This ‘N That

Well Summer has kind of arrived here in SoCal. It’s is Gay Pride weekend here in LA this coming weekend and I was invited to march with the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills Democrats. I did so a couple of years ago, but think I am going to skip it this year. A) it’s going to be hot; near to 90 degrees. B) It’s going to be televised and the last thing I need is my fat, sweaty self walking Santa Monica on Camera for the world to see. Not that I’m vain or nothin’..

I finally used up the last of a scent that I had been rationing out since I was not sure that I could get more: Miller et Bertaux Spiritus Land #2. It’s a delicious spicy, soapy musk on me that’s light but still has presence. The bottle I had I bought at a shop on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica which was no longer carrying the line. The 75% full bottle was was about $30 and after I tested it out I leapt on it. Oddly, Lauren Bacall was there in the shop and smelled it when I tried it and asked if they had more. When she was told no she gave me a look that should have made me hand it over with my compliments. It didn’t. I did find another bottle, sealed, on eBay so we will see what happens with that; I got it for less that ½ the $155 retail charged at Aedes de Venustas. I’m considering it my birthday present.

Speaking of half off, smell bent is having their annual garage sale, including clearing out some of the leftover discontinued scants. Your chance to stock up. I love smell bent because while the price point is cheap, the scents don’t smell cheap. Smellbent.com

Which leads me to Dior Sauvage, a sample of which popped up in a GWP package recently. I had grown up on the classic, iconic Eau Sauvage (although I am askairt to see what it smells like today.) Eau Sauvage is classic, suave and timeless. Wearing it you feel like Cary Grant speeding along the Monegasque coast in a Mercedes convertible with Grace Kelly at the wheel. Sauvage isn’t suave or timeless and I doubt will last more than a few years. Wearing it I feel like me, sweating on the bus to my job in the mail room, blissfully unaware that my cheap and overwhelming cologne will telegraph my lack of discernment to the brass and keep me sorting mail until I retire or die of a lethal paper cut.

There are about 6 things at smell bent that are much better and will cost a little more than half of Sauvage.

Sauvage is available at… oh who cares. My sample was a gift with purchase.

Miller et Bertaux full line is available at Aedes de Venustas, a place that is worth a trip to New York City. Aedes.com

smell bent is available at smellbent.com. They have sample packs available but even full bottles are hard to wrong with, especially at garage sale prices. I have purchased several and only have beend disappointed when one I liked was discontinued.

Image: Internets

  • Cheri says:

    It’s going to be a scorcher through large parts of CA. I don’t even
    worry until the thermometer goes above 106° F. I’ve grown up with it, lived with it for many years. My savior is the quick drive (90 miles) to the cool coast.
    I stick to lighter scents, too. They aren’t all citrus frags, either. A nice raspberry and rose scent with a light drydown works. Or, almost anything good, just in smaller amounts.

  • Maya says:

    Soooooo true. We’ve had a couple of days like that recently and the temp was only in the low 80’s!

  • Maya says:

    I never minded the CA heat because it was dry heat, not like NE with its awful mugginess. Good luck with the Miller et Bertaux Spiritus Land #2. “Blissfully unaware”? LOL.

    • Tom says:

      I am always happy to be in SoCal dry heat- even then it got up to 110 degrees. I grew up in the NE and remember those dreadful sticky days where you wanted a whower as soon as you got out of the shower, and that it wouldn’t break, even at midnight..

      • Cheri says:

        Ugh. Reminds of one day in New Jersey – 92° and pouring rain. Next day was 90, but the humidity made it feel like 103.