Victoria: 2669 posts

Hermès has released a special edition of 24 Faubourg inspired by one of their famous silk scarves. This year’s patter is the Quadrige scarf. It was first created in 1973 by Pierre Péon, and it features “the heads of four horses and their harnesses which fit together like pieces in a puzzle to create a stylized, Hermès version of the quadriga, a two wheeled-chariot which appears on the Parthenon frieze.”

Eau de toilette 24, Faubourg, Quadrige limited edition, 100ml, €123. Available at Hermès boutiques.

Via hermes.com

Happy Holidays! I’m going to take a Christmas break and will return on Thursday.  Meanwhile, our bi-weekly “Recommend Me a Perfume” is here today.  You can also use this space to ask any fragrance related questions.

How does it work: Please post your requests or questions as comments here. To receive recommendations that are better tailored to your tastes, you can include details on what you like and don’t like, your signature perfumes, and your budget. Then please check the thread to see if there are other requests you can answer.

To make this thread easier to read, when you reply to someone, please click on the blue“reply” link under their comment.

Contest: everyone who answers a fragrance recommendation request will be entered into the draw for 2 sets of three samples of your choice (should be available at Luckyscent). The winners are Leah and Jillie.

The recommendations you give help us navigate the fragrance counter easier, so thank you to everyone who participates.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

Tonka beans look like dusty, wrinkled pods, but they smell like smoky cherries, sugared almonds and sun warmed hay. Many fragrance raw materials have heady aromas that are as complex as those of a finished perfume, but few rival tonka bean for its luscious seduction. Gourmand doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s decadent, sultry, and addictive.

The best way to experience the complexity of tonka bean is not just to smell it, but to eat it. Tonka bean is the flavor of the moment in Europe, where I’ve encountered it in cakes, ice cream, chocolates, and even savory dishes. The sweetness of tonka lends itself perfectly to desserts, especially anything that contains almonds, vanilla, or cherries. These ingredients explore natural affinities, and you can’t go wrong by adding a pinch of tonka to cherry compotes, almond cakes or vanilla custard. The best way to imbue as much tonka flavor as possible into a dessert is to grate it finely and either infuse it in warm liquid, or as I do in the recipe for Viennese Vanilla Crescents (Vanillekipferln), cream it with butter.

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When I bought my first bottle of L’Heure Bleue parfum as a teenager, I remember a sales associate, a tall woman with an impeccably coiffed chignon, mentioning that in her opinion Guerlain women fall into two main categories–those who wear Shalimar with panache and those on whose skin L’Heure Bleue smells like hot kisses and orange blossom marshmallows. I have worn my way through the whole Guerlain collection, including Vétiver and Habit Rouge, but L’Heure Bleue and Après l’Ondée are two fragrances that make my heart skip a beat. They are polished and elegant, but at the same time, they feel like a second skin.

This year L’Heure Bleue celebrated its 100th anniversary, and Guerlain and its perfumer Thierry Wasser decided to create a a new interpretation of the classical fragrance in three different concentrations. The velvety Eau de Parfum called Le Zénith eventually ended up as L’Heure de Nuit, and this fragrance is now a part of Guerlain’s Les Parisiennes collection. Why is there a need for another take on L’Heure Bleue, you might wonder, as I did. Don’t we already have Insolence? But for perfume wearers not used to the plush, heavy retro style, even Insolence is too rich.

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“A lot of people give Chanel No. 5  for the same reason they might buy an Apple computer—because they think they can’t go wrong,” says Frédéric Malle. “But perfume is more personal than that. It’s not about choosing a ‘good’ fragrance. It’s about choosing the one that’s a good match with the person who will be wearing it.”

Vogue.com features a fun article called Perfume by Personality: Frédéric Malle’s Guide to Fragrance Gifting.  I particularly enjoyed Malle’s choice of fragrances. For the Minimalist, he recommends Frédéric Malle L’Eau d’Hiver Eau de Parfum; The Urban Bohemian–Estée Lauder Youth Dew; The Outdoor Adventurist–Les Exclusifs de Chanel Bel Respiro; The Art Collector–Dior Miss Dior (original) and Bulgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert Extrême; The Vintage Enthusiast–Rochas Femme and Caron Pour un Homme. To read the rest, please follow this link.

Also, the French edition of Vogue.com includes a beautiful spread on solid perfumes, Jolies Concrètes. It’s in French, but the pictures say everything.