Olfactoria On Perfume Smellin’ Things

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Olfactoria

I am posting again on PST today. This week I am doing something totally out of character, some would say 😉

I hope to see you over there!

Posted in Ramblings | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Sharing The (Perfume-) Love – A Care Package From America

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Olfactoria

My son calls her the “nice American Lady who must be very rich” and he is right. Dee is a very rich woman indeed when it comes to generosity and friendship.

Last week another big package arrived and had me squealing in delight at the many lovely and interesting goodies to be found inside.

Paul even got a book for his birthday. He took it and remarked sagely: “They seem to have books over there too.” When I told him that Dee even managed a book store, he just shook his head and said “I really can’t believe that.” and wandered off clutching his new book to his chest.

Thank you, Dee! The love for perfume is even greater when shared, but that is something you know all about. 🙂

Image: my own
Posted in Ramblings | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

A Perfect Iris? – Review And Rant: Chanel 28 La Pausa

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Olfactoria

In iris I have found a note I truly love. Its complicated range, its versatility, its many incarnations and interpretations that are all united by one descriptor – elegance – has made me a fan of this note.

Have I found a perfect iris perfume yet?

That is not an easy answer to give. I adore Iris Silver Mist. It is my favorite iris rendition, sadly it does not go down so well with my loved ones. Since I don´t particularly fancy being called a carrot the entire day, my search goes on, and Iris Silver Mist is reserved for days without those philistines (at least Niki does not complain, bless his good, little heart and inability to speak yet!).

The Iris to end them all is 28 La Pausa. It is a beautiful perfume, just what I wanted.

So why the question mark in the title you ask?

Of course there is a problem. Isn´t there always? 😉

28 La Pausa is great – for an hour. Maybe two hours, but that is it then. Am I really supposed to pay a lot of money for something so ephemeral? Am I supposed to reapply from my gallon bottle of Chanel Les Exclusifs every two hours? I know there are smaller sizes available now (2.5oz, 75ml), but that doesn´t solve the wear time problem, does it?

Should I want to smell like La Pausa the entire day, I would be going through a new, small bottle in no time. That is why the large ones make sense, but somehow the whole concept is skewed.

Dear decision-makers at Chanel: I would like to smell like 28 La Pausa for real, I don´t only want to own a pretty and large bottle because it says Chanel on it that makes me smell nice until the next gust of wind reaches me and blows it all away again. The solution seems simple and has been in use for centuries. Why not try a stronger concentration?!

It really doesn´t make sense to me. If it is about the money, nobody is saying make it cheap, we are willing to pay through the nose for the right perfume BUT only if we also get to enjoy it for a reasonable amount of time. It shouldn´t be so hard. It has been done before, you have the resources already, you probably have the bottles already AND you have the fan base already. So, why not? Why Not?

We all have one or more favorites among the Les Exclusifs, and I bet most of us would wish for a stronger concentration (why not give us the luxury of choosing between Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum and Extrait, Chanel is a luxury house after all), we should make ourselves heard. If every perfumista out there started demanding suggesting higher concentrations, maybe something would happen.

I don´t think Chanel purposely wants to alienate and anger its customers. Am I wrong?

After that excursion, are you still up for a review? Here goes: 😉

28 La Pausa was launched in 2007 as part of the boutique-exclusive line Les Exclusifs de Chanel. Perfumer was in-house nose Jacques Polge.

It can be characterized as an iris-soliflore fragrance. It is all about iris.

In the beginning the iris is slightly vegetal, cold and soft. It develops into a green, powdery, fully rounded and slightly warmer iris. In that stage my nose is inseparable from my wrist and I am unable to utter anything more coherent than Hmm! or maybe Ahh! on an especially eloquent day. It is that beautiful.

This can be enjoyed for some time before the iris curls in on itself and leaves a soft musky skin scent behind that is warm and comforting. Then – pouf!- it is all gone and leaves me behind longing for more.

We have come full circle, before the ranting starts again, I leave you with some music that reminds me of the beauty of 28 La Pausa, that heartbreakingly fragile beauty.

Picture source: chanel.com
Posted in Chanel, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Iris, Les Exclusifs de Chanel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Conversion – Review: Puredistance M

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Olfactoria

Initially I was not terribly interested in Puredistance’s third perfume, a release clearly geared towards men.

Created by Roja Dove in 2010, the fragrance comes in a matte grey flacon that evokes metal, its box is black and grey, it is called M, for God’s sake. Can it be any more masculine? The PR material states it was designed to evoke the feeling of being inside an Aston Martin.

All that added up to “not for me”. I don´t do leather, I don´t usually wear explicitly masculine perfumes and what’s more, I already have the other two decidedly feminine offerings by Puredistance (Puredistance I and Antonia), so I thought I was set.

Yet here I am, reviewing M. Why? Because I love it.

It was not love at first sight at this time, because M misled me with its masculine trappings. But I am glad to say, everything that Puredistance has made so far is simply wonderful.

It was love at first sniff, as my dear constant readers have heard me say a hundred times already, with Puredistance I and Antonia.

M – since I was heavily influenced by the leather description – I tried to dismiss.

After my visit to the Puredistance Perfume Lounge I handed my sample of M to my husband and forgot about it. Giving M to M., my husband, was more of a symbolic gesture, because he never, ever tries anything new.

But – lo and behold – there are signs and miracles! He actually applied it!
Wow! What a fantastic perfume! I was instantly, delightfully smitten.

So I thought, well, Puredistance made an excellent men’s perfume, how wonderful! Now I can get my husband his M and we’ll be smelling lovely and all puredistanced up for eternity. But I couldn’t leave it at that of course – no – I had to try it for myself.

In short – it blew me away. On me it doesn’t smell masculine at all. AT ALL.

M on me is a spicy, warm oriental with the tiniest, softest hint of leather that doesn’t bother me in the least unlike the way leather normally does.

M starts off with topnotes of bergamot and citrus, although the spicy base immediately peaks through, there is a little floral heart, which is way more prominent on me than on my husband, then a rich cinnamon, patchouli and vanilla base appears, accented by the woody impression of vetiver, the afore mentioned leather and a dash of dirtiness.

M is sumptuous and complex, but at the same time elegant and refined. There is no single overwhelming element in M, it is noble and sophisticated. Maybe that is where the Aston Martin comes in, not through the smell of leather but through associations of its essential elegance and British reserve.

M is powerful in a quiet way. Like a man who commands attention not through words but through his presence alone. See, I do think of M as a masculine still, and in essence it probably is. But is it highly wearable for me. Several innocent bystanders questioned about their opinion of me wearing M, never once suspected an essentially masculine perfume. But they all loved it!

Puredistance perfumes have the distinction of reeling me in time and again through their incredible quality and sheer excellence. As much as I want to stay detached or keep a semblance of objectivity, the perfumes make it impossible for me not to swoon.

M is the top candidate on my wishlist now, it has swooped in and has overtaken several other contenders. At least this time I have the great excuse of having to get it for my husband (too) since the good man has finally come around and seen the light (and for something that does not smell of sausage I might add ;)).

Hallelujah!

M is available at the Puredistance website.

Picture Source: Photo of M courtesy of Puredistance.com,
Posted in Fragrance Reviews, Leather, Oriental, Puredistance | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

A Reaction From The Founder Of Puredistance

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Olfactoria

I recently recounted my visit together with a friend to the Puredistance Perfume Lounge in Vienna.  Today I received a comment by Jan Ewoud Vos, the CEO and founder of Puredistance.

I wanted to publish his input here, because I think it is an example of great customer service and provides peek into the workings of a small company that is made up of real people who care about their products and the relationships with potential (and actual) customers in a direct and approachable manner.

Here is Mr Vos´comment:

A note from Puredistance: it is good to hear so much positive news on our perfumes and the showroom in Vienna itself and sad to learn Veronika did not meet the expectations you had. I have learned from this and this week we are working on improving the fragrance knowledge she and her business partner Irina have. Which is something that I should have been working on last December, when we introduced our two new perfumes, but unfortunately we had to spend all the time we had on getting the perfumes ready and out before Christmas; it was a crazy month for us! So in the end the responsibility for this lack of knowledge is mine, not Veronika’s. She simply lacked the information she needed.

So thanks for the feedback, I definitely will do something with it and I can assure you that next time you will visit the lounge you will be treated with the same friendliness as last time, but now also with the right answers.

Kind Regards,

Jan Ewoud Vos
Founder Puredistance

My answer is below:

Mr Vos,

Thank you very much for responding to my post! I appreciate it that you are taking the time.
I understand that the launch of new products is very stressful and some things have to be left lagging behind a little, even if it is only for the time being. I am certain that all your staff will be on top of things again soon. I am sorry that I had to mention the less ideal side of our visit, but I felt that I should present an accurate picture, even it it meant having to put a little shadow on our otherwise wonderful experience in the Lounge.
Incidentally I just finished writing a review of Puredistance M when I saw your comment, it will be up tomorrow. I hope you will come back to read it as well.
Best,
Olfactoria

I an unrelated incident of perfect timing, my review of Puredistance M is coming up tomorrow, so stay tuned 😉

Posted in Puredistance, Ramblings, Shopping | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Amuse Bouche – Review: Guerlain Iris Ganache

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Olfactoria

I love Guerlain.

But when it comes to attempting to review one of their perfumes, I am having the hardest time. I dither around, wear it for weeks, trying to get it right. I am afraid of saying something stupid, of not being good enough to say anything meaningful about so important a perfume. I want to do right by those gorgeous and revered fragrances and not diminish it by my bad review.

That last thought made me laugh out loud. It says more about my own sense of importance than anything else. Guerlain will go on, entirely unencumbered by what I say or don’t say.

So I should stop fretting. It is no exam after all, I am allowed to say whatever I feel, I have no obligations to anyone or anything, I have no claim to accuracy or objectivity nor do I want to adhere to a semblance of the latter. What I want to say is how a perfume makes me feel, how I react to it, what I smell and whether I like that or not.

Ah, there is a weight, totally unnecessary in the first place, off my shoulders.

Now let’s see how Iris Ganache and I got on:

Iris Ganache is part of the L’Art et la Matiere Collection, exclusive to Le Maison Guerlain in Paris, as well as a few other select venues, such as Harrod´s in London and Place Vendome Haute Parfumerie in Belgium, in the US it is available at Bergdorfs. Update March 2012: Sadly, Iris Ganache has been discontinued.

Iris Ganache includes notes of bergamot, iris butter, white chocolate, floral notes, cinnamon, patchouli, white musks, cedarwood and vanilla. It was created by Thierry Wasser, Guerlains in-house perfumer, in 2007.

For me, Iris Ganache is very Guerlain, which makes it the ideal gourmand fragrance. I have a bit of a problem with overly sweet scents, anything containing honey (Back to Black, Miel de Bois) is quickly in nemesis territory, some vanillas make me run for the hills and chocolate usually is totally out of the question (except when taken orally, then I am quite fine with it).

Guerlain to the rescue. Iris Ganache manages to masterfully and inseparably intertwine my favorite note of all – iris – with a scrumptious white chocolate and cream base that is sweet, yes, but also stays at a non-edible level essential for me to want to smell like it. Life-like renderings of food smells make me queasy. The cinnamon, musk and cedar in the Guerlain’s base add a softly spicy and smoky-woody aspect that supplements the powdery note of iris in keeping the sweetness in check.

Iris Ganache is not a light fragrance, though. It has a certain density, a creamy heaviness, that lets me never forget the fact that it is something to be enjoyed in small doses just like real ganache (a rich cream and chocolate mixture). You cannot eat a pound of that either.

So I find myself enjoying Iris Ganache for a few hours, then I am almost glad its staying power is not so great after all, and it starts to fade again.

Ultimately I want a perfume that I love to wear for more than a few hours and has the ability stay the day.

I would have wished for a little more transparency, lightness, less calories maybe? Maybe it would be just a case of amp up the iris and hold the ganache.

 

But there are other perfumes for that. Iris Ganache is a little luxury, an indulgence I will savor as long as my decant lasts. Then we will see…

Picture source: makeupalley.com, flowerpicturegallery.com, some rights reserved, thank you!
Posted in Fragrance Reviews, Gourmand, Guerlain, Guerlain L'Art et la Matière, Iris | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Another Birthday Boy!

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Olfactoria

My baby boy Nikolaus turns one today.
One year that has passed in a flash.

With my first child, Paul, I couldn’t wait for him to grow, to get older and yet it seemed to take forever, I was under the false impression that I would have a baby forever.

With Niki time flies, it seems he was just born a few days ago, yet here he is, making his first steps, grinning broadly at me and clapping his pudgy little hands in delighted appreciation of his own growing prowess.

That Niki is my second child automatically means he never got the same attention that Paul enjoyed, nor the same amount of time or the same sense of wonder. But he gets a calmer mother, a more relaxed and more tolerant mother not nearly as critical or worried (and worrisome) as the mother Paul knows.

Niki is also my last child, there is no more next time. A fact of that I am painfully aware, but that makes me cherish every moment so much more. I am not impatiently waiting for the next step in his development, not hoping for this to change or that to pass, I just enjoy him as he is right now, and he thanks me by being the most relaxed, loveable and calm baby imaginable.
Nothing prepares you for being a mother and the experience is a different one with every child.
It is the incredible love for your child that changes you forever.

Thank you, Niki, for being the perfect little person that you are. Thank you for letting me watch you grow and help you wherever you need me.

I love you.
Mom

 

Picture: Niki, one year old
Posted in Ramblings | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Olfactory Bliss – Why I Love Perfume So Much

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Olfactoria

I love perfume. That comes as no big surprise I bet, considering this is a perfume blog.

But why? Why is it that I (and all of you, I dare say) love perfume so much. So much so that we dedicate a significant portion of our time and efforts into reading, writing, sniffing, buying, swapping, selling, decanting, twittering and God knows what else concerning perfume. Why do we do it? What makes us keep on doing it? This is an explanation I tried to give myself.

Of all our senses smell is the one that – in our stage of evolution – is the least important for survival. It had its heyday long ago, when smelling the enemy, smelling whether food was still fit for consumption, sniffing out danger or possible partners was important for everyday survival.

Nowadays, with all that taken care of by civilisation and socialisation, smell is almost an extra, still highly functional, but to be used for pure pleasure.

And that is what I do.

Perfume is pleasure. But not only that. Perfume is a way to express or relieve feelings, to circumvent the brain and all its ifs and buts and get right to the point, whatever that point may be at the time.

We react strongly to scents. There is emotion involved right from the start. It is hard if not impossible to leave out emotions when smelling a perfume. (Persolaise wrote a good article about objectivity here.) That may be problematic for some “professional” sniffers, who try to think of themselves as objective and unbiased, judging only rationally.

It is not problematic for me, in fact it is the whole point why I love perfume. I enjoy the freedom to feel (and write) about perfume whatever I please. Perfume reaches out to my personal stash of memories and feelings, it evokes my history. If I find similarities in how others feel, all the better, that is the beauty of community, of humanity really, to find similarities and accept our differences in perception as well as expression.

I love perfume, because however great the chaos surrounding me, however distraught, sad, angry or happy I am, I can find solace in smelling my wrist. It may sound stupid, but – and I am certain all of you know exactly what I mean – that smelling of my wrist is my private act of defence against whatever onslaught tries to bring me down or, on the positive, it brightenes every moment of laughter and happiness further if I can smell something I love. Perfume is my way of reconnecting with myself. If I am overwhelmed, I just need to catch a whiff of something I love to smell and I can focus again. And what is better than having such a mobile solution at hand (pun intended) whenever the need arises. It works everywhere, anytime (quite unlike my internet service provider, despite similar claims ;)).

I love perfume because it never judges me. No matter whether I feel old or young, beautiful or having a very bad hair day, whether I have five pounds more or less around the hips, perfume smells always good. The fact that smelling is removed from the sense of sight, which is so often used as an instrument of judgment, makes it perfectly impartial. It still manages to lift my spirits when a look in the mirror spells doom.

I love perfume because it provides a sheer endless variety. There is a scent for every occasion, every mood, every feeling, even the weather can find its equivalent in a perfume. Standing before my collection in the morning matching a perfume to my needs is one of the most enjoyable things in my day.

I love perfume because there is always something new. Something to explore, try, test, fall in love with or dismiss. Once it gains entry to my personal stash of olfactory outfits, I can be sure there is always an occasion to wear it again, to reach for it, or even frenziedly searching for it, when the time comes, even if there are equally many moments where I scratch my head and ask myself why the heck I ever wanted or liked THAT one. (This last insight didn´t come easy and was not reached before several back and forth transactions involving eBay buying AND selling adventures have taken place.)

I love perfume because I am glad that I no longer undervalue the power and importance of my sense of smell. I used to almost ignore the fact that I had a nose that has a function surpassing the merely ornamental.

I have woken up to my nose´s possibilities and what I have discovered is a big part of my life now, for it was also the entrance into a community of people with the same love, passion and interest.

I never want to miss that again.

Picture Source: Resting Time by Pino Daeni 1939-2010
Posted in Ramblings | Tagged , , , , | 26 Comments

Clothes For Elves – Review: The Different Company Bois d’Iris

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Olfactoria

For somebody who is already a fan of Jean-Claude Ellena’s work,  The Different Company will come up sooner or later. For Perfumistas on a budget (and I don’t know any who are not in some way or other) it is often rather later.

So it is not affordability that is The Different Company’s greatest virtue, but aside from that I have yet to find fault.

Perfumes created by Ellena and his daughter, perfumer Celine Ellena, bottles by Thierry de Bachmakoff that embody a cool and clean aesthetic reflecting the philosophy of the two perfumers perfectly, it all comes down to a perfume house I admire.

Bois d’Iris is the first of the line I have tried and if it is any indication as to how the rest of them are I am in deep trouble.

Created in 2000 by Jean-Claude Ellena as part of four inaugural scents for the then newly founded company, Bois d’Iris is classic Ellena as we know and love him (I do!).

Bois d’Iris features notes of iris, vetiver, bergamot, cedar, narcissus, geranium and musk.

This is what the company says about the iris used in Bois d’Iris:

The scent of Bois d’Iris can be traced back to the rugged hills of Tuscany. The Iris Pallida, the most aromatic of its kind, grows exclusively on this site of arid rocks and mild soil. Unlike the osmanthus flower whose epidermis cells secrete the essential oil, the iris hides its olfactory wonders within its roots. This concealment is so skillful that several years of complex processing are required to capture its secrets : planting, frequent hoeing by hand, to avoid damaging the rhizomes (roots), harvesting (three years later), selecting and husking, washing, followed buy one month of drying under sun on lattice trays , and five years of dehydrating in bags; the grinding and milling in factory. The powder that results from these six years of preparation is macerated in cold water.

I love Bois d’Iris for its translucency, its delicate and airy structure that transcribes the beauty of iris perfectly. The only issue I have with it is wear time, it is pretty much gone in two to three hours.

It starts on a slightly peppery note that ushers in the light grey iris, tender and powdery soft accompanied by a whiff of violet, this earthy root seems to burst into bloom before a gentle backdrop of vetiver and woody musk.

It doesn’t have the power and strength of Iris Silver Mist and it doesn’t have the metallic iciness of Bas de Soie or the elegance of Hiris. It is soft through and through, like a fabric made of light and air and powder, a substance made out of the insubstantial.

Sounds all very high and mighty, but as cynical as I would like to be here, I can’t. The delicacy of Bois d’Iris renders me as soft and pliable as that diaphanous fabric of my imagination. The fabric of elves’ clothes caught in the summer breeze while wandering through a magic forest.

Enough with the sappy talk about elves and magic and insubstantial perfection.

Here is some substantial, down to earth advice:

Go get yourself some Bois d’Iris. You will know why once you smell it.

Picture source: thedifferentcompany.com, Forest Fountain courtesy of Photos8.com, some rights reserved, thank you!

Posted in Floral, Fragrance Reviews, The Different Company, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Monday Question: Do You Layer Your Perfumes?

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Olfactoria

Do you ever layer fragrances?

Why?

What is your most inspired combination to date?

Did you ever create a hot mess when layering two less compatible scents?

My Answers:

I layer fragrances from time to time when I feel experimental or when I want to emphasize a particular side of a perfume. For example to add depth or sweetness, to emphasize the base notes or the top.

There are also certain perfumes I use solely for the purpose of layering, because arrogant cow that I am I do not deem them worthy (i.e complex enough) to warrant wear time on their own. One of those is a fragrance the lovely Dee introduced me to: Laurence Dumont Tendre Madeleine

My favorite layering scent is Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise to use with other Goutals as well as many other floral perfumes. They all benefit from Vanille Exquise´s softly smoky sweetness and staying power, it anchors a perfume like nobody´s business. And still it is unique and complex enough to be worn on its own as well, it is easily my most used perfume.

I erred on the side of unwearability more often than I´d like to admit. Strangely there often seemed a Lutens involved in the miasma. Long story short: I am not gifted enough to layer Lutens perfumes, they are quite enough for me on their own.

How about you? I look forward to hearing about your layering experiences!

Picture source: gomonews.de, some rights reserved, thank you!

Posted in Monday Question | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments