Coming this October from L'Artisan, Aedes de Venustas Eau de Parfum:
Close your eyes, and imagine yourself entering a mysteriously beautiful world where the magic of scent stirs the imagination and evokes wondrous dreams. The doors to the temple open, and the intoxicating scent of ancient Japanese incense rushes to envelop you, intertwined with the softness of leather…
Aedes collaborated with Molinard to resurrect an old classic: Une Histoire de Chypre (pronounced SHEE-pr; not cheap). It’s heady and complex: an exorbitant fusion of bergamot, mandarin, iris, neroli, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, patchouli, oak moss, musk and amber, packaged in a black box with gold lettering and a Lalique bottle with a black spray-bulb.
The owner seemed to object to my description of it as pleasantly “after-shavey.”
— I object too. From Secrets From the Temple of Scent, an article about Aedes de Venustas in the New York Times.
Camille Goutal and Isabelle Doyen of Annick Goutal will be at Aedes de Venustas in New York City on Thursday, April 3rd from 6 - 8 pm to sign bottles and preview the Les Orientalistes trio. They will have limited quantities of the coffret on sale (BUY ME ONE, PRETTY PLEASE!) in advance of the fall 2008 US launch. To reserve your spot, send an email to aedes@aedes.com.
Sometimes the designation of a perfume as a “chypre” can feel mysterious. Guerlain Mitsouko, Carven Ma Griffe, and Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum are all chypres, for instance, but each smells so different. If you are stumped as to how a chypre really smells and need an olfactory benchmark — and a gorgeous one, at that — try Aedes de Venustas Histoire de Chypre.
“Chypre” is French for Cyprus and was linked with perfume in 1917 when Coty released a fragrance called Chypre. Coty Chypre was one of the first scents to move away from replicating something recognizable, like the smell of citrus or flowers…
I used to make a point of getting all my holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving, but lately I’ve been slipping. I’ve only bought 3 gifts so far this year. Here are a few more gift suggestions for anyone else who still has a long way to go before they rest:
A set after my own heart, the Comme des Garçons Incense coffret. Full sized bottles (50 ml) of all five scents in the series: Kyoto, Avignon, Jaisalmer, Ouarzazate and Zagorsk. Admittedly, I’d like this better if they were in 30 ml, but oh well! And if you’re looking to buy for yourself and don’t need all five, do what I’m doing and find some like-minded friends to split the set. $310 at Luckyscent…