perfume tourism

Perfume Chat Room, October 19
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Perfume Chat Room, October 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 Sunday, October 19, and I am the lucky and grateful recipient of several new fragrances! Our oldest daughter returned from her trip to Italy with a roller bottle of extract de parfum from Casa Amalfi, called Blue Grotto. It’s a very pleasing, unisex, citrus aromatic, launched in 2025.

My husband just got back from a work trip to Las Vegas, where he stayed in a hotel with an onsite Santa Maria Novella boutique. He asked which of their fragrances I might like, and since I already have a couple and didn’t know much about the others, I requested their discovery set. I also (shame on me) admitted that there is a new fragrance I was eager to try: the 100th anniversary flanker to Shalimar, Shalimar L’Essence.

My lovely gift!

Reader, I love it. I was pretty sure I would, and I knew that at least I would like it, based on the reviews I had read, which prompted the blind buy. It is really gorgeous, and I say that as someone who has had a mixed reaction to Shalimar and flankers. Of the older versions, the one I’ve liked most was the eau de cologne, because it didn’t have a strong tarry note, which is what “leather” notes in fragrance sometimes smell like to me.

Enter the 100th anniversary flanker, in its beautiful bottle!

Shalimar L’Essence

It has lots of vanilla, with just a soupçon of lemon at the start, then just a hint of lavender and leather or tobacco, undergirded by iris and rose. It lasts for several hours on my skin, and a little goes a long way; I’ve been applying light sprays to my wrists and one at the base of my neck, and that’s plenty. I will enjoy getting to know this new addition, created by perfumer Delphine Jelk.

Do you have a favorite version or flanker of Shalimar? Have you tried this new one?

Perfume Chat Room, August 8
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Perfume Chat Room, August 8

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, August 8, and we finally got some respite from the heat this week. In fact, we hit one low temperature tat broke a record set over 100 years ago! So weird. Temps have crept back up but they’re in the high 70s and low 80s, which is very pleasant. August is t done with us yet, though, so I’ll keep pulling out lighter fragrances.

Today I wore Costarela by Carter Barcelona. It’s very pleasant — classified by Fragrantica as a “citrus aromatic.” Per Fragrantica, top notes are Bergamot and Saffron; middle notes are Sea Notes and Sand; base notes are Ambroxan, Virginia Cedar and Amber. It lasts well on my skin for 5-6 hours then still lingering faintly after 7 hours. It is entirely unisex, in my opinion.

I don’t often wear fragrances like this, as my tastes run very much to florals and even powdery aldehydes. I also love chypres and greens, which I think lean more unisex in a traditional analysis, though I do believe anyone can wear whatever fragrance they like! Costarela is a pleasing option for this time of year and hot weather, a nice mix of freshness tempered by gentle warmth and woodiness.

Can you think of or recommend other fragrances you would group with “citrus aromatics”?

Perfume Chat Room, July 18
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Perfume Chat Room, July 18

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 18, and WordPress tells me today is my tenth anniversary on WordPress! Wow. It honestly doesn’t feel as if I began that long ago! I so appreciate those of you who have come on the blogging journey with me, whether years ago or just this year. Special thanks to my regular commenters: you make every post so much more interesting! Even more special thanks to Portia Turbo of Australian Perfume Junkies, who has so kindly involved me in some really fun fragrance blog projects. Let’s do that again some time! The past week also brought Bastille Day: Vive la France!

Eiffel Tower in Paris with Bastille Day fireworks
Bastille Day fireworks; image from http://www.eurotunnel.com.

On another topic, I’m eagerly looking forward to a fashion exhibit that I plan to go see with friends next week. It is the first ever American retrospective exhibit of the work of the French couturiere Madame Jeanne Lanvin. As some of you will remember, the same venue hosted a major exhibit of the work of Madame Grès two years ago, which was, as they say, to die for. She was also known for a legendary fragrance, Cabochard.

Madame Lanvin was also the inspiration for a legendary fragrance: Arpège. Arpège premiered in 1927, so it is almost 100 years old! It is a floral aldehyde, like its contemporary Chanel No. 5, and it is a complex bouquet of notes that include aldehydes, lily of the valley, peach, honeysuckle, neroli, bergamot, jasmine, ylang ylang, iris, coriander, rose, lily, geranium, camellia, sandalwood, amber, vetiver, musk, benzoin, vanilla, and patchouli. It has, of course, been reformulated over the years. As recently as 2008, though, perfume critic Luca Turin still gave it four stars, calling it a “unisex classic”, and “an elegant, nutty, woody floral with an overall cashmere beige tonality that would be vey dowdy on all but a guy.”

The beautiful classic Arpège bottle of black with gold shows a stylized Art Deco figure of a mother and daughter, which is supposed to represent Mme. Lanvin and her daughter, who chose the fragrance’s name. I must confess, I’ve never really worn Arpège. Have you? What are your thoughts?

Perfume Chat Room, June 27
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Perfume Chat Room, June 27

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, June 27, and we are back from Copenhagen! While there, I discovered a small niche perfumery called Crime Passional, which had a very nice selection of niche perfumes and a very friendly staff.

I hadn’t really been searching for perfumes, but came across Crime Passionel while wandering through the area of the city between the Christiansborg Palace and the University of Copenhagen, so of course I dropped in. The store was pretty small but certainly made the most of its space!

We had the most wonderful time in Copenhagen, and also wonderful weather! The high temperatures were mostly in the 60s (Fahrenheit), topping out at 70, and the days were sunny and clear, with very little humidity. We saw the major sights, including a day trip by train to Helsingør and Kronborg, and had fun experiences like seeing the changing of the guard, eating seafood in Nyhavn, visiting the National Museum, and watching the three-masted training ship return to port after a months-long voyage.

We spent an afternoon and evening at Tivoli Gardens, watched a traditional pantomime, and saw the start of a pop concert packed with local teenagers who were all having a jolly time. In general, the people we met all week were nice, friendly, and cheerful. All spoke excellent English, though we made the effort to master a few words of Danish, especially “thank you.”

We walked almost everywhere and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I’m looking forward to another visit to see more of Scandinavia! Now we’re staying put through the rest of the summer, and I hope to tackle numerous projects, including sorting through and reorganizing my fragrances. Any helpful tips on that?

Perfume Chat Room, June 13
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Perfume Chat Room, June 13

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, June 13, and now I’m on my way to Copenhagen! I wanted to share with you some of my photos from the Barnes Fragrance Fair, since I wasn’t able to upload several of them in my last post.

Do any of you have recommendations for Copenhagen, fragrance-related or otherwise? Thanks!

Perfume Chat Room, May 10
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Perfume Chat Room, May 10

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 Saturday, May 10, and I’m late posting because we’re on our way to London!

I have a long list of things I want to do, mostly special exhibits or events since I’ve been lucky enough to visit London quite regularly because of my husbands job, which takes him there often.

Tops on my list is the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which I last visited pre-pandemic (I think it was 2019). And of course, I plan to enjoy the usual spectacular displays by the UK’s top rose breeders, which are always so beautiful — and fragrant.

Then there’s a massive exhibit of Cartier jewelry at the V&A Museum, and an installation of the red ceramic memorial poppies at the Tower of London, plus a special exhibit of apparel at Kensington Palace. Whew!

To get in the mood for Chelsea, I’m wearing a sample of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Rosa Verde. It’s very pretty and fresh, but I’m not sure how I feel about the dry down. It’s almost a bit sour, to my nose.

On the other wrist, I spritzed Cartier’s Baiser Volé, also very pretty but with a progression I find more appealing,

If you know of any more must-dos or must-sniffs, please add suggestions in the comments! And if you were going to a massive flower show, what would you wear as fragrance?

My own roses

Perfume Chat Room, March 7
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Perfume Chat Room, March 7

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, March 7, and we are about to leave Barcelona after a week in Vienna and Salzburg. While in Barcelona, I stopped by the Cathedral, which is as magnificent as always.

The niche perfume scene in Barcelona has changed in recent years. I was sad to learn that the legendary Perfumeria Regia on the Passeig de Garcia has closed as of the end of 2024. The business is now completely online. I haven’t found out what will happen to the Perfume Museum that shared its location.

The Basilica Galeria, which had a huge lower level devoted to niche perfumes, has changed location and has a much more modest collection of fragrances for sale. It felt as if they’re not restocking. I was happily able to buy two discontinued Ann Gerard fragrances by Bertrand Duchaufour, Rose Cut and Ciel d’Opale. Both are lovely.

El Corte Ingles, the big department store, still carries Chanel’s Exclusifs line at their big store in the Placa Catalunya. They also have No. 19 and Cristalle eaux de toilette, which generally seem to be more scarce even in Europe. I also noticed that Guerlain’s Les Legendaires line seems to have been pruned, in terms of what one finds in stores. I was happy to see that The Perfumery is still going strong, in its location near the Palau de Musica.

We visited Montserrat for the first time — what a beautiful and interesting site! I can’t imagine how people imagined, all those centuries ago, that they should climb those heights and build a basilica. I can’t imagine how they did it, either.

The Black Madonna of Montserrat

Altogether we’ve had a wonderful trip, and my husband’s company, which is what takes him to Barcelona for work, scored a huge success and everyone is happy. But I’ll be glad to get home to house, garden, kids (all young adults) and our elderly dog Lucy. Time for my garden to wake up!

How was your week? Any new fragrance discoveries? And hugs to alityke, whose DH is undergoing serious medical treatments.

Perfume Chat Room, February 28
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Perfume Chat Room, February 28

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, February 28 (I started writing this on Friday but haven’t posted until Sunday!), and we have arrived in Barcelona after a week in Vienna and Salzburg. While in Vienna, we stopped by a truly lovely niche perfume boutique called Le Parfum, suggested here by a reader.

Le Parfum boutique, Vienna

While there, I tried two scents by an Austrian brand called Estoras. It’s “story” is that the founder’s grandfather, Prince Antal Esterhazy, went on an adventurous road trip with his friend Count Laszlo Almasy (“the English Patient”) to be the first to cross the Sahara desert in a regular automobile. The first three scents launched by the brand, all in Eau de Parfum format, are meant to evoke some of Prince Antal’s adventures.

The two I tried were Port of Alexandria and Shadows of Giza. I liked them both, with a slight preference for Shadows of Giza because it is more floral. Top notes are bergamot, hedione, wet stone, and basil; middle notes are iris root, white musks, and tea leaf; base notes are leather, patchouli, violet leaf absolute, moss, and amber. It is a musky, floral, leather chypre, while Port of Alexandria is an aquatic, salty, woody scent. Both have excellent longevity of several hours. Both are well made, interesting scents, but not superior to the many I already own. Their price is 230 euros for 100 ml. The third scent in the line, which was out of stock, is Chasing the Horizon, described as woody, spicy and ambery.

Now that we’re in Barcelona, and not changing hotels, I’ll probably do some shopping as well as actual tourism. I’ll be interested to see what Chanel fragrances El Corte Ingles carries these days. They used to have the whole Exclusifs line at their big store in the Placa Catalunya.

I can highly recommend Vienna and Salzburg as destinations! This was our first visit to each, and we loved both cities. In Salzburg, we stayed at the Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron, where the exterior lakeside villa scenes were filmed for “The Sound of Music.” What a lovely setting!

Perfume Chat Room, February 21
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Perfume Chat Room, February 21

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, February 21, and we are on our way to Barcelona and Austria! I’m so excited to see Vienna and Salzburg. We have tickets to two music events (an opera and a concert) and a healthy list of museums and palaces to visit.

Last Friday, I failed to post here — my apologies! Valentine’s Day. Having bought myself Rosarine, I was given it by my husband for Valentine’s Day instead of roses, and I bought him roses when they were marked down the next day, lol. Gotta say, it was a nice bouquet. And my spring bulbs are starting to peek up, despite the recent freezes.

First daffodil is up!

As always, I took the opportunity to check out the duty free perfumes in the international terminal. I tried the 2021 version of Guerlain’s Champs Elysee , and the newish Barenia from Hermes. Champs Elysee was lovely, but I have plenty of Guerlain to last me a long while. Barenia is intriguing. Whenever I try it, the opening smells a bit fruity to my nose. I guess this must be the unique “miracle berry” note that is listed as a main feature. I’m not familiar with that Berry, but it’s real. Apparently it gets its name because it makes sour foods taste sweet.

The fruity phase doesn’t last long, maybe half an hour, then the fragrance becomes more floral, with a woody undertone. As it dries down, the woodiness becomes more evident. Barenia is very pleasant but I don’t feel the need to own it. Have you tried it? I’m looking forward to trying some new scents in Austria, too.

Perfume Chat Room, November 1
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Perfume Chat Room, November 1

Rabbit rabbit! 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, November 1, All Saints Day, and we’re still having the kind of weather I associate with what used to be called “ Indian summer” in New England. Cool nights, warm sunny days, clear skies with little humidity. My roses are blossoming again for the fall, with the cooling temperatures, and they’re so pretty (fragrant, too). To coordinate, I’ve been wearing some autumnal rose scents, including Mizensir’s Rose Exaltante and some Aerin samples I got a while ago at Nordstrom’s.

Munstead Wood rose and friends

Last night was Halloween and we had quite a few cute goblins visit. My favorites are the toddlers who have to be coached on how to say “trick or treat”. Our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween; we block off a couple of streets to cars, and it’s a very safe locale, so families from other parts of the city often come to walk around and ring doorbells.

We’ll be setting our clocks back an hour in the US tomorrow night, which is always a bit of a jolt. Now that Halloween is over, everything everywhere all at once seems to be covered in Christmas decor. Are we skipping Thanksgiving? We’ve now officially begun the annual forced march through the holidays, from Halloween to New Year’s Day. I do love the holiday season, but it’s a lot of work!

My husband and I are planning another trip in late February and we’re thinking about Munich and Salzburg. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

Happy November, everyone!