Victoria: 2669 posts

The other day I finished work early and took a long walk through Musée des Beaux Arts in Brussels. One of my favorite halls contains a long enfilade of exhibition spaces, where one can spend hours peering at Hieronymus Bosch’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony or the elaborate still lifes by Osias Beert, very different in subject matter but equally compelling. Standing in front of this painting and admiring the mouthwatering collection of pastries, Jordan almonds and candies, I could distinctly smell the sweet orange blossom and strawberry perfume. It took me a while to realize that it wasn’t my imagination, but the Guerlain Insolence on a woman who was likewise drawn to Beert’s extravaganza.

Scent Diary is a place where we can share fragrances we encounter, good and bad, perfumes we wear and the scents around us. It’s a way to sharpen our sense of smell, but also just to enjoy the fragrance hobby in a richer way. Whether you write down 1 recollection–“I smelled coffee this morning”–or 10 matters less than simply reminding yourself to smell. You can add as many comments as you wish. You can comment today or over the course of the week; this thread will always be open. Of course, do share what perfume you’re wearing or what particularly good scented products you’ve discovered.

Osias Beert (c. 1580–1624), Still Life with Oysters, Pastry and Fruits. Detail, photography by Bois de Jasmin.

Last year I wrote an article about an intriguing perfume boutique in Catania, Sicily, Boudoir 36. Run by Antonio Alessandria, it is a treasure trove of artisanal perfumery and other scented products. Now, the boutique offers its own line of fragrances, Antonio Alessandria  Parfums. It includes three fragrances, Nacre Blanche, Nuit Rouge, and Noir Obscur.

Nacre Blanche

“The light of the moon, white as a pearl, enters the window…”

Nacre Blanche is based on tuberose, and it includes notes of coriander, bergamot, osmanthus, jasmine, benzoin, vanilla, and leather.

Continue reading →

Jean-Paul Guerlain, the last perfumer for the house carrying the family name, once memorably said that one could be a Shalimar woman or a L’Heure Bleue woman, but not both. Of course, he made the statement in his usual provocative manner, but the idea was that the two perfumes had such different characters that you loved either one or the other. I had all the makings of a L’Heure Bleue woman, having fallen for its older sister Après l’Ondée, but then I met Habit Rouge. One encounter was all it took for me not only to be captivated by its velvety orange blossom doused in incense and bergamot, but also to understand the allure of Shalimar.

That Habit Rouge is marketed to men should make no difference to women. In 1965, when Habit Rouge was created by Guerlain, the collection had many splendid feminine perfumes like Jicky, Shalimar, L’Heure Bleue, and Mitsouko, but the offerings for men were considerably less outstanding. The exception was Vétiver, which Jean-Paul Guerlain created a few years earlier. His solution to draw gentlemen to the perfume counter was to take the basic outline of Shalimar and its famous accord of citrus and sweet oriental notes and give it a dandy appeal with leather and green orange blossom. The result was a less sweet, less curvy and less ripe version of Shalimar, but with all the elegance and panache of its great ancestor.

Continue reading →

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders fundraiser. Together we have raised $6,420! This money will be of much use to the organization, especially in light of its battle against the Ebola virus in Africa. These brave doctors are working in incredibly challenging conditions, and every dollar can make a difference.

It is my pleasure to announce two winners of the draw. The first person selected randomly will receive a bottle of vintage Guerlain Mitsouko extrait de parfum. The second person selected randomly will receive a brand new bottle of Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire (thank you, Ann, for donating it to this great cause). And the winners are…

Continue reading →

Judging by the variety of gourmand fragrances, the kitchen is a terrific source of inspiration for perfumers, and the exchange happens the other way too. A perfumer turns to vanilla to round out a composition, and if you’re in doubt how to jazz up your dessert, try this familiar sweet note. Vanilla is versatile enough to play along side many different ingredients, but it pairs especially well with stone fruit. This was my thinking as I simmered plums with sugar and a generous dose of vanilla in an impromptu jam I had to devise with a surfeit of damsons. I splashed it over the bubbling jam so liberally that the kitchen was filled with vanilla scented steam within seconds.

The jam was very good, and my husband pronounced it the best plum jam he has tried, but I felt that something was missing. The sweetness of vanilla and plums was rich and deep, but I wished there was more bite and sparkle. When I returned to the kitchen for one more experiment, I added lemon zest and nutmeg towards the end, and the spicy-citrusy twist completed the picture. Now, this jam was not only perfumed as well as something from Serge Lutens, but it was also richly flavored.

Continue reading →