• About
  • Login to comment
    • Bluesky
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Archives
Browsing by author: Angela

Byredo Black Saffron & Seven Veils ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Angela on 16 February 2015 25 Comments

Byredo Black Saffron & Seven Veils

Am I the only fragrance lover who sometimes anthropomorphizes perfume? For instance, to me Caron Tabac Blond is a woman of a certain age who used to be edgy and still won’t suffer fools, but now spends a lot of time reading novels she pulls from her leather handbag; Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower is a radiant starlet almost too beautiful to behold — to the point where she can exhaust you after a few hours; and Guerlain Shalimar is one of the few who can pull off devoré velvet without looking like a Stevie Nicks wannabe.

Similarly Byredo Black Saffron and Seven Veils have distinct personalities. Black Saffron is an introvert who wants to be known as an androgynous intellectual but is too shy to attend any of the parties she’s invited to. Instead, she gorges herself at home on raspberries sprinkled with rosewater while she reads Oscar Wilde in her leather club chair and is in bed by nine o’clock…

Read the rest of this article »

Thoughts on Sillage

Posted by Angela on 9 February 2015 78 Comments

Twisty smoke

It’s fitting that perfumers are so often said to “compose” fragrances. Not only do musical composers and perfumers both use notes, their creations grapple with themes, transitions, and relationships — the musical composer with instruments and the nose with scent materials. Plus, they both play with volume. In perfume, that volume is called sillage.

In brief, sillage (pronounced see-′yawj) is the reach of your waft. Sillage can be thick and fill a room, delicate but still voluminous, soft and close, or even shrill and close…

Read the rest of this article »

Chloe Love Story ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 2 February 2015 55 Comments

Chloé Love Story adverts

Sitting at my laptop to review Chloé Love Story, a dilemma immediately arises: I can write a full-blown pan, including my snarky telling of the “love story” that must have inspired the fragrance.1 Or, I can try to make something practical of the review. (I realize that a third option exists — just don’t review Love Story — but Chloé is a major brand, and this is a major release, and I feel a responsibility to weigh in.)

I’m choosing the “practical” option. I’ll quickly run through Love Story’s basics, then we can examine how the heck this thing ever made it to market.

Love Story was developed by perfumer Anne Flipo. Its notes include neroli, orange blossom, stephanotis and cedar. In brief, it smells like orange blossom-scented laundry detergent…

Read the rest of this article »

Slain in Schiaparelli by Angela M. Sanders ~ book announcement

Posted by Angela on 28 January 2015 6 Comments

Slain in Schiaparelli by Angela M. Sanders

Here’s the perfect book if you’re stuck in this week’s blizzard — or if you’re looking for something smart but frothy to read in the bathtub…

Read the rest of this article »

Diptyque Eau Plurielle ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 26 January 2015 66 Comments

Diptyque Eau Plurielle

Diptyque Eau Plurielle is designed as an all-purpose fragrance. You can spray it on linen, spritz it as an air freshener, and use it as a personal perfume. Need a whiff of rose garden in your stuffy office? Spritz spritz, and your cubicle walls waft June morning at Butchart Gardens. The dog’s bed smells a little feral? Toss it in the washer, anoint with Eau Plurielle, and now Fido could march in the Rose Parade. (Even better, with Eau Plurielle you can be twinsies, scent-wise.) Diptyque complemented Eau Plurielle’s launch with the Rosafolia candle and scented wax oval.

Those of us who love perfume have been making it do double-duty for a long time. I spray Guerlain Eau Impériale on my mattress when I change the sheets. Occasionally I toss a handkerchief dampened with Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Colonia in the dryer with my laundry, and perfume samples often find their way into my handwash…

Read the rest of this article »

« Newer articles
Older articles »

Advertisement

Search

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

6 January ~ damage poll

31 January ~ winter reading poll

Back to Top

Home
Archives
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2026 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.