Every year the whole West Hollywood celebrations take me sort of by surprise.  For those of you who’ve never heard or attended, West Hollywood is the city that is directly East (and North) of Beverly Hills.  It was unincorporated LA County until local activists fought to incorporate as a city, which it did in 1984.  It was founded on rights for renters, gays and the elderly and to this day is at the vanguard of the sort of progressive ideas that some hold as proof that lunacy has run amok.

When I moved here in about 1927 I specifically chose my part of Beverly Hills (just to the left of the lower Western right-angle of WeHo) so that I could walk to the party in Boys Town and weave home knowing that the party wouldn’t be following me.  There are two days however when they spill over, Gay Pride and Hallowe’en.

When I first moved here the Samhain celebration was not even worthy of a street closure.  As time went by, it became larger.  There were incidents of gang activity at other celebrations, and some families decided that West Hollywood was the safer alternative.  After a while the mix of drag queens and leathermen in a$$less chaps was nearing 50/50 with people with prams.  It sort of became Gay Country Safari, only you didn’t need to keep your windows rolled up.

I haven’t been in years since it’s just too damned crowded.  I have no interest in Times Square on New Years Eve either.  Our local paper is stating that it’s going to have 400,000 people and that it might not be the best place to take the kiddies.  To be honest, I think that there’s more on basic cable I’d be worrying about my children witnessing than a bunch of guys and gals dressed up as Zombie Steve Jobs and certainly New Orleans makes it look like Disney.

What I could do without?  ActionMcNews and 14 cohorts hovering over my house for the entire night to get entirely unnecessary aerial shots to show that there are people there.

I’m coping with some white wine, melatonin, hearos and for scent, Annick Goutal Musc Nomade.  Of course I’m thankful that I’m nor dealing with downed trees and no power..

 Happy Halloween to all of our ghoulishly lovely Posse peeps! It’s that time of year where we conjure our favorite (or most frightening, as the case may be) scents of the season and share them with you. So here goes …

From Ann –

After the long, hot summer  we’ve had, I was really revving my broom in anticipation of cool-weather scents. So here’s what’s rattling my chain this season:

Its incense, juniper, pine and bergamot make Byredo’s Gypsy Water mysterious and intriguing, yet still easy to wear;  Le Labo’s Vanille 44 falls in the same vein, but with less mystery and more cozy comfort. And from my newly acquired fondness for  leather (not to worry, folks, no leather pants here),  I’ve got Bottega Veneta and Cuir de Lancome in as heavy a rotation as my samples will allow. P.S. Just got my sample of Serge Lutens’ Profundis — I’m kinda grooving on its earthy floral vibe with just a hint of  greeny-dark goodness. Maybe I’ll unearth this one for the trick-or-treating to come tonight …

From Anita/Musette –

I’m crawling out of my Grant Application Grave (bwaaahaha -oh, forget it)  just long enough to tell you what scents scare me…and what scents I use to scare others! bwaaahahahaha <ack!>

What Scares Me:

Angel.  Try as I might, I cannot get closer to Angel than 3′.  I was in SFA a few months ago and a woman came in, liberally marinated in the jus.  She wanted to chat and couldn’t understand why I kept backing away!  Finally I asked what she was wearing and she said ‘Angel.  My signature scent’.  All I can say is Voldemort, have I got a gal for youuu!

Opium.  Fear Factor 10.  On my way to the Malle Candle Thingy (yeah, that long ago and it’s STILL seared into my memory).  Got a teeny little dab on my fingertip.  Two trips to the bathroom and a trip to the Clinique counter for some Number 4 Toner Love….and that damn thing STILL clung to me, scattering the hoards right and left as I blazed a trail up Boul Mich to meet M. Frederic. The Opium preceded my entrance by a good 5 feet.   It’s a wonder he didn’t throw a bucket of Carnal Flower on me!

Aromatics Elixir.  In my entire life I have only had two things run me out of my house.  One was a bug bomb I intentionally set off (you know, set it and run like hell, slamming the door behind you)…and the other is Aromatics Elixir, when I spilled it on a leather chair.  It’s not that it’s not gorgeous.  It is.  But so are cobras.  Three days on the porch, that chair.

My Own Skary Ones:

Contemporary (current) Mitsouko.  For sheer, wet-your-pants Terror, nothing says “I will bite your head clean off” like current Mitsouko, with that elegant gasoline punch to the nose.  I wear it when I have to advocate for my dad or remind a Neanderthal site crew that I Am Their Boss.  Something about it really tends to frighten people.  Or maybe it’s just me?

Bandit.  It’s got a mean streak that I just LOVE! but beautiful in its capacity to terrorize.  Like a vampire created by FX artist Rick Baker.  You know it can’t hurt you…..right?  You’re sure about that?

Jolie Madame.  Booooya (with the emphasis on ‘boo’!).  Another one of those to give you pause.  Dark night, dark street.  Gorgeous woman in a fur coat and stilettos slinking down the fog-shrouded sidewalk.  Uh, that is a fur coat…..isn’t it?

From March –

I could aim for the cheap seats with something like Etro Messe de Minuit, which I put on the other day and got an extra dose of crypt from (although it smells like incense-roses on a friend, go figure.)  But instead I think I’ll run with:

Aquolina Pink Sugar.  Parents around here go different routes with the whole Leftover Halloween Candy issue, including doling out two pieces a night for three months, or letting the Great Pumpkin take it all away after a three days.  Our approach has always been: have at it.  I’m pretty sure at least two of my four kids have gorged on their candy until they (literally) puked, and there’s no way I could come up with a better lesson about moderation than that.  Bringing me around to Pink Sugar, a fragrance sweet enough to conjure the evil spirits of five pounds of candy corn, and which nauseates me in pretty much the same way.

When I think about trick or treating as a kid, what is the strongest memory besides the candy?  It’s the smell of the evening, out there in the dark for what seemed like hours of bliss, tromping around with friends in our cheesy home-made costumes up and down sidewalks, and around (and through) endless raked piles of leaves.  The smell of fall is still defined for me by that indescribable leaf pile aroma, which is why I was so thrilled the first time I smelled CB I Hate Perfumes’ Burning Leaves and realized he’d gotten it perfectly.  I’m old enough to remember the excitement when we and all the neighbors used to burn those leaves curbside (something I assume folks outside the city still do).  As great as the fragrance is when you first put it on, my favorite part is the drydown — when the “burning” fades away and I’m left with the smell of fallen leaves and a hint of autumn chill.

From Tom –

Well, fall in Los Angeles can’t decide from one hour to the next whether it will be chilly with a marine layer or  having hot Santa Ana winds, so choosing a scent can be an adventure in itself.  That spritz of Fumerie Turque that seemed so appropriate at 8 a.m. when it was 57 degrees  can become a little, well, challenging when it starts to hit the mid-80s at noon.

So I am keeping the Sables, with its immortelle-bomb aspect until it stays cool. I’m enjoying the comfort of ELdO Like This and Le Labo Musk (which you can all sample this November if there’s a Le Labo near you).

For other lists, please visit:  Bois de Jasmin, Grain de Musc, Now Smell This and Perfume-Smellin- Things.

Share your favorites for fall, what scent you’ll be wearing for tonight, or if you’ve got something special planned for Halloween.

pumpkin image: there are a ton of fun carved pumpkins, including plenty of NSFW images.  Since this pumpkin image appears on several sites, I don’t know which one to credit. — March

by Musette, who is craving some chocolate layer cake.

I remember the first time.  I was in Saks, back in the Joy/Paris/Poison days….  Diane was helping me, as I considered a purchase of Joy (remember when it was The Costliest Perfume in the World?)…anyway, she said “you need to layer” and proceeded to slather on some cream, then the spritz of perfume.  “It fixes the perfume and it lasts all day”.  Oh.  okay!  So…Amex groaning under the weight, I  bought the soap, the cream, the powder..and the edt.  And proceeded to lather, mousse and spritz myself into a Joy-ous olfactory coma.  Christmas = Gift Sets!.  It was the 80s and Layering was Quing.  I don’t think I wore anything in those days that wasn’t augmented by bath and body products.  Calyx!   My bathroom smelled like Sybil’s Whorehouse on payday.  I revisited that loft a year after I sold it and I could swear that bathroom still smelled of Calyx.   I think it penetrated the tile!

Then, sometime in the late 90s it stopped.   I went to a Perfume Only state, blissfully spritzing on a bare canvas.  Until recently.  It started about 2 years ago – Lovely Nancy, who introduced me to my Summer fave, Agraria Bitter Orange, sent along a little sample of the shower gel.  Bliss.  There’s something about surrounding yourself with hot, scented, foamy water that is just delightful – especially as the days grow shorter…and colder.  For lot of women (I can’t speak for the guys here), especially moms, shower-time is the only time you are even remotely able to have a couple of minutes to yourself.  Even if your kids sit outside the bathroom door, as my bf’s kids do, they are unlikely to come in the actual shower with you.   Perfect YOU Time.  My stress levels are sky-high and the shower is my one refuge – it’s difficult to think about business/personal drama when you are completely surrounded by the foamy scent of Jubilation 25.    I use one of those Japanese scrubbing cloths (mine is Salux) -  a dime-sized dab with a lot of water and scrunching and you have enough suds for 3 people and a Rottweiler, if you are so inclined.  Alas, the Bitter Orange shower gel was lovely in the shower but it deposited little scent on the skin.  No matter – it made showering a wholly different sensory experience from scrubbing up with  Dial.  Agraria’s hard-milled soaps are a better scent depositer and with the Salux it doesn’t matter – you still get a whole lotta foam.  So I foamed away!

Inspired by my found-again love, I went rummaging through the closet to find what other gels, soaps and lotions I might indulge in.  Uh….hmmm.  Apparently I bought a LOT of gift sets in the day.  So I had lots to play with for this post.

Fracas.  Had the soap, the shower gel, the lotion, the powder.  El O was gone (post-Fracas bathrooms can be a bit overwhelming).   I find that sometimes, when Milady gets to be a bit much perfumewise, a hit with the accoutrements  gives the same scent  experience without gassing everybody out of the county.   Carnal Flower Body Butter.   M. Frederic…?  S’il vous plait?  At least a hard-milled soap.  My water bills would be sky-high!  Aiiiiyyy!  but I would be soooo happy!

I played on, blowin’  the bathroom UP! with Lucien Lelong (gift set score!  gel, cream, edp.  whoa, Nellie! The bathroom smelled like the South of France for 2 days!!!)…..a lovely friend gifted me with vintage Diorissimo body lotion.  I should’ve grabbed the shower gel when I had the chance cuz it’s gawwwn now.  But the vintage lotion packs a hefty punch for such a demure fragrance and stays linear with the vintage perfume.

I got a lovely group of samples from Amouage, which included the Epic and Jubilation 25 shower gels and body creams.  Let me just say this:  it is scary, because I am currently in Bizarro World, can barely buy dog food some days and still I am ogling both Epic and Jube25 bath and body – and it’s a damn shame because I never ‘got’ Epic before I took a whirl in the shower.  The incense in the perfume hit my nose too hard and I just shut down.  But the shower gel spreads it out quite a bit, then add the body cream and wham-o!  You are ready for the gorgeous perfume.  I’m wearing it again today.  I’ve done this 4 times in the past 2 weeks and I am still finding fascination in how this scent unfolds.  Needless to say  I am now hooked.   I thank Christopher Chong every. stinkin. day. that he did not do bath and body for Ubar or Tribute.   I’d have to kill myself.   Jube 25 foamy is so beautiful it takes my breath away and both Epic and Jube gels leave a solid scent on the skin. It was surprising because the shower gels smell thin and weak in the bottle (at least the little samplse do – I sniffed them, thought “oh, what a rrrrrrrrrip!” …until you get a drop on the Salux, then they explode into a foaming cloud of scent that sticks with you, your towels, your robe….it is olfactory heaven that is tenacious (I actually have Designated Amouage pjs.  Really. Tide is no match for the Royal House).  If you use these, leave your bathroom door open, apres-bain.  Your house will smell luxe all day.

I do think there are some differences in the effect body products have on fragrance, though, depending upon the fragrance.   Malle’s Carnal Flower, for instance.  The Body Butter is insanely gorgeous and just the act of scooping out a bit and warming it in your hands is enough to transport.  If I want a ‘compliment’ to the scent, that’s when I use the cream because it actually smells a bit different than the perfume (skin reaction? composition?  who knows?)  – in the cream the eucalyptus/camphor thread is more pronounced.  If I want to smell CF straight I do Dial and then spritz.  It’s nice to have all those choices in how to experience the scent.  Personally I think that is the best thing since Miette dark chocolate cake but ymmv.  But know this:  you will have to pry both the Body Butter and the perfume out of my cold, dead hands.  I couldn’t live without either and if The Walking Dead show up and I have to flee, I will be fleeing with both of these in my totebag.  Oh!  While I’m on the Malle line:  Parfum de Therese.  For those of you who find it a bit fleeting or thin – the body cream locks it right down and gives it an almost perfect linear boost.  I think it’s that Old School, Dior-type formula.  But it really is the perfect match.

I know a lot of purists are probably shuddering in their shoes right now at the idea of adding body products to perfume use and I totally understand though there are some, like Fracas, that are totally linear to the perfume (maybe the old-school composition, like Therese there).  And some are downright terrifying (Mitsouko body lotion which, if combined with the edp, transforms Mme Mits into a scary, tentacled thing – I’ve never seen a soap or gel.  March and I saw some ‘lotion vegetal’ on the eeeB which I think is hair oil).  If you are focusing solely on the scent,it might work against you.  But if, like me, you are looking for a sensory experience, I think bath-to-perfume is an excellent way to go.  And  btw,  you can forget about  layering resulting in less perfume use.  LOL (or, as I was recently taught, LOLdemort!) – not happening.  You end up spraying/dabbing just as much scent as before because it’s all just so damn luxe!  Louche.  Lovely!  And why not? Go Big or Get Off The Bus.

So this isn’t a Frugal/Alternative Bathumista post.  Obviously I can’t say it’s  less expensive -  it’s mo’ stuff and even Fresh Sugar Lemon bath gel  will run you $20.  Jubilation 25 shower gel : E55, which as of this morning converts to a whopping $76!  But, used judiciously, that gel will last you 6 months, unless you take 4 showers a day, in which case it will last you 3.   I would happily take 4 showers a day but I have to work to pay for the shower gel, dangit.

What say you?  How do you all feel about ancillary bath and body products?  Do they support or do they change your perception of the scent?    What are your favorites….or do you hate the very idea!?

Next up:  we will discuss Happy Layering Accidents.  And some Not So Happy.  I have some whoppers!  So hang on to those for next week’s installment!

xoxo your foamy, creamy,spritzy Musette

photo courtesy of Country Living 2011 Chocolate Pumpkin cake

So I’m rushing around frantically today trying to get everything done before my trip, and I looked up, and it’s almost 10 p.m., and I forgot this was on my to-do list.

Oh, look at the cool picture!    Not distracted?  It snowed in Denver last night, like enough inches to hang off the fall-leafed trees.  I had to add “get sprinkler system winterized” on my dobeforeileaveonfriday list because it’s been such a long Indian Summer, it hadn’t quite caught my attention Winter IS Coming.  Weird how it always surprises me at the end of every October.

Have I told y’all where I’m going? I can’t remember – well, I do remember where I’m going, just not if I told you. Sniffa is going to Barcelona, but a couple of us that do the overseas trip when we can thought, well, we are close to Morocco, let’s go to Marrakech and ride camels and shop in the souks!  That’s where four of us are headed on Friday. A week in Morocco, then fly back to Barcelona, meet up with the Sniffa people for a fabulous week there (just saw the itinerary, it’s great!), then three of us go to Paris for four days of shopping/eating/Frenchifying.

We are so hoping that the new Hermessence will be out by then, some more of the Numeros from L’Artisan are being released then, I think.   Will get to meet up with the Lovely Ms Grain de Musc and catch up on Neela’s perfumes.

Um, so I have a little over 24 hours before I get on the plane. I have a ton of work to do, I haven’t packed anything, just got my suitcases out, looked at them, started putting clothes in a pile to pack, checked the forecast for all three cities, collapsed on the floor in puzzlement, and I’m still not sure how I’m going to get the packing quite right.  But I best be figuring it out. I’m thinking one pair of sandals, a pair of flat mary janes, plenty of black pants, one black skirt, a couple of tunics, some plain shirts, then cardigans and my one super-warm but lightweight jacket that scrunches up super-small.  Oh, black socks and underwear and pajamas and a robe.

Do we think this will work?  I need room for everything to buy, but I have to ship or keep it down to just one checked bag to Paris. On the leg home, then United will let me bring plenty of suitcases weighing lots without robbing me blind  like they do on intra-European flights.

Tips, things I haven’t thought of?  Help me, I’m panicking!!!!

Patty

By March

Old business: the winner of the New Girls samples is … Lilly!  Contact evilauntieanita at gmail dot com.  On to today’s review.

There are few certainties in life, but I think we can be reasonably sure I’m not the target demographic for Justin Bieber’s new-ish scent, SOMEDAY.  I might suffer a few pangs of guilt if I lusted after JBiebs’ barely-legal bod, which I don’t.  Now that he’s cut off his signature moppet-hair, I doubt I could pick him out of a lineup of similarly young, pretty boys.  At any rate, he probably isn’t staying up late at night fretting over how SOMEDAY will be received by smart-mouthed perfume bloggers in the 40+ demographic (aka “almost dead”).

Here’s the scent blurbage from Sephora: “Justin Bieber’s debut fragrance, SOMEDAY, is full of the same energy, passion, and confidence that drove him to the top of the music charts. Featuring top notes of juicy mandarin, pear, and wild berries, a heart of creamy florals, and a base of warm vanilla and soft musk, the playful, flirty scent is anything but ordinary. SOMEDAY embodies his idea that we will one day change the world and make our own dreams come true. It’s more than just a fragrance—it’s an inspiring state-of-mind. Take your Justin Beiber experience past the music and beyond the performer—and experience a world of possibilities with SOMEDAY.”

Oh….kay.  Justin, honey.  Settle down, there.  I think you’ve been drinking too much Red Bull. Curl up on the couch and tweet a few fans while Auntie March takes a gander at your new perfume.

Juicy mandarin, pear…. (pear is the new pink pepper, isn’t it?), berries, vanilla-musk.  Dunno, Biebs, it sounds pretty ordinary to me.  I want to mock the rest of your text about changing the world, and making dreams come true, and blah-di-blah, only: a) it’s not steamy copy about jailbait hookups, and thanks for that; and b) it’s not anywhere near as ridiculous as the niche-y copy I read, worthy of the Prix Au Faux; and c) okay, I find the grrrrrl-power message kind of sweet, actually, like an old issue of Young Miss magazine telling girls to be themselves, aim high, and dream big dreams.  I have two teenage girls, and those are messages I can get behind.

The blooming-hearts bottle looks like a rip-off of Lola (Marc Jacobs, phone your lawyer), but it’s fun and flirty and cute.  The heart-shaped charm comes off so you can hang it from your jeans, or give it 2 UR BFF 4EVAH.

The reviews in Sephora.com are mostly favorable, here’s a representative sample: It’s very fresh & clean, but flirty at the same time. A bunch of guys told me I smell really good every since I started wearing it!  There’s also a number of reviews from moms and aunts saying they bought it for a kid who was delighted.  Several reviews note (I think correctly) that it smells a bit like Juicy Couture’s Viva La Juicy, although I find SOMEDAY less sweet.

How does it smell?  It smells fine.  It’s not as nauseatingly sweet as Pink Sugar, not as fruital as I’d expect from those notes.  It’s mostly a clean vanilla-musk without the signature Tampax-Fresh accord I get from some musks (like many of J-Lo’s), less masculine than Hilary Duff’s scent, which I really liked… you know what?  I don’t want a bottle, but I’d rather wear it than about a third of the crap on the shelves at Sephora.  I stuck it under the noses of the two household teenagers and they liked it.  It wouldn’t kill me if they put it on first thing in the morning, and they wouldn’t go to school smelling like they were looking for some quick action in the stairwell.  Of course the humor there is: once I told them it was J Biebs’ scent they wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.  At 17 and 15 they’ve already moved on, so I guess it’s tween territory.

Would I buy this for an eight-year-old, as one reviewer did?  I guess, if she was dying for it, although I’d rather introduce her to the wonderful world o’perfumery with something that didn’t have a pop celebrity tie-in.  Depending on the kid I’d go with some Demeters, because they’re fun, or Marc Jacobs’ Daisy, which is inoffensive and super-cute.

Have any of you bought perfume for a kid/tween/teen?  What did you go with, and why?  For what it’s worth – in my house, Diva’s enthralled with CB Burning Leaves and Dior Addict (I know, my bad), Enigma’s wearing the last of her MAC Honey LE, and nine-year-old Hecate smells like dirt and crayons.  Naturally.

fragrance sample: Sephora

March