Voluspa Japonica Aroma Room/Body Spray in Champaca Bloom & Fern

Posted by Kevin on 24 March 2007 7 Comments

Voluspa Champaca Bloom & Fern Room Spray

The champaca tree (Michelia champaca) is native to India and Southeast Asia and it produces heavily scented flowers in profusion. When a large champaca tree is covered with flowers, whole neighborhoods can enjoy the blossoms’ strange, intoxicating (and naturally fruity-floral) scent — reminiscent of jasmine, quince, banana and magnolia (a relative of the champaca). Champaca trees are often planted on temple grounds and champaca blossoms are placed on Buddhist and Hindu altars as offerings. The scent of champaca can also be found in perfumes: Ormonde Jayne’s Champaca, Christian Dior’s J’Adore and Comme des Garçons’ Series 8: Guerrilla 1 all contain champaca…

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Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 13 March 2007 60 Comments

Kublai Khan portrait

Grandson of Genghis Khan, reformer, warrior, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Yüan Dynasty emperor — Koublaï Khan was a powerhouse and his name evokes long-ago-and-far-away exoticism. But when I look at Koublaï Khan’s portrait (from the National Palace Museum in Taipei) I see an approachable man, someone who loves to eat, a man who seems amused and ready to giggle, someone I can imagine gossiping with over a cup of milk tea (or something stronger).

What did I expect from Serge Lutens’ Muscs Koublaï Khan? I imagined a scent that was a bit strange, a rough-and-tough perfume with a strong “personality”, a perfume of Mongolian sturdiness coupled with Chinese finesse; I expected something contradictory and complex (like Koublaï Khan himself, who was an admirer of Buddhism but who spent much of his life invading and conquering lands and peoples).

Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido does not reveal the ingredients for Muscs Koublaï Khan online, but I found a company description of the perfume from 2000…

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Lacoste Essential ~ men’s fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 9 March 2007 5 Comments

Lacoste Essential advert

Though he suffered from chronic respiratory problems his entire life, Jean René Lacoste became a tennis star and lived to the ripe old age of 92. After his tennis career ended, he went on to create a clothing line that featured one of the world’s best-loved and most-worn garments — the cotton pique polo shirt, embroidered with the famous crocodile logo. Apart from designing the first line of performance clothing and introducing the first designer logo, René Lacoste also invented the metal tennis racket. Oh, and he painted landscapes in his spare time.

Lacoste Parfums makes three fragrances for men and the company stresses a “sporting attitude” — and uses words like “free spirit” “playful” “vitality” “energizing” “freedom” and “joie de vivre” in its advertising…

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Home Fragrance: A Floral Trio ~ Baieido’s Daffodil, Lavender and Rose Incense

Posted by Kevin on 2 March 2007 7 Comments

Baieido Lavender & Rose incense

In my garden, two events signal the arrival of spring: the return of “my” almost-tame, almost-pigeon-sized male robin and the shoots of daffodils emerging from the soil. The robin has been singing, nesting, and begging for food at my home for seven springs and summers — I hope he survived another winter. He’s such an appreciative bird, so encouraging as I cut the thick grass and towering weeds in the yard and expose delicious bugs, provide piles of nest-building materials and toss him earthworms to eat. The daffodils, often blooming in cool, wet weather, smell “chilled”, their fresh green-pollen scent restrained by the nippy, moist air. When the flowers are cut for bouquets and brought inside the warm house, their fragrance grows stronger, sultry, but still possesses a dewy quality.

I have found precious few floral incense blends that smell like real flowers but I keep sniffing…

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Caron Yatagan fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 21 February 2007 38 Comments

Yatagan

I never let anyone tell me writing about perfumes is a waste of time or a trivial activity! Since last April, when I started writing for Now Smell This, I’ve learned so much about plants, animals, the rituals and symbols of many cultures, history and historical figures, even health matters — all related to fragrance. In the last month, I’ve learned about Yatagan: a Turkish sword, a city, and a perfume.

The elegant yatagan, or Turkish sword, was used by janissaries for over 300 years (mid-1500s till the late 1800s). These swords bear the name of a southwestern Turkish city called Yatagan in Denizli Province (named after its Seljuk conqueror, Osman Bey, or “Yatagan Baba”, who was a blacksmith). Yatagan city was famous for its swords (and unfortunately, today the city is infamous as one of the most polluted areas of Europe, due to a coal-burning power plant)…

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