I have a new article in the Financial Times Magazine’s fragrance column, Smouldering Scents of Seduction. The topic this month blends my favorite themes–perfume and classical Hollywood. In helping me understand what makes for the ultimate bombshell fragrance, I turn to Farran Smith Nehme and Laren Stover. Nehme, whom you might know as The Self-Styled Siren and film critic writing for the New York Post, has an impressive knowledge of classical cinema, while Stover wrote the best-selling The Bombshell Manual of Style. They are also perfume connoisseurs and great interview partners. It’s all tongue-in-cheek, of course, and I hope that you will enjoy our discoveries.

What is the hallmark of the ultimate bombshell perfume? I wonder this as I’m enraptured by the first glimpse of Ava Gardner in the 1946 film noir The Killers. She sits at the piano, wearing a black satin gown that elegantly drapes over her curvy figure. She gives Burt Lancaster one look and he is ready to follow her anywhere, even if it will lead to trouble. Such is the power of a bombshell. My typical day is more about routine than glamour, but perfume is my way to pretend otherwise. Please read the rest by clicking here.

What perfumes have bombshell potential for you?

Image: Ava Gardner in The Killers.

Cherry blooming season is nearing its end in Japan, but our trees are just now bursting into bloom. “The cure for/This raucous world…/Late cherry blossoms,” wrote the great Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa, and as I walk to the subway each morning, I notice how the pink froth lights up the austere grey of the streets of Brussels. I take longer routes so that I can see more cherry trees and sometimes I take my lunch to the park where I experience my private hanami, flower viewing. Then I find stray petals tangled in my hair and clinging to my coat–reminders of our very late spring.

Don’t believe the perfumes named Cherry Blossom–real flowers smell nothing like the cherries we associate with cough syrup or flavored candy. They have a fresh, green scent, with an earthy rose accent. It’s as delicate as the pink confetti of cherry petals. Given the love the Japanese have for sakura, cherry blossom, it’s not surprising that during the spring season you also find all sorts of cherry blossom flavored delights, including soft drinks, chocolate, pastries, ice-cream and candy. Pierre Hermé, the renowned French pastry chef, even offers cherry blossom flavored macarons at his boutiques in Tokyo.

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I have a friend who loves mimosa so much that when I mentioned seeing cut branches at a florist shop, she didn’t hesitate to make an hour long journey to Manhattan. In New York, these aromatic yellow flowers are both rare and expensive (they’re usually flown in from the South of France), so she was determined to find a perfume that bottled its unusual scent of almonds and violets. My first recommendation was L’Artisan Parfumeur Mimosa Pour Moi, because it’s the closest approximation of mimosa in full bloom.

The first inhale of Mimosa Pour Moi is a rustle of green leaves, with a soft brush of violet petals and drizzle of creamed honey. It’s effervescent and breezy, with strong hints of cucumber peel. The cuddly, soft impression of mimosa is created from these disparate elements shortly thereafter, and suddenly you imagine yourself holding a large bouquet of mimosa and burying your face in it. Instinctively, I reach to brush away the pollen from my nose.
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Comme des Garçons Harissa is a quirky little citrus-spice scent from the imaginative Series 2: Red collection of fragrances themed around the color red as it is found in spices, woods, flowers, and fruits. The fragrance has its origins in harissa, the bright red condiment common to North African cuisines that contains red chili peppers, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, caraway, and cumin.  The condiment is used as a flavoring in stews and in couscous dishes.

Harissa the fragrance is not so much an olfactory recreation of the condiment as it is a nod to the idea of it.  It is a citrus scent based upon what marketing copy says is a “North African blood orange”, and additional touches include red chili pepper, angelica, saffron, nutmeg, cardamom, and tomato.  The fragrance is only mildly spicy despite the list of notes.

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Comme des Garçons recently launched Black Eau de Toilette. It includes notes of black pepper, Somalian incense, leather, licorice, birch tar, vetiver, and cedarwood.  The original concept was developed in 2009 “in response to the general negativity engendered by the recession and to counter the feeling of things being blocked or stopped because of the crisis” (as quoted in the press release). A tall order for a perfume, perhaps, but Comme des Garçons excels at dark and smoky blends.

Already available in Comme des Garçons boutiques and luckyscent.com. 100ml spray bottle/$100