Fall: 101 posts

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.

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Elisa’s round up of autumnal favorites.

If summer is a time for frivolity (tropical “beach scents” whether or not one is near a beach) and winter a time for comfort (rich meals and equally rich orientals), fall is, for me, a time for looking and smelling put together.

Perhaps it’s the diehard spirit of “back to school” – I no longer live by the semester system, but when the September issues come out, I start lusting for collegiate looks and their professional equivalent: sweater vests, schoolboy blazers, plaid trousers. I also reach for perfumes that I think of as “smart,” i.e., conducive to getting down to business. To me, that means ladylike woody florals, chypres, and the dry note of leather (a structured handbag/briefcase to top off the look).

Here are my ten favorite autumnal perfumes for smelling clever and in control.

Donna Karan Signature

Like a low-cut silk blouse, DK Signature sits right at the juncture of “office-appropriate” and “sexy.” This leathery, resinous floral reads as complex but still incredibly sleek, with something like the subtle metallic rasp of a snare drum.

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Why did “the feral floral,” a tag line used by Cartier to describe its perfume, La Panthère, catch my attention? It’s not that I’m all that keen on the smell of unwashed animals; otherwise, the camel leather belt I bought for my husband in India (now banished to the outside closet) would have satisfied that craving and more. Cartier’s perfumery, on the other hand, is in the hands of talented Mathilde Laurent, and if anyone could make feral smell good, it would be her.

La Panthère was the nickname of Jeanne Toussaint, the flamboyant artistic director of Cartier jewelry from 1933 to 1968, who was responsible for some of the most dramatic examples of Cartier’s art. Named after this tremendous character, the perfume couldn’t be just another well-behaved floral, and Laurent decided on a composition based on contrasts: moss and leather; gardenias and patchouli.

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Today’s article is brought to you by Ann. After buying a set of Scent on Canvas samples, she was so excited about the perfumes that she asked me if she could share her favorites with you. Ann is a seasoned perfume lover, and she has been wearing fragrance ever since she was a little girl. Pine scented bath beads, Prell shampoo (circa 1970), and her grandmother’s 4711 Eau de Cologne were among the first scents Ann remembers. As a teenager, she began to venture beyond her stash of samples and hand-me-down perfumes to her own flasks, sometimes owning as many as three at a time. Then a couple of years ago, Turin and Sanchez’s “A to Z Perfume Guide” crossed her path and she stumbled upon perfume blogs… and so began her uninhibited daily adventures with beauty and art just an arms-length away.

If perfumes tell stories, then why not illustrate them? New niche perfume company Scent on Canvas has set about to do just that with their five fragrances, Rose Opéra, Brun Sicilien, Noir de Mars, Ocre Doré, and Blanc de Paris. “Our aim is to unite the arts of the perfumer with a pictorial creation,” says owner and perfumer Béatrice Aguilar-Cassarà. On the website she explains that fragrance notes were given to artists, who in turn created art to match the scents, which were then named after color pigments in the paintings. Next, a color engraving was made of each work for reproduction in a limited number of boxes in which the perfume is packaged.

I was drawn to the multimedia nature of the project that combined art and artists, perfume and perfumers, and business and marketing. However, when my package of five samples arrived from Barcelona along with charming scents strips in the shape of paintbrushes, I decided to just focus on the scents without the distraction of the companion art. It turned out to be an adventure with some unexpected turns.

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If you feel that minimalism is overrated or you’ve  had enough of well-mannered, chic to the point of annoyance perfumes, I have one answer for you: Chopard Casmir. You have it all in this amber tinted liquid–the richness of vanilla, the earthy heft of patchouli, and the creamy sweetness of sandalwood. Also, let me not forget the piña colada like fruit and jammy jasmine. It may sound scary, but Casmir works surprisingly well as a blend of woods with a bold gourmand note. It’s a Bollywood film in a perfume bottle.

Chopard is famous for its jewel encrusted finery and watches, but its fragrance collection is comprised of such over the top scents that even diamonds pale in comparison. Most of the perfumes were flops–Mira Bai, Madness, Infiniment, and Casmir didn’t exactly rake in the profits with its drama queen personality. Created in 1991 by perfumer Michel Almairac, Casmir looks to the 1980s with its glitzy composition.

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