Chanel Les Exclusifs - First Thoughts, ca. 2007

There are, what? seventeen fragrances in Chanel's Les Exclusifs collection these days. Back when they were first released, in 2007, there were only six. Before I sniffed those, I was not a Chanel gal at all. I did not appreciate No. 5 (still don't, though I do like and own Eau Premiere). I had a brief flirtation with Coco, which was my "out-on-the-town" scent in the early/mid-90s. (I still wear it on rare occasion, but it's just so pungent.) The Les Exclusifs were different though, not necessarily more approachable to my nascent palate, but more interesting maybe? In any case, these were my earliest thoughts on the line.

Currently, I own bottles of No. 18 and Coromandel, and large decants of 31 Rue Cambon and Eau de Cologne.
---------------------------

Today I got my hands on samples from the eagerly-awaited Chanel Exclusifs line. I was so excited, I could barely wait until dinner was over so I could rush to my office and test them. (My husband always makes a lovely dinner and it would be cruel to make him wait while I overindulge my already spoiled olfactory sense.) Let me tell you it was well worth the wait.

No.18
Notes: ambrette seed

No. 18 starts off with a slightly musty and dry note with a vegetal quality, vaguely metallic, like a root of some sort, with a non-spicy white pepper edge (a la L'Artisan Poivre Piquant perhaps). Soon a musky soapiness reveals itself, sweetish and very pleasant. The drydown has a heavier musk smell, that of the ambrette, with a bit of funk. Not unpleasant mind you, like dirty underpants or sweaty men (although I hear some people like that sort of thing), just a little animalic.

Coromandel
Notes: amber, vanilla, patchouli

A sweet and powdery oriental with tinges of leather, a dash of something akin to orange peel, some spice, some smoke, and a soft vanilla with a dash of patchouli. It reminds me a bit of both Anné Pliska and Fifi Chachnil, but without the former's "mature" quality (on me - I know it has lots of fans) and sans the rose of the latter. Not as spicy or bold a scent as I expected, but more refined and ladylike.

Eau de Cologne
Notes: musk, neroli, vetiver, bergamot, citrus

Eau de Cologne opens with sweet and bright citrus notes that dries down to a very aromatic and musky neroli fragrance. Simple, fairly straightforward, and completely delicious.

31 Rue Cambon
Notes: iris, labdanum, jasmine, sandalwood

This fragrance is an oakmoss-free chypre that opens with a very dry and peppery note that has an earthy, dirt-like metallic tang, somewhat like carrots. The scent then becomes more floral, with a musky and leathery tone. There's a very Chanel quality to this scent--elegant, expensive, complex. The only Chanel I ever wore was Coco, in the 80s, and although the scents are different, they are connected in my mind. 31 Rue Cambon has a nice bit of patchouli in the drydown, an earthy sensuousness that is not unpleasant, although my husband thought it had a suggestion of body odor. Try it and judge for yourself. I'm not a big fan of chypres, but as I quite like this one, it must be oakmoss that I don't care for. (I am a heretic, I know.)

Bel Respiro
Notes: hyacinth, fresh cut grass, galbanum, crushed leaves, rosemary, thyme, rose, lilac, hyacinth, green tea, aromatic grasses, myrrh, leather

A crisp green fragrance, "intended to evoke stems, leaves and springtime," Bel Respiro opens with just that stemmy-ness. Then there is a rush of notes, as if walking through a garden full of herbs and fragrant blooms on a hot summer's day while drinking a glass of iced green tea sweetened with honey. Bel Respiro reminds me a bit of Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca, without the mint. It's very pleasant, sweet and green, with the honeyed note becoming more prevalent in the drydown.

28 La Pausa
Notes: orris

This elegant and chilly scent opens with the same sort of earthy root smell as 31 Rue Cambon, then becomes a mild white floral. I really can't find a whole lot to say about this one; I think it's pretty unremarkable, and the scent is not particularly long-lasting. Meh.

I'm actually pretty surprised that I like 5 of the 6 scents, although I personally consider only one of them worthy of joining my collection as a full bottle--Coromandel.

Originally posted on Sniffapalooza Magazine.

-----------------------
Posted by theminx on Minxstinks

Evolving Tastes

I posted this on another blog back in 2011. Things haven't changed much, as far as my fragrance tastes are concerned, though I am pretty much obsessed with scents with iris notes these days.
-----------------------------

I'm not sure exactly when I became a perfume aficionado. When I was a child, I knew which fragrances I did *not* like: Estée Lauder Youth Dew, Coty Emeraude, Prince Matchabelli Wind Song, Jean Naté, and just about anything else my mother wore; any of the Tinkerbell floral fragrances I received as a Christmas gift from a cousin; anything Avon except Sweet Honesty. None of those fragrances were "right" to my nose, and I still feel the same way about Youth Dew, a fragrance that I would call an "acquired taste." (I haven't smelled any of the others in decades).

At some point, a cousin gave me a bottle of Anne Klein Blazer, packaged with an address book. Looking back, I realize it was probably a gift-with-purchase item that she had no use for, but to me then it was something special: a real, grown-up perfume. It was somewhat sweet and fruity, if I remember correctly, and nothing like the scents I did not like. Blazer was probably too much for a kid to wear, but I wore it anyway, on "special occasions," and when I felt especially ballsy, to school.

Eventually I put together a small collection of typically safe and boring teenage scents that I wore through high school: Sweet Honesty. Heaven Scent. Love's Baby Soft. Chantilly. In those days, my mom and I were big fans of mail-order catalogs and one of our favorites was from a company that sold heavily-discounted beauty products and fragrances. Once in a while, the description of some perfume or another would intrigue us, and if it was cheap enough, we'd order it. Once I hit college age, my fragrance collection included Bakir and Cinnabar (both spicy orientals) and Maxims de Paris, a heady floral, all quite a bit different and far more sophisticated than my high school favorites.

So what happened? My tastes evolved. And they continue to evolve.

In my 20s and 30s, I was largely attracted to sweet scents, either gourmands--preferably with tons of vanilla--or ambers (Calvin Klein Obsession, Casmir, Thymes Filigree), with occasional forays into something spicy (Lagerfeld KL, Donna Karan Chaos). I was pretty sure I hated florals, particularly shrill old-fashioned ones like Chanel No. 5, and anything with rose. And then I discovered the Perfume of Life forum and a whole world of fragrances beyond the couple dozen available at the local department store.

After that came attendance at Sniffapalooza, a two-day, nose-exhausting, perfume-smelling extravaganza held twice a year in Manhattan. I knew there were lots of interesting things to smell in New York, but before Sniffa, I had only quickly visited the (admittedly quite large) fragrance department at Saks Fifth Avenue. I had no experience with niche fragrances until I visited Bergdorf Goodman, Takashimaya, Bendel's, Barney's, and the fabulous perfume boutique, Aedes de Venustas. Online, I found what I think of as the the mac daddy of niche fragrance purveyors, Lucky Scent.

Over the past four years, after sampling hundreds and hundreds of scents, my tastes have started to change. While I still appreciate a good vanilla (Guerlain's smoky Spiritueuse Double Vanille is my current favorite), I've realized that I do like floral scents, particularly those with osmanthus, peony, gardenia, and tuberose. And that there are many types of rose scents, some of which I like very much (Stella McCartney Stella, Lancome Mille et une Rose, Vivienne Westwood Anglomania). I'll even wear Chanel No. 5, as long as it's the less-aldehydic Eau Premiere. I've also found the joys of salty and savory dry scents (as long as they do not contain the aromachemical calone, which smells like artificial seaweed), like Hermes Eau de Merveilles, Santa Maria Novella Citta di Kyoto, and Hermes Hiris.

Now my collection of fragrances varies in number between 60 and 100, depending on my changing tastes and my most recent purge. Right now, I'm looking forward to an upcoming trip to New York where I plan to spend at least a couple of hours trying out the new fragrances from the past year or so. Maybe I'll add something old and familiar to my collection, or maybe I'll be struck by a completely new scent sensation that I simply must buy. In any case, I'll certainly enjoy the sensory overload.

Are you a fragrance aficionado? What types of fragrances do you favor - today?

Published originally on Opalescent, March 2011.

-----------------------
Posted by theminx on Minxstinks

Sniffapalooza Reminiscences, ca 2011

I spent the last two days of April in New York doing two of my favorite things: eating and sniffing perfume. (You can read about my dining adventures here, here, and here.) I took the train up on Friday the 29th, and after a nice lunch at Ma Peche, I checked into the Fitzpatrick Manhattan. For some reason that I didn't quite catch, I had been upgraded from a standard room to a suite that had two flat-panel tvs and a wet bar. I must be living right! I dumped my baggage and headed back out, intent on testing as many fragrances as possible before meeting up with my friend David Dust for dinner. Lunch took longer than I had expected, so I had to scrap the original plan to hit Barney's and the Hermes boutique on the same block; instead I headed straight to Saks.

Saks used to be a regular stop on the Sniffapalooza tour, but for some reason that's no longer the case. I've heard many complaints about their pushy sales associates, but I've only ever had pleasant experiences. I've found that if you are polite and speak to them as a knowledgeable consumer, they fall over backward to be helpful, doling out samples and even recommending fragrances at other counters. Remember - SAs are people too. They are not lesser beings and deserve as much respect as the rest of us. Anyway...I spent some time at the Hemes counter, sniffing the new Jardin fragrance and testing out Eau De Gentiane Blanche, which sounded like something I'd like and was already sitting in my Amazon.com shopping cart but I didn't want to buy blind. (I did like it, despite the "bell pepper" note.) I also schmoozed the very cute Thierry Mugler SA (whom I have dealt with before) and got a sample of the new A*Men Pure Havane for Mr Minx. I also got a sample of Angel Sunessence, which is much more compatible with my skin chemistry than any other version of Angel I've tried so far, but unfortunately still smells like Angel. And I spent some time chatting with the Penhaligon's SA, finally trying Amaranthine. It's really quite lovely on paper, but something about it just doesn't work on my skin. That's ok - I didn't need to spend any money. There was still Aedes de Venustas to explore.

I had Aedes pretty much to myself, so sniffed just about everything they had, including the new Lubins, most of the Frederick Malles and Serge Lutens, and various other niche scents. I walked away with several bits of scented paper plus a sample of Odin Nomad to try at a later date. I really love the incense-y L'Artisan Parfumeur scent custom-blended for the shop, but at $185, it's a bit spendy for me. After Aedes, I walked across 6th Avenue to Bigelow and explored their eclectic fragrance department. There I found scents from Acqua di Parma, Juliette Has a Gun, Robert Piguet, and Trance Essence, as well as Chanel and Geo. F. Trumper. I picked up a bottle of AdP Blu Mediterraneo Fico di Amalfi to share with my BFF Andree, a Bigelow-branded fragrance called Winter Lemon, and a lovely home fragrance by Belle Fleur called White Orchid Tea.

The next day was the start of Sniffapalooza proper, and I made sure to get myself to Bergdorf Goodman well in advance of the 8:15 am start time for their famous breakfast. Last year, I got stuck at a table full of rude strangers; this year, I planned on snagging one of the little tables for two at the back of the room. Once seated, I was able to enjoy some fruit salad and pastries before the presentations began. The breakfast is always my favorite part of Sniffa because the various reps show off the new scents in the line, handing out scented cards and ribbons. It's a good way for me to decide which counters to hit right away, and perhaps which to avoid. Nothing I sniffed was a must-have this season, so I merely wandered around and gossiped with my friends, makeup artists David Aikman and Donna Muzio at Estee Lauder, and Jason Beers at Guerlain. Donna put on some new lips for me and I purchased a liner and gloss, and I also bought some hair and skin products from Kiehl's. No fragrances this time, but then I had already done puh-lenty of damage earlier in the month during their gift card sale. 'Nuff said.

Because last year's lunch made me homicidal crazy, I skipped it this time and did my own thing. After eating, I still had almost an hour to kill, so I wandered up and down 5th Avenue before stepping into the next shop on the schedule - Henri Bendel. They carry a lot of fragrances, but the amount of real estate they give to them is ridiculously tiny, so I took the opportunity to sniff as much as possible before the rest of the gang arrived. During this time, I caught up with perfumer Neil Morris and got a personal tour of the several Vault fragrances he brought along with him. While all were quite nice, I really fell for the fabulous coffee-scented Izmir (papaya, orange, cinnamon, rose, fig, geranium, coffee, vanilla, agar wood, sea air, patchouli), and I have to admit I liked the semi-strangeness of Fetish (myrrh, ambergris, rosewood, musk, oud, leather, benzoin, patchouli), particularly the unusual vinyl note. I spent some time sniffing the Memoire Liquide scents, and fell in love with Soleil Liquide from their "Reserve" collection. That went into my shopping cart, along with the embarrassingly-named ELDO scent, Don't Get Me Wrong Baby..., so I could score the usually-fab GWP. This time, it was a vinyl Bendel's tote bag with lots of samples, plus a full-sized Kai body lotion.

At this point, I was already sniffed-out. I found a couple of friends whom I had met last year and walked with them to The Plaza, initially to sit out the Krigler presentation and have a drink, but we couldn't find the bar! (I guess we were already drunk on perfume.) Instead, we partook of the free wine at the presentation, where I found another friend. Honestly, one of the best things about Sniffa is chatting with other like-minded fragrance aficionados. We sat at Krigler entirely too long and missed the festivities and the macarons downstairs at Plaza Beauty. At that point I was ready to go back home to Baltimore, sated both by food and fragrance, yet already ready for next Fall's event. For more information on Sniffapalooza, check out their Web site.

Originally posted by theminx on Opalescentminx.com

Memories and Azuree Soleil

It's funny how memory works, particularly with fragrance. How a single sniff of something can cause a "madeleine moment," bringing back memories much like Proust's famous cakelet. For some unexplained reason, the smell of Estee Lauder's Azuree Soleil Eau Fraiche Skinscent, released in 2007 as part of their Tom Ford collection, made me think of my mother. She never wore tropical fragrances, certainly nothing with tiare or coconut. She wasn't a beach bunny by any means. Yet, one brief smell of this scent brought her to my mind.

Each of us has a personal scent, the smell of our skin oils, or sebum, the waxy excretions of sebaceous glands that keep our hair and skin moisturized. The smell can permeate the fibers of clothing, particularly synthetics, and linger unpleasantly. Some people smell better than others--I can think of two men in my life who barely have any scent at all, while two others are strong-smelling enough that they are practically gamy. I can only imagine that there is something about Azuree Soleil that reminds me of the smell of Mom's scalp, her own personal perfume. My mother died in 2001, so I am happy for anything that reminds me of her. As it goes, the smell of ELAS no longer brings her to mind, which is a shame.

Azuree Soleil isn't around anymore, but Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess is very nearly the same fragrance.

Here are my original thoughts on the scent, originally posted in Sniffapalooza Magazine, ca. 2007.
---------------------------------

Tom Ford's Azurée body oil was a huge success when it was released last year; people rhapsodized about it being summer in a bottle. This April, its fans (and everyone else who didn't get a chance to grab some while it was available) will have another chance to test this modern reinterpretation of a classic.

As with Youth Dew, Tom Ford has left his mark on another Estée Lauder fragrance. The original Azurée, released in 1969, was a woody citrus fragrance, "inspired by the pure light of the Riviera." The new version, however, is more of a fun-in-the-sun California beach scent. Light and warm, Azurée Soleil is redolent of coconut, tiare flower and jasmine, with a subtle spark of citrus. The coconut is not of the cloying type one might find in a tropical drink but rather the light and mild sweetness of coconut water, the refreshing liquid within the nut. These notes are wrapped in a warm cloud of woods and amber, touched with a dollop of caramel. And like Youth Dew Amber Nude, this scent has an old-fashioned quality that makes one nostalgic.

Azurée Soleil is a skin scent--skin in the summertime. The first whiff took me back to my childhood in the early 70s, forming a clear picture of my mother as she sits on the beach in her yellow bikini, wearing a chustka (kerchief) on her head to keep the sand out of her hair. She smelled of suntan lotion and shampoo, combined with her own natural fragrance.

We didn't go to the beach much, but I recall this one particular week-long trip, taken by Mom, my little brother, and me (Dad had to work), as being a wonderful time. Although not exactly, Azurée Soleil smells enough like Mom to bring tears to my eyes at the memory of her.

Notes: Tahitian gardenia petals, coconut, orange flower buds, jasmine, magnolia petals, myrrh, bergamot, mandarin, amber, sandalwood, vetiver, caramel

-----------------------
Posted by theminx on Minxstinks

Minxstinks!

I recently started a new Instagram account, @minxstinks, and felt that maybe I should start a blog to go with it. Or maybe it's the other way around? In any case, I hope to start posting my thoughts on various fragrances, some favorite and some not. I make no claims as a fragrance expert, though I think I do have a good palate and therefore a pretty good nose. I also have pretty strong opinions, so if you're not into those, you might want to leave now.

There will be some older posts as well, gleaned from my two prior fragrance blogs. You know, just to get the ball rolling until I get my lazy ass in gear and start writing here in earnest.

Enjoy! or not. Please remember to leave a comment.

Thanks for reading,
Kathy


-----------------------
Posted by theminx on Minxstinks