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Perfume Chat Room, July 19

Welcome to the weekly 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, July 19, and I had so much fun at a gathering this week with Gérald Ghislain of Histoires de Parfums, at a local independent perfume boutique!

Gérald Ghislain, Histoires de Parfums

He discussed how he started in perfume, the backstory of Histoires de Parfums, his life in fragrance, and his newer fragrance line, Olibanum, which launched in 2021.

Histoires de Parfums and Olibanum testers

In Gérald’s words: “While Histoires de Parfums tells stories and spins dreams, Olibanum is all about the scent. If these creations are void of storytelling, it’s simply to return to and focus on the purity of the raw materials. And for an added personalized touch, each perfume has been designed around olibanum, [my] favorite scent.” Gérald now lives in Dubai but he continues to travel widely. His description of renting an apartment in Flatbush, New York, was hilarious. In fact, generally he was very funny and charming. I enjoyed sniffing some of the newer HdP fragrances (2020 and later); my favorite was This Is Not a Blue Bottle 1.6, which is ironic because it features a strong note of yuzu. I have long thought I disliked yuzu because of an unpleasant encounter with it in a Burberry fragrance, but I may have to revisit that opinion. I really liked 1.6 and found it very refreshing in the current heat and humidity. John Biebel wrote a terrific review of it in Fragrantica. As he wrote, it is all about citrus in the opening, then it moves to a fresh flower bouquet, and finally towrd a warmer base of white musk, vanilla and vetiver. It is totally unisex and very winning. Have any of you tried it?

Just some of the fragrance lines at Indiehouse

The boutique’s intown location is quite small, so attendance was limited and about 12 people were there; it was great fun. A wide range of ages and backgrounds, and a very diverse, convivial group. It was a nice reminder of how much fun this hobby can be. This location is focused on niche and independent perfumers more than the original location in the suburbs, so there were lots of interesting products to sniff.

Also this week, WordPress sent me a note that yesterday was the 9th anniversary of my beginning to blog on WordPress (or blog at all, lol). I can’t believe it has been 9 years since I started this blog, but here we are. As some of you know, I started it at a time when my work life was very, very stressful and I was also recovering from a broken shoulder. Fragrance had become a passionate interest of mine, and I had loved reading fragrance blogs (by writers much more expert than I) so I learned how to blog about it as a distraction. I’ve loved “meeting” fellow fragrance lovers here and on other blog sites! Thank you for joining me and the rest of the community.

Any big events in your fragrant life recently?

15 thoughts on “Perfume Chat Room, July 19”

  1. Congratulations on 9 years! I have enjoyed reading your posts. The event sounds like a treat for perfumistas. I’d heard of the brand Olibanum but don’t remember if I knew it was related to HdP. Frankincense does seem to play well with many other notes!

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  3. Congratulations on the blog anniversary! The HdP class sounds wonderful. I’ve tried some samples from this house a couple of times and liked some, but didn’t find anything I just had to have. You’re lucky to have such a nice store locally.

    I have had some wonderful finds recently, Iris Medicis by Parfums de Nicolai is gorgeous, at least it is on my skin. It has a high quality buttery orris with galbanum opening, joined by floral notes and a soft suede note in the drydown. It’s glorious, perfect for every season. I’ve been spraying with abandon since I have a large bottle. Might as well enjoy it to the fullest! It lasts a good few hours on my skin but it’s an intimate scent, not a big sillage fragrance at all. I also ordered Sweet Grass by Libertine Fragrances on a whim, and it’s another love, a sunny hay and wildflowers scent that leans toward the traditionally masculine, but smells great on men and women. My husband snagged the bottle the minute he smelled it and he is loving it.

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    • Thank you, and thanks for being such a lovely regular here! Iris Medicis sounds beautiful, I don’t think I’ve yet tried a Nicolai fragrance I didn’t like. There are several I really love.

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  6. CONGRATULATIONS OH! 9 years is a huge milestone.

    Please keep it up. I love dropping in here and seeing all the things you do and smell.

    HdP has long been a favourite house of mine and there are a few bottles here. WOW! that you got to meet the maker. Very freaking cool.
    Portia xx

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  7. Pingback: Perfume Chat Room, March 28 – Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities

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