fragrance

Fragrance Friday: Blasted Bloom
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Fragrance Friday: Blasted Bloom

Well, he’s done it again. My nice husband turns out to have an instinct for choosing wonderful perfume on my behalf and this time, he brought home a brand new scent from London for me: Penhaligon’s Blasted Bloom. What my husband had no way of knowing is that the nose behind Blasted Bloom is the legendary Alberto Morillas — who also created another perfume he brought me from his travels, which I love: Fragrance Friday: Custo Barcelona L’Eau. Morillas has also created several others I like, such as Estee Lauder’s Pleasures and Bvlgari’s Omnia Coral and Omnia Indian Garnet.

From Penhaligon’s website: “Illuminating the freshness of wild flora found along the dramatic British coast, Blasted Bloom captures a free-spirited landscape where the energy and majesty of the Sea meets the natural richness of the Land. The mineral purity of an aquatic accord meets the fruity sparkle of wild berries and the sensation of hand-crushed green leaves. Wild floral heart of eglantine rose and hawthorn is tinted with pink pepper. A whisper of Clearwood™ is enveloped in balmy cedarwood, on a smooth bed of moss and musks.” Continue reading →

(Black) Fragrance Friday update
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(Black) Fragrance Friday update

When last heard from, Gentle Reader, I was about to be dragged by three offspring into the wilds of “Black Friday.” Negotiations resulted in the acceptable compromise of avoiding all malls but going to an outdoors shopping district that is much less crowded but has many of the same stores. I clung to the hope that in the midst of gift and clothes shopping, I might encounter some fragrance deals.

Success! Continue reading →

(Black) Fragrance Friday
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(Black) Fragrance Friday

OMG, it’s Black Friday which I normally hate and avoid like the plague, but my teenagers want to go out shopping. Our compromise is that we will not go to any of the indoor shopping malls or on highways, but we will go to the hipster outdoor shopping district near our house. I plan to console myself with much sniffing/sampling of scents! And maybe I’ll find some good buys too. I’ll update later! Wish me luck!

Fragrance Friday: S(c)en(t)sory Overload
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Fragrance Friday: S(c)en(t)sory Overload

This is the fragrance story I was going to share last Friday, before I heard about the attacks in Paris. So last Friday was a Fragrance Friday moment of silence in honor of one of the world’s greatest fragrance cities. This Friday, I’ll describe my recent (and first) visit to Los Angeles, the Broad Museum and the Scent Bar.

I was in Costa Mesa for a conference; an old friend had recently moved to Los Angeles and invited me to spend some time with her downtown, where she lives. We made plans to spend the morning at the new Broad Museum of contemporary art, where she works on weekends, then eat lunch in Little Tokyo, then make our way to the Scent Bar, storefront and home base of http://www.luckyscent.com, a noted online retailer of independent, niche and hard to find perfumes.

First, the Broad Museum. Continue reading →

What Went Well
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What Went Well

Lots of wonderful things went well this week!

  1. I spent 24 hours with an old friend, who has moved to LA to make a new life after several major transitions, and we had a fantastic time, as if we haven’t been apart for several years. Because she lives in my heart, even though we don’t see each other often any more.
  2. I visited a fantastic new museum, thanks to my friend: The Broad, in downtown LA. It was an amazing experience and it has a wonderful collection of contemporary art. Because its founders, the Broads, are generous philanthropists who want to share their art collection and because my friend is an engaged participant in LA’s Arts District.
  3. We also visited a spot on my bucket list, The Scent Bar, a fragrance store that specializes in niche and independent perfumes, where the staff could not have been nicer or more helpful (I’ll write more about it on Fragrance Friday). Because my friend and I decided to be a little adventurous and do some exploring. So much fun!

What went well for you this week?

Photo: NPR.org

Fragrance Friday: Crisp Fall Air
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Fragrance Friday: Crisp Fall Air

Today was one of the nicest days we’ve had in October. It was in the 40s when we got up this morning. By afternoon, it was sunny and 65 degrees, with that wonderful crispness in the air that I associate with autumn. The smell of leaves, not fresh and green but not yet faded; the scent of rich, damp earth; the low humidity; they all combine to form the essence of fall. Then there is the smell of the light sweaters I am starting to wear: not the heavy woolen ones, not yet; the pale blue cashmere, the aqua blue cotton, the navy linen, the light mohair reminiscent of autumn leaves. They smell faintly of cedar, thanks to the wooden balls I put in their drawers; and the cedar fragrance combines with the other scents of fall to form a lovely, autumnal blend. Soon, the leaves will turn color dramatically and drop, and it will be time for the heavier sweaters and maybe some heavier scents. Not yet. Soon, but not yet.

Fragrance Friday: Aveda Composition Oil and Aromatherapy
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Fragrance Friday: Aveda Composition Oil and Aromatherapy

For my birthday, the Aveda rewards program sent me a gift certificate for a free 30 ml bottle of any one of their “composition oils.” I chose Shampure, which the Aveda website describes as a “nourishing blend of certified organic sunflower and meadowfoam oils for body, bath and scalp.” All the composition oils are meant to be used for several purposes, including as a massage oil, bath oil, cuticle oil, oil to rub into one’ scalp or brush into one’s hair, additive to lotions, personal aromatherapy fragrance. My personal fragrance journey hasn’t (yet) included aromatherapy, as I’m still educating myself about perfumes, but never say never!

Shampure is the classic Aveda fragrance you smell when you walk into an Aveda salon. It is very soft and soothing, and is said to contain 25 different plant essences or oils. Some of the essential oils are: Rose, Lavender, Aloe, Rosemary, Orange, Eucalyptus, Patchouli, Ylang Ylang, Anise, Fennel, Licorice, Bergamot, Coriander, Peppermint, Petitgrain, Sandalwood, Vanilla. Other ingredients are: Farnesol (floral), Eugenol (derived from clove oil and other spices and herbs), Linalool (floral/herbal notes), Citronellol (rose and geranium notes), Citral (found in lemon myrtle and lemongrass), Limonene (from citrus oil), Geraniol (a main ingredient in rose, palmarosa and citronella oil), and Cinnamyl (storax, balsam). Most of those are actually organic compounds. Just a couple of drops inside my elbow are plenty to waft up to my nose in a very pleasant manner.

I’m not much of a salon or spa-goer, but I do like some Aveda products very much. I’ve always loved their special tea blend, with its licorice, peppermint, fennel and basil flavors. I don’t know that I would have gone out to buy this Shampure oil without the gift certificate but I’m enjoying trying it. Do any of you use essential oils for aromatherapy?

Photo from http://www.raynauds.org.

Fragrance Friday Special Edition: Taif Rose
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Fragrance Friday Special Edition: Taif Rose

Wow. I delayed posting because I had asked my globe-trotting husband to bring me a small bottle of real Arabian perfume from his business trip to Dubai. And he did: Taif Roses by the fragrance house Abdul Samad Al Qurash. This is the real deal, friends. It is a traditional Middle Eastern perfume oil that comes in a small, one-ounce bottle which will probably last me the rest of my life as it is so concentrated. I have it on my wrists right now but I just opened the bottle, so I can’t yet describe its progression. Here is the only longish review from Fragrantica.com:

This is a very potent oil to dab on your wrist, inner elbow, behind the ears, at your neck or at your temples. I am not a floral person, generally appreciating orientals and sweeter perfumes or those that are unique in some way. That’s where this one steps up to the bat.
Obviously, you must appreciate the taif rose. It is said that this particular fragrance contains the extract of 12,000 taif roses. In other words, you Must Love Taif Roses.
The first aroma is of course pure rose, a delicious, pure, rose bush. You are nestled amongst a bed of roses, surrounded by the ethereal, heady bouquet. It’s creamy, smooth, perhaps you can even imagine the morning dew in the essences of Taif rose. And then it sweetens slightly, just ever so. The oil stays this way for about an hour. Then the magic begins.
Suddenly, I felt as if I could smell the wet earth the roses were planted in, the leaves that had dropped and mixed in with the rich soil, pieces of branches that had fallen to the ground and begun to decompose. This was such a rich, decadent odor yet very real. Nothing seemed synthetic. As I felt I had my hands in this rich soil and was inhaling the richness of it, suddenly, the Taif rose came back to wrap itself around the entire perfume. And that’s how it continued to stay for hours. A mixture of reality. This is purity, not to be taken lightly.

The writer is exactly right about the first flush of roses. Nothing about this smells artificial or synthetic, it smells as if you are in the world’s largest, most fragrant rose garden with your nose buried in blossoms. The fragrance is very smooth and warm without being spicy. I look forward to smelling it as it develops today! I’m sure that’s how long the two little dabs will last.

What Went Well
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What Went Well

  1. My son made the basketball team at his school! Because he practiced a lot before tryouts and had three great days when he scored himself and had several good assists to his teammates.
  2. I ventured into the specialty perfume areas of Saks and Neiman Marcus, which was really fun (although I don’t see myself paying their prices any time soon); and the sales associates were very nice, sharing their thoughts and some samples. Because I am educating myself about fragrance, a pursuit I took up when I was unable to garden this summer and am enjoying very much.
  3. I got great tickets to take my daughters to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company this winter — wonderful seats at the lowest price! Because I planned ahead better than usual.

I feel blessed that our family can do these things. Yes, we have worked very hard our whole lives to make that possible, but we are also fortunate to have had health, brains and solid childhoods. What went well for you this week?

Photo: Andrea Mohin, for The New York Times

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THE ROSY SCENT TRAIL OF MS. PUSEY

Wonderful musings on media, life, perfume and literature, all rolled into one post on Black Narcissus!

ginzaintherain's avatarThe Black Narcissus

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I lost my iPhone in June, and have not looked back. I was walking home at night, late after work, exhausted, and coming up from the Kitakamakura pond to cross the railtracks, it must have fallen out of one of my pockets ( I had just been using it, after leaving the convenience store, so I know I definitely had it), but by the time I was standing in front of the great Engakuji and its soaring pine trees, an exquisite, ancient zen temple and place that even business people on their way home from Tokyo often stand before and pray to, it had gone. Even then I knew, strangely, that I didn’t really care, but I of course naturally went through the motions of looking for it in the undergrowth, backtracking and rootling among the shrubs by the pond just in case: oh well, maybe I’ll find it in the…

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