Perfumes for an Indian Summer

Summer is over, or it should be. But here in North Texas we are still reaching temperatures of the mid-90's every day. It sounds like autumn....I live by a college football stadium and I can hear the band practicing in the afternoons, and the announcer's voice is crystal clear during the Saturday games, "And it's touchdown, T--C--U--!". But instead of bundling up in sweaters and taking a blanket to wrap around me while I watch the game, I'm spending the Saturday afternoons laying by my pool, trying to cool off in the sweltering heat, and pitying those poor band members in their heavy uniforms.

I'm sick of beach scents or tropical florals, but what to wear, fragrantly? It is far too hot to wear heavy Orientals or the favored aldehyde perfumes I drag out in winter. I search for perfumes that speak of the cooler temperatures to come and that give a hint of the autumn season, but do so with a featherlight touch, so as not to knock myself out. Here are a few perfumes I've been wearing lately.

Jo Malone Black Cedarwood & Juniper

This was introduced in 2014 as part of the annual Jo Malone limited edition and that year the theme was London Rain. Black Cedarwood & Juniper was meant to represent midnight rain and was the darkest of the four in the series. It was also the only one that was revived after the limited edition ended.

I am walking through a forest. It has rained recently, and the smell of the foliage is amplified, as it is wont to do when damp. The needles from the juniper bush and the cedar trees have made a thick, soft carpet underfoot and their sharp, fragrant smell is stirred up as my steps crush the foliage. Cedarwood has a distinctive smell I've known all my life. I think every Texas rest stop has a bush or two, and childrens summer camps, usually on the banks of a river, are dotted with old cedar trees. This smell is probably embedded into the olfactory memories of thousands of campers--a magical space free of parents, full of adventure, and in a bubble of this extraordinarily scented air. The cedarwood in the perfume has a bit of the pencil shaving smell, but is also camphorous, and at its best moments, slightly balsamic and sweet.

The juniper can smells a little like cedarwood but it also offers gentle wisps of incense from time to time. Although a fairly simple and linear scent, it does waft and wane with these different notes, just like what would occur in a real walk through the forest. There is a feeling of humidity and moisture in the air, a part of the original theme of this perfume which was meant to reflect a rainy day. Along with the heat Texas is experiencing a drought, so the aura of rain is a welcome one.

 Byredo Gypsy Water

Kate Moss in a fashion shoot for V Magazine.

I tried to resist Gypsy Water for so long. It has a reputation for being light wearing and short lived, but here's the thing. It is that very characteristic that is part of its charm and makes it so realistic of a commune with nature, or more poetically, a day in the life of a gypsy traveler.

The fragrance opens with notes of juniper and pine, reminiscent of a morning stroll through a forest. Lemon and bergamot give it a brightness and pepper adds slight sharpness to this fragrant air. There is vanilla in the mix but this doesn't present as a vanilla fragrance in any way; rather the note just adds a tiny touch of sweetness. Orris root, sandalwood, and amber round out the notes, but that doesn't explain how this smells.  When I apply Gypsy Water it takes me back to the long ago days when I used to go camping (when sleeping on the ground still seemed like a good idea). There is really nothing like waking up in the forest, smelling the air fragrant with the language of the trees. This is where the current idea of forest bathing came from, after all. The one note I didn't mention above is incense and it is this that elevates the perfume to perfection. It is not overly smokey but is quietly pervasive throughout the life of the scent. It is the scent of a campfire burning in the distance, maybe fueled by fragrant pine branches. Wearing Gypsy Water always puts a smile on my face and imparts a feeling of well being. I don't live near any forests and I'm not lucky enough to be able to take a hike through the woods, but with Gypsy Water, I can somewhat replicate that feeling. It feels like hope in a bottle.

Bond No 9 andy Warhol Lexington Avenue

Hello Autumn! This fragrance immediately takes me to a happy place where the weather is cool and crisp and the leaves have turned a kaleidoscope of fiery colors. It is a beautiful combination of warm and cool on my skin. Blue cypress gives a fragrant woody whoosh effect, like walking outside into the cold and the first air you inhale seems to clear the lungs and nasal passages. Spices of cardamom, star anise, and fennel pull back by adding spicy warmth to the fragrance. The spices remind me a little of the ones in my beloved Bond No 9 Chinatown, but there are no white flowers here, it's all about woods and spices. 

As the fragrance develops a subtle gourmand aspect appears, with notes of creme brulee and pimento berry. It is nicely managed and doesn't tip over the top to sugary sweetness, it just combines with the spices to give a yumminess to the scent. Base notes of sandalwood and patchouli round it ou. The perfumer for this 2008 release is Claude Dir of Givaudan, who I notice also was responsible for Banana Republic 17 Oud Mosaic, the only scent from that line that really captured my attention and where the wood notes are also handled with a master touch.

Dame Perfumery Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli

I know, I've mentioned this one before. It is perfect in any season, but it's light bright opening really works in warm weather. The patchouli, however, makes it feel right for autumn weather. If you're afraid of patchouli this is a good place to start because the note is earthy, green, but fairly light. The mate tea note provides the light opening, without using citrus as so many perfumes do. Heliotrope works to balance the patchouli by providing a semi-sweet powder which is pretty much the opposite of the rustic patchouli. I really don't know why I like this so much. It's fairly simple but I find it to be just the perfect combination of notes; it feels chic, innovative, yet simple. On the website it is called a woman's perfume but I think this would be delicious on a man. This would be on a top ten perfume list if I ever made one. I don't know what the other nine would be but Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli would definitely have a place on that list.

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Parfums Berdoues Oud Al Sahraa

This is an Oriental Woody fragrance featuring oud and myrrh which sounds weighty but wears like a silk scarf of scent, a trademark of the Berdoues Grand Cru line. I have already written a longer review of this fragrance here but the highlight is this gives the fun of wearing an Oriental fragrance without the heaviness of that genre that would weigh you down in hot weather. The mandarin top note is rather generic to my nose but no worries, it lasts only seconds. The myrrh is woody and slightly balsamic and the oud (if it is real oud) offers a slight smokiness along with more woods. Oud Al Sahraa is not groundbreaking and doesn't have a strong presence, but that is the whole point here. It works well in warm weather and in cold weather it becomes an office-friendly Oriental fragrance.

Bonus! The bottle is super cool and the price point is pretty fantastic.

All of these perfumes are totally unisex. What perfumes are you wearing right now?

Top photo: www.Urbanizationonline.com. Other photos not identified are Google images. Perfumes are my own. Opinions are my own.

Chilihead by Dame Perfumery

I was waiting for my Dame Perfumery Chilihead sample to arrive when I took this photograph at Woodshed Smokehouse in Fort Worth, the rather green Trinity River lurking in the background. The chili pepper margarita encapsulated every preconceived notion I had about this scent: lime juice, chili powder, chili pepper, spice, Ole!

When I got my sample -- this was for the oil, not the spray -- I did smell the lime and the chili along with a grassy dry tumbleweed note, vetiver? But in very short order there was also an unusual green note that I couldn't identify. The first thing that popped into my head was cactus! Now I know cactus doesn't really have a smell, nor is it in this perfume, but in case you haven't noticed, the cacti motif has been trending in popularity of late. I had been sniffing some "cactus" scented candles which had a creamy green fragrance. When I looked at the notes list for Chilihead  I thought maybe it is the celery note that is giving me this green, almost watery vibe. Celery is a plant-it's green-it's full of water, like cactus. Haveing taken you so far down this path, I must confess that the next time I wore Chilihead it was the dry, grassy notes and herbal nuances that I smelled more strongly, and this creamy green note was slight. Skin is a funny thing. So take the previous description with a grain of salt, I suppose!

After the initial opening moments, the lime and chili notes enter the picture. The scent is not as spicy as I imagined it would be but you can definitely smell the red chili pepper. Greenish notes include bergamot, celery, mint, thyme, galbanum, and vetiver. The celery, lime, and herbs are the most prevalent to me in the opening. Everything is very light green, fresh, and aromatic, as if you've gone to your herb garden and grathered an armful of the various plants.  A little later in the scent the dry vetiver and the earthy patchouli appear and the herbal notes become more background noise. Artemisia (wormwood) and cumin are used in Chilihead and this is what give the scent that desert ambiance and Southwestern cred , in my mind. You get the sense of open spaces dotted with spiky cactus and tumbleweeds, strings of red ristras hanging by the door on a sun-baked pueblo house, and a refreshing glass of aqua fresca dotted with lime slices. Cumin is an ingredient I use quite a bit in cooking, especially in my homemade red sauce for cheese enchiladas, so I am very familiar with its smell. Chilihead's scent only contains a light dusting of cumin, but you can find it if you know the note. Artemisia is a note that I became familiar with when reviewing some of Olivier Durbano's scents. It is earthy, dry, and can be slightly bitter or medicinal. Someone in Basenotes actually described it as "smelling of the desert," and it does lend that aura to this scent.

Dave Dame, Artist in Residence at Dame Perfumery. Photo from Dame Perfumery Website.

Jeffrey Dame is the creator behind Dame Perfumery based out of Scottsdale, Arizona, and his father Dave is pictured above in a photo from their website. I love this photo of Jeffrey's father Dave for so many reasons: the beautiful desert landscape is stunning. And Jeffrey's artistic father, Dave, who is so much a part of the creative process behind the bottle's artwork looks so at peace in this desert setting. He is responsible for the artwork on the Chilihead bottle.

The perfume eventually winds down to the base notes. The spice has become subdued and although the list of notes includes some heavy hitters: birch moss, tree moss, castoreum, civet, labdanum, myrrh, and olibanum, I can assure you that the final act of this play is a softly purring skin scent, earthy and mildly spiced.

My original impression of Chilihead was that it was fun and very unique, but more of a novelty scent. But as I lived in it for a couple of days I became attached to its scent of place, that dry desert. I thought it would be a summer scent of margaritas and mariachis, and it is all that. But I can also sense a touch autumn's promise in its fragrant dry down. It murmurs of dry earth, trails to hike, fragrant chili to spice dishes and warm the body from the inside out, and that soft warmness of a desert sky at sunset.

Top photo: Thanks to my daughter Allie for the hand modeling! Cactus photo: www.casavogue. globo.com. Last two photos from Dame Perfumes website. My sample was included with a purchase I made from Dame Perfumery. The opinions are my own.

Finding the Perfect Honeysuckle Scent

When I remember the scents of my Texas childhood, honeysuckle will always play a part. It wasn't as showy as the lone gardenia bush outside my Mother's kitchen window that she babied and even occasionally covered with a blanket on a cold winter night. It was never really planted in the landscape, it just appeared. In fact its greatest charm was that it was a rogue bush, tenacious in its growth  and unfussy in its habitat needs. In those more innocent days when as children we could roam far afield during summer days, away from our Mother's watchful eye, you would smell the honeysuckle before you saw it in field explorations. You could be approaching the little creek running through the field and suddenly smell its sweet honey floating on the breeze. In fact it seemed that the more decrepit, decaying, or derelict the location, the more likely you were to find a honeysuckle vine thriving away in benign neglect.

If you Google honeysuckle one of the top articles has the headline: Honeysuckle Is A Blob-Like Monster Taking Over American Forests. This is the Japanese species, Lonicera Japonica introduced to the USA in the early 1900s. It found fertile ground in some states and can spread prolifically. There is a species of native honeysuckle sold in plant nurseries which is pretty but scentless, much like how the scent was bred out of some roses. Today I don't often see honeysuckle bushes in the carefully tended yards of my neighbors, but in older neighborhoods and along a back road it can often be found climbing fences and spilling down the other side in lacy clouds of white and yellow blossoms. I have such happy memories of having a tea party with my childhood friend in my backyard, each of us with out favorite doll on a small blanket. A pile of honeysuckle blossoms, freshly picked, were on a plate. We'd carefully pull the slender thread of the stamen out through the bottom of the flower and taste the tiny drop of nectar that glistened on the tip. Then we'd offer a taste to our dolls.  All this is to say that probably more than most floral scents, honeysuckle is the stuff of childhood. Memories of the scent are tied up with visiting my Grandparent's rustic house in the country, and as dusk fell madly running around the yard with all my cousins, trying to catch fireflies in jam jars, then releasing them and watching them soar off into the dark skies, all of this scented by the tangle of honeysuckle vines and the prickly blackberry bushes.

Honeysuckle scents stimulate some of these great memories of my childhood summers so I set about trying as many scents featuring honeysuckle as I could get my hands on in a hurry.


Dame Perfumery Soliflore Honeysuckle is a soft fragrant breath of  scent, reminiscent of backyard barbecues, old style wooden picnic tables clad with red and white checkered cloths, and a yard shaded with large old oaks and tangles of honeysuckle bushes climbing the chain leak fence. It is soft and gentle and gives an interpretation of honeysuckle that starts off slightly creamy and with a touch of lemon. It is only a little sweet, just like the flower, and is a very good rendition which reminded me of my childhood backyard. I think someone would have to move in close to smell this, projection is not huge. I found it to be a very pretty honeysuckle that had a smile on my face while I was wearing it. Jeffrey Dame makes a collection of Soliflores and his Gardenia and Rose de Mai are among my favorites. He describes his soliflore collection: A true floral, alive and in full bloom. Lifting off into the breeze, floating in the air; adrift in the garden of earthly delight. For me, Dame Soliflore Honeysuckle is CREAMY honeysuckle.

Deconstructing Eden's Halo is old-time summer in a bottle. The perfumer says it's a Charleston summer to her, and the description says: moonlight, sea water, lilacs, wisteria, honeysuckle and moonflower. Halo is a breath of sea-water laden air with rich floral notes that are predominantly lilac and honeysuckle. Acquatic notes can sometimes put me off but this one just adds to the perfume oils lazy summer mood. (NOTE: since last night the shop has put up a sign that they are on hiatus for three months and that Halo will be discontinued. Once she opens, though, I'll be asking her to please recreate this one.) Halo is LANGUID honeysuckle.

Annick Goutal Le Chevrefeuille was created in 2002 by Annick's daughter Camille and Perfumer Isabelle Doyen as a nod to Camille's happy childhood memories of her family's home in the south of France, playing Princess dress up with her cousins, their heads crowned with honeysuckle wreaths. It's a nod to cheerful childhood memories. This scent opens with a green note, meant to invoke the leaves and stems of the honeysuckle as well as grass, but the green does not overshadow the honeysuckle scent, which is enfolded in notes of wild narcissus, jasmine, lemon and petit grain. I find this to be the greenest of the honeysuckle scents I tried. My bottle is probably ten years old so I'm not absolutely positive that the formula hasn't changed, but this is a favorite for me. Le Chevrefeuille is JOYOUS honeysuckle.

The Strange South, an Etsy shop, sells a perfume oil called Nightjar. I love the gothic images used to populate the online webshop. Nightjar does have honeysuckle in the mix, but it opens with the  scent of peach blossom. Other listed notes, which I can not recognize individually but give some idea that this is a deeper and more complex scent include: sage, fern, tuberose, dragon's blood, clove, and smoked vanilla. This reflects a garden as dusk fades into night; when all the flowers are emitting their strongest scent, no longer battling the heat of the sun. Creatures of the night take flight. The garden takes on an air of mystery and intrigue.  Nightjar isn't super strong on me but is definitely moodier and darker than the scents above. Nightjar is BROODING honeysuckle.



Alkemia is on Etsy and it has a prolific catalog of scents. Two attracted my attention with their honeysuckle notes, Desiderata and Midnight Garden and they have wildly different takes on the flower's scent. Midnight Garden surrounds the honeysuckle with gardenia, lily, and tuberose and despite this basket of sweet flower goodness it manages to be a pretty but softly contained scent. It's creamy and sweet and feels like you're at high tea in a Southern mansion with huge white columns on the porch and three hundred year old oak canopies shading the lawn.  Desiderata is Grapes of Wrath to Midnight Garden's more Steel Magnolia vibe. The notes of Desiderata are fresh honeysuckle, vetiver root, old barnwood, and river clay. Are those real notes? I don't know but it reads like the outline for a great novel, or for a great perfume. The honeysuckle is faint initially as if carried on the breeze. The vetiver is a bit dusty and gives the impression of wandering down a country road. I love that this is a realistic interpretation of how honeysuckle sprouts up in the wild and incorporates the smells that would be found in this setting. I smell the woody notes, and if clay is the impression of dirt and dust then that's there too. I do wish the honeysuckle scent hung around a bit longer but the vetiver begins to dominate. Still, I quite like this. These scents are oil based and they wear quietly, almost personal scents on my skin. I get about three hours of good longevity. Midnight Garden is LADYLIKE honeysuckle and  Desiderata is RUSTIC honeysuckle.

Sixteen92 made big splash a year or so ago when the perfume Bruise Violet was chosen as the winner of the 2017 Art + Olfaction Award - Artisan. Sixteen92 was at that time an unknown brand and beat out much more well known brands to win this honor. When I placed my sample order I meant to try her perfume A Thousand Times More Fair which features honeysuckle but I somehow messed up and forgot to include it. I did, however, order Supernatural Hair Serum in Tomato Leaf and Honeysuckle and wow, it's beautiful. I have thin, fine hair. Sounds lovely, right? In humid weather my hair puffs out like a poodle head and I've found a light application of oil to the ends is the best thing for controlling the frizz. The scent is described on the website as: green grass, sweet tomato leaf, and warm honeysuckle vine. This is a natural and slightly green honeysuckle and I love how my head is surrounded in a scent cloud of wonderfullness when I wear this serum. With each turn of my head I get a mini rush of happiness as the scent reaches the little happy olfactory receptors in my brain. Tomato Leaf and Honeysuckle Serum is REALISTIC honeysuckle.

There are few scents that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz hasn't dabbled with so I was fairly certain when I drew out my huge box that holds all the samples from DSH Perfumes collected over the years that I would find honeysuckle, and indeed I did. DSH Perfumes Wild Honeysuckle is a very realistic interpretation of the honeysuckle flower. It opens with a green and natural honeysuckle scent that is very soft and extremely realistic. There is the slightest powdery feel to the scent that reminds me of pollen. It is a simple replication of nature, perfect in its simplicity. I could see having a rollerball of this perfume available in my purse to drag out when ever I need a bit of zen in my day. Wearing it gives me a feeling of peacefulness and puts a smile on my face. It is surprisingly long lasting for such an ephemeral scent.  Wild Honeysuckle is PURE honeysuckle.

I haven't loved all the scents by the Estee Lauder Aerin brand as much as I would like. (I'm shamefully influenced by great graphics and beautiful packaging). I do, however, very much like Aerin Mediterranean Honeysuckle, enough so that I bought a gift set recently from Nordstrom, one of those boxes where you get a travel size and lotion for the same price as the bottle. The SA told me that at their store this was the best selling perfume from the Aerin brand. It doesn't surprise me as the scent of honeysuckle is a part of so many Southerner's memories.  Aerin Lauder sidestepped any references to the US market though by naming this Mediterranean Honeysuckle, and trying to curry associations to glamorous European vacations and everything that infers. The scent does conjure images of sparkling water, sandy beaches, and sunny summer days. The opening notes include grapefruit, bergamot, and mandarin oil to amp the sparkling citrus effect. To accentuate the honeysuckle scent, notes of lily, jasmine, and gardenia bring in creamy white flower notes. The scent is linear on my skin, but it's pretty and although it wears stronger than many of the naturals I've talked about above, it still doesn't seem like a big scent to me. Aerin Mediterranean Honeysuckle is a LASTING honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle: Harvesting the Sweet Nectar of Life by Falaco Soliton. WWW.Instructables.com.

Although Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino does not to my knowledge have honeysuckle as an ingredient, the acacia honey notes in the base combined with a cascade of sweet white flowers give it the feel of an opulent honeysuckle floral to me. The flowers used are white acacia, gardenia, magnolia, and jasmine. I really like this scent and the sheer blue bottle is appealing but I get no longevity to justify the price point. Tom Ford Fleur de Portifino is EXPENSIVE honeysuckle. by Es

Fresh Honeysuckle was launched in 2014 and I've tried it several times over the years. It was one of those perfumes I wanted to like but it just didn't move me. I ran over to the local Sephora to spray it so I could give a better review but they don't seem to carry the line anymore. My memory is that there was a little of a chemical smell that put me off.

Demeter Honeysuckle is another one I tried to find to review but was unsuccessful. It has decent reviews on Fragrantica and it's cheap as chips so I'll definitely keep my eye out for it.

Are there any great honeysuckle scents out there that I've forgotten?

You can read part II of finding the perfect honeysuckle scent by clicking here.

Top photo: USDA Agricultural Research Service, Charles T. Bryson, photographer. Chasing Fireflies print by Sylvia Pimental. Le Chevrefeuille bottle from www.AnnickGoutal.com website. Artwork from The Strange South website, but originally by Lee Brown Coye, 1948. Bumblebee photo from www.thewhitepaintedwoman.wordpress.com. Perfumes my own.

Travels In Spain, Part Two: Seville

Reviewing: Dame Perfumery Soliflore Rose de Mai, Ramon Monegal Entre Naranjos, and L'Artisan Seville a l'Aube

After leaving Mallorca we traveled to mainland Spain, and despite Ryan Air's* best attempts to spoil the trip I think we all agreed that the next stop, Seville, stole our hearts. The city itself has numerous impressive and historic sights and it is entertaining simply to wander the twisty narrow streets, stopping for a tapas and wine, then moving on to the next place. My favorite tourist sight we visited was the Real Alcázar and its attached gardens. Real Alcázar started life as a Moorish fort about one thousand years ago but was conquered by Catholic kings during the Reconquista  beginning in the 12th century and during the 1400's took on its present appearance as a palace.

Seville in the 1400's was the epicenter of Spain's Golden Age. From here explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, and Magellan came to plead for funding of their voyages from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. No doubt they would have been awed by the beautiful palace halls of colorful tiles, courtyards with tinkling fountains, and glimpses of the green gardens outside through the arched doorways. Real Alcázar isn't as grand as more traditional castles like the one we viewed in Madrid, with their multitudes of rooms and lofty ceilings. But as travel writer Rick Steves describes: "The Alcázar feels like an Arabian Nights fairy-tale: finely etched domes, lacy arcades, keyhole arches, and comfy courtyards."

Scene from Game of Thrones inside Real Alcazar.

So enchanting is this Moorish palace that it was chosen to represent the world of Dorne in the 2014 season of Game of Thrones. My daughter and I watch the show and were searching for familiar scenes. The first one we recognized was the shot of the water garden, where this scene below was shot.

As beautiful as the palace is, the gardens are equally stunning and one can imagine how the running water, the fountains, shade trees and lovely scented gardens would have offered such relief against the hot summers sans air conditioning. Reportedly the gardens are fragrant with orange blossom in the spring but as I was there in August I missed that pleasure, however there were numerous rose gardens and bushes of flowering jasmine. Arbors of wisteria lined some of the palace doorway entrances to the garden. Wisteria is a favorite of mine but also a spring bloomer; nevertheless the jasmine and roses sent sweet scent into the hot afternoon air.

Photo of Real Alcazar rose garden by www.eduardolibby.com

The scent I had with me that most perfectly recreated the beautiful scent of the roses in the Alcázar's garden is Dame Perfumery Soliflore Rose de Mai oil rollerball. This oil captures the rose in all of its sweetness, expressing the fragility of the cupped velvet petals atop a slender green branch. Perfumer Jeffrey Dame came out with a collection of soliflore oils in 2015 and 2016 and advertises them as,  "A true floral, alive and in full bloom. Lifting off into the breeze, floating through the air; adrift in a garden of earthly delight." This may sound like advertising hyperbole but in this case the words are entirely true. I have tried several of the oils and found them all beautiful, but there is something about rose. It is uplifting, happy, and always puts a smile on my face. More recently Mr. Dame has introduced the scents in 100 ml. eau de toilette sprays but I haven't had the opportunity to try these yet.

Anyone who has done business with Dame Perfumery knows that Jeffrey excels at customer service, is generous with samples, and has very affordable prices. Now when I smell Soliflore Rose de Mai I will always be reminded of this beautiful Moorish garden in Spain. The perfume is as named--a soliflore--so rose de mai is all that is happening here. But it is so beautiful and realistic and sometimes I just yearn for simplicity and beauty. Dame Rose de Mai delivers on both counts.

Seville is also known for it's beautiful cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See but more commonly referred to as just Seville Cathedral. It is the third largest church in the world and the largest Gothic cathedral, famously housing the remains of Christopher Columbus. It's central nave is an impressive 42 meters high, punctuating the wishes of the church elders who drew up the plans in 1401, "Let us build a church so beautiful and so magnificent that those who see it will think we are mad." While it is hard to get a feeling of reverence in the cathedral with all the tourists milling about, it is not hard to imagine how awed the attendees would have been five hundred years ago to enter this stunning space.  The cathedral has an adjoining garden with orange trees. When we were there in August the trees were laden with oranges; in spring I would have smelled the city's iconic orange blossom scent.

Photo of Cathedral oranges by https://myfacesandplaces.co.uk

The orange trees reminded me of a scent I had brought along by a Spanish perfumer, Entre Naranjos by Ramon Monegal. Monegal's line is  based out of Barcelona (as all Spanish perfumers seem to be), the one big city I didn't go to on my trip. Monegal was a perfumer and creative director in Spain for many years before going independent and starting his own line in 2007. He created Entre Naranjos in 2011.

Enter the oranges, indeed! You have petit grain, you have neroli, you have orange blossom and bitter orange. This perfume opens with a parade of orange in all its guises. You get the bitterness of orange peel and the occasional sweetness of orange blossom. For a short time I can smell the amber glowing warm and spicy, giving the citrus more presence. As time passes the neroli is what I can smell the most, and it does eventually take on that slightly soapy air of a barbershop. This smells clean, uplifting and invigorating. Later the amber and Indonesian patchouli take the lead. The patchouli is especially nice and these notes give the orange a warm edge and more depth. The orange blossom seems to be the symbol of Seville and this perfume sparkles with orange. This has been done before and it's not groundbreaking but Monegal has done it very nicely and the quality of his ingredients shine through.

L'Artisan Seville A L'Aube was released in 2012 to great fanfare. It was a collaboration between blogger Denise Beaulieu and perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, bringing to life a scented memory from Seville's Holy Week which Beaulieu wrote about in her book The Perfume Lover. Three years before this perfume would be conceived, a contributor to National Geographic's Intelligent Traveler blog used this phrase to describe the Holy Week scene: "During Semana Santa, the sweet smell of azahares (orange blossoms) muddled with incense and loads of candle wax permeates the city." This familiar scene is also described by Ms. Beaulieu in her book, The Perfume Lover. 

I am in Seville, standing under a bitter orange tree in full bloom in the arms of Roan, the black-clad Spanish boy who is not yet my lover. Since sundown, we've been watching the religious brotherhoods in their pointed caps and habits thread their way across the old Moorish town bearing statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary...In the tiny white-washed plaza in front of the church, wafts of lavender cologne rise from the tightly pressed bodies. As the altar boys swing their censers, throat-stinging clouds of sizzling resins - humanity's millennia-old message to the gods - cut through the fatty honeyed smell of the penitents' beeswax candles."

 Denyse Beaulieu, The Perfume Lover

I tried a sample of L'Artisan Seville a l'Aube shortly after it was introduced in 2012. As I recall, there was a lot of fanfare about this being a great orange blossom perfume. Orange blossom is one of my favorite notes and I had fallen hard the year before for Elie Saab perfume, a joyous explosion of orange blossom crafted by Francis Kurkdjian. So I tried Seville a l'Aube with this preconceived notion of what to expect and all I remember is being underwhelmed. I don't remember my exact impression but I do recall thinking, "where is all the orange blossom?" Knowing that I was going to be in Seville, I had to give this perfume another chance so I ordered a sample and patiently didn't touch it until I was in Seville.

The heavenly radiant heights of the cathedral and the darker, moodier floor below.

Photo from www.skullsinthestars.com

This time I opened my mind to whatever the perfume wanted to tell me. Whereas before I had looked for a ground-breaking orange blossom what I found this time was that the bright sweet orange blossom is just the beginning of this story. The petitgrain lends a green briskness overshadowing the sweetness of the orange blossom. As the scent unfolds I smell the honeyed beeswax, representing the candles lit by the penitents. Beeswax can sometimes have gourmand elements but here there is almost a feral smell as if digging into the hive where all these busy creatures live and withdrawing hands dripping with unfiltered honey. This stage lasts for around an hour and doesn't totally agree with me. Half the time I wore Seville a l'Aube it had this unsettling effect and I found the honey note unpleasant. Skin chemistry is a funny thing, though, and a couple of the times the honey note was beautiful, rich and floral.

So you might think that the honey note would have been the end of my interest in this perfume, but not so fast. The base notes of this perfume contain olibanum, benzoin, and lavender, but not just any lavender. This is Luisiera lavender from Seville area and its scent it markedly different from the average lavendula, emitting aromas of apricot, dried fruit, leather, and cognac. This is a beautiful and meditative lavender, and when combined with the rich darkness of benzoin and olibanum it's simply gorgeous. I'm a lavender lover and for me Seville d l'Aube is not the perfect expression of an orange blossom perfume, but of lavender. The bright opening notes mimic the glowing heights of the Seville cathedral and the lavender lends a contemplative tone representative of the stone floors and somber darkness of the cathedral's more earthly level. Toward the end of the perfume's life on my skin I can still smell strains of the orange blossom filtering through the darker notes of the lavender, and if I was prosaic I would compare it to the light passing through the stained glass windows of the cathedral, bursting into gorgeous shards of glimmering color splayed on the cold gray stone floors. I am still on the fence about whether I need this one in my life. Reading other reviews on Fragrantica it's clear that this perfume performs quite differently on people so your experience may be totally different than mine.

After only a couple of short days in Seville it was time to move on to our next destination. Read more at Part One,  Part Three,  Part Four, Part Five, and Part Six.


*Ryan Air is a budget airline within Europe. When we bought our tickets there was no mention that if we didn't check into our flight online in advance of the flight we would be charged a fine. A notice was sent to my email the day  before the flight but we didn't have internet access so showed up to airport without having checked in and were charged an extra fifty euro per ticket plus tax. We saw it happening to other people around us and I think it's a real rip off to unwary travelers who have never flown the airline.

Top Photo: www.spain.info.com.  Two Game of Thrones photos from www.businessinsider.com. Perfumes were all my own.

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.

Spring Perfumes Reminiscent of Planting A Garden

I love the smell of cool damp dirt that has been slumbering all winter; digging a shovel in and turning out a dark crumbling lump of rich black soil as if awakening it from a sleep. Preparing the ground, pulling small weeds that may have sprung up, raking up the last of the fallen leaves, all to have a good base to plant seeds, baby plants, and especially my herbs, which I like to get in the ground as soon as the risk of frost has passed. These perfumes listed below in no particular order remind me of this spring ritual and the wonderful smell of dirt, herbs, and green leaves in my early garden, before the flowers have started to bloom.

Herb Man by Dame Perfumery Cologne
Jeffrey Dame prides himself on making colognes and perfumes that are easy to wear and smell great, rather than trying to present the wearer with a challenge. Herb man is the perfect example of this art. It opens with notes of  petit grain, lemon and bergamot which make it sound like a typical citrus cologne but the herbal notes come in rather quickly and let you know this cologne is about herbs, with notes of lavender, sage, and possibly rosemary. The lavender doesn't stand out as much as the sage, but all the notes are a well blended brew. There is a slight dustiness that may be from either the note of geranium or artemisia (wormwood) and to me this gives a slight "in the garden" vibe. I could almost think there is a very mild vetiver note here but perhaps it is the wood notes. I enjoy this scent. It starts out with a zingy rush from the citrus but quickly evolves into warm herbal overtones. It wears clean, slightly green, and not at all boring or common. This is marketed as a men's cologne but is unisex and something I would enjoy wearing. I would call this a casual cologne yet it's polished enough to feel at home in the board room.

Allegria by Rouge Bunny Rouge
Mint so fresh you want to break out the rum for mojitos. Bergamot, sour orange and grapefruit give a tart and crisp opening. Passion fruit adds a tart fruitiness. Intensely bright green notes dance around the citrus notes. Black currant leaf, Basil and Eucalyptus contribute to this green leafy feel. Buchu is a South African plant whose leaves have an intense aroma pungent of peppermint. With mint, eucalyptus and bucha you might think that this is an extreme mint perfume but the overall effect is a fresh and lively green. Other notes include mimosa absolute in the heart, and base notes of cedar, dry amber, moss, musk, hawthorn, and tonka bean. I feel that the cedar, hawthorn and moss are the most identifiable of these and make for an interesting ride.

The brand's own copy describes Allegria: "Fueled by lush greenery, this ecstatic aroma transforms all that was once black and white into vivid color." The perfume does have a feel of vegetation gone wild and there is a bit of sour bitterness hiding in the background that some might find challenging. I thought this made it more interesting and probably like no other perfume in your collection. It is fun and a bit zany, and my first thought was, "the perfumer (Sonia Constant) must have had a lot of fun making this." It's very creative and different and will definitely bring on a mood of "spring is here" or perhaps good to wear in winter when it seems spring may never appear.

Herba Fresca by Guerlain Aqua Allegoria
This perfume advertises itself as "the spirit of fresh cut grass and a note of green tea." This opens very watery than almost immediately fresh sparkling herbs make their way into the picture. A mint note is prominent, and it is spearmint; yes, the varieties smell differently. I grow mint in my garden for my obligatory ice tea, and it is amazing what a different taste and smell each variety of mint has. Spearmint has a bit sweeter note than peppermint and reminds me of the old Wrigley's spearmint and doublemint gum commercials. (Don't worry if this means nothing to you. It just means you're not as old as me.) I admire Herba Fresca for its lively notes and the feeling that you really have trampled through a field of herbs, crushing the mint leaves beneath your feet and releasing their pungent odor. The fragrance was meant to create the feeling of walking in a garden after the rain and the bright, clean freshness does give this impression of freshly watered and washed plant life. I mainly smell the clover and mint, although the green tea may be providing a fairly neutral background note.

This perfume was created in 1999 by perfumers Jean-Paul Guerlain and Mathilde Laurent. It is one of the few Aqua Allegoria perfumes by Guerlain that has managed to stay in fairly constant production, I would assume because of popularity.

Un Jardin Sur Le Toit by Hermes
This was the fourth in Hermes garden-inspired themed perfumes and they kept it close to home, this particular "garden on the roof" being based on the rooftop garden of Hermes headquarters at 24 Rue Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris. Previous additions all had foreign locales: Un Jardin En Mediterrannee (Mediterranean), Un Jardin Sur Le Nil (Egypt), and Un Jardin Apres la Mousson (India).  This 2011 creation by Jean-Claude Ellena keeps it light and simple.

Ellena scupted Un Jardin Sur Le Toit as a fun, light, and lively perfume, uncomplicated and easy to wear. On first application I get a creamy grassy green note. It is light and stays close to the skin. Eventually slightly sweet notes join, meant to represent the apple, pear, and magnolia trees of this secret garden. There are occasional flashes of herbs, rosemary and basil, to represent the green notes of the perfume. I will confess this one is a little light for me in both projection and sillage but I do find it very pretty and perfect for those who enjoy "keeping it close".

Le Jardin Vert by DSH Perfumes
Rich, verdant soil, dark wet and crumbly. Perhaps a little mushroom compost is in there to amp up its organic richness. Tender plant roots, exposed to the soil as you dig your shovel in and turn the dirt to prepare it for the spring garden. The perfume is meant to represent the atmosphere of a garden: the rich soil, plants, and trees, but not flowers. It creates the smell of moss and woods, and uses mineral notes to give an impression of damp and green. To me this perfume smells like that fertile moment of joy and hope when preparing your spring garden after a winter's slumber. It is that feeling of earth, enriched by crumbling leaves and tree bark, ready to welcome fledgling plants and tender seeds. Totally unique, see my more extensive review here. 

There is only one other perfume I know of that comes close to this feeling of cool dirt in your hands that Le Jardin Vert give and that is Diptyque L'Ombre Dans Le Eau, which I reviewed in last year's five top picks for spring and you can read about here. Are there any perfumes that remind you of a garden in the spring?

Top photo by SusanTuttlePhotography. Other photos, www.rougebunnyrouge.com and www.hermes.com. All samples my own.

Dame Perfumery Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli

There is something about summer that calls for having an effortless perfume or cologne in your collection, one that you can grab and don't have to think about spraying because you know it will be right in any situation. Office? Check. Night out? Check. Yoga class? Check. There is a fine line for a perfume to be multipurpose and non offensive in summer's heat, without veering into the land of boring and uninspired. I have a few perfumes that straddle this line perfectly but my new favorite since last year is Jeffrey Dame's Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli Eau de Toilette. Dame Perfumery's line includes Eau de Toilettes for women and men that are composed of three notes to give a bright top note, a floral heart, and finally a warm sensual dry down. I honestly haven't found one I didn't like, but out of all my samples this turned out to be my favorite and my first full bottle order. I was surprised because it probably would have been the last one I would have thought I would prefer, simply judging by the listed ingredients.

When I'm wearing Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli it feels clean and effortlessly chic, much like the photo of Ali MacGraw pictured above. I remember as a young girl seeing her pictured in magazines and on the big screen. She seemed the ultimate cool girl, never having to try to hard but looking approachably beautiful. That is how this perfume strikes me. It makes my skin smell like a better version of itself, yet it doesn't feel like I'm trying too hard to smell beautiful. When I'm wearing it I can almost believe that I too can have creaseless linen trousers, that horizontal striped shirts won't make me look as wide as the side of the barn, and that my hair is a sleek chignon rather than a frizzy mess!

Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli opens with a mate tea note. Yerba mate is the traditional drink in several South American countries and is hailed for its healthy and energizing properties, without the jitteriness that caffeine gives some sippers. Mate is closer to green tea in aroma than black tea, but it is more herbal and grassy and altogether more hearty than the typical green tea. The opening of Dame's fragrance offers this tea fragrance but it has a brighter characteristic than that of my Trader Joe's Mate brew. Heliotrope has been described to have notes of marzipan, vanilla, cherry pie, or almond, depending how it is paired with other notes. It often gives a comforting feel to fragrances and some people describe a Play-doh scent. In Mate, Heliotrope & Patchouli the heliotrope doesn't come on strong with any one note but it does provide a soft slightly sweet almond-tinged aroma on my skin. Don't let the word Patchouli scare you with it's 60's hippie vibe image. Patchouli has characteristics of being earthy, woody or musky, but in this perfume the patchouli note seems greener and cleaner. Patchouli blends to provide warmth to the perfume and early on in the wear I can smell tendrils of patchouli grounding the perfume.  The final result is a meld of notes that give off a "my skin but better" aura. I know that musks are thought of as the traditional skin scent but to me this combination of notes feels like slipping on my favorite worn and comfy jeans.

Jeffrey's Eau de Toilettes can be liberally sprayed and reapplied as necessary. When looking for the strength of the various types of fragrance, parfum which is concentrated with higher levels of fragrant oils is strongest, followed by eau de perfume, then eau de Toilette and finally eau de Cologne. Eau de Toilette still has roughly up to ten percent aromatic ingredients so while initially appearing lighter than a perfume, it offers more longevity than a cologne while still providing the lift and refreshment of a cologne.

Anyone who has dealt with Jeffrey knows what a generous soul he is. His perfumes are very well priced so feel free to indulge! When your package arrives it will have a nice offering of samples for you to try and I dare you not to love at least one. Those of us who have a fascination with niche perfumes and are always looking for the next thing to try can get caught up in the chase. Dame Perfumery distinguishes itself by offering simpler and pretty (or manly!) perfumes that you don't have to feel challenged by applying. You can just kick back and enjoy the ride!

Photo of Ali MacGraw from Google. Bottle photo from Dame Perfumery website. Perfume my own.

Longbourn: Imagining the Scented Lives of Elizabeth Bennet's Servants

It is always a small thrill for a perfume lover to find mention of scent when reading a novel. Some authors even go so far as to have their character use a particular fragrance as part of the character's development, but more often it is just a fleeting mention to add descriptive substance. Thus, when I came across a mere two sentences of such scented snippets while reading Longbourn by Jo Baker I eagerly pounced on this tidbit of information and tried to figure out how these two characters would be scented.

Jane Austen died 199 years ago in relative obscurity at the age of forty one, having completed six novels. She would most likely be quite bemused at what a literary icon she has become, so much so that there is term for her legion of fans: Janeites. Janeites, of which I might be one, are enthusiastic in anything remotely connected to Jane Austen and have an insatiable demand for more works in a similar vein. This has spawned movies, television mini series, and numerous books imagining Jane's characters as everything from modern day misses to zombies.

In Longbourn, the reader is taken behind the scenes of the Bennet house and into the lives of the servants who work for the family. There are mere glimpses of the matrimonial worries of the Bennet sisters but the heart of the story is the servants:  Mr. and Mrs. Hill who run the house and whose lives may not be exactly as they seem; Sarah, an orphan who has worked in the house since she was young and questions her life of servitude; Polly, a younger orphan who crosses paths with the treacherous Mr. Wickham; and James, the mysterious footman who has a hidden and secret connection to the Longbourn house.  The charm of this book for me was the way Jo Baker has captured the cadence and melody of the words on page that feel very much like Jane Austen herself could have been the author. It is not as laugh out loud funny as Austen's works can be, but then these servants lives are not very amusing. She does capture Austen's acerbic witticisms, and it is as if Pride and Prejudice has been turned inside out as we view it through the lens of the servants' lives.

"If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she'd most likely be a sight more careful with them."

The above is a quote from Sarah, the book's heroine, who looks after the Bennet sisters and tends to their everyday toiletry needs. Sarah is far too busy and far too poor to have access to perfume, but there is a passage where she makes lavender soap for the sisters. In that era this was an unpleasant occupation involving lye soap and animal fat. To try to make the concoction more luxurious flower petals were added.

"It had never failed to astonish her, down the years of helping Mrs. Hill, how soap that made things clean was such a foul thing in its own making. She stripped the pale dried lavender, and dropped the buds into the curdling porridge."

I imagined that Sarah would never dream of a luxury such as perfume, but just perhaps she kept a tiny bar of the lavender bud soap aside as a small treat for herself. A present day soap that fits the bill is Mistral Savon Aux Fleurs, Fleurs de Lavande.

 This French milled soap smells softly of lavender and has actual bits of lavender bud embedded into the soap which serve as an exfoliating agent during washing. I would imagine that in the era Austen's characters lived, baths were infrequent and the rose petal or lavender buds added to soap would help to scrap the dirt off. We may not need such heavy duty cleaning today but it is still a nice sensation to have the lavender act as a skin polishing buffer! I have a bar of this in my shower now.

James Smith, a mysterious jack of all trades who wanders to Longbourn looking for work, becomes Sarah's eventual love interest. James is a Byronic hero in that he is a brooding, tortured outsider, but he lacks the demonic characteristics; James is as gentle as a lamb. There is a scene where James and Sarah first notice their attraction to each other:

"James passed a baggage strap behind the post, and fastened it around Sarah's waist, buckling her safely in. He had to lean close in to do this. The scent of him--leather, horse, hay--the angle of his cheekbone--she would keep the memory with her."

I have chosen two scents for James. The first is Dame Perfumery Leather Man. Jeffrey Dame makes beautiful colognes and describes them as "clean, subtle, and interesting." Notes are gurjun balsam, iris, jasmine, gardenia, water lily, sandalwood, amber and leather. Don't be fooled by this flowery list of notes because you'll be hard pressed to pick them out. Initially I smell the water lily and it is not really floral so much as watery. Gurjun balsam does not have a strong scent and can in fact have the property of tempering other notes and bringing the intensity down.  The leather comes out after a short time and reads more like a blonde supple suede, not brown boot leather. The florals are very quiet but add an interesting background touch of outdoor plant elements. This is one of the softest leathers I've ever smelled and for our purposes here, it is as if our character James has come in contract with the leather bridles and whips but they have left a mere whisper of scent on his skin. I tried this on myself and my husband, and he liked it very much.

The second scent I would put James in is one I have already reviewed, Imaginary Authors The Cobra and the Canary. This perfume features notes of both leather and hay. The leather is much darker than Leather Man, but not at all overpowering. The hay adds an earthiness and dryness to the overall feel of the perfume and also tones down the strength of the leather.

I very much enjoyed Longbourn but I give you fair warning; people seemed to adore it or find it extremely tedious. Read reviews at Goodreads to get an idea if the book is for you.

Photo top from Goodreads.com. Photo of soap from Mistral website.