Author: Caitlin

Fragrance writer and perfume collector!

Let’s Talk Chanel!

March 8, 2012

This won’t come across as at all original or unique, but it’s the truth: I have an obsession with all things Chanel. From the glamorous Grande Dame herself, to the storied history of the house, to the quilted leather handbags, to Karl Lagerfeld’s eccentricities, I just can’t get enough. With one exception: Chanel’s fragrances.

Possibly the most famous fragrance of all time, Chanel No. 5, just does not work for me. And I feel strangely guilty about it! Every time I’m out shopping at Sephora or Nordstrom, I feel compelled to try a spritz. It will be different this time! I convince myself. But I only ever end up with the same result: the scent of stale baby powder. I have no problem with powdery scents, and I don’t mind smelling a little ‘old lady’ either (I know some cool older ladies). The fact is, No. 5 just doesn’t smell *right* on me.

I’ve gotten similar results from Coco Mademoiselle  and No. 19. The only mainstream Chanel fragrance that semi-works for me is Allure and even that isn’t a *love it* experience for me.

Enter: Les Exclusifs de Chanel. It took me an embarrassingly long time to discover Chanel’s Exclusifs line and I’ve only begun exploring it in earnest in the past several months. Based on my own scent preferences, I singled out Sycomore as my first Exclusifs sample.

Notes: vetiver, sandalwood, cypress, juniper, pink pepper.

Considering the name, it’s no surprise that Sycomore is all about doing an elegant woody fragrance. Vetiver is definitely the star of the show, evoking roots and forest undergrowth. There’s a considerable amount of dry smokiness here too.  The entire effect is delicate, not dirty. It reminds me of a piece of bark peeling off a tree trunk.

It also has fabulous staying power on me. I recently wore it to my favorite French restaurant, which is a small affair with an open kitchen. I fully expected Sycomore to be obliterated by the cooking smells, but I was happy to note that it was still going strong on my wrist at the end of the night.

So, Sycomore is the first Chanel I’ve really fallen for. I’m currently experimenting with Cuir de Russie, and I have Coromandel and Bois des Iles on my to-try list. I’m hoping that Chanel fragrances & I can finally start getting along.

What are your experiences with Chanel? I’d love to hear from people who really enjoy No. 5, how does it work for you?

Sycomore: $110 for 2.5 fl. oz. // $210 for 6.8 fl. oz. available online from Chanel. I ordered my sample from The Perfumed Court.

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Miller Harris; L’Air de Rien

March 5, 2012

Notes: French oak moss, Tunisian neroli, sweet musk, amber and vanilla

I initially approached L’Air de Rien with some trepidation. Lyn Harris created this fragrance specifically for Jane Birkin, and I feared I could never live up to Birkin’s inherent, effortless cool. And then there’s the fact that Luca Turin has referred to L’Air as ‘one of the filthiest fragrances of all time’  in Perfumes: the A-Z Guide. Well. After reading that, how could I not try it? If only to see what all the fuss is about.

Imagine my surprise then, when I first sampled L’Air de Rien and discovered that it goes on as smooth as ever. I was reminded of Parfumerie Generale’s Cadjmere, in that the texture here is soft and enveloping. In the beginning, I get sweet hay and powdered sugar. It’s pleasant and extremely wearable. Confused, I double checked my sample. Surely I had dabbed on something else by mistake! This lovely creation couldn’t possibly be the famous skank-monster, could it?

Ah, but the beginning is not everything! L’Air de Rien works sort of in reverse on my skin, in that it begins in a muted fashion, but warms up after a couple hours of wear. This is when the oakmoss and musk really blend together to work their magic. The mustiness of an old library peeks through, along with something a little bit sweaty. I was expecting something animalic, like the civet in Jicky, but that’s not what’s happens here. No, this fragrance isn’t animalic to me, it’s human. L’Air gives me the sensation of smelling perfume on someone else’s skin. It’s positively unnerving, yet I can’t stop sniffing my wrist.

L’Air de Rien never reaches ‘filthiest fragrance ever’ heights on me, but it does feel somehow indecent. It exudes such a strong sense of intimacy. I feel like I’m peering into someone else’s life: wandering through their slightly decayed house, wiping the dust off of bookshelves, opening long-since locked doors, trying on a favorite perfume. If it’s possible to have a voyeuristic perfume, this is it.

And then there’s the name to consider: L’Air de Rien or the air of nothing. Surely un petit jeu by Lyn Harris, since this scent conjures up a flood of images. However, it is true that most of the associations L’Air evokes are more to do with memories or abstractions than any concrete object. But really, the sense of old memories only makes this fragrance more compelling. L’Air is utterly unmissable, just for the experience of it. The question is: is this really something I want to smell like everyday? No. But I’ll be saving my L’Air de Rien sample for those moments when I’m feeling pensive, and am ready once again to explore the story told by this strange perfume.

And if you’d like to read more about L’Air de Rien, Gaia of The Non-Blonde has an excellent write-up here.

L’Air de Rien: $160 for 100 ml; samples and full bottles are available from Luckyscent. If you live in the UK you’ll probably have an easier time hunting down a bottle in person than those of us in the US.

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Hello!

March 2, 2012

Hello, all!

It’s true, I’m adding yet another perfume blog to the mix here. You might be thinking Do we really need one more person writing about perfume? All I can say is, taste in perfume is about as subjective as it gets, due in large part to that maddening, finicky, mercurial, wonderful thing called skin chemistry. Thanks to skin chemistry perfume rarely smells the same on different people, and I know the same perfume smells differently on me on depending on what I’m doing or where I am. So, with this in mind, I’m hoping to offer a new perspective and a new voice to the perfume discussion.

Instead of doing a full review of anything just yet, I thought I’d start off by naming a few of my favorite scents to give an idea of my tastes. In general, I shy away from heavy florals and I gravitate towards spice.

  •  Diptyque; Eau Duelle My go-to daytime fragrance. I can’t get enough of the peppery topnote or the boozy, frankincense-laced drydown. For an EDT, I get exceptional wear time out of this (about 10 hours) which makes it great for long days at the office.
  • Caron; Poivre My dressy going-out scent. Seriously, give me any type of pepper in my fragrance and I’m happy, but Caron’s version is my current favorite. I said I usually don’t go for florals, but I live for the way the pepper and clove blend with the carnation in this elegant fragrance.
  • Serge Lutens; Five O’Clock au Gingembre My seasonal favorite. I think of this as christmas in a bottle, and wear it all throughout December. I find that nothing is more comforting than the smell of baking gingerbread but, being a Serge Lutens, this fragrance is also as chic as ever.
  • Guerlain; Jicky My all-time favorite. Jicky is sometimes temperamental and difficult to love. It’s definitely not right for every occasion, but thankfully there are those rare and treasured moments when nothing except Jicky will do.

I’m currently attempting to come to grips with Miller Harris’s L’Air de Rien, so expect a write-up of that coming soon!

I appreciate your patience as I work on getting everything set up around here. Thanks for reading!

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