“Here, we may say, we are at home, and like the mariner after a long voyage in a tempestuous sea, we may now hail the sight of land.”

Although Hegel described the inception of the modern day in philosophy when people began to derive knowledge through reason, this phrase came to my mind whenever I reflect on my own personal journeys. Have you ever had a chance to step back into childhood? I do not mean just to see the old house where you grew up or to meet with an old schoolmate. I mean a complete somersault into your past life, your other life, your life as a child. I am experiencing this moment right now, and I cannot say unequivocally how I feel about it. It is a wave of conflicting emotions. I walk into my old room, and it still looks the same—same furniture, same walnut wardrobe with numerous tiny drawers, same lotus patterned curtains. I see the same books I used to study from—history of the USSR, geography, chemistry, physics, calculus. I find my tenth grade notebook recording all of the marks I received that year: mostly 5 and 4, A and B respectively, with an occasional 2 (D) in Ukrainian language. I find my drawings, my poems, my worn out pointe shos pedantically numbered from 1 to 158. Some of my plants left behind ten years ago are still thriving. I look at the hibiscus plant that grew into a tall verdant tree from a tiny bush—lush and oh so wrong for this temperate climate. How did it bear the cold winters? Probably, it adjusted to the life on another shore just like I did.

Yet, many things are different. I see a robe made in North Korea, and it strikes me as exotic. I take a photo of one of the pictures from the geography textbook depicting marked achievement of the socialist world in protecting the environment vis-à-vis its capitalist enemy. The curtains look somewhat tawdry with their gold lurex stripes. The balcony is denuded of its grape vines, which nearly crushed it last year. It used to be wonderful to sit in the jade shade of the vines reading a book and drinking tea. There is a layer of neglect and dust on everything—the hardwood floors, the desk, the books, the Czech glassware in the cupboard…

Outside my windows, the world is different. It is moving along the post-communist transition path, along post-Orange Revolution trajectory. Where is it going one cannot say. It is laden with the sense of disappointment and displaced hopes, regrets and envies. One world is long gone, and the maze of corrupted personalities and twisted ideals is taking over the new entity arising in its place. One doctrine is replacing another only to lose its validity after yet another economic crisis. I think of Alexander Hertzen, an influential 19th century Russian thinker in exile. Although known as a founder of Russian socialism, he never viewed this doctrine as a final solution to the problems of society. “This socialism will develop in all its phases until it reaches its own extremes and absurdities. Then once again a cry of denial will break from the titanic chest of the revolutionary minority and again a mortal struggle will begin, in which socialism will play the role of contemporary conservatism and will be overwhelmed in the subsequent revolution, as yet unknown to us” (From the Other Shore, 147). It is a message of redemption through recognition of contingency and rejection of belief in final solutions and absolute truths. I never fail to feel a jolt reading Herzen’s rejection of the memento mori of idealism, “From this one thing alone is clear; that one should make use of life, of the present; not in vain does Nature in all her utterances for ever beckon life onwards and whisper in every ear her vivere memento” (41). Indeed, this message holds a startling beauty and a profound value, neither of which have been attenuated more than a century later.

References: Hegel. Lectures on the Philosophy of History, trans. E.S. Haldane and F.H. Simson. 3 vols. London, 1963, vol.3, 217; Alexander Herzen (1812-1870), From the Other Shore.

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

Rose soufflé with fruit salad, Parfums de Rosine Rose D’Été is a rose fragrance for those who think that rose is sentimental and hopelessly romantic. Rose D’Été is anything but sentimental. It is effervescent and vivid, in its explosion of melon and apple against the backdrop of yellow rose and honeyed flowers accord. It is exuberant, and almost too much so, veering into syrupy and cloying. The resulting outcome is a disconcerting vacillation between roses heated by the sun and a rose jam. While the latter is delicious, after a couple of bites the feeling of overindulgence sets in. The same takes place with Rose D’Été—while I enjoy the rose soufflé accords at first, an hour later they begin to irritate me with their sugariness.

Notes: apple, galbanum, bergamot; yellow rose, linden blossom, mimosa, lotus blossom; ambrette seed, musk.

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

Guerlain Love is All released exclusively for duty free stores in 2005 features a combination of iris, mimosa and passionfruit.  Tart red berry opening makes for a familiar fruity accord, which becomes even more ubiquitous when a tropical sharpness of passionfruit contributes to the top notes. The rest of the story is as interesting as watching the grass grow–pleasant but forgettable flirty floral facets against treacly and at the same time sharp fruity notes.

The best feature of Christian Dior Dior Star is its lovely gilded flacon, made in the classic Dior shape and embellished with small stars against matted gold. The fragrance has notes of bergamot, mandarin petitgrain, honeysuckle, peony, sugared almonds and musk. At first, it smells not unlike green chestnuts, which is a scent of sugary verdant sap, talcum powder and unopened flower buds. However, before I had a chance to fully enjoy the vision of prickly green chestnut shell, the fragrance took a turn for a dull unoffensive floral.

Although it is not a duty-free exclusive, I would also like to mention a new Yves Saint Laurent In Love Again limited edition called “Fleur de la Passion”.  Out of all summer limited editions (Van Cleef et Arpels, Lancôme, etc.), it is definitely the most interesting, even though this is not saying much. It is a straightforward fruit salad, with passion fruit and raspberry dominating. In the top notes, it reminds me of the original, with the sharp blast of pink grapefruit and a rainfall of rose petals. Here, sharpness of grapefruit is somewhat muted by raspberries and sweet-sour aspect of passion fruit (not passion flower as I was expecting, even though later it does soften into a floral aspect more like passion flower, which raspberries manage to choke). The development is similiar to In Love Again, but all of the stages are permeated by raspberries.

Some of my early memories are of smells and tastes: the taste of the first summer strawberries, of apricot stolen from a neighbor’s garden, of warm rye bread for which I had to stand in line for half an hour, of mozzarella di bufala purchased from the store owner in Forlì who had secret intentions of marrying me to his son. It is difficult to imagine how to separate what came first, but the scents fascinate me, wherever they occur.

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

Joel Rosenthal’s creations tend to not so much develop on the skin, as to scatter in unpredictable patterns like a handful of spilled pearls. In some cases, the results are odd, while in others they are odd, but fascinating. JAR Bolt of Lightning is one of the most unusual creations from the house, with its pairing of white florals and green fruit, creating a deep wet accord against a hot floral breath. Crushed red currants, broken twigs and blooming dahlias is what I think about whenever I wear Bolt of Lightning. It makes me think of a summer garden on a hot July morning, when the dew is evaporating quickly from the leaves and the scents of wet foliage and blooming flowers are hanging thickly in the air.

Once the initial green currant bud note softens, the juicy tart berry comes to the fore. It is rather subtle, but very refreshing. Finally, a note that reminds me of green Bosc pears appears. Intertwining with dark tuberose, it nevertheless remains vibrant, ornamenting the richness of the composition.

For more information on the JAR Parfums, see my review of Golconda.