The cold weather version of our summer reading poll: tell us about a great book to curl up with on a frosty winter night, and what fragrance we should wear while reading it…
Nicolas de Barry L’Eau de George Sand, L’Eau de la reine Margot & L’Eau de la marquise de Pompadour ~ fragrance reviews
Until recently, perfumer Nicolas de Barry was unknown to me. After sampling his current collection of “historial perfumes” named after famous figures from the past, I’ve chosen three fragrances with distinctive characters to review today.
L’Eau de George Sand: L’Amoureuse (The Lover)
patchouli, amber, musk, rose, sandalwood, bergamot, lemon, oud; 100 ml Eau de Parfum, 129€
I’ve already found one perfume I enjoy that’s inspired by George Sand; here’s another. L’Eau de George Sand starts with a patchouli-amber accord (the patchouli is mid-strength and smells genuine). L’Eau de George Sand’s sillage is interesting; this fragrance smells as if it’s being worn by another person standing near me — a person who has been bustling about in heavy winter clothes that have been worn and re-worn, and have an accumulation of talc-y rose and sandalwood aromas clinging to them…
Lazy weekend poll ~ summer reading list, edition 4
It’s time for the annual summer reading poll!
Please recommend a great book to add to our summer reading lists, and tell us what fragrance we should wear while reading it…
Jardins d’Ecrivains Junky ~ fragrance review
Inspired by William S. Burroughs‘ novel Junky, Jardins d’Écrivains describes its Junky* perfume as “unashamedly different and (it) invites originality and ‘factualism’ — to borrow the term used by Burroughs.” Gray-colored juice is certainly something you don’t see every day either.
Often, the name of a perfume and its advertising images do not match what’s inside the perfume bottle. With Junky, Jardins d’Écrivains has gone all out (factualism!) and Junky smells like a junky…an old-school junky to be precise.
On my skin, Junky begins with the scents of old cigarette/marijuana smoke absorbed into stale clothes…
The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose ~ perfume book review
The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose brands itself as “a novel of suspense.” After reading it, I’d like to propose another genre for it: modern gothic. The novel features an old French chateau, complicated family relationships, dungeons, murderous intrigue, and spontaneous past life regression. Open the book and you practically hear the thunder rumbling in the distance.
The Collector of Dying Breaths follows two interwoven storylines. The first story is told through a letter from René le Florentin, Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. René learned his trade at a monastery, where he was apprenticed to a monk who was working on a formula for immortality, which required as an ingredient a person’s last living breath. His story is interspersed with Jacqueline L’Etoile’s present-day story, told in the third person. Jac comes from a long line of perfumers…