So…it’s been quite a week. I didn’t post much last week, knowing that we were all  absorbing current events and keeping up with the headlines and spending more time on other kinds of reading and resources.

But this weekly feature does make me feel a little more focused, at a time when almost everything else is so unpredictable, so I’ll keep it up. And I’m working on a more topical post for later this week, in the meanwhile…

For Week 7 I shared some familiar fragrance favorites, mostly roses and violets. Last week I focused on carnation, another favorite floral note. Here are five carnation-centered perfumes that I pulled from my stash of bottles and samples:

Caron Bellodgia

I revisited the post-2007 reformulation of Bellodgia to see whether it had grown on me over time. Nope. How did they wreck this classic? And now it’s been discontinued.

I can only pray that somehow, someday, Caron will change hands again and some new owner will bring back a worthy reinterpretation of the older version.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Oeillet Sauvage

I own this fragrance in two different bottles, sold at different points over the past fifteen years. There was a slight reformulation in between, but I still like Oeillet Sauvage an awful lot. It’s a more ylang-ylang-accented take on carnation, with a custard-y vanilla note.

You can read my review on Now Smell This here.

Aedes de Venustas Oeillet Bengale

The perfumes in Aedes’s house line are uniformly solid. They’re not quite my thing, since most of them are heavy on various resin and wood notes, but this incense-y carnation blend is a perfect fall-weather scent.

Robin liked it even more than I did; see here take here, on NST.

Oriza L. Legrand Oeillet Louis XV

Look at that bottle! Unfortunately, Oriza L. Legrand apparently has changed the packaging…but this peppery-woody take on carnation, named for the king who supported and expanded France’s perfume industry, is still worth a sniff.

Olfactoria wrote a nice review of it, here.

Alchemologie Flora

Last, but definitely  not least, here’s my favorite carnation scent by a natural perfumer. Julianne Zaleta’s Flora is a warm, gentle interpretation with touches of clove and vanilla. All-botanical, all lovely.

I haven’t reviewed it, but you can find more information on the Alchemologie website.

I wish I could find some decent carnation body products. If you can think of any, please let me know!

And take care until we “meet” again…