Perfumistas will want to take note of two special events hosted by the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program in Washington, DC this coming February:
The Art of Fragrance (In Collaboration with the Embassy of France With Sparkling Wine Toast) with Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, Friday, 5 February at 6:45 pm:
Tonight, we cut through the usual perfume-babble to illuminate the art of fragrance.
Despite the millions of marketing dollars poured in, the beauty of a fragrance can't be predicted by cost, degree of nudity in ads, or appeal to nostalgia: It all still relies upon the perfumer's difficult art. The lecture, scented throughout with examples, delves into the enjoyment of fragrance, the chemical discoveries that made modern perfumery possible, and the enduring mystery of how our noses figure it all out.
[...] Fragrance representatives from Bloomingdale's share perfume samples...and provide each participant with a special gift.
Tickets are $25 for members, $40 for non-members, and can be purchased here.
Perfumes: An Exquisite Exploration (In Collaboration with the Embassy of France with Mimosas, Coffee, and Pastries) with Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez and Patricia de Nicolaï, Saturday, 6 February at 10 am:
This cultural and practical primer on fragrance allows participants to smell masterworks of the art of perfumery that have been unavailable for decades, as well as new scents. The rare collection comes from Versailles' Osmotheque, the International Conservatory of Perfumes, just for this event. It includes the great progenitors of today's scents, ranging from the fougere to oriental to floral to the chypres.
We follow a scent-infused history of perfume, accompanied by a sampling of natural and synthetic raw materials, to understand the intertwined stories of fragrance artistry and fragrance chemistry. We explore how perfumes evolve from top note to drydown after being applied, discuss the ways to judge a fragrance, and argue about how much skin chemistry matters.
[...] Turin and Sanchez's book, Perfumes: The Guide (Penguin), is included with the purchase of a ticket to this event. It's a morning filled with French flavors and fragrances.Each participant receives a special gift from Bloomingdale's.
Tickets are $125 for members, $150 for non-members, and can be purchased here. (via residentassociates.org, with thanks to Tania Sanchez for the link)
Wrong side of the country yet again…..
Sorry!
Try wrong side of the world!!!! Oooooo bugger…
Dear Madames de Nicolai and Sanchez and Msr Turin, please do a world tour….
I wonder how many scents you get to try at these things? Wouldn’t one’s nose get tired after the first few? Perhaps they have the smell equivalent of palate cleansers.
Actually, I think we do a fair bit of cutting through the ‘usual perfume-babble’ right here on NST!
Well the myth is that we cannot smell more than 5 perfumes and then we are done. On my search for a sample or a tester of Cuir de Lancome I met soo many unfriendly parfumes sailers (mostly women I am afraid!) they were trying to convince me that I can smell only 3 perfumes…. I have tried 10 at a day and I still remember them! But other people get dizzy after 2 or one…. And there are always coffie grains around so you can for sure try 5 perfumes. I remember once at a friends place he gave me more than 10 perfumes to try and then we both felt…. abnoxious.! But I still remember that day!!! And the perfumes
well, some people offer you coffee beans to smell as olfactory cleansers, but actually smelling your own skin (an unperfumed spot) is better…
and the number depends if you’re skin-testing them or not, on a perfume pelgrimage in Paris I recently had 4 perfumes per arm, that was decidedly too much, one scent that didn’t make itself noticed at all in these conditions was l’heure exquise, have to try again, sorry for babbling
Unscented skin, coffee beans, eating a mint, anything that helps, helps.
I can’t wear more than 3 on one arm or I get confused. 2 on each works for me.
You’re probably smelling quickly on test strips, which is not (to me) the same as how many you can put on skin at a time. But I don’t know how many scents they are bringing from the Osmotheque.
Gee, aren’t all young school children supposed to take an educational trip to DC with their parents? I have two… 😉
Exactly!
Wow – I am in close proximity to these events and may actually be able to attend one! What a fun way to spend an evening.
I live in Maryland and am thinking about going also. I hope there is some sort of reminder, because February is a long way off.
I know – I clicked on the link Robin provided and bookmarked it.
I don’t know when the next Resident Associates catalog is going out, but when I lived in DC & was a member, things sold out very quickly after they went out in the mail…if you really want to go, I’d book now.
Thanks for the tip Robin!
You’ll have to report back to us if you go!
Oh my. I’m right by DC and am tempted to go to both!
It would make a nice weekend!
Sadly I think I need to decide on one and can’t make up my mind. On the one hand the one on Saturday will definitely have things that are once in a lifetime sniffing opportunities, but can’t help but think of all the samples I could buy with the $110 difference. Help!
It’s hard to pick. I’d love to know exactly what they’re bringing for the Osmotheque, but I guess it also depends what you’d rather have: a one-time sniff of something famous and long gone, or a bottle of something marvelous you could wear in the here & now.
Perhaps Tania will chime in, but also wondering if you wouldn’t learn more on Saturday? Friday sounds a bit more “basic” to me.
Hi, Robin—thanks for posting this. The Friday night lecture is mostly LT’s gig; it covers his scientific work on smell + his adventures in the perfume industry + whatever else he feels like throwing in. It is much shorter than Saturday and more tickets are available. Saturday is the perfume intensive three-hour tour with Patricia de Nicolaï and us; we are currently working out which fragrances she is bringing from the Osmothèque, but frankly I’m excited myself as I’ve never had the chance to go to Versailles and she will most likely bring some things I’ve never smelled. There are only 40 seats available, since the nature of the event is more intimate with more interaction, and there will be (so far as I can tell) much less science, much more art and history of perfume.
Thanks T, that helps.
Somehow I can’t reply directly to Tania’s response, but thanks so much for expanding on the website descriptions. I think it’s swung me fully over to the Saturday session. It’ll just be my splurge for the season:-)
Just FYI, you have responded the only possible way…the comments won’t nest any deeper than this.
You lucky coots living close by!
🙂
For those who live in the neighborhood, so to speak, do tell us about it if you decide to go! What splendid events. Alas, I don’t think Michigan is considered when planning great perfume events. 🙂
I don’t see these sorts of things locally either, LOL…
Oh my goodness… it’s pricey but I’m not sure I can resist going! And hey, mimosas.
And pastries…maybe they’ll have macarons?
Tania’s comment made me cave too… tickets now purchased for the Saturday morning event. Still considering the Friday evening one though! And lucky me, my husband is actually excited to go too. 🙂
Lucky you!!
I’m going Saturday. If LT & TS are half as witty as the book, it will be a great time. And I haven’t been to the Osmothèque so I’m very exciting about the sniffage prospects. Hope some more NST readers make it!
Lucky you!! Do report back, I’d love to know what all you get to smell.