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Rodin 3 ~ fragrance review

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Rodin 3

A few years ago, I spotted Linda Rodin walking briskly along Christopher Street in Manhattan. She looked slim and energetic, clad in minimalist black (including dark sunglasses), with her silver hair pulled back in a twist and her smile accented by shocking pink lipstick. I admired her style, and I privately regretted (not for the first time) that I just couldn’t enjoy her signature Olio Lusso facial oil. My skin likes its formula, but my nose detests its raw, indolic jasmine scent.

When Rodin released her first fragrance, Rodin Perfume, I skipped it because it was supposed to smell just like Olio Lusso. (Shudder.) Her second fragrance, Bis, somehow escaped my notice. Her most recent launch, Rodin 3, caught my attention with its promise of being “a personal throwback to her favorite breezy, fresh scents of the 1970s. . .lingering gently with a touch of nostalgia.” I added it to my sample order list…

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Zoologist Rhinoceros ~ fragrance review and an appreciation of Anna Merz

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We talk endlessly about our rights but very little about our duties. I believe our most important right is the right to give; I do not believe we have the right to grab. — Anna Merz

Sometimes when I sit down to write a perfume review, more interesting things pop into my mind (and that’s a relief; I often feel perfumed-out these days). As I looked at my fragrance sample of Zoologist Rhinoceros, my mind went back to 2013 when I read the New York Times obituary of a woman unknown to me: Anna Merz. After reading the obit, I felt happy and energized, and I shared the article with friends, including Robin here at NST.

Anna Merz was born in England but spent most of her life in Africa, first in Ghana and then in Kenya and South Africa. She was a successful businesswoman in Ghana and got involved in wildlife conservation…

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Mona di Orio Suede de Suede and Dojima ~ fragrance review

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Mona di Orio Dõjima and Suède de Suède

In my mind, Mona di Orio has always been associated with quirky — and sometimes outright challenging — fragrances. Mona di Orio Nuit Noire is as dark and animalic a fragrance as I’ve ever smelled. Even the perfume house’s single note fragrances such as Vanille and Cuir focus on those materials’ less obvious aspects.

With Dõjima and Suède de Suède, the house made a conscious decision to satisfy “the demand for more accessible fragrances for those who recently discovered niche” by developing “more accessible fragrances to build a bridge to the more complex creations in our collection.” Lucky for us, both fragrances are still likely to be plenty interesting to experienced perfume lovers…

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11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

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Prada Infusion d'Iris Absolue, Stash SJP and Donna Karan Gold adverts

Earlier this month, Marie Claire did a listicle on 10 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Insiders Love. I have no real objection to their list1 other than the inclusion of a $76 perfume and an $82 body oil — beauty insiders apparently have a different definition of “cheap” than I do, possibly because they don’t have to fork over cash for their beauty products — but I did note on Twitter that I did not love any of their picks. I’ll also add that none of their 10 show up very often in our daily scent of the day polls. So, here is a list of my own. I couldn’t make myself narrow down to fewer than 11, and of course I’ve cheated even more by adding alternatives. As always, do include your own picks in the comments!

Marie Claire included the old standby 4711. I know some of you probably love 4711, and I can’t scoff at it — it’s possibly one of the better fragrances on their list. Still, my old-school drugstore choice would be the venerable spicy carnation, Old Spice…

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Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire Black Perfecto ~ perfume review

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Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire Black Perfecto label

I’m surely the wrong person to review Guerlain’s new La Petite Robe Noire Black Perfecto, since I’ve long since lost track of all the flankers to the (currently canonical) La Petite Robe Noire from 2012, and really I can only just barely remember the difference between 2012 La Petite Robe Noire and 2011 La Petite Robe Noire and 2009 La Petite Robe Noire. All I can tell you is that I found at least one variation fun, and on the rare occasions that I’ve smelled (more? other?) versions of La Petite Robe Noire in stores, nothing happened to inspire me to do a better job of keeping track. So before smelling Black Perfecto, I consulted the expert on all things Guerlain, Monsieur Guerlain. Monsieur Guerlain, for those of you not familiar with him, has no affiliation with the brand, but as near as I can tell, he is paying far more attention to the subject of Guerlain’s fragrance output than anybody else on earth, possibly even the folks at Guerlain…

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