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Carner Barcelona Sweet William ~ fragrance review

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Hey, carnation lovers. You know who you are. You dream of Caron Poivre Extrait and hoard old bottles of Bellodgia. You lard your linen closet with discs of Roger & Gallet Carnation soap and mourn their discontinued Blue Carnation. You plant red dianthus up your walkway. You put extra clove in your molasses cookies.

I have news. First, I hear on good authority that carnations are making a comeback among chic florists. I’m not talking about fat, stiff grocery store carnations dyed Easter egg colors. I mean real carnations, the little ones pungent with spice…

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Hiram Green Hyde ~ fragrance review

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Looking at the string of words “Hiram Green Hyde” — green hide stood out. (Hyde is a unisex leather perfume described as “challenging” by Hiram Green.) Certainly, any perfume with green hide as an inspiration would be a challenge to wear; green hide is the skin right off a newly killed animal, with flesh, blood, hair and fat still clinging to it. I’ve read about green hides while studying indigenous art and leather-tanning techniques of American Indians. I’m happy to say there’s no smell of green hide in Hyde, but it does bring to mind (and nose) scents of Mexico, and another indigenous group: the Aztecs.

Hyde’s short-lived opening isn’t citrus-y, but reminds me of BAND-AID® bandages…

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American Perfumer Colorado & Desert Flower ~ fragrance reviews

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About a year and a half ago, I was aggravated enough by an article in a women’s glossy magazine to write a response on my own blog and to encourage a few fellow bloggers to do the same. This article proclaimed the rise of American indie perfumers (imagine that!) and noted their tendency to create fragrances inspired by wide open spaces (because of their “pioneering spirit,” apparently). It also seemed to be laboring under the impression that only men are currently crafting, creative-directing, or critiquing perfume in the United States.

More recently, I was intrigued by the launch of a perfume boutique in Louisville, Kentucky dedicated entirely to American fragrance brands. American Perfumer, as it’s appropriately named, takes an almost gallery-like approach to showcasing its brands and giving the perfumers themselves a voice through blog posts and podcast interviews. And, unlike the above-mentioned article, it includes a mix of male and female perfumers…

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Angela’s Fragrance Highlights of 2018

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This year, 2018, marks my twelfth year writing about perfume. I’ve passed a period where I bought a bottle of fragrance a month, and I no longer need to study my way through the classics to understand fragrance benchmarks. I’ve given up on trying to sniff most new releases, and I only bought two new bottles of perfume this year. But I still wear perfume every day. In other words, by now I’m living with fragrance the way I’ll probably live with it the rest of my life.

Now that I’ve lowered your expectations, here are my perfume highlights for the year…

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An Xmas Perfume Scrooge ~ Me

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I love the period between Thanksgiving and my birthday in January. There are: holiday feasts (at home and in restaurants), suspension of calorie counting, shopping sprees, Christmas trees. I (mostly) enjoy it all, but sometimes imagining is better than reality!

Feasts require lots of shopping, food prep, cooking, laundry/ironing (all those napkins, tablecloths), non-stop housecleaning (cobwebs! were there really that many spiders in my house last summer?!) There are always menu “hits” and “misses.” In my house, our after-party breakfasts consist of critiquing the dishes served the night before and placing bright Post-it® notes in cookbooks next to recipes…

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