Scented Advent

Scented Advent, December 23 and 24
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Scented Advent, December 23 and 24

Happy Christmas Eve! I never got around to posting yesterday because I was so busy creating the first of several family feasts for last night and the next few days. I love to cook, and I love having our kids and their friends around, so this is a great time of year for me!

For December 23, my Advent SOTD was Guerlain’s Embruns d’Ylang, created by Thierry Wasser and launched in 2019. I like it much more than I expected to! Not that I dislike ylang-ylang, but it’s not high on my list of favorite floral notes. I like it a lot as a supporting character in many beautiful fragrances, but I wouldn’t normally seek out a fragrance where it has the starring role.

According to Fragrantica, the notes included are: top notes, Salt and Bergamot; middle notes, Ylang-Ylang, Cloves and Jasmine Sambac; base notes, Iris, Patchouli and Vanilla. I never know how to identify “salt” as a fragrance accord, except as a sort of mineral smell; and Embruns d’Ylang definitely has that in its opening, with a tangy bergamot. Believe it or not, the combination of salt and a bitter citrus has a long history, though mostly involving grapefruit: “Grapefruit and Salt: The Science Behind This Unlikely Power Couple.”

After the opening, ylang-ylang is the dominant accord, and it is very lovely. Interestingly, although I often think of ylang-ylang as falling on the sweeter end of the yellow flower spectrum, here it doesn’t come across as very sweet. It certainly isn’t cloying at all, and it is a ylang-ylang that would work well for all, truly unisex if that is a concern. I don’t smell cloves at all, though given the above article’s explanation of how our taste sensors can cancel each other out, I wonder if cloves are helping to reduce the sweetness of the ylang-ylang. I do pick up the jasmine sambac, but here it is a supporting player.

The ylang-ylang persists into the drydown and the base, which makes for a very interesting combination of yellow floral, powdery iris, soft warm vanilla, and earthy patchouli. I find it quite unique, and very pleasing. It also lasts on my skin for several hours, including overnight.

Yellow ylang-ylang flowers held in hands
Ylang-ylang flowers; image from beezly.com

I find this to be a thoroughly unisex yellow floral fragrance with a unique combination of notes. Its name has a poetic meaning: seafoam of ylang, which takes into account the salt accord. This is different enough that I would suggest trying before you buy it, if you are so inclined, but it is well worth sampling.

Now I have to decide what to wear for Christmas Eve! Truthfully, I have many nice options, so I might have more than one SOTD. Happy Christmas Eve, everyone who celebrates it! Advent officially ends tonight, so I’ll wish you also a very happy Christmas; and to everyone everywhere, a happy, healthy holiday season. Thanks for joining me and other readers here on Serenity Now: Scents and Sensibilities; I look forward to hearing more from you all in 2023!

Scented Advent, December 22
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Scented Advent, December 22

Today’s Advent scent, by independent perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, is Sugar Plums. Every year, her house DSH Perfumes releases a new, limited issue holiday fragrance. (Fear not, you can still buy the prior years’ fragrances in her holiday sample sets). Sugar Plums is number 22, this year’s holiday fragrance, also particularly apropos on December 22.

Ms. Hurwitz says that Sugar Plums was inspired by her love for the ballet “The Nutcracker”, and especially the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her description:

A dancing, celebratory plum chypre fragrance with a frangipani heart bouquet, soft cardamom & ginger spices, touches of incense, and delicious gourmand elements in the drydown. How beautiful and festive! This year’s inspiration comes from a perennial holiday favorite “The Nutcracker”. I have long loved this dreamy ballet; especially the dance of the sugar plum fairies. I have to admit that I have long considered this theme (it’s been in my notebook of ideas for years) for the dancing, dreamlike quality that the concept invokes. Sugar Plums is not really all that sweet… instead it is a celebratory swirl of rich plum, delicate spices, warming incense, and a surprising combination of gourmand elements in a classical chypre structure in the drydown. This may sound like a cacophony of elements, but it comes together beautifully to make a true holiday classic.

DSH Perfumes and Now Smell This
The Nutcracker ballet, Atlanta Ballet
Atlanta Ballet Nutcracker, 2014, Waltz of the Flowers with the Sugar Plum Fairy; image from Atlanta Ballet

Finally, a fragrance in which I can really smell the cardamom! Sometimes I see it listed as a note or accord and I just can’t detect it; that makes me sad because I love the smell of cardamom. Sugar Plums is a very beautiful fragrance, with just the right level of spice and incense. I think the gourmand aspects of the drydown, mentioned about, come from tonka bean; it seems to be combined with some patchouli, giving this modern chypre its base note that in a prior era might have been oakmoss.

Sugar Plums has a spiced fruit opening, which I believe is a combination of a plum accord with the cardamom. The incense slowly appears and rises; it is a soft, gentle incense. I’ll have to take Ms. Hurwitz’ word for it that the floral heart is frangipani; it’s beautiful but I don’t think I could have picked out frangipani as the floral accord. The cardamom and incense persist after the floral notes have receded, and they carry on right into the base notes, two of which I think are tonka and patchouli. This isn’t a sweet fragrance, though it has some sweet accords. My sample is the Voile de Parfum formulation, which is oil-based, and it lasts well on my skin, still very detectable several hours after application. I like it very much! Now I’m eager to try the rest of DSH Perfumes’ holiday fragrances.

My favorite version of The Nutcracker is the former production by the Atlanta Ballet, choreographed by John McFall, in which our daughters appeared as children for several years. I always loved the sets and costumes, which looked more Russian than Victorian, and the choreography was spectacular (ignore the advert for ticket sales, this production ended 4 years ago!):

Is going to The Nutcracker, or watching it on film, a tradition in your family? Do you have a favorite version?

Scented Advent, December 21
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Scented Advent, December 21

Today is the winter solstice, the turning point from dark to light, or at least lighter. We still have much winter to come, and December 21 is considered the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, but the days will start getting longer and the nights shorter.

Stonehenge with winter sun
Stonehenge at the winter solstice; image from BBC Science

In England, the group that owns and manages Stonehenge is English Heritage. They will stream winter solstice celebrations taking place at Stonehenge tomorrow, December 22.

And — surprise! My stash of Guerlain samples had a couple of duplicates, so today’s Advent sample is Angelique Noire, again! This time, the caraway seed accord was a bit more forward. I still don’t perceive this fragrance as “noire” at all.

Angelica plant in bloom
Photo by PrathSnap on Pexels.com

As before, Angelique Noire has good longevity on my skin. I’m going to try it side by side with some other vanillas, like the vanilla discovery set from Sylvaine Delacourte. Mme. Delacourte was the Creative Director for Guerlain fragrances for 15 years, and Angelique Noire was created under her supervision, so I think that will provide some interesting comparisons.

Happy winter solstice! And all of you in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoy your own seasonal changes!

Scented Advent, December 20
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Scented Advent, December 20

Okay, I didn’t choose an unknown scent today for Advent. I confess. I knew I was going to have a tough day at work (I’ve been back for less than a week) and some difficult conversations, so I pulled out my fragrance armor: Chanel No. 19, the green witch herself. If you want to read my thoughts on it, please click on the link and it will take you to a “Scent Semantics” post from September, when I wrote about No. 19 at some length.

Elphaba and Glinda from "Wicked"
Stars of “Wicked” production in Boston; image from the Lowell Sun

I’m something of a “goody two-shoes” so one might think I would identify more with the character on the left. But as we learn from “Wicked”, Glinda the Good isn’t as good as she appeared; and Elphaba isn’t as bad as she appeared. But Elphaba puts up a formidable facade, and that’s what I needed today. I think I emerged unscathed.

And you know, I always remember what a long-ago boss told me (TBH, I didn’t like him much, but he did occasionally have some good insights). He had been an airline executive in his earlier career, and he said more than once, “It’s been a good day at the office when no plane has crashed.” He’s right. No planes crashed, or were at risk, in my job today. Onward to the holidays!

Two of my three kids are home for the holidays, yay! One is still in college, so he’ll be with us well into January. The other is fully independent, but arrived today and will stay at least through Boxing Day. The third, another fully independent young adult, will arrive on Thursday. It’s really great to have them home, even just for a short while; they make us laugh. We will go to a friend and neighbor’s house on Thursday evening for an informal holiday party in their backyard, which will really put me in the holiday spirit. I’ll get back on track with the Guerlain samples tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I am mulling over what scent(s) I want to wear on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. I do have Caron’s Nuit de Noel, always a good option. I really like the gingerbread accord and spices in ELDO’s Like This. I also have a set of small sizes of Jo Malone’s special Christmas scents, like Orange Bitters and White Moss & Snowdrop. Fille en Aiguilles would be suitable, as well as Nuit Étoilèes, if I want evergreen vibes. Any suggestions for those three occasions? What will you wear?

Scented Advent, December 19
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Scented Advent, December 19

My Guerlain Advent scent today is Néroli Outrenoir, another “citrus aromatic”, created by Thierry Wasser and Delphine Jelk and launched in 2016. It’s very, very appealing. Per Fragrantica, top notes are Petitgrain, Bergamot, Tangerine, Lemon and Grapefruit; middle notes are Tea, Neroli, Orange Blossom, Smoke and Earthy Notes; base notes are Myrrh, Vanilla, Benzoin, Ambrette (Musk Mallow) and Oakmoss.

That citrusy opening is very uplifting, a mix of greenness and, well, citrus. It reminds me a bit of Miller Harris’ Tangerine Vert. To my nose, the most prominent notes are the petitgrain, tangerine, and lemon, but I definitely smell the bergamot, and a whiff of the grapefruit. Very soon, tea is served, and it is a black tea with lemon in it. It does have a floralcy that comes from the néroli and orange blossom, but to me the strongest impression is of black tea and lemon, with a tinge of smokiness. Almost like a lapsang souchong tea, but not as smoky or tarry.

This scent is like chiaroscuro, the painting technique that famously contrasts light and dark, the leading examples being the paintings of the great Caravaggio. It starts out very bright and sunny, with all the citrus notes in the opening. Then the brightness dims a bit, and softens and blurs, with the arrival of accords of tea and flowers. As it dries down, it gets gradually darker but also warmer, with the base notes especially of benzoin, ambrette and oakmoss. Myrrh and vanilla accords are present, but to a lesser degree.

Neroli Outrenoir has decent longevity on my skin, though nothing like Épices Volèes. It’s also a different kind of citrus/tea fragrance, one with more depth. I think it’s totally unisex and it would smell wonderful in warm weather, especially warm summer evenings. It’s fresh enough for hot weather but sophisticated enough for evening wear.

Very nice! Do you have any fragrances that contrast light and dark this way?

Oil painting of the Nativity, by Caravaggio
Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence, by Caravaggio; image from Photo Scala
Scented Advent, December 18
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Scented Advent, December 18

Today’s Advent scent is Incense Flash, from Andy Tauer’s “Tauerville” line. The “Flash” series were meant to be less expensive than his main line of fragrances, but no less interesting (Rose Flash is a favorite of mine). Incense Flash has an abbreviated notes list: incense, woody notes, leather, musk. That’s a little deceiving, because incense itself can contain different notes, and who knows how many notes are included under the single term “woody notes”? Anyway, incense is what I smell, right away. It is smoky but not harsh.

Incense sticks, one burning
Incense sticks; image from Epicurious.com

I used to associate incense with a sort of hippie mentality, but I find it so interesting in perfume. It seems to have gone more mainstream in recent years, with people buying sticks to burn at home. And of course, Advent is a great time to be wearing an incense-based scent, given various church traditions. I find myself really enjoying Incense Flash. I don’t really smell leather, but I think the musk accord is softening the whole impression.

I would say that the development of Incense Flash is somewhat linear. The lead actor is the incense, and everything else revolves around that, coming and going. I like it, as a straightforward incense fragrance.

Do you use incense in your home? Do you have any favorite Tauerville scents?

Scented Advent, December 16
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Scented Advent, December 16

Today I cheated on the Advent calendar process. I needed a sample from an independent perfumer, to alternate with my Guerlain samples, but I also wanted to take part in Now Smell This’ Friday community project, which was to name your favorite work by, or inspired by, Jane Austen. So I grabbed the discovery set of Francesca Bianchi fragrances, which I hadn’t yet opened, and chose one that I thought might do. My favorite Jane Austen-inspired work is the movie “Sense and Sensibility”, which is why my blog is named, in part, Scents and Sensibilities (full name is Serenity Now: Scents and Sensibilities).

Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet in "Sense and Sensibility"
The heroines of “Sense and Sensibility”; image from Encyclopedia Brittanica.

The sample I chose was one I’ve never tried, called The Lover’s Tale. After all, Jane Austen’s books are all tales about lovers. But when I read more about it on Fragrantica — bingo! Here’s what Francesca Bianchi said about it herself:

This is a story of by-gone times about a secret encounter of lovers. It represents the contradictions between sense and sensibility, pruderie and passion. The lovers are full of desire but their education holds them back.

Francesca Bianchi

Launched in 2018, The Lover’s Tale has top notes of Honey, Mimosa, Aldehydes and Bergamot; middle notes of Orris, Peach, Heliotrope, Egyptian Jasmine and Bulgarian Rose; and base notes of Leather, Castoreum, Musk, Labdanum, Oakmoss, Vetiver and Sandalwood. It is considered a leather fragrance, as that note is a main player. Given its partnering with castoreum, musk, oakmoss, and vetiver, I venture to say that this is a more stereotypically masculine leather. However, the earlier notes are all very stereotypically feminine, with their profusion of florals. In a way, The Lover’s Tale is a combination of two characters from “Sense and Sensibility”: Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood, who fall in love after various trials and tribulations.

I read somewhere that while it is understood that the title “Sense and Sensibility” refers to the two sisters, Elinor Dashwood who has common sense and intelligence, and the younger Marianne, who has a Romantic sensibility and passion, it can also be read as referring to Brandon and Marianne. He is the older, experienced man who commits himself to solving problems and addressing crises, including Marianne’s. He is practical — but he also has a wide streak of Romanticism himself, with his love of music and his infatuation with the emotional, musical Marianne.

Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood, from "Sense and Sensibility"
Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood; image from Columbia Pictures.

Colonel Brandon also spends much of the movie throwing himself into the saddle and riding off to save the day, so a leather fragrance is well suited to him. The honey in the opening notes can be a nice reference to what Emma Thompson, who wrote and starred in the movie, called the “extraordinary sweetness [of Brandon’s] nature.” The aldehydes and floral notes evoke Marianne’s love of beauty that can sometimes be a bit flighty; by the time The Lover’s Tale is in the final stage of drydown, the floral notes, the leather, and the warm animalic notes of the base have reconciled, and combine with labdanum and sandalwood in a beautiful marriage of scent.

Colonel Brandon and Marianne's wedding, "Sense and Sensibility"
Wedding of Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood; image from Columbia Pictures

Do you have a favorite work by, or inspired by, Jane Austen? Any fragrance you might associate with it?

Scented Advent, December 15
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Scented Advent, December 15

The Guerlain sample I pulled today was one that I tried and liked in the Las Vegas boutique, Frenchy Lavande. This version was launched under that name in 2021, but it is basically the same as Le Frenchy, which was launched in 2017. Like a few others, it was renamed and moved into the collection “L’Art et la Matière”. It is called an “aromatic fougère”, so classified largely because of the central role that lavender plays, but others have called it a citrusy aromatic. Fragrantica lists its notes as: Top notes, Lemon Verbena, Lemon and Bergamot; middle notes, Petitgrain, Lavender, Citron, Sage and Neroli; base notes, Ambergris, Vetiver and Tonka Bean. Eddie Bulliqi reviewed it and Herbes Troublantes recently for Fragrantica: “Herbs for Winter; Guerlain’s Frenchy Lavande and Herbes Troublantes.”

The opening is lovely, and even my nearby husband looked up and commented, “That’s really nice, what is it?”. While the opening notes are in fact very citrusy, I also smell lavender right away. The lemon and lemon verbena are more prominent than the bergamot, and the lemon verbena adds a distinctly herbal tint to the lemon and lavender. I can’t pinpoint the moment when lemon gives way to citron, but I can say that the partnership of citrus and lavender continues in the middle phase. I only get glimmers of sage, and the neroli is a latecomer to this stage, at least to my nose. It gradually replaces the lavender, as the fragrance moves toward its base notes. Vetiver continues the aromatic, herbal aspect of Frenchy Lavande. I can’t really distinguish the ambergris and tonka bean accords, just that the base slowly becomes warmer and less herbal.

Believe it or not, there is actually a blog called “The Traveling Frenchy” by a young woman named Alex, and in it she has posted a guide to visiting the lavender fields in Provence. I highly recommend it if you are thinking of seeking out French lavender fields; she gives very specific information on the locales she prefers, and even lists particular villages and roads.

French girl in field of French lavender in Provence
The Traveling Frenchy blog’s Ultimate Guide to the Lavender Fields in Provence

Ultimately, though I like Frenchy Lavande very much, it is a bit like Herbes Troublantes in reminding one of a cologne, although it is in a eau de parfum format. I wouldn’t say that it is much nicer than my Jicky eau de toilette or even that it lasts longer; and it certainly costs a lot more. Bottom line: if you want a Guerlain lavender, I recommend Jicky. In fact, that may be my next Guerlain purchase, from its reissue of several Guerlain classics in the collection “Les Legendaires”.

Do you have a favorite lavender-centric fragrance?

Scented Advent, December 14
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Scented Advent, December 14

The independent perfumer’s sample for today’s Advent scent is 1805, later renamed as 1805 Tonnerre, by Beaufort London. It is one of the first three fragrances released by this niche house upon its debut in 2015, as part of the “Come Hell Or High Water” collection. Fragrantica explains:

This collection brings together elements of Britain’s history, both imagined and real, to create collages of scent embodying themes of warfare, trade and exploration.

Crabtree’s lifelong love of fragrance and a preoccupation with the darker elements of British history served as the collection’s impetus. 

Fragrantica

The brand’s packaging mentions the significance of the year 1805: the same year when Admiral Nelson won the Battle of Trafalgar but lost his life; and the year when the “wind force scale” was invented by Sir Francis Beaufort. The scent’s composition is described as follows:

The scent imagines moments within the battle itself. Powerful accords of smoke, gunpowder, blood and brandy combine with sea spray and a penetrating citrus note.

Beaufort London

More prosaically, Fragrantica lists its notes as: Top notes are lime, smoke and gunpowder; middle notes are blood, brandy and sea water; base notes are amber, balsam fir and cedar.

This is definitely a unique scent but it’s not unpleasant. Much more masculine than unisex to my nose, but is that mostly because we have learned to associate non-floral odors with men more than women? Be that as it may, I smell the top notes of smoke and gunpowder, and there is a sharp note right at the beginning that may be the “lime”. The sample I have is the actual 2015 launch 1805, not the renamed, later version, and I think that citrus top note may have gone off a bit. Blood? Brandy? There is a metallic tang in the middle phase that I think is meant to represent “blood”, but mostly what I smell is the continuing smoke, now merging with sea water. I don’t smell anything I could identify as brandy.

The opening and middle stages are challenging, but the final stage is calmer and warmer, perhaps in the way there is calm after a great naval battle or storm. The base notes are very woody; accords of fir and cedar dominate over amber. Unfortunately, this is also the stage where 1805 smells more generic, like a woody aftershave. Again, not unpleasant, but now not as interesting. Whenever the gunpowder accord wafts through, though, as it regularly does, it rekindles my nose’s interest.

Painting of the naval battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar, by William Clarkson Stanfield

I was introduced to Beaufort London at Bloom perfumery in London, several years ago, at which time they had released a couple more fragrances to join the original three. One of those, Fathom V, is actually a fragrance I like a lot, on its own merits. If you like smoky scents that are different, you may like 1805 and its other siblings, but this is definitely a fragrance where one must proceed with caution.

What scents do you find very intriguing and artistic, but you might not choose to wear them yourself or at least to wear them less often?

Scented Advent, December 13
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Scented Advent, December 13

In a total change of direction, today’s Guerlain sample is a 2021 addition to “L’Art et la Matière”, Herbes Troublantes, by Thierry Wasser. Apparently, it used to be a cologne called Un Dimanche À La Campagne. This new version, an eau de parfum, is categorized as a “citrus aromatic”, and is it ever! The first word that came to my mind when I dabbed it on my wrists was “zingy”. It has a very fresh, green, bergamot-dominant opening. Luckily, I quite like bergamot; in fact, I like it a lot.

Once the bergamot fades into the background, a neroli accord appears, with unspecified “green notes.” Like bergamot, it is fresh, green, slightly bitter, aromatic, and very much a citrus note, but it also has the floral aspect of orange blossom. At this stage, Herbes Troublantes becomes softer, though it is still very aromatic in a green citrus kind of way; and if pressed to name the green herbs, I would choose lemongrass or lemon basil. The only base note identified for it is white musk, which to my nose means that it just gets softer and more reminiscent of clean linen. The overall impression I get from Herbes Troublantes is that of a citrusy herb, perhaps like lemongrass or even citronella (the plant, not the oil). It’s very pleasant and I think I would like it on my husband.

Clumps of green lemongrass
Clumps of lemongrass; image from Rural Sprout.

The name of this fragrance is intriguing: it means “disturbing grasses (or herbs)”. Really, there’s nothing disturbing at all about Herbes Troublantes. It succeeds in its goal of capturing the spirit of a cologne, in eau de parfum concentration. It lasts longer than a cologne, of course, but I don’t think it lasts as long as other scents in the collection.

What do you think of the idea of evoking a cologne in an eau de parfum? Wasn’t that the whole concept behind Atelier Cologne? now sadly no longer distributed in North America although one can still find it to buy online.