My friend Alice has decided to seize the day. Not just today. Every day. She went swimming with turtles in the Galapagos and threw her own 40th birthday party. You would not put your money on Alice in a foot race, but she drives a Jaguar. This, technically, makes her a fast woman.
Alice hinted that my blog posts might be getting windy and had the extraordinary perspective to suggest her recent episode with Boucheron Jaipur would liven things up. Jaipur is one of Sophia Grojsman's creations, a sister of White Linen, Calyx, Paris, Bvlgari Pour Femme, Yvress, Eternity, Trésor, White Diamonds, Beautiful and the new Outrageous, among others. It contains plum, apricot, peach, violet, rose (because Sophia never met a rose she didn't like), locust-tree, heliotrope, peony, iris, white musk and sandalwood. Nose Jean-Pierre-Mar collaborated with Grojsman on the scent.
Red herring!!! It doesn't matter what Jaipur smells like, but you should know that this is a perfume with pedigree, just as Alice is a person of great class. Kinda dry sense of humor, sometimes, best not to be the object... But overall, regal, generous, patient, intellectually gifted, a culture maven and great cook.
Alice told me two weeks ago, with great equanimity, that she broke her bottle. "Your Jaipur!" I gasped. "Yes," I could see her smiling though we spoke by phone. "The one you let me smell?" "Yes." "The one I loved?" "That one," Alice said in a consoling voice. I was confused by her reaction - no, by the lack of a reaction, and continued to probe.
Pretty straightforward case, as it happens, of a dropped bottle that broke and did not miraculously heal itself. Additional details did not change the basic outlines of the situation. Glass all over. Perfume all over. A bathroom and walk-in dressing area redolent of Jaipur.
How was Alice coping? "Oh, it's wonderful! Every time I walk anywhere near it smells just like Jaipur! I don't even have to spray it on."
Alice's perfume bottle is not completely empty. Her bathroom floor is completely full.
Carry on Alice. Go for broke!
P.S. Alice - need 40th birthday party photograph for inquiring readers.
Showing posts with label mood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mood. Show all posts
Monday, November 17, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Candle Therapy, Yankee Style
Home scenting goes upscale as your new taper exudes tobacco, fig or green bamboo.
We are ever-more-hip to the great mood a good smell can launch and home scenters now deal routinely with our mental health.
Rick Ruffalo, CEO and the marketing face of Yankee Candle, explained the new possibilities to a group of fragrance experts in September, 2008. Fragrance is used to enhance and remember events, to create environments and moods. Florals and musks for romance, vanilla and spice as invitations home, ozone and pine to relax, licorice and cinnamon to promote alertness and lavender for sweet dreams. Yankee Candle has innovated with No-Smella, the new anti-citronella that expels mosquitoes but refrains from competition with the scent of your favorite hot dog, hamburger and sausage. Highbrow stuff.
Last November, I had occasion to watch gifted scent critic Luca Turin's face as he smelled a votive of Yankee's Macintosh for the first time. "A date with Macintosh" was in order, he allowed.
Yankee Candle’s flagship store in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, affectionately dubbed The Scenter of the Universe, is a Disneyworld of home decorating products and scent experiences. This winter, you can buy candles in a room where it snows every four minutes.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Scent Memory Healing
Last night at Connecticut's Bee and Thistle Inn, peerless for comfort, cuisine, arts and culture, I met a dashing man who shared his love for Aromatics Elixir. He got that faraway look as he spoke of the perfume, and confessed to foisting it on his wife, though she is not a fan.
I recalled hounding a woman in a tropical climate, only to learn that the complex but ethereal scent attracting me was the very same. It smelled just right, even in the hot sun. Yet many who try this Clinique scent initially act like they've just gotten a whiff of some heavy like Youth Dew or Opium. The furrowed brow, the pursed lips and the inevitable comment about old ladies and/or my grandmother.
On another occasion when I asked a stranger about the marvelous fragrance, it had a funkier, hippie-vibe. Hint: patchouli, but hush-hush, the very mention of that leaf, despite its refreshing mint-family connections, clears any room.
This story has a purpose beyond perfume critique. Back to my new friend at the Inn. He was enjoying an evening at the rugby club with friends, all male. In burst a woman in trauma, just attacked on the street outside. She was emotionally out of control and no one could get her to talk. This went on. Finally one of the men, a burly police officer off-duty, commented: "You're wearing Aromatics." Immediately the assault victim snapped-to, and became herself.
So much talk about the personal memories triggered by scent and the places they take us. Now the idea that scent memories of another can foster healing in someone so in need. How strong is our desire to be known, to be recognized and remembered! This is the attraction of a "signature scent."
I recalled hounding a woman in a tropical climate, only to learn that the complex but ethereal scent attracting me was the very same. It smelled just right, even in the hot sun. Yet many who try this Clinique scent initially act like they've just gotten a whiff of some heavy like Youth Dew or Opium. The furrowed brow, the pursed lips and the inevitable comment about old ladies and/or my grandmother.
On another occasion when I asked a stranger about the marvelous fragrance, it had a funkier, hippie-vibe. Hint: patchouli, but hush-hush, the very mention of that leaf, despite its refreshing mint-family connections, clears any room.
This story has a purpose beyond perfume critique. Back to my new friend at the Inn. He was enjoying an evening at the rugby club with friends, all male. In burst a woman in trauma, just attacked on the street outside. She was emotionally out of control and no one could get her to talk. This went on. Finally one of the men, a burly police officer off-duty, commented: "You're wearing Aromatics." Immediately the assault victim snapped-to, and became herself.
So much talk about the personal memories triggered by scent and the places they take us. Now the idea that scent memories of another can foster healing in someone so in need. How strong is our desire to be known, to be recognized and remembered! This is the attraction of a "signature scent."
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Cristalle and Me
If pressed to share my favorite perfume, I would say it is Chanel Cristalle. I don’t always have it, but have returned to it more times than to any other scent.
In a women’s beauty magazine, actor Chris Noth commented: “Cristalle -- oh, man, I have to get on my knees and beg for a whiff. It makes me stop in my tracks." Celebrity endorsements aside, not many are with me on this. Cristalle is the opposite of a warm and fuzzy fragrance. It seems to say: “I may be pretty, but I’m all about business, buster.” After a long period of disloyalty, I saw it on the dressing table of a new friend and tried it on. Much better than I remembered. On that day, I particularly noticed the lushness underneath the severity of Cristalle.
Another time I purchased Cristalle online and was surprised at how much sharper, greener it was than my previous bottle. Still very pleasant, but in a more bracing way, I assumed it had been a knock-off, only later learning that Chanel uses a different formula in the eau de parfum and the eau de toilette. Chanel and Hermès are known for this. A good reason to try before we buy!
Once, on a train from New York to Boston, I smelled Cristalle. A woman in her early 60’s, eyes closed, slept on her husband’s shoulder. Comfortable, distinguished, surely the one. I held myself back from approaching: “Excuse me, I notice you are wearing a fragrance I have admired for decades. Who are you and when did you find Cristalle? Is it your signature scent or part of a fragrance wardrobe? You have great taste. I love you. But so sorry to interrupt. Thank you. Goodbye. But one more thing, I meant to tell you that you smell great.”
In a women’s beauty magazine, actor Chris Noth commented: “Cristalle -- oh, man, I have to get on my knees and beg for a whiff. It makes me stop in my tracks." Celebrity endorsements aside, not many are with me on this. Cristalle is the opposite of a warm and fuzzy fragrance. It seems to say: “I may be pretty, but I’m all about business, buster.” After a long period of disloyalty, I saw it on the dressing table of a new friend and tried it on. Much better than I remembered. On that day, I particularly noticed the lushness underneath the severity of Cristalle.
Another time I purchased Cristalle online and was surprised at how much sharper, greener it was than my previous bottle. Still very pleasant, but in a more bracing way, I assumed it had been a knock-off, only later learning that Chanel uses a different formula in the eau de parfum and the eau de toilette. Chanel and Hermès are known for this. A good reason to try before we buy!
Once, on a train from New York to Boston, I smelled Cristalle. A woman in her early 60’s, eyes closed, slept on her husband’s shoulder. Comfortable, distinguished, surely the one. I held myself back from approaching: “Excuse me, I notice you are wearing a fragrance I have admired for decades. Who are you and when did you find Cristalle? Is it your signature scent or part of a fragrance wardrobe? You have great taste. I love you. But so sorry to interrupt. Thank you. Goodbye. But one more thing, I meant to tell you that you smell great.”
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