I’m foregoing trashy Friday because the gossip is just not that good or interesting these days.  Instead I’ll review L’Artisan Dzongkha, which is good and interesting.

Up for Monday is the new Narcisse from L’Artisan.  Preview on that — I’m smitten. It’s not at all what I expected, less and more, and completely unique.

Dzongkha has notes of Litchee, Cardamom, tea leaf, peonoy, incense and iris, along with some leather notes.

When this first goes on, it is really bitter on me briefly, but it only takes about ten minutes, and it softens and gets spicier and warmer. I can smell the iris in there, it’s not the prominent note on me.  It stays buried under the incense and spice, just floating in and out of the smell zone. I know Marina got a lot of iris when she tested it. I’m getting spice and tea and incense, like Passage D’Enfer and Tea for Two combined with a couple of other notes just to mix things up.  I find it incredibly charming and original and absolutely perfect for fall and the colder weather months coming up.

So an update on the restylane/botox saga.  I did make an appointment to do the restylane for the upper lip, I need my pout back. Don’t know about the Botox. I may give it a try in a couple of areas, just to see, but I’m still debating and am leaning to not right now. The good news is, when I have it done, about mid-October, you all will get the complete report here!  Another thing I found out at my consult, they have all sorts of lamps and lasers that can get rid of ruddy cheeks. I’ve had ruddy cheeks forever, just sensitive skin and some broken capillaries. Not terrible, just annoying. But I’m going to sign up to do one of those treatments that gets rid of the broken capillaries. How cool will that be?!

Also coming up – hopefully next week, if it gets here — a review of the new foundation from Giorgio Armani.  I’m a huge fan of their illimuninating foundation, it’s the only thing I’ll wear, but this new one sounds like absolute perfection, it is supposed to smooth your face as well.

Now, bear with me when March is gone, it’s tough for me to do five days a week of posting, but I sure will try!  Some of the posts could be weak to quite weak, though.   You are welcome to poke fun at me when I do something really lame out of desperation.  Y’all have a great weekend. I’m off to go to the fall colors in my hair, the ambers and golds and beige and caramel instead of the blonde highlights. I love this time of year and the switch to the warm tones.

I’ve been conducting an experiment wherein I wear one – and only one – fragrance for an entire day, to see 1) if I notice anything new in the drydown and 2) what it’s like for the other 99% of folks who aren’t running around wearing six (eight?) different scents at the end of the average day. I had originally planned for this experiment to last a solid week; I lasted three days before falling off the wagon, but the experiment was sound enough that it continues on an occasional basis. This experiment also coincided with that peculiar time of year here, weather-wise, where it feels like fall but is not quite cool enough to be fall (or dig out my heavier fragrances), so I struggle to find scents that please me. But there does seem to be a trend in the type of smell I’m drawn to…

Hermes Hiris – When I was a nascent scent slut, this one shocked me – there is nothing particularly perfume-y about it. I love its chilly metallic élan. An entire day allowed me to enjoy the drydown, which is almost vegetal, a fact I’d not noticed before.

Andy Tauer Orris – I did a full review of this. A powerful, all-day iris, slightly medicinal, on a sandalwood-frankincense base that stuns me with its beauty. The drydown is spectacular, woodsy/incense and still quite present the following morning. I am still thanking the perfume gods that Andy decided to release this for purchase later on this year.

L’Artisan Orchidee Blanche – actually a very iris smell on me (are you noticing the trend here?) But there is something both sharp and sweet that begins to smell annoying after a couple of hours. I cheated on this one and buried it under some Passage d’Enfer.

Parfumerie Generale Iris Taizo – Well… I dumped on the whole vial, and I have to say I was less in love this time, it was very powdery on me except when I really dug my nose in and looked for the orris. I’m fond of the woody base, though. Still a strong “like.”

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile EDT – Okay, I like it a lot, the opening is sharp and green-ish, but it’s only “iris” on me for maybe the first 20 minutes. After that it’s pretty much all neroli. It turns powdery and then is gone in less than an hour, so lots of re-application. Once my decant is gone, I probably won’t buy more – I want more lasting power.

Dior Homme – the iris part is lovely. If I could just beat the homme part down with a stick, it’d be FBW.

Lancome Cuir – I only had a tiny sample of this, not really enough to do it justice, and I can’t find anything about it, with the exception of Colombina’s review. I’m fascinated by the way it morphs from a rich, ladylike vintage floral into an almost shockingly butch leather. You leather fans should definitely check this one out, if you’re lucky enough to find some… my guess is eBay is your only source.

Miller Harris L’Air de Rien — I just had to stick this one in. Wow. Their website says it is “an exquisite oriental fragrance of amber, vanilla, neroli, oak moss and musks.” I say it is somewhere between a horse stable and the elephant house at the zoo. Strongly reminiscent of the barnyard JAR, Ferme Tes Yeux, that Patty and I smelled – only more so. Ina at Aromascope got some different angles, but at the end of the day it was manure to me. Lasting power is excellent. Unfortunately. I’m not sorry to have smelled it – it was interesting, and there are certainly worse smells than dung – but I cannot imagine wanting to wear this.

Well, that’s it – I’m off to Vienna and Budapest for the next two weeks, for some fun, some food and (I hope) some sniffage. Patty’s driving the perfume bus until then. If you can’t be good while I’m gone, for God’s sake, be smelly.

I’ve got three more Profumum samples to go, so I’ll finish them up today.  I was reluctant to do that since I was floating in a Iris Silver Mist cloud all day, and it kinda ruined my ISM buzz.  ISM is the only perfume I know where it is impossible to spray too much of it on. It lasts forever, but stays moderated, and… well, I’m still all swoony.  There’s never a bad day when I’m floating through it in Iris Silver Mist.  Okay, moving right along…

Antico Caruso –  Notes of citrus, almond and sandalwood, it’s inspired by the scent and atmosphere of a classic, old-fashioned barbershop.  Okay, I totally get that. I spent some time in the barbershop with my dad when I was a pup, and it does have the barbershop vibe.  I really liked the barbershop and watching my dad get his hair cut.  Um, I don’t want to spend $180 to smell like that.

Aqua di Sale — Notes of myrtle, cedarwood, marine algae, the aroma of salt on the skin.  It’s meant to be the smell of the ocean.  Well, let me see if the surf is up and pounding outside my window. You know it’s not bad as marine smells go, which I don’t care for normally, though it doesn’t seem to last too long on me.  As far as salty smells go, I still prefer Sel de Vetiver, which it reminds me of a little. The price point on all of these Profumums, given the originalityll and longevity, really leaves me a little cold. I like this one and would probably buy it if it was below $100, like 60-80, but not for the current price.  Tis a shame.

Aqua e Zucchero — Notes of orange blossom, wild berries, vanilla. It is meant to give the feel of orange blossom dipped in sweets with a hint of berry.  Okay, this is like caramel, only yummier. I need to eat my arm and grab an apple to go with it. Good lord, this is one of the sweetest, in a great way, perfumes. Okay, I really like this one, but, again, I’m not sure I want it hanging around on my arm unless it starts growing into baby caramels, but it would be interesting mixed with some other perfumes, I would think.

The only Profumum I didn’t get to is the Patchouly, though. Sorry about that, I’m not a patch fan at all and just had no interest in it.

Describing a particular scent is hard. Trying to conjure up an idea of how something smells invites all sorts of comparisons. Thus it is that immortelle, the fragrance note from the Helichrysum, or everlasting, flower is oft-described as smelling of maple syrup. That’s more accurate than comparing it to, say, a banana, but doesn’t really do the smell justice, because it’s more complex and peculiar than “maple syrup” would suggest. Here are some other common descriptions: a strong straw-like, fruity smell; straw, honey and tea; as well as words like warm, sweet, caramel, coumarin, fruit-honey, tonka. Osmoz.com says “essence of immortelle gives chypre, floral and amber compositions a particular charisma” and characterizes the smell as “red fruit, syrupy, nut, honey-flavored, tobacco.”

Annick Goutal Sables is, I think, the Queen of Immortelle – its powerful, oddball herbaceous sweetness is probably a love-it-or-hate-it. I have held the bottle in my hand a number of times but never quite manage to get the credit card out – unlike some of the other AGs, it is one of those fragrances that will not go away, and after 36 hours on my arm I really wish it would. Sprayed on a wool sweater it has the half-life of nuclear waste. But it is definitely worth a sniff. If Duel lasted one-third that long I’d own it.

Dior Eau Noire is a less challenging rendering of immortelle than Sables – it also smells of lavender, thyme and cedar, an elegant evening scent, and it is surprising because it manages to be dark but not heavy or dense. (An aside: all three of the Dior colognes – Eau Noire, Bois d’Argent, and Cologne Blanche — are worth sampling. I think they were released as “men’s scents” but are borrowed across the aisle pretty heavily by women.)

Finally, L by Lolita Lempicka is a warmer, brighter treatment of immortelle. I’d taken note earlier this year when it came out (including its absurd Little-Mermaid-ish bottle) but never got around to sniffing the sample Patty sent me. I tried it recently, and I was completely charmed. Notes are: bitter orange, cinnamon, immortelle, vanilla, woods, solar notes, musk. L is a sleeper fragrance, and if you overlooked it or dismissed it outright the first time, fall is the perfect time to reconsider. It has enough immortelle to be interesting but not assertive, and wrapped in its cocoon of gentle spices, woods and vanilla-musk it is a gourmand-ish comfort scent. I am on record as being not a huge fan of gourmand scents, but since Maurice Roucel created this one, I suppose I’ll make an exception. Helpful hint: layering it with 10 Corso Como gives it a wonderful herbal/incense base and mutes the vanilla when the immortelle starts to fade.

immortelle flower: osmoz.com

Notes, from Bois de Jasmin, of Chinese orange, nutmeg, candied mandarin, orange peel,  smoky tea, labdanum, tonka bean and ambergris.

When first applied, I get a lot of the orange notes, but there is nothing sweet or citrusy about this after it’s been on a bit.  The orange becomes a whisper, hidden behind the darker elements in this perfume.  It’s like being in a dark house that is warm and comforting, with a little cold breeze and one ray of sunshine coming through the window and hitting the floor. 

As much as I did NOT like Chypre Rouge, it just went bad on me, Mandarine-Mandarin is everything I wanted Chypre Rouge to be, though they aren’t the same in composition — just the feel of MM is what I wanted CR to be.  It’s at once bitter and a little sweet, dark and a little light.  Definitely unisex, complex and constantly changing while retaining the tension between the notes.  It’s a great composition, shadows of notes constantly shifting in contrast to each other.

When I went by my husband after spritzing on a cloud of this, he really liked it, and he doesn’t notice many perfumes I wear.  If he did, he would be commenting about every hour as I put on something else. 

I’ll be giving away a sample of this. Just drop a comment here, and I’ll do a drawing next week for the winner.

Winnner of the four Profumum samples is — Oscar.

The two winners of the L’Artisan Tea for Two samples last week (I know, I’m slow) are:  Rhonda and Rachael.

Just click on the Contact Us button on the left and send me your address, and I’ll get the samples out to you this week!

So…. I got my bottle of MKK yesterday, and I’m in rapture, just careening about like a teenager in love.  My husband gets home, and I insisted he had to smell it when it first went on, just so he could see how it changed. I spritzed some on, he ran up the stairs with me following him, arm outstretched. I had to chase him all the way out onto the deck and convince him to sniff, though I warned him it was going to be bad.

The look on his face was hysterical, nose all wrinkled up, and he says, “That is the single most disgusting thing I’ve ever smelled. I hate you, don’t ever make me do that again.”  Then, to punish me, he made me see how far his new laser pointer could go in the dark (yes, we are super-nerds, though I’m not as enamored of laser pointers, even the high-powered ones, as he is).  It does go about a mile, but I’m trying to figure out how that will come in handy in a classroom?

The end of the story, after 30 minutes, I forced him to resniff MKK so he could see how it changed, and he did agree that it is the smell of humanity and that it wasn’t horrible anymore, just odd.

The cats loved it more than he did.   Silly kitties.

Round-up on the gossip — good Lord, where is all the good gossip?  No wonder my gossip game has been weak to quite weak, there’s not much to go on.  Most of my entertainment comes from Youtube now.  How can so much good stuff be stored in one website?  I need to spend less time there, I can feel my brain cells dying by the hundreds every time I watch another Japanese commercial

And I now have the first of my Season 2 of “Grey’s Anatomy” disks from Netflix and I’m still under the weather, so I’m going to curl up in this gorgeous fall weather we have been having, under my soft as a baby’s butt blanket (www.dreamalittledreamwithme.com – Joely is awesome) this weekend and enjoy Dr. McDreamy and Meredith’s sexual angst.   Y’all have a great weekend!  Mandarine Mandarin will be up for review on Monday and will be the sample giveaway for that day.

More samples!

Ichnusa — fig, wood, cut grass and myrtle.  Okay, I’m a sucker for fig scents, and this one is excellent as they go.  A little dry with the wood notes, not overly sweet or vanilla-ish like L’Artisan Premier Figuer.  I very much like it, but for the price point, I find PG’s Jardins de Kerylos to be just as good and for less money.

Fiori d’Ambra — ambergris and opium. What’s not to love here? Damn, I don’t even like amber, but this thing has got something pretty amazing seductive powers!  It’s like it crawls up your nose and slithers down your spine to… well, you know.  I don’t think I’ve got enough hotness left to want to wear this, but, Lord, if I were younger and back on the prowl, I’d team this up with some MKK and go slay men.  In the words of Queen of Ho’s, Paris… That’s Hot.

CB I Hate Perfume Musk — I’m just not a skank person, but after reading the comments on CB’s Musk, I was thinking I would hate this, so March graciously sent me a squidge just to find out.  I mean, I’m not going to wear it, it’s just not my thing generally, but as musks go, this one totally rocks.  Huh.  That’s a surprise for me  — picture a furrowed brow with an eyebrow cocked quizically because I don’t get why I don’t hate it. Then I’m thinking if this were paired with the Fiori D’Ambra and/or MKK, all men would just be prey to be toyed with.

Drawing for me this week (I know I need to draw for whatever I was giving away last week), what’s left of all four of the Profumum samples that I’ve reviewed this week.  Just drop a note to enter you in the comments, and I’ll draw next week for them!

Oh, the pressure. It’s so hard sometimes. Please. Feel my pain with me. I am too busy, busy like a bumblebee in fall, hellbent on a pleasure-buzz through the Candy…

IUNX L’Ether – Which begs the question, is it better or worse to smell a fragrance knowing that when it’s gone, barring some miracle there will probably not be any more? I have never been able to answer this one. What do you think? (Look! An unopened bottle of Coty Chypre in Grandmas’s cool, dark closet!) Anyway, Coty Chypre’s easier to come by than the IUNXen. Notes are: myrrh, benzoin, rosewood, sandalwood, saffron, maple wood. L’Ether is sublime, and I drove myself nuts for half an hour trying to figure out what it reminded me of, until the obvious answer hit me like a perfume pie in the face: Passage d’Enfer! Another one of my best friend Olivia Giacobetti’s creations (I probably would have loved this entire line, except now I’ve heard that the waters lasted like, well, water.) I’m going to wear the rest of this decant and love every second, but the truth is, it shares 92% of its fragrance DNA with Passage d’Enfer – it is an airy, lovely incense. The other 8% is some delicate sweet note that, well, I do like more than my adored Passage – so now I’m experimenting with layering PdE with a faint but persistent floral note (that’s a tricky balance) to try to recreate the effect. Osmanthe Yunnan feels right but doesn’t last. Paestum Rose is too strong. Suggestions?

Esteban Sensuelle Russie – Colombina the Terrible dissed this as a blatant rip-off of/poor man’s Ambre Narguile – although, when I think about it, there are a lot worse things you can call a fragrance (a poor man’s Baby Phat Goddess, for instance.) But Colombina and I are going to have to disagree on this one – I’m totally on board with Mimi Froufrou’s characterization of this as “… a nectar fit only for the gods which would have accidentally or by design spilled onto a giant rough-hewn table made of fragrant cedarwood and as it slowly spread out would have mixed with tobacco and strange spices…” (here’s a link so you can read the rest of her mesmerizing review and I can retain some sense of dignity by not quoting the entire poetic thing, although I’d like to.) To me, Ambre Narguile is like drowning in a vat of excellent, dark amber maple syrup – it’s great stuff, sure, but you’re still gonna die. Sensuelle Russie avoids that effect and instead heads in the direction of Serge Lutens Chergui or L’Artisan Tea for Two, without the tea part. As Mimi noted, I get a lot of tobacco in the drydown, although it’s not listed in the notes. I find it massively comforting, which is more than I could say, ultimately, for…

Annayake Miyako — I tried, honest. There’s a meditative, calming incense, sure, and it is very pretty. But there’s something in the base I can’t get past. Everyone else on the planet finds it massively comforting, though, including Colombina at Perfume-Smellin’ Things, who almost made me buy a bottle unsniffed…

Opium parfum – Objectively, this is far superior to the EDT – with all its rough edges smoothed out, and a much fuller, richer presence, along with excellent lasting power. But … maybe it’s just habit. I like my regular ol’ Opium better. I miss its abrasiveness, those elbow-sharp notes that get everyone to move to the other side of the elevator at the mall if I’ve overdone it at Macy’s. I should try the EDP, though.

MPG Soir d’Orient – a funky, wild, musky, woody (oudh?) fragrance that’s like a cross between MKK and a chypre – and you know I mean that as a compliment. I refuse to look any more for this, because the note on the sample vial says “rare” and I refuse to fall in love with another rare thing. It’s like only dating men who are unavailable.

Serge Lutens Encens et Lavande - Patty sent me this. I smelled it when it first came out, and disliked it massively, ergo I am stupid. I admit that (as is true so often with our humorous friend Serge) I have to ignore it for a few minutes while it arranges itself. Then it moves past the all-lavender sachet and the incense begins to bloom. It makes me cry, though. There is something very melancholy about it, which is odd, because I consider lavender cheering. An excellent rainy-day fragrance.

Matthew Williamson EDP – Ack! This is, I assume, the same outfit that created (then discontinued) MW Incense, one of my greatest unsniffed lemmings? And they give us this? What kind of sick joke is that?

Robert Piguet Baghari – Nobody’s going to buy this, which is a shame, because it’s not going to test well in the department store. The opening is an aldehydic fusillade that reminds me very much of My Sin, and unless you like retro fragrances it’s going to put you off, it is so deeply out of fashion. But, please, try it anyway. After a few minutes it morphs into the most delicious scent … it is floral, and there is something unabashedly romantic about it – the feel of, say, Annick Goutal’s Passion or Grand Amour (although it’s a completely different smell). It is sweet, but sensual rather than cloying, and manages to be both a little grand and charming at the same time. Notes are: aldehydes, neroli, bergamot, violet, rose, jasmine, iris, amber, vanilla, and musk. I’d add this to my Girly list from Monday – one of the prettiest fragrances I’ve smelled recently, and I mean that as an absolute compliment. This is one for the days when you want to be the Princess, and doesn’t every girl (and the random boy) want to be the princess every now and again?

Hanae Mori Magical Moon – Wow, can you imagine? Something to smell and love at Nordstrom instead of on eBay or at the Palais Royal… heck, they’ll even make you up a sample! Mimi Froufrou wrote the definitive review. Notes, from basenotes.net: Osmanthus Flower, Rose, Sugar Cane, Cotton Flower, Coconut Milk, Vanilla, White Musk, White Sandalwood, Red Cedar, Incense, Litchi, Patchouli, Pineapple Pulp, Guava Nectar, Star Fruit, Orange Flowers and Pink Berries. Okay, that sounds gaggingly sweet, but I swear to my nose it’s mostly sandalwood, cedar, incense, and osmanthus, with a little creamy, refined sweetness in the deep background. I am trying to find the right descriptor – restrained? Elegant in a highly mannered way? It bears some resemblance to the delicious SMN Citta di Kyoto, only more sophisticated. Go smell it. It’s beautiful. I’m waffling between the EDP (more woods) and the parfum (more incense).

And finally … Arielle Dombasle, the fabulous French model/actress/ hottie/chanteuse of the moment, said in the NY Times on Sunday that she loves fragrance – and her custom blend is a layering of Chanel Cuir de Russie, Clinique Aromatics Elixir and a cheap off-brand white musk (unspecified). Somebody out there have all three kicking around? Please try it and report back.

The winner of the bottle of Miso Pretty is … Chaya! Please send me your address under Contact Us.

flowers: k41.pbase.com

Got some new samples!!! Whee!  It’s been a while since I’ve got samples from a line that is completely new to me.

From Luckyscent, they are offering the Profumum line. I got a few samples, and I’ll do two of them today and two more on Thursday.

First is Thundra.  From the Luckyscent description “A solitary walk through a cool, damp forest, just after the rain. You can smell the rich earth as it drinks in the water, the bark on the trees, the carpet of fallen leaves and wild mint crushed under your feet. An unexpectedly cool and introspective rendition of patchouli, as peaceful and inspiring as the air after a thunderstorm has broken a heat wave. The warm earthiness of the patchouli is perfectly juxtaposed with the equally grounded, but chilly mint to create a unique and surprisingly relaxing fragrance. Thoughtful and serene.” 

Notes of leaves, mint, patchouli and white musk.  This goes on with a weird smell at first that I can’t quite put my fingers on, but the patchouli seems pretty dominant. Now, I normally am not crazy about most patchouli, but the description had me at walking through a cool, damp forest after the rain … this could be love.

This starts off pretty patchy, but while this develops, it starts to soften, the musk takes some of the mustiness of the patch out, and there’s a little hint of mint weaving its way through that musty smell. Still a bit weird for the first 30 minutes - like a dirty peppermint in your pocket — then it starts turning into the musty forest after a rain that is promised.  I’m impressed with this one, it’s well done. I’m not certain I have to have a full bottle, but it’s an unusual treatment of patch well worth smelling and it may eventually be love like Borneo is love.

Next was Santalum from Profumum.  The description from Luckyscent: “To put it simply, this is an extremely well done sandalwood. Deep, with a cello-like resonance, regal and reassuring— everything you want sandalwood to be. There is a bit of incense and a bit of cinnamon, but the star of this show is sandalwood in all its noble glory.”

I can take or leave Sandalwood most times, so I wasn’t enthusastic about trying this one, except for the cinnamon note that went along with the sandalwood and myrrh.  It goes with the sandalwood dominant, but it develops into not just a gorgeous sandalwood, but sandalwood with a spicy richness due to the myrrh and cinnamon. I’m not sure it’s one I need a full bottle of, but if you are a sandalwood fan who wants a twist, this surely brings a unique aspect to sandalwood unlike anything I’ve smelled before.

It has crossed my mind that, given my recent posts, some of you may be thinking I don’t like a fragrance unless it smells like I’ve taken a tumble in the barn, or stepped in something. Today’s post is dedicated to a random list of favorites that are more or less unabashedly girly. Some of these I wear mostly in summer, and some are more fall and winter, but even the summer ones I reach for occasionally on the darkest days, just for their magical cheering abilities.

L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons – an SA told me this is one of their most popular scents, and it’s probably the one that smells the most mainstream. I believe the name means “chasing butterflies,” and that’s what it’s like – joyous and ethereal. Citrus, linden, orange blossom, a hint of green, and some white flowers. If giggling had a smell, this would be it.

Blue Q Miso Pretty – okay, I admit, I didn’t even get the noxious wordplay when I bought it. I was too busy enjoying its light, summery burst of peony. Possibly the silliest, girliest thing I wear.

Malle Carnal Flower – intense but not a skank factory. Tuberose and a wee dollop of wintergreen that gives it a florist-shop freshness. A bit much in my climate in summer, but perfect on cool fall days. Varga girl.

L’Artisan Fleur d’Oranger – orange blossom heaven.

Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger layered with Clair de Musc – I love this combo. The Oranger is sweet to the razor edge of cloying, and the Musc is derided on the fragrance boards as not special enough for the money. I apply very lightly, wait for the bloom, and waft just enough sillage that several people have asked, what is that delightful thing you’re wearing? Luscious girl.

Ines de la Fressange – this used to be available at Sephora, and it’s still around at various discounters for less than $30. It’s outside my regular parameters because it’s pretty much a fruity-floral. But it’s such a pretty fruity-floral that all is forgiven.

Apothia If – a sweet burst of white florals, light citrus and musk that disappoints only because both concentrations disappear on me in 20 minutes. But maybe I just can’t smell it even though it’s still there.

S-Perfume 100% Love or 100% Love {MORE} – rose, chocolate and incense combined into an improbably addictive confection. I love this in winter. Mysterious girl.

Jil Sander No. 4 – I’ve been waiting all summer for weather cool enough to put this on. The most “classic” smell on this list, a scent as comfortable as my favorite cardigan. Sweater girl.

Berdoues Violets de Toulouse – candied violets. I wear this to bed pretty regularly. Is it Niche Perfumery? Um, nope. And I’m okay with that.

Novaya Zarya Carnation – Marina’s find for me. Carnation, straight up. Happiness in a bottle. It’s also some ridiculous price ($5?) online. What is not to love?

Muelhens 4711 – I keep a bottle in my refrigerator during the summer and splash it on like the cheesy cologne it is. I can barely remember my life before this scent, so part of my fondness is just nostalgia, but it’s a great, old-fashioned petitgrain cologne. Technically not a girly scent, but included on the general principal of cheeriness.

Malle En Passant – Lilacs, rain, blah blah blah you didn’t think I’d leave this one off, did you? No skank and feminine in an interesting way, assuming it doesn’t make you want to slash your wrists. Hey, just be thankful I’m not nattering on about Apres L’Ondee. Melancholy girl.

Annick Goutal – Petite Cherie, Passion, Gardenia Passion, Chevrefeuille… you pick one, I can’t. I know they’ve been around long enough to approach cliché status, but as far as I’m concerned AG hung the moon. There are some that don’t smell good on me personally, but there’s not a single one I can think of that I actively dislike. Romantic girl.

What are some of your favorite girly fragrances?

Today’s giveaway is … Politically Incorrect! Yep, I bought three bottles of Miso Pretty on clearance – one for me, one for P, and one for … you! Leave a comment below if you’d like to be entered in the drawing, and then click here for Scentzilla’s review, followed by some lively commentary on whether the packaging (not the smell) is offensive, and you can ponder whether I’m massively dim for not noticing. I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday.

Varga girl: dollmarket.com

Whitney Houston has finally come to her senses and kicked Bobby to the curb, according to Access Hollywood.  About time, and she is looking pretty darn great.  I can’t help rooting for her. I loved her before the crack and  Bobby took her to the bad place and just hope she’s gotten it together for good.

Britney had another baby boy.  Why do I think she should have a little girl some day?

How can this be such a lame gossip week, didn’t anything else go on?

The new Survivor premiered last night, where they split them up into tribes based on ethnicity. That seemed a little creepy, but what the heck was Stephannie thinking voting out the strongest person in their tribe?  

Everyone have a great weekend, see you back here on Monday! 

March waxes poetic about L’Artisan’s Tea for Two all the time, but I don’t know that I’ve every fully added my two cents on it.  Now that fall is here, it’s one that becomes a staple in my fragrance wardrobe.

With notes of tea, Ginger, cinnamon, green anise, honey and vanilla, this is probably the only fragrance containing some honey that I can stomach. Though I believe Parfumerie Generale’s Harmatan Noir has some honey in it too, so maybe it’s just tea scents with honey that work for me.  This is pure loveliness from start to finish. It starts out pungent with tea and dries to a gorgeous spicy tea with honey scent, soft, warm and inviting.

 Several years ago we went on vacation to Hawaii, the island of Lanai. There are basically two hotels on that island, both owned by the Four Seasons — one that sits on the ocean, the Resort Lana’i, and the Lodge at Koele that sits up in the hillls.  We stayed at the beach hotel, but took one day and spent it at the Lodge.  The two places couldn’t be more different, and we loved them both, but if we ever went back, we would stay at the lodge. Higher up on the island, the temperature difference was dramatic, slightly cool, stunning gardens, and the hotel had a huge wrap-around porch with big chairs all around it, and they brought tea out for you wherever you were. Very British, very reserved, it just oozed old money out of the cracks in the mortar and planks on the porch. Despite all that British reserve, it was one of the warmest, most comforting places I have ever spent time in – utterly relaxed and at ease and at home.  When I smell Tea for Two, all I think of is that place and that feeling of relaxing into comfort and ease.

So, listen, I’ve been thinking about doing a spot of Botox on my furrow line on my forehead, just a skosh, not all jacked up with it, and maybe just a squidge of Restylane on my upper lip to smooth out those little lines.  Should I go ahead and do it or no?

 Drawing for this week, I’ll draw for two winners for a sample of Tea for Two.  Just leave a comment asking to be in the drawing!

Their new website just went up (I think he was switching hosts and making some major behind-the-scenes changes) and the CB Musk is now on the site. Bloglifting from his description:

“CBMUSK is a deep scent with a rich animal/erotic presence. It seems to fade into the skin causing the natural scent to glow. CBMUSK is beautiful on its own or worn as a base with other scents.

True Tonkin Musk no longer exists in the contemporary world and I personally loathe synthetic versions — generally they make me sick. I’ve learned over the years that I have particular chemical sensitivities to many of the aromachemicals used to recreate “musk” and I’m not alone in my dislike for those scents. So this is my own interpretation of what I’d always imagined real musk to smell of. Whether it does or does not, I cannot know. I can say however my version is unlike anything currently called “musk.” I make CBMUSK only in absolute form. This is a very rich scent that wants to be worn only in specific places.”

No kidding. Well, guess what — click here and buy yourself a sample for $15. Yeah, I know — that’s a lot for a sample. But 2ml of this musk absolute will last you a lot longer than you’d think. Be sure to check out his other samples while you’re at it — everyone should try Black March, Burning Leaves, Winter 1972…

Okay, readers – I have sent out samples, and here is some feedback:

“Gloriously mucky. You smutty little minx. It’s enough to make a man hetero…” — Leopoldo

“I found it to be much scarier than anything I’ve tried recently. I don’t layer, but I think this would be difficult to wear very often without camouflaging it a tad with something less grotty. On me, it smells like that moment when you wake up in rumpled sheets after a particularly debauched night clubbing: smokey hair, potently feral breath, dried sourish sweat in cracks you don’t want to think about. It is by no means bad - I felt almost nostalgic for a moment, since those days are a distant memory for me now - but it does stir some troubling thoughts of where natural musks come from and what they are used for. Thanks for sending it, I think.” – Tigs

“I would say that it smelled like buttcrack, with a musky ‘after sex’ smell. I guess that’s the best way to describe it, March. But, I definitely think you should do a review on it. To be honest, I’m not woman enough to wear it, even layer it, but I am holding on to it to sniff and lightly tamp on my skin from time to time.” — Violetnoir

“At first it smells like my husband which is good. It feels familiar, sexy, and comforting. But then the perfume evolves into something much more disquieting like a prowling presence in the dark. I just know there is danger and this feeling is not accompanied by the thrill of seduction. The scent does not seem to respect conventional olfactory and social boundaries and it makes me think of a marginal world, that of unclean homeless men and…rapists. Someone a little mad has spotted me on the street and is following me. The situation is dangerous because this person although sick is very intelligent. I let the perfume develop on my skin but it was borderline unbearable. It is a truly powerful scent but not necessarily wearable for me. It would be appropriate. I think, to use it in a movie theater to illustrate scenes of lurking (sexual) danger. I also imagine that Christopher Brosius would be the perfect nose to issue another (more readily available) collection of scents based on Perfume, The History of a Murderer.” — The Scented Salamander

And this snippet, from a review on Colombina’s blog: “…the smell of the kinds of sexual doings that will shock even the most liberated individuals…”

Join me, please, in the Gospel of Musk Reinvention – CB I Hate Perfumes’ ne plus ultra of Skank. How skank is it? Even Colombina the Terrible, she who loves many terrible smells (along with yours truly) pronounced it “impossible to wear on its own.”

I emailed Christopher Brosius, its creator, about this scent recently, and he parsed my original question into sections, which he answered. So today’s post is a pseudo-interview regarding Musk Reinvention.

March: Hi, Christopher — it has been more than a month since Patty and I came and played with you at your shop — we’ve been talking up various CB fragrances on our blog. I’m behind a one-woman drive to get everyone on earth to try CB Musk Reinvention…

CB: good luck with that - i knew it was going to be a love it or hate it / you get it or you don’t scent and it certainly is so far. i’ll be very curious to see what happens when it goes onto my new website later this week. in the meantime i’ve used it as a base note in one of my new perfumes (a blend of white floral absolutes inc 5 jasmines, tuberose, & jonquil) which i’m really pleased with.

March: …which is why I’m writing you. When we visited, I was so overcome with joy I didn’t take any notes on the many interesting things we talked about. I would like to do a post on our blog on CB Musk Reinvention, because I’m still fascinated by it. My muddled recollection is that you were trying to create a smell that was all things human, the idea of what musk conjures up, but not using any actual musk components… okay, how garbled is that?

CB: actually you’re right - i set out to reinvent what i’d always imagined real musk to smell like from descriptions i’d read in certain novels. i find mine to be a very animalic smell but others have their own opinions

March: What does Musk Reinvention represent to you? More specifically, do you find it/mean it to be a “dirty” scent in a sexual way? Or something else entirely? For what it’s worth, I find it profoundly moving, and I am still trying to sort out why. There is something primal about it to me — some sort of first-smell-memory.

CB: i like that description a LOT - and i see what you mean - CBMUSK is a very primal smell but then i’ve always been fascinated by ancient smells - like incense which i love. and i seem to have a talent for tapping into the collective olfactory unconscious much of which genetically may well be about “first smell memory”.

i’m actually working on a collection of “archetypes’ at the moment - these are all scents that influence all perfume either singly or in combination - many of these are very ancient indeed… the sensual smell of skin is definitely among them.

March: I find it sensual, rather than sexual (I seem to be in the minority) and very, very comforting. I keep layering it with different things — in addition to Jasmine (your recommendation) it layers beautifully with strong leather and/or smoke scents…

CB: i’ve found that many people in america are put off or scared by overtly “sexy” perfumes. and lord knows as a nation we have plenty of sexuality issues of all kinds - frankly the english seem free spirits by comparison… i think of musk as sensual as well but then i think it’s a fine line between sensual and sexy and the two should ideally go together.

March: Anyway, my thanks again for one of the most pleasurable of afternoons.

CB: my pleasure - i enjoyed it!

How do I feel about this scent? Well, I love it. I have to keep my 15ml bottle in its little hazmat drum or the smell perverts my closet, but I have been wearing it pretty regularly. It’s wonderful layered with jasmine. Scents with intense leather (like Lonestar Memories) or smoke (Kolnisch Juchten) are great combos with Musk’s naughty sweetness. One or two careful drops on my skin last until the following day. It’s available (or will be shortly) on the CB I Hate Perfumes website (which, FYI, was down for renovation when I added this link), I believe it’s $75 for 15ml. Go on. I dare you.

There are some scents out there in the world that I feel I’m pre-destined to hate.  By the description, they sound completely averse to anything I’d like.

The deeper I get into niche scents, the more my mind and nose has opened to some of the odder perfumes out there, though I think I’m still pretty closed-nose on many of them.   Take Serge Luten’s Musc Koublai Khan.  I’ve heard it described as sweat and sex and horses and sometimes horsey sex, and none of those descriptions really give me any level of comfort that this could be a scent that I’d remotely like, enjoy, or tolerate.

When March reviewed it recently, and liked it, that really didn’t surprise me. She loves to get her skank on.  She generously sent me her sample, and I avoided the whole thing like the plague for quite a while, fearing that if I opened the vial, I’d puke on nose contact.

Finally I got brave enough to splash some on. The top notes of MKK are just fiercely godawful and the closest thing to putting your nose right in a festering armpit I’ve ever smelled, and it confirmed my fears that I would need Clorox to get the memory of this festering mess out of my nose and brain.  However, I’ve learned to always give Serge some time, so I didn’t wash it off right away and I stopped sniffing it and just held my hand out the window for 30 minutes. Then I put it back under my nose. 

How could I have been so wrong based on first impression? This is the single most animalic thing of beauty I have smelled. It is not the scent of horses or sex or sweat. It is the smell of humanity. Not the idealistic or beautiful part of it only, but the real part, the well-worn place of skin and sweat and memory and emotion.  I can do nothing but bury my nose in this scent and breathe in all the misery and joy of being human.  I can’t be without this scent in my life because every time I forget what it is to be flawed and real, I can smell this and remember.

This got me to thinking about what does pretty mean as it applies to scent?  I used to think it was about beautiful smells – flowers, rainbows and yummy things in a bottle.  Now I think it is about what it does to us and how it makes us think and feel in reaction to what we smell, bringing us to a place of memory or revelation about who we are. 

When I first started into perfume, I put on scents meant to define me, and it had very little to do with who I actually was, but was more about who I wanted to be.  Now I put on scents that show a facet of me –beautiful, terrible, earthy, saint, sinner.

MKK reminds me of what it is to be a complete human being, full of compassion for the human condition.

Has everyone paid attention to the upcoming release of Perfume, based on the Patrick Suskind novel?  It’s releasing in Germany this week and should be in U.S. Theaters in December.  It’s a book that I hadn’t gotten around to reading yet, but based on this article, I’m going to remedy that and have gotten the book on express order.  If you punch the Amazon link over on the left, you can do the same.

I’m so stupefied by this fragrance that I’ve now written and deleted this entire post three times, so I’m going to give up and bloglift, with apologies, directly from Andy Tauer’s blog, in which he describes the ingredients for his non-released Orris fragrance experiment, which I was lucky enough to sample (he only made 40 samples.) My review follows his comments.

“In the body of the scent you find the notes: Ambergris, Sandalwood, Vetiver and Agarwood. In the formula this translates to: Ambroxan, Sandalore, Sandalwood from Australia, Sandalwood from Mysore, Vetiverol, Vetiver, Methylcedrylketon, Agarwood. The two qualities of Sandalwood are important, as the Australian Sandalwood adds to the spicyness and the Mysore quality brings in a flowery aspect. Sandalore allows to extend the note and lift it.

In the middle of the scent you find the notes: Frankincense, some smokeyness, and the extension of the Orris/rose from the head eventually with some cinnamon. In the formula this translates into: Birchtar (just a hint…) , a tiny winy little bit of cinnamon bark … just a touch because of Ifra and because it is very fast overpowering, Hydroxycinnamaldehye, and the best Frankincense on the market, which is from India…

In the head of the scent, extending into the middle you find the notes: Orris, rose, pepper, cinnamon (see above) and yellowish citrus. In the formula this translates into: Rose accord: Geraniol, Damascenone, Bulgarian Rose absolute, Phenylethylalcohol, Lemongrass, Linalool, Benzylsalicylate. With the Orris remaining a big mystery… the spicyness is black pepper and the citrus notes are grapefruit, white and Bergamot, of course with the lemongrass from the rose accord playing in, too. There are quite a few its and bits that rounden up the scent, brighten it a little bit, and a few mystery compounds…”

Okay, if you’re not drooling on your keyboard right now, you are dead, and thus there is no hope for you. From the stunning opening of Orris, with its spices and a mere hint of rose, through the smoky woods and incense, and into the dry, warm base of sandalwood, it never bores, and it never ceases to amaze me. Obviously, the orris itself is the star of this fragrance (and what an orris!), while the rose is a valued but minor player — a perfect foil for the almost medicinal aspect of the orris. I only get a hint of citrus, the effect being to magnify the pepper and spices rather than to assert itself. The agarwood arrives shortly thereafter and plays up the florals beautifully. But it is the sandalwood that is ultimately the source of a considerable amount of the fragrance’s magnetism. It gives Orris a more dry, meditative aspect. It is a “warm” orris fragrance, whereas (to me, anyway) Hermes Hiris is elegant but very cold, and Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist is rather cool. Orris is also quite tenacious, like Andy’s other fragrances, without ever becoming tiresome.

I tested it back-to-back with Iris Silver Mist – the gold standard of orris — and I am now going to commit Fragrance Heresy by declaring that, as stunning as ISM is, I prefer Andy’s creation. I have to be in exactly the right mood for ISM, or it’s just too much. Its bombast wears me out.

Orris has ISM’s potency, but it has a more buoyant, pellucid quality rather than ISM’s hazy density. While Orris shares a number of notes with ISM, to me ISM is a much earthier fragrance, with a cedar note that is omnipresent and (I admit it) can be a bit hard to take on the wrong day — as if I were standing in a cedar closet. There is only one ISM, but there is nothing else like Orris that I’m aware of, either. Certainly there is room for both in any fragrance-lover’s wardrobe. Can I mention the orris, agarwood, frankincense/sandalwood combo one more time? Ye gods, I could smell that every day.

Andy notes on his blog that Orris was tricky to produce and the ingredients were expensive, and he never intended to release it as part of his line. But he has heard all our begging on the fragrance boards, and he is planning to release it in a limited edition later this fall, in a smaller bottle to offset the expense of the ingredients (Andy – my apologies if I have misrepresented any of that). My little vial is almost empty, and I am looking forward with great anticipation to the release.

image: tauerperfumes.com/blog

I’m heart-broken. My favorite players in Big Brother 7: All Stars, Will and Janelle, are now evicted as of tonight, and we are left with the worst final two in the world – the X-ray with Hair and the Rapping Restauranteur with No Game, who formed the worst possible Ho-mance ever for a reality TV show.  Where Will and Janelle gave us twirling her around like a princess, hand holding, flirting and whispers, these two gave us just disgusting footage that has left me scarred for life, and that was just the part I saw before I could shut it off and gouge out my eyes. Every year, I hate the end — the worst possible players hide behind the funnest, strongest players and sneak out at the end for the money like rats. How I despise this show and myself, knowing I will be back watching it next year.

Best line of the season:  Janelle, after evicting the uber-hot Evil Doctor Will, “Will used to say he was the fox and I was the bunny. Well, who’s the bunny now, bitch!?” Classic, and that’s why I’ll be back watching it next year.

The good news is now I get my life back. Normally there are only a couple of weeks where this series is good, but this year has been the best season ever, well, except the damn ending.  Okay, I’ll shut up now, and my attention is now back on the important stuff, I swear!

Britney Spears is reportedly at the hospital now spitting out Federline spawn No. 2. You’ve been warned.

Went to get my Cle de Peau for the free gifts yesterday, and they’ve reformulated all of their eyeshadows and put them in compacts of four shadows each, and they are now less shiny,and the combos are really pretty darn great. I didn’t mind the old shineir formulat so much, but I do like the more matte effect. They come in great colors and have the same highly pigmented, super-fine powder that makes them the best eyeshadows I’ve used.

For those of you that have taught teenagers how to drive, would you agree that you should only have to do one of them ever in your life?  My mom taught five of us how to drive in five years, and my respect for her, if it was possible to go any higher, went up even more notches. I don’t know how she did it.  My youngest drives okay, but it’s just the level of alertness and instruction you have to maintain driving crosstown in rush hour traffic that kills me.  Next week he gets his restricted license and will be on his own…. Mother of God, it’s so hard to let go.

Winner of the Cuir Amethyste drawing from last week is — Malena!  Just hit the Contact Us button over on the left, and drop me your address, and I’ll zip it out to you. Thanks for everyone who entered!

I like Betsey Johnson a lot, I think her style is fun (although she’s maybe a little bit of a wack-job), and I really wanted to like her new fragrance. And I guess I did, sort of.

First off, there’s that bottle – which is bright and brash and very Betsey-ish. Like some of Betsey’s designs, the bottle is a triumph of fabulousless over utility – the top half of the bottle is almost too big to hold and spray one-handed.

I’ve seen this fragrance described several times as a fruity floriental, which didn’t give me tons of hope, even if it’s from Betsey. But she did come through to some degree – it’s a fruity-floriental I actually like. Notes are: pear, tangerine, grapefruit, currants, freesia, muguet, cedar, sandalwood, amber, musk. It is sweet but not insipidly so; I found myself being charmed by the opening fruit notes, which are tangy and “girly” with a nudge-and-wink, rather than something that smells like it came in one of my daughter’s birthday goody bags.

The drydown gets much better – there’s enough of a musk/sandalwood base in there that I wonder how the fragrance will fare with those who want their fruity-florals unadulterated and headache-sweet. My guess is that this base is just enough over the line to discourage them.

Based on first sniff, would I buy it? No. But I’d wear it if someone gave it to me. And I think this is potentially a fragrance like Insolence that grows on me over time. I did try Insolence again, on the same trip, and if I didn’t find the opening and that bottle so off-putting I’d own the damn thing already, because the drydown is beautiful.

On the other hand, I won’t be wearing F by Ferragamo, even if you gave it to me. Both times I sampled it the SAs pointed out enthusiastically – look! – it’s shaped like a shoe, isn’t that cute?!? But I can’t suss out the shoe resemblance no matter how hard I squint at the bottle. Here’s a photo. I’m a bonehead. You explain it to me. Anyway, each time the SA and I were too busy trying to figure out how you actually make it work – if you aim the nozzle at the two straps, the spray hits those straps coming out of the atomizer; how’s that for design brilliance? If you turn the nozzle the opposite way, the straps are in the way of your hand so you need two hands to spray it. Which works out okay with the SA standing there to help, but since my lady-in-waiting seems to be on permanent vacation I’d need a third arm. The only way to make it work is to twist the sprayer sideways, which just seems weird. (Okay, I understand perfumers are ever more desperate to make their scents stand out in a crowd, but does anyone ever try to see whether the bottle design works?)

I can’t find any notes at all, but to me it’s just another fruity-floral, with an opening that’s tart, like grapefruit (the first 30 seconds are the best part, so enjoy them). After 10 minutes on my skin it’s a thin, sharp mess that would have been a scrubber if its wan presence had ever mustered the energy to get up off the couch and claw at me. But it didn’t. It just picked at its cuticles, sulked and slunk off without my noticing. And good riddance.

Finally, there’s Desperate Houswives Forbidden Fruit. Hey, I like cheap trash as much as the next person, and I was expecting something gloriously over-the-top — in-your-face sexy and/or dirty. I mean, don’t the ladies on Wisteria Lane make you think of Fifi Chachnil? But this. I’m not even going to look for the notes. It’s an insipid fruity-floral that makes Vera Wang Princess look good by comparison, and how low is that bar? The opening notes reminded me faintly of Kate Spade’s LOTV flower-bomb (remember that one? I loved that one, but I guess nobody else did, because she pulled the plug quietly last year, I think) but it morphed immediately into a floral … thing that smelled cheap and mean and plastic, like sniffing scented rubber toys at Wal-Mart, with a bitter rubbing-alcohol-and-eraser drydown. Those vixens wouldn’t be caught dead in this crap. Ugh.

I had Venezia years ago, a small bottle, and I gave it to my sister, for resons I don’t recall now. She fell in love with it and would just swoon every time she talked about it.  Since then, it seems everyone loved this perfume.  What in the world did I miss when I had it many years ago.

Of course it became discontinued and is now harder to find than a 20-year-old virgin. 

 Introduced in 1992, it is an oriental, with notes of mango, prune, black currant, rose, jasmine, Ylang-ylang, iris, cedar, civet and musk.  March got a small bottle of it and sent it on to me.  So exciting to finally have my hands on this little bottle, I couldn’t wait to splash some on and wait for the magic to happen.

Well, I’ve had it on for a while, and there’s just no magic at all. It’s pleasant enough, but my expectations were up pretty  high that this would be stellar. And it’s just, well, okay.  Pleasant enough, but I’m not getting that spectaculr scent vibe, it’s like only a couple of notes are coming through, the  rose and jasmine? Maybe this is one of those where I can’t smell all the notes.  Am I missing something?  I swear, it’s something with me and older scents, we just don’t get along well or it’s missing some notes because it’s older or my nose is just being “challenging.”

Reminder that Neiman-Marcus is having their beauty event this week, on Thursday.  Lots of lines are giving great free gifts with purchase.  I think Saks has an event coming up soon, as does Barney’s. How do I know this?  Probably every salesperson at three or four counters in each store has called to let me know. It’s great to have your credit card be so popular.

Also, I have the new Serge Lutens Mandarine Mandarin winging its way to me now, so hopefully we’ll be able to have a review of that in the next week or two!

It took awhile to select the Big Cheese’s new fragrance. By “new fragrance,” I mean the first and only fragrance he has ever worn in his life. To him, fragrance is by definition a chick thing – but eventually, after watching me try men’s scents (and spritz him with all sorts of scents) he asked for something for himself. I decided to present him with a series of choices I already knew I liked and have him pick one, but we got hung up on the teensy detail that he wouldn’t try any of them on because he was “too busy.”

Believe me, Too Busy is a concept I understand. I am occasionally Too Busy to Shower After the Gym (although I do it at home. I swear.) I am Too Busy To Make All Those Damn Kids Their Dinner. I am sometimes Too Busy To Run Those Tax Returns Over To The Post Office. But I am never Too Busy to Stop and Smell the Fragrance.

We finally did pick one, after sampling the following (all of these are Pour Homme). After you read the list, you will probably think, well, why didn’t she consider X Pour Homme?!?! My sort-of answer is, I’m sure there are some wonderful fragrances I overlooked. But most of them (Hermes Equipage is a good example) have too much presence and/or are too “perfume-y” to be my husband’s first fragrance. This wasn’t his stated preference – it was mine, because I wanted whatever he wound up with to be a subtle skin scent, although based on his reactions, I think he wanted the same thing.

Chanel Allure – I think it’s elegant, and this was my prediction as the winner, but what a testament to the powers of skin chemistry – it went weirdly metallic on him. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great, either, and it was very, very strong.

Prada Amber – He thought it was nice but, reflecting commentary on the fragrance boards, to him it smelled overtly feminine. He humored me but refused to believe it was a men’s scent — it was as if I were trying to get him to wear Fracas. Or eyeliner. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Guerlain L’Instant – One of my favorite men’s fragrances, but we agreed the patchouli was too dominant on him (although that’s not the wording he used – he said “yuck.”) I wear it a lot in winter, and I didn’t really want to share the same scent, so I was okay with the outcome on this one.

Georgio Armani Code – Meh.

Hugo Boss Selection – The SA made me do it! Seriously, I liked it in the store, but on the Cheese it was bizarre – a lot of tart fruit in the opening before morphing into the fragrance equivalent of a big-shouldered power suit from the 80s, worn by a hairy-chested guy with his shirt unbuttoned just enough for you to see one of those stupid horn necklace charms.

Dior Homme – Demonstrating that a strong iris note is not what he was looking for.

So he ended up with a bottle of…

Dolce & Gabbana! Yeah, I know, it’s Old School. We’ve covered a lot of ground since 1994, and I’m sure among some circles it’s a cliché. I don’t care. It’s smooth, leather and tobacco, and it melds beautifully with his skin. It was exactly what I’d hoped when envisioning a subtle, sexy skin scent, and it was what he wanted when he smelled it. It was perfect.