Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Where to get Niche Samples...
Ineke has a sample box of her 7 edps for $25 (that includes shipping!) and it redeemable towards a future purchase here.
Juliet has a gun offers 2ml samples of all their fragrances here (and if you purchase within 3 months, you can deduct the price from your purchase).
Luscious Cargo offers 7 samples for $22 here or 5 free samples with any $30 purchase.
Yosh samples at Luckyscent run $30 for 6 here.
Various samples at LuckyScent, but they run $3 to $5 a piece. Ouch!
Juliet has a gun offers 2ml samples of all their fragrances here (and if you purchase within 3 months, you can deduct the price from your purchase).
Luscious Cargo offers 7 samples for $22 here or 5 free samples with any $30 purchase.
Yosh samples at Luckyscent run $30 for 6 here.
Various samples at LuckyScent, but they run $3 to $5 a piece. Ouch!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Roses, Roses
I am 1) a Rose Lover and 2) a Big Scent Lover. Happiness for me is combining the two, but since I love roses so very much I am willing to ignore a lot of flaws.
Tea Rose by the Perfumer's Workshop - Wow, this is a Tea Rosey as it gets. Smells like a freshly cut rose from the garden. It's like a hooker with glasses and a cardigan - it's there to a do a job, not to seduce.
Stella by Stella McCartney - Vaugely sweaty, sweet rose. I always read a lot of complaints about lack of sillage and longevity, but this isn't meant to be Opium. A good girl frag, but slightly boring.
Maitresse by Agent Provocateur - Stella's trashy cousin from the wrong side of the tracks.Truth be told, I prefer this to Stella, that weird rancid sweaty top note is even more pronounced.
Rose Absolute by Yves Rocher -Sweet, light and powdery rose. When the talk turns to roses, this almost always gets a mention probably due to it's agreeablility and nice price tag: when there's a 50% sale at Yvesrocher.com, it can be had for around $30.
Bvlgari Rose Essentielle by Bvlgari- I don't even know what to say at this point other than it's a sweet rose, not as powdery and good girlish as Rose Absolute by Yves Rocher and lacks the weird top notes of Stella and Maitrisse (bad thing, in my book!), but it does have an absolutely beautiful bottle and can be found on the cheap at TJ Maxx.
Edit: This was a bit unfair. After wearing it last night, it is a lovely, crisp rose.I hold true to my earlier opinion that it is more no-frills than most rose fragrances, but it does feel lovely and quiet and sophisticated.
Roses, Roses by Avon - is this even still in production? Reminds me of a slightly more prettied up Tea Rose by the Perfumer's Workshop.
Tea Rose by the Perfumer's Workshop - Wow, this is a Tea Rosey as it gets. Smells like a freshly cut rose from the garden. It's like a hooker with glasses and a cardigan - it's there to a do a job, not to seduce.
Stella by Stella McCartney - Vaugely sweaty, sweet rose. I always read a lot of complaints about lack of sillage and longevity, but this isn't meant to be Opium. A good girl frag, but slightly boring.
Maitresse by Agent Provocateur - Stella's trashy cousin from the wrong side of the tracks.Truth be told, I prefer this to Stella, that weird rancid sweaty top note is even more pronounced.
Rose Absolute by Yves Rocher -Sweet, light and powdery rose. When the talk turns to roses, this almost always gets a mention probably due to it's agreeablility and nice price tag: when there's a 50% sale at Yvesrocher.com, it can be had for around $30.
Bvlgari Rose Essentielle by Bvlgari- I don't even know what to say at this point other than it's a sweet rose, not as powdery and good girlish as Rose Absolute by Yves Rocher and lacks the weird top notes of Stella and Maitrisse (bad thing, in my book!), but it does have an absolutely beautiful bottle and can be found on the cheap at TJ Maxx.
Edit: This was a bit unfair. After wearing it last night, it is a lovely, crisp rose.I hold true to my earlier opinion that it is more no-frills than most rose fragrances, but it does feel lovely and quiet and sophisticated.
Roses, Roses by Avon - is this even still in production? Reminds me of a slightly more prettied up Tea Rose by the Perfumer's Workshop.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Do you want to enlarge your collection of miniatures and collectibles? Paco Rabanne presents his ‘star products’. These limited editions of Lady Million and One Million echo the shape of the original bottles. Lady’s girly diamond holds a solid perfume, and comes with a mini-mirror. The men’s bottle has a 2/3-oz. travel spray cleverly concealed inside the gold bar. Paco will never cease to surprise us…
- Via osMoz.com
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Top Notes: Cardamom, Ozone
Middle Notes: Neroli, White Musk
Base Notes: Skin Musk, Tuberose, Patchouli
To those that love aquatic notes, you may love this. I don't think it's bad so much as boring. The Perfume A-Z guide calls this "uncomplicated" and that's as good of a word as any. I don't get any of the "spicy" notes, but a linear clean scent. It's probably the best of a genre that doesn't thrill me, for what it's worth. It has the distinction of having probably the only Bond no 9 bottle I like.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Perfumer Draws Fire Over a Scent Called 'Peace'
Sitting at the rear of the Bond Street emporium, which is draped like a seraglio in yards of muslin and Indian wedding saris, Ms. Rahmé asserted that she is particularly suited to spreading a message of peace with her new perfume. "I was in the last peace movement," she said invoking her student days, marching alongside fellow rebels at the Paris barricades, "And I will be in the next one."
That renegade spirit, she said, is what first prompted her to start her business and made her a force to be reckoned with in the increasingly competitive niche fragrance category. But she did not get there without burning some bridges.
Perfumer Draws Fire Over a Scent Called 'Peace'
By RUTH LA FERLAThat renegade spirit, she said, is what first prompted her to start her business and made her a force to be reckoned with in the increasingly competitive niche fragrance category. But she did not get there without burning some bridges.
Perfumer Draws Fire Over a Scent Called 'Peace'
Published: February 23, 2006
Friday, February 25, 2011
Broadway Nite by Bond no 9
Bond no 9 is one of those niche fragrances firms whose prices are so sky-high, I promised never to try them on sheer principle - surely better could be had for less.
Well, it may be, but I ended up with samples of Chinatown...and now I'm slowly sampling the rest of the line while eating my humble pie.
The notes are listed as aldehyde, green violet, iris, heliotrope, sweet amber, honeysuckle and vanilla beans. The effect of the all is definitely a floral...and for me, maybe not. It is very, very sweet. I felt like I had smelled it before and asked my husband to take a whiff, which he did and said, "Mmmmm, apples." Huh. Well, yes. I am 24 now and less than 10 years ago, I slathered on body spray in between classes like I might have used hair spray had I been born a decade earlier. My favorites? Apples and raspberries ala Bath & Body Works. I can't swear that what I used to wear is exactly what's in production today, but I'm sure it hasn't taken any great leaps in sophistication.
Do I like Broadway Nite? Yes. It is very, very floral and sweet and yet sharp enough not to be cloying. Would I buy it? No. I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to buy something that reminds me so much of something I used to wear for $10 a bottle.
Launched: 2003
Gender: Feminine
Availability: In Production
Perfumer: Maurice Roucel
Bottle Designer: Bond No. 9 In House
Top Notes: Aldehyde, Green Violet
Middle Notes: Rose, Honeysuckle, Iris, Heliotrope
Base Notes: Sweet Amber, Vanilla Beans, Cedarwood, Musk
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Opium by Yves St. Laurent
Top Notes: Mandarin orange, Bergamot, Lily of the valley
Middle Notes: Jasmine, Carnation, Myrrh
Base Notes: Vanilla, Patchouli, Opoponaux, Amber
Today is cold and damp and I wanted something suitably warm to wear, so I reached for a mini I had of Opium. I am well aware of opium's polarizing effects - most either love or hate it - and I am afraid I may fall into the hate it category. I'm not someone who's afraid of smelling dated, but my associations with this scent are not kind. I am certain I've smelled this many times at a nursing home where I've worked. Add to the fact that I hate, hate strong vanilla scents and this is almost entirely what I get from the perfume, it was doomed from the start.
I'm sure to offend die-hard Opium lovers with my opinions, but I'm afraid I belong to the new school of perfume. As someone in my mid-20's who until a couple of years ago, believed that women should smell like candy and flowers, this is a case of way too much too soon. Since I was raised in a culture where deep sillage and rude perfume is not acceptable, I may never like it. And Opium is rude in the very best way, even I can appreciate that. It has a statement to make and it does so as loudly and boldly as possible.
Launched: 1977
Gender: Feminine
Availability: In Production
Perfumer: Jean-Louis Sieuzac
Bottle Designer: Pierre Dinand
Casbah Confidential: Serge Lutens
"As massive and magnificent as the house is, Lutens, who is famously reclusive, has shown it to hardly anyone. In fact, he doesn’t even sleep in it; he spends most of his time in a small studio outside of town. The house “chased me out,” he says. Here, a dining room, in which he never dines."
Casbah Confidential: Serge Lutens, W Magazine
Read the whole article and see the pictures here.
It is very, very beautiful but I could see why he wouldn't want to live there - it's too opulent, too grand. (Frankly, it would be like sleeping in a church for me...)
Casbah Confidential: Serge Lutens, W Magazine
Read the whole article and see the pictures here.
It is very, very beautiful but I could see why he wouldn't want to live there - it's too opulent, too grand. (Frankly, it would be like sleeping in a church for me...)
Saturday, February 19, 2011
1950's Gold perfume atomizer by Globe
Nice vintage bottle by Globe, 24kt gold plated filigree cased perfume bottle. On the bottom of the bottle there is a paper label that says "Globe" 24 KT Gold plated Guaranteed Nontarnishable.
You may see some gilt filigree vanity sets on ebay without jewels, usually these are manufactured in the 1940s-1950s by three major companies, Stylebuilt, Globe and Matson.
Lalique
Renee Lalique (1860-1945) opened his first glass shop in 1905, at 24 Place Vendome. After first experimenting with glass in use of jewelry, after 3 years, Lalique began producing flacons for Coty. He then began to produce bottles for D'Orsay, Houbigant, and Roger et Gallet.
He favored a demi-crystal glass with a lower lead content than crystal.
A lot of his flacons were in the Art Nouveau style, and features etched flowers and figures in stark contrast with oversized decorative stoppers. If you stumble across an old bottle, be sure to turn it over and look for Lalique name or numbers!
The company is still in business today.
He favored a demi-crystal glass with a lower lead content than crystal.
A lot of his flacons were in the Art Nouveau style, and features etched flowers and figures in stark contrast with oversized decorative stoppers. If you stumble across an old bottle, be sure to turn it over and look for Lalique name or numbers!
The company is still in business today.
For Sale
Eau de Cologne, 8 fl oz. The Camera angle makes it look like there's less than there is. I'd say there is probably 40% left.
Age: I have seen this cologne listed as being from the 1930's to 1950's. If you have any information, please do share!
Price: $100.00
Eau de Cologne, 3.4 oz, 80% left
Age: 1960's - 1970's
Price: $75.00
Fleurs Fraiche hydrant by Segolene Valmel
I believe this would most accurately be described as Cologne Water, though it doesn't seem to have alcohol - just witch hazel.
Price: $25
Baccarat
Established in 1764 in France as a successful glass manufacturer, they eventually began styling bottles for French couture houses (i.e Guerlain and Pinaud). The bottles themselves were fairly simple in design until the turn of the century when they began producing competing bottles with Lalique in the popular Art Nouveau style. In the 1920's, they hired sculptor George Chevalier and joined the Art Deco movent.
The 1930's saw Estee Lauder and Elsa Schiaparelli at the top of the client list with flacons inspired by Surrealist art.
1945 is generally listed as the declining years, though of course, that is subjective.
The 1930's saw Estee Lauder and Elsa Schiaparelli at the top of the client list with flacons inspired by Surrealist art.
1945 is generally listed as the declining years, though of course, that is subjective.
Resources
Books:
Miller's Perfume Bottles: A Collector's Guide by Madeleine Marsh - This little gem is packed with tons of information, but maybe not what you'd want. It's split about 50/50 between commercial bottles and non-commercial. The information is pretty basic stuff, but what's in it is worth knowing. It is very, very slim at 59 pages of useful information. It's worth buying for a couple of dollars, but at the price listed on Amazon - $34.89 for a used copy - I'd pass.
Perfume Bottles (POCKET COLLECTIBLES) by Judith Miller - To my mind does nothing that you can't get better elsewhere. Seems equally split between commercial perfume bottles and non-commercial. It certainly isn't a bad book to have if you are new to collecting and the pictures are wonderful. Worth picking up if it's cheap enough - and it is. At the time of this writing, a used copy can be had on Amazon for $.99 + shipping.
Online:
Perfume Intelligence - Huge library well-known and little known fragrances and perfume houses and the dates they were introduced.
Images de Parfums - Wonderful catalogue of past and present perfume ads. And by past, I mean 10 years or so. Not so great for dating vintage bottles.
Chanel Perfume bottles: From Past to Present - Basically everything you needed to know about dating vintage Chanel bottle.
Where to buy/Read Reviews
perfumeniche.com - Nice site to buy small samples of massively expensive scents.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wall of Unknowns. If you have any clues, please let me know!
This beauty stands about 3.5" tall and looks like it may have had an oval sticker on the front. Other than the fact that is is a lovely aldehyde-floral, I have no clue.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Organza by Givenchy
Fragrance Family: Floral, Amber, Oriental, Woody
From Amazon: Organza celebrates the source of femininity itself - it rouses the goddess in hiding in every woman, by revealing her purity and elegance, but also her sensuality. A floral, oriental and woody fragrance Organza perfume combines the freshness of sap, honeysuckle and rosewood with the voluptuousness of gardenias, poppies and tuberoses and the intensity and timelessness of amber and nutmeg.
Can be bought: Amazon
Vintage Chanel No 5 Ads
Pictured: Original 1953 British magazine ad for Chanel No. 5 Perfume and Cologne.
If you're looking to date a vintage bottle, you may find this excellent website: Chanel Perfume bottles from past to present helpful.
Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune by Guerlain
Launched: 1999
Perfumer: Mathilde Laurent
Notes: California Grapefruit, Italian Bergamot, Neroli, Petitgrain, Black Currant, Patchouli, Vanilla.
From Sephora: Pamplelune is an immersion into the icy tingle of an effervescent citrus potion, blended with the warm embrace of sun-soaked patchouli and sensual vanilla. Like a day in Provence, its combination of coolness and warmth is both energetic and sophisticated.
FYI: I smell nothing sophisticated in this. What I do smell is a crisp, mouth-wateringly tart grapefruit with a vanilla drydown, to be worn on sunny days with sandals, not red lipstick and kitten heels. This lasted about 3 to 4 hours on me before it needed reapplying.
Where to buy: Sephora
Chanel No 5 by Chanel
If you're looking to date a vintage bottle, you may find this excellent website: Chanel Perfume bottles from past to present helpful.
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