Hey!  It’s your lucky damn day if you’re reading this – or it could be for ten of you!

The nice folks at Coty Prestige – makers of Bottega Veneta’s new perfume and Balenciaga L’Essence – sent me a press release, I of course do what I always do, beg — er, asked for samples for me and however many of you I could get them for, and they sent me generous amounts of both scents that I’m going to decant into 10 2.5 ml spray decants to give away.  AND My Chanel Jersey came in as well as my personal bottle of Prada Candy. So, yeah, I’ll throw in samples of each of those in the giveaway too.  Last of the bonus pack (partly as guilt because I still haven’t done that ginger thing yet) a sample, if you want it, of the vintage version of Caron’s Violette Precieuse.  I wonder why I ever wear anything else?  So Ten commenterss drawn at random will win.

The Bottega Veneta – what March said.  Plush, luxurious leather, exactly the way those great 1k — 2k plus handbags smell like.  Anyone know exactly when 2k become the new 1k for luxury handbags?  Pretty soon a Birkin will be practically free at 9k.  It’s a great scent, easy to wear, upscale, not  pervasive  enough that you’ll start smoking people out of the next cubby, and you’ll probably get asked what you’re wearing about a zillion times, and you’ll feel like the inside of a super-plush leather bag, minus all the candy wrappers and keys poking you.

I ran BV by the youngest son, who by now is used to me sticking things under his nose to get his opinion on it, elder son has never had any patience for this game, and he says he could wear it.  I’m not saying he WOULD, but he has decants of Le Labo Rose 31 he takes with him everywhere.   BV is not strongly feminine, just a nice soft leather.  So guys shouldn’t be running the other direction on this just because they are displaying it in the women’s section. I think it would smell hot as hell on a guy. It may or may not work for you, though, cuz, well, you’re not me.

I don’t have any notes on the Balenciaga L’Essence or the Jersey yet, sorry!  I spritzed quickly on both, but wound up obssessing over the BV and Prada Candy (yes, again and still).

Patty

By March

Hey there, everyone.  First off: Don’t forget to drop by The Non-Blonde today for the next great interview/review installment of Brian Pera’s and Andy Tauer’s film/perfume collaboration.

Okay, onward.  The year 2011 has brought all sorts of scented surprises, some of them more pleasant than others.  Out with friends recently, I had a perfumed wrist shoved under my nose, which was my intro to the new Bottega Veneta scent.  I’d not read anything about it and had no information, other than knowing the company makes woven leather bags I’ve lusted after vaguely for years and will never own.  Having sniffed Prada Candy just prior, and the unfortunate Elie Saab a couple weeks ago, I was prepared to be underwhelmed.

Bottega Veneta would make a perfect fall scent, warm and comforting and very much in the background, the sort of thing that could go to the average workplace without offending.  Calling it a “wallpaper” scent or a “tee shirt” scent doesn’t do it justice, though; it’s more alluring and luxurious than that.  Different facets of the opening seem more pronounced on different folks – more bergamot (or less), and varying levels of faint spices, and/or a slight caramel sweetness (or not).  It triggers fond thoughts of the scent of college libraries, of warm radiators the first day the heat goes on indoors; a comforting, almost dusty smell.  It’s as cloud-soft and enveloping as a Loro Piana sweater. I think everyone in our little group loved it.

The drydown makes a more direct reference to the company product, but again it’s the warmest, most buttery suede you’ve ever smelled, not a birchtar-laden leather.  While the scent is not pervasive, it had quite good lasting power on my skin.

The nose of the composition is Michel Almairac; notes are Italian bergamot, Brazilian pink pepper, Indian Sambac jasmine, oakmoss, patchouli.

According to the internets, the “face” of the campaign is a chic Nine d’Urso, daughter of French fashion icon Inès de la Fressange (I’m a fangirl) and Italian art dealer Luigi d’Urso. The bottle (maybe the extrait?) is supposed to be fancy glass, but I found the standard bottle at NM a bit of a weak point in my quick perusal.  It’s simple, which is probably about right, but doesn’t do justice to the quiet luxury of the brand.  It reminded me of a cross between, say, MMM Untitled and the ugly old bottle for the original D&G men.

But if you’re in the market for a quiet, sophisticated scent that whispers (rather than screams) “luxury brand,” don’t let that bottle stand in your way.

March

It’s cold.  Cold Season.  Colds Season.

Nava has a cold.  Tom has a cold.  I have a cold.  Patty…….Patty, do you have a cold?  March.  Are you still getting flooded out East?  Do you have a cold?  Ann, looks like you’re getting ready to get nailed with some rain as well.  Bundle up!

It’s 50F here, with a 30mph wind and driving rain.  Been raining all day, all night, and it feels like it’s raining all over the world….I’m channeling Brook Benton, though I live in Illinois.. (hey, did I mention I’m stoned on cold meds?  ay-yup.  snockered.  So ….I’m a bit more babblelicious than normal.  Sorry)

The majority of the Posse is down for a cold-count.   And since colds usually equal stuffed noses and loss of smell…well, you know….the only thing I can smell right now is Vicks Vap-o-Rub!  And peppermint tea.  And Carnal Flower because, of course, you can smell that on the moon.  But it has that camphory-eucalyptus silvery thread running through it, like the sea salt ribbon in Recchiuti fleur de sel caramels, which I cannot taste right now – except for the salt.  Why is it that salt seems to be the last taste to go?

So here are a couple of colds-related questions: when you are sick-ish (not ‘flu’ sick, more ‘cold’ sick, like I am right now)…you can barely smell – what  perfumes do you reach for? What foods work for you?   I thought I would test the Vicks/Salt Theory vis a vis perfume.  This is not a scientific test, as I just grabbed three scents that approximated what I was thinking of (Vicks/ Salt/Peppermint).  As far as food goes, I am thinking homemade chicken noodle soup – but jeez..can you imagine smelling like that?

Vicks = Carnal Flower.  Yeah, it’s a Big White flower Bomb of a scent – but what has always made this one interesting for me is that eucalyptus/camphory ribbon running through the flowers.  Now that I’m all stuffed-up, all I can smell is the camphor.  Love it!

Heeley Selmarine = Salt.  I can’t taste much except salt right now.  Hot peppers have no nuance and that’s always a bad thing.  Heeley Selmarine …..mostly salt.  Little bit of lemon.  Perfect for a hot toddy.  Wait.  That’s not salt.  That’s brandy.  Never mind.  I’m on a strict Nyquil diet and I’m stoned out of my gourd.  Sorry.  Hey…Nyquil and brandy….now there’s an attractive combination……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Peppermint Tea = Geranium Pour Monsieur because I always put Bergamot syrup in my peppermint tea and it smells persackly like GpM.

At this point, unless you live in Texas or some other drought-ridden place, you are probably sick of rain and stunned by the sudden drops in temperature.   I see some Fried Green Tomatoes in El O’s immediate future, as there is no way these dawgs is gonna ripen before the first frost.     But I have a couple of pecks of tomatoes.  That’s a lot of FGTs, even for El O.  Gotta do something else with them. 

Any suggestions?

 I always feel like cheering when I see perfumers innovate, experiment, challenge themselves, or do anything that’s “out of the box.” So when I heard about Andy Tauer’s Pentachords — three fragrances, each containing five notes and each note a single molecule — I thought, “How cool is that?” But somehow life got in the way, as it often does, and I never got around to sampling.

So recently when I was offered the opportunity to try them, I jumped at the chance, as odds were that I’d end up loving at least one. Anyway, here are my impressions of each; as always, your mileage may vary.

Verdant strikes me as sharing a similar orbit with Ormonde Jayne Woman – in spirit, not actual chemistry. This Pentachord is not your bright, sunny “Sound of Music” meadow kind of green, but more of a darkly lush forest primeval, I’d say. Like something out of a fairy tale, with a hint of danger lurking just beyond the surface beauty. At first spray, its intense chord of leaves and earth arrives with a slight underpinning of mint, at least on my skin, although not sure where that’s coming from. Perhaps it’s part of its forest floor aura — a carpet of moist, dark soil and moss-covered stones, or maybe one of the rich, vegetal scents you might find deep in a garden. The dark green then softens and yields to the leather, amber and tobacco, which round out the scent nicely and add subtle nuances. If Mother Nature wore a fragrance, this easily could be it.

As Patty noted a while back, White does indeed have a cashmere-like feel to it. In the opening, I barely get any orris as my oddball skin seems to amp the violet intensely. But after a bit, the vanilla, ambergris and wood come into their own and smooth the composition into a creamy, almost powdery softness. This is a dreamy, wrap-yourself-up-in-it scent that’s a bit cuddly, comforting, but not cloying. Sounds especially appealing on a chilly day (or night).

Last but not least is Auburn. Upon first whiff, what should pop into my head but L’Artisan’s Nuit de Tubereuse. No, they don’t smell alike, but both struck me as having that moment when your eyes open wide as you encounter  something totally unexpected.  Auburn’s bright citrus tinged with cinnamon is tantalizing and mouth-watering without veering into gourmand territory, no easy feat. This cinnamon is not the bold blast of Red Hots candy, but softer and more muted, mature even. Perhaps not immediately recognizable as the spice if you didn’t know that’s what it was or hadn’t seen the notes. The original burst softens as the tobacco, amber and sandalwood come into play; they tone down the “shine” from the opening but still allow it to linger softly throughout. From there it cruises into a long-lasting warm radiance that I can only call “scrumptious” as I sniff my wrist repeatedly. I could definitely see myself wearing this happily, if, as they say, a bottle fell from the sky and into my lap.

I’m going to share samples of these with one lucky commenter. To enter, tell me what’s your favorite Tauer, or if you don’t have one yet, what sounds like it would be the one for you? 

Sorry to disappoint yet again, but I’m over a barrel as far as posting goes. Bear with me, hang in there and I’ll be back. I promise.

Throwing some relaxing,settling, cooling vibes your way, Nava!

In the meantime, I’ll jump in (the Jumping Musette!) and tell y’all about my perfume choice for the meeting – and some other stuff:

1. Everything is 10 hours away from my home and business.  Everything. 

2. Everything in the Great Plains is (right now) This Color.  Shortly to be This Color…… then this.…then they shut the gates to the on-ramps on the Interstates, going out for milk is taking your life in your hands….and it’s still 10 hours away from my home and business.

3. I wore vintage Diorling for the 10 hour drive.  Ultra-exquisite but at the end of the night, trying to get some sleep …I kept smelling… coffee?  Is that even possible?

4. Our new strategic partner (and his team) is so fabulous it makes my stomach hurt.  That alone was worth the 10 hour drive.

5. El O got binked by a Statie for speeding.  I made him laugh.  We got off with a warning. Of course, the Statie was a dead-ringer for Wilford Brimley and those guys LOOOOOVE me (El O is a Wilford).  The ways of the Wilfords are mysterious, indeed. Had he looked like The Rock, that Statie would’ve fined us, but good.  Alas.  Unless he had a soft spot for ladies who look like his mom.  sigh.

6. It’s Official:  I can no longer drive at night.  My vision, never the best, is now totally off-the-chain-and-gone.  In-town is okay but Interstate?  Out in the middle of nowhere?  Ain’t happening.  It’s  been coming on for the past few years and it’s not the worst thing in the world but it is a bit disconcerting. And it makes me sad.  Even vintage Mitsouko can’t help me see the curves on I-80 at 11pm.  Sigh

7.  Did I mention I LOVE our new strategic partner?  Perhaps LOVE is not the right word.  ADORE.  Yeah, that’s better.

I WORE CUIR DE RUSSIE FOR THE  MEETING!  Good thing, too.  It had that ‘cool’ element – and it was just what was needed.  Luckily I was forewarned, right before we set out, as to the interesting approach this company takes, so I was able to just sit there and take notes.  And sniff my CdR.

On the way back from the blessedly-brief meeting, we came upon this little melon market – we were right at the edge of mid-central NE, where it starts to become The Great Plains and the topography starts to undergo some radical changes.  Lots of cattle (El O bowed to them in thanks for the excellent steak he ate the night before.  I think they just run out back and yank one out of the pasture or something)…anyhoo, there are these cool little ‘melon farms’.  I dunno if they are ONLY melon farms but the place was dotted with a lot of these melon-centric farms.  Our melon season is finished so it was delightful to find fresh cantaloupe and watermelons…and the coolest gourds and squashes in intriguing colors and shapes.  Dusky blues and grey/greens, stripes, purples with yellow splotches, like a vintage Dior ballgown, rich reds with cool lacework (I”m sure it’s called something specific but it’s 11:45p and I have no idea what ‘that’ is.  If you are a squashaholic (squashophile?) chime in!  Really great!

Fairfield IA still has great Indian food.  And Radiance Dairy.  Best cream on earth.  Truly.   It’s worth the 2 hr drive.  Hey, at least it’s not TEN!

xoxoxo and thank you all SO much for helping me make a perfume choice!  It was perfect!