Celebrity scents are for the most part, not to put too fine a point on it, crap.  Oh, there are ones that are wonderful: Miller Harris l’Air de Rien and Etat Libre Like This are exceptions but for every one of those there’s 10 Britnay Kardoostian’s Phrooty Phantasy or 12 Incontinence by Paducah Budgetel.  Ones that are perhaps too literal looks into the naming person, in that the scents are cheap, strident and ultimately insufferable.

Jennifer by Jennifer Aniston is not that.

Jennifer starts off with a bright citrus burst and some cabbage rose, adds in a very clean jasmine and finishes with a hint of warm woods and a slightly salty skin scent.  It’s lovely really: completely wearable and balances the floral, citrus and beachy skin aspect in a way that’s well, pretty is the word I keep coming back to.  No bad thing at all.

Angelina?

Created by Lyn Harris exclusively for London stores (Harrod, Liberty, at least, not sure which others), Le Petit Grain is based on different parts of the orange blossom tree – oils of peels, fruits, flowers and leaves. Other notes are angelica root, eau de brouts absolute, bergamot, rosemary, red thyme, French tarragon, lavender, petit grain absolute, Tunisian neroli, oak moss, vetiver, and patchouli leaves.

Can I say how annoyed I am by these store-specific fragrances?  They made the lovely Rose en Noir exclusive to Liberty, too, I believe, which is a shame because I think it would be a huge hit if more people had access to it.  I think you can order Le Petit Grain off the Miller Harris site, though, so that’s something.

Lyn Harris’ homage to the traditional Eau de Cologne, it is citrus on the open and very much a crisp edc start. There’s some parallels I draw between it and my beloved Santa Maria Novella Eva in the opening phase.  While Eva stays in the crisp citrus arena, Le Petit Grain is richer with the other notes it brings to the party.  There’s an odd and interesting quality to it that I can’t quite put my finger on, i’m guessing the angelica mixed with the tarragon and rosemary, plus the petit grain running around just to make it more interesting.  There’s an underlying note that smells almost… oily?  I don’t mean that in a bad way at all, it’s just unexpectedly dark under all that light.  It’s had me transfixed – my nose out a few inches or just smelling the cloud, it’s light and airy and beautiful. Up close, it’s definitely got a “hot mechanic” vibe going.  That’s it!  It’s that hot mechanic with the combed-back hair and bulging biceps coming to pick you up for a date in his best cologne.  Okay, I think I need to shower now.

It’s really enchanting.  Light enough to not be overbearing, but enough complex sinisterness in the mix of notes that it changes in the drydown while not losing that almost innocent feel.  Very unisex

I’ve been asked about The Party in Manhattan. I’ve sent on samples to March and Lee,and we hope to do a three-way on it in the near future, so stay tuned!

We haven’t talked about my very selective TV obsession in a while.  Reminder for Dexter fans – the new season starts this month.  But does anyone here watch “Mad Men“?  I’m catching up on Season 1 now before I move on to my DVR’d Season 2.  That show has amazing pitch-perfect capture of a place/time (’50s/’60s advertising game in NYC, complete with suburban housewives), and it treats its characters with compassion and humor. My favorite scene so far:  The beautiful Grace Kelly’esque wife of Don Draper, who is just a bubble off of plum… maybe?… heading out the front door in her perfect suburban neighborhood in her flowing white negligee, cigarette dangling from her lips, raises her shotgun and starts blasting at her neighbor’s pigeons in response to his threat to kill her kids’ dog.

 If you’re not watching it, why not? 

Patty