Please welcome back our special guest poster, Musette!

Before I fell in with y´all my perfume life was simple: I had 3 or 4 perfumes, tops (okay, maybe 5) – they sat on a tray in my personal dressing room (back when I had one). I wore them. Case closed. I had my perfumes. That was it. That was then.

Times have changed, certainly the way I approach perfume. But <insert heavy, put-upon sigh> …well… it´s changed something much more profound: my storage space. I no longer live alone (sharing is hard) and am in a much smaller space. Not quite the perfect setup for a budding perfumista – I am a bit compulsive re home décor, with everything in its perfectly designed place – but what does that mean when you have over 100 samples? (and I know that´s peanuts – don´t snicker: you sound like my samples!)

My first attempts to wrangle everything were successful because I simply didn´t have that much. I had an adorable little stand with a little drawer (not drawer – drawer) that held two cute little mesh bins. Cute! One held about 20 1ml samps. The other held the 7 or 8 5ml decants I had. Actual bottles were in the linen closet in a little basket – all 5 of them, bless their hearts. So charming! Orderly, too. I was Mistress of My Domain.

You know where this is going, don´t you? Of course you do.

As the samps and decants grew in number I tried to wrangle them into some sort of organization by note or house. One great idea: charming little painted blocks of wood that El O drilled holes in to hold the 1ml samps. Got dumb, quick: El O got sick of drilling and sanding blocks and I had nowhere to put those cunning little blocks. Drawers are a disaster waiting to happen, as you pull the block out and the vials either wiggle or they stick. Arrrgh. It was a nightmare. I managed to break only 4 vials - and thank the Universe they were mainstream!

We are prepping for bathroom reno so all I have right now is one of those tacky plastic rolling drawer thingies. Lemme tell you about them: If you pull them out wrong they break…. and, well, let´s just say that (1)it´s a mercy that it´s on a rug and (2) Creed Love in Black isn´t the worst samp to break in your bathroom – it could´ve been an Oud! Or worse? Aromatics of Doooom.

And why am I even keeping my samps, etc in the bathroom anyway? Is that a good place or a dumb place for them? I have no idea where to put them. Bedroom is out: no room and El O has to sleep in there, too - the thought of Catagan seeping into the new carpet…

So they rattle around in those awful plastic drawers, multiplying.

And just listen to how they mock me:

Look at her, they hiss, with her little trays and pathetic note´ and niche v. mainstream´ attempts. And what´s with the little holes? Ha. If she thinks we´re gonna fall for that, she´s a fool. 1ml holes? Let´s get stuck ‘by accident’ Bwa hahahaha! 1.5mls, go mess with her mind. And you 5 mls: FALL OVER! Yeah, that´s the ticket. Hey, L´Eau d´Hiver! Go hide under Shocking! Watch it take her 10 minutes to find you! Heeehee!! Yeah, baby!

Perfume can be very mean.

I enlisted the help of El O, Master Builder, of the aborted Drilled Block System (now known as DBS (the acronym means something else, entirely, to him – and it´s ugly). I want him to make a brushed-steel apothecary cabinet with slidey-out trays (and a New and Improved DBS) that would hold, upright, any 1ml-2ml sample, with additional trays/DBS for 5mls plus little drawer-baskets for FBs. I drew this thing up, complete with antiqued glass doors and a finial on top. El O, no fool he, took one look at this cabinet and laughed right in my face.

“All this will do” he said, ” is encourage you to get even more bottles, decants and samples. No, thanks!”

El O can be really mean, too!

So until he relents I´m stuck with my little rickety FB system: the vintage mirror bedroom tray, with full bottles I use on a regular basis, along with pretty Venetian and French perfume bottles that will never hold a drop of perfume…. It´s vaguely glam and I feel civilized every time I see it, except there´s a ginormous blown-glass bottle that rattles blinkety-dink,blinkety-dink´ every time I walk by – and it´s leering ominously at my poor, defenseless Chicken bottle. I finally separated them and I think Chicken is sleeping a bit better at night.

So far, so good….but now those samps and decants call, luring me to their overflowing, rocky shores.

5mls upright in a funky wooden box I got Lawd knows where – they are settled and secure BUT! I only view a sea of golden tops. Lots of time spent picking up and putting back (and you know the one you put back will be the one you pick up again!) - all 1ml-2ml samps and minis in those awful plastic organizers, crammed into Sterilite drawers. Elegance Personified. Every time I open a drawer I hold my breath, fearing I´ll hear the dreaded crrrunnnch!´ of a sample getting broken – they´re getting´ kinda cranky in there…

I do what I can – but I still dreaming of my metal apothecary cabinet with its slidey-out trays and DBS…. A Certain Somebody thinks I´m nuts. But that´s what thrills my soul – gotta have order in an insane world…

So what about you real perfumistas, with your incredible collections? I´m a piker with my li´l punk stash. I know some of you have collections that rival Donatella´s!

How do you corral/control/coordinate your collection? Do you own it or does it own you? Do you care?

Any suggestions? I do love to organize and create order out of chaos. Who amongst you keeps order and how do you do it? What´s your plan for expansion? How do you allow for the other people in your house (El O fears an avalanche of tiny, vicious little vials). Bedroom? Bathroom? Home office? Fort Knox? Do you keep them temp-controlled or just trust that goodness and mercy shall follow your perfume collection? Are the rules different for vintage?

Should I just …….let them be? I so want to organize them in pretty little rows of fantabulousness. But maybe it´s a pipe dream.

What about Aouds? Where do you keep those? I´m thinking a Level 5 Biolab at the CDC. Like cobras, they can be beautiful – but deadly. Especially if you break one in your house!

Come help an Alien out! Share the Sea Salt! And the Big Silver Bowl! I think it´s gonna be the bathroom for awhile – should I buy a cabinet to devote solely to perfume? Am I insane?

If you have the Secret to Success, please – come sit by me. These samps are getting meaner by the minute!

image: Anne Taintor postcard swiped from eBay, presumably also on annetaintor.com

I haven’t sniffed a new perfume so far this year, I realised yesterday in talking to a dear friend on the phone. That’s a quarter way through the year with very little drive or urge to try stuff out. There might be a number of reasons for this – the new aquatic/watery mode hasn’t really sold itself to me and therefore Vanille Galante / Un Matin d’Orage et al, doing little to ring my bell and tickle my feathers, can bloody well wait until I can be bothered; same story for limpid lightweight fruity florals such us ‘night wrapped in cellophane, with a sprinkle of formication’ (at least the copy had me imagining a couple of bugs checking each other out on my flesh, I don’t know about you); there’s so much other stuff that interests me I sometimes find it hard to make room; perhaps the economic situation has made me feel my fumania is a frivolity and not worthy of as much room as I used to give it.

But these speculative reasons don’t answer why I’ve no real drive to sniff out Oud 27 for example, or one or two other launches that should be singing a siren song to me and making me feverish and foamy as I fail to resist their allure. I’m funny that way.

And that isn’t to say I’ve entirely lost interest: I’ve just recently bought a perfume – a blind buy of Korres supposedly natural (and oh how I doubt it) Saffron/ Amber/Agarwood/ Cardamom number that was a steal at close to 20 euros. My first blind buy in a couple of years. I’ll let you know how it works out. And the copy for the May launched Editions de Parfum, Geranium pour Monsieur, has me jumping with glee. Dans tes Bras left me cold and a little headachy – that salty perfumed richness seemed too overplayed, an awkward mix of classical inspiration and modern aesthetics. But, as someone who grows and loves scented Pelargoniums (and it’s perlargoniums we’re talking about here, not geraniums – which is an entirely different genus, botany bods), likes minty freshness with a touch of aniseedy fennel-like edges (anethol, I believe), and adore a benzoin and incense rich drydown, this sounds oh so dreamy. I read somewhere – probably the Sorcery of Scent? – that the inspiration comes from fancy soap and clean sophistication with a desire for freshness and molecular level precision. Or something. I’m like so totally psyched.

So I hope, in two weeks’ time, I’ll write an actual review. We’ll see. Will it be written in ponderous convoluted post-structuralist style:

‘The exacting harmony of the initial accord posits a complex question. In making us traverse territories and meet an ineffably more refined version of ourselves behind the mirror, are we wearing this perfume or has it sprayed us on its radically, yet inchoately, mutable self, in recognition of its evanescent yet lasting presence? Yadda ya’

or chemical precision:

‘The benzyl salicylate drives the engine of this fragrance, the gear changes from mid to basenotes made seamless heliotropin and celestolide’

or mua snark:

“Smells like an old lady ready for death. I don’t mean to be nasty, but it totally does”

or some other style? You tell me. I’m not sure it could ever be any.

And to end on fluff, here’s the lovely Rodrigo, vlogger Katie Puckrick’s loyal assistant.

And here’s a younger Katie Puckrick, attempting to interview a shambolic Oliver Reed, in the early 90s. Must’ve been, erm, fun. This is worse than Shatner’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.(The Word must be one of the worst ‘so bad you have to watch it’ tv programmes ever transmitted in the UK. Here it’s close to tragedy. Good to see Katie doing better now).

Lee

My friends!  Our lovely blogmistress Patty forgot to hit “publish” in our fancy new system when she’s done.  Here is today’s, a little late.

So.  Did my wilderness adventure first class this week.  This is the mountain trekking class where they teach you how to use the compass and pack for anything so you don’t croak on a hike somewhere.  And – the are teaching us to go off trail.

Despite my start as a farm girl for the first 17 years of my life, I am all city girl except my brief forays onto horses and gardening.  I like cleanliness, running water, flushing toilets.  I don’t like dirt in my food or bugs in my water or having to dig a hole to poop in. What am I doing in a class like this?  Well.  I like to take pictures, and the best pictures in Colorado are out there, off the beaten path.  And for some strange reason, I just have this drive in the last year to get out of all the ruts I’ve made in my life and go off-path, literally and spiritually.

But the class was great, and I am totally jacked for doing the field days and planning some long hiking trips. For some reason, the fear of being out there, exposed in the world has just disappeared.

You know what really smells good?  Balmoral, which is one of those Cire Trudon candles, and it is all outdoorsy green, but not overly green, just that rich meadow smell.  Great throw on this, subtle scent, you don’t feel like someone stuffed an evergreen in your nose.

And you know what else smells good?  I’ve been thinking about what scent I’ll probablly be wearing this summer, and my usual staples come to mine, Santa Maria Novella Eva, Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan, Chanel Eau de Cologne, but I’ve added a little sleeper beauty to that pile.  Parfums de Nicolai Le Temps D’une Fete. Notes of galbanum, mastic, opoponax, narcissus, hyacinth, daffodil, styrax, oakmoss, and sandalwood make up this wondrous green floral stunner.  It bursts into life with green, unfolding into the prettiest, and never sweet, spring bouquet, stirred up with some naughty narcissus, and all knitted together with incense and woods notes.  That it takes a very deep bow to the classic scents from Dior makes it smart as well, but it’s not nearly as difficult to wear as some of those classic perfumes – easy on the nose, but complicated enough to keep me sniffing happily for hours..  Seriously, how did I have this laying around so long and never smell it?  I”m truly ashamed of myself for missing out all this time.  It’s not just perfect for spring, but for any time.

So either in life or perfumery, what is something you’ve been missing out on that surprised you most when you discovered it?  We haven’t done a drawing in a while, so let’s do one. I’ll give out a samples of the D’une Fete to three commenters.

Patty

The winter of our spring continues – right now it’s 38 and cloudy, rather than the seasonal norm of 64. I´m wearing a hat and a frown while I type this. My prediction that we´re going to skip spring this year, more or less, and move directly into summer is looking increasingly likely.

This is the weather that makes me reach for some of my sweetest comfort scents – the perfume equivalent of honeyed mead (the way it sounds, as I have no idea how it tastes. Maybe it´s disgusting.) I want warm-radiator scents like Rochas Tocade and Fendi Asja, or cuddlers like Barbara Bui. In this weather, I can actually understand why someone might want to wear something blisteringly sweet like Lutens’ Rahat Loukoum, although I won´t be making that journey myself.

I got together with Louise to sample a couple of  wallpaper scents you all recommended which she happens to own. I giggled when I first smelled Laura Biagiotti Roma, which several people mentioned (blackcurrant, bergamot, pink grapefruit, mint, hyacinth, carnation, jasmine, muguet, rose, amber, sandalwood, patchouli, musk, civet, vanilla, oakmoss, myrrh). It´s a big ol´ sexy thing from the late 1980s. Friends, if this is your idea of a wallpaper scent, then you must be sprawled out in bed in a whorehouse, surrounded by red velvet and gold flocking, that´s all I´ve got to say. However, you´re right – eventually after the other notes put their pants on and go home, it settles down into a warm, comforting amber. I came home with Louise´s bottle and a promise to let her borrow it back.

Sonya Rykiel Woman (not for Men) also came up. This is the one that´s always being compared to Barbara Bui on some of the other fora, and I suppose BB’s pneuma might be in there somewhere.  Notes are pink pepper, violet, dates, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, black pepper, olibanum, agarwood, leather, and amber. The similarity is strongest for about two minutes at the open, when Rykiel is radiating that powder/almondy, slightly bready sweetness that BB has. However, the drydown is fairly different, at least on my skin. Rykiel is what BB Pour Homme might smell like if it existed – the same concept skewed in a much woodier, peppery direction. Despite its name, I find it a bit masculine – I get a decent amount of leather and even a pleasantly raspy touch of oud, and I think men could wear this as easily as women. Also, people who liked the idea of BB but then smelled it and couldn´t figure out what all the fuss was about might want to try this one, it´s certainly stronger. Also, I bet they smell pretty darned great layered. Btw if you go looking for this online, it´s not the one shaped like a tee shirt. It´s the one with the black cap/box with gold studs on it pictured above, and you want the EDP with that purple lettering, not the EDT with the silver (inferior), and thanks to Helg for the reminder.

Then I ran across the sprayer of Herve Leger in my purgatory bowl, where it´s been since the Chicago Scentsation last year. My thoughts regarding Herve Leger (named after the clothing designer) focus entirely on how extraordinarily happy it made one member of our group, a lovely woman who tagged along with her daughters on our sniffage, although she herself wasn´t that interested in perfume. She was looking for something new, and fell in love with Herve Leger. Seeing the tears of joy in her eyes brought tears of joy to my eyes and several of those around me – because it is just that wonderful and sweet and happy to see someone in full swoon over a new scent. That thrill never goes away.

A little online research provides a couple of surprises. It was launched in 1999 (older than I thought, where have I been?) as a woody oriental and, worth noting, the nose behind this fragrance is none other than Alberto Morillas. The fragrance features sandalwood, amber, musk, orchid, vanilla and apple.  The juice is pale purple and I find the bottle a little gawky, it’s the sort of thing that would always be falling over on my dresser and taking a couple of SLs with it, but maybe it’s tied into his clothing aesthetic, about which I know nothing.

Herve Leger is definitely sweeter than most anything I´d ordinarily wear, and I worried just a bit when I sprayed myself whether I´d be sorry. I wasn´t, although at the top I´d say it takes several steps in the direction of syrupy vanilla nose-bombs like Dior Poison or Addict. You wouldn´t want to spray this on like an eau fraiche and then hop on the subway. In the drydown it reminds me a bit of Hypnotic Poison – it has that dense, almost chewy sweetness while still allowing me to breathe, courtesy of the sandalwood. I´m wild for HP but I´ve never bought a bottle, because I wasn´t sure I´d ever actually wear it. This strikes me as a slightly less intense alternative.

March

Spring in Colorado has seriously sucked so far.  Snow, sun, snow, sun.  Hey, God, isn’t it supposed to be April Showers bring May Flowers?  April Snow showers are skeeving me right out and destroying all my blooming rose bushes as well.

Well.  I feel better.  Moving on, let’s look at some cheaper thrills.  Probably like all of you, if a perfume is a mainstream release and has hit the discounters, I don’t hold it up to as high a standard as I do something I have to spring 150+ a bottle for.  So having said that, just understand my bar is relaxed on the two things I’m sniffing today.  The criteria is they must be very wearable, cheap, but don’t smell cheap, and make me want to wear them again and probably spring the $30-50 a bottle to get it at a discounter.  I also keep in mind the target market.

Ed Hardy Love & Luck by Christian Audigier has been out a while, released in 2008, so it’s definitely hit the discounters.  Fragrancenet has it for $53 for 50 mls.  Notes listed are red sake accord, bergamot, blood orange, nectarine, sandalwood, patchouli black currant, pink peppercorn, forbidden plum, jasmine, cedarwood, sensual musk.  So it’s running that fruity floral thing, but with a nice tea/musk twist.  The open is bright and bubbly, but it just a happy, joyous way, not wth that overly sweet little girl gone bad mojo, it goes through a fairly pretty fruity floral musky middle and dries down to a fairly regular perfume.  It’s not any masterpiece of  perfumery, but it certainly is wearable enough for what I would guess its target market is, and I suspect it sells well because of the open, which is pretty cute.  It’s not for me at all, but I don’t mind smelling it and think it would be a nice perfume for a young woman who digs the Ed Hardy tattoo thing, but doesn’t want the juice to be hardcore, just wants it to smell happy and pretty.  The packagaing is nicely done for its target market, but I do wish they would have added some more interesting notes in this, it had the capability to be a little more out of the box than they wound up with.

Givenchy’s Absolutely Irresistible is the other perfume I decided to spray on Hand No. 2 today.  Notes are listed as Rose,Mandarin Orange, Red Berries, Red Pepper, Egyptian Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Heliotrope, Cedar, Patchouli, Amber.  This is a big old fruity floral.  This one interested me a little more because it got nominated for either a CEW or Fifi, can’t remember which.  This is a BIG old fruity floral, and I would caution anyone that loves it to not wear it to the office because it is amped up rose/jasmine.    There’s some nice spicyness in it, but I’m not getting any heliotrope on me at all, which would have been nice.  it’s way too loud for me, but it is pretty and if you dig big old rose jasmine scents made for a night on the town, this one could be your scent.  I like it a lot more in the drydown than I do for the first 30 minutes.  It’s better than about 90% of the fruity florals that are released every year, but is it too much to ask Givenchy to dig in their old bag of tricks and do something a lot more interesting?

Have a question for hikers since I’m going to take some survival classes to make sure I don’t get eaten by bears or buried in an avalanche. What’s the best backpacking/hiking (mountains) tip you have, and what was the best hiking trail you’ve ever been on that just blew your socks off?

Patty