Years ago, when I was a fragrance neophyte, I only wanted to smell like vanilla. That was during the early 90s before the proliferation of food-as-fragrance, and sadly, before I was able to appreciate a scent as groundbreaking as Cher´s Uninhibited. My entrée into vanilla whoredom (way before almond whoredom) was L´Artisan Parfumeur´s Vanilia. From there, I moved on to Comptoir´s Vanille, Vanille Abricot, Vanille Tiare – even though I usually run from gardenia as fast as I can, Vanille Amande, and so on. There was never enough vanilla for me; until it became as common as a Starbucks on two out of every four street corners. When I started smelling that plasticky vanilla flavoring smell – you know, that stuff that comes in the small brown plastic bottle that´s supposed to resemble vanilla, I knew it was time to move on.
One recent craze that I never really got into is ouds. Any of the ones I´ve smelled have been so overpowering that I could not imagine wearing so much as a microscopic drop. I don´t think I knew what oud was until the Montale line of fragrances hit North America. Having never traveled to Southeast Asia or India, I had no idea that oud is the resin distilled from agarwood, a species of evergreen indigenous to Southeast Asia and India. Well, now I consider myself informed; but my relationship with ouds is still in its infancy. It makes me think of when I went to Rome, and had dinner at a lovely restaurant around the corner from where I stayed. It was my first night there and I just about fell face-first into my dinner plate from jet lag. At the end of the meal, some of the people I was traveling with ordered coffee and grappa. I tasted a few of the grappas and made the grave error of making a couple of not very attractive faces when I tasted ones I didn´t like. We were a party of 12 and one of our waiters spotted my distaste for the grappa. He was so upset that he came back with a tray of about 8 different bottles of grappa and gave me little tastes until I found one I liked. The resulting hangover, combined with my jet lag, was epic; but now, I can do with a little grappa from time to time, as long as no one catches me making any nasty faces.
I´ve negotiated the same sort of détente with ouds, now that I´ve smelled the ones from Comptoir. You can insert the adjective “wearable”, in front of just about every note in the fragrance universe, including ouds. And these are some wearable ouds:
Aoud de Nuit: Bergamot, black currant, black rose, iris, vanilla, cardamom, saffron and cedar wood. This one is my favorite; one guess as to why. The vanilla blends so well with the saffron and cedar wood that it stays clean all the way into the drydown, without becoming overpoweringly sweet.
Aouda: Rose, geranium, chamomile, amyris, niaouli, copahu balm, cedar wood, tolu balsam, patchouli and oud accord. I found this a bit heavy on the rose, with some strong vegetation in the background. I think some of you vintage jezebels out there would love this one; it has a very classic twin-set-and-a-strand-of-pearls feel. Mind you, that would be a twin set and a strand of pearls worn with a pencil skirt and heels. Jeans and flats would be far too contradictory.
Nomaoud: Saffron, ylang ylang, purple rose, rockrose, cedar wood, cashmeran, oud wood, amyris, sandalwood, warm amber, leather and black musk. This is by far the sexiest of the four. The rose notes aren´t nearly as strong as they are in Aouda, and the drydown is warm and musky with just a hint of leather. I wouldn´t call this dirty or animalic, but it definitely exudes a not too subtle sexiness.
Oud Intense: Black currant, lemon, rose, patchouli, amber, pine needles, musk. Here, you have to really love pine, because it is the strongest note by far. This oud is also the most masculine. Don´t get me wrong, women can definitely wear this, but again, you have to love pine. I can envision Philosophy´s Cristina Carlino pitching this one out an office window, since pine is one of the notes she´s always bleating about when it comes to what she thinks we should never smell of. Wasn´t there a pine debate here on the Posse not too long ago? Help me please, because my short term memory is shot right now. I fear I may be working on a dementia.
These are all packaged in Comptoir´s signature aluminum bottle; 100 ml for $110.00. You can find them now at lushoasis.com, and for the MD/DC/VA crowd, I believe Art with Flowers will have them soon. Right now, you can snag 6 CSP samples for free when you order a 100 ml CSP over at Lush Oasis.
Lee asked me to pass along congrats to Alica, who is the lucky winner of his sample drawing from his “You Repulse Me” post last week. Alica, hit the “Contact Us” link at the top left of the page and leave your info. And don´t forget to warn your postal carrier!
Item One: Sniffa attendees — you should all have gotten your email itineraries. I didn’t realize it was such a full schedule. What say we try to hook up during the two-hour cocktail deal Saturday night (6:30 – 8:30) at BlueMercury, assuming we haven’t met already? Everyone in the Posse wears a scarf or bandanna? How does that sound? I’m thinking about wearing a tiara. Too much?
Okay, today’s post. Maria sent me a package — with a typed letter, organizing her thoughts. I thought it would be fun sharing it with you.
“Dear March,
Here are a few things in various categories.
Some Scents You May Not Yet Know
Comptoir Sud Pacifique Thé EDP, discontinued several years ago. “Don´t worry about your blood sugar level! CSP used to produce some fragrances with character. Lapsang souchong is at the base of this strong scent. Warning: this is the most powerful sillage monster we own. Very hard to find, I understand.” March says: wow, that´s beautiful. I get a camphorous lapsang opening, then straight into a sweet-tea and other interesting bits (suede and musk?) This is reminding me of something, a men’s scent with tobacco? I can’t think of what and it’s driving me nuts.
Fendi Theorema (shimming body lotion) and Esprit d´Ete (EDT) – “Less complex and not as deep as our beloved Theorema, this summer version is a nice fragrance in its own right. Imagination Perfumery sells it for $16.99 while supplies last. The lotion puts down a subtle golden shimmer. I wonder if the plasticky quality of the scent comes from the tube it was packaged in.” March says: I see this online occasionally dirt cheap and never bought it. Smelling this summer version of Theorema I realized: Theorema ruined light, sweet orange blossom scents for me forever. The stunning beauty of Theorema´s dark, almost liquored, spicy candied orange peel has made almost every other orange scent seem pale and soapy. Here, let me list regular Theorema´s notes just so I can drool on my keyboard: nutmeg, pepper, orange, rosewood, rose, ylang-ylang, carnation, cinnamon, labdanum, patchouli, sandalwood, benzoin. There – are you drooling too? Anyway, I can´t find the notes for Esprit d´Ete, but it´s a much lighter, much less spicy, more linear orange scent — a good choice for someone who likes the slightly powdery, soapy floral sweetness of orange blossom rather than the sweet-tart acidity of the fruit. That regular Theorema body lotion, though – ugh. It smells like mildew to me.
Trussardi Jeans EDT “At first I liked this. Then I thought it was meh. I can´t decide.” March says: Wait … this is a men´s fragrance? It smells like heliotrope! Hang on … researching … oh, okay, this must be the women´s. Notes: green notes, fruits, almond, violet, tuberose, white lily, heliotrope, musk, vanilla and woods. I do think it´s pretty, a delicate powdery scent. It´s got a nice, light musk, and it´s a little bready, which I also like. Too much powder for my taste, but you powdery comfort-scent people might love this, and it´s a screaming deal online.
Scents I Cannot Hack and I´m Not Ashamed to Admit It
CB Musk Reinvention absolute “It asked me to send it to March.” March says: That´s because it knows it´s coming home to the Mother Ship. It can sit next to my own personal bottle of CB Musk Reinvention on the shelf, which I keep in its special airtight container designed to keep the XXXL skank from tainting everything around it. One of the very few scents I´ve seen people sniff and literally jerk their heads away from, like they´ve been bitten. Can I say I think it´s beautiful?
Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman “It will be more appreciated by you. I hate it violently.” Notes: Cardamom, coriander, grass oil, black hemlock, violet, jasmine absolute, vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, amber (and thank you Basenotes, I missed you!) March says: Wow. Oh, wow. Having tried this several times, I´d already typed a lead-in sentence about admiring OJ Woman´s masculine beauty while finding it unwearable – the only one of the OJ line I´ve not been able to love. Then I popped open the vial. You just never know, do you? Because all my murky Black Forest fears with this one, that primeval bit that creeps me out just enough that I can´t relax and enjoy it, seem to have vanished, replaced by something still dark but playful – a fairy tale involving an evil witch but with a happy ending. I still wouldn´t spray this thing on with abandon – on me it´s very strong, definitely a dabber. That resin/urine note which I´m guessing is hemlock can be (interestingly) modified by adding a dab of CB Black March, although it sounds a little sacrilegious to me, layering an OJ, frankly. It´s like touching up a masterpiece. I keep doing the first fifteen minutes over and over again, just for that rush of spicy violet. I wish the drydown were a tad sweeter, but nonetheless. I feel like I´ve finally gained admittance into some exclusive club.
Rochas Femme edp “I’m glad you like the reformulation more than I do.” March says: what, too much armpit? I have the vintage too, and it´s gorgeous, but a completely different scent, a woody chypre. The cumin in Femme was apparently added to try to achieve the same kind of shock level. I find the combination of cumin and the macerated peachy sweetness quite seductive.
Parfums de Nicolai Maharanih EDP “You´d think it would be my sort of thing. It isn´t.” March says: and I am surprised, because I would think it´s your sort of thing. I did a brief impression of Maharanih on my PdN post here, and can I say yet again what a woefully underappreciated line PdN is in my opinion, due in no small part to the fact that you almost never see them in a retail location? Clyde´s Pharmacy on Madison Ave. in NYC has some, but I have never seen them anywhere else outside the PdN store in London. Maharanih´s notes are orange essence and bitter orange peel, rose essence, carnation, cinnamon, patchouli, sandalwood, civet. Interestingly, this doesn´t even register to my nose as particularly orange-y – it´s a spicy pomander type of scent, unsweet, and that woody civet base combined with the florals is lovely. Some of the PdNs wear a bit sharp on me, but considering what an unusual flaw that is in current perfumery – not sweet enough! – I´m not going to complain about it. March the Maleficent decrees: everyone should love at least one PdN. I´m very fond of this and Balkis Light, which of course is impossible to find. Maria, I wonder if you like any of the others better? Have you tried Eau Exotique? New York? I know there are some PdN nuts on here!
Anyway, Maria, thanks very much for reminding me why I love perfume, and the people who love perfume.
cartridge wrappers: sullivanpress.com
March
