As a kid I loved munching on unripe plums and apricots that I had picked from the low hanging branches in our garden. This activity was not at all allowed, but as anyone knows, forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, and I continued to pillage our trees. Imagine my surprise and delight upon discovering many years later that in the Middle East, unripe plums are a special seasonal treat. Since they’re starting to become more available at the grocery stores and farmers’ markets, I can get my fill without threatening my grandmother’s plum harvest.

Called erik in Turkish and goje sabz in Farsi (and sometimes marked as such at the stores), unripe green plums are in season April through June. They taste intensely tart. Crunchy and hard, they are for lovers of all things sour and mouth-puckering.  They are usually eaten with a pinch of salt, which brings out the delicate sweetness, and they have a faint floral taste. The plums are small, ranging from the size of hazelnuts to large cherries, and if left to ripen on the tree, they turn golden and syrupy sweet.

Continue reading →

It rained the other day. Again. The drops covered the windows, turning the red roofs of the nearby buildings and the delicate church spires into an impressionistic blur. I’ve learned to enjoy the melancholy serenity of a rainy day, but there are times when the grey mist makes me feel listless and depressed. On such days, I throw open my perfume cabinet and reach for scents that remind me of someplace warm and sunny.

One such perfume is sandalwood. Its creamy sweetness and heavy richness takes me to India, which may be a stereotypical association, except that India, my India, is thoroughly permeated with sandalwood. As a bride, I was rubbed with rosewater and sandalwood paste to make my skin glow. I was fed sandalwood scented milkshakes and fudge. Wherever I went, I smelled sandalwood incense.  No wonder that Serge Lutens Santal Blanc whispers Indian stories to me.

Continue reading →

Frédéric Malle is introducing a new home collection called Rubber Incense. It’s a “high tech” version of a lavender sachet, a plastic slab scented with existing perfumes : Marius & Jeannette (anise), Rosa Rugosa (rose), Jurassic Flower (peach and lavender accented floral), Saint Des Saints (Indian temple incense), Russian Nights (spicy violet), which are also available as candles and were developed by perfumers Sophia Grojsman, Carlos Benaïm and Bruno Jovanovic.

“The idea originated from candle prototypes scented with Saint des Saints perfume hidden in Frédéric Malle’s closet which emitted such a marvelous fragrance that opening the closet became a true pleasure. Rubber Incense was born. Designed to perfume small spaces like closets, dressing rooms or car interiors, Rubber Incense releases perfume for a long time without using electricity or a refill.”

$110, available in Marius & Jeannette, Rosa Rugosa, Jurassic Flower, Saint Des Saints, and Russian Nights. Rubber Incense is sold at Editions de Parfums boutiques, shop.fredericmalle.com, and Barneys New York. Via press release

The more that women’s fragrances begin to smell alike in one pink synthetic blur, the more I find myself considering the men’s fragrance section.  The overly sharp woody or harsh herbal notes that traditionally signify a “male” scent aren’t my cup of tea, but there are plenty of men’s fragrances that make for an interesting and distinctive feminine perfume.

A combination of desperation and curiosity led me to the men’s counter at Nordstrom, where I was promptly shied away from Kiehl’s Musk by a female salesclerk.  “That’s for men,” she said, about the slightly animalic musk scent that has been called a mall cognate to Serge Lutens’s hot and sweaty Muscs Koublaï Khan.  So what if someone raises an eyebrow about a cross-gender spray-and-play?  The men’s section contains novelty and surprise, two qualities that have been lacking in recent women’s issues.  There are gems at the men’s counter that are sure to intrigue if not outright delight.  Here are some that I wear myself and buy for men, straight from the mall:

Continue reading →

Among my perfumes that are the equivalents of t-shirt and jeans, Roger & Gallet fragrances share a top spot with L’Occitane Green Tea and Parfums de NicolaïL’Eau à la Folie. The classical cologne, Bois d’Orange and Fleur d’Osmanthus are among my Roger & Gallet favorites. They are easy to wear and are perfect for those days when you want something refreshing and not overly demanding.

In addition, the low price (18€ or $25 for 1 oz bottle) makes them accessible. A low price doesn’t have to mean a poor quality perfume (and I would argue that the worst quality perfumes on the market today are among the most expensive). The Roger & Gallet collection is created by excellent perfumers. For instance, Fleur de Figuer was designed by Francis Kurkdjian, Bois d’Orange by Dominique Ropion, and Gingembre by Jacques Cavallier.

Continue reading →