In Your Opinion: 314 posts

What perfumes will remind you of the summer 2012? What was the highlight of your summer?  

“Dorothy awakens to find the house being carried away by the tornado. After it falls back to earth, she opens the door and finds herself alone in a strange village.”  This characterizes my summer pretty well, and since I already moved three times, each time I found myself in a new part of Belgium, I related to Dorothy from The_Wizard_of_Oz on many levels.  Among the highlights of my summer was the Brussels Flower Carpet, when the city revealed its playful side to me.

This summer smelled mostly of sandalwood to me. I wore a lot of Serge Lutens Santal Majuscule and Olfactive Studio Lumière Blanche, although in the past couple of weeks, Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower and some other big white florals hit the spot.

Whether you are celebrating Labor Day on Monday or not, I wish you a great weekend and a wonderful start for your autumn! Suzanna and I will see you back on Tuesday.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin: enjoying the last days of summer, Antwerp, Belgium.

Do you like fragrances with jasmine, tuberose, honeysuckle, gardenia notes? What are your favorite big white floral perfumes?

It may seem like madness to wear lush, heady perfumes in the summer, but with light application, tuberose, jasmine and other white floral scents can bloom so well in the warm air that you will be a convert, even if you didn’t care for these notes. Over the past couple of weeks my “big white floral” perfumes have been my favorite staples.

I enjoy the lush tuberose of Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower and Estée Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. Ormonde Jayne Frangipani Absolute is sunshine and tiare petals in the bottle.  Serge Lutens A La Nuit is like being showered with jasmine blossoms. When something lighter and brighter seems more appealing, I reach for Chanel Beige and Annick Goutal Un Matin d’Orage. Finally, when I want something “big white floral” but fresher and crisper, I go for Marc Jacobs for Her, the debut MJ perfume that captured the scent of gardenias floating in water.

Extra:  some more Big White Floral perfumes. ‘White floral’ is a general description, rather than a specific perfumery term, but if you’re curious what flowers are usually considered white florals (a hint: they smell jasmine-like!), you can read my Perfume Wardrobe Part 2: Jasmine and White Florals.

Photograph: Frangipani via flickr, some rights reserved

What do you bring back from your travels? What are your favorite souvenirs to pick up on your vacations? If you’re planning a vacation this summer, what perfume are you packing along?

Since I’ve just moved, I haven’t accrued any vacation time, but I’m making up for it by setting aside time to explore my new country. And while I still get bouts of intense homesickness, I’m slowly finding things to enjoy here. The ease of travel is one of them, and in the past couple of month we’ve taken lots of car trips. Every time we visit some new place, I try to bring something back.

My favorite souvenir is anything that can give me sensory enjoyment long after I return from the trip–perfume, food, books, beautiful fabrics, and of course, photos. I have a growing collection of honeys from different places. My spice collection can almost rival my perfume wardrobe. Each morning as I take out a jar of orange blossom honey I bought in California (yes, I actually packed my Californian honey with me!) or reach for a whiff of sandalwood oil I found in India, it’s like a little memento of my adventures.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

What is your most elegant perfume? What fragrance makes you feel chic and sophisticated, whatever outfit you wear and whatever the state of your hair?

When we were discussing Catherine Deneuve, elegance, and Guerlain Rose Nacrée du Désert on Monday, I immediately made a mental list of fragrances that have an aura of effortless elegance. Nothing overstudied or high-maintenance. The perfume that comes to mind when I think of elegance is Christian Dior Eau Sauvage. Eau Sauvage and its sister Diorella are harmonious and understated, but they sure do get noticed. Guerlain Chamade is another fragrance that makes me feel like I live a much more glamorous life than I do.

But the classics aren’t the only perfumes that feel elegant to me.  Parfums de Nicolai Odalisque, Costes, Etat Libre d’Orange Putain des Palaces (name aside!), L’Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubereuse, Lalique Encre Noire, Van Cleef et Arpels Cologne Noire, and Prada Infusion de Vetiver are among my favorite elegant perfumes. And of course, my beloved Serge Lutens Bois de Violette. So, as you can see, it’s quite a range!

More of my elegant perfumes can be found  at Perfume by Mood : Elegant.

Image via whenwewereyoungerandbetter

What are some of your favorite fragrances that develop in an unpredictable manner on your skin?

In perfume, as in other spheres of life, some of the most interesting effects happen when there is a bit of dissonance. Or when the accords are slightly off balance. A blast of wintergreen in the top notes of Serge Lutens Tubéreuse Criminelle is a shock, but it makes the tuberose feel even sweeter and more languid. I love the strange development of Frédéric Malle Une Fleur de Cassie that goes from wet paper, to honeyed powder to warm musk.  The earthy darkness of patchouli offsets the rose and amber sweetness in Chanel Coromandel. The lack of perfect balance is the very reason for their appeal to me.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin, a balancing cherub, rooftop decoration.