Thanksgiving attire

Just a suggestion for Thanksgiving attire.  Yoga pants are oh-so-forgiving on the waistline, right?!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Don't eat too much (ha, ha)

What Does This Woman Wear? A Full Bottle Drawing.

A friend I film a lot with, Savannah, got a fur coat from her aunt several months ago, and seeing as how she's not really a fur person, per se, making a movie seemed about the only good use for the thing.

Generally when I make movies it's a long haul, marathon type thing.  It means months of preparation - planning, budgeting, casting, et al.  The more I do it, the more I crave making films - even just once in a while - that are more like relays, more sketches than full blown murals.

Savannah and I decided to get together the other day and do something simple and abstract.  We've both always wanted to do silent movies, so we did.  We filmed a sort of character study - a woman waiting, maybe.  It was so much fun dressing up and jumping right in that we decided to continue the story every so often, to pick up where we left off and see where this woman goes, bringing other friends and places into the mix as it strikes us.

Any ideas who this woman is?  I'd love to know what perfume you think she'd be wearing, most of all.  But also maybe what she's doing there where she is and where she's going or where she's been.  I'll draw a name from the comments Monday after Thanksgiving.  Serious answers only, please.

The winner can choose from the following full bottles.  Random, I know, but I'm doing some late spring cleaning:

Bond No.9 Lexington Avenue (50 ml)
Caron Bellodgia (50 ml)
Guerlain Samsara EDT (30 ml)
Parfums de Nicolaï Vanille Tonka (30 ml)
Ava Luxe Queen Bess (30 ml)
Caron Third Man (100 ml)
Womanity (50 ml)
Bois 1920 Classic 1920
Chanel No. 19 EDP (50 ml)
Cartier Must Pour Homme (100 ml)
Guerlain L'Instant Pour Homme (100 ml)
Estee Lauder Beautiful EDP (100 ml)

Perfumes I ought to like... but don't

 Earlier today I tried wearing Jean Patou Sublime for about the fifth time. There are so many fantastic fragrances from Patou that I find it curious I don’t enjoy Sublime.  From Sublime’s list of notes it seems like a perfume I would cherish (listed notes are orange, Mandarin from Sicily, ylang-ylang, lily of the valley, rose, jasmine, orange blossom, vetiver, sandalwood, oak moss and vanilla). Plus, Sublime is a floral oriental which is my favorite fragrance category.  But today, I tried Sublime for the final time, and I just don’t like it.   

This got me thinking about other fragrances it seems I should love, but don’t.  Take for instance the entire Ormonde Jayne line.  I completely understand why many of you hold up the Ormonde Jayne line as being one of the best.  Most of the Ormonde Jayne fragrances pair interesting and unusual combinations.  They seem unique, special and well-crafted.  The ingredients seem high quality and the bottles are lovely.  But, every single OJ fragrance ends up smelling virtually the same to me once dried down.  I’ve read that this might mean I’m hyper sensitive to Iso E Super, which is an aroma chemical, said to be used freely by Ormonde Jayne (and virtually all perfume houses, not just the OJ brand).  Iso E Super is supposed to be a wonderful “connector,” adding a smooth, robust quality to fragrances and smelling like velvety woods and/or amber [You can find a helpful article about Iso E Super over at PerfumeShrine].  For me, almost every fragrance (except Tiare and Frangipani) ends up smelling like murky synthetic, artificial woods.   I want to enjoy some of the fragrances from Ormonde Jayne, but sadly, I can’t.

Aside from some trepidation about wearing patchouli in public, I do love the smell of patchouli.  I enjoy many fragrances with a hefty patchouli base, some of which are the original Prada and Angel.  I also value and appreciate potent fragrances with excellent longevity.  Chanel Coco Mademoiselle can be described as a sweet patchouli number that’s both potent and lasts forever.  But the sum of its parts just doesn’t add up to something I can wear.  It seems like I ought to like Coco Mademoiselle but it makes me run, not walk, in the other direction.

 

I also love ambery orientals.  Teo Cabanel Alahine is my #1 BFF and I’d classify it as an ambery oriental or perhaps as a floral oriental.   I hold perfumer Maurice Roucel high regard as he’s created a whole list of wonderful perfumes I appreciate and wear.  But somehow, even though Guerlain L’Instant was created by Roucel and its an ambery oriental it is perhaps my most dreaded fragrance of all time.  Guerlain’s L’Instant is the olfactory equivalent of ‘nails down a chalkboard’ for me.  It’s been a very long time since I even tried to wear it and I don’t think I attempted wearing it more than twice.  When people say Thierry Mugler Angel is tooth-achingly sweet I often think they should be describing L’Instant not Angel.  L’Instant is a sharp juxtaposition of citrus and sweeeet that makes my skin crawl.  When I read the list of notes it seems like L’Instant should be beautiful, but the reality for me, is that it’s a fearsome monster.  I enjoy plenty of sweet fragrances (Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum eau Poudree is one) but for the most part I’m finding I like orientals to be dry (such as Alahine and Canturi) instead of sweet.  Or perhaps it’s simply that Guerlain L’Instant is my nemesis. 

A few other notes I typically enjoy are mimosa and almond.  And as I’ve outlined above I always appreciate long wear and potency.  Yves Saint Laurent Cinema is a potent, long wearing fragrance with prominent almond and mimosa notes.  In theory, I should like Cinema, but in practice, I don’t.  Now, don’t get me wrong, YSL Cinema is not my nemesis and it doesn’t make me run away.  In fact, I’ve smelled Cinema on others and find it pleasant.  But on me it’s a boredom issue, it just doesn’t do anything, anything at all, for me.  I’ve tried wearing it a couple times and within an hour always have the strong urge to remove it and apply something I really enjoy.

Last but not least is a cheery little number which features a pretty spring bouquet and most notably a strong linden note.  I love fresh, innocent, natural smelling florals, which is why I adore just about the entire Annick Gotual line and I especially enjoy the scent of linden.  La Chasse aux Papillons is one of L’Artisan’s  bestsellers, and it even has reasonable longevity AND has just about the prettiest fragrance name ever (La Chasse aux Papillons roughly translates to Chasing Butterflies in English). Nevertheless, I still can’t find anything to like about this fragrance.  I blame the pink pepper note which is quite strong in the Extreme version, but it’s also noticeable in the regular edt.  This pink pepper note seems jarring and throws off the easy-going florals for me.  Aside from this peppery quality, I just can’t get excited about La Chasse.  Sure, I could wear it without hating it, but it doesn’t make my heart sing; it’s as if I was wearing SJP Lovely or D&G Light Blue.

Do you have fragrances which seem tailor made for you, but somehow, they fall disappointingly short and you don’t like them? 

This week's favorite things

MOR Marshmallow Hand Lotion

Trader Joe’s Vanilla Cinnamon Tea

Dr Dennis Grossman Alpha Beta Peel

Walking with my dogs in the brisk weather

Annick Goutal Songes Body Crème

Planning the menu for Thanksgiving

New Silk Pillowcases

Homemade hummus on crisp (low-carb) tortilla strips

Wearing plushy pajamas and slippers

The smell of damp leaves & smoke from chimneys

Perfectly broken-in sneakers

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Jimmy Fallon doing The Doors

Profumi del Forte Roma Imperiale (think I’ll wear this for Thanksgiving)


and, last but not least, a wonderful addition from museinwoodenshoes

Watch  William Shatner teaches us about the dangers of deep fried turkey

Angel Appreciation

Can you believe Angel is almost 20 years old?  Thierry Mugler’s Angel launched in 1992 and is far and away the most groundbreaking fragrance of the past two decades.

The first time I smelled Angel was December, 1997.  I was Christmas shopping at Macy’s in the downtown crossing section of Boston.  Angel will always smell like Christmas to me.  I have never been able to sniff it objectively, my first impression of Angel being tightly interwoven with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas.  I was so struck by Angel on this day in the winter of 1997 that I remember what I was wearing.  I recall the heft of my chocolate brown suede coat and the over-the-knee dark brown boots I had just bought myself.  I was really into brown in the late 90’s.  I remember carrying several shopping bags which were cutting into my fingers and struggling a bit with my coat tossed over an arm as it was now too warm to wear it inside the store.   As I walked through Macy’s I was accosted by one of those enthusiastic sales associates with what seemed at the time like a machine gun of Angel at her side.  It was unusual for me to allow myself to be sprayed, but this time I did. Tis the season I suppose.  I let the sales associate give me a spritz and then kept walking.  

A few minutes passed before I sniffed the wrist where Angel had been sprayed.  I stopped in my tracks.  I was dumbstruck.  Angel was unique, unlike anything I had smelled before.  Somehow I had managed to be completely unaware of Angel from 1992 until my first encounter in 1997.  I smelled it on myself for the first time without any association of others wearing it around me.  Within five minutes I knew I must have this perfume.  I knew I would buy a bottle on my way out.

As I walked around Macy’s that day the entire city was dressed for Christmas.  Boston was strung with lights and there were Christmas trees and decorations aplenty.  These Christmas images melded with my first impression of Angel and I will forever associate the fragrance with festivity, joy, pine trees, candles and sparkling lights.  I’ve never been able to smell Angel the way others do; I have never smelled the super-sweet candy accord others seem to despise.  If I really think about it, if I dissect Angel, what I smells starts with a shrieky citrus blast which then mellows ever so slightly into a highly aldehydic, metallic, mentholated, sweet earthy patchouli.  This is technically what I smell.  But what I actually smelled that first time back in 1997 and still smell to this day are sparkling lights, candles, pine trees, cold air, damp snow, ice and a house warmly decorated for the holidays with a blazing fireplace and baked goods.  I smell promise and happiness.

Angel isn’t smooth, it is rough, a little pitchy and full of character. Her personality is like that overly dramatic friend, who embarrasses you slightly but has a heart of gold and is perpetually fun to be around.  I absolutely adore Angel.  It was love at first sniff.  Happy 20^th birthday, Angel.