Organic Pharmacy Organic Glam Fragrances

by Tom

First off, can I write how horrified I am by what’s happening in Japan?  Living in a place where that can easily happen I’d like to suggest that we all do the
following: donate $10 to the Red Cross (easy as texting REDCROSS to Give $10: Text REDCROSS to 90999 {in Canada: 30333}), then make sure that you have emergency kits stocked in your home and plans for an emergency in place for you family.  You might not live in earthquake country (although there are faults in the midwest and northeast) but there are fires, floods, hurricanes or even bad winter storms that can affect us all.  A good emergency plan is a great thing to have.

Now..

I was strolling down Beverly Hills version of Main Street, Beverly Drive a while ago (Rodeo gets all the press and the Tom Ford boutiques while Beverly has our deli Nate ‘n Al’s and restaurants and shops that people can actually afford) and decided to stop into the West Coast store of The Organic Pharmacy.  I’d never been in; they feature skin care that’s, well, organic and some homeopathic items as well.  They also have a new line of scents that are pretty great.

They are as follows:

Citron: almost a misnomer, since while it does have a lovely citrus opening it almost immediately goes to a lovely orange blossom.  The drydown has a hint of patchouli and just enough neroli to keep the blossoms blossoming.  It’s a white linen sheath over tanned skin kind of scent, the kind I adore even if I’m more of a white cotton t-shirt over white 50SPF slathered whiteness kind of guy.

Jasmine: not a misnomer.  A sheer jasmine that open with citrus and ends with sandalwood.  They list Ylang Ylang and celery seeds in the middle notes.  There is a very light fruitiness and bit of green in there that could be these, and frankly I’m kind of glad they aren’t more pronounced, since it would stamp all over that blameless young jasmine, which would be a very bad thing indeed.

Oriental Blossom: Oriental in the way that they used to use Myrna Loy in her youth as an Asian.  Sort of Oriental Lite, but that’s no bad thing.  It’s got the citrussy opening, the spices at the middle and the oakmoss at the end.  A girl who thinks that Opium should be applied with a lavish hand will curl her persimmon-colored lips into a derisive sneer.  Those of us who might have been trapped in an elevator in summer with said girl would beg her to give this office-friendly one a try.

Oud: I know, who isn’t doing oud now?  It’s like everyone woke up one morning and decided that oud was the new fruity floral.  This one sort of does to the Montale model what Oriental Blossom does to the Opium one: dials it back from 11 to ranges that won’t frighten the horses.  Because as much as I like Oud Cuir Arabie, it’s a bit much for church.  If I went.  It’s more of a third date, seal the deal kind of scent.  This one mixes in just the right amount of sage, pepper, woods and spices to make it the oud for the rest of the day.

My only issue?  Price.  These are $220 for 100ML.  Granted, they are 100ML and the bottle is gorgeous; heavy art deco glass ones that are quality pieces.  I wish they came in smaller sizes.  But $200 is the new $50, right?  They’re available at the store in Beverly Hills and I assume at the two New York stores the company lists on their website. http://www.theorganicpharmacy.com/

photo:  Red Cross Japan – wikimedia commons/some rights reserved