March 24, 2012
Hello world
By the way. Just have to say how wow!-ed I am by the fact that people from about 30 countries seem to read this blog. It feels amazing.
Perfume matters & Where to get samples
This has been an interesting week. Las weekend Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter had an article in the Sunday paper about perfume. I am really honored that I was chosen as one of the persons that they interviewed. The appearance has led to e-mails from people in different countries with various great and interesting questions. Some of the topics that I have had the pleasure of discussing via e-mail in these last days are vintage perfumes, samples, where to buy perfume online, should you wear perfume everyday, is it ok to wear perfume in a restaurant, how to support a child’s interest in scents… Well, you get the picture. Amazing topics and I feel privileged to be the person asked for advice. I have kept all these thoughts in an Inspiration File for future articles, posts etc. But I thought I would adress one of the topics here as it might help you accelerate your perfume curiosity.
As followers of this blog know I am a strong opponent to hasty stressful perfume shopping and to shops that sell perfume in such a way. A new perfume is an intimate acquaintance and deserves a more sublime process. It takes a few hours to discover the character of a perfume – even if it indeed IS a perfect match. So, I am pro samples and pro perfume shops that understand when a client comes the third time in a week and wants to try the same perfume. And so on. I think samples are great. Yes, it is not always optimal for every perfume (more about this in a later post!) but generally they are a great tool. A sample allows you to try a perfume for a few days, and it is less of a decision and expense than a full bottle so it becomes easy and fun to try more new fragrances. Perhaps you have identified a note that you love – say vanilla or vetiver. These two come in so many different varieties and are used in completely different ways. Samples allow you to discover the spectra of your favorite note which will teach you more about it – and help you find The Right One For You.
As followers of this blog know I am a strong opponent to hasty stressful perfume shopping and to shops that sell perfume in such a way. A new perfume is an intimate acquaintance and deserves a more sublime process. It takes a few hours to discover the character of a perfume – even if it indeed IS a perfect match. So, I am pro samples and pro perfume shops that understand when a client comes the third time in a week and wants to try the same perfume. And so on. I think samples are great. Yes, it is not always optimal for every perfume (more about this in a later post!) but generally they are a great tool. A sample allows you to try a perfume for a few days, and it is less of a decision and expense than a full bottle so it becomes easy and fun to try more new fragrances. Perhaps you have identified a note that you love – say vanilla or vetiver. These two come in so many different varieties and are used in completely different ways. Samples allow you to discover the spectra of your favorite note which will teach you more about it – and help you find The Right One For You.
A lot of samples also circulate around me as I sometimes help people find a new perfume. This is one of my favorite things to do, it is so much fun and leads to SUCH great conversations. When I have an idea of what would work and what this specific person is looking for in terms of notes or character and the needs (for example if it is a signature scent or a perfume wardrobe) I will usually give them a couple of samples to try out for a while before making a decision. (Remember - perfumes need skin. Just the perfume is only half the story).
The obvious question then is: where to get samples? One way is to ask at the perfume shop. Sometimes they will have the sample you want and sometimes not. Not all perfume houses provide samples. Some shops are reluctant to hand them out it seems and this is a bit of a sad attitude problem – if that is the case find another shop. However, and this is important: the perfume in a sample that is given for free has been produced with as much care and investment as the perfume in the bottle. So treat your perfume samples with respect. The other way to get samples of fragrances that is becoming increasingly common, is to buy them from the perfume houses through their web shops. Sometimes they offer miniatures of separate scents and sometimes a kit with a selection of scents. This is a great and affordable way to try a new fragrance, or to get to know a perfume house better. The third alternative is to go through one of the companies/websites that are specialized in samples. Examples of these are The Perfumed Court, First in Fragrance and The Posh Peasant. These three are the ones that I have heard most about but if you know of other similar websites please share! It seems to be that there are more options in the US than in Europe so it would be fun to see this develop globally as shipping makes even limited shopping slightly more expensive. I love these websites and I think it is great that small amounts of perfume are becoming accessible as a commodity. The range of brands and products is very impressive which allows you to choose your own little collections of samples around a theme, for example a nose, a note, a brand. It is also a super-smart risk-free way to introduce someone else to a fragrance that you think they might like. Last night I browsed First in Fragrance to find a musc scent that I think a friend of mine would like, and created a little kit of Keiko Mecheri fragrances for myself as I am curious about this brand but have not yet identified my match in their range. This is a great way to end a Friday night for a perfume nerd like me!
Long post this one... But hoping its helpful! :) Happy hunting!
The obvious question then is: where to get samples? One way is to ask at the perfume shop. Sometimes they will have the sample you want and sometimes not. Not all perfume houses provide samples. Some shops are reluctant to hand them out it seems and this is a bit of a sad attitude problem – if that is the case find another shop. However, and this is important: the perfume in a sample that is given for free has been produced with as much care and investment as the perfume in the bottle. So treat your perfume samples with respect. The other way to get samples of fragrances that is becoming increasingly common, is to buy them from the perfume houses through their web shops. Sometimes they offer miniatures of separate scents and sometimes a kit with a selection of scents. This is a great and affordable way to try a new fragrance, or to get to know a perfume house better. The third alternative is to go through one of the companies/websites that are specialized in samples. Examples of these are The Perfumed Court, First in Fragrance and The Posh Peasant. These three are the ones that I have heard most about but if you know of other similar websites please share! It seems to be that there are more options in the US than in Europe so it would be fun to see this develop globally as shipping makes even limited shopping slightly more expensive. I love these websites and I think it is great that small amounts of perfume are becoming accessible as a commodity. The range of brands and products is very impressive which allows you to choose your own little collections of samples around a theme, for example a nose, a note, a brand. It is also a super-smart risk-free way to introduce someone else to a fragrance that you think they might like. Last night I browsed First in Fragrance to find a musc scent that I think a friend of mine would like, and created a little kit of Keiko Mecheri fragrances for myself as I am curious about this brand but have not yet identified my match in their range. This is a great way to end a Friday night for a perfume nerd like me!
Long post this one... But hoping its helpful! :) Happy hunting!
March 21, 2012
March 18, 2012
What is it that makes a perfume extra-ordinary?
The world of perfumes is one of the most hierarchical systems I can think of. Not only is the hierarchy there, it is unquestionable and obvious.
As, in this case, it should be.
There are individuals in this world who breathe and dream scents and spend their entire lives searching for new ways to bring out the best in different notes, to create new dances between them, to tell new stories. Individuals who fight against compromise. Who look for the perfect resinoid, rose, vetiver, vanilla, ambergris, nutmeg… These individuals are artists, musicians and magicians.
What you get in a bottle made of someone with passion is special. It’s a Perfume with capital P.
This is my recommendation, when shopping for perfume, go for the best you can find. But it costs a fortune, you say. Well, yes, sometimes excellence is expensive. Not always though, and actually mediocrity can be pretty pricey too if you think about it. Plus you don’t need the biggest bottle, and you don't need 15 almost-perfect perfumes. Take the time to discover what you love and then go for that in the quantity that you can afford.
But what is it that makes a perfume extra-ordinary? What is really the difference?
This is what I look for in my experience, and what I invest in:
- An interesting combination of notes: to create exquisite combinations you need talent, experience and time
- Precision and perfection of proportion: perfume creation is art and science combined, at a very high level. Slight differences in proportions create an entirely different experience.
- High-quality ingredients: expensive ingredients create an expensive perfume. Enough said.
- An interesting experience: perfume is like music. It tells a story and includes different stages. The ability to be able to create and control this is one of the perfumer’s tasks. Some perfumes are a flat sensation. Like a song without chorus and verse. These are the ones to avoid. Some take you through an entire odyssey of sensations during a day.
- Longevity: this is perhaps an individual preference but I do prefer a perfume that lasts from morning to afternoon as this gives me a sense of a fuller story.
- Pleasure: a perfume that is right for you isn’t “difficult to wear”. It doesn’t itch, irritate, distract unpleasantly, make you sneeze or feel thorny. If your perfume does you are using the wrong one. A perfume should feel like an embrace that is like a caress. A little bit tickling perhaps, but in a caressy way.
Isn’t it all in the imagination? No. It’s not. This is real. This is pleasure, creativity, sensation, inspiration and passion at its best. This is Perfume.
As, in this case, it should be.
There are individuals in this world who breathe and dream scents and spend their entire lives searching for new ways to bring out the best in different notes, to create new dances between them, to tell new stories. Individuals who fight against compromise. Who look for the perfect resinoid, rose, vetiver, vanilla, ambergris, nutmeg… These individuals are artists, musicians and magicians.
What you get in a bottle made of someone with passion is special. It’s a Perfume with capital P.
This is my recommendation, when shopping for perfume, go for the best you can find. But it costs a fortune, you say. Well, yes, sometimes excellence is expensive. Not always though, and actually mediocrity can be pretty pricey too if you think about it. Plus you don’t need the biggest bottle, and you don't need 15 almost-perfect perfumes. Take the time to discover what you love and then go for that in the quantity that you can afford.
But what is it that makes a perfume extra-ordinary? What is really the difference?
This is what I look for in my experience, and what I invest in:
- An interesting combination of notes: to create exquisite combinations you need talent, experience and time
- Precision and perfection of proportion: perfume creation is art and science combined, at a very high level. Slight differences in proportions create an entirely different experience.
- High-quality ingredients: expensive ingredients create an expensive perfume. Enough said.
- An interesting experience: perfume is like music. It tells a story and includes different stages. The ability to be able to create and control this is one of the perfumer’s tasks. Some perfumes are a flat sensation. Like a song without chorus and verse. These are the ones to avoid. Some take you through an entire odyssey of sensations during a day.
- Longevity: this is perhaps an individual preference but I do prefer a perfume that lasts from morning to afternoon as this gives me a sense of a fuller story.
- Pleasure: a perfume that is right for you isn’t “difficult to wear”. It doesn’t itch, irritate, distract unpleasantly, make you sneeze or feel thorny. If your perfume does you are using the wrong one. A perfume should feel like an embrace that is like a caress. A little bit tickling perhaps, but in a caressy way.
Isn’t it all in the imagination? No. It’s not. This is real. This is pleasure, creativity, sensation, inspiration and passion at its best. This is Perfume.
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| Jean-Claude Ellena |
March 17, 2012
Olfactory Rapture
I get total endorphine kicks from talking to people who are passionate about perfume. Add to that some new discoveries and I am in olfactory heaven of Dantesque proportions.
Juliette has a Gun: This is not a Review
I have been asked on a few occasions to do reviews on fragrances, both in formal and informal contexts. Have to disappoint those of you who wait for such posts. It is unlikely at this time that I will ever write a standard review with the purpose to grade a new launch or say that a perfume is good or bad. This simply goes against the essence of why I am interested in perfumes at all. I do, and will, however write reflections around specific fragrances and describe my impressions wearing them. If I notice obvious objective qualities that make it an exceptional perfume (in my opinion) I will tell you. But, scents are subjective and every persons skin, hormones, temperature, body odour is different. Therefore my experience will not be the same as yours and this to me makes a standard review based on evaluation pointless.
What I would like however, is if my reflections and obsession about details and facts and nuances can help you to a richer experience with your perfume, and that I can offer you some knowledge that will help you make more personal conscious choices. But for me to be able to do that for you I need to exercise my own perception. This is one of the reasons why I like to go through a range like I did with By Kilian or a theme (note, nose etc).
What I would like however, is if my reflections and obsession about details and facts and nuances can help you to a richer experience with your perfume, and that I can offer you some knowledge that will help you make more personal conscious choices. But for me to be able to do that for you I need to exercise my own perception. This is one of the reasons why I like to go through a range like I did with By Kilian or a theme (note, nose etc).
The next perfume house that I dive into will be Juliette has a Gun. A contemporary brand, created by Romano Ricci, with a classic heritage and a unique seductive narrative. Just received a sample kit from them and look forward to going through the fragrances. Stay posted for reflections on Citizen Queen, Lady Vengeance and their friends.
March 14, 2012
How to find a new perfume
For natural reasons I have the fortune to find myself indulging in conversations about perfume and perfume searching quite often. But in the last weeks it has really happened more often than usual. Which is great... I could easily spend my entire life talking about perfumes and helping others find their olfactory matches. My impression from these conversations is that there is quite a lot of insecurity around how to navigate between the shelves and brands and that this causes a feeling of being somewhat overwhelmed and confused. Some of my earlier posts offer guidance that could be of use to some of you. Hope this helps you in your perfume discoveries, and you are always welcome to contact me for questions or exchange of thoughts around this. Some of you do and I really enjoy reading your thoughts.
On perfume families and composition. This one.
On classification Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette...etc. This one.
One of my favorite topics... pour homme et pour femme.
Here, a post on wearing perfume.
A post about giving perfume to someone else, here.
In Swedish:
How to go about the shopping situation
And this one.
On perfume families and composition. This one.
On classification Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette...etc. This one.
One of my favorite topics... pour homme et pour femme.
Here, a post on wearing perfume.
A post about giving perfume to someone else, here.
In Swedish:
How to go about the shopping situation
And this one.
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| Druid necklace from Chanel with Perfume bottle :) |
March 13, 2012
It's oud-week.
Trying ouds, reading about ouds, thinking about ouds. I have three, two from Byredo and the Kilian. I will be back with reflections. In the meantime have a look at THIS. Juliette has a gun. I have a crush on this brand right now. To be continued.
In the meantime, watch your sillage.
In the meantime, watch your sillage.
March 10, 2012
Day 11 by Kilian: Liaisons Dangereuses, mon amour...
Saving the best for last. My 11-day quest with By Kilian has come to an end. My relationship with this perfume house though, no... never. J'adore. The black, the creation without compromise, the elegance, the dance between sweetness and darkness. In my ideal olfactory world everyone would one a Kilian fragrance and they are so diverse, even if with a clear concept, that I really think anyone could find a favorite here.
So for my grand finale I chose my first love. Liaisons Dangereuses - typical me. This fragrance was my first encounter with this brand and I almost missed a flight from Amsterdam because of it. It would have been worth it. I love this fragrance. When I experienced it for the first time about a year and a half ago I was infatuated. It is sweet but with integrity, easy bit sophisticated. It is like a floral but so fierce. I never wear florals, to me this is one even though if you look at the notes..it's really not. And it so very very romantic in the word's most dignified, playful and urban sense. To the formula.
I am in awe of this creation by Calice Becker. This is one of the most beautiful fragrances I know of. And I have seen it blend perfectly with different people that normally would not choose the same perfume. So I recommend it to anyone. I have never experienced it on a man though, so that thought makes me curious. I have a notion that the musk would create something interesting when blended with a man's body odour.
My conclusion after these 11 days is that I have found two new fragrance loves. I have also found in two other ones very nice scents for people that I love. And if possible my admiration for Kilian creations is even bigger.
Try it. Kilian's olfactory world is a great way to travel.
So for my grand finale I chose my first love. Liaisons Dangereuses - typical me. This fragrance was my first encounter with this brand and I almost missed a flight from Amsterdam because of it. It would have been worth it. I love this fragrance. When I experienced it for the first time about a year and a half ago I was infatuated. It is sweet but with integrity, easy bit sophisticated. It is like a floral but so fierce. I never wear florals, to me this is one even though if you look at the notes..it's really not. And it so very very romantic in the word's most dignified, playful and urban sense. To the formula.
I am in awe of this creation by Calice Becker. This is one of the most beautiful fragrances I know of. And I have seen it blend perfectly with different people that normally would not choose the same perfume. So I recommend it to anyone. I have never experienced it on a man though, so that thought makes me curious. I have a notion that the musk would create something interesting when blended with a man's body odour.
My conclusion after these 11 days is that I have found two new fragrance loves. I have also found in two other ones very nice scents for people that I love. And if possible my admiration for Kilian creations is even bigger.
Try it. Kilian's olfactory world is a great way to travel.
March 7, 2012
Kilian Day 10: The Devil attracts you with honey and sugar
Being a copywriter I give more than a little attention to the names of fragrances and I have a profound allergy to clichés or arbitrariness. So this...baam. I would buy it just for the name maybe. You have to agree with me that the name is outstanding. So let's not perform a semantic dissection on it. Let's just embrace it. Sweet Redemption - The End.
For obvious reasons I should have taken this one as the last fragrance of my Kilian-process, right? But I am also allergic to over-ordering things so, no. I have one left now. Over to the fragrance. It is very unusual. Definitely a very sweet very dark. For some reason unfortunately you cannot find the formula on Kilians web as with the other fragrances so I have searched for other sources of information. According to Basenotes, the top notes are bergamot and bitter-orange leaf, middle notes are orange blossom, myrrh and frankincense and base notes are opoponax, benzoin and vanilla.
My feeling wearing the fragrance is that the orange and frankincense are dominating. It is very sweet even if a dark kind of sweet and also a bit powdery, like the perfumes from the 1920's. The sillage is very strong so you can't really wear it on a low key day...
When this fragranced was recently launched it was indeed the last (10th) fragrance of the L'Oeuvre Noir line. In this article Kilian Hennessy describes the inspiration for Sweet Redemption - The End, "What came to mind was Goethe’s Faust. He already has a great deal, but he wants more. He accepts the Devil’s deal. The Devil attracts you with honey and sugar. Sweet Redemption, the top notes, had to present this battle of good and evil.”
The nose behind the fragrance is Calice Becker, who has created the majority of the fragrances of L'Oeuvre Noir. She describes the creation as "love without sexual tension".
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