More NYC – Part II

I defy you to look at that bottle and not want to possess it.  The bonus is that the juice inside smells pretty great. Both March and I had to wear it for a while before making sure we weren’t just buying it for the bottle, but that it does have a wonderful scent we are happy to wear — easy to wear and interesting, without making it weird.  Notes of cedar, vetiver, sandalwood, osmanthus, Brazilian marshland lily, purple plum, oppoponax, cinnamon, cardamom, pink and black pepper.  On the open, I wasn’t too sure.  The top seemed a little too generic for about 5-10 minutes, but in the drydown, you get more pepper, and it eventually evolves into a totally great little incense scent. (March says: Rousse, schmoose — this thang smells like cinnamon spice incense, it’s light but lasts and lasts, it goes through an interesting armpitty phase the first half hour I am not complaining about.)  That it comes in the world’s most cunning little bottle is frosting, ladies!  Available at Bendel’s – $80 for 30 mls.  Put it on your Valentine’s Day list. BTW, the lady’s head screws off and on, it doesn’t get pulled off, which I think speaks volumes about the sensibility of having a bottle where you can daily make sure the head is screwed on tight.

That’s how March and I spent the morning, Bendel’s collecting the fab red girls and a couple more Bella Bellissima scents – two for men and one for women . The women’s Perfect Day, I need to spend a little more time with it, but it is a very pretty floral scent, charming, with no kinks in it. Those who are not fans of pretty, floral feminine scents, move along, nothing to see here.  There are two for men. One is much more aquatic -sea kelp, citris fruits, rosemary, carrot seed, violet leaf and woods – and nice, if you like aquatics, or even if you’re borderline, and the other that is a more traditional woody men’s scent, with notes of tonka bean, white thyme, basil and fresh green mandarin.  I surprisingly prefer the aquatic one in some ways.

Then it was off to the luncheon for Chandler Burr’s new book, The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York,which will be released Jan 22.  He was warm, friendly, funny, smart, enthusiastic.  It was fun to hear him talk about how the book came about, some of the difficulties of writing it and just how the industry works.  We smelled three scents that he has recently reviewed – Elle, Juicy Couture and Chloe – blind, and it was an interesting exercise in perception and the differences/biases we all smell with.  We’ve both just glanced at the first few pages of the book so far, but I think it will be a great read for anyone who wants to know what really happens behind the scenes when perfumers are making scents, and I think that pretty much applies to anyone who has any interest in scent. It was terrific for Hermes and Coty to open up the doors so we could see that process through Chandler’s eyes.

(Can I tell you how much I am loving the Guerlain Cruel Gardenia sniff?  I’m excited about all the new ones coming, if they are all new, but this gardenia is one I can wear and, yes, love!  There is a buttery, not bleu cheesy, feel that just is knocking my socks off. Those who need Roquefort with their gardenia scents, I cannot predict how you will feel about this  one.  It fits perfectly into the Matiere line and has that same silken, rich, elegant feel to it. )

So after lunch, we headed back uptown, picked up some things I needed at Hermes.  March smelled the new Brin de Reglisse, made the poopy face.  I think she loved the Poivre, which I’ve changed my mind about, too, in the last few months, and it now resides solidly in the love column.  Then we headed to Tak, saw the shabby reduction from one floor of hundreds of perfumes and cosmetics on the upper floor to a small corner on the first floor.  I suspect it will get better traffic on the first floor, but… *shrugs.*  After a great pot of tea and some cookies, we headed back to the hotel.

Always a treat to spend time with March, and it is treat to share what we found/learned with all of you.