I spent the past 2 weeks steeped in the perfumes evoking Art Deco. As much as I love Shalimar and Habanita, Chanel No. 5 reigns supreme thanks to a richness that doesn’t disappoint. Even this 70’s eau de Cologne had a strength and complexity that was unmatched, impossible to find at your local Sephora. It’s like a family heirloom with patina. No matter how old it gets, its lustre never fades. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Yes, every bottle of Atelier des Ors perfume has gold flakes in it. A little gimmicky, sure, but one can get away with it if the smells are good. In this case: Rouge Saray from Atelier des Ors. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As a friend of mine, who doesn’t wear perfume, says: “so every time you spray it, you’re spraying some money….”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If she could only see my perfume drawer… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The back of a bottle of Eau d’Hermes – someone looking into a leather bag. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1951. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Perfumer: Edmond Roudnitska.
Heritage is in. It’s either a heritage brand, a brand revival, or bringing back a piece that was once beloved. Of course, this also applies to perfume. Today’s example: Initio’s new Power Self.
If you loved the Chloe perfumes of the early 2000’s then you’ll like this too. A touch of litchi, sweet peony-rose, and a lot of musk was a popular scent profile 20 years ago, and now it’s back. In keeping with apparent consumer demand, the musks are dialled up, and there’s a good amount of ambroxan to give this more oomph. It’s also an extrait de parfum so a little goes a long way. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The truth is that I wore a ton of the Chloe perfume 20 years ago and I even wore all its flankers. It was a time when a signature scent was the way to go, and that one was mine. Now those old Chloe bottles are discontinued and harder to find, but maybe people will find their way to this version of it. and there’s no doubt that this will wow a whole new group of people who never smelled the Chloe of the 2000’s. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And so what’s old is new again. Let’s remember that the early 2000’s were without smartphones, digital cameras were everywhere, and when you made plans with someone, you just showed up at the meeting time. We ate lots but never took pictures of our food, walked lots but didn’t count our steps. Screen time didn’t matter because screens didn’t matter. The person who is smelling Power Self for the first time will be nostalgic for all of that, even if they didn’t experience all of that. These are the good old days. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Leather by way of birch tar, but made fresh. Imagine you’re walking through a spring wood, the river has just started to thaw, the sun is hitting the damp ground, the air smells amazingly fresh. As you crunch through the woods, stomping past fallen leaves, branches, disturbing everything that lay under the snow for the winter. In the distance, smoke comes out of a chimney and you hear the dogs. Time to get home before it gets dark.
It’s hard not to fall under the spell of these perfumes… you might even say they’re hypnotizing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Dior Hypnotic Poison edt and edp. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
My self-regulation shelf. It looks like bottles with just a few drops left, but if you’re in the need for some grounding come here, have a sniff and see if it helps. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And if you ever want to shoot the shit, kill some time, we have something we can talk about… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Also, I’m running out of space! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If you dream about holing up for the winter, sitting by the fire with a warm mug, blanket on and book in your lap, Harvest Mouse is for you. I could talk about the notes, but I wasn’t interested in trying a perfume with a beer note in it so I overlooked this one, but it’s maybe my favourite one from the brand. The perfumer here is Luca Maffei, who also used a bready yeast note in Masque Milano L’Attessa to create the impression of champagne. Once you realize that the impression of fermented bubbles is one that you actually enjoy, it’s fun to see it used again in a new perfume. Pair it with Iris and it becomes crisp, but in Harvest Mouse it’s quite warm and welcoming, like walking into a house where there’s bread rising and a dessert in the oven. Harvest Mouse – yeasty, hay, warm vanilla, benzoin, and so many other things. Like some other Zoologists, this is a maximalist perfume. It’s big, potent, long-lasting, it doesn’t apologize about what it is. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
(And I like these new Zoologist bottles. The caps are magnetized and close with a satisfying click.)
Throwback to trips from the past, when I bought this Made In Germany tin of Nivea and then hoarded it until just now. Everything is dry and dusty this time of year because it’s so cold outside, but the Winter Solstice is almost here and the Nivea is helping. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
New to me are also these Cerave Anti-Spot Barrier Patches which are clear but have ceramides and niacinamides to help moisturize that pimple so you don’t have a crusty piece of skin where it used to be. Do they work? Yes, absolutely, to help moisturize skin, but not to get rid of pimples all together. They help heal them better than ever.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Finally, on my desk is this Charlotte Tilbury Jophoria body cream. As much as I thought it was just a body lotion version of their perfume for layering, I’d say that this is actually a replacement for perfume because it smells so strong! So if you are anosmic to the perfume spray or feel that it doesn’t last long enough, then this is what you need instead. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What’s shocking is that as I was Googling the body cream, I saw that one of the recommended searches was “dupe” and that’s a bit hilarious because I already think of Joyphoria as a dupe of other beachy solar perfumes. It might be a bit on the sweeter side, and I find the tuberose to be very amped up, but it’s not a unique scent DNA. But, I guess teenagers might want an even cheaper version, and in that case, I’d suggest taking a peak at secondhand sites, because something is bound to show up. At any given time, people seem to move on from their favourite vacation perfumes and go to something else. Little do they know that scent is so evocative of a memory, much like my hotel selfie and little souvenir jar of Nivea.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I read that 7 Ob-Gyn’s quit in a BC hospital because of the workload they were given and the lack of support provided, and honestly, good for them. People are done quiet-quitting and are quitting for real, trying to stand up for themselves in a time when nobody seems to stand for anything. In a time where everything seems automated, removed from any human contact, there’s still beautiful perfume made by a person and not a computer, and even as I’m being offered to use AI to write this caption, here I am, smelling of patchouli and vanilla. One day, will that be lost too, like newspapers are almost lost? Knowing some real collectors, I doubt it. Perfume people care too much about the real deal to make that happen so we’ll still be around with our little collections. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’m dousing myself in L’eau d’Ambre Extreme by L’Artisan Parfumeur today and smelling Coromandel for reference. While I sometimes want to get rid of everything, today I’m glad I collected these old-school L’Artisan bottles when I did, because the joy of wearing these old juices is like hearing a song you grew up with on the radio.
Anyway, fall perfume needs to include patchouli, and we should all make our own scent memories with materials while we have them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
