It´s been a weird year, sparking some odd reflection which landed me in Vintage Village.  I started rolling around in the old Cotys from my mother´s day and in doing so I found some incredible gems.   All the extant-vintage favorites are achingly beautiful, with an aura that speaks of years of careful crafting. I thought they took forever to create and were few in number.  Then looked at the Coty timeline (and I had to hunt to find it – thank you PerfumeProjects!!  The lame-o Coty website would have you think all Francois did was make  two or three perfumes, buy a building and eat potato chips) – anyhoo, then I looked at the Coty timeline  and there is NO space between scents.  From La Rose Jacqueminot* in 1904 through the 50s they come fast and furious – at least one a year – it´s a staggering list .  So why do they smell so complex and interesting?  Scary ingredients?  No focus groups in t-shirts?  What?  But there are so many Cotys during Francois´s reign alone! – I´d love to know which ones died ignoble deaths.  Somewhere out there is a chest with Every. Single. Coty that Francois made – I just know it.  And it has my name on it.  Somewhere.

* La Rose J:  I´m not going there.  What little vintage there is costs the Earth.  Fugeddaboutit.   Right?  Right?

My mother wore the 60s Coty triumverate:  L´Aimant, L´Origan and Emeraude colognes, preferring them to more expensive scents because …well, never mind about the whorehouse.  I´m glad it took me forever – and the Posse-  to revisit – who knew there were vintage Coty perfumes, so divine, so worthy of my adoration.  I now have 3 vintage L´Origans, each bustin´ a cap in my psyche every time I undo their little Bakelite lids. Oh, baby.   As you can imagine, they´re all different but they all have that balanced complexity.  A melange of clove-y carnation, violets and heliotrope – there´s iris in there, too, but I can´t smell it (if I ever get mugged it will be by an iris).  It is supposedly the model upon which L´Heure Bleu was formed and if so, they couldn´t have chosen a more reflective, beautifully melancholic scent.  It sighs of Debussy and crumbly sables and phonographs and soft Parisian rain.  Vintage Emeraude perfume (a cheapo find) is of such lushness, like an emerald green-and-gold cashmere swing coat , exquisitely tailored, with tortoiseshell buttons.  It´s not an iron fist in a velvet glove; though it has extreme power, it´s all seduction, no shrieking aggression.   It´s more like a vampire in a velvet gown.  You´re in it before you know it – and you´re Hers. Vintage ONLY.  Go near the new stuff and it´ll blow your heart out with a napalm-filled slug. 

We can´t even get into the sparkling fabulosity that is L´Aimant, lest I start dancing the Mamooshka. Suffice to say, it´s an aldehyde junkie´s dream, to me, a little more easygoing than No. 5. I yarked about it on the Top 10 last week in my boneheaded way – but I do love it so.  I´m so sure M. Coty is spinning in his elegant grave, hearing me liken it to really good root beer.  But ya know….really good root beer is really good!

Don´t forget the vintage caveat:  YBMV.  And don´t come sobbing to me if you spritz the current drugstore swill.  Don´t do it.  None of it.  I´m tellin´ ya.

Oh! Before you leave:  Balmain, my darling Pierre, so smart to hire La Cellier.  Such a revelation.  I worried through an impulse buy -  a Heart Attack in a Bottle, mid-era Jolie Madame parfum that is so beautiful and so precise that the breath caught in my throat, as I was thrown into an alternate total recall universe where every memory was perfect, if only for that moment.  Funny thing is, I never wore Jolie Madame. I wore Vent Vert because it was green, just like me but now, as gorgeous as the vintage is, it seems not quite right? on me, like wearing tube socks and a short, pleated skirt.   Jolie Madame now seems perfect, like she was just waiting, all this time, for me to grow the hell up.  Well here I am, Madame.  Old as dirt.  Dang.  But what a way to slide into that certain age´. 

Btw, I´ll bet people were scared to death of Mme G-is-for-Genius.  Smart move.  Anybody who can create Vent Vert, JMadame AND Fracas is worthy of serious respect – if not outright fear!

I would write about more vintage revelations but this is getting way long.  And a neighbor´s dog just got skunked, poor thing – and now the whole block stinks and all the perfume in the Universe can´t beat a pissed-off skunk.  You are off the hook.  Go sniff some vintage.  Tell me all about it.  You can thank the skunk later.

.

Lee normally posts today, but he let me know that he’s been diagnosed with Swine Flu!!!!!!  Yikes x3!!!  So send all your best wishes/prayers/karmic love his way that he recovers soon.

Since I hadn’t really planned anything for today,  let’s go through some drawing winners that I managed to forget about.  But first, some fun. This is the most darling shower cap I’ve ever seen.  I picked it up at Fortnum & Mason, and I reallly should try and put on some makeup or something before I get it in my head to take these pictures for a blog  post. Apologies for the unfluffed face.  Is that just adorable or what? I don’t ever use a shower cap, but I’m trying to think of ways I can use it, but until I do, I just wear it ’round the house from time to time just to enjoy it.

So what is your favorite goofy thing you’ve picked up that you have absolutely no use for and have to make up reasons to use it?  Perfume is acceptable!

I completely forget to draw a winner in the Perricone Cosmeceuticals giveaway. The winner of that is:  fountaingirl. Just click on contact us on the left, remind me of what you’ve won, give me your address, I’ll forward it on to the Perricone people, and they’ll ship it to you directly.

Winner of the Boadicea samples:  Carter and Blonde.  Just click on the contact us on the left, remind me what you won, give me your address, and I’ll zip them off to you.

Patty

Just so you don’t have to guess how I feel.  I love it, adore it, need it, must have it.  Yes, yes, this is what oud perfumes should be, so everyone else should pay attention.  Now, the price has me shuddering - about 400 for 50 mls, though the refills once you go through the first 50 mls should be much less spendy.  Since you’ll only buy this if you love it, you should plow through 50 mls in a hurry.  This is one of the rare times when I will say it’s worth every last cent.  Sure, I’d like it to be cheaper, but I have no qualms about the price.

Grain de Musc reviews it here, and Octavian reviews it here.  Leathery, tobacco, dark, civety, saffron, Immortelle.  What’s not to love? Well, if you like your perfumes bright, cheerful and flowery, please don’t go near this, you’ll hate it because it’s none of those things.  This is moody and difficult, warm and embracing.  So many oud perfumes are muscled by the oud and get all sharp and shrill and make my head hurt. This has the oud, but it’s a base, a complement to the other notes.  Denyse and Octavian mention an inkiness, and that’s exactly it.  Dry ink, dusty, slightly musty, nestled into leather.  This is the melancholy letter you write at the end of the affair with the person you wrongly thought was the love of your life.   This is the first By Kilian perfume I’ve smelled that belongs absolutely in that cunning little enameled black box with the black ribbon and the key, and the addition of the gold plate on top with a big K on it.  The juice inside it matches all of the externals - it is the darkness that you covet. 

This shit rocks.  

I’ve got a couple of other things I’ll talk about next week that have made me scream “Oh, God” a couple of times in a frenzy like this one has.  It’s been a pretty great perfme summer for me so far.  How about you?

Oh, yeah, yeah, of course I’ll give away a couple of samples of The Preeeecioussss.  Drop a comment and you’ll be entered in the drawing.

Patty

Sometimes, a big city can be welcoming, and sometimes it can wallop you with an urban blight that impacts you so profoundly, it makes you scratch your head and wonder why you love that particular place so much to begin with.

When I crossed the border into Ontario for the first time since my enemy radical status was rescinded, I couldn´t wait for that first glimpse of the CN Tower that reveals itself from across Lake Ontario as you drive along on the Queen Elizabeth Way, somewhere between St. Catharines and Hamilton. It almost reminds me of seeing Manhattan from mid-span on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn, only the distance from St. Catharines to Toronto is much greater. As you view either metropolis from those vantage points, you can´t help but be filled with hope and anticipation of experiencing all each city has to offer, until you see them up close and discover appearances aren´t always what they seem.

Two days into my visit, municipal employees declared war on the city of Toronto and many relied upon services were casualties of their declaration. Their work stoppage has affected city-run daycare centers, community swimming pools, public parks and other essential city services. The most obvious and frankly disgusting casualty has been the cessation of garbage, recycling and compost collections, which have caused unsightly mountains of refuse to pile up all over the landscape. It looks awful and smells even worse. To add insult to psychological, visual and olfactory injuries, striking workers have blockaded garbage transfer stations and temporary drop-off sites and will periodically not allow tax-paying citizens to dispose of their refuse. When they do allow individuals to unburden themselves of their trash, they restrict entry into these stations or drop sites by allowing access to only one vehicle at a time in 15 minute intervals. I don´t know which part of this surprises me more: the fact that they are able to do that, or that people are willing to wait in line for hours at a time to drop off their garbage. As of this posting, there is no end in sight to this strike and negotiations are progressing at a snail´s pace.

So what does the cynical perfumista do in order to stave off the offensive stench of rotting garbage? Head indoors to the fragrance counters in order to get some relief.

I´ve been very reticent to go downtown since the garbage situation has been affecting the tourist areas the most. Instead, I went over to the Yorkdale mall and perused the fragrance counters at The Bay and Holt Renfrew. At Holt Renfrew I discovered two new Italian fragrances that for the life of me I cannot remember which house made them, or what their names were. All I know is that they both smelled amazing and cost $180.00 a bottle. I lamented to Henni, one of the Beauty Advisors, that right now, they were way too rich for my pocketbook.

I noticed the complete range of Bond No. 9 scents with Brooklyn and Astor Place front and center. Kilian Hennessy´s By Kilian scents were nearby, but my interest was piqued by the newest Creed scent, Acqua Fiorentina. It is packaged in the same bottle as Love in White and Love in Black, the major difference being the color of the juice. Nabi, the Creed counter manager told me this was the first pink-toned Creed scent, and that the company will be making donations to breast cancer charities during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. I haven´t been that crazy about a lot of the more recent Creed scents (with the exception of Virgin Island Water), but Acqua Fiorentina has a lovely, tart plum note that blends well with Calabrian lemon, carnation, rose, sandalwood and cedar. This is a tad fruity, but not in the ubiquitous celebrity scent way; the fruitiness of the plum and the dry cedar are reminiscent of a Serge Lutens creation, but it is a cinch to wear. If you like Spring Flower, you´ll like this one; it is really well done.

Speaking of Serge, the last time I ventured into The Bay at Yorkdale, there was a fairly comprehensive selection of the export fragrances. This time, they were nowhere to be found. I was rather surprised, but I have enough Serge to keep me occupied for a while. Honestly, The Bay at Yorkdale was a bit disappointing; however, they did have the reissued Givenchys, including a stockpile of Organza Indecence. Paging March: your favorite “sexy cupcake” scent is alive and well here in T.O. It smelled a bit boozier than the bottle I´ve got, but you´d be splitting hairs trying to tell them apart. Escada Incredible Me was interesting, and very reminiscent of Collection. I was tempted by it, but I´m glad I passed because it now smells a tad too perfumey on the blotter paper.

No sniffing expedition would be complete without a visit to my favorite haunt, Shoppers Drug Mart. There I discovered Kate Moss Velvet Hour, which I fell for completely. It´s an eau de toilette concentration and the notes of blue pepper, freesia, cashmere incense, patchouli, nutmeg sandalwood and amber are light enough to wear in warmer weather. It has a nice bit of “skank” appeal and I really had to force myself to walk away from it. I rationalized that the bottle was something of a deal-breaker with its dark blue flying saucer-ish shape that really doesn´t do the scent justice. This potion would be much more at home in a Dianne Brill/Fifi Chachnil/Agent Provocateur-type vessel. That way, you know what you´re getting.

The other scent I zeroed in on was Lise Watier´s Désirable. Now that I´m officially in the club, I really want to like a perfume from a Canadian cosmetics and fragrance house, but sadly, none of Ms. Watier´s scents are remotely appealing to me. Désirable is as potent as a genetically modified fruit salad and way too over-the-top for my liking. Her Neiges scent is another that, much as I´d like to, I just can´t wrap my nose around. Brutal Canadian winters notwithstanding, what could be better than to smell clean and pure as the driven… well, you know the rest. Sorry, no can do. Fans of Lorenzo Villoresi´s Teint de Neige would like this; the two are practically interchangeable.

I´d like to give a shout-out to Angela over at “Now Smell This”. I read her entry from this past Monday, “Lament of a Penniless Perfumista”, and it really struck a chord with me. As I gazed wistfully at all the shiny bottles, I was thinking exactly what Angela so eloquently wrote: “It´s challenging times like these that remind me to slow down and appreciate what I already have.” I couldn´t have said it any better. Being reunited with my family and friends and knowing they are there to support me through anything warms my heart much more than a bottle of fragrance ever could. And, like Angela, I have more than enough of those to tide me over. Now, if only my aunt could get rid of all her smelly garbage and compost…

I´m heading back to my US abode today, so I will read and respond to comments tomorrow.

Have you ever, on the long road through life, just looked around you and thought:  I really need to edit my life?  I do from time to time, even though I usually don’t let my life get too cluttered.  Sometimes you just notice that you have some things/people in your life that are redundant or really have no purpose.  Does that sound cold?  I guess I think that life is too short, and if you can’t find a reason, just one, for keeping something in your life, you really need to edit it out. Gently, kindly, but it should go.

Hey, what does that have to do with Boadicea?  It’s a line that seriously needed a heavy-handed editor.  There are some good/great/interesting perfumes in the line, but there are many that are so similar that you can’t sort through them.  Some seem a little unfinished or lacking in purpose.  Can I tell you which ones they are?  Um, no. I smelled 28 of them in one sitting. I can’t remember!  This could have been and still could be a great line if they edited it down to about 8 perfumes.  Combine some, add some components to another, and then expand it from there.  And the names!  Get some more creative juice behind the names. They’re unmemorable names that blend together and make it impossible to remember which one you really loved.

Noble, Divine and Delicate are the three that Michele Obama bought when she was in London, and all three of those are quite good.  The price point is a little high, 130 pounds for 100 mls, but the bottles with all the pewter is gorgeous.  Complex got a lot of raves around the table when we sniffed it, t’s pretty fierce.  One spray was wafting everywhere. Smidge of violet, all the rest labdanum, leather, musk and civet – yeah, I just saw 100 of you recoil and another 100 drool.  Intricate was also a big hit and a big, fierce perfume, but it’s one of the aoud perfumes and runs 450 pounds for 100 mls.  Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I believe they also call it Ethereal.  The names keep changing on some of these, and they had one name at Selfridges and one name at Harrod’s.  Is problem that also needs editing.

So I’m not going to review any of these because I honestly, beyond those that I pointed out, plus Seductive, which is fir and patchouli, ambergris, musk and rosemary, can’t tell you what I think is really good.  I had several others I liked, but just gave up. I think Warrior and Warrioress, the two Selfridges exclusives, are quite good.  I personally prefer the Warrior to the Warrioress (notes of lemon, rose, cassis, coriander, tonka bean and patchouli for the Warrior). The Warrioress was good, but seemed close to the Complex and Vibrant.  So if you smell one of those three and love it, you may like the others or find them redundant and unnecessary.

Do I think the line is worth checking out?  Yes, I do. There’s some good stuff in there, but I think it could be better with fewer scents, better clarity on what each is intended to be.  I’ve got Divine on one hand, and I’m just smitten with it.   Aldehydes, jasmine, violet, styrax and sandalwood.  One of the other hyperexpensive aoud perfumes was love too, Elegant, but, again, that 450 pounds price tag scared me off, which is saying a lot for someone who is tough to scare on perfume pricing.  It has notes of lemon, rose, jasmine, nutmeg, agarwood, guaiacwood and ambergris.  Really fetching stuff.

I’ll help y’all out and give out two sets of samples of the noble, divine, delicate and complex. Just drop a comment and tell me what you need to edit out of your life or would like to,and you’ll be entered in the drawing.

Now, we have something else to discuss, but we need to keep it on the down low.  Some of you may know that Roja Dove does private collection perfumes. They are limited to 50 persons per perfume, runs $1600 for 250 mls, and once you buy it, you are entitled to buy it forever.  It just begs for splitting. Two scents were split when we were there, No 11 and No. 9.  No. 9 is a gorgeous aldhehydic perfume that just made me cry, it was so beautiful.  I have way more in my split than I can wear in a lifetime, so if anyone is interested in a half ounce, let me know.  There was one other perfume that three of us would split, but I couldn’t commit to it because it’s just too much for three people to split.  No. 7 is a skankfest on the order of Bal a Versailles and Party in Manhattan. It’s all glorious civety beauty with a drydown that lasts for a day.  The problem is, nobody bought it, so there’s no way to smell it, you’d have to commit to it unsniffed.  But having smelled the perfume, there are not just a few skank lovers out there that would take it off your hands if you hated it. If you’re interested in going in the split for 7, you know what to do.  You can also do the math, but it’s about 6.40 per ml, plus any fees, postage, bottle costs, etc.

Patty