Perfume This & That

Photo by Douglas Bender of Charenton Macerations

* A warm welcome to Forbes readers!
  The new visitors to this blog are getting here from this article about Mandy Aftel's new book, Fragrant (which I promise to review in detail soon, or rather: the Husband promised to do it).
 

* A quick reminder: We have a giveaway for two Bruno Fazzolari works of art: a sample of the beautiful Au Dela Narcisse des Montagnes and the print created to accompany the fragrance. Go here to enter.

* A new fragrance from NYC-based Charenton Macerations is about to be released. The project was inspired by street art and is centered around a unique rose note. I've had the honor and pleasure of smelling several of the mods throughout the development of the perfume, and see its progression from an idea to a final product. I'm in awe of the work, the vision, and the way the end result is, indeed, bottled urban art. The IndieGoGo campaign is currently in progress, and you can think of it as a pre-sale for the perfume that allows you to buy samples or a full bottle with some extras. If you tried and liked Christopher Street, the first Charenton Macerations perfume and one of the best and most intriguing releases from last year, it's worth your time to check out CM2.

* I'm still wearing L'Orpheline just about every other day. Serge Lutens is challenging me like never before. Not because the perfume is so difficult, but because it's not. And I'm still trying to find the real Uncle Serge in it.

* Last week I got to try Sadanne, the new Slumberhouse perfume. More important, I got to smell is on the skin of various friends and acquaintances. I don't think I can review it, because that'll require actually wearing Sadanne for extensive periods of time, which is not a prudent move if I want to remain a) sane, and b) married. On some people, though,  this is a beautiful and more than a little animalic perfume. I can't deal with the homicidal strawberry note, but on the lucky ones this can be rather stunning, so sampling is a must.


* I know I mentioned briefly that perfumer Alexis Karl has a new project. This is a semi-secret, kind of an undergroundish perfume, due to the raw ingredients used to make it. The perfume is called Poetry of Longing, and it gave me a serious case of OMG and heart palpitations. Poetry of Longing is a chocolate scent, yet quite different than Body Made Luminous, the stunning Scents by Alexis cult-favorite. It's dirtier, sexier, and the chocolate has a molten, milky quality. The idea behind it is coveting something to the point of needing it physically and emotionally, and the palpable satisfaction it creates, just like a piece of the most wonderful chocolate you can imagine. This perfume is not going to be listed on the site or on Etsy, but you can get it directly by contacting Alexis and sending her a few lines of a favorite poem, something that is close to your heart.