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

Hello,  lovely Posse people and happy fall! It finally feels like autumn here since we’ve had our first days with temps in the upper 60s and nights in the 40s and 50s — hooray!!

 First off, congratulations to Dana, the winner of the Tauer Pentachord samples (via random.org). Just click on the Contact Us button over on the left, and send your name and address and a reminder of what you’ve won and we’ll get those out to you.

I don’t have much for you today as I’m dealing with a house crisis. A water pipe burst and flooded most of our downstairs. The cleanup is pretty much done: We’ve been dehumidified, dried out, de-molded, de-floored and de-wallpapered now. In fact, we jokingly sing “Oh, oh, livin’ on a slab” to the tune of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

Nearly all our furniture has been placed in a huge storage container in our driveway, so in addition to being slab dwellers, we’re also pod people now. All of this has been far from pleasant but it could have been much worse (second floor flooding, can you imagine? Yikes!), so I can’t complain too much.

That is, until the other day. The most difficult challenge for me came when the movers decided to relocate our antique hutch/secretary oh, just a foot or two WITHOUT SECURING THE GLASS DOORS OR THE CONTENTS. (Sorry, didn’t mean to shout there.) As you can imagine, it didn’t end well. The hutch doors flew open and all of my collectibles, knickknacks, etc., came tumbling out onto the concrete slab. (No perfume bottles, though, thank goodness.)

I know it was an accident, and these things do happen, but I’m glad I wasn’t there when it occurred. My husband looked at the guy who was doing the moving, shook his head and said, “Oh, boy, this isn’t going to be pretty.”

Fortunately, some things did survive, although others did not, such as a porcelain bust from my grandmother and a miniature tea set from my husband. I know they’re just things, but it’s hard to lose items when they’re rich in sentimental value.

Anyway, the supervisor is coming today to assess the loss for insurance purposes, and we also have to make final decisions on paint colors, flooring, etc., so I won’t be able to chat with you guys today.

But if you want to share your house horror stories, just know that I’ll pop in from time to time and will be commiserating with you.

 The weather here  has gotten a bit cooler, thank heavens, and that’s revved up my  wanderlust. I love traveling in the fall,  enjoying those lovely moderate temps between hot, hot, hot and freeze-your-ears-off cold. Of course, in my current economic state, it’s just a pipe dream for now, but so fun to ponder.

 So I’m posing this question to all you lovely Posse people:   If you could go perfume shopping for just one day in any city in the world (you know, snap your fingers and you’re there kind of thing), where would it be?

 Hmm, tough decision — or maybe not.

  As for me, despite the considerable charms of  London, Paris, New York and so many other wonderful cities, I think I’d have to go with San Francisco. Although I must admit to being sorely tempted by the fifth-floor Haute Parfumerie at Harrod’s, the Ormonde Jayne boutiques and other London lovelies.

 Anyway, SF has always been my favorite city because of its cool, humidity-free climate,  laid-back, anything-goes vibe and its accessibility — getting around is fairly easy and not too expensive. And between Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and the Chanel, Hermes and Diptyque boutiques, you can find pretty much anything you want, scent-wise, and all within walking distance, if you don’t mind walking uphill a bit.

 When the stores close, there are heavenly restaurants (dim sum, anyone?), scrumptious Dungeness crab, sourdough bread and Michael Recchiuti chocolates in which to indulge. Plus, touristy as it sounds, for me nothing beats the  sheer fun of riding the cable cars on a cool evening with the city lights all aglow. And did I mention that fabulous Dungeness crab?

 Oh, yes, I think I’ll leave my heart (and everything else) in the lovely city by the bay.

 Now, what about you? Fill me in on your fantasy sniffing trip.

Don’t forget to drop by Perfume Smellin’ Things today for the next great interview/review installment of Brian Pera’s and Andy Tauer’s film/perfume collaboration

Sorry, guys and gals, I had a longer post planned for today, but one crisis, and then
another (cracked oil pan in my car), prompted a slight change of plan.
So in the interest of brevity, here’s a fun fantasy post for Wednesday.
If you had to limit yourself to only one perfume house and could wear only three scents from that house, which would you choose?
I know there’ll be some Guerlain lovers weighing in, as well as fans of Chanel, Serge, etc.
As for me, it would be tough, but with price and availability (location-wise at least) no object, that made
it a little easier. I also took into consideration the weather/seasons to ensure that I had a great scent to
wear no matter what time of year it was.
All things considered, I think I’ll go with these three from Le Labo:
My beloved sunshine-bright Tubereuse 40 (I know you guys are sick of hearing about it); the yummy
warm vanilla incense of Vanille 44; and the elegant, calming simplicity of Gaiac 10.
Can’t wait to hear what your picks are!

Most of you know I’m not particularly fond of patchouli. In fact, I’ve made it abundantly clear how much I can’t stand the stuff. Well, I’ve had a change of heart.

Last month I reviewed some amazing natural perfumes by perfumer Amanda Feeley, some of which contained natural patchouli in their blends. She sells her wonderful scents under the brand Esscentual Alchemy.

Shortly after my 2-part review appeared, I got a message from Monica Miller, one of my Facebook friends, and another natural perfumer at Perfume Pharmer. Monica wanted me to take part in her “Summer of Patchouli Love” as a “Patch Test Bunny”. After I’d sung the praises of Amanda’s compositions, I’d have been more of a crash test dummy after a 50 mile an hour impact in a SmartCar if I refused.

The idea was for a bunch of us perfume bloggers to blind-test 13 different natural patchouli based scents and pick our top 3. And these were no ordinary scents; they were composed by well known natural perfumers including Liz Zorn, Opus Oils, Dawn Spencer-Hurwitz, Amanda Feeley, Ambrosia Jones and others. The judges were nothing to sneeze at either: Marlon Elliot Harrison, Nathan Branch, Donna Hathaway, Felicia Hazzard, and some other well known bloggers. And me!

I have to admit I was a bit frightened by the task, since, well, the idea of patchouli used to make me want to hose myself down with a power washer. I now have to specify that it’s the patchouli found in mainstream scents, such as Angel, or those ubiquitous “fruitchoulis” that make many of us squirm. Natural patchouli is a totally different animal, and when it is blended with other ingredients by skillful perfumers like the ones who participated, it bears absolutely no resemblance to the stuff that makes me want to exfoliate myself with cement.

All the selections were 100 percent natural and contained at least 25 percent patchouli. Monica lovingly hand-decanted all the scents into vials and sent packages to all us judges. She created a Facebook group for all of us to share our thoughts. Now, here’s where things get interesting:

Monica mailed out all the samples around the second week in June, just before a postal strike/lockout was declared here in Canada. There were roving postal strikes in some Canadian cities before Canada Post decided to cease all mail delivery nationwide. My original package from Monica was hijacked by the strike.

As time wore on and there didn’t seem to be an end in site (the workers were finally legislated back to work by Parliament last Sunday), Monica decided I needed an alternate means of getting my sample package. She somehow managed to get more samples to another one of the judges, Cirque de Soleil casting advisor, Gillian Ferrabee, who happens to live in Montreal. So, my second set of samples were ferried from Gillian in Montreal via courier service to me in Toronto. I finally received them last Friday, and spent the better part of a week completely enrobed in patchouli. Laugh all you want, but it was fabulous. I am now a reformed patchouli hater.

The composers of each scent were finally revealed on Thursday, after I picked my final 3. Much to my delight, one of the compositions I chose was the Amanda Feeley scent, “Queen of Punk” that I loved so much. Remember, I had no information other than a numbered vial.

My other choices were a scent called “Happiness” by Ambrosia Jones (Perfume by Nature) and “Patchouli Paisley” by Lyn Ayre. Truthfully, all 13 compositions were fabulous, including one by Shelley Waddington, named “Go Ask Alice”, which was chosen by most of the other judges. It was absolutely stunning, but too strongly floral for my comfort level. For me, it is one of those compositions I could sniff forever, but never wear on my skin.

Speaking of judges, there is also a cadre of celebrity panelists waiting to be heard from: Singers Patti Austin, Mary J. Blige, actresses Kim Novak (!) and Jodie Foster, and some other well known industry people. Us bloggers were first, and now the celebs are poised to weigh in.

I am so grateful to Monica for giving me the opportunity to expand my fragrance horizons and I now appreciate the art of perfumery on a completely different level than what I’m used to. I’ve dabbled in natural fragrances before, but never in this setting, and it was a wonderful experience. I’m so impressed by the talents of these artists, as well as the dedication of the natural perfume community to spreading the word about their wonderful creations.

I’m looking forward to sniffing many more natural perfumes; look for another review from me in the coming weeks from another natural perfumer I’ve heard good things about.

Happy Canada Day and Happy Fourth of July to everyone! And remember: Peace, Love and Patchouli – or PLAP for short!