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Browsing by author: Kevin

Heatwave Favorites: Olfactive Studio Panorama & Fiele Fragrances Myrrha ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 12 August 2015 24 Comments

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong and I have similar reactions to soaring temperatures: stunned looks and handkerchiefs. In the Pacific Northwest this year, we’ve been experiencing the long hot summer. To reference another movie title, most days I think: “Hurry Sundown!” During the almost-constant heatwaves since June, I’ve discovered I love to wear strong fragrances in the heat: woody/resinous, smoky compositions (is that a forest fire?…or my perfume?) Wearing warm assertive perfumes in summer is like drinking hot tea on a sunny, 90-degree balcony; I imagined misery but, instead, enjoy wallowing in the heat, merging with it instead of fighting it (till a moment comes when I run into the air-conditioned house).

Two fragrances I’ve enjoyed wearing in hot weather are Olfactive Studio Panorama and Fiele Fragrances Myrrha; both accent the heat in a good way…

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Terry de Gunzburg Rose Infernale & Rouge Nocturne ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 29 July 2015 14 Comments

roses

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I’m about to trespass. Excuse me as I creep into the rose (perfume) garden where NST’s Jessica resides. Though I know she’ll greet me kindly if she spies me…I feel guilty! (I’ve certainly not sampled the same number of rose perfumes she has!) Today, I’m reviewing my first perfumes from Terry de Gunzburg: Rose Infernale and Rouge Nocturne; both rose-centered perfumes were developed by perfumer Michel Almairac and they were released last year…

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Cire Trudon Merida Arquiste candle ~ home fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 22 July 2015 20 Comments

guava branch and Charlotte of Belgium

Ah, inspiration! Cire Trudon, in collaboration with Arquiste, created the Mérida* candle to memorialize “…a balmy night described by Empress Carlota of Mexico on her visit to the city of Mérida, Yucatán, in 1865.” Empress Carlota (also known as Charlotte of Belgium) arrived in Mexico as an invader (though we must cast more blame in the direction of her hubby, Archduke Maximilian of Austria/Emperor Maximilian I, and Napoleon III — the instigator of the French invasion of Mexico in 1861 and the one with the daft idea to install Europeans, Carlota and Max, on the “throne” of Mexico. More history later; first, the Mérida candle.

Mérida is an homage to guava. Once a year, I make a large batch of guava jelly for a friend’s birthday present…

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Orto Parisi Viride & Boccanera ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 8 July 2015 10 Comments

The Amsterdam-based fragrance house Orto Parisi was started by Nasomatto founder Alessandro Gualtieri; Orto Parisi currently offers five perfumes and today I’m reviewing two. If you want the Orto Parisi backstory/bio and MANIFESTO, etc., visit the company website. (I was a bit bored by the Orto Parisi narrative, so didn’t want to rehash it here, but the site’s opening film of a monkey riding a goat — accompanied by a Wagner soundtrack — amused me).

Viride is a sweet, herbal (fougèresque) fragrance that smells like a well-dressed, conservative grandfather (maybe a retired judge?) My imagined Viride-wearing grandfather goes to the barber every week for a trim and scalp massage, a straight-razor shave and some gossip, and he has no qualms about being lathered, powdered and slathered with scented creams, talcs, aftershaves and hair tonics…

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A Celebrity’s Scent: Frida Kahlo & Dana Emir

Posted by Kevin on 1 July 2015 38 Comments

Frida

When I visited Mexico City for the first time, the place I wanted to see more than any other was Frida Kahlo’s house in Coyoacán — the Casa Azul. Since that trip, Casa Azul (Museo Frida Kahlo) has been spruced up, and hidden wonders within its walls discovered: many of Kahlo’s fantastic clothes and other personal belongings — hairbrushes, decorated (and bloodied) orthopedic corsets she used after her many spinal surgeries, Kahlo’s prosthetic leg, sunglasses, lipstick, nail polish (Revlon’s vibrant red “Orchids to You”)…and perfume.

Over the years, I’ve noticed friends sometimes keep empty perfume bottles for years. Often, the perfume was an overseas purchase and couldn’t be easily replaced. Sometimes, the fragrance was extinct or a particular bottle rekindled memories of a certain someone or some place that gave happiness. I was intrigued when I found out Kahlo kept an empty bottle of Dana Emir…

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