost is adding to the mix of smells.

Portia and I have decided we will just wait until April to resume our “Notes on Notes” and “Counterpoint” collaborations, since we were both traveling a lot in March. We’ve got some great material to discuss! If you want to suggest 1) fragrance notes; or 2) specific fragrances that you’d like us to tackle, please let us know in the comments!

And for those in the Northern Hemisphere, happy Spring!

Perfume Chat Room, March 17
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Perfume Chat Room, March 17

Welcome to the Friday Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, March 17 — Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As regulars here know, I love green fragrances, so my green of the day today was Tom Ford’s Vert d’Encens. It is one of a group of four “Vert” fragrances he released in 2016. The perfumer was Olivier Guillotin. I have decants of all four; my favorite has been Vert de Fleur, which has a hefty dose of galbanum. I wasn’t crazy about Vert d’Encens when I first tried in some years ago, but now that I have an actual decant and have sprayed it more liberally on my wrists, I quite like it. The incense accord is very detectable, and it lasts well, too, several hours. Per Fragrantica, it has notes of incense, pine resins and fir balsam, heliotrope and woods. It isn’t smoky at all, which I’m enjoying.

Green incense sticks
Green incense sticks; image by Philip Arthur Moore.

I decided to honor my Irish roots as well as my husband’s and make corned beef with cabbage for dinner tonight. However, I’ve adopted a more modern cooking technique — baking/roasting the meat and vegetables instead of boiling them. I look forward to seeing how they turn out! I’d rather be eating Irish soda bread slathered in Irish butter, but I’m trying to reign in my consumption of carbs after our two weeks eating everything in sight in Barcelona and Lisbon over two weeks!

Do you have anything fun going on for St. Patrick’s Day? Also, fyi, due to my travels and absence, we’ll be off-schedule with our Notes on Notes and Counterpoint posts this month. Stay tuned!

Perfume Chat Room, March 10
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Perfume Chat Room, March 10

Welcome to the Friday Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, March 10, and we are just back from Spain and Portugal, totally jet-lagged. But what a great trip we had! I’m going to have to take up running to burn off all the pounds I gained from so much good food.

I’m so pleased with another perfume find: Yvresse! A discontinued YSL fragrance originally created by Sophia Grosjman, it seems to have been discontinued some time ago. It is prohibitively expensive in the US, when it can even be found. I found mine in a tiny perfumery, at a very reasonable price.

Glasses of the sparkling wine that shall not be named.

Aficionados know that Yvresse was originally named Champagne, until French winemakers took legal action to prevent that name’s use. Have you ever tried Yvresse?

Perfume Chat Room, March 3
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Perfume Chat Room, March 3

Welcome to the Friday Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, March 3, and I am in Barcelona! Love this city. Yes, I have visited some perfumeries, most notably The Perfumery, a true haven for artisan and niche perfumes. I had a lovely visit with its owner, who now sees clients by appointment. And then you get his undivided attention and expertise, for at least an hour! It was great. I tried several brands that were entirely new to me, including the line developed by Fragrantica writer Miguel Matos.

I also visited Perfumeria Regia, also a lovely store but a more standard retail experience. I sampled a couple of brands I hadn’t seen before, but most of their stock, while excellent, is available in the US. I did come out with one discovery set, though!

We’ve had fun revisiting favorite places like Park Guell and seeing some new ones, like the interior of Casa Batllo. And we have eaten very, very well! Do you have any favorite Catalan or Spanish dishes?