sherapop's salon de parfum: April 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A Must-Sniff List ... Entries 26-30

Introduction (and entries 1-5); Entries 6-10; Entries 11-15; Entries 16-20; Entries 21-25

Today's entries (26-30):

1. Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien: because summer is just around the bend and we all--guys and gals alike--need a spritz of this citrus-cypress perfume refreshment!

2. Pierre Balmain Balmain: because this is a great unisex fragrance waiting for you to discover!

3. Caron Narcisse Noir: because though my bottle contains a reformulation, I love it all the same!

4. Jean Desprez Bal à Versailles: because when I discovered that my tester bottle of this rich and intense oriental perfume had evaporated due to a faulty nozzle, I nearly cried!

5. Kenzo Jungle L'Eléphant: because sometimes a herd of elephants is desperately needed!

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Running Tally

Here's the complete list alphabetized by house and which will grow each day by five entries. Please note again that the numbers for each day reflect only the fact that these perfumes popped into my mind in this order. Not an objective ranking or even a subjective ordering of my preferences--just what I happened to think of! To give these posts a bit more content, I'll link my latest review from sherapop's sillage...

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile (eau de parfum)

Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien

L'Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine

Pierre Balmain Balmain

Caron Narcisse Noir

Caron The Third Man (Le Troisième Homme)

Creed Love in Black

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie

DelRae Mythique

Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces

Fresh Cannabis Santal

Guerlain Chamade

Hermès 24, Faubourg

Ineke Gilded Lily

Jean Desprez Bal à Versailles

Juliette Has A Gun Vengeance Extrême

Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses

Kenzo Jungle L'Eléphant

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit

Lush Lust

Mäurer & Wirtz 4711

Miller Harris L'Air de Rien

Miller Harris En Sens de Bois

Molinard Patchouli

Montale Roses Petals

Nejma Two

Prada Infusion d'Iris (eau de parfum)

Robert Piguet Fracas

Rochas Femme

Tocca Bianca

Monday, April 28, 2014

A Must-Sniff List ... Entries 21-25

Introduction (and entries 1-5); Entries 6-10; Entries 11-15; Entries 16-20

Today's entries (21-25):

1. Montale Roses Petals: First, because everyone needs to experience the rose-Western oud genre made famous by Pierre Montale and copied by countless others--and this is the one which I happen to own. Second, because I donned this after a bath last night and it transformed my entire outlook on life!

2. Tocca Bianca: because I need to include at least one perfume on this list of which pitbull friend heartily approves! Plus, it's the best of a line which seems to be spiraling into an endless vortex of fruitish-floralia at this point in time... The bottle is a must-have, in my opinion. Paperweight, implement of bedside self-defense, or eye candy? Answer: All of the above!

3. Creed Love in Black: because I love Love in Black no matter what the detractors may say!

4. Rochas Femme: because the 1989 reformulation of this enticing fruity chypre is better than most new launches today. (I cannot however offer any insight into the P&G twenty-first century reformulations--I've intentionally steered clear especially of the new cookie-cutter bottles--and therefore urge Madie and others to obtain a bottle of this perfume from the deep-discounters with dark warehouses filled with bottles never sold from pre-Y2K days.)

5. Molinard Patchouli: because this is a great unisex savory patchouli from a traditional house established in 1849 and still operating out of Grasse (as in "jasmine from Grasse"). Amazingly, the Molinard soliflores (several of which I own, including Jasmin) are available from discounters for the price of Axe body spray!

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Running Tally

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile (eau de parfum)

L'Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine

Caron The Third Man (Le Troisième Homme)

Creed Love in Black

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie

DelRae Mythique

Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces

Fresh Cannabis Santal

Guerlain Chamade

Hermès 24, Faubourg

Ineke Gilded Lily

Juliette Has A Gun Vengeance Extrême

Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit

Lush Lust

Mäurer & Wirtz 4711

Miller Harris L'Air de Rien

Miller Harris En Sens de Bois

Molinard Patchouli

Montale Roses Petals

Nejma Two

Prada Infusion d'Iris (eau de parfum)

Robert Piguet Fracas

Rochas Femme

Tocca Bianca

Sunday, April 27, 2014

A Must-Sniff List for Salon de Parfum Reader "Madie": Entries 16-20

Introduction (and entries 1-5); Entries 6-10; Entries 11-15

Today's entries (16-20):

1. Mäurer & Wirtz 4711 (Echt Kölnisch Wasser--Original Eau de Cologne): because for a modest sum you can connect olfactorily with your remote German relatives from centuries past--and also find out why Tom Ford is getting the last laugh!

2. L'Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine: because a sack of flour and a sack of sawdust smell mighty fine juxtaposed!

3. Miller Harris L'Air de Rien: because Christos of Memory of Scent finds that this perfume smells like a baby's head!

4. Fresh Cannabis Santal: because this perfume may have helped to usher in the legalization of marijuana in the state of Colorado! (Okay, Big Pharma probably had more to do with it, what with the way they dole out drugs these days...)

5. Juliette Has A Gun Vengeance Extrême: because sometimes donning a perfume which forces one into lock down under house arrest until the next full bath is a very good thing!

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Running Tally

Caron The Third Man (Le Troisième Homme)

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie

DelRae Mythique

Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces

Fresh Cannabis Santal

Guerlain Chamade

Hermès 24, Faubourg

Ineke Gilded Lily

Juliette Has A Gun Vengeance Extrême

Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit

Lush Lust

Mäurer & Wirtz 4711

Miller Harris L'Air de Rien

Miller Harris En Sens de Bois

Nejma Two

Prada Infusion d'Iris (eau de parfum)

Robert Piguet Fracas

Saturday, April 26, 2014

A Must-Sniff List for Salon de Parfum Reader "Madie": Entries 11-15

Introduction (and entries 1-5)

Entries 6-10

Today's entries (11-15):

1. Parfums de DelRae Mythique: because ambrette and iris are a perfume marriage made in heaven!

2. Ineke Gilded Lily: because this is my favorite from the line!

3. Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit: because everyone needs a LL flanker in a gorgeous dark purple bottle!

4. Caron The Third Man (Le Troisième Homme): because this is a great unisex classic named after one of my all-time favorite films!

5. Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile (eau de parfum): because I recently wore this during my moving ultramarathon and realized again how truly gorgeous it is!

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Running Tally

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile (eau de parfum)

Caron The Third Man (Le Troisième Homme)

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie

DelRae Mythique

Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces

Guerlain Chamade

Hermès 24, Faubourg

Ineke Gilded Lily

Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Minuit

Lush Lust

Miller Harris En Sens de Bois

Nejma Two

Prada Infusion d'Iris (eau de parfum)

Robert Piguet Fracas

Friday, April 25, 2014

A Must-Sniff List for Salon de Parfum Reader "Madie": Entries 6-10

Introduction (link to yesterday's post and the first five entries...)

Today's entries (6-10):

1. Hermès 24, Faubourg. Because this perfume, along with the music of J.S. Bach and the existence of cats, keeps me agnostic!

2. Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses. Because a sexier rose there never was!

3. Nejma Two. Because William Shakespeare dba "Pierre Montale" is not the only rose-oud player in town!

4. Lush Lust. First, because a sliver of soap scented with this perfume stunk up my bathroom for an entire year. Second, because this perfume can be used to define the expression "death by jasmine" by ostension.

5. Miller Harris En Sens de Bois. Because when I cannot take the aromachemical "woodish" nonsense any longer, I reach for this bottle and find that there is still hope!

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Running Tally

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie

Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces

Guerlain Chamade

Hermès 24, Faubourg

Keiko Mecheri Attar de Roses

Lush Lust

Miller Harris En Sens de Bois

Nejma Two

Prada Infusion d'Iris (eau de parfum)

Robert Piguet Fracas

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Excursus: Flattery Will Get You Everywhere...

I am still deep in the midst of my twelve-step program for recovery from The Big Move, part of the therapy for which is naturally my multi-part series, "The Scent of Moving." However, I received a lovely missive from one "Madie" at Fragrantica, so I thought that I'd act on her request, which I share here for your full consideration (I trust that she is protected from trolls by her pseudonym):

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Hi Sherapop,

Firstly I just want to thank you for your numerous insightful posts on fragrantica! I have been spending many an hour browsing here to learn more about different perfumes. I have also spent some time on your blogs and have thoroughly enjoyed it!

I am very saddened by the death of your cat.... I am a cat lover too and have a beautiful Cornish Rex called Cleo(she has diabetes and has to be monitored closely).

Secondly: I am very new to the world of perfume(where have I spent my life before??!!) and am now obsessed about it(I do have some OCD traits;-)). As I am a perfume virgin(just my saying), I would like to be introduced to perfume the right way! Sooooo, I have been wondering if you could compile a list of say 50/100(or as many as needed) must have perfumes(works of art/memorable/just plaingoodsmelling/personal loves/etc).

You can either email me or post it on your blog. It is just that I am completely lost and with a limited budget it is difficult to know where to start! I am also not in an area where I have free access to perfume in general and not even closely to any of the niche/better perfumes. I have to buy online and am completely overwhelmed by the selection!

Thirdly: Could you also please recommend some trustworthy online retailers? I am looking at Fragrancenet and FragranceX. I am in NZ and am moving back to South Africa soon. I will make sure that retailers deliver to these countries.

Thanks again for all your beautiful writing!

Hope your move went very well and that you are settled in already...

Madie

ps: I wish I could write as well as you but English is my second language... How did you learn to write this good?

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It all starts with adverbs, Madie. (Sorry, I could not resist...)

It's always nice to find signs of intelligent life and gestures of civility out there in the vast universe of perfume users and aspiring perfumistas, and it occurred to me that Madie's request for a list of "must sniff" perfumes is an excellent idea. In fact, as I packed my (ahem) hundreds of bottles of perfume, many of which I have not worn in recent memory, I started reaching for some "must sniffs" because I could not gamble under the circumstances with scents which might necessitate an extra bath. Time was of the essence! So what are my "top fifty or one hundred must-sniff perfumes"? I think that I'm just going to list these in whatever order they pop into my mind. Let's try five at a time, starting with:

1. Robert Piguet Fracas: because a shinier and pinker tuberose perfume there could never be!

2. Guerlain Chamade: because, well, smell it, and then you'll know why!

3. Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie: because a rose is a rose is a rose and would smell as scrumptious by any other name!

4. Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces: because some people think that it smells like dirty private parts, but I think that it smells as clean a newborn babe's bottom!

5. Prada Infusion d'Iris: because according to the Parfumo.net database, I've logged this perfume more than any other since January 2012--though I have not worn it since I drained my first (ahem) 200ml bottle! This summer I'll definitely be cracking open the splash bottle the size of a San Pellegrino--yes, that's right: 800ml (courtesy of Fragrancenet.com, in case you were wondering...as Madie was!) Looking forward to smelling all clean and powdery and wafting of cedar and iris throughout the hottest months of summer!

That's all for today, but I'll add five more items to the list tomorrow... stay tuned... And many thanks to Madie for suggesting that I do this! (entries 6-10)