20 Saturday Apr 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent, Perfume Bottles
“I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet…” — Irving Berlin (1933)
via Worthpoint
Whether you’re celebrating Easter this weekend or just getting in the mood to enjoy your spring wardrobe, here’s a vintage perfume presentation for you.
15 Monday Apr 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent
Édouard Baldus, Facade of Notre-Dame de Paris, between 1851 and 1870. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Since France has been the center of Western perfumery for several centuries, and so many major fragrance houses have been based in Paris, it’s no surprise that Paris landmarks — including the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris — make cameo appearances in so many perfume advertisements.
Earlier today, Notre-Dame was engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire hasn’t been established yet. While we’re reflecting on this event, let’s take a break from the news footage of the conflagration and look back at a few images of Notre-Dame in fragrance ads…
15 Monday Apr 2019
Posted in Perfume Reviews
My latest post on Now Smell This is a review of the fragrance Hallucinogenic Pearl from A Lab on Fire.
You can read it here.
09 Tuesday Apr 2019
Posted in Perfume Reviews
Tags
aroma m, dawn spencer hurwitz, fragrance, frederic malle, gucci, ineke, lilac, perfume, yves saint laurent
Mary Cassatt, Lilacs in a Window, 1880-1883. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Partial and Promised Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Dillon, 1997. 1997.207
— T. S. Eliot, The Wasteland (I. The Burial of the Dead)
If you asked me to name my favorite flower, or my favorite floral note in perfume, lilac wouldn’t be the first one I’d name. It might not even appear in my “top five.” Yet every April there’s a day when I have the opportunity to visit the blooming lilac trees in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and I suddenly want to spray myself with a lilac fragrance.
Here are a few recommendations, including three from independent female perfumers and one from a preeminent female “nose.”
07 Sunday Apr 2019
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
Portrait of Billie Holiday and her dog Mister, New York, N.Y., ca. June 1946, William P. Gottlieb Collection, Library of Congress)
April 7th is Billie Holiday’s birthday! “Lady Day” was born on this day in 1915 (and died in 1959, far too young).
I’ve been listening to her music since my early twenties but I never thought to wonder, until today: what was her favorite perfume?
29 Friday Mar 2019
Posted in Perfume Reviews
≈ Comments Off on Perfume Review: Maison Margiela Mutiny
My latest post on Now Smell This is a review of Mutiny, the new fragrance from Maison Margiela.
You can read it here.
28 Thursday Mar 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent, Art and Scent
Fragrance aficionados don’t pay much attention to Elizabeth Arden’s fragrance line these days, and I can’t really blame them (us)—the brand’s perfumes, and even their marketing, aren’t too memorable…
22 Friday Mar 2019
Posted in Passing Fancies
Tags
Reading: Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Audio: Lots of 1960s guitar rock lately
Video: Sorry to Bother You
Art: Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future at the Guggenheim
20 Wednesday Mar 2019
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
Jason and Donkey Doug, via NBC
In a recent episode of “The Good Place” titled “The Ballad of Donkey Doug” (Season 3, Episode 6), we got re-acquainted with Jason Mendoza’s best friend Pillboi and learned more about his other friend, Donkey Doug.
Jason, Michael, and Tahani pay a call to Donkey Doug’s apartment in Florida and end up sitting through a conversation about Doug’s latest get-rich-quick scheme. He and Pillboi have come up with a ground-breaking (?) idea for a combination body spray and energy beverage — imagine the love-child of AXE and 5-Hour Energy, or BOD Man and Monster Energy Drink.
