Reading Perfumes: The Guide 20181 has got me revisiting old samples, among them Lubin Upper Ten and Upper Ten for Her, both of which received four stars. Turin writes that Upper Ten has “the cleverest accord I have smelled in a very long time,” and Upper Ten for Her is a “perfume doing the splits.” How could I resist…
Robin Here at NST® has a PhD in Hermès Eau de Merveilles and its spawn: she’s reviewed all seven perfumes. I have an easier assignment; Hermès has launched just three Terre d’Hermès flankers: Terre d’Hermès Eau Très Fraîche, Terre d’Hermès Parfum and the new Terre d’Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver.
Hermès in-house perfumer Christine Nagel developed Terre d’Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver, and its description is pretty straightforward…
One afternoon last week, I sniffed my wrist, trying to remember which perfume I’d put on that morning. “Oh, Shalimar,” I thought, smelling the familiar animalic shellac of lemon, vanilla and amber. But, no. I’d actually worn Carthusia Ligea. Without too much of a stretch, it might have been Coty Emeraude or even Etro Shaal Nur.
It spurred me to think about perfume smell-alikes. It makes sense that a success in one grand perfume house would spark drugstore copies. One of my favorite vintage scents, Ciro Danger, is clearly a drugstore take on Schiaparelli Shocking with cinnamon. Or, to return to Shalimar, its success has led Guerlain to gin up copies of its own fragrance in flankers…
The freebiemeet is open! PLEASE read the instructions, even if you’ve read them before! Really, pretty please, with sugar on top! There’s not even that many of them, and you will save us all so much time and confusion. This is not that hard. Plus, it’s free stuff! It’s all good, but it’s even better if you read the instructions. If you have any questions, please post them here.
For people who would like to chat in addition to, or instead of, giving and getting free stuff, there will be a poll along shortly…
Independent fragrance brand Gallivant recently launched Tokyo, a “zingy, spicy, woody fragrance” that’s a tribute to kōdō, the Japanese “way of incense.” Tokyo’s notes include yuzu, bergamot, black pepper, cardamom and wasabi; hinoki, cedarwood, incense, iris, rose and nutmeg; and amber, sandalwood, vetiver and patchouli. It was developed for Gallivant by perfumer Nicholas Bonneville.
I’ve had luck trying Gallivant’s fragrances in the past, with Brooklyn and Amsterdam becoming my personal favorites from the line. Even when something from Gallivant doesn’t match my personal taste, I can appreciate its smart sensibility. Tokyo fits the Gallivant house style: it’s gender-neutral, appropriate for a variety of occasions, and accented with an intriguing blend of spices…