Have you ever bought a perfume just for the name or the bottle? I’ve made a few purchases inspired primarily by beautiful packaging, even when I wasn’t crazy about the fragrance inside — L de Lolita de Lempicka and Bond no. 9 Union Square come to mind — although I’ve managed to avoid that temptation in recent years. However, when I saw the visuals for Memo Tiger’s Nest last spring, I smiled and sighed…
Describing the inspiration for her latest fragrance, independent perfumer Diane St. Clair writes,
I had been watching the snow fall outside of my window for three months, at times blowing horizontally on winds wailing down from the Polar Vortex. I tried to conjure a way to transport myself to a place far away, a place with warm air and perfumed flowers and fruit—a garden in paradise…
The result of this reverie was Casablanca, a floral chypre fragrance with a lengthy list of notes…
About a year and a half ago, I was aggravated enough by an article in a women’s glossy magazine to write a response on my own blog and to encourage a few fellow bloggers to do the same. This article proclaimed the rise of American indie perfumers (imagine that!) and noted their tendency to create fragrances inspired by wide open spaces (because of their “pioneering spirit,” apparently). It also seemed to be laboring under the impression that only men are currently crafting, creative-directing, or critiquing perfume in the United States.
More recently, I was intrigued by the launch of a perfume boutique in Louisville, Kentucky dedicated entirely to American fragrance brands. American Perfumer, as it’s appropriately named, takes an almost gallery-like approach to showcasing its brands and giving the perfumers themselves a voice through blog posts and podcast interviews. And, unlike the above-mentioned article, it includes a mix of male and female perfumers…
When the long hours Azzam Issa pulls at his family’s bakery begin to interfere with his day-job as a security guard at The Louvre things turn bizarre. Angelic creatures move from one painting to the next and statues speak to him in cryptic whispers…
Thus begins the description of the imaginary book that “inspired” this fragrance — a novel by imaginary author Farzan Al Essa that sounds like a captivating work of magical realism. Whispered Myths was created by Josh Meyer, the perfumer behind Imaginary Authors, with notes of oud, cantaloupe, cedar, muskdana (also known as ambrette), honey and “salvaged shipwreck.”
Although that list of notes might not normally appeal to me, I was so taken by this fragrance’s name, visuals and back-story that I wanted to try it regardless…
In my last review I paired a neroli fragrance and body lotion. This week, I’m turning my attention to lemon, that commonplace citrus whose scent has become (unfairly!) linked with household cleaning products. I recently purchased some organic lemon essential oil to use in a class and once I’d opened it, I couldn’t stop sniffing it. So bright, so radiant, so satisfying! Here, then, are two very different products with lemon-centered scents that have entered my current rotation.
Acide is a contemporary interpretation of a classic Eau de Cologne, developed by perfumer Will Inrig for French menswear brand Éditions M.R…