Victoria: 2669 posts

The Museum of Art and Design in New York and its Curator of Olfactory Art Chandler Burr are going to present their first exhibit The Art of Scent starting November 13, 2012. The exhibit will run till January 13 2013. The components of the exhibit are currently being developed.

As was announced previously in the MAD press release, “the first exhibition planned, The Art of Scent, 1889-2011, will allow visitors to experience ten seminal works by some of the greatest scent artists of the late-19th, 20th and early-21st centuries.”

The Fragrance Foundation has announced that Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel will be inducted into The 2012 FiFi Hall of Fame during the FiFi Awards on Monday May 21^st.  As the Fragrance Foundation explains, “The FiFi® Hall of Fame award is voted on by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and is presented to an individual who has brought extraordinary ingenuity, creativity, dedication and inner resources to bear, not only to their company’s success but to the fragrance industry as a whole.”

” ‘It is quite astonishing that in the year 2012, a fragrance introduced in 1921 and simply named Chanel No 5, prevails as one of the most enduring and iconic symbols of style, elegance and modern scent creativity the world has ever known,’ says Jill Belasco, Chair of The Fragrance Foundation.’Chanel fragrances have reached near mythical status thanks to the vision of Coco Chanel, her enduring commitment to in-house master perfumery and an uncompromising commitment to luxury and quality. To this day, men and women everywhere delight in wearing fragrances marked by the entwined double C’s of Chanel.’ ”

This year marks the 40^th Anniversary of The FiFi Awards.

Via press release

“Keep all of your samples!” This was one of the best tips I received when I first started out as a perfumista. If I didn’t like a fragrance, I would be tempted to pass my sample onto someone else. But the more I sampled, the more my tastes kept changing, and I can’t count how many times I’ve revisited a perfume and ended up liking it. What initially seemed liked a harsh note in Chanel Cuir de Russie ended up fascinating me with its dark richness. The effervescent Estee Lauder Pleasures is not something I wear often, but I use it on regular basis to compare against new green florals. As much as I like to keep things simple, having a well-organized library of samples makes exploring perfumes much easier.

So, I need your help. I know that all of you have your own tips on making the most of the perfume hobby.  I thought that it would be fun and helpful to compile a list of our favorite perfume tips and tricks, or the A to Z of perfume advice, if you will!  It can be as lighthearted or as serious as you want.

How does it work: simply select a letter and post your tip in the comments following the format of my examples below, and I will then transfer your tip into the body of the post, along with your name (and a link to your blog, if you have one). You are welcome to duplicate letters. I am very curious to see who will come up with a tip for Z and X!

I will add a link to this post in my Highlights bars on the right, so that you can add your tips even after the thread moves off the main page. You can also email your suggestions to me at boisdejasmin at yahoo dot com.

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What do you smell around you these days?

It is officially spring. The Bradford pear trees are draped in the foam of blossoms, its marine connotations echoed by the white petals’ fishy odor. The sticky red buds on maple branches smell sweet and acidic, a mixture of hot metal and honey. On most mornings I step outside and feel uplifted by the bracing freshness. It works better than a cup of coffee!

As I enter the subway, I realize that these days I smell more perfume. Since people wear fewer layers, the sillage can be overwhelming. The usual green apple and peach scents of hair products are now supplemented with the fragrances I recognize. On Monday, I sat next to a girl wearing Dior J’Adore. On Wednesday as I was heading back home, a guy wearing Thierry Mugler Angel and tight black jeans complimented me on my perfume–I also wore Angel. Yesterday, my friend and I had to navigate the sushi bar to avoid a lady wearing half a bottle of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. And this morning I smelled the dewy gardenia and coffee at Starbucks. Not much of a scent revelation, but it made for a more memorable morning.

Image: Pear Blossom by kellygifford via flickr, some rights reserved.

You may know Alyssa Harad from her contributions to Perfume-Smellin’ Things and Now Smell This. This summer Alyssa is releasing her perfume memoir titled Coming to My Senses: A Story of Perfume, Pleasure and An Unlikely Bride. Alyssa’s book tells how she fell in love with perfume through reading blogs and how her passion led her on an exciting journey. You can read her last essay for NST here. Meanwhile, I wish Alyssa luck as she continues her fragrant journey and look forward to her own blog going live on alyssaharad.com.

At thirty-six—earnest, bookish, terminally shopping averse—Alyssa Harad thinks she knows herself. Then one day she stumbles on a perfume review blog and, surprised by her seduction by such a girly extravagance, she reads in secret. But one trip to the mall and several dozen perfume samples later, she is happily obsessed with the seductive underworld of scent and the brilliant, quirky people she meets there. If only she could put off planning her wedding a little longer.

Thus begins a life-changing journey that takes Harad from a private perfume laboratory in Austin, Texas, to the glamorous fragrance showrooms of New York City and a homecoming in Boise, Idaho, with the women who watched her grow up. With warmth and humor, Harad traces the way her unexpected passion helps her open new frontiers and reclaim traditions she had rejected. Full of lush description, this intimate memoir celebrates the many ways there are to come to our senses.

Available for pre-order at Amazon.com.