Hermes 24, Faubourg ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 21 June 2010 107 Comments

Hermes Constance handbag

Have you ever thought about matching iconic Hermès handbags with the equally iconic Hermès perfumes? I’d pair Calèche with the classic Kelly bag and Kelly Calèche with one of the new, smaller Kellys in a bright color, say apple green or watermelon pink. Birkin bags are more casual and slouchy, more modern, than the Kelly bags, and I can see the Hermessences suiting a Birkin. Pamplemousse Rose, for instance, would be nice with a pale green or dove grey Birkin bag (although Equipage is a natural for a battered, nude calf Birkin.) To me, 24, Faubourg’s match is the Constance. 24, Faubourg’s prim, go-anywhere elegance seems made for a woman with a mink brown, gold-buckled Constance slung over her shoulder.

Hermès released 24, Faubourg in 1995. It’s named after the address of Hermès’s flagship store and is one of a handful of perfumes named after fashion-centric addresses, including Balenciaga Le Dix and Chanel 31 Rue Cambon. Maurice Roucel created 24, Faubourg. Nigel Groom lists its notes as orange blossom, jasmine, tiara flower, ylang ylang, iris, patchouli, vanilla, ambergris, and sandalwood.¹

To me, this list of notes is barely a sketch of the full body of 24, Faubourg…

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Perfumista tip: how to find perfume at thrift stores

Posted by Angela on 14 June 2010 155 Comments

Goodwill sign

When last week’s review of Norell elicited almost more comments about the bottle of Amouage Gold I found at Goodwill than it did about Norell, I decided to share what I know about finding perfume in thrift shops. Some of you probably live or work within blocks of vintage Guerlains and Chanels going for less than a ten spot and don’t even know it. It’s time to get those bottles off the shelves and onto the bodies of people who love them.

You might protest that your thrift shops don’t have anything but Avon figurines with peeling labels. But think about it: every town, no matter how small, has at least one glamour puss. She will almost certainly offload a bottle or two of something nice at some point. Plus, people who don’t love perfume often receive bottles as gifts. After a few years they figure that bottle of Chamade Eau de Cologne they received for Mother’s Day a few years ago has surely gone bad so they give it to the Salvation Army. And then there’s the occasional love affair turned sour that lands a nearly full bottle of Yves Saint Laurent Paris down at the Teen Challenge thrift shop…

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Norell by Norell ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 7 June 2010 89 Comments

Faye Dunaway for Norell

On a cruise of Goodwill a few weeks ago, I made two scores: Amouage Gold for women in its Cristal bottle (no cap, though), and a bottle of Norell Eau de Cologne, each for $9.99. Sure, I was happy to take home the Amouage, but I was almost more excited to have an old bottle of Norell. For a vintage clothing lover like me, Norell is a holy grail of quality and simple but flattering construction.

I’d smelled Norell Eau de Toilette at the drugstore and been disappointed, but surely an older bottle would be different. This bottle looked so promising: a squared-off pillar with a collar of gold-toned metal, and Norell running down its side in block letters. The juice was a classy pale auburn. Would the fragrance itself hold up?

Norman Norell was born Norman Levinson in Noblesville, Indiana in 1900. Unlike many flash-in-the pan designers, Norell made his name in his youth designing costumes first for silent films, then for movies, then moved on to a career teaching fashion design and selling his work first under the label Traina Norell in the 1950s (“Traina” coming from the name of his business partner, Anthony Traina) then under his own label in the 1960s for a long, solid career.

Although now Norell’s name is largely forgotten, back in the day he held his own with Dior and Givenchy…

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Wit and Perfume

Posted by Angela on 31 May 2010 102 Comments

Robert Piguet Bandit

Not long ago I visited some friends who had bought a new painting. We stood in the living room and admired it. It was a portrait washed in beige and brown by a local artist, and it was, well, nice. I looked around. The room was pleasant — comfortable couch, matching chairs, smart books, a framed poster of an opera — but something seemed to be missing. The room lacked inspiration. On the way home, I thought of the missing ingredient: wit.

Not much later I met a friend of a friend. She was smart, had marvelous taste, told fascinating stories, and loved to gesticulate, cigarette in the air, about some political issue or another. I liked her, and yet I knew we would probably never be close friends. Why? There was no humor, no wit about her.

Likewise, perfume can contain wit — or not. Some fragrances are grand compositions, but don’t feel personal. I still can’t get comfortable wearing Rochas Madame Rochas, for instance. Even though I admire it, it feels too of-a-piece. Other fragrances seems totally without wit and are stamped-out versions of some predictable formula. Just insert the latest celebrity fragrance here…

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XerJoff Ibitira and Oesel ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 24 May 2010 92 Comments

Xerjoff fragrances

If I were looking at this post, I might be thinking, “What the heck is XerJoff? Another new, expensive niche brand? This is ridiculous! I don’t have the time for this — I haven’t even worked my way through all the old Rochas.” And then I’d click over to Perfume Posse to see what March is up to or to The Selby or somewhere else. I understand. However, after sniffing my way all 12 of the XerJoff Shooting Stars collection, I think a lot of perfume lovers will want to know about XerJoff, even if they never end up smelling any of them.

At first, XerJoff is not promising. The XerJoff website is vague, and its English copy is wretchedly written, full of misspellings and nonsensical descriptions. I can’t find much information about the company itself. The website is offered in Russian, English, and Italian, and judging from the state of the English, you’ll soon guess the company is Russian or Italian (it is, in fact, Italian with a market in Russia.) The website tells us the Shooting Stars collection of fragrances is named after a meteorite that fell in Siberia in 1947. A piece of the meteorite is worked into the collar of each of the bottles. None of the names of the fragrances make any sense to an English speaker, except perhaps “Shingl,” which sounds like a painful medical condition.

But most of the XerJoff Shooting Star Eau de Parfums, while not startlingly original, are marvels of gorgeous materials and careful craftsmanship. I’ve chosen two to review, Ibitira and Oesel, not so much because they’re the fragrances I admire most of the collection, but because they’re the fragrances I most see myself wearing…

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Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Hermes 24, Faubourg ~ fragrance review

Perfumista tip: how to find perfume at thrift stores

Norell by Norell ~ fragrance review

Wit and Perfume

XerJoff Ibitira and Oesel ~ fragrance review