A Favorite: Diptyque Tempo

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Diptyque Tempo 

Patchouli, Mate, Clary Sage, Pink Pepper, Violet Leaf, Bergamot

Lured by the promise of gifts with purchase, I visited the Diptyque Grand Tour pop-up in New York's Meatpacking District in the Fall of 2021. I had recently participated in a Sniffapalooza master class that introduced me to the two new limited-edition Diptyque "Grand Tour" scents, Kyoto and Venise. I was intrigued by the strong greenness of Venise. It came only as a set of three travel sprays--which made it actually affordable--so I bought it. The delicious Paris candle (which I would love as an EDP, hint hint) also went home with me. Almost as a reward for schlepping myself to an area of town I don't visit particularly often, I received the best "gift with purchase" ever: a branded canvas tote, a poster of an early Diptyque design, a box of long matches, and a travel spray of Tempo. Patchouli-heavy fragrances have never been my favorites, but I thought this was one I could wear. To be totally honest, it was love at first sniff. And as a travel spray, I could take it with me on solo trips and avoid comments from my famously patchouli-averse husband.

I have read that perfumer Olivier Pescheux used three varieties of Indonesian patchouli when he created Tempo. I can only identify two: a chocolate-y patch (like the patch in Les Nereides Patchouli Antique); and a sharper/brighter, almost ozonic, woodsy one (like the one in Dior Gris Dior). The only other style of patchouli that I can think of is what I think of as "dirty hippy" patchouli, and I'm not detecting that in Tempo. But what do I know? The first several hours of Tempo is more chocolate-y, a little herbaceous, and somewhat dusty. The long drydown has more of the brighter patchouli, and this is when I love this fragrance most. I feel strong, confident, and very much in-the-know when I wear Tempo. I would buy a large full bottle if I could wear it more often. But like Chanel Coromandel, Mr Minx definitely notices when I wear this one, and not in a good way. Still, Tempo is one of my favorite fragrances and I hope never to be without some in my life.
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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

My "Spring Edit"

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You spot your new crush/love/infatuation across the crowded sales floor. You sniff it, you spray it, you NEED it. And then you buy it. Come on, this happens to all of us except those with strong willpower and tight wallets. It happens to me on the regular. I find myself sampling new fragrances on almost a daily basis and every once in a while--ok, at least once a month--there's something new that I can't live without. So I buy it. Believe me, I've been trying to be better about spending money on perfume, so I've been going for travel sizes, if available. There are so many great scents in my collection, some purchased a decade or more ago, that I don't need to buy anything new. But still...I do.

I think of my collection as having ages. There's the Stone Age, comprising scents that I purchased 15 or more years ago. The Modern Age includes all the stuff I've bought since 2020. And the Middle Age (duh) scents are all the frags I bought between 2010 and the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020. Surprisingly, the Modern Age seems to be the biggest cohort. I blame it on the podcasts I've discovered over the last couple years, and Instagram, and the various perfume Substacks to which I subscribe. They have introduced me to scents I otherwise wouldn't have known existed. 

My goal for this season is to wear scents I've been neglecting. So far, my Spring Edit contains five fragrances I purchased prior to 2025, plus new additions Byredo Gypsy Water and Diptyque L'Eau Papier. 

Armani Prive Orangerie Venise  

Bitter Orange, Citruses, Bergamot, Neroli, Buchu, Ambroxan, Moss, Cedar

This mossy bitter orange scent was one of my fairly rare love-at-first-sniff situations. It was on a table near the up escalator on the Beauty Floor, where Bergdorf Goodman occasionally displays new items. I can't resist a scent that has any part of an orange tree in it, so I gave myself a spritz. My nose was glued to my wrist for the rest of that day. I don't normally visit BG two days in a row, but I made an exception this time because I needed this scent. It has all the orange-y parts that I love, but the moss takes it into a chypre-esque direction that I find so lovely and refreshing in warmer months. I have usually kept this one in circulation through the summer and might do the same this year.

ELDO Don't Get Me Wrong, Baby

Lily-of-the-Valley, Jasmine, African Orange Flower, Marshmallow, Musk, Aldehydes, Cacao, Patchouli, Amber

Quite a few of the floral perfumes I like contain lily-of-the-valley, therefore I must like lily-of-the valley. (This needs more study. Also, I'm going to refer to it as muguet, since that requires less punctuation and fewer words.) Don't Get Me Wrong, Baby (the original, which is a little different from the sequel, Yes, I Do) is a lovely muguet-and-jasmine scent, fairly innocent, a bit sweet, slightly fizzy with aldehydes (making it a touch old-fashioned). I get more of the musk and marshmallow on paper than I do on my skin, and none of the cacao, patch, or amber--so I am totally puzzled at why I like this one so much. In any case, I plan to wear it more this Spring and probably into the Summer.

Fragonard Lilas  

Linden Blossom, Black Currant, Lemon, Lilac, Heliotrope, Hawthorn, Cloves, Musk, Violet, Vanilla

This is a new scent--it came out in 2024--but I only wore it once last year. I discovered I like the smell of lilacs only recently and blind bought this one because it was: 1) inexpensive; 2) created by hottie Aurelien Guichard. Despite the preponderance of other notes, this smells like sticking one's nose directly into a lilac bush (a magical one that's not swarming with bees). A little green, a little spicy, so lovely. And well-priced at less than $50 for 50ml.

Houbigant Iris des Champs  

Lily-of-the-Valley, Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Pear, Rose, Iris, Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine, Musk, Woody Notes, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Amber

This might have iris in the name, but I wouldn't call it primarily an iris scent. There's definitely a nice bit of muguet and jasmine in this as well. I've seen this called "powdery," but powdery is more a sensation than a scent to me. Iris des Champs is more baby lotion-y in that it's sweetish and creamy. It's vaguely old-fashioned but should appeal to younger folks if they just gave it a try. It was a blind buy for me (from a discounter, 10-ish years ago, probably cost <$60) back when I was eager to add more iris scents to my collection, and definitely a good bet.

L'Occitane Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc

Black Currant, Citruses, White Iris, Iris, Peach, Fig Nectar, Ylang-Ylang, White Musk, Cedar

The iris is right up front in this scent, blended with what smells more like pear than any of the notes listed--certainly not berries, peach, or fig. It's cool and watery, light but not weak, and dries down to a more musky iris. When I sniff my shirt a few hours after applying this, damned if I don't get a bit of peach. I like this one enough that I'm on my second bottle, though I'd say I haven't worn it for at least 5 years. That is changing right now.

Van Cleef & Arpels Gardenia Petale

Gardenia, White Flowers, Jasmine, Green Notes, Lily-of-the-Valley, Citruses

This is a weird one for me. All of the scents that I've tried from Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire are indeed extraordinary, so maybe that's it. California Reverie is my favorite from the collection, also Bois D'Iris and Moonlight Patchouli. This one I got in a trade, and I was totally surprised to love it. As I've mentioned before, I'm not big on jasmine and gardenia can be a bit much for me. But the proportions of both in Gardenia Petale are just perfect, with jasmine taking over by a hair. Overall, the scent is fresh and dewy, gentle and not too heady, and it's not particularly sweet. And I don't particularly care for sweet scents on a warm day. This one is my perfect gardenia perfume. Probably because it's not very gardenia-y.

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

What is "Niche?"

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The world of fragrance and fragrance collectors has morphed quite a bit over the years, particularly the 20 or so that I've been heavily into scent. Trends can create shifts in styles and preferences, as can the addition of younger and younger consumers to the hobby. Sweet, fluffy, fruity, and youthful fragrances currently reign supreme at the moment, but something else might be more en vogue next year (god, I hope so). Not only do tastes change, however, but also things that seem like they should be immutable. For instance, the definition of the word "niche," as it pertains to perfumery. 

Back when I started collecting, in the mid-00s, fragrances were sorted into three general categories: mainstream/mass-market, niche, and indie. These designations referred to the number of "doors" or individual shops in which those scents were sold. Mainstream scents could be found in the many hundreds of mall department stores with a fragrance counter (for example, Estee Lauder White Linen) and others, like Revlon's Charlie, were sold in thousands of drug stores. Niche perfumes, on the other hand, were sold in very few shops, including expensive department stores like Bergdorf Goodman or Henri Bendel of which only a handful existed, online stores like Beautyhabit.com, and perfume boutiques like Scent Bar. Finally, "indie," or independent fragrances, were sold by the perfumers themselves on their own websites or shops. 

These days, online discussions still refer to three categories of fragrance, though the term "designer" seems to have replaced mainstream. As the word suggests, designer fragrances are created by companies associated with a fashion designer, like Calvin Klein, and can include both mass-market and "luxury" or "prestige" lines. Independent scents are still mostly sold by the perfumers themselves, though occasionally they can be found at specialized perfume boutiques. But niche has picked up a new definition: fragrances from companies that make nothing but perfume. I've been in arguments with Redditors who will die on that cross and (virtually) scream me down over my assertion that the word niche simply refers to where the scents are sold. Period. Full Stop. 

I want to insert one of my (many) unpopular opinions here because it works with the theme of this post: designer fragrances can also be niche. Let's look at Chanel. Chanel Chance is sold everywhere, from department stores to Sephora and Ulta Beauty, and unlike most Chanel fragrances, can be found at online discounters. It is a mainstream fragrance. But Chanel's Les Exclusifs line is sold only in high-end department stores and Chanel boutiques. Because the number of doors is small, that makes Les Exclusifs niche. Disagree? Let's do my word-geek thing and look at the dictionary definition of the word niche. Pay attention to 2 d.

According to Merriam-Webster: 

1 a : a recess in a wall especially for a statue

   b : something (such as a sheltered or private space) that resembles a recess in a wall

2 a : a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted

   finally found her niche

   b : a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species

   c : the ecological role of an organism in a community especially in regard to food consumption

   d : a specialized market

Ah. "A specialized market." The word "Market" doesn't only refer to the actual shop in which the product is sold, but also to the group of consumers who would be interested in the product itself. It doesn't matter one bit that the name on this product--in this case, a perfume--is a designer who also makes shoes, watches, and suits. Or that they also sell fragrances that can be purchased at thousands of shops world-wide. The market for Chanel Les Exclusifs is the relatively small group of people who want a well-crafted fragrance created by an in-house perfumer using high quality ingredients and are willing to pay high prices for the privilege. 

In other words, it is the market that creates the designation, not the amount of other stuff that the name on the label does or does not produce. 

Let's make things a little more complicated. Are all the fragrances that we might consider to be niche actually niche? How about Kilian Paris? The company only makes perfume, so it fits the modern internet/social media-favored definition of the term. However, while Kilian fragrances are not sold in Macy's (yet), they are available at Nordstrom and Sephora, which together equal roughly 2000 stores in the US alone. That makes them mainstream--at least the individual Kilian scents that are sold in those places. One can say the same for Tom Ford fragrances. His Private Blend collection--which as a designer luxury line once fit my criterion for niche, as it was sold in few shops--is no longer particularly private. They, too, are available at not only Nordie's and Sephora, but also Macy's, of which there are currently 500-ish locations. (I wouldn't be surprised to see Tobacco Vanille on the shelves at Rite Aid in the future.) Tom's definitely in mainstream category now, despite the ridiculous price tag.

There are probably other examples that don't fit the formula exactly. Celebrity scents that are distributed by companies that only make fragrance products--mainstream or niche? Michelle Pfeiffer's fragrance line Henry Rose--niche or indie? I'm sure there are people who can argue one way or the other, and maybe I would, too. But that's another post for another day.

Have an opinion on the subject? Please leave a comment!

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

Bohoboco Polish Potatoes

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 Bohoboco Polish Potatoes

Beetroot, Leather, Wheat, Pine, Grass, Potato, Clove, Rose, Heliotrope, Earthy Notes, Soil Tincture, Patchouli, Amber, Benzoin, Vanilla, Oud, Honey, Birch, Hay, Labdanum

As a second-generation Polish American, I was intrigued by the idea of a fragrance that smelled of potato. I wasn't sure how it would work, but I did know that it was likely to be patchouli-forward, as patchouli can smell very much of damp earth, much as potatoes do. I toyed briefly with blind buying Bohoboco Polish Potatoes, but after watching a rather enthusiastic IG video by Blu Blazer Guy in which he extolled the scent's virtues but also warned that it was rather on the strong side, it seemed more prudent to obtain a sample first. And whew, it is powerful, definitely heading into #beastmode territory if more than a couple of gentle spritzes are applied. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you like patchouli (me) but it's horrifying for those who don't (my husband). 

There are a lot of notes listed for this fragrance, but the vast majority of them don't request your attention. It's predominately a patchouli fragrance, bolstered by additional soil-like notes. I'd call it a dirt patchouli, but not a dirty patchouli. It has a clean earthiness, like a chocolate-y patchouli, but with all the warm cocoa-y aspects removed.

Now to answer the most essential question: does this actually smell like potatoes? Yes! But only for about 20 seconds. Within the plethora of dirt-like notes (the beet in addition to "earthy notes," and "soil tincture") there's a moment early on when a noticeable mushroomy/mildewy something peeks out, smelling very much like a raw, freshly cut, potato. Then it disappears, to be replaced by a somewhat similar, cool and dusty leather note. Interestingly, another type of potato-y scent comes in later in the drydown when vanilla makes an appearance. Did you know that vanillin, the chemical that makes vanilla smell so delicious and, well, vanilla-y, is found in potato peels? (This explains why baking jacket potatoes smells so wonderful.) The vanilla is mingled with ambery notes, making Polish Potatoes a bit softer and (a bit) less about the patchouli. 

Polish Potatoes is actually pretty nice and kinda cozy It's nowhere near as weird as it could be, but I'm also going to say it's not as wearable as it should be. Were it a bit less obnoxiously loud, I think I could get away with wearing this on a cold day. Patchouli + vanilla is never a bad thing. If this came in an EDT formulation, I'd buy it, but as it comes currently, it's a bit too #scentmaxxing.

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.