general perfume articles: 94 posts

My day-to-day perfumery work requires an extensive library of fragrances, but for pleasure, I can make do with a small wardrobe. When I had to pack in preparation for my move to Belgium, I faced a Sophie’s choice many perfume lovers dread–which perfumes to take with me. We didn’t know if we’d be moving for a couple of months or a couple of years, and the limited luggage allowance left me with few options–three or four full bottles maximum.

I relied on this small fragrance wardrobe for several months as most of my collection made its way the ocean, but I’ve never felt deprived.  Perfumers often say that a single perfume can be worn in such ways that it can smell like a completely different blend, but this was the first time I had experimented enough to discover this for myself.  Depending on how I applied a fragrance, I enjoyed different facets of my favorite perfumes. It was both fun and liberating, proving once again that one need not spend a fortune to be beautifully scented.

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In the past decade, my life has gone from urban to rural. Ten years ago, I’d never have imagined myself spending most of my time outdoors in the hot sun. Also changed is my wardrobe. Shorts and flip-flops are the order of the day, but St. Tropez this is not.

I’m out in the swamps a lot with my camera, sweltering under the tropical foliage, trying to capture the perfect picture of an alligator, or I’m on a wobbly boat at twilight trying to steady myself as an osprey flies by with a prize mullet in its claws.

Glamour has taken a backseat to necessity here. I carry a pocketknife rather than a powder compact. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the need for a glamorous everyday fragrance.  Fragrance for everyday glamour is different than perfume for evening-out glamour or the one for seductive glamour.  The scents of everyday glamour are a personal reminder that special scent can be a part of your day regardless of how you spend it.

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Elle Magazine recently published my article “How To Be Unforgettable” at Elle.com. In this piece, I explore what makes a fragrance memorable and why some perfumes receive more compliments than others. I hope that you will enjoy it.

Perfumer Sophia Grojsman was returning home one evening when she noticed a man following her. As she quickened her step and clutched her handbag, the man shouted, “Wait, wait, I don’t mean any harm, I just want to know the name of your perfume. It’s amazing!” The fragrance was Calvin Klein Eternity, which Grojsman was designing at the time. Once launched, Eternity rapidly climbed to the top of the charts, and today, this explosive floral is still among the best sellers. Grojsman’s anecdote is an extreme example of a perfume compliment, but the poignant reactions that scents can provoke made me wonder—what is the ultimate head-turning perfume? To read the rest, please continue to Elle.com.

Do you ever compliment others on fragrance? If so, what perfumes have received compliments from you?

Painting: Cassatt, Mary, A Corner of the Loge (In the Box), 1879. via Wiki-images, some rights reserved.

Edit February 13, 2014:  the EU proposal  has been significantly modified in comparison to the original SCCS document released to public in December 2012. The summary of the amended proposal can be found at ec.europa.eu.  Apart from three bans (Lyral, atranol and chloroatranol), the rest of the restrictions match the current IFRA standards. For the time being, there are no new bans or significant new restrictions on other materials, including naturals. As new information becomes available, this article will be updated.

“If this law goes ahead I am finished, as my perfumes are all filled with these ingredients [to be restricted],” said Frédéric Malle, who owns high-end perfume company Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. The impact on luxury perfume brands as a whole would, he said, be “like an atomic explosion and we would not have the means to rebuild ourselves.”

The recent Reuters article, EU threat spotlights perfume makers’ secrets, continues to explore the topic of raw material regulations and reformulations. Not again, you might think, since there was much talk about it already, but the issue of further restrictions on the usage of raw materials is sending so many waves through the industry that it’s hard to avoid. To summarize, the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS), an advisory body for the European Commission, has proposed to ban several key perfumery materials such oakmoss and Lilial and to extend the existing list of 26 allergens to more than 100. The regulations haven’t yet been adopted, and the final decision will be made next year.

I talked about the issues with escalating regulations in Is Chanel No 5 Being Banned?, and my post generated so many questions and emails that I decided to compile my answers here. The main impact from regulations is on the industry, but as fragrance consumers, we also lose out as our favorite fragrances are reformulated beyond recognition or discontinued. Also, I question the wisdom of replacing materials with a long history of usage with newly developed ingredients, the side effects of which may not become clear until decades down the road. These are good reasons to stay informed about the current situation.

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Victoria’s Note: Today we have a special report from the Osmothèque perfume conservatory and museum in Versailles. It’s written by Jola, whom you might recognize as behemot from the comment section here (Behemot is a character from one of her favorite novels, Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita). Jola is a graduate of the film studies department at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, and she works as a film script editor. She recently visited the Osmothèque in Versailles, France, and her experience was  so memorable that she wanted to share it with other Bois de Jasmin readers.

When I first became interested in perfume about two years ago, I noticed many perfume writers were critical of the modern versions of such classics as Guerlain L’Heure Bleue or Miss Dior. Everyone praised the older versions of these perfumes, noting the use of high quality ingredients in the past and degradation of quality in modern formulas due to environmental, medical, and cost-related reasons. While reading that Jicky and Diorissimo are “thin” nowadays or that Caron Poivre doesn’t have its spicy bite, I longed to experience these perfumes in their full splendor. If only I had a time machine!

It turns out that I need not travel back in time to smell vanished gems like Jacques Fath Iris Gris or Coty Chypre. I only have to visit France. Since 1988, the Osmothèque perfume museum and conservatory located in Versailles has specialized in preserving and restoring old fragrance formulas, allowing anyone–professional perfumers and passionate perfume lovers–to study an impressive collection of fragrances. Only at the Osmothèque can you smell the exhilarating verdancy of the original Balmain Vent Vert or sigh over the gourmand decadence of Parfums de Rosine Le Fruit Défendu, a perfume created by Coco Chanel’s rival, fashion designer Paul Poiret.

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