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, September 27, and we have just had what was left of Hurricane Helene pass through our area. We were lucky: lots of rain, and flooding in lower areas especially near creeks and rivers, but our own street didn’t flood or lose power. Whew! We were ready, though. Fully stocked up with food, water, batteries, etc. Hybrid car fully charged. We’re still staying inside, though, as the power company crews are out and there are trees down across some roads.

I was sad to read earlier today that some protesters threw soup (again) on Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” paintings that I just saw at the National Gallery last week. The two who had done that in 2022 were sentenced earlier in the day to prison time. Thankfully, the paintings were protected then and now by glass.

In honor of “Sunflowers” and to share some of my recent trip to London, let me tell you about one of my purchases at Bloom Perfumery. I love Bloom! The staff there are always very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, and the store carries many unique and interesting brands. One of those brands is Brocard, a revival of an old Russian fragrance house:

“As a brand, Brocard dates all the way back to 1864 when Henri Brocard opened up his first luxury soap shop in Moscow, the Russian Empire. In the years that followed his business flourished and blossomed and come the end of the 19th century Brocard had become the largest soap maker in Europe. It was nationalised in 1917 and became  the legendary Soviet beauty giant Novaya Zarya. For a century Brocard’s name remained history untill a new company started in 1994 as the modern Brocard.”

I bought two Brocard fragrances at Bloom on this trip: Color Feeling Yellow and Color Feeling Purple. Bloom has stopped carrying Brocard fragrances, but they had a few of these left in stock and took 50% off their already very low prices, so in perfume math, they were practically free! Launched in 2020, Color Feeling Yellow is meant to be a floral woody musk. It has notes of lemon, musk, narcissus, orange blossom, freesia, lily, jasmine, amber, vanilla, tonka, and cedar.

To my nose, it starts off with a strong lemon tempered by musk, from which white floral notes slowly emerge. Quite a few Fragrantica readers have said that it reminds them of Ex Nihilo’s Fleur Narcotique, a much more expensive fragrance. I don’t know Fleur Narcotique so can’t comment on that, but this is perfectly nice. When I first spritzed it, it reminded me a bit of the smell of dandelion flowers, yellow and polleny. The lemon opening is pretty dominant, so if you don’t like the smell of synthetic lemon, you probably won’t like Color Feeling Yellow. However, wait just a little while and the lemon steps back, though I smell it still humming in the background.

Of all the floral notes listed, the one that my nose most readily perceives is freesia, followed by orange blossom. Those both smell lemony to me in real life, so I’m not surprised. I also pick up a woody undertone, which I assume is meant to be cedar. I don’t smell any vanilla, tonka, or amber, although there is a pleasant, light warmth as the fragrance dries down. All in all, a very nice bargain beauty, especially for about 15 pounds!

Have you been contending with any challenging weather? Or have you found any new bargain beauties?