Lists: 150 posts

Since many of my readers are avid tea drinkers, I decided to start my 2023 holiday gift guide with a selection of my favorite tea stores. Once I made my list, I thought of adding a section about my recent coffee discovery. Finally, I finished my list with a few scented candles, focusing on the tea and coffee scents. I hope that this guide will inspire you, and of course, I look forward to your suggestions.

Ippodo Tea

Ippodo Tea is a family-run company founded in 1717. Although its roots are in Kyoto, Ippodo stores can be found all over Japan and even abroad. Their matcha is some of the best I’ve tasted, especially Seiun and Sayaka. They offer a selection of classical teas and their website makes it easy to find the right tea for you. If you’re new to Japanese tea, it’s a good place to start.

Website: Global and US & Canada.

Thés du Japon

My ikebana teacher recommended this store to me and gave me a sample of one of their teas. I first spend several days engrossed into their blog that describes different Japanese tea cultivars and growing regions. The store was founded by two Frenchmen, one of whom, Florent Weugue, is a certified Japanese tea sommelier. The teas I’ve ordered were spectacular, and as I’m writing this post, I’m drinking Sencha from Kawane, Moto-Fujikawa, Shizu-7132 cultivar. It has a gorgeous scent of sakura blossoms, with a toasted almond nuance.

Website: thes-du-japon.com. First-time buyers receive a code for a discount. My order was delivered by UPS and the transaction was smooth.

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One of the most interesting principles in Japanese garden design is the idea of borrowed scenery, shakkei. Using existing landscape elements—distant mountains, ponds, and neighboring structures, a creator would plan the garden in such a way as to incorporate the surroundings into her composition and create her personal vision of nature. Perfumery is generally more about artifice and fantasy, but as summer fades, I too become inspired to borrow autumnal scenery for my fragrant accompaniment. My perfume choices become led by the scents of fall.

Even in the deodorized urban environment, autumn is a fragrant season. The moment that leaves start to fall, the air is filled with a mellow sweetness reminiscent of walnut shelves and faded leather. On my way to the metro, I take a roundabout way through a park, kicking the golden leaves and glossy chestnuts with the tip of my boots. On my scarf I carry Serge Lutens’s Chypre Rouge, a perfume that smells of maple syrup and bittersweet moss. Or I might select the delicate Bulgari Eau Parfumée Au Thé Rouge, an infusion of tea, ripe figs and maple leaves.

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Marie Kondo, the author of the best-selling book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” suggests that only items that spark joy should be kept around the house. Of course, Kondo’s “spark joy” philosophy is more nuanced as she applies it to various aspects of cleaning and decluttering, but the idea of surrounding oneself with objects that are meaningful and special makes perfect sense. It can also be applied successfully to selecting a perfume.

Whenever I’m asked by friends and readers for recommendations, instead of listing fragrances, I try to determine what scents make them feel good. Or, to use Kondo’s phrase, what perfumes spark joy for them. One such composition for me is Serge Lutens’s Iris Silver Mist. It’s a cool, polished fragrance based around the scent of iris root, and when I wear it, I feel as if I’ve stepped into a secret garden filled with pearly light and the soft rustle of leaves.

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I’m glad 2022 is drawing to a close. The war in Ukraine, the revolution in Iran, the floods in Pakistan, not to mention conflicts in Ethiopia, Yemen, the Sahel, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Haiti, Colombia, and Myanmar, made this year devastating for many people around the world. For me personally it has been a difficult year with moments when it seemed that I wouldn’t be able to pull through. But it’s now December, and I’m here writing and feeling thankful for the blessings I can count.  My family and friends in Ukraine are safe. My Iranian friends and colleagues are likewise doing well, considering the circumstances. As my book, The Rooster House, was published in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain, I had a chance to travel around Europe, speak about Ukraine and its culture and get involved with causes to support my country during this difficult time. I was also happy to meet several Bois de Jasmin readers during these travels and discover more about the people who visit this page. Thank you for your support and encouragement. It made all the difference this year.

When it comes to summing up this year in terms of scents, at first I had a difficult time. I haven’t had a chance to try as many fragrances as I normally do. While the few that I tried were memorable, I wondered if I missed something interesting. Then a perfume-loving friend came to visit and brought me a large selection of new launch samples. It was fun to immerse myself into scents and escape into the world of incense and violets. This exercise reminded me of my great-grandmother Asya’s love of scents and her belief in the necessity to recharge, no matter how frivolous it might seem at the time.

What impressed me about my scent journey through 2022 was the diversity of the offerings. Some fragrances clearly stayed within the usual tropes–ambers and incense for niche and fruity-florals for prestige, but there were also many unusual compositions across all styles. I’ve highlighted such fragrances in my list below and added those that I instantly gravitated to. My best of the year lists are always highly personal and 2022 is no exception.

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Merry Christmas! This winter I crave comfort even more than I normally do. My workload has been extremely heavy, in addition to various activities in which I participated to support Ukraine at this difficult time. Also, winter arrived so suddenly that it caught me unawares, and it seemed as if one day I woke up to long stretches of cold weather and Belgian December rains. Normally, I would cope with it by reading and cooking, but making time for myself has been challenging lately. Perfumes came to the rescue and a few favorites in particular comforted me even when my schedule was grueling.

Below I will share several perfumes that embodied comfort for me this winter. I also recorded a video describing them, in case you prefer to listen (scroll to the end of the article.) In my video, I focused on five favorites, but in this article I will add two additional choices from the new 2022 launches. As always, I look forward to hearing about your own comforting, inviting scents.

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