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Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune ~ fragrance review

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Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune brand image

Not every perfume is a groundbreaking work of art. It’s best that way. Some fragrances earn their keep as supporting characters — everyday auras that hum along and let you provide the personality. They’re flexible perfumes friendly to just about any situation, mood, or season. They’re “go tos” when you don’t want to think too much about a scent, but simply want to spritz one on and forget about it.

Perfumes I count on to fill this role include Guerlain Vol de Nuit, DelRae Mythique, Caron Nocturnes, Bois 1920 Sutra Ylang, and, to some extent, Chanel No. 5. If I had a bottle, Hermès Eau des Merveilles would join the line up. For someone who loves amber, Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune might be a solid choice for this kind of “aura” fragrance…

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The Holiday Song Smell-track

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stereo red

It’s time for the “scent a Christmas carol” game! Here’s how it works: someone tosses out the name of a carol, and the rest of us pitch in with suggestions for fragrances to accompany it. I’ll get us started.

We Three Kings: “Frankincense to offer have I…myrrh have I: it’s bitter perfume.” As Robin pointed out when I proposed this post, Eau d’Italie Baume du Doge has frankincense and myrhh. For frankincense alone, you have a hundred choices. Start with the new Tauer Perfumes Au Coeur du désert. For myrhh, try Annick Goutal Myrhhe Ardente. You kids in the back are undoubtedly remembering this song’s alternative lyrics: “We three kings of orient are / Trying to smoke a rubber cigar.” I’ve got you covered, too. Bulgari Black should do it.1

The Christmas Song: “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” Caron Nuit de Noël is a sure winner here. Not only does it have “Noël” in its name, it wafts a sweet nuttiness that’s a bulls-eye for this song…

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Jo Malone: My Story ~ book review

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Jo Malone and My Story book cover

Why do you read an autobiography? For me, it comes down to two reasons. First, the author might have lived at the center of history or in unusual circumstances, and I’m fascinated by her perspective. The other reason is that the author’s life and the way it’s told simply make a good story. This kind of autobiography travels an arc and gives the reader nuggets of life’s truth that resonate. Jo Malone: My Story offers us tastes from both of these categories, but, ultimately, feels like a PR job about a really nice, entrepreneurial woman, someone I’d love to know, but no one I need to read a whole book about.

Jo Malone: My Story is written in a clear, approachable way with a taste of the British working girl about it…

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Hiram Green Arbole Arbole ~ fragrance review

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stump-s

Although many people remain convinced that patchouli is distilled from the body odor of unwashed hippies, it’s actually a plant from the mint family. Hiram Green Arbolé Arbolé is a good reminder of that fact. Although it stars patchouli, the fragrance is dry and camphorous, with the feel of a living plant in an arid wind.

Arbolé Arbolé is named after a poem by García Lorca that begins, “Tree, tree / Dry and green.” That’s about as good a description of the fragrance you can pack into five words. Arbolé Arbolé’s notes include patchouli, cedar, sandalwood, vanilla and tonka bean. Like all of Hiram Green’s fragrances, it’s made exclusively of natural materials…

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Aftelier Amber Tapestry ~ fragrance review

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rug detail, Märta Måås-Fjetterström

When Mandy Aftel announced her latest fragrance, Aftelier Amber Tapestry, she billed it as a “comfort scent.” I heard “amber” and “comfort,” and I anticipated a real snickerdoodle of a perfume — a thick, golden, spicy, chewy scent cookie. (Not that this is bad! Set me in front of a pile of snickerdoodles and watch me go.) Yes, Amber Tapestry is warm and resinous with a touch of cinnamon, but cookies don’t pack jasmine, and lots of it. This could be a floral perfume lover’s new favorite oriental fragrance.

Amber Tapestry’s notes include yellow mandarin, jasmine grandiflorum, jasmine sambac, pear, heliotropin, labdanum, ambreine, cinnamon, coumarin, maltol, benzoin, ambergris and castoreum. Just to head off concerns, the pear isn’t discernable as fruit salad, and the cinnamon, while faintly noticeable, doesn’t give Amber Tapestry a gourmand vibe…

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