French niche line Jardins D’Écrivains has launched Junky, a new unisex fragrance inspired by Beat generation writer William Burroughs. Burrough’s novel Junkie (also published as Junky) was a semi-autobiographical account of his life as a heroin addict…
Did I really skip 2011 and 2012 when it came to writing my annual best-of-men’s-perfumes post? (Wow…and the world kept turning — imagine that!) I’m two years behind so today I’ll catch up by picking my favorite men’s fragrances from 2011, 2012 and 2013 (you can see my picks for 2009 and 2010 here). Some of these perfumes are unisex, but with a masculine edge (to my nose anyway). Though I missed my fair share of fragrance releases, I’ve still smelled tons of perfume product in the last three years. I don’t feel that a masterpiece escaped my attention.
Every year, I tend to write about men’s fragrances that I either “love” or “hate” (using those verbs with feather-weight intent since I don’t cry over favorite perfumes gone missing or reformulated, and I don’t gnaw on my fingers when I encounter awful perfumes). I’m still, I believe, a Perfumista, but I’ve put perfume in its proper place…
“…some we know to be dead even though they walk among us; some are not yet born though they go through all the forms of life; others are hundreds of years old though they call themselves thirty-six.”
— Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Imagine living for centuries and only aging 36 years. Oh, and starting out your existence as a man, then waking up one morning as a woman (thus experiencing “love” — sex — both ways). If that scenario intrigues you, and you are also amused by or interested in Old Queen Bess, cross-dressing, the struggle to write something “worthy,” exotic locales and gypsies..and much more…read Orlando.
Since the perfume, Orlando, inspired by Orlando the book, is by Jardins d’Écrivains (writers’ gardens), I will vouch for Virginia Woolf’s green-thumb connections — both her husband, Leonard, and the woman who inspired Orlando the book (Virginia Woolf’s one-time lover) Vita Sackville-West, were serious gardeners — Leonard on a small scale at Monk’s House, Vita on a grand, aristocratic scale (visit Sissinghurst Castle, her house and garden in England, if you’re ever near it).
I like the Jardins d’Écrivains perfume line (I especially admire George), and Orlando has become my second-favorite from the collection…
I’ve experienced autumn in several places. When I was growing up in the ‘tropics’ (Virginia), the arrival of autumn was marvelous — no more steamy heat or mosquitoes. One of the first signs of autumn was the arrival of glass jugs of amber-colored fresh apple cider, for sale at orchard stands along almost every road. I tried to find an apple scent for this post (and for my perfume “collection”) in honor of apples and cool weather, but I was unsuccessful. Any suggestions? (Donna Karan DKNY scents need not apply.)
My early college life in New York City proved the Big Apple was not much different from Virginia in summertime, except for the added smells of simmering garbage on the streets. But autumn in New York was great; all the food cart aromas, even the exhaust fumes, smelled nicer mixing with the cool, marine air surrounding Manhattan, and the autumn leaves in Central Park added a dry, “woodland,” hay-like scent to the crisp air.
When I lived in L.A., autumn was pretty much like any other season (warm and sunny), except for days when the ferocious Santa Ana winds made autumn feel like I was standing in front of an open oven door…and the oven temperature was at 450° Fahrenheit. I’ve never in my life been more lethargic than during hot weather in Southern California, nor have I reached for cooling Eaux de Cologne more, applying them morning, noon and night.
Now I live in the Pacific Northwest…
French niche line Jardins D’Écrivains has launched Orlando, a new unisex fragrance…