Chanel 1957 - When Coco Chanel Came To Dallas

Coco Chanel and Stanley Marcus in Dallas, 1957. Dallas AP photo.

The year was 1957. Stanley Marcus, founder and head of legendary luxury department store Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas, came up with a spectacular marketing idea: to bring the gloss of French chic to the Neiman Marcus flagship store in downtown Dallas. He created a concept called Fortnight to celebrate the store's upcoming fiftieth anniversary. He would bring the arts, food, and fashion of a selected country to Dallas and immerse the store in a cultural extravaganza. Naturally France, whose designer fashions were popular with the wealthy Texas clientele, was chosen as the inaugural featured partner. It would be two weeks of spectacular department store theater, and Broadway set designers were charged with making fantastic sets that would turn the Dallas store into a little slice of Paris.

The piece de resistance would precede the Fortnight celebration. Stanley Marcus announced he would award Coco Chanel with the Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion, which was seen as akin to an Oscars award for fashion designers. Coco Chanel knew she owed a good part of her success to her American buyers and clients. After World War II ended Chanel was not popular in Europe because of her rumored affair with a Nazi officer. Her Parisian fashion shows were widely panned and she was struggling to revive her brand. It was the American market who desired her designs and embraced the Chanel suit, and they sustained her business in these lean years. So it was with some eagerness and perhaps gratitude that Chanel flew direct from Paris to Dallas Love Field, where she was greeted by Marcus, and hustled into a waiting white Rolls Royce limousine.

A Texas-style barbecue took place at Marcus's ranch just north of Dallas to welcome the honored guest. The usual Western festivities commenced. Here is Coco Chanel pictured looking a bit uncertain about square dancing.

Marcus was always a bit of a showman and had arranged a fashion show utilizing cattle as models . In a mock wedding ceremony a top-hatted bull accompanied a heifer draped in a white gown with a veil and jauntily sporting a string of the already iconic Chanel pearls.

In the photo above you can see Coco Chanel to the left, and that is Elizabeth Arden, a past recipient of the award, sitting at the center of the table. There is a long-told legend from that night that although Chanel appreciated the Western festivities, she was less fond of the plate piled with barbecued beans and meats. At some moment, one would think maybe when all eyes were on the ungainly parade of cattle fashionistas, Chanel tipped over her plate of food under the table, purportedly on top of Elizabeth Arden's red satin shoes.

Chanel was accompanied on the trip by the iconic 1950's model, Suzy Parker, Chanel's muse, model and friend and also a Texas native.

Coco Chanel and Suzy Parker in 1959, Google image.

It has been two years since Chanel added to Les Exclusifs line of fragrances. The Chanel website describes the line this way: "Each scent evokes a chapter from the story of Gabrielle Chanel, reflecting the life and character of Mademoiselle." (When did they start referring to Coco as Gabrielle? Did I miss something?)

When I first heard that Chanel's newest perfume was called 1957 and that there was a connection to the Dallas Neiman Marcus I was immediately intrigued. Growing up in Fort Worth right next door to the Big D, Fort Worth was dismissively referred to as Cowtown by the Dallasites but it was a label we wore with pride. We personified the true spirit of Texas, unlike our uppity neighbors to the East, or so we imagined. But once a year in August before the start of a new school year all petty grievances were put aside and my mother would load my sister and I into the yellow Cutlass, sporty by 1960s standards but still the size of a small motorboat, and off to Dallas we went. My mother sewed most of our clothes but on this once a year event we were allowed to pick one special outfit. To show just how big of a deal this was, I still have hanging in the back of my closet the dress I picked before entering sixth grade, a little number influenced by the London Carnaby Street era with a  navy mesh stretch top and an attached suede mini skirt. It is probably still the most fashionable thing I own. Leaving our car and walking through the August heat and entering through those door with the distinctive NM logo into the chilled pristine air, a sea of glistening glass show cases and glamorously dressed sales assistants before us, the moment never failed to thrill.

The entry to Neiman Marcus, Dallas downtown. See Chanel to the right.

What influences would Chanel house perfumer Olivier Polge use to make a perfume marking this long ago union between the very French house of Coco Chanel with American pizazz and brashness? What were the similarities between the two? None that I could determine, as a native Texan and lover of everything Parisienne. I had heard that the new perfume was a collection of various musk scents. Did Polge choose musks for their indeterminate nature, their fuzziness, as if to say, "I don't quite know what to make of this marriage of cultures?" I wondered.

With a little research I found out that Polge did have a plan and it was to reference the more clean approach that Americans have taken to fragrance in the last three decades. In an interview with the Irish Times, Polge said, "Always in United States fragrances, there is a link between cleanness and sensuality. In European fragrance we have sensuality with a little more darkness."

Musks have become very popular. Francis Kurkdjian has been doing great things with musk-based fragrances for over a decade and more recently Sylvaine Delacourte, who branched off from Guerlain to form her own line, introduced five musk fragrances which I talked about here. But still, I find musk perfumes hit-or-miss and when I walked through John Harris in Adelaide and sprayed myself with Chanel 1957 I was just "in like". Reading several online reviews it seems others made an immediate judgment like me and walked away unimpressed. I wasn't sure I would write about 1957 as I tend to only review perfumes I like a lot or at least find interesting. I judged the longevity and silage to be weak and forgot about 1957, until the next morning. On rising I did my morning ritual of first coffee, then computer, but I noticed a beautiful smell wafting up from my arms as I clicked at the keys. It was a bit mysterious as I hadn't yet sprayed a perfume, then I realized it was 1957 which had lived tenaciously through the night and was ready to have a cup of coffee with me and greet the new day. I also rubbed a bit on the sleeve of the sweater I was wearing and now even days later, it smells glorious.

Photo www.flickr.com/photos/honeyandjam/

Call me a convert. And if you've already tried 1957 and dismissed it, maybe try it again. The perfume opens with muddled citrus, shafts of sunbeams, and the scent of a distant field of flowers carried on the breeze. There is a shiver of aldehydes which add sparkle and loft. These are not the aldehydes of a Chanel No. 5, which could be considered by some to be a bracing slap of the face. This is just a tickle of puff and fizz, like bubbly mineral water rather than the pop of champagne. I get more impressions than notes from the scent. The fragrance feels airy, as if carried by the wind then disappearing. There are moments when I smell light watercolor florals which fade into that gauzy blanket of musk scent. The scent become creamier and in my notes I mentioned sensing honey and vanilla. These are just impressions. The beauty of the scent is that none of these notes stand out but are blended together in a masterful way. It is a bit like having a chef curated meal where your taste buds sense they are being hit with a lot of flavors but it is the compilation of the whole that makes it savory.

Photo www.elizabethannedesigns.com

The scent seemingly disappears on my skin but then pops up unexpectedly hours later. It is a skin scent and while it references the "clean" fragrance movement in America, 1957's polish and sophistication are decidedly French. What I find the most intriguing is that when I put my wrist to my nose, I sometimes smell honey, other times pale florals, then musk. It is like a kaleidoscope of gentle soft scent. Perfumer Polge made the statement in interviews that "white hides great complexity", and I feel that here we experience this, layer upon layer of ways to sensualize the feeling of "white".  Polge also stated that because 1957 is a skin scent, each person's skin will individualize and interpret the scent. For this reason I feel that even though my skin presents 1957 as a unisex veering toward the feminine, on a man's skin his body chemistry might play up different aspects of the scent to make it lean more toward the masculine.

Chanel lists these notes: musk accords, bergamot, iris, neroli, cedar, honeyed and powder notes.

So next time you walk by a Chanel display, try Chanel 1957. And if you don't like it, try it one more time.

Note: Want more? Follow this link to the Fragrantica page and scroll down for Lanier's review. He always has an interesting insight and says it in the most perfect way.

Black and white photos from Dallas Morning News/Ap photos/Googleimages. Sample courtesty of David Jones, Adelaide. Opinions my own.

Travels In France, Part Two: Provence

The hillside town of Gordes. 

As a person who appreciates perfume you may have had the desire to travel to Paris, the home of so many famous perfume houses. On my trip to France we eventually ended up in Paris; I'll get to that in later posts, but today I want to talk about the delights of travel in Provence and how (minus the airfare) affordable it can be. Many of us that are fascinated by scent have cross interests such as the appreciation of food or wine, art, literature, or love of plants and nature. Maybe all of these are not your interests but I think that in general people who can appreciate the nuances of a fine perfume can also recognize the subtle differences between a glass of red wine or the beauty of a garden estate. Like painters, once you tune into the minutia of everyday life you can find beauty everywhere in the smallest details of life. In today's world full of discord it is important to feed your soul, and for me that means reminders of the good things that humankind is capable of, be that listening to a stringed quartet perform in an ancient church or enjoying a beautiful painting or even people-watching from a sidewalk cafe.

My husband and I started our travels in the Vaucluse and the Alpes De Haute Provence areas, and later explored some of the hill towns near Grasse. We booked lodging through a combination of AirBnB, Booking.com, and Hotels.com. Most of our rooms, while not luxurious, offered beautiful views and were less expensive than a stay at a U.S.-based chain hotel, which as we all know have a charm factor of zero. This was our view in Fontaine-De-Vaucluse, a small town straddling a crystal clear spring-fed river and in close proximity to the nearby lavender fields.

Good morning! The view from our small restaurant/B&B in Fontaine -De-Vaucluse. 

A riverside restaurant in Fontaine De Vaucluse

The Provencal town of Lourmarin. Photo www.moulindeloumarin.com

The towns in Provence have markets on varying days, so in theory one can find an available market somewhere not too distant if spending at least a couple of days in the area. Here are some of the sights from a Sunday market we visited in beautiful L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue.

Quaint hidden squares exist in many cities but I think the most beautiful were in Aix-en-Provence.

You can't help but stumble across a winery every few miles. There is Chateauneuf-de-Pape and Gigondas for reds, estates with whites and rose wines scattered throughout the south of Provence, the Bandol wine region near Cassis; the choices are endless. 

Photo by Jean-Louis-Zimmermann, flickr

We adopted the French manner of lunching while in Provence. Late lazy lunches in outdoor cafes in small hill top towns. The food was delectable and fresh and the sensible half carafes of house wine were cold, refreshing, and cheap as chips. We decided France keeps all their best wine for themselves, and why not? We almost always ordered house wines and they were always wonderful.

Salad Nicoise and Salad with Camerbert.

Platter Provencal with local delicacies.

If you are a history buff there are Roman ruins rivaling those found in Italy. If you love art you can see the areas that inspired famous painters such as Vincent Van Gogh or Cezanne and view some of their works in the small museums in the area. 

So what perfumes are reminiscent of the Provencal region? I've talked about lavender which is the most obvious. But there are other scents that remind me of my travels and here are just a small number of those.

Most of our accommodation were rooms above restaurants or rooms in small hotels but I wanted to stay in a chateau-type accommodation for the experience, however I didn't want to pay the steep prices most of these gorgeous-looking places would require. I found Chateau Valmousse not too far off the route we would be traveling and it was much more affordable, maybe because of its location which was a bit removed from the main tourist towns. It was quiet...I think we may have been the only guests....but lovely, and I enjoyed the tall windows opening up to views of the stately grounds and absorbing the rarefied air and experience of how a few lucky people lived two or three hundred years ago.

Chateau de Valmousse, near Aix en Provence.

A perfume that immediately came to mind to encapsulate in smell this experience is Vie de Chateau Nicolai Parfumeur. My bottle is the older version and today the Intense version is the only one available but I think they are much the same. The perfume opens with a honeyed green scent with bright notes of bergamot and grapefruit mixing with herbal notes of thyme and tarragon to add a piquant spark. It begins to morph from green grass to hay fields with mild touches of tobacco as notes of hay, vetiver, fern, tobacco, and musk make their appearance. The base notes of  oakmoss and patchouli ground the perfume, giving the scent a certain stateliness. It is classified as a Woody scent but to me it has aspects of the fougere and chypre types as well. Vie de Chateua does make me envision oak paneled walls in a library, shelves lined with books reaching three times my height; shutters lining long windows that open to bucolic views of a long tree lined driveway and expansive green grounds; a grand staircase rising gracefully to the private upper quarters; and surrounding fields echoing the gentle country life found in times past. This perfume is coming to the front of my cupboard as autumn approaches!

Vincent Van Gogh painting Noon:Rest After Work

This painting by Vincent Van Gogh, which I would later see in Musee d'Orsay in Paris, exemplifies the era and place brought to life in the perfumes mentioned above and below. Van Gogh lived and eventually died in the Provence area and to say it was a huge influence on his paintings is an understatement.

Chanel No 19 was named after Coco Chanel's birthday which was August 19, so happy birthday today, Coco! It was introduced in 1970 when she was 87 years old, a year before her death. Although the notes in this perfume are very different from the Nicolai Parfumeur Vie de Chateau, they are both reminiscent of French country life dotted with patchwork fields yellow with hay and green with grass. Chanel No 19 opens green, very green. It is the galbanum, which I love, bring it on! But it's also fuzzy with shady moss yet at the same time bright with shafts of light. This is the magic of chypre-like perfumes, and although Chanel No 19 is not strictly a chypre--it has no labdanum--it is imbued with the back-in-time-glamour that this category of scent provides. It envokes a feeling of walking through the trees, and you get the leaves and the damp mossy forest floor. But then a shaft of light shears through the branches and you see a spider web glistening with dew-like diamonds and illuminated foliage. The smell of hay is in the distance. All of this is cloaked in that air of sophistication that the early Chanel perfumes always provide. Of course the iris orris root is a major player in this perfume. My bottle of Chanel No 19 gets buried in the back of the perfume cupboard and I always forget how much I love it until I pull it out and spray. Years ago I decided to purchase the EDT, not the EDP, after trying both. The reason why escapes me but I think I found the EDT greener and brighter. I love this perfume especially for wear in autumn and winter.

Photo from www.Almanac.com

Caudalie is a French brand that has built their natural skin care products around the anti-oxidant power of grapes. Caudalie Fleur de Vigne  was introduced in 2002 as "a stroll through the vines" and the website says the flower blooms 110 days before the grape harvest and lasts just a few days. The scent is light and fleeting, just like the life cycle of the flower. It has a long list of notes but I'm not going to bother with them because none stand out when you smell the scent. The overall feel I get is fresh, clean water. There is a slight green feel to the scent, and although citrus notes are listed I do not smell them. Fleur de Vigne mimics the smell of grapes, which is admittedly very faint and takes a bit of imagination, and it is a wonderful water scent with none of that chemical ozonic smell that often typifies aquatic scents. It ends on a fresh musk note. This is good for men or women and the only complaints seem to be longevity. I would say this is a nice scent for people who don't want to smell like "perfume", who work in an office environment and want something pleasing but inoffensive, or someone who likes to give their olafactory senses a break but can't totally forgo scent.

Roger & Gallet is a brand that I remember from my youth and it used to be easier to find back then in the US. Judging by comments that appear from time to time on fragrance chat sites I am not alone in my longing for their carnation soap, round and wrapped in pleated paper, which used to be readily available. It disappeared during the era when carnation fell out of favor as being too old fashioned. Roger & Gallet  was founded in 1862 but its origins stretch all the way back to 1806 which is when Jean Marie Farina introduced a cologne, the formula coming from his great grand uncle who produced it in the 1700s. It is still sold today and known as Extra Vieille. Napolean was a fan and it is said that Josephine commissioned a slender vial of the cologne that he could slip into his boot and carry with him on battle campaigns.

I had wondered why Roger & Gallet seemed to disappear from US store shelves a decade ago and it turns out that is when it was bought by L'Oreal. One would think this would have given the brand a push, and I do believe that the line was modernized and revamped for European markets. Here in the US its presence mainly consisted of the resell of old bottles on discount websites or Amazon vendors. I found the ad below with its nymph-like Marie Antoinette characters fun to watch, and perhaps its a hopeful sign that L'Oreal is finally ready to invest some interest in this company



I had heard about Fleur De Figuier from online discussions in the fragrance community so I made a point of looking for it in a Paris pharmacy. The fragrance was created in 2013 and I was surprised to learn the perfumer was Francis Kurkdijian. They have a new concentration (or at least new to me) called Fragrant Wellbeing Water. It's the perfect name because the initial spray is very fragrant but it is still sheer and airy, and it truly does bring a smile of "wellbeing" to my face. I may regret not buying the edp version of this which was introduced in 2015, but this one just smelled so good on the warm summer day. It is very figgy, with fig nectar, fig leaf, and fig. There is a sweetness to this scent but it is a natural fruit sweetness and therefore earthy and warm. This scent is yummy but not overpowering. Roger & Gallet fragrances are not spendy and are readily available throughout Europe, can be found in Asia, and are mostly available on Amazon in the US. Please let me know if you have another US-based source.

In addition I also purchased Feuille De Figuier, introduced in 2018, which is more about the fig leaf and thus loses the sweetness of the fig itself. Here the fig is green and dry, not yet ripe and dripping with sap,  It is meant to evoke "a stroll through a sun soaked garden under the shadow of fig trees". The perfumer is Mathilde Bijaoui, a name I thought sounded familiar, and I realized she is responsible for the 2018-spring limited edition Jo Malone line English Fields featuring grain notes. This was the first of the limited editions I fell for in some time and I wrote about it here. This scent is quieter than the Fleur version and reminds me of a walk through an especially fragrant woods with dry leaves underfoot and the occasional shaft of sunlight disturbing the quiet reverie. Notes are bergamot, mandarin, galbanum, neroli, fig leaf, benjoin, and cedarwood. It becomes very subtle fairly quickly but for the cost, go ahead and respray.

I keep mentioning cost, but one thing that really struck me while I was in France was how many brands of fragrance were available in the pharmacies featuring lighter versions, either EDT or EDC. They were uniformly beautiful fragrances for a very pleasing cost. Here is a photo from one such store. I did try a couple of sprays of the brand below but it seemed that every day in France I had about ten sprays up and down my arms so I wasn't able to get a clear enough impression to write a review. I do remember that I really liked the ones from this line that I tried.

The last note I'm going to mention is Verveine, or verbena as it is known in English. The sharp citrus smell would make one believe that perfumes with this note must have bergamot, neroli, lemon, or some such note. However verveine is a herbaceous woody flowering plant. My first introduction to this note years ago was through the L'Occitane line and I still have a little bottle of  L'Occitane Verbena which I spray on hot days when I need a pick-me-up. It is akin to a cold cloth pressed on the forehead to revive on a warm summer day. I went into a couple of L'Occitane shops in our travels and it seems that they offered a larger inventory in Europe than they do in the US. Is it my imagination or did L'Occitane used to offer a larger selection of perfumes in the US?

Fragonard shops are ubiquitous in France, or at least in Provence. Every town of any size seemed to have one. I prefer their simpler perfumes that concentrate on a single note rather than their more complex scents. They have made an art of attractive packaging combined with affordable pricing. Every year Fragonard picks a signature scent and this year it happens to be verveine. I smelled the new scent, Fragonard Verveine, and it has the familiar citrus-like opening found in all verbena-based scents. If you like lemony freshness you will probably enjoy this scent.

If you like the idea of verbena scents but want something with a bit more sophistication, try Le Jardin Retrouve's Verveine d'Ete, which combines the bracing fresh opening of verveine with herbal notes of basil and eucalyptus and deeper notes of oakmoss and vetiver. I reviewed the entire Le Jardin Retrouve line here.

I hope you've enjoyed this trip through Provence. If you would like to read more go to Part One.

All photos my own unless otherwise indicated, except Fragonard photo from their website. All perfumes my own.

Honeysuckle Take Two: DSH Perfumes Il Marinaio de Capri and Other Curiosities

When I did my review of honeysuckle perfumes last week I was reminded by the high priestess of perfumes herself that she had a newish perfume entry with a honeysuckle element. I'm talking about Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of course,  and the perfume was one from 2017, Il Marinaio de Capri, or The Sailor of Capri. This is the first in a series Dawn entitled, "flowers for men", although she states it is for women too. She describes the scent as a crisp, green honeysuckle chypre.


Il Marinaio de Capri features a honeysuckle note that is more crisp and green than sweet. There is a realistic essence of salty sea air. I really do not like men's aquatics that have that rush of calone. To me that note as used to simulate aquatic scents is artificial and irritating to the nose, so I am happy to have an alternative to give that seaside vibe. The honeysuckle note is fragrant and a happy note, and this reminds me a little of the Tom Ford scent Fleur de Portofino. The biggest difference is the rush of salt water scent that brings to mind turquoise waters, rocky shores, and sleek white sailing boats. How Dawn achieves that very salty scent  I have no idea but to me it is what makes this scent special. This "flowers for men" scent has the beauty of the honeysuckle without the sassy sweetness, and it is the freshness and the essence of salty water and air that makes this such a vacation in a bottle. The scent wears somewhat lightly on my skin but it is pretty tenacious. This is SALTY honeysuckle.

Another honeysuckle scent I forgot to mention in last week's Top Honeysuckle Scents is Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte, a citrus/floral aromatic and flanker to the original Chanel Cristalle. It starts off full of citrus: bergamot, lemon, neroli. So the opening could be a citrus bomb but this is Chanel, so no, it gets the point across without going JuicyFruit gum territory. The honeysuckle lies underneath all the citrus, at least to my nose. The citrus notes are the queen, but the honeysuckle is the lady in waiting, giving a pretty lilt to all that Vitamin C. But did I say pretty? Wait, don't relegate this to simply a feminine perfume. This is an aromatic after all, and after the citrus dies down (as it always does), you're left with crushed grass, wet leaves, and lively herbal green foliage smells, after a rain, wet and fresh. The honeysuckle is just a thread through the citrus and the green, but it, along with a magnolia note and magnolia always reads a bit citrus-smelling to me, provide the "prettiness" to the scent. Totally wearable for either sex in my opinion. In Cristall Eau Verte the honeysuckle accord is mixed with the magnolia, unlike in Cristalle Eau de Toilette (1974). It has been many years since I tested the two together, but I remember thinking the honeysuckle note was stronger in the Cristalle Eau Verte formula. I didn't have time to seek out the original to compare again. To me this is a very green, citrus take on honeysuckle. This is ELEGANT honeysuckle.

Hindu Honeysuckle by  Providence Perfumes is a scent I've already reviewed here  so I will keep it brief. Usually honeysuckle is light, effervescent, fleeting, but not here. This is honeysuckle with an Indian vibe, picture women in vibrantly bright saris, their neck encircled with flower chains, making their way into the temple to leave their offerings. This is a deeper rendition of honeysuckle and notes of coriander and ambrette definitely give it an Eastern vibe. This is a natural perfume, created by Charna Ethier who runs the show at Providence Perfumes and my bottle is a few years old, so it is possible that newer solutions offer a brighter, sunnier honeysuckle accord. Having lived in India for four years, though, I quite enjoy the bohemian vibe I get from this altogether earthier rendition of the honeysuckle flower. This is MOODY honeysuckle.

Here's something different: Presence(s) de Bach les Fleurs de Bach. I bought my bottle years ago when I was first getting into perfume. If you're not familiar with Bach Flower Remedies as a brand, their tagline on their website reads: a system of 38 flower remedies to help mankind achieve joy and happiness. A tall order, perhaps, but they seem to have many supporters including Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil, along with various celebrities. My first experience with Bach Rescue Remedy (a mix of several Bach Flower remedies created to deal with emergencies and crises, an antidote in stressful situations) was when I fell off a cliff when we were rafting and hiking in the Grand Canyon. Our guides were a mix of sort of athletic hippies who drifted from continent to continent, skiing, rafting, rock climbing; whatever the season allowed. When I rather miraculously survived a fall relatively unharmed, their first reaction was to dose me with Bach Rescue Remedy. So the perfume, Presence(s) de Bach les Fleurs de Bach is meant to provide a feeling of well being, balance, and harmony. The listed notes are: top notes of verbena and clematis, heart notes of wild rose and honeysuckle, and base notes of pine, oak, and crab apple. According to the site, honeysuckle is "to allow you to live in the present". My bottle is probably ten years old and I vaguely remember that it smelled more strongly of honeysuckle back then than it does now. However of the melange of notes the honeysuckle stands out more than the others. This honeysuckle opens couched in lemon verbena. I wouldn't call it a super realistic honeysuckle, at least what I'm smelling now from my ten year old bottle, but it is a pleasurable and, dare I say, grounding scent. It doesn't hang with the honeysuckle forever, moving on toward notes of pine and oak as it ages. This is WELLNESS honeysuckle.

I found a bottle of Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Honeysuckle perfume in the back of my perfume cupboard, another one I forgot about when I wrote last week's review of honeysuckle perfumes. I was surprised to learn that the perfumer was Rodrigo Flores-Roux, a perfumer whose work I admire very much. In fact he has done seven other flankers for the Elizabeth Arden Green Tea line. When I say I am surprised, it is because I am more familiar with his work for high-end lines such as the Arquiste line and the Green Tea line is more cheap and cheerful. When I sprayed myself with Green Tea Honeysuckle I vowed to move it to the front of the cupboard. It is light and airy and perfect for low-key hot summer days. At the opening the scent is green and bright citrus and I can smell the honeysuckle. It is very pleasant and appealing in the same light and carefree style of the Yves Rocher scents, if you are familiar with those. It is not the world's most realistic honeysuckle but it is a very good representation for its price point. As the perfume wears on I began to lose the honeysuckle to the creaminess of ylang ylang and jasmine but that does not lessen my enjoyment. It can be bought for a song on the discount sites. This is BREEZY honeysuckle.

I bought Tokyo Milk Anthemoessa No. 84 Parfum strictly for the bottle. I mean, look at it!

And if you sign up to receive mailings from the website the founder, Margot Elena, occasionally has 24-hour flash sales with everything fifty percent off. That's how I got my bottle and even though it's a safe and simple scent, I've no regrets for the purchase. It starts off a salty grapefruit. The saltiness reminds me of that note in the DSH perfume above. The salt also makes the grapefruit less astringent and piercing. It has a smooth opening. The notes are grapefruit, honeysuckle, jasmine, sandalwood, and salt and it is classified as a floral woody musk. As with many of the Margot Elena fragrances, we do arrive at musk fairly quickly. The honeysuckle is a faint whisper to my nose after the first thirty minutes and the longevity is not great but it is nice for the price and as I did in Il Marinaio de Capri, I enjoy the salt note. This is BEACHY honeysuckle.

The original Kate Spade by Kate Spade (RIP) was one of the earliest scents I bought when my perfume obsession really started taking hold. It was a white floral created in 2003 and I probably bought it that year. I remember I got it as a gift set with the perfume and lotion and I still have the cute green cosmetic bag that it all came packed inside. Although this was a white flower scent, to me it was all about the honeysuckle. I probably used that bottle up faster than I have ever emptied a bottle since. I don't know if it was as good as I remember; cue heavenly harps and unicorns leaping through the clouds. All I know is that by the time I thought about replacing it, it was long gone, other than the occasional bottle that shows up on Ebay for hundreds of dollars. If memory serves, this was the HOLY GRAIL of honeysuckle scents. Why it was discontinued so quickly is a mystery.

Last week when I published Finding the Perfect Honeysuckle Scent  readers suggested other perfumes with honeysuckle notes. One of those was Aerin Ikat Jasmine,  and having tried it I do agree that the lemony note of honeysuckle is emphasized more than the tuberose or jasmine. It's very pretty. Other honeysuckle perfumes suggested were Las Flores EDP Provision, Creed Chevrefeille and Zest Mandarine, Zoologist Hummingbird, STP Stash Unspoken, Penhaligon's Ellenisia, Honeysuckle Absolute Aftelier, and a lotion, La Maison White Honeysuckle. 

The first post of honeysuckle perfumes can be found here.

Top photo from www.YourBoatHoliday.com. Second photo from www.Tokyo-Milk.com. Perfumes all my own, except DSH Perfumes supplied sample of Il Marinaio de Capri.

Foolproof Perfume Picks for Mother's Day

For those of us who love perfume the next best thing to buying perfumes for ourselves is buying it for someone else, so Mother's Day provides the perfect shopping opportunity. Yet all too often gifted bottles languish on the shelf unused. Some moms are easy. They have a signature scent you can replenish each year. But if you've no idea what your Mom might like but really want to share your love of scent with her, here is a semi-serious guide of what to buy your Mom depending on her likes and style. The secret in each case is to buy a fairly transparent scent that doesn't make too much of a statement, so that the odds of Mom liking it increase exponentially. 

The Classic Mom

Jackie Kennedy with her children.

The classic Mom is polished and cool. She probably set dinner tables with sterling silver cutlery and crystal dishes if she could afford it. Her manner of dress is polished, neatly styled and always totally appropriate. She made sure you visited the occasional museum in addition to Saturday matinees. Manners and respect were important in your household growing up. She gravitates toward old style classics so for her Chanel No 5 L'Eau is the perfect pick. The beautiful fizzy opening is still there but without the sharp astringency of the original. It's a lighter fresher take on the original but maintains the beautiful heart of rose and jasmine and still exudes that timeless elegance.

The Sporty Mom

Candace Parker, basketball player, Olympian.

Maybe your Mom plays tennis or golf. Maybe she's a runner or surfer. Maybe yoga is her thing, but whatever sport it is, it's a huge part of who she is. For sporty Moms I'm going to suggest something I just reviewed, MFK Aqua Celesia. This scent won't distract them from their game; it's very quiet. It's almost a skin scent but it has some tart notes of lime, mint and blackcurrant to keep it fresh.  I have a totally unproven theory that musk scents, which Aqua Celesia is, smell better and more personal when mixed with a little of your sweat. If so, then it's perfect for the active mom who glows with exertion. Regardless, it's a beautiful scent to keep her feeling fresh no matter what.

The Do-Gooder Mom

Angelina Jolie , actor and humanitarian, with her brood.

Your Mom is the first one with her hand up. School PTA president, check. Girl Scout leader, check. Local women's shelter volunteer, check. She's a rebel with a cause and the only thing that makes her happier than working is working for change. So how perfect that by wearing a perfume she can contribute in a small way to the welfare of farmers in war torn countries or one's recovering from strife. Fair trade essential oils are sourced from places like Afghanistan and Rwanda. The company behind these good deeds? The 7 Virtues. You could pick the original scent, Afghanistan Orange Blossom with uplifting notes of orange blossom, jasmine, and freesia. Farmers who used to grow poppies for the drug industry now can make more by farming neroli oil. You can also pick from Noble Rose of  Afghanistan, Middle East Peace, Patchouli of Rwanda, Vetiver of Haiti, Middle East Peace, and the new Lisa Ray Jasmine of India. The florals are realistic and pretty but these wear close to the skin. The fragrances can be ordered from the website and are also available at Lord & Taylor in the USA.

The Hip Mom

Kate Hudson, actress, fitness clothing entrepreneur.

All your friends think your Mom is cool, whether she's 40 or 80. Her manner of dress is maybe more youthful or edgy than other Moms but she always looks fabulous. She keeps up with current trends but is not afraid to follow her own style. She's open minded, embraces life,  and loves to have fun, especially with you. This Mom is not afraid to try something a little different with a slight edge. The trick is to buy something with that unique feel, but not something too extreme or out there. I have the perfect answer. It's Dame Perfumery Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli. This perfume opens with a light mate tea note. The heliotrope gives a slight sweet touch and the patchouli is green and clean. It's my favorite "your skin but better scent". Click on the link above to read my full review. This one's a beauty.

The Trendy Mom

Victoria Beckham and brood.

Your Mom is always on point with trends. She may think she's too old to wear some of the latest style interpretations but you can be sure she knows about them. She is au courant about the latest movies, politics of the day, and the Pantone color of the year. She loves the latest thing and that's why the newest Jo Malone perfume may be the perfect gift for her. Every season Jo Malone is coming out with limited editions and new scents. The most recent release is Jo Malone Star Magnolia. Like most of Jo Malone's recent introductions, on my skin it's pretty, light, and fairly fleeting. Star Magnolia opens with a lemon and ginger note, then rapidly transitions to the magnolia and neroli. Both notes are light and come across as a white clean fragrance. While I don't love it, it's hard to imagine anyone taking offense to it. Even more interesting are the seasonal limited edition sets. They are always an interesting concept: last year it was the Herb Garden collection and this spring it is the five scents in the Bloomsbury Set. I haven't smelled any of them but I have no doubt they are charming and will fade away within an hour. Nevertheless I still can't help but be intrigued and would love it if someone gave them to me.

The Foodie Mom

Giada De Laurentiis, celebrity chef

Everyone wanted to hang out at your house because they knew there would be great food. Whether it was nourishing dinners or homemade snacks, your Mom likes to show her love through food. Her favorite program may be The Great British Baking Show. She knows the newest restaurant in town getting rave reviews and would rather walk through Williams & Sonoma than Barneys. Here are a few light and intriguing flavorful scents. Berdoues Grand Cru Vanira Moorea is a cologne strength vanilla and orange creamsicle; droolingly yummy but not too sweet. By the same company but totally different is Berdoues Grand Cru Assam of India. Pungent black Assam tea, sharp lemon, and a to-die-for bottle with colorful mini elephants make this a distinctive winner. Prada Infusion d'Amande has a creamy but transparent almond note that will have Mom sniffing her wrist non-stop.

The Traditional Mom

Florence Henderson as Carol Brady in the iconic tv show, The Brady Bunch.

Your Mom considered her primary job to be raising you and your siblings, despite everything else she might have had going on. She wants nothing but the best for you; your achievements are her successes. She loves you to bits and nothing makes her day more than hearing from you. For your special mom, treat her to the newly reintroduced Prada Les Infusions Rose. Like all the scents in Prada's Les Infusions line, it has a watercolor transparency. It is a pale pink rose scent, sprinkled with notes of mandarin, neroli, and galbanum. Sparkling and translucent, it's the perfect rose for the rose in your life.

I hope you've enjoyed my Mother's Day picks and found something worth considering.

Silver Bells: Sparkling Perfumes To Wear This Christmas Holiday

 

Something about cold weather and the holidays makes me love wearing aldehyde perfumes. They are as sparkling and as effervescent as a fine dry champagne. They are crisp and chilly like a walk through Central Park in December. They feel dressy and special as befitting holiday parties and events, and go perfectly with gowns in satin or velvet, bedazzled heels, and sparkly earrings for ladies or the perfect outrageous cravat for the gents.

Aldehyde perfumes were popular in the 1960s but they gradually fell out of favor as a more natural approach to perfumes became popular in the 1990s, at least these are my memories. When I was a twenty-something I found strong aldehyde perfumes overbearing and obnoxious. I probably would have used the term "old lady perfumes" when describing them. But as the years ticked by and life experiences gained, somewhere along the way I changed my mind. Suddenly they seemed complex and mature compared to my everyday perfumes. There are many other bloggers that could tell you about the chemical process in aldehyde perfumes that cause the whoosh effect when the sprayed perfume hits the skin. I can't tell you why it happens but only that I love that rush of scent and that sensation of walking through a door into the cold chill of a winter day, the dry frigid air stinging your face and eyes. Some compare aldehydes to the pop of a champagne bottle and the fizz of the bubbles. My favorite time of year to wear these perfumes is in the cold weather when the perfume's amplified notes are muted by winter's chill and the notes feel sharp, silvery, and almost metallic, thus the reminder of silver bells in the song.

Clinique Wrappings was introduced in 1990 as only the second addition to the brand's line, twenty years after the debut of their first perfume Aromatics Elixir. Imagine these two strong take- no-prisoners perfumes and the gutsy statement that makes about how different the perfume market was then. Who knew that in less than a decade Clinique would be introducing the bland Happy and it's yearly flankers; meanwhile the Wrappings is rarely available on the Clinique counter or is hidden away like the relative that makes a bit of a scene after too much holiday tipple. If you want Wrappings you need to grab it around Christmas when Clinique makes it available. I must admit I forget about Wrappings every year until Christmas, when its name is subliminally triggered as I begin to wrap presents to put under the tree. Then when I spray it I am reminded why it is the perfect scent for this time of year. That rush that smells like frigid air. The green that smells like silvery fir needles laced with snow. Mind you, it's not a pine scented perfume, just very green. But at the beginning of the perfume's life on my skin it conjures the image of walking through a frozen forest, pine needles glistening with frozen ice glitter. Wrappings sparkles with aldehydes. There are a whole host of notes in this perfume but as was the custom of the era, no particular notes stand out. It is more a melange of floral and woody notes that eventually becomes more of a green chypre fragrance when the fizzy giddiness recedes.


A most traditional choice of perfume featuring aldehydes would be Chanel No. 5, but I prefer Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere.  As much as I'd like to wear the original for the grande dame she is, it comes off screechy and shrill on my skin. I find the Eau Premiere to have that champagne sparkle and pop without the bitter acrid edge of the original. This one is floral with heart notes of jasmin and rose. My bottle is from the original 2007 introduction of the perfume. It was reintroduced in 2015 and I am uncertain what changes if any were made to the formula. I don't think there has ever been a more perfect "little black dress" perfume created than the Chanel No. 5 in its various guises, and the Eau Premiere in particular makes me feel like I'm in my finery holding a bubbling glass of Tattingers.

DSH Perfumes Deco Diamonds was created by perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz as one of four perfumes to conceptually illustrate an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum in 2014, Brilliant: Cartier in the Twentieth Century. Dawn has had several collaborations with the museum and this one attempted to capture the luxury and sparkle of the Cartier jewels in the exhibit. Deco Diamonds specifically was created as a tribute to the Cartier diamonds worn by the Duchess of Windsor. The copy on the DSH website says, "She was bold, stylish, hard and a force to be reckoned with. Deco Diamonds mirrors this ferocity in a most beautitful way."

Deco Diamonds also starts with the zoom of aldehydes which Dawn describes as "a blazing and dazzling white sparkle."  Eventually the perfume becomes even richer as intense florals of jasmine, tuberose, gardenia and honeysuckle peep through the galbanum and aldehydes. But what distinguishes this perfume and makes it quite different from the two above are the animalic notes of   civet and hyrax. These animalic notes are much more intense  than the ones found in DSH Perfumes Chinchilla, which I reviewed recently here. I enjoy the combination of the sparkling dazzle of aldehydes and the strong, almost feral agressiveness of the animalic notes, and I think it perfectly captures the spirit of the woman it was created to emulate, Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. A confident man or woman could rock this perfume but it's definitely not for the timid.

These three perfumes for me capture the essence of bustling city sidewalks, window displays brimming with holiday scenes and people carrying an excess of packages to soon be transformed to gifts under the tree. They also give me a sense of cool, silvery metal, thus the tie in with the song below, the original Silver Bells from the 1951 motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid.



Disclaimer: In reading up on aldehydes and their use in perfumes several said that comparing their use to adding sparkle and fizz was an amateurish take, and that the notes can often be soapy or waxy. I am in no way an expert but can only state my opinions, and what I get from the aldehydes is described as best I can in the above reviews.

Top photo Dominique Corbasson. Tree photo Google images. Perfumes from my own collection.