This is the second to last installment of my closet series. (Take a look at Parts I-V here.)
Let us start with my newest bottle. It is one I am inordinately proud of – Armani Privé La Femme Bleue. (The review, including all the details of acquiring this gem will be up next week!) I split it and therefore was able to afford this beauty.
Armani Privé La Femme Bleue
La Femme Bleue is not only pretty, but holds the best iris I ever smelled. Pure pleasure, pure luxury. I’m a lucky gal.
Armani Privé La Femme Bleue - my proudest possession.
Next up is a group of perfumes from a man we all love and admire (I’ll freely make that assumption, if you are among the very few and far between oddballs, who do not like him, I feel very sorry for you.)
from left to right: Parfumerie Generale Felanilla, Praliné de Santal, Indochine, Bois Naufragé, Brulure de Rose, Tonkamande. Cedre Sandaraque, Bois Blonds and Un Crime Exotique.
Pierre Guillaume is great, I think we have established that by now. But his perfumes are not at all bad either. 😉 Here are my Parfumerie Generale reviews, should you want to read up on a few.
Lined up like tin soldiers.
Bird's eye view, included especially for Tara, who appreciates it.
...and one more photo for good measure.
Frederic Malle has created an admirable well balanced line, the best perfumers on earth have worked with him. I count myself lucky to own several of them.
from left to right: Bigarade Concentrée, En Passant, L'Eau d'Hiver, Une Rose, Le Parfum de Thérèse (2x Travel Spray), Carnal Flower (Travel Spray)
En Passant was my very first niche purchase and also happens to be the first review to ever appear on Olfactoria’s Travels. Jean-Claude Ellena’s creations Bigarade Concentrée and the enigmatic L’Eau d’Hiver did follow a little while later. Une Rose was in an ebay auction that I won rather surprisingly, for an unbelievably low sum. It is beautiful but I almost never wear it, so the moral of the story is: Don’t bid on things just because nobody else does, if you are not entirely sure about them.
The travel set consists of two vials of Le Parfum de Thérèse and one of Carnal Flower. Our Malle boutique allows you to mix and match, but I thought I needed two Thérèses in my life since I already used up one that the lovely Suzanne sent last year (rather than one Musc Ravageur, the third contender).
Next weekend we’ll take a look at the albatrosses in my collection, that lead a miserable life of rejection in a dark and cool box.
How was your past week?
Mine was pretty good actually. The kids are both in Kindergarten the entire morning, and my new freedom is finally here. I still need to settle in, I’m not used to being allowed to be the master of my own time, but I appreciate it immensely.
I hope I will be able to make the most of it and do myself and my husband who supports this proud, eventually.
The weather has been frighteningly cold, and leaving the house, especially with small kids, is like undertaking an expedition. How was it it your part of the world?
I’d love to hear from you all!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Olfactoria's Travels 
Wow, these are adorable.
What an amazing collection you have! This is phenomenal.
My week was OK, I got caught up with work, wanted to have friends over Friday night… and woke up on Fri with terribly sore throat. My friends had come anyway, but oh, right before V-Day it could’ve been so much better.
But looking at your gorgeous collection certainly improved my mood! Especially news that there’s a place in the world that allows to mix and match Malle’s sets! 🙂
I am looking forward to the albatroses and predict that it may result in a spontaneous mini-swapmania! 🙂
Thanks, Warum!
Oh, I’m sorry you are not in perfect health right now, I hope you’ll be fit in time for Valentine’s Day!
I am hoping for something along those lines… 🙂
I LOVE these sneak peaks! I have total, utter, complete bottle envy when it comes to PG… beautiful! You have a gorgeous bottle collection B., and I’m even looking forward to meeting your albatrosses 🙂
There are now 30ml bottles of PG, a very tempting option…
Just gorgeous! That is what comes to mind. I look forward to your upcoming review of La Femme Bleu. I have been sneaking a sniff of your generous gift every day. We leave the house but it is a chore. Seán complains about the layers of clothes that I put on him. At one point I looked at him and remembered the scene in the movie A Christmas Story where the little boy started wailing and saying “but, I can’t put my arms down”! I had a good chuckle and just shuffled Seán out of the house and he was soon happy to be bundled up. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Haha, I had a good laugh about the image of poor Seán unable to drop his arms. 😀
My boys look the same.
Stay warm, Sandra!
Good to see la femme bleue looking wonderful in your cabinet!
Those PGs all together look amazing. Almost as good as their creator. I feel sorry for those unappreciative oddballs too 🙂 Thanks for the Bird’s Eye View, I love it! The only two I haven’t tried are Un Crime Exotique and Bois Naufragé, so I’ve made a mental note to remedy that.
I can’t believe I’ve also never tried En Passant which is a must-try after reading your first ever beautiful review.
Thank you again for LFB, it makes me very happy! 🙂
I’ll include those three in your package of course!
Thank you, dear B!
I’m happy that you’re happy 🙂
I love the Parfumerie Generale “tin soldier” lineup– the differing levels of perfume in each bottle testify to the collections history and give us an idea of which ones you’ve owned longest or turned to the most. Thank you for the peek!
The one I love the most is Tonkamande, it just fits every occasion and unfailingly cheers me up.
Oh,,,love that Armani la Femme Bleue. I got a decant of this,,,and am guarding it with my life. It’s a beauty!!!!! Would love a FB,,,some day! I think it’s an extremely limited edition:(
Love your collection!
Hello Lynne,
LFB is limited to only 1000 bottles worldwide. 😦 I’m glad you know and love it too!
I’m so glad that you managed to get your bottle of La Femme Bleue, you seemed to want it so badly! That shade of blue is also rather lovely.
But B my dear, do you think you might have somewhat of a PG ‘problem’? 😛
A perfect blue, isn’t it? 🙂
I do have a PG problem indeed, the problem that I don’t have all his bottles yet. 😉
Touché 😛
I see by the news and weather forecasts that you are having unusually cold weather this winter. The opposite can be said for where I live, as we are having an unusually warm and not very rainy winter. I worry that come summer we will have water rationing as there doesn’t seem to be sufficient rain or snowfall in the mountains to replenish our reservoirs.
I love seeing your collection. It has inspired me to be more selective in my purchases, to limit the number of cheap thrills I buy and to save for truly beautiful fragrances.
After reading your reviews I sought out samples of the Puredistance fragrances. Unfortunately, none of them were for me. At least my wallet is a bit happier about that. But I have to admit I have a thing for fragrances from the Frederic Malle line, so I guess in the end it evens out.
Here’s hoping a warming trend comes your way. Thanks for sharing your beautiful collection with us.
The weather is very strange this year, I hope it will rain a bit more, so you won’t get problems come summer.
There are many extremely good perfumes in the Malle line, no wonder you are tempted.
Dear Birgit, it’s just stunnig, your PG’s bottles are a pleasure for the eyes and I can close mine and smell the scents, thanks for sharing this for us….. I’m so jealous, you’ve put Praliné de Santal just as the first one….
La Femme Bleue is a gorgeous bottle, I don’t know the scent but it’s so beautiful…….
You would adore La Femme Bleue, from what I know about your tastes, Florence.
Email me your address, I’ll send you a little bit, you need to try it, it is so gorgeous!
Wow, that bottle of La Femme Bleue looks stunning! The healthiest way to get your chocolate fix, no question.
I agree with Tatiana that these views of your collection encourage us to be more selective and buy less dross. Unfortunately for me it is probably too late – I am trying not to buy anything else, while the dross haunts – and taunts – me at the back of the fridge.
If this is the general calibre of your collection, something tells me that the albatrosses will be of a high standard! ; – )
I’m afraid LFB does not completely substitute chocolate, I have to have the real thing as well. 😉
As for the albatrosses, I hope that my rejects are somebody’s treasure (and the other way around!)
Gorgeous! I too love the PG bottle arrangements. I love the PG bottles period.
The blue packaging for La femme bleue is stunning. I want to surround myself in that silky dark shade. Again, thanks for sharing your varied and growing collection!
I have a ball gown in almost that shade of dark blue, this perfume is its perfect olfactory complement (I just wish I’d get the chance to go to a ball these days…).
The PG’s lend themselves to arranging. 😉
This latest series of pictures has left me drooling, especially the LFB, I’ve been eyeing a buy myself, the price is rather awe-inspiring, though. The scent is beautiful, although slightly linear (iris-apricotty on me, I don’t many of the other notes, I guess I need a more extravagant spray), and no, it isn’t a substitute for chocolate, need another excuse.
The price is awe-inspiring indeed, I split it, so it worked out well for me.
I’m sure the development is better to follow when sprayed rather than dabbed.
Omg this PG collection OS adorable, but I think it should be decorated with a picture of pg……btw today is pgs birthday
That would be a little shrine. 😉
That’s a beautiful collection, some fantastic choices. You will enjoy it for many years to come.
Veru curious about La Femme Bleue, actually I’m OBSESSED by the Armani Privés lately.
Oh, I can understand that obsession! There are a few great perfumes in the Armani Privė collection. LFB is the best though, imho. 🙂
I’ve never tried any of the PGs, so much perfume, so little time…The LFB really is the most wonderful blue color, your ballgown must be beautiful!
Last week was hectic (travel to conference in Stockholm, on to Finland for academic celebration and dinner for a relative made professor, back home to attend officers ball next evening, finishing of with choir concert sunday slightly hung over), so I’ve spent this week recuperating 🙂 I did manage to fit in some perfume sniffing and buying and have been trying out my buys this week. After wearing a lot of Hermenessences I felt the need for something more opulent today, SOTD is Francis K. Lumiere Noire pour femme, which I find adorable, very feminine and ladylike!
That is great that your week of recuperating also included some sniffing. That is how we Perfumistas relax best! 🙂 What did you buy? Inquiring minds want to know!
What a stunning array of bottles, it looks like my Sicilian grandmother’s dressing table! Alas, I will have to read about the Albatrosses, before owning up to having the same of my own, mouldering away in my underwear drawer. I would love to smell the PG’s and will be on the lookout for some. I’m just getting started, so this is a wonderful help to me. My weeked was the usual manic thing… guests for dinner on Friday, guests for dinner tonight, teenage sleepovers tonight and a shopping trip tomorrow. At least my teen has asked me for exactly what they want to eat (home made bread, Italian meatballs….) but I am hot and bothered right now, and so taking in the cool clean feel of scents from across cyberspace and into your collection is a breath of (snowy) air – it’s also freezing here in the UK. My nose is filled with rosemary and red wine, but I’m thinking of powder and Iris…..Thank you!
You are very welcome! I’m glad you can relax a little from your jam-packed weekend by looking at my collection. The meatballs sound delicious btw!
Yummie bottles !
🙂
Hi, I’m living in South Carolina, a pleasant place with amazing bio-diversity and rare times of very cold weather. Right now the spring flowers are out and confused because last night’s temperature was in the mid-20’s. I’m excited about your blog and the array of fragrances. To find such fine products, people in this area have to travel, so reading about your choices is educational for me. I hope that you will give some tips about where to find the ones you have chosen. Many thanks, Anita
Hi Anita, lovely to “meet” you!
South Carolina is such a beautiful state, although I had a hardntime with the high humidity when I visited.
Your best bet to find niche perfumes is surely online on Luckyscent.com, they offer a wide variety of perfume lines and a great sample service.
Maybe someone local reads this and speaks up where you could find a brick and mortar store that carries niche fragrances in your area…
Beautiful, just beautiful! En Passant was my first niche eye-opener, and I really should have a bottle by now. You’re inspiring me to go for it!
Funny, I know quite a few people who came to niche perfumes through En Passant. It is a gateway drug of sorts… 😉
Go for it!
Gorgeous collection!!! I know that you’re a big fan of Pierre Guillaume, but it occurs to me that maybe he should be a fan of **yours**!! (I hope you get a lovely note from him someday. If you do you’ll have to share it with us.)
Excellent idea! I can live with the thought that PG is a fan of mine! 😉 If only that would occur to him…
I too am rather curious to find out which fragrances are your albatrosses.
Love your Malle collection, I am lemming Carnal Flower right now, even though I only sampled it once.
Carnal Flower can be very persuasive! 🙂
Oooo, you are so “evil” teasing me with this gems ;-). Last week was o.k. just to cold and very windy. Now we are sick again. Including myself. I can now pretend to be a man – with this voice. My husband called me and he thought it was a wrong number ;-).
Sorry to hear you are sick. 😦 Get well soon, Evil B
I’m really impressed with your collection: all the bottles seem to be right in place, I’m not surprised by any of them (you know, the way sometimes you read about somebody’s favorite(s) and can’t help wondering: “Really?!”). It doesn’t mean that I like all of your choices (but many of those that I’ve tried I do) but they all seem very proper.
I went through some type of an obsession with La Femme Bleue: for whatever reason, I started desiring it long before I read any reviews – right after I saw an announcement of its upcoming release. This is the only perfume in my database that I’ve never tried and do not have as a sample (usually only those I tried or plan to try and have a sample on hand are entered there). And then I realized that I couldn’t have a bottle of it (Prive line isn’t sold in the US). And I didn’t even try to get a sample… I’ll wait for your real review but probably I was wrong 🙂
Privė isn’t sold in the US at all (anymore)? Because I know I tried them first in San Francisco many years ago though. I’m sure they had a few bottles of LFB in NY.
And thank you for you kind words! 🙂
Nope, not any more. It used to, I bought my Eclat de Jasmin several years ago and tried other scents available then but now they aren’t sold any more and an SA at Saks’ Armani counter told me last December that there were plans to re-launch that line in NY soon – but that was it.
Strange… Should you ever need something from Armani Privé, I’d be happy to get it for you.