The 100th post - revisiting my favourite articles at Odiferess

Crikey, this is my 100th article for Odiferess!

To mark the occasion, here is a round up of my favourite posts over the last 5 years. They are articles that fizzed out of me faster than my typing speed, those which are an utter joy to write. I like to think that they are somewhat 'different' from what visitors expect to read and that they offer an insight into my often bizarre thought process! 
I hope you enjoy revisiting them.

On Witches:
It seems fitting to include my review of Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne, it is Halloween after all. Highlights include references to my Grandmother's dubious home remedies and getting ferns in your knickers.
click here to read

On Music:
A celebration of exuberant women in music, inspired initially by the technicolour wonder that is Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire. What perfume would suit these musical marvels?
click here to read

On a truly saucy scent:
When Anubis by Papillon Perfumery brought to mind salty pirates, Captain Nolan and the power of female sensuality.
click here to read

On an under appreciated Guerlain:
Why is Idylle not hallowed in the Guerlain hall of fame? Here I speak of my love for the scent and swoon at Thierry Wasser. 
click here to read

On heartbreak:
A personal story of love and loss inspired by Jul et Mad - Terrasse a St Germain. 
click here to read

On the great outdoors:
A picturesque post where a walk in the Yorkshire Moors became an ode to the chilly aldehydes of Clinique - Wrappings
click here to read

On the significance of a Royal Warrant:
A rather slapstick look at branding within the British Perfume Industry featuring discussions about the Queen's fear of warts and why Fergie was the only Royal I'd invite to the pub. 
click here to read

On proper perfume:
The most recent post, on how I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Warszawa by Pure Distance. This posts discusses the concept that we might all be 'a bit too expert' and ponders the days before the online fragrance community existed.
click here to read

On the cats of perfume land:
How I fell in love with a furry little fella called Joseph and a photographic peep at the feline companions of my fellow perfume writers. 
click here to read


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2014 - My Year In Perfume, Moments Of Beauty In A Saturated Market

Looking back over my 2014 fragrance habit, I’m reminded of a feature written by Tania Sanchez in Perfumes, The A-Z guide. Sanchez describes her concept of our journey through a fragrance obsession in 6 specific stages leading from the childhood curiosity of our parent’s fragrances through to an enlightened conclusion. In this, the 6^th and final stage, she suggests that we might experience:

“Stage 6: Enlightenment.

Absence of ideology. Distrust of the overelaborate, overexpensive and arcane. Satisfaction in things themselves”.

This resonates with me.

In 2014 I was grateful to get my nose around a number of inventive and complex creations from the world of ‘niche’ fragrance (whatever that words means nowadays). However, I smelt a much larger number of ‘The Emperor’s new clothes’. By this I mean the fragrances that were churned into the market at high prices and high speed, often trading on the concept of ‘niche’ to justify the hoohaa. People talked about them and bought them. No doubt caught in the decadent grip of Sanchez’s earlier Stage 5:

"Stage 5: Decadence.

An ideology of taste, either of the heavy-handed or the barely there. The age of leathers, patchoulis, tobaccos, ambers; or, alternatively, the age of pale watercolours in vegetal shades. An obsession with the hard to find."

In 2014, brands that were initially marketed to the wealthy Middle Eastern consumer continued to be devoured by folk on ordinary incomes as online discussion groups were often dominated by ‘an ideology of taste’ that favoured the skilfully manipulated desire for the ‘private blend or the exclusif’. Additionally, some superstar perfumers increased the number of products in their own ranges at flabbergasting speed. This led to vast spending, often resulting in fragrance fans leaving Facebook groups to avoid the excessive shopping temptation created by discussions (and then giving in and coming back again such was the lure!).

The sheer number of 2014 releases from niche brands meant that many scents replicated what we have already smelt before. I found myself opening sample packages without the thrilling anticipation of the possibility that they could contain some sort of nose nirvana. This is not a good mental state for a perfume blogger!

However, it wasn’t all bleak.

Occasionally I’ll smell a perfume that penetrates my imagination so thoroughly that I can type up an article swiftly and with great excitement. Others require much pondering and a painful number of hours at the screen. When I smelt the smouldering Anubis by Papillon Artisan Perfumes, the imagery it created for me was instant and exhilarating. It was by far the most thrilling post to write this year. Click here to take a peek at David Hemmings’ marvellously wild face, some fatally seductive sirens and one of the most successful indie releases of the year.

Danger for lost seamen - Anubis

Thrills aside, my favourite article of the year was my post on Guerlain’s understated masterpiece - Idylle. I believe this rarely discussed scent is deserved of the accolades that Guerlain’s stable of historic classics receive in profusion. Click here to read why I thought it to be the misunderstood outsider.

The relationship between fragrance, music and celebrity continued to excite me as my imagination frequently allotted a musician to my perception of a scent. The gargantuan floral punch of Byredo – Flowerhead brought indie powerhouse singer Beth Ditto to mind which resulted in one of the odder of the Odiferess reviews. Whilst Nobile 1942 – Infinito evoked decadent sensations of late nice dancing in the woods at summer music festivals.

Betto Ditto in technicolour

My own wardrobe in 2014 gained some pleasing additions, with an increased fascination for floral, green and aldehyde notes occurring. My most appreciated new entry was Clinique - Wrappings, an overwhelmingly picturesque outdoorsy whiff, sparkling with aldehydes and unlike anything I’ve ever smelt in a perfume bottle. Its originality was amplified by my perceived stagnation of the overfilled market. That Clinique have not released this scent on their standard counters is bizarre.

The feeling of Wrappings, a bracing bottle of oxygen and nature

More greenery arrived in the form of a new bottle of Guerlain - Vol De Nuit, when I say ‘a bottle’ I actually mean the extraordinary object of great glassy desire that is the Parfum Extrait. Whilst I adored my (nearly empty) EDT, I felt a compulsion to be able to hold this gilt propellored creature in my hands and stare lovingly at it whilst anointing myself. I wasn’t disappointed.

My pretty thing

I clearly went through some sort of ‘grown up lady’ phase befitting for my forties as I frequently reached for Lanvin - Arpege, Chanel – No 5, Van Cleef & Arpels - First and Lubin - Nuit de Longchamp. Interestingly, my new job in September inspired me to dress with increased sophistication for work and make the effort to apply make up at stupid-o-clock in the morning. Perhaps these scents helped me to feel suitably groomed?

To round up, here is a list of my most frequently worn and adored scents of 2014 (you can click on those in a different colour to read a review) :

Guerlain – Idylle EDT

Clinique – Wrappings

Gucci – EDP (The discontinued caraway & leather oriental)

Chanel – No 5

Guerlain – Vol de Nuit

Chanel – 31 Rue Cambon (which has now been outdone by a last days of December purchase of the blissful Cuir de Russie)

Caron – Muguet de Bonheur

Lanvin – Arpege

Yves Rocher – Voile D’ Ambre

Robert Piguet – Calypso

And a list of those which I do not yet own but seduced me at first whiff:

Papillon Artisan Perfumes – Anubis

Scent on Canvas – Brun Sicilien

Guerlain – Idylle (in EDP form)

Clinique – Aromatics in White

Narciso Rodriguez For Her – Musc Eau de Parfum Intense (the flanker with the dusky pink metallic bottle that smells oddly like the opening of Serge Lutens – Tuberuese Criminelle)

Neela Vermeire – Mohur

Serge Lutens – L’ Orpheline

Hermes – Santal Massoia

Parfums Nicolai – Maharanih

Chanel – Jersey

As I consider my 2015 articles for Odiferess, I shall be searching for the magnificent amongst the mediocre and aim to bring you some reviews of genuinely innovative scents. As usual I’ll be letting my imagination investigate some eclectic cultural nonsense in which to tell you about them! In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your favourite scents of the year.

On Perfume Promiscuity - The Great Solo Scent Adventure Part 2

Last week I announced the launch of ‘The Great Solo Scent Adventure’, a (potentially masochistic) experiment designed to see how we promiscuous perfume lovers fared when restricted to wearing just one scent over a period of three days and nights. This results post will make a lot more sense if you read the last post which you can do by clicking here.

The highly varied results of the adventure have returned and they are thoroughly intriguing. They are also enormous! So in this, part 2, I am featuring the entire questionnaire and results of Tresor, one of 8 perfume lovers who joined in and had a rather pleasing time during the adventure (apologies for the incorrect 'e' in Tresor's name, I'm having tech issues here). I will follow with part 3, a lengthy edit from the rest of us later this week. But for now, here's a positive outcome of the adventure:

The chosen one

How many different scents would you apply in an average week?

Oh my Goodness, that's really hard to say. I test something new on nearly a daily basis and tend to wear upwards of 3-5 fragrances in a day. Yikes! I'm a junkie, I know. Some weeks I do give my sniffer a break but that's not very often.

What factors influence your choice of scent, e.g. season, mood, time of day etc? And do specific genres appeal to you more than others within these factors?

I have a bit of a strange system to how I choose which fragrances I wear on any given day. I group fragrances based on narratives that fascinate me or pique my interest. Most recently I've curated a tray which I titled "Dionysus' Garden Party" with fragrances that contained aromas which mirrored those one might find in wine such as notes rich berries, sparkling citrus and oak and those of the garden like earthy rhizomes of the iris and soil accords. One thing I do enjoy on a daily basis is a tiny spray of a fleeting fragrance before I apply my makeup in the morning. It's a beautiful refreshment and quite a delightful way to start off the day. My choice is usually Guerlain's Apres L'Ondee, it's entirely vanished by the time I've finished my morning routine but how beautiful it is while it's around.

As for specific genres, I'm rather drawn to wicked brews which are brooding and powerfully animalic. I like a potion with some fangs. I also have a bit of a soft spot for fragrances based upon tuberose or honey.

Roughly how large is your collection of full bottles, decants and samples?

My collection of full bottles is fairly modest and heavily edited, only containing bottles of fragrances I absolutely adore and cannot live without. I do, however, have a significant quantity of decants and samples.

How do you feel about sticking to just one scent for 3 days and nights?

I'm really quite excited! I think that this experiment will not only act as a bit of a palette cleanser but also allow me to really appreciate all facets of the fragrance I choose to wear on this journey.

What scent did you choose for this adventure and why?

I chose "Aromatics Elixir" from Clinique, simply because of any fragrance it's my favourite. It's been with me through thick and thin, every season and every situation imaginable. It's the closest I've ever come to finding a "signature scent" which is really saying something considering my penchant for olfactory adultery.

How are you involved in the perfume world?

I am a regular contributor at Australian Perfume Junkies as well as Scent Trunk. I have an incredible passion for fragrance and beauty and I'm an absolute product junkie. Fragrance, to me, is an artform and transcends vanity. It allows us to manifest emotion and express ourselves in a way which is beyond words or aesthetic, it is an aura.

Diary:

Monday: Today is a rather blustery day, it's exceedingly chilly and the snow that's fallen on the ground is now an unpleasant slush that forces me to wear my most unattractive shoes. Oh, the struggle! Aromatics Elixir has been like the warm embrace of an old friend. I honestly couldn't be happier to be within this extraordinary aura. I find it difficult to put my love for this fragrance into words, the thought of only wearing this for the coming days is an absolute comfort and I honestly couldn't be more pleased. The chill in the air seems to pull forward the murky patchouli in the base along with the blackened emerald of a moonlit forest blanketed in moss.

Tuesday: Today I've decided to go a bit rogue and apply the body cream (I hope that's not cheating!) And spray my sweater instead. The way Aromatics Elixir clings to cashmere is nothing short of orgasmic, I'm certain it will remain there for the next month. Here I am lost for words once more, the way this smells is simply beyond. Somehow the fabric illuminates a sweetness that is hidden deep within the labyrinth that is Aromatics Elixir. It's so lovely and I've already received a multitude of compliments from nearly everyone who I've drawn close. The lady working the till at the shop even commented and told me that I smelled beautiful. Always a winner, this one. This experiment is reigniting my love all over again.

Wednesday: Today is the final day and I'm actually a bit sad to see this experiment come to a close. Though I technically could still go on wearing this alone I am far too anxious to try some of the samples that arrived in the post this morning. I've gone heavy on the trigger and I am simply radioactive with the most bracing herbal symphony imaginable. I love the absolute density when you apply a fragrance with a heavy hand. It's opulent, excessive and I'd imagine it's positively noxious to everyone but me. This has been a wonderful experience for me, I've come to appreciate my most favourite perfume on an entirely new level and for that I am so grateful.

For more writing from Tresor, you can click here to read a most eloquent review of Guerlain's delicious rosy jam - Nahema.

Review: Clinique Wrappings, Oxygen Bottled

Regular readers of Odiferess will already know about my hibernation tendencies, and when I wake up in the Spring, I REALLY wake up. It’s as if the sunbeams, brightness, warmer temperatures and crucially, opportunities to hit the great outdoors, make me see (and smell) everything in technicolour. My mood is elevated, I feel creatively enlivened and I recall that I have a libido. Ultimately – I’m fizzy.

 My happy place, Marsden Moor

During the Odiferess Spring, I need a scent to match my mood. Jour D’Hermes is ideal with it’s bubbling grapefruit and rhubarb vivacity. Les Eaux de Caron Fraiche emits sunny sharp lemons,herbs and moss, my personal fragrant Prozac. But last weekend these scents were temporarily shelved in favour of an enchanting and unexpected birthday present – Clinique’s extraordinarily effervescent ‘Wrappings’.

A vintage advert for Wrappings

Wrappings is a rarity in the UK. It appears in Harrods as a brief Christmas gift set then buggers off into a secret hidey hole for a year. I have no idea why Clinique choose to limit distribution as it is by far the most creatively exciting of their offerings. Also, it really doesn’t suit Christmas, it’s a gambolling spring lamb.

Wrappings smells ‘clean’. Not a scent-sation that I tend to speak of with positivity. Clean implies boring, as if scent is a mere cleanser, a ridder of bodily secretions. It is the olfactory world of white musk and laundry powder. To understand Wrappings’ cleanliness you have to ponder the word clean from a different viewpoint, specifically the cleanliness of the natural world; the smell of mountain air, water in peaty streams, freshly cut grass, wet limestone rock, soil, crushed leaves and oddly – snow.

Olfactory Heaven

There are plentiful woody and green wonders out there (Ormonde Woman being my personal witchy favourite), but I have not smelt anything that additionally smells airy. I am astounded that a scent can invoke the feeling of being cooled by a breeze in the countryside. I can only deduce that it must be due a whopping great dose of aldehydes which offer a peculiarly ‘metallic’ chilly edge to the intensely natural composition. Oxygen bottled.

This week I took a hike into the Yorkshire moorland with my friend Kerry. At the onset of our ascent, we encountered an ancient stone bridge under which a stream flowed, delivering a rapid burst of peat rich water from the hills. It was magnificent. Both in it’s historic spectacle and it’s olfactory sparkle. Cold wet stone is an underutilised note. Comme Des Garcons, this sounds like your type of thing.

The ancient Easter Gate Bridge on Marsden Moor, West Yorkshire

As I stood at the bridge I momentarily thought of Wrappings. If I’d laid underneath motionless in the icy waters and allowed them to wash over me (whilst holding a piece of steel close to my nose), I could recreate the scent in a sort of performance art/extreme spa activity. I didn’t, but I might return when it warms up a bit!

A look at the notes on Fragrantica reveals a fairly accurate readers interpretation of what you can detect, with green notes, cedar and moss sitting at the top of the list. I am surprised that aldehydes and leather feature lower in the list as both have a strident presence. Forget the florals, they are barely discernible apart from an edge of quirky hyacinth which tends to read as more sharply green than floral to me.

Who would I recommend it for?

• Hikers
• Naturists (naturalists?) Who are the folk who like being outdoors in the nude?
• Steel workers
• People who couldn’t afford to shell out for Andy Tauer’s Noontide Petals but rather liked it
• People who were eager to smell but ultimately disappointed by Comme Des Garcons ‘Blue’ series
• Menfolk, it’s a great unisex despite the ‘for women’ tag

I’d like to say thank you to Mags and Mum for finding this magnificent gift, it will be worn with joy. Thank you also for risking the wrath of your husbands whilst ignoring the boarding calls at the airport perfumery!

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Review: Clinique (Prescriptives) Calyx: The Resurrection Of The Fruit Salad

The close of 2013 saw the re-launch of Calyx, a fragrance that stomped all over it’s much maligned fruity floral genre with steel capped DM boots. Formerly manufactured by Prescriptives (an Estee Lauder Group company who disappeared into the murky depths of ‘internet only’), this long lost perfume has been resurrected under the brand Clinique. It is in effect – a zombie perfume, that which is back from the dead.

It’s not alone. That’s the thing about Zombies – they multiply. Whilst in the films they are resurrected as a rapidly decomposing reanimated (and therefore worse) version of their former living selves, it seems that perfume zombies are frequently making a come back as a ‘poshed up’ version, often with a much increased price tag and a fancy new bottle.

Recent Zombies of the posh variety have included Carven’s delightfully mossy green chypre – Ma Griffe which reappeared in a remarkably classy bottle, accompanied by a winsome sister in the form of Le Parfum, created by Perfumer de jour – Francis Kurkdijan. A 100 ml bottle of ‘new’ Ma Griffe costs about £75, whereas 100 ml of ‘old’ Ma Griffe is easily available on Ebay and at dilapidated seaside town chemist shops for about £30. I have no idea if they smell like each other or not, only that when I wore a sample of the new version to a summer wedding last year I felt elegant and a bit snooty.

Caron’s Zombies are walking the earth too, with Bellodgia regenerating as ‘Pui Bellodgia’ and Parfum Sacre becoming, well a less lipsticky version of Parfum Sacre, and much the better for it it is too.  Again, the price tag has jumped unfeasibly high for the reforms. In similarity to Carven, they too have gained a new sibling, in the form of My Ylang, a startlingly vibrant floral that sits high up on my want list.

Back to Calyx.

I don’t really recall the original very clearly, although I should given that it was enormously popular in my teenage years, not quite in the league of CK One and The Body Shop’s Dewberry Oil, but well loved by a generation.  Note to teenage self: don’t put Dewberry Oil inside your New Balance rave trainers, it will make them smell worse than the effects of twelve hour’s dancing inside a sweaty industrial unit..

According to Clinique’s publicity department, it contains exactly the same notes as it’s former self, of which there are many. It’s essentially a highly tart tropical fruit salad with a strong lily of the valley green astringency. Despite not being generally fond of Muguet, I like it enormously. Tropical scents tend to expel an eau de naff, being essentially sweet, fruity and a bit giggly. They are the starting point of teenage girlhood, for those who have yet to appreciate the eroticism of a heavily spiced oriental or the grown-up glamour of a dry chypre. Even worse, they are a frequent sub genre of the celebrity scent, touted by C list celebrities who like their fans to believe that they smell of lurid sweets and sugar. However, Calyx exists for grown ups being entirely devoid of anything resembling ‘sweet’. This is how it wears:

Upon the first spray, you are hit by an enormous whiff of passion fruit, sharp, tart passion fruit, not that of the gourmand desert variety. This soon wears off leaving a multi-faceted fruit salad. Again, not sweet, more lush in an aquatic manner. You can sense cucumber, melon and all sorts of other watery delights. This is topped with a slightly herbal quality, essentially the scent of ‘green’. Cassia and mint notes project a sensation of bracing radiance that uplifts you in similarity to the effect of a citrus cologne. An hour or so into it’s wear, floral and mossy notes dominate the fruit. For oakmoss chypre lovers, this is where you’ll feel a great sense of gratification, for it is truly ‘forest floor’. The mossy quality blends seamlessly with lily of the valley, again proliferating the essence of verdant foliage. Lily of the valley tends to appear overly artificial to my nose, but here it creates a highly natural sense of the outdoors which appeals to my city-locked claustrophobia enormously.

In short, I’m impressed.

Now then Clinique, please can we bring Wrappings back to life too and resurrect it from it’s gift set grave at Harrods?

The paltry power of the 'skin scent' - How to amp up projection.

"I can't smell it" is a common complaint amid our enthusiastic community. We all know the aching disappointment of buying an astonishing beauty, then discovering that it somehow escapes our body an hour into the relationship, leaving us confused and bereft. 

Price, it seems, is not a factor. A single spritz of Clinique's tenacious Chypre 'Aromatics Elixir' lasts for 24 hours, making a £30 50 ml bottle last for years. The lid of an empty bottle has lurked in my lingerie drawer for over two years now and still smells like it's getting dressed up for a huge night out! This irks me. When I compare it to some of the wimpish throws of niche fragrances that cost me three times the price of the Clinique. What's the point of anointing ourselves with something that we simply can't smell unless we directly press our noses to our skin? 

Jean Claude Ellena, Uber Perfumer and current author of the Hermes brand, is famed for creating 'watercolour' washes of perfume. I find this an odd concept. As an artist, I know that watercolour equals water plus paint. Yes, there is the connotation of a subtlety of colour, transient hues merging together and a skillful rendering of form, all very romantic if we compare him to Turner or Klee. Yet do we really want a subtle watered down paint in our fragrant compositions? I'd much rather have a big exuberant splodge of oil paint decorating my body's canvas. 

My beef with Ellena stems from the discovery of his extraordinarily beautiful creations for the Hermessence line. My favourite, Brin de Reglisse, is an aromatic coupling of licquorice and lavender. A deep inhalation of Brin de Reglisse is quite possibly the most moving olfactory sensation I've encountered. The trouble is though, I need a deep inhalation. I can drip two tracks all the way up both arms and literally smell it for about ten minutes. After that, nothing unless I weld nose to skin (which admittedly is something I do all day, every day and quite often in bed through the night).

So what to do about this problem? Answer number one is to only buy huge orientals and chypres, 'perfumey' perfumes. Not a winning solution for me as I love a great many genres. I need to go further to get a little more gusto out of my wimpish floral woody musks and citric colognes. Another answer could be to move to a hot country where the sun can warm your skin and allow it to act in the same manner as a fragrant oil burning diffuser. Heat really does increase projection. 
The only real solution though is to prepare your skin for it's anointing process by exfoliating and applying body cream. Well moisturised skin with very few old dead cells allows fragrance to hold on a little longer. We also have the opportunity to match our body creams to our perfume or indeed play with layering scent upon non matching creams to give an extra dimension to the notes. Here are my favourites:

Step one, exfoliate:

As long as it contains a large proportion of exfoliating granules, be it salt, rice powder or whatever scientific grain or acid is the latest trend, you can use anything. Exfoliating 'shower gels' are pointless, not enough grains. Go for a 'scrub', don't spend a fortune, do spend a little time making sure that you've given yourself a good working over.

Step two, moisturise:

Unscented moisturisers are a great way to prep for Monsieur Ellena's watercolours. My favourites are good old fashioned E45 body lotion which is cheap, lightweight and quickly absorbed or Kiehl's Creme de Corps, significantly more expensive but it imparts a lovely rich sheen to the skin and feels delightful to apply.

Lightly scented moisturisers are fun to play with and can add an extra dimension to your fragrance. Yves Rocher's Nutrition Nourishing Body Lotion for Dry Skin is delicately scented with a slightly woody and gourmand feeling almond note. I adore wearing this underneath Guerlain's L' Instant Magic as it amps up the volume of the almond note. It's also priced cheaply (Yves Rocher always have great value offers on their website) and has a luxurious rich texture. 
Vaseline's Essential Moisture Body Lotion with Oat Extract is another subtly fragranced delight that fits well with woody and musky scents, again, a bargain and easily found in the supermarket. I particularly like this worn underneath Serge Luten's Jeux de Peau.

Matching scented moisturisers are a great way to increase longevity and projection bomb your perfumes. I currently have YSL's Opium Creme which I adore. It smells almost the same as Opium EDP but somehow better, with the quirky spice notes very evident but less of the floral aspect appearing. Guerlain's Mitsouko Body Creme smells exactly like Mitsouko and increases the effectiveness of my EDT. I imagine that I knock out any nose within several metres of my Opium/Mitsouko radius but I don't care, "Take that you floral fruity misses, smell my trail!"

That said, we could just all consistently wear Aromatics Elixir or Midnight Poison and stop messing about with these fleeting watercolour nymphs, but that would be boring eh?

J W Turner