Bois is pronounced as “bwah” in French–imagine that you are planting a tender kiss on someone’s cheek. However, my blog sometimes gets introduced as “Boyz de Jazmine,” which sounds suspiciously like a boy’s band. So I thought that it would be good to share the correct pronunciation of the phrase that means “jasmine wood” or “jasmine forest” in French. I turned to Bela, the founder of Frag Name of the Day. Bela used to read the news on the BBC French Service, and I could not think of a better French expert to ask for help. Moreover, her voice is beautiful, so it is a double pleasure to listen to her impressive collection of 782 podcasts featuring French fragrance names.  And here is how one pronounces Bois de Jasmin!

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

After Flowerbomb, Antidote, and Eau Méga, the Amsterdam fashion house Viktor & Rolf has launched Spicebomb, a new masculine fragrance. While the clothing by designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren is avant-garde and edgy, the fragrances feel to me driven mostly by the desire to boost the company’s profit margins. They are well-made, polished, but perhaps stay too close to current trends. Spicebomb is a pleasant surprise in the line up—a fragrance that blends gender boundaries as effortlessly as Tilda Swinton—V&R’s muse—in Orlando and that has a few dark and smoky surprises in its layers.

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When I learned via the publisher Wiley-vch about a new book on fragrance science authored by the prominent chemists Günther Ohloff, Wilhelm Pickenhagen and Philip Kraft, I immediately placed a pre-order. Ohloff’s articles have been my favorite perfume geek reading since I first started Bois de Jasmin and I already knew of Philip Kraft’s work through his revealing Perfumer & Flavorist article on Chanel No 5, so I impatiently anticipated my book to arrive. For the past couple of weeks, I have been spending my free moments with Scent and Chemistry: The Molecular World of Odors, learning about aroma-materials and their role in some of the most renowned fragrances on the market.

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“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library,” wrote Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges. Ever since I moved out of my parents’ house, I decided that I will make my own version of an earthly paradise by investing efforts into my library. For years I have lived in apartments where the only pieces of furniture were the overspilling bookshelves. These days we have added a table and a bed to our Spartan living arrangements. An interior designer friend once drew up a plan that would maximize the use of space in our apartment. Her sketch was full of light, cream colored cushions and purple window dressings. She suggested that I move half of my books to storage. Her sketch is languishing behind one of the bookshelves. The books are still with me.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

What took me so long to discover Vero Profumo Rubj? March was very enthusiastic about it. Angela’s beautiful review called it a “ravished ballerina” perfume. But better later than never! A luscious orange blossom and tuberose composition, Rubj is underpinned by such a fleshy animalic note that it makes Serge Lutens Musc Koublai Khan seem straight-laced. It not only intrigues and seduces me, but also comforts and caresses.

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