Perfume Posse

Yep, it’s that time again — Fall’s Top 10.   As usual we’re going to cheat it.  Here are some of the ways to welcome fall– Skanky – you knew we’d start here, didn’t you?  If you’ve been holding back because of the warmer weather, now’s the time to break out The rest, please…

Tom Ford Italian Cypress is big salty, earthy cypress.  It feels very masculine, but I think women who like strong wood scents will be quite taken with this.  I can’t find a list of notes on it, except it mentions wood resins and scents of Italy, whatever that means.  I’ve put it The rest, please…

A fine perfume friend gifted me with a sample set of the new Humiecki & Graef fragrances, including the original Skarb, which was released last fall with the instant-fame-achieving news that it was a conceptualization of how men cry.  In my elegantly constructed sample set — a box with sample The rest, please…

Well, I’d like to say that I’ve done more than cursorily sniff the new Milan store Tom Ford exclusive, Italian Cypress, but I haven’t.  Just on the cursory sniff, it is very, very woody and cypressy, and it leans much more masculine, though I do like it. That’s as far The rest, please…

  I had a crushing perfume blow last week that I can´t quite bring myself to talk about yet, mostly because I´m embarrassed by how much it bothers me the way things didn´t quite work out.  So I, your trusty perfume handmaiden, turned to my long-ignored stash of biehl parfumkunstwerke The rest, please…

I’ve been learning a few things as a nail polish newbie.  One of them is, there are many shades that are really, really wonderful in the light, but they all basically look black indoors.   To each his (or her) own, but my feeling on that topic is, unless you work The rest, please…

 By Shelley Perhaps if I told you my story, it would help. I had no plan to be in this tribe.  Nobody in my family was.  I hadn´t had any friends who were.  I was happy with my life, with plenty of fulfilling activities and friends who cared about me. The rest, please…

The last 25 in the Perfume Posse Best Perfumes list as voted by you guys gets even more interesting and just makes me giggle because it is such an interesting mix of classic and new niche: Ormonde Jayne Ta’if (new niche) Rochas Femme (classic) Serge Lutens Borneo (new niche) 10 Corso The rest, please…

We had a theater event on Saturday night, a family-level thing rather than elegance.  (Diva’s in a belly-dancing performance troupe.)   In such a situation I want my fragrance to be more “personal” — having been trapped more than once at, say, the Opera, in a seat next to someone wearing The rest, please…

Continuing in our countdown of the top 100 – mostly because I have a headache the size of Texas – I give you your Top 51 through 75, which are getting more interesting: Comme des Garcons Kyoto Chanel Cristalle Dior Diorella Dior Miss Dior Etro Messe Di Minuet Hermessence Ambre The rest, please…

(Notes for Eau d’Italie Baume du Doge: sweet orange, bergamot, cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, fennel, black pepper, myrrh, frankincense, clove, cedar, saffron, vetiver, vanilla, benzoin)  (Cue the background music: Right Said Fred’s immortal lyrics…) I´m too sexy for my shirt too sexy for my shirt So sexy it hurts And I´m The rest, please…

Today’s polish is Essie’s Steeling the Scene (thanks, Louise!), which is touted as being a kinda-sorta dupe for Chanel’s Kaleidoscope without laying out twenty bucks (or in my case, any money at all).   My verdict — squeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Steeling the Scene presented a couple of interesting issues I’m going to use The rest, please…

The blog was down when I was around yesterday, so no real post today. Plus, I have a cold that has now managed to block up my sinuses and destroy my sense of smell – the words of wisdom (ha) about Dzongkha, Baume du Doge and other Duchaufour marvels will The rest, please…

Reviewing Amouage Homage Attar is a skosh painful because this takes spendy and vaults it to a whole new level AND it is a limited edition, so who knows how long they will sell Amouage Homage Attar. Running about $360 for 12 mls, it is an oil created by Amouage The rest, please…

I got malled at BBW — on a research project regarding pumpkin scents.  I ended up trying their three different pumpkin room sprays on my hands and arms (Caramel, Spiced and Perfect?) along with some other fall-ish stuff … by the time I left there I smelled like I’d been The rest, please…

  Finally got my little sample of Frederic Malle’s newest, Dans tes Bras.  Created by Maurice Roucel, it has notes of bergamot, clove, violet, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, salicylates, incense, Cashmeran (a mix of musk, woods, and resin), heliotrope and white musk.  DtB starts off very rooty and earthy, the dirt elements of woods The rest, please…

Hey, guess what?!?  In this month’s Elle (with Nicole Kidman on the cover) there’s an article about hardcore perfume addiction, featuring an interview with the Karens of Sniffapalooza, as well as mentions of Now Smell This, Bois de Jasmin, and … the Posse!!!  Congrats, everyone! Polishing my sidearms and brushing The rest, please…

I blame Louise, mostly. Back in the day I had a spate of painting my nails various office-unfriendly colors — glittery, fire-engine reds, mostly — because … well, because I could.  I have super-hard nails (nobody appreciates things unless they don’t have them) and I can grow them to ridiculous The rest, please…

(Today´s guest poster – Shelley!  Talking about our good times at the Chi-Cocoa Scentsation in September.) Three Perfumistas walk into a bar… Well, 30+, not 3.  The bar was part of a film production house.  And despite the fact that almost nobody knew anybody else at the start of what The rest, please…

Being raised on a farm, my parents were very traditional about the roles of men and women.  Women did women’s work and men’s work, and men only did men’s work. That left the women to do farmwork, plus all the cooking, cleaning and housework.  It took me until about the The rest, please…

The Benevolent Fairy of Undeserved Blessings, aka Tigs, delivered a bottle of L´Artisan L´Eau du Navigateur to my doorstep the other day.  Navigateur is one of those allegedly discontinued fragrances that nonetheless remains on permanent display in L´Artisan Boutiques.  Indeed, it was on my recent visit to the Chicago store The rest, please…

Call me slow because I am, but I finally just sat down this weekend and went through the rest of the ballots to get the top 25 based on your picks for 2008. These are currently in production perfumes, did not need to be released in 2008.   There were some The rest, please…

I sat on the wooden steps of the back porch this morning, watching the squirrels chase each other through the fallen leaves as I contemplated the crop of black walnuts dangling perilously in the stand of trees across the back of our property.  Black walnuts  — delicious treats coveted by The rest, please…

I´m a country bumpkin. It´s official. I´m used to beautiful landscapes, but I´m struck dumb nowadays, whenever I head into London, by the beautiful people who surround me. It is a such contrast to where I live, I´m sure (except for Matt, of course!). I really feel it. I had The rest, please…

Let’s cruise some of the mainstream releases that I just haven’t gotten around to, since it seems like I’ve done mostly the niche releases recently. Yves Saint Laurent Elle has notes of cedar, litchi, peony, rose, freesia, vetiver, patchouli and pepper.  I just have no words for the open except, well, yuck.  The rest, please…