A Favorite: Trudon Bruma

created with Ideogram AI and Adobe Photoshop
What I really wanted to do was fairly complex, involving a suede purse tipped on its side on the grass, with a lipstick and a tin of pastilles spilled out of it. Behind it would be irises, violets, jasmine, peonies.
Unfortunately, Ideogram wouldn't give me the purse I wanted, or it made some bizarre mutant purse with straps coming out of odd places, with far more things spilling out than I asked for. So I gave up and generated something far more simple. I still had to Photoshop the heck out of it. 

Trudon Bruma

Galbanum, Black Pepper, Lavender, Iris Flower, Violet, Peony, Jasmine, Vetiver, Labdanum, Tonka

During a visit to the Trudon boutique in SoHo, I scored a travel spray of Bruma. It was given as a thank you for attending the Spring Sniffapalooza event in 2024--a very generous gift. I had sniffed it before, during an online master class with Trudon and BeautyHabit, but it didn't stick in my mind. Rather, I was too taken with the sublimely smoky Revolution to pay attention to the other scents in the collection. (This goes to show that perfumes may need to be tried multiple times before they hit the right spot.) At the boutique, I was given a choice of two or three fragrances; I chose Bruma because it was presented as an iris scent, which is right up my alley. But to me, Bruma does not smell particularly of iris. I mean, yes, there's iris, but it isn't what I'd call a primarily iris fragrance. It smells of too many other things. It's green. It's floral. It's powdery. It's peppery. It's aromatic. It has an old-fashioned vibe. It's quite perfume-y. It's warm, but also cool. It's cozy. It's musky. It's one of those fragrances that can fit any occasion, be worn in any temperature, and has become something I reach for when I really don't know what I feel like wearing. Bruma is subtle, sophisticated, balanced, velvety and a bit mysterious. It is always perfect. I honestly adore it. 

It starts out soft and girly, and a bit old-fashioned, with definite iris and violet but also the dry warmth of pepper and a whisper of leather. It's like rummaging through a suede purse and pulling out a lipstick. It's also green and floral in turn, as if that purse was outdoors, in a garden. For a moment, there's also something vaguely candied about it, though it's not sweet. As if that lipstick has become pastilles instead, but are still living in that purse. 

Sometimes, when I wear this, I get a whiff of something clean wafting up from my shirt. It's basically the same floral/lightly green scent, but in a different form. A shift from powdery to soapy. Actually, Bruma isn't really powdery, but rather coated in a gauzy floral veil that's airy rather than heady.

If you're into unusual floral scents that seem to veer a bit old-fashioned (yet don't smell vintage), give Bruma a try. 

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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.

A NY Sniffari - Part One

created with Ideogram AI and Adobe Photoshop

I live in Baltimore, where there are no good places to sniff perfumes. Yeah, we have Sephora, Macy's, and Nordstrom at the closest mall, but they're all pretty awful when it comes to their perfume selection. My skin doesn't like 99% of designer fragrances, and that's what these shops sell. There's a Lush, too, which I have started to frequent, but there are only so many Lush fragrances I can own. (Seven seems like a lot to me, all purchased in 2024.) When I get the opportunity to go to New York, I make a list of perfume sources, check it twice, and plan my trip. I almost always go to Bergdorf's and Saks, more to visit with friends than to actually perfume shop. One of those friends has migrated to Bloomingdale's, so I had to add that to my itinerary. Turns out, they have an excellent perfume department. It's no Barney's, but it's quite good. The last time I was in Bloomie's, years ago, I felt it was just an overpriced Macy's. Clearly things have changed, despite the store now being a Macy's property. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I was spending three days in NY, and I chose a different part of town to explore each day. On Monday, I thought I'd wander through Chelsea and Greenwich Village, at least the small part that includes fragrance shops. The Maker Hotel has a lovely line of scents, available in their shop in Chelsea. Sadly, they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, which means I'll have to save that for another visit. Odin is a men's clothing shop on Greenwich Avenue that sells their own line of fragrances. I've loved Odin 01 Sunda since I first smelled it in 2009 or 2010, back when it was still called Nomad, but I never made the purchase. It's not like I could buy it just anywhere. So I made a point to go to the shop and take 01 home with me. As it turns out, pretty much all of their fragrances are great, at least the dozen or so geared toward men. The three aimed at women are nothing special. Just down the street from Odin is a Frederic Malle boutique. I wanted to smell most of their line, but for some reason the SA ignored about half my requests. They insist on spraying the blotter for the customer, so I couldn't just grab what I wanted and do it myself. (A man with a small dog pranced in at one point, clearly wanting to spritz himself with something and leave. He threw a small tantrum when another SA came out to tell him that he wasn't allowed to touch the testers on his own.) I was rather surprised that some of their lesser-known scents, like Uncut Gem and Music For a While, are just not particularly special. Perhaps I expect too much from the line? To be very honest, I find it quite uneven. I want all of their fragrances to be masterpieces, like Musc Ravageur and Carnal Flower, but they are...not. I left with a sample of Eau d'Hiver, a light and airy scent created by Jean-Claude Ellena. It's lovely, but I feel like it is too subtle, or perhaps I simply go noseblind. Still need to test this one a bit more.

In the evening, I popped into Ulta Beauty and Macy's. Ulta had nothing worth smelling, though the SA really tried. I feel that the popular new scents rely too heavily on synthetic aroma chemicals like ethylmaltol, cashmeran, and ambroxan to evoke a sensation (sweetness, coziness, etc.) as much as an actual smell. A little goes a long way for me. Sometimes too far. So while Burberry Goddess and its ilk are decent enough fragrances, they share a sameness that I have started thinking of as the "Sephora effect." Sadly (or not), on my skin they are cheap-smelling at best. I am either lucky or unlucky in this regard.

Macy's had a fairly well-stocked Hermes counter that wasn't busy, so I took the opportunity to try their newest scent, Barenia. I did like it, but was not bowled over. I picked up a sample to try later (though I misplaced it as soon as I got home). While I was at Hermes, a gentleman who struggled a bit with the English language came over and requested help with a scent. He wanted something light, but masculine. Or so it seemed. Everything the SA handed him was too strong, even Un Jardin en Méditerranée. I suggested the original Eau des Merveilles, which earned a more positive response. However, after sniffing each of his blotters once more, he thanked us and left. As did I, a few minutes later, off to find dinner and a cocktail.

 

Odin 01 Sunda

Juniper Berries, Bergamot, Himalayan Cedar, Heliotrope, Black Pepper, Palmarosa, Tonka Bean, Sandalwood, Musk

Despite the list of notes reading like a typical masculine-leaning cologne, what with the juniper, cedar, and pepper, Sunda is really all about the heliotrope and tonka, the sandalwood and the musk. It's a soft, vaguely nutty, cashmere blanket of a scent. It's both creamy and powdery, and super snuggly. As it dries down, I get some pepper, at which point Sunda reminds me a wee bit of L'Artisan Poivre Piquant. So glad to finally have this one in my collection.

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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.

Sniffapalooza Spring Fling 2024!

I hadn't been to an in-person Sniffapalooza event in years. I'd say at least ten, but probably more. Sniffa's regular Zoom events during the pandemic were a real life-saver though, giving me something to look forward to during the days when we weren't allowed to do much at all. Certainly not live perfume-sniffing. But live perfume sniffing is back, baby, and I'm here for it. Though I've done some solo sniffing the past couple of years, I thought it might be fun to do it in a group and with my BFF Andree, who had accompanied me on my earliest Sniffa excursions.

Back then, Sniffapalooza was a two day event. On Saturday we'd start at Bergdorf Goodman and work our way down 5th Avenue to Takashimaya, Henri Bendel, and Saks. Each of those stores was large enough to contain our crowd, making for a festive atmosphere. Sundays were spent at much smaller boutiques downtown--Le Labo, Lafco, Aedes de Venustas, Bond No. 9, Min New York--which meant we had to break up the party into more reasonably sized groups. Now, with the lack of uptown department stores, Sniffa is a downtown-only extravaganza. This year's agenda included visits to Le Labo, Malin & Goetz, Korres, Naxos Apothecary, Scent Bar, Mizensir, D.S. & Durga, Olfactory NYC, Trudon, and Harney & Sons. Most of these shops are the size of a luxurious broom closet. After stepping into the first shop, Malin & Goetz, and realizing there were already at least seventeen other people already crammed in there, I beat a hasty retreat as soon as I got my name tag and souvenir tote bag. Andree and I then scurried down the street to Scent Bar which had only two other customers. I figured most attendees would take the shops as they came upon them, but I thought it best if we skipped ahead to beat the crowds. 

the display at Korres

Korres sister company, Naxos Apothecary

We were able to visit each of the shops on the list at some point--excepting Olfactory NYC because I've had enough experience recently creating my own perfume. And since that neighborhood is chock full of other perfume boutiques, we added a couple more that were not part of the tour: Osswald and Diptyque. I had also wanted to check out Elorea, Fueguia 1833, Santa Maria Novella, and Byredo, but we ran out of time. Because in addition to sniffing, Sniffapalooza also involves eating. The customary lunch spot for some years has been La Mela, which has a private room large enough to accommodate 75 fragrance fans. Over nearly four hours, we enjoyed a five course family-style Italian meal that included salad, antipasti, pasta, a meat course, and dessert, while guest speakers told of indie and niche brands and plied us with samples. 

lunch at La Mela

Among the more intriguing scents introduced at the luncheon were those by Banomaria. The company's owner spent a lot of time explaining why she chose that name, but not nearly enough time giving us contact information. I hope to explore her scents more in an upcoming post, provided I can learn more about them. We also had a presentation by Maison Trudon, who was very generous with the samples and included a lovely scented wax cameo in addition to a few of their eaux de parfums. And visitors to their boutique were given a travel spray in a black velvet pouch (just under the DS & Durga box in the photo at the bottom of this post). I chose Bruma, a peppery green floral. Trudon is another line I will examine in depth at some point in the future.

Nils Beeman from Trudon

Unfortunately, when 75 enthusiastic people are enclosed in a small space, it can get quite loud, which makes it somewhat difficult to hear everything that is being said by presenters. Regardless, the lunch was quite good (the pasta was impressively al dente despite having been produced in large quantities and served on large platters) and the three-plus hours passed rather quickly.

So what did I buy? Just two fragrances: D.S. & Durga Steamed Rainbow and Naxos Apothecary Yria. I didn't have anything like either one in my collection. I was happy to be able to smell all of D.S & D's current scents in one place at one time. My past experiences with them led me to believe that all of their perfumes smelled literally of dirt (with other notes), but they actually have plenty of variety in their line. And Naxos fragrances were totally new to me and all quite lovely. 

The weekend's haul, including samples from side trips to Bergdorf's and Saks.

D. S. & Durga Steamed Rainbow

Blood Mandarin, Orange, Elemi, Grass, Almond Blossom, Cedar, Violet, Vetiver

This scent is bright sunshine and literal rainbows. Perfumer David Seth Moltz wanted to create a scent that smelled like an actual rainbow, so he used ingredients that matched the colors. red mandarin orange, yellow elemi resin, green cedar, blue almond flower, indigo grass, and violet vetiver vapors. Steamed Rainbow smells like a garden immediately after a thunderstorm, when the hot ground has been cooled by the sudden rain and is now steaming with humidity. There's definite citrus and grass and flowering trees anchored by a resiny and almost honeyed sweetness. I've read some reviews that say there's a mildew quality to this fragrance, and I can see where they're coming from. Steamed Rainbow doesn't actually smell like mildew, but rather gives that sensation of dampness, and the pitch of the notes--if I may use musical terms here--is of the same frequency as the pitch of the scent of some mildew. (The scent of a damp basement, for example, is quite different than the smell of a wet gym bag that has been left in the truck of the car for too many days.) I honestly don't have anything like Steamed Rainbow in my collection and hope to wear it a lot this summer.

Naxos Apothecary Yria

Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Cereal, Rose, Jasmine, Benzoin, Patchouli

With its sparkling pink pepper opening and unusual cereal note, Yria would not have been out of place in L'Artisan Parfumer's fragrance collection circa 2003. I have several bottles of their scents from that era, when they were probably my favorite fragrance house. Their scents were fun, for instance, evoking peppers--both green chiles and sneezy white pepper--or Turkish delight, or wheat. Yria's cereal note is like a bowl of shredded wheat steeped in milk. It's unusual and stands out amid the bright top notes, floral heart, and base of sweet woody benzoin and patch. It was love at first sniff when I lifted the Monclin-style glass vessel to my nose. The pink pepper--which has recently become a favorite note of mine--grabbed me and the cereal note said "buy me." So I did. Yria is the kind of scent that can be worn most of the year, but I think I'll get most use out of it in the spring and summer months.

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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