Perfume Vagabond

First off, a shout-out to Patty, who will be on NPR at 11:40 EST this morning, as part of a Perfumes: The Guide interview with LT and TS, I guess they´re going for the blogger perspective. Go, Patty! Second, a reminder, this coming Friday we are featuring your anonymous reviews of Clinique Aromatics Elixir and Happy, and Tommy Girl, so get those reviews emailed in to perfume dot posse at gmail dot com (with the correct punctuation marks substituted for “dot” and “at”) and we´ll print them. Third, next Monday, a week from today, is another free-for-all discussion on The Guide. Because, seriously, We Need To Talk. I Have Issues. Thus far I´ve flagged reviews that make me feel smug, a couple that make me want to try (or retry) something, and a couple that kill me. Okay, on to today´s topic.

The problem with reading about scents is you may learn something. Luca Turin has spoiled two scents for me in just this way recently. In The Guide he describes 21 Costume National as an “anisic oriental” and bam! Although anise is not listed among the 21 notes, when I smell it, anise is now the dominant note of this milky woody wonder (he gives it three stars). Anise being about as welcome in my fragrance collection as a bear at a picnic, my ardor for 21 has cooled. Also, I have had an on-again off-again relationship with L´Artisan Safran Troublant for quite some time, but it appears to be on again, my having acquired one of the small coffret bottles. Then I read LT´s review (four stars) in which he talks about the wonderful interplay among the saffron, vanilla and rose. Rose! Of course! The rose note was obvious as soon as I read it. Now, the rose having moved squarely to the forefront, it hogs the stage every time I smell it. I can barely see the saffron behind it.

Vexed by these developments, I dug around in all my samples looking for something different. Kelly had sent me some other Dawn Spencer Hurwitz scents, so I checked those out. Then I turned my attention to Gail´s package full of fragrances by Liz Zorn. (Thanks Kelly and Gail!)

The great thing about perfumery is, you can have sniffed so very, very much and there are still entire lines you know nothing about. I selected two Liz Zorns to put on Grand Canyon, because Marina had blogged on it and I´d wanted to try it, and Pink Praline, because I was feeling perverse and it seemed, based on the label, to be the one thing I´d be least likely to enjoy.

LZ Pink Praline gave me an immediate masochistic satisfaction – I smiled, awaiting burial under a giant mass of what smelled like sugar and cocoa, with an odd discordant note I couldn´t place. I usually loathe chocolate in my fragrance, and this was no exception. After three minutes it quiets down quite a bit, the odd top note fades, and I began to … well, to like it. Go figure. I decided to look at the notes: pink grapefruit, cocoa, maple, dark roasted coffee, spices, cinnamon, honey, fenugreek, vanilla. The odd note at the top is the grapefruit – yes, a sweet citrus on top of cocoa. I can´t pick the coffee out until the drydown, when it becomes quite prominent. In the drydown it´s a seamless, not overly sweet gourmand confection – the smell of being in a bakery, but a nice one, and the maple/fenugreek gives an immortelle-esque twist. You choco/gourmand freaks should check this out.

LZ Grand Canyon (sweet orange, clementine, blood orange, neroli, laurel leaf, palma rosa, black pepper, labdanum, benzoin, honey, myrrh, sandalwood, spices, rose, jasmine, vetiver) starts out with a jumble of citrus, rose and laurel, and my immediate reaction was – nah. It had that kind of macerated green soup vibe that wasn´t working for me. Then the citrus fades into the spices, jasmine and woods, it becomes an warmly elegant comfort scent – the kind that´s pretty enough to wear out, more sophisticated than your favorite sweatshirt, but just as cozy. My favorite of the bunch listed in this post.

I sat out in the sun on the back porch, the first day it was warm enough to do so. I should have gotten out my sun hat. But I didn´t. Sitting there, wondering about sniffing the other Liz Zorn samples, my bad mood gone, cataloging my constant stream of perfumed thoughts (I never ordered those last DSH samples!, and do I already have a vial of Givenchy Vetyver and don´t realize it?), I suddenly understood. It wouldn´t matter if I smelled them all and never smelled them again, much less owned them. It explains my phenomenal sample collection versus my relatively sparse bottle collection. I watched those bees buzz all around me, looking for their next hit, and I realized: I am a perfume vagabond. I want to taste the honey from every single flower on this earth, and if I never own that flower… that´s okay. I´m just a bee, and it was worth it.

* * *

DSH Tamarind Paprika – this one fascinates me. Half the time – a bitter, sour, nasty, cheapo potpourri-from-hell smell. The other half of the time – an interesting tobacco-and-mulling-spices.

DSH Prana smells exactly like the inside of an Aveda store.

DSH Vanille – a rich, straight, gourmand vanilla I enjoyed sniffing on the edge of my thumb, and would probably kill me in larger doses.

DSH Arome d´Egypt – DSH does spice and gourmand scents really well. This is sort of a spice market/incense scent.

DSH Jitterbug – this is in fact a wonderful old-fashioned spicy oriental fragrance that one could imagine wafting up from various vintage bottles.

Liz Zorn Sunset Rider – huh. To the extent we´re developing a trend, what I´m discovering sampling her stuff is I find the top notes jarring, and then the whole fragrance opens up and shifts in a direction I like better. Having done this several times now, I´m kind of enjoying the construct; it gets my attention. Sunset Rider starts off with what I think is a citrus/sandalwood blast, then dries down into a fairly indolic jasmine, and you know I like my jasmine dirty.

LZ Vanillaville. From her website: “A rustic, smoky vanilla, with the essence of pipe tobacco and leather. Notes include Almond, Tonka, Tarragon, Birch Tar and Coffee.” To me it smelled like a perfect sweet pipe tobacco rather than leather.

LZ Solstice – (formerly Peace on Earth?). Balsam, white pine, rose, jasmine, violet, cassie, clove, sandalwood, agarwood, rosewood, frankincense, myrrh, amber, woods, balsam of Peru, orris, patchouli, tuberose, moss, ambrette, vanilla. A floral incense. I got the extrait. It´s very soft and comforting, lightly spicy. I want to spray this on and see how I felt about it, I think I would love it. For some reason it´s not coming up at all on her website.

LZ Chado – Green Tea, Blue Cypress, fresh herbs. The website describes it as GRASSY-DRY-HERBAL, which is not my sort of thing. However, that´s a perfect description.

LZ Oolong – a peach tea and tooooo sweeet on me. The only one of the bunch I really didn´t care for.

LZ Blood Orange and Vetiver – hey, remember Wickle Chestnut & Vetiver? No? Sigh. That was such a great scent. Its simplity in concept was part of its charm. This is along the same lines – a sweet/tart juicy orange mixed with a fairly rooty vetiver.

LZ Cordovan Rose – the big rose opening up and walloped my nose, but before I could scream in horror the birch tar and glove leather painted a smile on my face. I still wouldn´t wear it, because it´s rose, but fans of leathery roses might love this. The rose fades over time, leaving me with a soft, sweet leather.

Liz Zorn is, I think, moving her goods to her new website, selling them under a different name, Soivohle, and I´m going to gripe that I hate the setup, in which all the fragrances are sold using abbreviations – Sunset Rider becomes SR-05-N. Hon, why? They already have (slightly groovy) names, which I kinda like. I view this as a step backward. Alphanumeric reference-style naming is dull and hard to remember. It didn´t work well for Parfums MDCI, it didn´t work well for biehl.parfumkunstwerke, and it ain´t gonna work well for you either.

bee image: pdphoto.org

  • Gail S says:

    Now how’s this for customer service? I just clicked over to read LZ’s blog and saw this:

    http://parfumemoderne.blogspot.com/

    She’s already addressed several of the issues brought up here. Now I like her even more!

    P.S. Not affiliated in any way, just a fond customer

    • March says:

      I know! I noticed it when I went over there, looking for the notes to Calcutta. and she sent me an email, and I responded and commented on her blog, too. So she’s not just a good perfumer, she seems like a really nice person and a smart business person too.

  • tmp00 says:

    At least you got a link at the shows homepage..

    🙂

  • Patty says:

    I got punted from the show! They were long on callers and short on time to finish the five scents they were sniffing, so I didn’t get to play. Waaaahhh!!! :((

    • tmp00 says:

      sucks! Oh well. Which show was it?

    • March says:

      Yeah, well, you would have been better. >:d<

    • That was a disappointment! We were looking forward to raising the level of the conversation when they brought you on. Then suddenly it was all over. Maybe another time. Blog on, Posse. -TS

      • March says:

        Hey, P — look, honey! They were counting on you to “raise the level of conversation”!!!! And I better shut up about that Creed guy now, because … lord, I missed his name, was that Marlen?

    • I was seriously let down…:- I was looking forward to validating someone who does have the perspective of collector and genuine perfume lover. Somehow the interviewers of such shows don’t give me the impression they’re genuinely interested in the matter….
      Boo on them, that was a dumb thing to do!

      • March says:

        I think they were worried there wouldn’t be enough to talk about. I do agree it would have been a more interesting show with another person’s perspective, and I think Patty would have been great.

        • kathleen says:

          But lucky enough the callers asked questions that they were able to answer straight from the book. Luca even got to use his bacon quip. Made me wonder if the questioners were plants.

          • kathleen says:

            I meant callers were plants 🙂

          • March says:

            And I am such a dim bulb I am visualizing the green, growing things and trying to make that add up. /:)

            Hey, be sure to come back Monday when we talk about The Guide, if you can stand any more.

  • Carol says:

    Bummer – I think I tuned in at maybe 10:30 Central and only heard LT and TS too…..

  • Wendy says:

    I definitely see what you all mean regarding the vast difference between the top and the base in Liz Zorn’s scents. At least from the 2 that I tried… Still have more to play with.

    March – I envy your deskanking skin. For whatever reason – Cordovan Rose reminded me of a wood fired pizza. Not a rose to be seen on my skin. Just a leather cowboy carrying a pizza…

    Also agree with you on the problems she may be inviting with her adoption of a code rather than a name. Though after what she went through with “peace,” can’t say I blame her….

    The DSHs vary significantly on me. I really don’t pick up anything in her line that makes me sniff it and go “Yeah – that’s a DSH.”

    I find I like her Essence Oils over her Parfums des Beaux Artes line. Probably a result of my deep-seated fondness for head shop oils. I have no taste l-)

    • March says:

      Cowboy carrying a wood burning pizza?!?!? You made me laugh out loud with that one! <):) And yes, part of the issue with the names was some of the legal stuff, and trying to find legal, workable names and not having any of that come back and bite you. I like the essence oils too -- and head shop oils! So there.

  • kathleen says:

    March, I haven’t had the opportunity to try Costume National 21 but I noticed that one of the notes in it is vetiver. Sometimes, I get the smell of anise from some fragrances that contain vetiver i.e.TDC Sel de Vetiver. If I remember correctly, you are not a fan of vetiver? Maybe you pick up the same anise scent from it as I do.

    • March says:

      Maybe that’s it. I keep going over the notes, trying to decide who the culprit is. 🙂 I did wear it yesterday thinking NO ANISE NO ANISE. Maybe I can brainwash my way to freedom.

  • Robin says:

    So agree on the new Soivohle site.

    My favorite was your least favorite — Chado. Also still thinking over Yin Hao, did you try that one? SERIOUSLY indolic jasmine. Might be too much for me, but can’t decide.

    • March says:

      I just got the nicest email back from her, explaining why they made that choice, part of which has to do with issues regarding names in the past… not going any further on that. And Chado would be the one you like, of course! Did not try Yin Hao, but I have another jasmine here too. But I think you’re the one I discussed stinky jasmine with? I wonder if indoles have some sort of anosmic aspect? Because when we talk about them (bloggers in general) we are all over the map.

  • tmp00 says:

    You know that you are not supposed to use the word “peace” in any way referring to a fragrance, right? You could be getting a nasty letter…:d

  • chayaruchama says:

    NO PATTY !
    Jake and I both listened- and I didn’t hear her voice, I’d have known ….
    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • March says:

      Crap, I need to go find your email and respond!

      Well, at least I can stop trying to download the podcast now. LT’s voice was not at all what I expected.

      • Francesca says:

        I think they must have run out of time, what with the really long announcements and that Creed guy going on and on and on. I was disappointed not to hear Patty, too. Still can’t remember which actor’s voice Luca’s reminded me of.

        Hmmm, wearing 31 Rue Cambon today and I don’t get the 7-Up. I guess that’s a good thing.

        Hi Louise, I enjoyed meeting you!

        • March says:

          That Creed guy going on and on! Better shut up now before I get flamed. And I thought the questions were sort of lame. Patty would have added a great perspective. Sigh. I was having trouble hearing it over my bad connection anyway. Wonder what actor you’re thinking of? I thought his voice was higher and flatter than I expected.

          No 7-Up is a Good Thing. :)>-

        • Louise says:

          Lovely meeting you, too!
          @};-

  • MarkDavid says:

    Blah, I finally got tuned in with 10 minutes left in the program. I’ll download the podcast later, when its posted.

    I did tune-in in time to hear Caron’s Fleur de Rocaille get less than favorable acclaim, however.

    • March says:

      Yeah. I sort of see his point about the least offensive of the line being the most popular over time. As a concept I agree. Not sure I agree about that particular scent, though.

      • MarkDavid says:

        I have to agree with you. It is often the case that people lean towards the most blase of the selection. Although I think there are many better examples out there than Caron.

        It is a statement to what the general populace likes, however. (we’re excluded) and if Caron released that with the intention of actually selling it – then Rocaille is a brilliant scent because its mission accomplished for Caron. Making money on mediocrity. Power to them. (if we look at it that way.)

        But Im not sure I find any of the Carons to be Mediocre. I really don’t, in fact.

        • March says:

          Yes, other lines to pick on that would have been much better choices than Caron, IMO. I think LT and TS are cross about the changes to the base over the years. Caron not being my BFF, it’s hard for me to evaluate objectively. :”>

  • madelyn E says:

    :Hi there,
    i am now tuned in (while working ) to NPR via the internet to hear this great interview. Am anxious to hear Patti- as i somehow missed meeting her in ny during the Sniffapalooza .Am very excited. Bravo !

  • I am eagerly awaiting on news on how the Patty inteview went! Hope you give us the gist later on, OK?

    Congrats!!

    Helg

    • March says:

      I missed her!! 🙁 At least I hope she was on earlier … I didn’t get home until 11:30, it was LT and TS.

      • They booted her!:o That’s despicable!!! [-x
        It could have been a really GOOD thing to have a genuine perfume collector give some commentary…
        Here’s hoping that now they know the way they will maybe ask her again on a different show.

        • March says:

          Yes, exactly. Now that we and the other bloggers are on their radar screen, perhaps that will lead to something interesting in the future.

  • Debbie says:

    Thanks for the image of bee to describe how we experience fragrance. It fits and is much more flattering than others that have occurred to me. I need the days of just one fragrance, too.

    DSH Tamarind Paprika is great. Unusual. I probably won’t get a bottle, however, because her scents don’t have enough sillage or persistence for me. I have two bottles (Mahjoun and Scandal); love the scents, but having to spray repeatedly bothers me.

  • Jake says:

    Is Patty going to mention the Caron controversy during this radio thing?

    My own theoryis that LT and/or TS has a fantasy of taking over a famed perfume house, and Caron seems the most likely target, being relatively dinky and owned by some niche shampoo company, so they’re ragging on all the scents hoping that the shampoo magnate will beg them step in and fix things.

  • Judith says:

    I do like the Liz Zorn’s I tried, especially Solstice and Blood Orange/Vetiver. Need to try the other one Chaya mentions, and maybe the Cordovan Rose. I can’t WAIT to hear Patty!!!

    • March says:

      I think you would like the Cordovan Rose, if it’s butch enough for you. 😉 It’s nice, it’s not one of those uber-soft suede things. More like a nice shoe leather. And that tar note doesn’t last as long as I’d like but while it’s there it’s great.

  • chayaruchama says:

    Naturally, we’re tunin’ in for Patty !
    Go, PATTY !!!!!

  • chayaruchama says:

    Hi,sweetface-

    I deliberately brought Liz’s scents with me to Sniffa, for folks to try….
    It’s time she felt some love.
    Big hits with most who sniffed:
    Blood Orange / Vetiver- a wowzer;
    Domino Viole- I think, hands down, this stunned people, especially CV.
    I love and wear Solstice, and want Underworld, and quite a few others.

    Yeah-
    I KNOW it’s not fun to see them by code.
    But let’s look at the positives :

    New packaging – sleek, elegant, distinctive.
    New minimalist font- very satisfying.
    These aren’t linear…they grow and dance and morph on your skin- NOT BORING !

    OK- Liz is an iconoclast; this is what I adore about her.
    True to herself and her ethos.
    Admits that not everything is for everyone.

    So, we’re not wild for the new nomenclature. Big deal.
    Truly- how many times have we sniffed frags with brilliant names, which smell gross ?
    ‘Nuff said….

    Dawn does many wonderful scents- you could go blind trying to work your way through the list [and poor, too !].

    Unrecalcitrant hippie that I are, I’m thrilled to see these folks
    get attention !

    [I wish I’d had more time with you…Sniffa was really a circus, this time around]

    Sending big kisses to that soulful, beautiful face of yours-
    And your wild brood.

    • March says:

      Hey, there you are! Are you okay? We missed you! I sent you an email, maybe you didn’t get it? We’ve been having lots of drama with our stupid wireless router over here… :-w it was SO MUCH FUN meeting you, and I loved the photo in the Times with you doing The Full Huff with a bottle (I think that’s the cap in the other nostril?) What was that? I’m such a goober of course I was trying to figure out, what’s she smelling? Looked like an MPetG…

      As always, you’re up for a good, convincing alternative argument. And I suppose if someone ISN’T going to buy something because it’s called “Calcutta” this is a good alternative. And you are right, I think it’s a well edited line.

      Sniffa was fun, but a circus. I wish we’d had more time to talk. You are every bit as fabulous in person as I expected, and as beautiful. @};-

      • chayaruchama says:

        Yeah- I look like I’m snorting…
        So silly.
        I mean, if I’m this nuts with simply 2 cups of coffee-
        What the hell would I need coke for ???
        [I particularly enjoyed the cleavage thing, I’ll admit…]

        Email was eaten, but I just sent you one…
        I thought you rocked, personally.
        Lil’ Gaelic beauty, you.
        And CHIC, goddammit.

        • March says:

          I’ll go look, thanks.

          • Musette says:

            I know what you mean about those references influencing a fragrance but it will pass, I think.

            Luckily, scent has a way of reinserting itself into the psyche. In about 6 months The Guide will be an interesting book on our bookshelves and little more(my opinion). 7-up and anise and all that will fade into the background. He trashed the living hell out of Miss Rocaille, which I love because it smells to me like vintage Vent Vert (maybe). Luckily he didn’t name any notes, save the ‘shrill peony’ (I think – maybe that was another frag) else I would be in the same boat as all of you!

          • Musette says:

            Huh? Why is this down here instead of up there?:o

            Oh, well. Hey, Chaya….! Come to the Chicago Thingy! PLEASE? I am so wanting to meet you and you will have a blast! When March gets that clone of herself finished she will start putting the information out there (I swear I don’t know how you and Patty have time to do all this) – it’s perfume, chocolate, cocktails…all in the beyootiful Windy City, for those who couldn’t make it to NY.

            xoMusette

          • Louise says:

            Hi Musette! When are y’all thinking of the Chicago Thing?

          • March says:

            Sept/Oct — put it on your calendar! I’ll mention it Weds.

          • Musette says:

            that is NOT the emoticon I was going for (I was going for Mr Party).

            this is like Perfuminator: Rise of the Emoticons!

          • March says:

            Oh, they’re just messing with us.

  • Louise says:

    Oooh, gotta sneak outa class to hear Patty!

    I am pretty certain I am a slightly reformed Perfume Crow-ya know-Ooooh, pretty, I want it….

    I haven’t got the guide yet, somehow I just don’t want to read the reviews quite yet. Maybe I am afraid I’ll smell something new in a favorite that I won’t like. Or will crave Secretions M.

    I love DSH Tamarind/Paprika, am considering a bottle (for next winter, it doesn’t fit right now), and am verrrry intrigued by LZ’s Solstice, Chado, and Cordovan Rose. I don’t know her line yet at all 😮

    • March says:

      Hey, let’s get together for cheesecake, and I’ll bring my samps! There were others I’ve got that weren’t on this list you might like.

  • rosarita says:

    I just had to comment on the perfume vagabond idea, which I totally get. I’ve been so edgy lately; can’t decide what to wear, nothing smelling right, then all of a sudden – bam! I’m in full on sampling, testing, trying, oohing & ahhing mode again. This is where I like to be. 🙂

    • March says:

      I try to schedule days where I pick a fragrance and wear it. How perfume-geeky is that? Because otherwise the whole day is sample-driven, and I’m in this state of perpetual mild agitation, thinking about What’s Next. I try to alternate days now, there’s something soothing about one fragrance, liberally applied.

  • Maria says:

    Thanks, March. Go, Patty! Wow, we’ll get to hear Her voice?

    The only one of these I’ve tried is DSH Tamarind Paprika and I must say I don’t get potpourri at all, just an easy-to-live with mellow fragrance with some pleasant fruitiness.

    • March says:

      Pien up there is the producer, I believe. I’m gonna be logging on to see if I can listen, how cool is that?!? Today’s technology! It’s amazing!!!

      Are we, I am guessing, sort of EFTs? I think we like some of the same things, some not. T/P is capable of making me reach for the Dial. Like something you bought at the Dollar Store labeled Holiday Essence Spray.

  • Vagabond. Seeker. Wanderer. Exactly. I just tossed a gallon Zip-lock with testers I’m done with. Toy with them. Don’t call them back. Then one comes along and ZAP! Full bottle worthy, and truly in love. Although I have plenty of full bottles, I don’t fall in fragrance love easily. And I like it that way.
    Sigh, I’m waiting for The Book passion to pass. I suffer from “wow I never thought of it that way and now it’s the only way I can think of it” too, so I’m not reading the book.
    And while I have several of Liz Zorn’s, I can’t get over the shift in opening to dry down. Normally, I love a shift, insist on it, but I can’t manage to like both ends of the shift in her fragrances. And the alpha-numeric thing is confusing. Isn’t that why perfumes have names? If Arabie were called AR-945-L, I’d never remember that I love it.

    • March says:

      You’re not reading the book?!? Dang, you have more willpower than I have. Although I wish I had a memory-erasing device now. And giggling at your sample-tossing. That’s why I finally organized my samps alphabetically into these bins. Somebody will mention something and I’ll think, huh, I have a sample of that! Occasionally I swap things out, or they sneak out on their vial little feet and disappear. Wonder if they’re behind the dryer with the socks…

      • March says:

        Whoops, PS — great observation on The Shift. IT’s pretty dramatic. I was of course wondering, is this just me? OTOH you stick grapefruit on top of bakery and there’s some drama. It bugged me less as my sampling went on … I got used to going, okay, wait five minutes and sniff.

        • Gail S says:

          So I’m thinking of The Shift (LOL!) like this. You’re walking up to a door at night to go to a party. You open the door and there’s this immediate rush of bright lights and loud music, somewhat off-putting in it’s boisterousness (is that a word?), but still welcoming. Then you go in and see all your friends, have a nice drink, a little snack, sit back and get comfortable. And enjoy the ride!

          • March says:

            That’s a great description. I guess, not having tried any of her scents before, it was a surprise for me. But after trying three or four I was ready for it. 🙂 I should have stuck it up there in the review, but I was particularly impressed by the lasting power of these. And the drydown on some of them is so very pretty, thanks for sharing. I think Grand Canyon is still my fave, but I’m revisiting a couple of the others.

  • sylvia says:

    wow, that’s a lot of liz zorns and dsh’s to take in. let me know if you’re doing a giveaway! just kidding… sort of… btw, im excited for the guide free-for-all. reading now. its like every perfumista in the US is in the same book club this month, haha.

  • Gail S says:

    Another vagabond here :d (obviously!) I kind of like that description.

    So, you get the similar “vibe” from the Liz Zorn’s too, huh? I really think I might actually be able to identify her fragrances without seeing a label. I had to e-mail her to get the Solstice extrait and now I don’t remember exactly what she said in return. According to her blog, she has set something up to alert her when she shows up somewhere on the internets, so maybe she’ll be along to clear things up. In case she does, I’ll add my voice to yours in saying that I don’t really care for the new way she has them listed. I just can’t quite wrap my brain around initials and letters when it comes to perfume! They just don’t seem to associate themselves properly with the acent and don’t give another level of satisfaction to the smelling :((

    • March says:

      Well, unlike, say, DSH, she has a (relatively) limited list. And you’re right, of the 10 or 12 or whatever you sent (and thanks again!) I think I could identify most of them. You can see I left some of them off, and those were the ones I couldn’t think of much to say, those kind of groovy spice ones.

      Even knowing I was looking for initial abbreviations, I had a heckuva time picking through her list for the notes. Also, while we’re on the subject, keep trying to deconstruct Soivohle. She’s in OHIO. If you take out O,H,I,O you’re left with S,V,L,E. I keep trying to find meaning in this… maybe it means something else?

      • Louise says:

        When I went to the descriptors on the website and clicked for “more information”, they list the names…so they’re still there, just kind of hidden.

        • March says:

          Yes. And maybe it’s just me, but even though I knew that I was looking for the abreviation of, say, Pink Praline, it still took me a minute to decide it was PPR… and oh, now, I remember — she’d not moved them all from the old website so I was looking for a couple in vain! Found them, though. I guess I LIKE her sort of hippie names. I want to wear Sunset Rider, not SR Something.

      • Gail S says:

        Huh. 😮 Never even occurred to me to try to make something out of the new name. I guess I’m just kind of complacent these days.

  • Erin T says:

    Hey, thanks for the link. *sigh* March, I know where you are. I put on 31 Rue Cambon (which still rocks) and all I could smell was 7-UP. See, now I’ve briefly ruined it for you, too. Darn you, Tania.

  • Anthony says:

    I’ve been a perfume fan since I was in my early teens, but a fragrance LUNATIC for only about a year. And now you’ve once again given a name to something I ponder all the time: I, too, am a fragrance vagabond. I feel like setting up a group on Facebook (just kidding) but seriously, My last $1-or-so spent on fragrance has been in Perfumed Court decants 🙂 And for now, that’s the way I like it… The ability to go between Incense Extreme to Avignon to Ambre Sultan to Virgin Island Water, on a whim, is perfect for my fragrance personality. I’m just one of those people. For instance on one hand I have a spritz of L’eau d’Hiver and on the other The Dreamer and I’m in heaven. No need for big expensive bottles to keep me happy. 🙂 By the way I finally figured out what was bothering me about L’eau d’Hiver: It reminds me of Balmex diaper rash cream, that thick white vanilla milky smelling stuff… Anyway… Have a great day vagabonds! 🙂

    • Anthony says:

      I meant $100-or-so 🙂

      • sylvia says:

        to me, l’eau d’hiver smells like icyhot (wintergreen pain reliever cream) plus hay. plus a touch of insect repellent. but i love it!! it smells like camping to me.

        • March says:

          Okay, you both are nuts. 😮 Balmex and IcyHot. Well, that’s a pretty similar description, you must be on to something.

      • March says:

        I kind of liked $1. I was thinking, dang, I missed those cheap samples, must be some kind of special deal, like the dollar bus from DC to NYC. 🙂

    • March says:

      Hiver reminds you of BALMEX? Huh. I’ll have to remember that the next time I try it. Of course if you’re right it can join my list of fragrances I’ve ruined by mental association. :-w OTOH you’re forgiven because you mentioned THE DREAMER and it’s a cool rainy morning and I’m thinking I’m gonna run upstairs and put some on. Love me that Dreamer. 😡

      • Anthony says:

        I KNEW I shouldn’t have said anything. The thing is, it doesn’t remind me of it in that it SMELLS LIKE it but it’s that thick white sensation it gives… NO OFFENSE to Sylvia 😀 but it doesn’t remind me of Icy Hot… Balmex is a creamy vanilla “ish” smell to me without any mint or medicinal edge. I was thinking more of the sensation. And this sensation is just that L’Eau d’Hiver has a thickness I couldn’t wrap my head around. That it smells so light but it smells creamy, but like THICK creamy (thus, the Balmex association)… By the way, I am loving it. LOVING it… I just woke up and it’s still on my hand as plain as day. Ok enough about Balmex, just don’t let it be ruined because I actually like BOTH smells :(:)>- :d

        • Anthony says:

          Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry this is going on forever 😀 But… congratulations to Patty and The Posse. I couldn’t be more excited the radio/podcast interview! I can’t WAIT to hear it!!! 🙂

          • March says:

            Dang, I was out doing something and didn’t tune in until 11:30, not sure I missed her? I will have to download the podcast and relisten.

        • sylvia says:

          none taken! i get no creaminess or vanilla from it on me, however. one time i even tried layering icyhot on my wrist then putting demeter fresh hay over it and after a few minutes it had a similar thing going (no magic of course, but it was interesting. and my wrist was tingly)

          • Musette says:

            Sylvia,

            Come sit by me! I recently layered Cynthia Rowley’s ‘Flower’ with nail polish remover. No magic, as you said, but way better than ‘Flower’ alone.

  • Pien says:

    You can listen live at http://www.wbur.org, or download the podcast from !