By Anita
(March sneaking in here — winner of the bottle of Tauer is Melauriga, I’ll email you, congratulations! On to Anita’s post….)
6 October 2010: God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, Frederic Malle himself will be at the Chicago Barneys.
Alas, he will not be available to the hoi polloi, amongst whom I reside. Just 20 of his spendiest BFFs will get to enjoy an elegant hour with him.
Dangit
So I’m kicked to the curb – no matter. IMO the man is a genius and a true respecter of the perfumer’s art. And he looks to be a charming person, passionate about what he does. And I’m in Big Love with several of his scents. And there won’t be a cow or a pig in sight. So it’s a beautiful thing. Perhaps I can press my nose against the windowpane..
In the meantime, in honor of M. Malle’s pending visit to the Windy City, I’ve thrown down a couple of haiku-riffs on his Editions. Oh! not so fast, my little daisies! Can you bust the Haiku Mystery?! Some are easy-peas, some are a bit more abstruse and one or two are just silly! These are not intellectual exercises – I’m just channeling my inner numbskull – and the riff might be the only way I could juice the haiku. So don’t get mad if I crank on your favorite. Nothing personal! And don’t get all note-phobic on me, either. Remember, these these are the brainchilllun of a crazy, Benadryl-addled old bat. Try to think like a cranky,crazy person and you’ll do fine.
The winner (the first poster to get all 7 right – or however it shakes out within 48hrs of this post going up) will get 3 samples of Malle fragrances (don’t ask me what – I ain’t tellin’ cuz I don’t know yet! If there’s a Malle you’re dying to try, make note in your reply and I will try to accommodate!) And feel free to throw down a Malle/Editions 5-7-5 of your own! I’d love to read them! Don’t tell what you’re haiku-ing – it’ll be fun for us to guess!
1.Round loaves of warm bread
Wet,broken pot of lilacs
Oh, Liv..I love you
2. Cough syrup floating
on the frozen Zuiderzee
How does he do that?
3.Crabby little fleur
Spitting mean, green pith at me!
Don’t be so cranky!
4. White-throated ladies,
plump pink strumpets beckon…. Crap!
Who invited Musk?
5.Dark pink spun-silk sheets
The Rock, stretched across the bed
Yum! This is good stuff!
6.Yes. I had one, once
Twice. Okay !!! yeah, MANY times!!!
It was lots of fun!
7.Nipped-waist, grey New Look
Elegance personified
Then Dad came to stay
photo: wallpaper .jpeg (you know I SO wanted’ to use Fred Flintstone and his bud but I lost my nerve!)
samples: Barneys New York and my personal stash
1. En Passant
2.L’Eau d’Hiver
3 Cologne Bigarade
4 Carnal Flower
5 Dans Te Bras
6 French Lover
7 Vetiver Extraordinaire
I am guessing based on reviews from Edition De Parfums and the Net
Crossing my fingers.
now I think all reviews should be done haiku style! great post :)
I am in Paris and very tempted to wander over to FM and have a sniff fest. I keep wanting to get a full bottle of *something*, but can never decide.
I couldn’t even begin to guess, so I won’t :) but I must say I adore the haikus. ^:)^^:)^^:)^ Thank you ever so much for the smiles and giggles! :x
And my smilies are not displaying :(
mmm, went back and forth between retro and rampant…but like the idea of soft rampaging over a rage… ;)
Brava!
Hey, I’m a huge Malle fan, as you know. Neither hoi nor polloi, however. I’ll let others guess, and just make sure I get packed up in time to see you at the curb. ;)
You love Fred’s stuff more
Especially the softies
Did I get that right?
xo >-)
Softs rampant upon
Raging beloved Therese
or other way ’round?
this is tricky!
just guessing:
1: en passant
2: géranium pour monsieur
3: une rose
4: fleur de cassie
5: dans tes bras
6: French lover
7. Vétiver extraordinaire
Had to try my hand at the haiku. . .it’s been rolling around my head all day, but still not quite right. Be well.
A spirit’s warm scent
Symphonic, ladylike, wild
Carnal whisper haunts
(I’ll keep my day job :d )
I like it.
Carnal Flower?
I was aiming for Parfum de Therese, as it was created for the perfumer’s wife. It was her scent, and not released until long after her passing. It has this odd combination of things that shouldn’t work, but do. Melon (which I usually loathe), but atop rose, plum, cedar and sandalwood to oversimplify. It is hard to pick out individual notes in this one, it is so well blended.
Certainly has a feel of a classic bespoke perfume, created for a unique woman. Elegant, lovely, but also very strong and passionate. When I started my perfume obsession, I hated this, and thought it was just a mess. Now, it fascinates me. It is sort of an aspirational perfume for me, though. It wears me sometimes :D Be well.
Great post, Anita. Really fun to read the haikus and the guesses. Like many, I haven’t sniffed enough FM scents to know which is which. My favorite is lPdT, but I don’t sniff any melon in it. For that matter, I don’t sniff melon in Diorella either.
What fun– thanks for the laughs. Ok, I’ll play–
1. En Passant
2. Fleur de Cassie (Reminds me of cough syrup, at least!)
3.Geranium pour Monsieur– mean and green, in my book—
4. Lipstick Rose
5. Mmmmmusc Ravageur
6. French Lover (sigh)
7. Angelique Sous La Pluie (or however you spell it . . .):)>-
Fun!
Maybe…
1. En Passant
2. L’Eau d’Hiver
3. Une Rose
4. Carnal Flower
5. Dans tes Bras
6. French Lover
7. Vetiver Extraordinaire
This is fun :)
1.En Passant- my personal fave
2. Geranium Pour Monsieur
3.Une Fleur de Cassie
4 Musk ravaguer
5. Une Rose
6. French Lover
7. Vetiver Extraordinaire
Forgive my spellin.
What fun! Here were my guesses. . .
1. En Passant
2. L’Eau d’Hiver
3. Iris Poudre
4. Lys Mediterranee
5. Une Fleur de Cassie
6. French Lover
7. Dans tes bras
Love FM’s perfumes. . .this is the house that I own the most of, and still consider purchasing the remaning few. Consistently lovely, each one so different. Certainly worthy of poetry :D
Cheers!
Can I just say that I think it’s a little silly to only let 20 people in? I mean, we’re not talking Lady Gaga here..
1. Dans de Bras
2. L’Eau de Hiver
3. Fleur de Cassis
4. Carnal Flower
5. Angeliques Sous la Pluie
6. French Lover
7. Vetiver Extraordinare
Honey, it’s not ONLY 20.
It’s ONLY 20 who prolly spend more money in an afternoon than I make all year. I suspect it’s a double-whammy: a nod to his celebrity – as charming as he is about perfume and perfumers he doesn’t strike me as the type to stand around a counter on the shop floor…ya know?
And the 20 Spendies may or may not really care about perfume – but they probably care a whole lot about ‘exclusivity’, knowmean? I ‘get’ it. I just wish they’d give the perfume hoi polloi, who really do appreciate Malle’s approach to perfumery, a few minutes with him.
ah, well…
xo >-)
Can you get hold of a diamond tiara, a velvet cape and stand outside the window? With
a demure and imploring flirty gaze?
The funny thing about this whole Event is, were I to be invited I wouldn’t know what to say to him. I mean, it’s not like I ‘know’ a whole lot about perfume composition – c’mon! Y’all read my posts here. You know this. /:)
So I think I’m just crankin’ because……well, I’m a crank!
xo >-)
Methinks you are much too humble, my lord. Personally, I wouldn’t know what
to say, I’d just want to get a good whiff of him:x:x:x:x
1. En Passant
2. ?
3. ?
4. Musc Ravaguer–my love , it must be you!
5. Lipstick Rose
6. French Lover
7. Vetiver Extraordinaire
Nothing like letting the world know how little I know about FM!
But alas, it’s fun to play anyway!:d
sexy wanton you
dirty little flowerette
animalic dreams
haiku snafu for you:-?
Ooh, I like that one!
Une Fleur de Cassie?
no…:(( I’ve never even sniffed Cassie-oh, that sounds so hmmmm
Guess again!
What’s with the emoticons not working?
MR. As in Mister, you smell so good, good good. I love this so much I just bought it again
tonight. Maybe it’s the full moon, doubt it, this one makes me swoon.
I’mo go with Geranium pour Monsieur or…….
Musc Ravageur, which has that dirty bits thing going…
xo >-)
Musc Ravageur is zee one!
Still on my wrist
I will rhapsodize for hours
sensual madness
still now! on my wrist
Hm. I have yet to smell that one. I’m a wee bit apprehensive…
…and yet I actually put Secretions Magnifique on my skin and lived to tell, so why I’m worried I don’t know.
I’ve not smelled SM (hee hee-nice initials) in spite of all the yakking about it. What’s your take
on it SM?
MR is so beautiful, I’d compare it to a very elegant version of Kiehl’s musk. I put it on yesterday
afternoon-I have a tiny bit left from TPC sample I bought. I can still smell it on my
arm. But it’s subtle and pretty. Unless
someone really hated musk I would think they’d like it. I’ll decant a sample for you
when I receive the 10ml that I just bought on eBay it you want to try it.
SM smells like Bloody knife + Chemical spill. Urgh.
MR should smell like attractive, slightly-sweaty male. Does it?
Ya know…I don’t get the sweaty smell at all with MR. Not even slight. I’m wearing
Teo Alahine at the moment so it’s confusing my sense memory – is that lame or what?
Bloody knife/Chemical spill! How delightful!:) MOO!!
It isn’t like Musc Nomade by AG-that’s more feminine to me. Also very pretty. Tried that?
Well, I was a total FAIL. I got three of them right, I think. :”>
OTOH I am still QUING OF THE EMOTICON. [-( Why do we not have a crown emoticon, I ask you?
BECAUSE YOU’RE WEARING IT, DARLING:d
QUING. QUING of the Silliness. Lessee… <):) that's as close to a crown as I'm gonna get, isn't it?
We have the bowing guy emoticon, your Majesty.
which I will employ, for the benefit of the emoticon-less
^:)^
xo >-)
:-j
;))
3:-o
I love that cow one so much I can’t even. Although that thing has horns, does that make it not a cow?
— Clueless in the ‘Burbs
Some breeds of cattle have horns, cows included. Some breeds don’t have horns, bulls included. Our bulls are mostly purebred Angus (the cow herd, by now, is a melange of Angus, Hereford, Simmental, Beefmaster, Charolais and Gelbvieh – they’re like United Nations cows), and they don’t have horns.
Link to pic of Angus bull: http://cattle-today.com/Angus.php
See? No horns. :)
are they called ‘polled’ if they are like that? Wait. Polled cows are cows without horns in a horned-cow line, right?
Crap. I’m confused. Good thing I’m not raising 3:-o3:-o3:-o
xo >-)
Yep, “polled” means No Horns. Unless the animal was dehorned, and then it’s… uh, “dehorned.” Polled is actually a dominant gene, isn’t that weird?
March, my emtoties are not working. Also, (only within the past few days)
when I make a comment a Safari window
pops up and says my comment hasn’t posted, but allows me to try again without
writing it again. Anyone else having this problem? I have an iMac, maybe it’s
that. Macs do operate differently.
Testing emoticons now.
:d
Nobody’s emoties are working, unless you’re a host.
I’m so jellllous.
Perhaps you could do a guest host. I’m guessing it’s a temporary glitch.
^$*(!#%(*#^@%!#%#*%^*T$@#&R that kinda made up for it, right?
Fun post!!!
1.En passant
2.L’eau d’hiver
3.Fleur de cassie
4.Carnal flower
5.Une rose
6.French lover
7.Cologne bigarade.
It’s so difficult! This is my guess:
1- En Passant
2- Eau d’Hiver (but I thought of Dans tes bras too)
3- Le Parfum de Thérese
4- Lipstick Rose
5- Une fleur de Cassie
6- French Lover
7- Vetiver Extraordinaire
It’s a funny game. Congratulations on the idea
:)
1. en passant (the only easy one!)
2. Eau d’Hiver
3. Carnal flower (I hope I am mistaken… my favorite Malle….)
4. Musc ravageur (but could also be une fleur de cassie, or parfums de therese… actually the only *ho*** perfume in the Malle’s collection is PDT, but okay, I doubt anybody agrees with me. That melon smells like, well….)
5. ?????
6. French lover
7. Bigarade concentrée
No idea on number five. If I hadn’t already used up musc ravageur….
I am undecided between Une rose, Iris Poudre, Dans tes bras.
hum…
5. le parfum de Therese
Only one entry is possible, right?
:( %%-
what a clever post. I’m not familiar enough with his scents to guess, but man what fun I’ll have reading these comments!
Oh heck, I’ll take a stab at it… I really had to go re-read note descriptions and remember all the reviews I’ve read!! Well here goes:
1. En Passant
2. Geranium pour monsieur
3. Une Fleur de Cassie
4. Carnal Flower
5. Dans tes Bras
6. French Lover
7. Iris Poudre
I had to think awhile about “Fred and Barney” before I got it. (I blame the Sudafed for my fuzzy-headedness.)
Okey-dokey, here goes – and I’ve tried not to read anybody’s responses before posting this:
1. En Passant
2. L’eau de Hiver
3. Lys Mediterranee
4. Lipstick Rose
5. Une Rose
6. French Lover
7. Bigarade Concentree
And here’s my Malle-ku:
The flowers I picked
Now shriek and chase me around
Hide under the bed!
Cloooooose – but your cigar is not completely lit.
But that haiku SLAMMMMS! love it.
My guess? Either Lys or Carnal.
did I get it? did I get it? huh? huh?
xo >-)
No, it’s not Lys or CF. Try again?
And meant to say, Yippee, this is fun!
Mals! I am LOL — your haiku is brilliant!:d
I also thought it was CF, darn! Lipstick Rose?
Nope!
I just remembered–you love CF! My nemesis. GpM? Iris Poudre… Just tell me damn it!
it’s taxing my brain
and why do I even care
don’t like what you wear
hee hee! CF is the scent of an almost empty stagnant putrid empty flower vase on my skin:)
That’s just… saaaad.
=))
Fleur de Cassie? Something seems to be tickling the back of my brain about that one in reference to you.
Nope! I have a sample I haven’t put on skin yet, though.
Okay, okay… I told myself I’d spill da beans after the third guess.
Une Rose!
I love me some rose. But that one, seriously, just frightens me. I mean, here are some gorgeous roses that suddenly get HUGE. And THREATENING. And SHRIEKY.
I kept walking around the house, trying to get away from it.
Well, now you know how I feel about CF. It has the same reaction on me as Une does
on you. LOUD ABRASIVE MENACING! Reminds me of my reaction to Fracas! Sorry, Musette.
😮
Do NOT Diss the Goddess of the HUGE WHITE FLOWER FROM (fill in your particular blank)
;))
xo >-)
I’mo wash in Fracas ‘silkening body wash’ then spray the PARFUM, just for you maidenbliss!
8-x
I’m going to step outside and gaze at the mooooon. And pretend I don’t even know you.
I’m also going to splash on some Musc Ravageur, top it with Bois Blonds, douse
myself with Chanel Sycomore for good measure.
Fracas IS an acquired taste to my way of thinking. Frack Us.
:d
Ooooh. Fracas.
Which, to be perfectly honest, I like better on other people than I like on me. It’s that orange blossom, I think – Carnal Flower totally punted Fracas off my personal screen.
Fracas stomps around
On hot pink stiletto heels
Bow to her, or else..
xo >-)
I’m not sceered of u.
to my own nose I am true
Bow to her? My finger stinks
:d
Just to make sure I despise this one I just dabbed it on my middle finger…Blech!&!%$
That is NO haiku
but it’s funny just the same
Your last line slayed me!
xo >-)
NO haiku? What you say that for? It is true Haiku. I’m gettin’ really
annoyed not being able to emoticon!
Emoticon Gone
no longer am I laughing
no more cows for me
:)>-3:-o
Like Tiara, I’m not familiar enough with the Malle scents to play, but I love your haikus and can’t wait to see what the correct answers are. Great job!
1. En Passant
2. Géranium pour Monsieur
3. Une fleur de cassie
4. Carnal Flower
5. Une rose
6. Iris Poudre
Oops, skipped one!
6. French Lover
7. Iris Poudre
I have no idea what any of these are having never tried any of Malle’s scents. Can’t even begin to take a stab at it.
HOWEVER, I did want to compliment you on the creativity of your post. Clever, funny, and interactive!
Tiara,
Thank you! It’s nice to take a break from pricing steel sometimes and just have a little fun.
xo >-)
I have no idea what I’m doing with this but here are my guesses. I had to give it a try – love Musc Ravageur, Carnal Flower, and Le Parfum de Therese.
1. En Passant
2. Une Fleur de Cassie
3. Cologne Bigarade
4. Lipstick Rose
5. Dans de Bras
6. French Lover
7. Vetiver Extraordinare
Thanks for giving it a try! The responses will be interesting – you got a couple (but I’m not telling which ones);)
xo >-)