by Musette

So……I’m still having sinii issues but the saline flushes are helping a lot.  Forget the neti pot.  Since my biggest problem is the post-nasal ickola, I just snort the stuff like a walrus, to clear out all that schtuff!   TMI, I’m soooo sure but, hey!  y’all are family and family gets to share the good, the bad and the goober.

Perfumes are still a bit weird, with the exception of some heavy hitters like Carnal Flower and Tribute Attar, both of which could blast through the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.  The heavier Amouages and Malles have withstood this long sinus siege – my biggest fear is that, in my altered state, I might’ve terrified some Uninitiated with an over-application.  Nobody’s keeled over, so far….

But we’re not here to talk about nasal ick.  Or over-application of the big guns.  We’re here to talk about Candles! which is something I normally don’t go on about, as they usually aggravate my sinuses.  But you all know my love for the Malles.  And he has three new ones.  Let’s start with Marius and Jeannette:  sunny days at a sidewalk cafe in St Tropez.  Or Choo-Choo Charlie.  Much depends upon your frame of reference.  I barely get to Chicago these days, let alone the South of France, so Good ‘n Plenty must be my immediate memory trigger.  Doesn’t matter, both are fun though the idea of sitting in the South of France AND eating Good ‘n Plenty would set me up just fine… ….anyhoo…Marius and Jeannette is one of the new Malle candles. I don’t know if he is referencing the film or the restaurant (or both) and I don’t care.   It’s a blast!  Really.  There’s no other way to describe it.  First sniff conjures up a hot, sunny day (anywhere – doesn’t matter) and a cool, refreshing Pastis, the ubiquitous anise drink of the Riviera.  Bruno Jovanovic created this (and the two below) for Malle’s Editions de Parfums and I must say I’m a bit surprised, given that I’m not a fan of the perfumes I associate with him (Lady Million? Blue Rush?) – but perhaps his previous clients have not allowed his talent to transcend their marketing briefs.   He’s fortunate that Malle has no one to please but himself and has such discerning taste and appreciation for the perfumers’ art and talent.  Under M. Malle’s aegis Bruno Jovanovic has created, in these candles, some truly remarkable scents.  I actually got the giggles! with Marius & Jeannette!  Fizzy, floral licorice, with a hint of salt-tinged citrus for that sunny sunny, summer day!  Man, I sure could use one of those right now.

Chez Monsieur.  M. Malle has long averred that home fragrances aren’t and shouldn’t be sexy (taking this right from the charming new brochure, though I have also heard him say it directly).  I’m not exactly sure what he means by that, as I would happily scent my home with Carnal Flower, which I consider to be tres sexy!  But he goes on to say that ” the scent of a men’s den is a slight exception to this rule, as one feels, when smelling it, the presence of its proprietor amongst the precious woods, tobacco and books.”

Obviously he has never been to my house.  El O and the dogs own-occupy the den.  The scents of those proprietors, relaxing in all their Guy Glory, is…well, it’s worlds away from the dens of M. Malle’s milieu.  I like his version better – and I know what he means.  Anybody who has ever had an elegant man wrap his coat or jacket around you (think Thomas Crown at the Met, with whatshername, when he plays her with the keys – remember that? )….that frisson when the aura of ‘male’ meets its complement – I suspect that is what M. Malle is referencing.  And he got it totally right in Chez Monsieur.   I think of this as a decidedly urbane scent – I can’t imagine having this candle in my house – it’s not fabulous enough (the house, I mean).  Really!  This is has a very elegant, metropolitan feel to it – or, perhaps the country house library of a sophisticated man who knows himself.  Hearty country squires and arrivistes need not apply.  This is probably the first of M. Malle’s candles that is aspirational in tone (I find all the others ‘friendlier’ in tone).   If I ever get back to civilization I will put this candle in my library.

Notre Dame left me cold.  Not its fault.  Mine.  I was convent raised.  BVM nuns, the meanest in the land.   I am lapsed to within an inch of my life.  Cathedrals give me hives.  Somebody with fewer issues with the Catholic Church will have to revisit this one.  I got a whiff of gorgeous frankincense before I veered away from the candle’s austere chilliness.   But here’s a fun fact:  Frederic Malle was an altarboy!  See?  The things you learn on the Posse!

I forgot to get the persack prices for these three but Malle candles run from $80 – $140 so fall in love accordingly.  When I have this sort of Discretionary Simoleanism again I will probably indulge in this line – they are on par with other niche candle lines, they are incredibly well-crafted and – most important – they don’t make my sinuses ache.  Hat Trick for Musette!

photo of Pastis Marius tray: courtesy my-french-neighbor.com

drawings, courtesy  Frederic Malle brochure – aren’t they adorable?

(By Ann)

Candles get a lot of play in the winter, especially during the holidays. In the past, I’ve been more of a diffuser and reeds girl, but now I’m looking to expand my candle repertoire. My kind of candle doesn’t have to be uber-expensive, but it helps if it’s pretty and, most of all — it must have great “throw”! It annoys the living daylights out of me to have to practically stand right over a candle to smell it.

Although it’s not a hugely beloved line among perfumistas, I’ve had great success with Bond No. 9 candles, and currently have Little Italy and New Haarlem. These two fragrances are fabulous when worn together,  so I’ve tried burning the two together with good results. My small Kai candles pack a pretty good punch, and I recently got a batch of Seda France travel candles on sale to explore that line’s scent range.

I’ve heard good things about the Henri Bendel ones, especially Firewood, which I’m hoping Santa will bring me. And I’m very curious about the Diptyque and Cire Trudon lines as well as By Kilian. Of course, as Patty and Musette have mentioned over the course of the past year or so, we can’t forget those divine Frederic Malle candles. I’ve yet to smell one in person, but it’s on my sniffin’ bucket list.

So please help me out here and weigh in on your favorite candles and why, or the ones you’d most like to have (or any kind of home scenting products, for that matter).

March is knee-deep in family stuff (all garden-variety, no Drama – but you know how those days go)…so it’s meeeee!  your sweetpatootieMusette, back for another day!

Hey!  Whereyagoin?  GET BACK HERE!

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!  The cookies! The tree! The Hanukkah candles! Fruitcake! The Cheesy Music (you know you love it!  I’m bustin’ out the Carpenters in a few minutes!)

And the Presents!  Every year, I indulge in this Give/Get-Hi/Low Fantasy.  The extravagance depends much upon the state of my simoleans but no matter what, it’s a fun game.  This year I only did  a couple of ‘gets’ because…well, I’m still struggling with the square footage of this house – and anytime you’ve lost several pairs of Beverly Feldman shoes (in a box somewhere, in storage.  Somewhere).  well, you have Too Much Stuff.   Except diamonds.  One can never have too many diamonds.  And if one can, I’m certainly willing to be the guinea pig for that particular experiment.

But for this post I’m focused on the ‘Gives”.   Here are a couple:
Scented (non-Perfume) Gifts:

High:  Frederic Malle Candles.  I would probably stick with 1er Mai because I love it so and it’s an easy one for non-perfumistas to ‘get’.  For my more avant-gardes?  Coffee Society, with that indefinable smell of energy, elegance and culture. Low:   Custom-made diffuser blends (with the sticks and everything) and easier to do than you might think.

Bath Stuff I would love to give or get:   High:  Amouage Epic and Jubliation 25 bath gel and body cremes.  Need I say more?  Low: Pacifica Persian Rose (for March) and Malibu Lemon Blossom Body Washes – they’re really nicely done and at $10 a pop…c’mon!   I haven’t tried their body butters yet but the Tibetan Mountain Temple sounds divine.   I might use that Persian Rose to amp up the rose in Tribute, since Christopher Chong doesn’t love me enough to make a Tribute cream <sob!>

Foodstuff: High:  Pierre Herme Macarons for all my macaron freaky-friends (I prefer sables meself).  Low: Pierre Herme Macaron cookbook.  Especially if you’ve got a mean streak. Another great ‘low’ : homemade nut brittle.   I’ve been making this since the recipe first came  out in 2007 here    You’re welcome.

Books:  High: Michael Edwards Fragrances of the World 2011 edition.  What a beautiful, informative book !  Low:  Posh Crossword Puzzle books.  Addictive.  And you can throw them in the smallest handbag!  They have number-y versions as well (I think that’s what Sodoku is, isn’t it?  It has numbers which means I try to avoid it, when I can…but my sister loves those!  She actually took an accounting course – for fun!  Weirdo.

So what are your wants to give?  To get?  Are you giving perfume this year?  Books?   Something over the top?   El O wants this diesel extended-cab pickup truck.    Yah.  I’ll get right on that!

So, has anyone else been schvitzing to beat the band one day and freezing the next? I thought I’d seen it all during my one roller coaster mid-Atlantic summer, but so far, this spring in Toronto has been one for the ages. Rain for days on end, then oppressive heat for a few hours, then crisp fall-like air, then more rain. It got so hot the other day, I practically kidnapped my building’s super and insisted he install my casement-window air conditioner at gunpoint (not really). Little did I know that it would be a 2 hour job, complete with him having to blowtorch the crank off the window frame. It was quite a scene.

I will never find shame in admitting that I refuse to get through a summer without air conditioning. I’ve been wondering lately how people can live, hermetically sealed in their homes or apartments, sans cool air. I’m also quite the scarf skeptic; especially when I see a woman in shorts and a tank top with a large, diaphanous scarf draped ’round her neck. It just doesn’t make sense to me. What’s this have to do with fragrance? Well, nothing really, just a few things I’ve been mulling over that I felt like sharing.

I’ve also been wondering about everyone’s home fragrance choices. I used to be a huge candle fan, but I’ve grown quite weary of them. They’ve become so ubiquitous that they’ve lost much of their personality. Mind you, I’m not maligning all the online candle-ers and soapers out there. I think they’re perfectly fine, just no longer my cup of tea. What I’ve really gotten into lately have been those ambient fragrance reed diffuser sticks. I don’t know what it is about a grouping of sticks in a large – it has to be large – a 500 ml or more, bottle of scented liquid. The look just screams fabulous to me and I have no idea why. Maybe it’s the scattering of sticks that attracts me, like the scattering of my thoughts, or the scattering of certain parts of my life over the course of these past few years. Maybe there’s a lesson there about a moth being drawn to a flame; the moth can have it. Staring into a flame has never been captivating for me. But staring at a grouping of sticks captivates me to no end. Here, take a look:

I wish I could be more articulate in explaining it, but that to me is just so much more fabulous than a candle. And, I particularly love the Alora Ambiance line of diffusers. Their scents are amazing and the look of their product just about beats the pants off any other brand – with the exception of Antica Farmacista.

You can’t see the entire length of the sticks in the image at right, but you’ll have to trust me that it’s just something about the shapes of the bottles, along with these long sticks poking out the tops that does it for me. And the scents purveyed by these two companies are amazing. I’m smitten with Agrume from Alora Ambiance, which is a blend of grapefruit, orange and eucalyptus, Arancia – citrus and gardenia, Fico – ripe figs and green notes, and Vaniglia – vanilla.

From Antica Farmacista, their Vanilla Bourbon and Mandarin is luscious, along with Green Fig, Sandalwood Amber, Pomegranate & Currant and Santorini – citrus, green notes, spices and woods. All of these are swoon worthy in their bottles, but I don’t think I would ever wear any of them on my skin. Isn’t that funny? What I love to smell in the air isn’t necessarily what I would want to smell on myself. I guess I could equate that to a pot of homemade tomato sauce bubbling away on the stove or a roasting chicken. Notice I didn’t make the warm cake, cookies, and pie comparison, because I get into my foodie moods and would so walk out of the house smelling like a freshly baked pumpkin pie if the mood strikes me.

I realize these reed diffusers are like the Rolls Royces of home fragrance. You could probably buy a case of Glade scented candles for one of these; both Alora Ambiance and Antica Farmacista sell their 500 ml sizes for over $90.00. There are just some things that warrant the “go big or go home” approach. In this case, I think these are well worth it.

Fess Up Time: How do you all like to scent your surroundings?