Created by Lyn Harris exclusively for London stores (Harrod, Liberty, at least, not sure which others), Le Petit Grain is based on different parts of the orange blossom tree – oils of peels, fruits, flowers and leaves. Other notes are angelica root, eau de brouts absolute, bergamot, rosemary, red thyme, French tarragon, lavender, petit grain absolute, Tunisian neroli, oak moss, vetiver, and patchouli leaves.
Can I say how annoyed I am by these store-specific fragrances? They made the lovely Rose en Noir exclusive to Liberty, too, I believe, which is a shame because I think it would be a huge hit if more people had access to it. I think you can order Le Petit Grain off the Miller Harris site, though, so that’s something.
Lyn Harris’ homage to the traditional Eau de Cologne, it is citrus on the open and very much a crisp edc start. There’s some parallels I draw between it and my beloved Santa Maria Novella Eva in the opening phase. While Eva stays in the crisp citrus arena, Le Petit Grain is richer with the other notes it brings to the party. There’s an odd and interesting quality to it that I can’t quite put my finger on, i’m guessing the angelica mixed with the tarragon and rosemary, plus the petit grain running around just to make it more interesting. There’s an underlying note that smells almost… oily? I don’t mean that in a bad way at all, it’s just unexpectedly dark under all that light. It’s had me transfixed – my nose out a few inches or just smelling the cloud, it’s light and airy and beautiful. Up close, it’s definitely got a “hot mechanic” vibe going. That’s it! It’s that hot mechanic with the combed-back hair and bulging biceps coming to pick you up for a date in his best cologne. Okay, I think I need to shower now.
It’s really enchanting. Light enough to not be overbearing, but enough complex sinisterness in the mix of notes that it changes in the drydown while not losing that almost innocent feel. Very unisex
I’ve been asked about The Party in Manhattan. I’ve sent on samples to March and Lee,and we hope to do a three-way on it in the near future, so stay tuned!
We haven’t talked about my very selective TV obsession in a while. Reminder for Dexter fans – the new season starts this month. But does anyone here watch “Mad Men“? I’m catching up on Season 1 now before I move on to my DVR’d Season 2. That show has amazing pitch-perfect capture of a place/time (’50s/’60s advertising game in NYC, complete with suburban housewives), and it treats its characters with compassion and humor. My favorite scene so far: The beautiful Grace Kelly’esque wife of Don Draper, who is just a bubble off of plum… maybe?… heading out the front door in her perfect suburban neighborhood in her flowing white negligee, cigarette dangling from her lips, raises her shotgun and starts blasting at her neighbor’s pigeons in response to his threat to kill her kids’ dog.
If you’re not watching it, why not?
You probably know this but at least on my browser, IE, nothing is showing up on the “Thoughts on Bottles” post except the title. I’m frustrated, it sounds intriguing!
I think this has been fixed, I had some wonky code hidden in there, sorry about that. I guess a few people could see it, but not that many!
OK, you’ve all convinced me, I’ve got to open up the DVD and start watching already! And le Petit Grain does sound interesting.
You must!!! I sat on mine for a while, and now all I hear is grief because I got it in Blu-Ray and nobody can borrow it because they don’t hve blu-ray. Heh. 😮
I absolutely love Mad Men!! The clothes are off the charts! I would love to wear Betty’s. They are gorgeous and so is Don Draper! WOW
Don Draper, would have his babies.
I haven’t watched the show, but I’ve seen the pictures 🙂 and I.would.kill for those clothes. They are so gorgeous! I would cheerfully dress up like that every single day, I don’t care if it takes an hour.
Oh, and the Petit Grain sounds delicious! I love those kinds of scents.
You would look amazing in those clothes. I don’t have the body shape for it at this point, but the way they dress Betty Draper is nothing short of amazing, and she has the cutest figure for every last one of those clothes. And the peignors (sp) they put on her! I WANT all of them!
Dear Patty,
*Thank you*!!! 😡 I look forward with baited breath for the trio-review of The Party. Ever since Roja Dove mentioned it in an interview nearly a year ago, I’ve been waiting for word of it and its scent to appear. Patience rewarded.
I’m afraid I don’t watch TV, so unfortunately, I have no idea what everyone is talking about. :”>
I can’t want to do the trio review! We haven’t done one in forver, and this one should be a blast.
I’m a new fan to Mad Men & I love it. It’s worth watching just for the clothes! I watched the marathon they had before the new season. I’m not sure how these men find the energy for anything with all the fooling around they do. But I guess that explains why so many have heart problems. Would have been interesting working in that kind of environment. Wonder how much of that you could get away with now? Like NONE I imagine. I think I’d be a little upset if one of the guys at work held me down to see what color my panties were.
Dexter is another REALLY great show. Now that’s a guy with “issues”.
The clothes! I mean, Joan and Betty can seriously dress. Two completely different body types, but the wardrobe department worked overtime to clothe them perfectly for their character.
You know, I used to work in atmospheres similar to that, but it was a car dealership and not a Manhattan ad agency. 🙂 This was in the late ’70s. Men got by with a LOT then, then through the ’80s. I still remember being asked on a job interview in ’86 whether I had a time once a month that I needed to take time off and also what my family plans were.
I’m looking around at the media this week and thinking it hasn’t changed that much, it’s just couched in different language.
“Hot mechanic” sounds pretty good. Remembering the misspent days of my youth, I remember one of those. He rode a Royal Enfield motorcycle and wore bay rum. And come to think of it, those days weren’t actually misspent. Betty Draper on Mad Men deserves a hot mechanic in her life ( I’m thinking James Dean, Marlon Brando) to roar up on a motorcycle and help her escape from her terrible marriage.
Citrus scents usually come up either mildly antiseptic or too sweet on me. If Le Petit Grain is going in a more earthy, herbal direction, it could be interesting.
The scene with her and the washer… I mean, geez! I loved it. That whole episode was priceless. June Cleaver would not approve.
Le Petit Grain bails out of the citrus open fairly quickly. So if the citrus worries you, if it beahves on you as it does on me, it won’t last long enough to make you unhappy.
Did somebody say “Mad Men?” Can we tawk?
I’ve been the show’s biggest fan (there may be more) out there since the first episode. I have to say, though, that the first season is a required prerequisite; if you don’t know the characters’ backstories, especially Don’s, then it looks like a soap. A great soap, but a soap. “The Hobo Code” — the episode that won all the awards — is the most essential one, IMO.
Shameless plug alert: I’ve written about Joan on Olfactarama, and am trying to decide between Bobbi and Peggy now.
Spoiler alert: Did anybody see Sunday night? When Don humiliates the carnivorous Bobbi Barrett? I was telling the DH that she’ll either come back panting for more of the same or (more likely) go after him like a Fury, with every episode in her considerable arsenal, as in Hell Hath. Whadda y’all think?
And what scent would Don wear? Brut? Was that out in 1962?
Agree on that episode, it is spectacular.
The women crack me up. Joan, I love her, but I hate her. Peggy and Betty are just brilliant character sketches. How the actress cna play vapid and make it some compelling and interesting is a testament to her acting skills and the writers.
Okay, point me to your Joan post. And we need to talk about Alaska. I’m thinking of taking my sons up there next year, it’s either that or GB/Ireland, though Alaska will probably be the year after. Need tips!
Hi Patti — The Joan post, “All About Joan (sort of)” is July 23, indexed in “July” on Olfactarama (http://olfactarama.blogspot.com.) I thought Joan would be the one we all would love to hate, until Bobbi Barrett, who makes Joan look like some Jane Austen character, comes along in season 2. What I love about all the characters on MM is that, as soon as you think you’ve got them stereotyped, the writers throw you a curve and you realize that they’re just like…real people.
As for Alaska, I guess the axioms are, take money, comfortable shoes, a rain jacket and, if you’re driving, figure out how much time you think it might take and double it. (The most interesting places are reachable only by little bush plane, which they call air taxis.) Our experience was different than most. We stayed with friends, not on a cruise ship, and the friends were dead-set on showing us that Alaska is the greatest place on earth. I think it’s the land of cognitive dissonance. They have to put up with so much freezing weather and inconvience that convincing themselves of the above is the only way they can tough the place out. It definitely has the feeling of a frontier. It’s fascinating and humbling. And beautiful, and there are animals all over the place, and some of them want to eat you.
Okay, now I can’t wait, but I think I’ll need more planning to do that trip and will stick with my Europe/Ireland/Scotland trip for us this next year.
Must go read those posts!
Mad Men? How have I missed this? Must check it out.
I so agree w/ you about the store exclusives being annoying as hell. Rose en Noir is one of my fave scents and so I’ve *twice* paid Liberty’s exorbitant shipping to get it. Grrrr. Really hope this one is at the MH boutique because shipping *has* to be less than Liberty’s. Better yet, hope I don’t love it. 🙂
This is definitely a show you would love, promise!
Isn’t Rose En Noir on the MH site too? The one thing I have figured out with GB shipping, it really is that expensive. Even having friends send me packages, the direct shipping costs are high. Not sure why?
No, ReN was just at Liberty – or at least it used to be. Just tried the Le Petit Grain. I really like it, but don’t love it enough to fork over for shipping from the UK. Phew! But…also just got the Party in Manhattan sample. WHY did I try this? WHY?! What evil fate compelled me to put this on before meeting w/ clients? Am off to get the Cheer laundry detergent and a Mr. Clean sponge. This is *going* to be history. BLECH! Oh…wait. Hmmm. Just resniffed to see if I could find a more specific description than “blech!”….ummm..hmmm…maybe I’ll hold off on that detergent and Mr. Clean. I’m not saying I’m going to ever need even a decant of this – I don’t think – but, well…I’m going to have to sniff this further.
Hahahaha! I should have warned you. I’ve been fascinated with it since it arrived, in a “man, this is repulsively filthy, but… what’s that? Well, that’s in-ter-est-ing” kind of way. I put it on every day just to cringe for 30 minutes and then find new ways to be gleeful about this perfume’s existence in the world.
I love Mad Men (I’ve watched it since the beginning)! I’m not an Eva fan (it’s the rare citrus that works on me). But if this is less citrusy, it might be worth a try.
I think you and a couple of others on here were the people that prompted me to watch this darn thing!
Citrus on the open, and I think you’d fine the drydwon interesting. Not sure whether you’d like it or not, but I lean towards thinking you would.
I love SMN Eva so I think I’ll give this one a try.
Downloaded Season 1 of Mad Men onto my ipod for something interesting to watch on the train commute. Considered traveling past my stop to finish episodes. Love it!
:)>-
Well, bear in mind that the open is Eva’ish, but the drydown is more.. well, you’ll see.
I’m so glad to find my fellow Mad Men fans! What a complex, interesting show. I’m afraid Season 2 is not going to live up to Season 1, most shows don’t.
Oh Jeebus-
I was hoping that this wouldn’t be all that so I could ignore it. I’m heartily sick of these “only in ____” scents I could plotz. Ugh.
Love Mad Men…
I know, I know. Why do you suppose they do that? Is it just copycatting Serge? Do they negotiate something with the stores? I can see an exclusive for six months or a year… but!
I’m in deep, deep lust with Don Draper. I’m seriously considering finishing Season 1, then starting it all over again just to catch all the things I missed the first time through.