Today, our third annual Haiku Challenge (if you like, you can check out 2010 and 2011 for inspiration).
Pick a perfume or a perfume house (or really, anything related to perfume), write a haiku about it. Use the simplified English form — your haiku should have three lines, the first line with five syllables, the second line with seven syllables and the third line with five syllables. You can put the perfume name in the title if that makes it easier, and at any rate, don’t stress over the rules of traditional haiku — this is just for fun.
Note: image is Half Moon Bridge by Toshi Yoshida, 1941.
It’s my first attempt to haiku writing but I try to do my best. This one matches my SOTD which is Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilee.
Silver stars tonight
Mystery of the moonlight
Lonely wind of time
And Robin, the picture for Haiku Challenge is beautiful.
Isn’t it? I love that one.
And hey, you are better than me right from your first try!
I always liked the traditional japanese paintings. I’m fascinated by Japan for many years. I hope to visit there one day.
Oh, really? Thank you very much 🙂
Brilliant! You’re a natural, Lucas. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. 🙂
Thank you Rappleyea! Nuit Etoilee really made my day coming with yesterday’s mail along with few other smelly samples. Hope you have a great weekend too!
Delirious bees
In wisteria arbors
Herald sweet scent clouds
Is it also for Nuit Etoilee that you posted it here, below mine?
Sorry, Lucas; my post is in the wrong place. I meant to refer to the beautiful image Robin posted for the poll. I don’t know Nuit Etoilee, but your haiku for it makes it sound really lovely!!
No problem! I have to admit the picture really is great. And Nuit Etoilee – really worth a try!
And I could not resist myself to give it a try and write few more to praise my Prada fragrances.
➡ Prada Amber Pour Homme
Precious soap my dear
Reveal that amber passion
Now, then and always
➡ Prada Infuson d’Homme
Infuse me with luck
Squeeze all my drops of iris
Wear me with all might
➡ Prada Amber Pour Homme Intense
Hidden in the dark
Intense glow in his big eye
All senses captured
Lucas, you really tell a story with each of these haikus – great work!
Thank you Nozknoz! It’s my first time wiriting haiku, surely I find it easier to write than Prix Eau Faux entries.
How are you doing my friend?
I’m well, Lucas, thank you. I’m not having any luck composing a haiku, so I’ll enjoy the others here today.
Have yourself a nice, fragrant Sunday! We’ll see each other later 😉
Great job on all of them! I’m not even attempting this challenge. I’m just gonna sit here and eat my guacamole and chips and enjoy everyone else’s poetic genius.
Enjoy your food treat then, seat comfortably and have a good time reading!
Very nice ones, Lucasai!
Thank you Haunani! Do you have a good weekend?
Yes! It’s a beautiful summery weekend here. Thanks for asking!
We had a great, warm week but this weekend brought some colder, windy and wet weather.
This boy is a prodigy!!!
Oh my! Thank you Moore! I don’t really think I’m that good. I just tried to do my best, stick to the general haiku rules and make them something that would reflect my love to my Pradas.
As you’re being shy and modest I’ll unmask you: Your reviews are astonishing!
Aww… that’s so nice of you! I’ll be writing more in future, I promise!
I love Van Cleef and Arpels:
Back of the closet?
Jasmine, aldehyde and musk:
what was last is First.
Witty haiku!
Oh I LOVE First! And I’ve loved it since almost its beginning.
Two for my newly found favorite perfume, Shiseido White Rose:
Luminous blossoms
Sweetly scenting soft breezes
In lovely gardens
or
Shiseido White Rose
Perfection in a bottle
What more can I say?
Nicely done and high praise indeed from a true rose lover!
I hadn’t heard of this one, but now I want it!
The indecisive perfumista’s plight:
Warm, shower fresh skin
waiting for a fragrant kiss.
Too many choices.
That’s a great one! You never know what perfume you’ll put on tomorrow.
LOL — excellent!
Very clever and such truth! 🙂
In honor of four of my favorite fragrances:
*Canyon Dreams*
Red rocks surround us
giving up their smoky spice
to the azure sky
*Envy*
Green slicing metal
a scythe through a spring meadow
cuttings warm and dry
*Un Jardin Sur le Nil*
Your Nile seems distant
as I eat a ripe mango
and ponder the fruit
*Cuir de Russie*
Poised on her saddle
emancipated lady
release your flowers!
HA….Un jardin sur le nil made me laugh!
Le Temps d’une Fete
Green winds blow towards us
Hyacinth, warm sun and hay
Celebration time!
Knize Ten
Old Viennese style
Jazz age leather, amber, smoke,
Still alive today
Two faves and you hit ’em both. Brava.
Lys Mediteranee
Scrubber. You hate me.
Can’t saw my arm off. Ack! Help!
Acetone! Now! Quick!
Lol. Been there.
Haha! Outstanding.
Never tried, and based on your Haiku, no need to either!
yellow in the sky
is the same of your liquid,
I smell a summer day
Ooh, what is this fragrance, Alex00?
it was summer by kenzo, but wrote it on the top of the post lol
don’t know what happened, sorry
1. Annick Goutal Pour Cherie Par Camillee
(After William Carlos Williams)
This is just to say
I smell deeply of the plum
Delicious, Camille
Bravo on the Williams reference
Terrific. I still need to smell that perfume …
if you find danger
don’t you fear, follow the scent
of fresh basil bread
Now I’m hungry.
Upon Growing Up and Realizing that the Ideal of Femmine Sophistication Depicted in the New Yorker Ads Just Doesn’t Hold For Me.
Every Girl
Alive Wants Channel Number
Five? Not Me!
Why Not? Am I Wrong
Reformulation? Maybe One
Aldehyde too far?
😀
Forget elegance
Chicness and polish as well
Go for love instead
My dear Tea for Two
Why did they take you away
Damn L’Artisan
😀
My thoughts exactly!
Choppard Madness
No Not Madness
Lovely Sandelwood and Rose
Bottle So Red and Square
Love Madness!!
Reformulations,
And discontinuations,
No perfume is safe.
(I may be a little bitter over my favorite being discontinued)
It’s sad when that happens!
What is your favorite?
I’ve loved tea for two since i first ran across it. i’ll have to stock up now!
Oh, I see your prior one now. I want to try Tea for Two before it’s gone! 🙁
What fun! I suppose this is my first attempt at a Haiku since middle school —
I cannot decide
Fresh, sweet, skank, or aldehyde?
Nice problem to have
LOL! This is the eternal problem 😉
Neighbors’ stolen blooms
En Passant in the office
Colleague moves the vase.
Two things about this: we hacked a bunch of lilacs that were looming over our fence after a big windstorm and I felt a little guilty. Then a few days later I got my En Passant decant and spritzed madly before going to work. When I arrived at a meeting in a small conference room there was a vase of lilacs on the table. After I wafted in, my colleague said, “Hoo,, these are strong,” and moved the flowers away!
Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
That’s hilarious!
Of course if it were one of us NST peeps in that room, we’d probably be burying our noses in that vase!
I love the back-story on this one!
Funny!
I was amused even before I got to the explanation 🙂
I could see the punchline coming. What a great coincidence – blame it on the flowers in the vase!
Eau d’Hadrian juice,
I’ve read about you on blogs.
Fifteen dollar score!
Just received a small bottle in today’s mail. Love it!
When I was little
Jean Nate disgusted Mom
But I pilfered sprays.
Ha!
Now, Carnal Flower:
Tuberose miracle.
Go big or go home.
Please, someone stop me!
I need to get the house cleaned!
But I must spritz first.
I love the line, “Go big or go home!” 🙂
I think that’s the only way to go with tuberose.
These are all great, Bluepinegrove!
Thanks, Rapple! It’s awfully fun.
My take on Carnal Flower
I bent down to breath
a sweet flower stench and then
breathed the garden soil too
Lazy weekend poll
NST haiku challenge
Two thousand and twelve
Heartbroken April
Falling into Silences
Smell of bitter spring
Fumehead in making
The postman rings twice a week
How embarrassing
A start around eight
Pure perfume catastrophe
Ma Griffe in my bed
Headaches are lilac
I pick mine with squeamish care
After my own heart
Lovely headache haiku! LOL at the postman!!
Love these! Such a talented bunch on NST!
The postman always . . . brings perfume!!
Bottleneck Blues
Lush, sweet and dirty
Mmm…yes, dancing equals sex
You animal, you
Nice! I will have to try that one again.
*A la Nuit*
All smooth and creamy white
but beneath the innocence
a carnivorous bite
Perfect fit!
I am so blown away by the sample I just got:
Cartier Baiser Volé
Full dew drops breathe scents
Reflecting your living stems
Petals cry with joy
Sounds like you’re going to need a bottle 🙂
I’m flying to the UK on Wednesday, through Heathrow – did someone say DUTY FREE?
Somebody keep me away from my credit card. 😀
Jeux de Peau
Is it scent or food?
Fools in bottles, are not we?
Aromachemicals.
Neat one!
Guaranteed, you’ve written the only poem in existence with the line “aromachemicals.”
Ok, another one, this was so fun:
*Femme*
Plummy overripe
oozing secret bodyparts
the female fullness
You captured it perfectly!
Lush Lust
Nuclear jasmine
Lays to waste all in its path
Then…vanilla musk?
Mugler A*Men
My café mocha
Spiked with lavender room spray
I feel nauseous now.
Prada Candy
Powdery floral
Glazed with caramel and cream
Yup, still feel nauseous.
Those were very evocative. Now I feel nauseous, too 🙂
Citron Citron
sweet and sour hour
glory light and clarity
and then: poof! It’s gone!
Shalimar Parfum Initial
A younger sister?
Lighter? Sweeter? Girlier?
No. Just patchouli.
Jicky
The honest daughter:
-Now! Admit! Who has farted?
-No one have but me…!
LOL at Jicky!
Nothing more lovely
A flower on a soft breeze
I smell you nearing
Nice!
The Crazy Perfumista’s Lament Upon Finding Herself on the Verge of Buying Yet Another Bottle to Add to Her Already Extensive Collection:
Help! I have enough
Perfume already. No more!
Please–someone stop me.
I agree!!!
And you’ll see below, that thanks to our favorite enabler, Daisy, I have found another that I really love. 🙁
Truer words have never been spoken.
I need this one as computer wallpaper! Well done!
My Dresser is full
Pretty bottles, so much joy
Wallet so empty
so true!
azuree love/hate
put on greens, scrub off armchair
let the cat out now
Oh dear!
Okay I changed my mind. Here’s my day in haiku form.
Painted the kitchen
While wearing Habanita.
Now it’s cocktail time.
Just a normal perfumista day! 🙂 Love it.
Love this 🙂
Right on!
Enjoy the cocktails! And the Habanita, of course.
Yaay! Poodle wrote a haiku! And it’s a lovely one! Sending my wishes of a great and fragrant Sunday!
🙂
Same to you!
Winning ebay bid
Large lot of vintage perfume
New love–White Shoulders
Oh gosh, I wore that in high school, a hundred years ago!
Mine is one of the old Evyan ones with the metal label and no cameo and it’s flat out gorgeous. Also obsessed with Inoui from that lot, but since I don’t know how to pronounce it, I wasn’t sure if it fits the syllable count
Myrrhe et Delires
Wasser for Guerlain
Creates sweet and spicy myrrh –
Wise man bearing gifts.
I really like this, but it was mainly myrrh and vanilla on me (very similar on my skin to Goutal’s Myrrhe Ardente). Upon reading the notes, I find no vanilla listed, only licorice (I got none) and patchouli. The patch must have been neutered down to smell as sweet as vanilla!
LOL, maybe licorice + neutered patch = phantom vanilla!
31 rue cambon
a pompous chypre
she knows, she’s untouchable
yes, she’s exclusif
(I called the Sloane Street Chanel shop in London this week, and there’s nooo waaay the can send a bottle to Sweden. And they’re sooo sooorry. This haiku was written in huge annoyment)
I’d try the Chanel boutiques here – Bergdorf Goodman or Saks 5th Ave. I’ll bet they’ll send a bottle!
Oh, thanks! I’ll sure try there!
Chanel No 18 (SOTD)
Ever so slightly
Austere metallic iris
Bitter elegance
Clinique Happy
Happy unhappy
Bottled sunshine fails to cheer
Maybe mine is old?
Nah, it just stinks. 😉
😉
I’m loving the cool kitty in the sunglasses!
Looks like the kitty could have a bespectacled doggy friend!
Smells UNhappy 🙂
He nuzzles my neck
“You always smell so good”
Mitsouko love
so beautiful!
Dirty leather gloves
Embracing Jolie Madame
Let go, you Bandit
Who forgot to flush?
Kublai Kahn or uncle Serge?
Open a window!
Carnal white flower
Something lethal in the grass
A lush green mamba
😀
)0
I meant LOL!!
Natural oil based scents
Always enticing
Skin deep disappearing act
Moisturize my wrist
(On why I don’t have a signature scent)
Life’s too short for one
Abundance is my magic
Ever changing self
Ooh, I love that second one.
Me too!
here are mine
the shenenigans
of a night at the circus
conflagrate in Dzing!
bottega veneta (scent and bags):
a swirl of leather
a vision of luxury
unattainable
Ormonde Jayne woman:
woody huntress in
green, prowling through concrete jungle
closing in to next prey
Lys med deserves another chance:
lilies concentrate
to viriginal and austere
perfection with twist
All of these are great, but especially loved OJ Woman — excellent!
Bless Neela Vermeire
She’s given us India
In three glass bottles
now I feel like I know everything about NV
Ooh, I love that! I hope Neela sees it. Maybe post it on her Facebook page also!
Oh! I should! Thanks for the suggestion, Sujaan.
Be Delicious
What was I thinking?
Now I smell like fruit pie.
Free sample sucker.
LOL!! Aren’t we all little sample-whores?? Bet you smell DELICIOUS though ;D
🙂
So true, bpg!
Now I will entice
A thousand-an-one sultans
Amouage my love
That’s perfect, Ida!
d
A perfumista’s dilemma…
So much work to do
Yet here I sit reading blogs
Sated by scent speak
Wonderful word choices here. Made me smile, too. 🙂
Agree, Sujaan! This is such FUN. 🙂 🙂 🙂 thanks Robin and everyone for making magic.
Rush you are a lass
Of not so modest manner
Brash make an entrance
Hey, you guys are making all the magic! I’m just reading and nodding in agreement 🙂
Sorry number five
Used to say: smells old lady
Great, it fits me now!
Oh, perfect!
I used to feel that way about No.5 too. Never imagined I would ever own it and love it. I’m not sure if that means I’m an old lady though. I prefer to think that my nose has matured enough to appreciate it.
I am just the opposite. When I was a child, I took those darned ads literally. I believed that all woman wanted a bottle of Channel NO. 5, just like all grown ups learned to want a morning cup of coffee. (The photo of Catherine Deneuve helped, since it was obvious that every woman would want to look like her).
Now that I am a grown up, I really don’t want that bottle. I always try to sniff the EDP sampler at the counters and try to figure out what I am missing that everyone else loves.
Dilana, LT wrote that the EDP is a different perfume from the other concentrations – you might give the EDC a try sometime. Of course, there’s no one perfume for everyone, and there are a lot of unopened No. 5s on ebay!
She stomped in to the room
Yes, Coco pushed me over
Remember her name?
Ha! Coco’s pushed me around a few times, too…
Did you wash your hands?
Forty Seven Eleven
Oldest newest clean
Ha, very cute!
(Nu, YSL)
were it later
i would go out and dance
by now i wear Nu
You make me want to try this, Alex!
Sanchez and Turin
Your pillow talk is scented
Cerebral bonding
🙂
Oh, cute!
Rubj
First warm day in May
When my colleague steps closer
He doesn’t know why
Lovely tribute!
Absolutely lovely!
Ah, the power of scent!! Love this one. 🙂
This was how it started…
Monsieur P Guillaume
Had me caught a London night
That Cadjmere so smooth…
With monsieur Ellena
I sat beneath a fig tree
And sank deeper still
And that Kilian
Took my every penny for
Roses and lavender
Then in tropic love
Sandrine Videault
Amazing woman
But, at last, real love
Serge, I’ll watch your babies
Please don’t ever leave.
I love these! Kilian the mugger.
You’ve captured the perfume lovers journey, Limbic!
Egoiste whisper
Spicey liquid envelopes
Memories ignite
Ignite is perfect for Egoiste!
I wore Jardin du
Poete today because I
Did not work in mine
🙂
Sweet!
Oh, Jungle Jasmine:
Even vintage perfumistas
shudder. Tuvaché!
Touché indeed, Olenska! 🙂
Love this!
Thank you, Nozknoz and
Haunani. Honest, this stuff
smells like Elmer’s glue.
Hee hee!
Across the lunchroom
Lips glossed, smile at the ready
Will he ever notice me?
(Avon Sweet Honesty)
Stars spin dizzily
above the lush jasmine air.
Ysatis, my love.
(Givenchy; vintage)
Edit above:
Will he notice me?
(Apparently I can’t count syllables…)
Love both of these!
Thanks, Haunani. You and the other posters have written so many wonderful ones! I haven’t been able to tear myself away from the blog today — just waiting for new ones to post…
You really captured Sweet Honesty.
For my beloved Shaal Nur:
Wrapped in harmony
The graceful rose plays a song
Fit for a princess
Perfect — so nice to see one for Shaal Nur!
A fitting haiku for this wonderful scent!
And for another favorite:
All things in balance
A root here, a flower there
Vétiver pour Elle
Nice! The haiku as ethereal as the scent!
And one for the glorious Timbuktu:
The humble mango
Opens a door to the sun
Viewed through pure white smoke
Nice. You’ve convinced me I need to sample this one.
Thanks! It’s a special one, for sure.
Love that!
Slow brain today but here is one for Bulgari Black:
Wicked glinting eyes
Creaking leather, warm bare skin
The chill of pleasure
Oooh! Your imagery is wonderful. I can see, feel, and hear the whole scene!
Shalimar:
Veil of smoke rises
Obscures her coy scarlet smile
She leads the way out
I like this one!
Baiser Vole
Nursing home du jour
Lilies in hot funeral
Please, need fresh air now
Ha ha! So, FragrantWitch, how do you like Baiser Vole? 😉
I like BV. Your interpretation is quite funny. I’m going to think of that and laugh every time I wear it now.
Happy to give you a giggle!
Now BV has pro & con haikus 🙂
Ok, these are addictive
Fracas
Rotting smell of fruit
Flies surround me, hungry buzz
Horrid tuberose
Apologies to all who adore Fracas and tuberose!
LOL … apology accepted! Nice haiku.
Thanks!
Look! A green fairy
out in the lavender field!
A Taste of Heaven?
Gorgeous!
Thanks! It’s a favorite fragrance. 🙂
Just right for this wonderful and unusual fragrance!
Guerlain Vetiver:
Pour Homme for the ladies et
Pour Elle for the gents.
Cute one! 🙂
So green and rooty
Vetiver Dance I love you
Expensive bear spray
Intense Tiare
Linear? So what?
The scent of my happiness
Lasts through tomorrow
Sounds great, considering this for the next purchase, good to hear it’s got some staying power!
I get about 30 hours before I can’t smell on skin. It really is a fabulous happy scent for me. Hope you love it too
Nicely written!
Very haiku, especially with that bit of surprise in the last phrase.
one more:
What’s that, a forest?
Narcissus and earthy tea?
A horse, true to life.
(Cartier L’Heure Fougueuse).
Great description!
Robin, purlease could we have a haiku challenge more often! I could hardly tear myself away to go to bed – (to let you know, my NST hits between 22h00 and 23h00 as I live in East Africa). On opening my eyes this morning it was: I must go see the rest of the haikus! What a talented perfume poets’ club!
A last one:
Coromandel coax
Banish sadness sweet embrace
Silkscreen of my soul
Oh yes, Coromandel my beloved! Thank you, Ida, for giving her mention.
I too woke up wondering how many more haikus i would get to read!
It really is fun! Maybe we’ll do another in the fall.
Chic chypre standby
When a lady I must be
Rue Cambon transforms
Perfect, L!
You help us breathe in awe
All the gardens of the world
Is your daughter really that Different?
A haiku for Jean Claude of course 🙂
Very clever! 🙂
Salvatore Ferragamo Pour Homme
Nespresso drinking,
Italian loafer wearing
hunk. I surrender.
Chanel 28 La Pausa
The velvet glove
on an iron fist. Take
them by surprise!
Oh, these are perfect, kaos! The Chanels are ALL steel beneath their iris velvet or white flower silk chiffon!
Yes the Exclusifs are tha bomb… I already bought la pausa and as soon as one of my 10 bottles is empy (I have a self-imposed 10 bottle limit) I am getting another exclusif 😛
My current 10 – may 2012
Narciso Rodriguez Musc Pour Homme
Verbena Agrumes (lÓccitane)
Kiehls Musk
Odeur 71 CdG
Ferragamo Pour Homme
Eau Parfumee au the vert Extreme
Premier Figuier (l´Artisan)
Brin de Reglisse (15ml… Hermes)
Route du The – Barney´s
28 La Pausa – Chanel
Angel by Thierry Mugler
Glorious you in 93
Cloying thereafter
My small space utmost fear
That cracked me up!
Sniffapalooza!
Sniff, swap, shop in Vancouver
Perfume among friends
I was talking to Nazrin at the Perfume Shoppe about having a sniffapalooza here in Vancouver, and thinking of June 23 (June 30 might be too close to Canada Day).
If you are interested you can drop me a line at: a123amos at inbox dot com . Once there’s a firm date Nazrin will put something up on her page too. I might talk to Sinead the nice perfume SA at Holt Renfrew, in case they’re agreeable to an official group visit — or we can always have an unofficial group visit…!
If you create an event page on Facebook, I’m happy to send out a link to it on my FB & Twitter!
The five year old grabs
my hand, whispers: what is this?
Spray it on my pillow!
(Teint de Neige)
That’s just adorable, and so right for the fragrance! I love Teint de Neige for bedtime.
Thanks! Yes it’s very cuddly!
Narciso Rodriguez in the purse perfume roll-on, which I have actually enjoyed wearing daily for over 2 weeks (a first in many years!) since it is the only thing I have with me while traveling:
Soft, sensuous veil
ambiguous enough to
stay interesting
I love the Half Moon Bridge image!
Trying my hand…
Full Bottle waste not
An array of scents to try
Discovery Set
A burst of citrus
Lush 25:43
Musky gourmand end
Let me list them now:
Air, water, food, and perfume
Life’s necessities
So true….
Yep! Love it. 🙂
A Blue sad morning
I choose the fragrance I love
The day then shows promise
Nice!
A Haiku for my favorite smell:
Eau de Kitteh Breath,
Guerlain, Hermes, Chanel, hey!
I am still waiting.
Ha ha!!!
*elie saab*
Levantine breakfast,
Like an orange blossom cream
melt into my skin
I love MAGPIE’s. I love being all fresh, then a little paint on my face, then I go directly into my perfume room, it’s dark and cold. I call it the scent bar.
Anyway, I come out of my boat doors and have about 153 to choose from. Shalimar Initial is all I’ve ever know of the scent. But I love it. I’m a Guerlains girl. I got some Shalimar way too late and picked up some Dune, which gets a 5 star rating at Bois de Jasmine. I have a small bottle but this new bottle: the tester made the liquid look red. Mine is from the pharmacy and tinted. This one looks strange. Maybe the tester was off, but upon learning Princess Kate wore it as her sig. frag, I loved it even more. Yes I watched the wedding. We were at the beach and the child most like me got up at the ___ crack of dawn to watch it. We ordered room service. Anyone know which frag she wore on her wedding day? Wish me luck withe RED DUNE!
On my list of frags RO purchase two of Etat’s earthy mossy, hopefully incense-y, Mazzorlari’s Alesondro, and Bois de Italie, something. I was looking at Opus VI and this was at the bottom. Perhaps I should spend. But I’ll wait and let my hubs do that.
Thank you for saving a very boring bus trip! Here’s my input (apologies if the syllable count is rubbish, I am not a native speaker).
To my fiancee who nicked my Bulgari Back:
He stays next to me,
nights of passion, days of lust
You are a wicked thief!
l’air de rien
What are you wearing,
A strange scent yet so divine?
oh nothing, I reply
Comme des Garcons Incense series
Relax, close your eyes
Foreign countries faraway
with every inhale
Apres l’Ondee
Come love, dance with me
no clothes on, on our meadow
after summer rain
Chanel Gardénia
Elegant lady
in a garden. But she goes
away in an hour
Off to read 2010&2011 now;)