SOTD: Chanel Cuir de Russie (Les Exclusifs, EDT)

After only two wearings, Chanel Cuir de Russie is well on its way to being one of Those Scents - the scents at the core of my wardrobe, the ones that make me smell like me. I want some. The only question is whether I'm eventually getting a decant or a bottle, and how soon I can budget it.

I'm surprised that I feel comfortable in this scent. The elegance, the presence, the self-assured mood - none of that seems as if it should fit my nervous and rumpled self. But if I stop thinking about it, it just slips on, a perfect fit.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Photo: By Cszmurlo. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Parfumerie Generale Jardin de Kerylos

Oh, yes. I've found my fig.

I was dubious at the beginning. The first notes of Jardin de Kerylos were very pink and powdery and pretty and sort of girly-aldehydeish. In other words, almost everything that I dislike in a fragrance.

But this is Parfumerie Generale, so I hung on. And I didn't have to hang on for more than a minute or two for the powder and ruffles to start to burn off, and the pink scent to turn green, and then greener. Green, and tart, and dry, and the coconut that's so often dominant in fig scents was just barely there, peeking through the foliage.

A green fig, a highly unripe fig, a fig that I couldn't eat without pureeing it with sugar, but to smell, it's a glorious fig.

The notes, according to LuckySent, are fig, sycamore, and musk. I don't know what sycamore smells like - is it responsible for some of the greenness? Just in case, I'll be adding sycamore to my list of notes of interest.

It's odd to have so little to say about a fragrance that I like so much. I suppose that the first wearing is sometimes a largely wordless experience. But this is it. I've found my fig.

Edited to add: Just for more complete information, I should add: Longevity? Lousy. It faded away in less than three hours. And I don't care. I still want it.

Review Roundup: The Non-Blonde and Perfume Posse and Aromascope (brief mention) and Perfume-Smellin' Things and Basenotes and MakeupAlley and Olfactoria's Travels.

Photo: By Jon Sullivan. Wikimedia Commons.  Also from PDPhoto.

SOTD: Tom Ford Velvet Gardenia. Again.

Another wearing of Velvet Gardenia, another data point. The goal is a minimum of floral and a maximum of butter and - highest priority - beeswax. Today, I got a fair bit of high-pitched floral at the beginning, and now a little butter but no beeswax.

This discontinued scent is, as you may recall, one of the perfumes that's throwing me into endless buy-or-not-buy thrashing-around. Today I feel all very nice and decided about it: Get an 8 milliliter decant and move on with life.

Tomorrow? Heh. We'll see.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Photo: By Carey Tilden. Wikimedia Commons.

Compilation: Perfume in the San Francisco Bay Area

In a past post, I offered some information about where to find perfume in Ashland, Oregon. It occurred to me today that a similar post for the San Francisco Bay Area would be good, too.

This list primarily includes what I know of or have read pretty clearly - there may be perfectly obvious things left out. Please let me know if you know of something that should be added.

At Stanford Mall in Palo Alto:

• Wilkes Bashford, selling L'Artisan Parfumeur and Penhaligon.
• L'Occitane.
• Kiehl's.
• Bloomingdale's.
• Neiman Marcus.
• Nordstrom's.
• Sephora

In San Francisco, stores I've been in:

• Diptyque boutique on Maiden Lane. (Very close to Union Square.)
• Hermes boutique on Maiden Lane.
• Chanel boutique on Maiden Lane.
• Barney's at 77 O'Farrell Street, near Union Square.
• Nieman Marcus at 150 Stockton Street, near Union Square.
• Gumps at 135 Post Street.
• Saks Fifth Avenue, 384 Post Street.
• Nordstrom at 865 Market Street.
• Fresh boutique, 301 Sutter Street. (And take a few steps and get some chocolate at Teuscher's, too.)

San Franciso Rumored:
I've never been to these places, they're just mentioned in the Basenotes link above, some in rather old messages. Quite frankly, I'm putting them in here so that next time I'm in San Francisco, I can easily look at my own post and go have a look.

• Yves Saint Laurent boutique, Maiden Lane.
• Jaqueline Perfumery, 103 Geary Street.
• Kiehls, 2360 Fillmore Street and 865 Market Street.
• Wilkes Bashford, 375 Sutter Street.
• Yosh Olfactory Sense. I'm a little confused about the address, so I'm not going to risk giving it and being wrong.
• ElizabethW, 900 North Point Street, in Ghirardelli Square.
• In Fiore, 868 Post Street.

Other Cities:

• Mahin & Co, 350 S. California Avenue, Palo Alto, is rumored to carry some L'Artisan Parfumerie, Bond No. 9, Caron, Different Company, and Jatamansi fragrances.
• Aftelier Perfumes, 1442A Walnut Street, #369, Berkeley. (Rumored. I don't know if this is a store that can be visited or just a company location that cannot.)
• Harmony Pharmacy & Health Center, San Francisco Airport. (Inside security. Been there. The selection of each fragrance was very limited, but I was still impressed.)
• Herringbone Apothecary, 1527 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley. According to their website, they carry Mandy Aftel and CB I Hate Perfume fragrances. (Rumored.)
• Black Swan Boutique, 42 Elm Street, Los Gatos.
• Bliss Beauty, 682 Rancho Shopping Center, Los Altos. (Rumored.)
• A Basenotes post tells me that the Perfume Gallery in Valley Fair Mall, has a surprisingly good selection of classics. (Rumored.)

Link Roundup: Also check the San Francisco city guide and the South Bay City Guide from Basenotes and the Yelp search on San Francisco perfume.

Edited to further clarify what's rumored and where I've actually been.

Photo of Union Square by Thomas Hawk. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Serge Lutens Un Lys, and uncertainty

Well, this is slightly worrying. Do you remember how I said that Tubereuse Couture is better on the back of my neck - thus, effectively, at a distance - than sniffed right on my skin? Un Lys appears to be the opposite.

I sprayed it on the back of my neck, and nowhere else, before going out for the day. And after a lovely few minutes, it settled into a fairly generic "perfumey" lily. The lovely penuche-like graininess that I usually smell was entirely absent.

Worrying. Less worrying than it would be if I'd already bought a bottle, but in my mind I'd already put it in the bottle queue. It was just waiting for budgeting. What to do?

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image from "Doubts" by Henrietta Rae. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Nothing (And I broke my streak!) (But the movies were great.)

Today was a Movie Fest day. That means that we spent all day at the movies (yay!) and consumed way too much sugar (yay!) and I felt that I shouldn't wear perfume (hmph!). I would normally wear perfume on a Movie Fest day if it had an hour or two to mellow before we got to the movies, but I wasn't that organized today.

This also means that I got home at six after midnight, thus blowing a three-month streak for posting every day. No January NaBloPoMo badge for me! I'm backdating anyway, just so I know what day this post is about.

But the movies were great. I'll be posting about them later, probably over at Rambling Chicken.

Update: Himself covered the MovieFest pretty thoroughly on Blogging Ashland, and I chimed in in an opinionated manner in the comments, so I may not be doing my own post.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Ava Luxe Figuer (Very quick sniff)

I was going to try another over application experiment today, but the scheduling (that is, ensuring that no one would be around to be drowned) didn't work out.

So instead, a very quick sniff of Ava Luxe Figuer. Sadly, I have the same response to this that I have to other figs. Pretty, sweet, fruity, coconut, lovely scent, no interest in owning it.

So the search for my fig continues. Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea was wonderful at the first sniff, but started to cloy very quickly. Diptyque Philosykos has nothing to complain about, but it just doesn't excite me. I do have a sample of Parfumerie Generale Jardin de Kerylos; I'll give that a try soon.

Review Roundup: Can't find any!

Fig Roundup: So instead, I round up articles on fig from Perfume-Smellin' Things and Perfume-Smellin' Things again and Perfume Posse and Perfume Posse again and Now Smell This and Now Smell This again and Now Smell This a third time and Memory & Desire.

Photo: By Kolya Pynti. Wikimedia Commons.

Perfume: What sold you on the note?

It happens all the time. You dislike a note, or even hate it with a fiery passion, and you assume that you'll always feel that way. Then a perfume comes along that changes your mind.

Maybe the hated note is safely wrapped up in other favorite notes. Maybe you experience it in a completely different context, or on a person that you respect. Maybe the perfumer just has the ability to highlight the magnificent horribleness of the note so distinctly that you find yourself first eyeing it in a can't-look-away-from-the-accident sort of way, then studying it in fascination, then falling in love.

What perfumes have sold you on a note? I've made my list:

Hard Sells: These are the notes that I was distinctly opposed to before this fragrance talked me into changing my mind.

• Benzoin: Parfumerie Generale Cadjmere. Puzzling, because I've never seen benzoin listed as a note in this fragrance. But before Cadjmere I disliked benzoin, and after learning to love Cadjmere's powder, I learned to love benzoin's powder.
• Civet: Guerlain Jicky. Then I stopped liking Jicky, but kept liking civet. 
• Iris: Parfumerie Generale Iris Taizo.
• Jasmine: Le Labo Jasmin 17.
• Myrrh: Parfumerie Generale Cuir Venenum.
• Powder: Parfumerie Generale Cadjmere.
• Tuberose: Parfumerie Generale Tubereuse Couture.
• Vetiver: Hermessence Vetiver Tonka.

Easy Sells: I was inclined to like these notes, and this was the fragrance that confirmed that fondness.

• Artemisia/Absinthe: Serge Lutens Douce Amere.
• Birch Tar: Le Labo Patchouli 24.
• Galbanum: Chanel No. 19 extrait.
• Gasoline: Comme des Garcons Garage.
• Incense: Serge Lutens Serge Noire.
• Leather: Serge Lutens Daim Blond.
• Lily: Serge Lutens Un Lys.
• Patchouli: Bond No. 9 New Haarlem.
• Rubber: Comme des Garcons Garage.
• Tobacco: Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille.

Sale Pending: The notes that I'm still dubious about.

• Aldehydes: Balmain Ivoire is the closest to convincing me that these have a place in a fragrance. I'm going to see if Chanel No. 22 can sell me.
• Amber: I like a whole lot of fragrances that have amber in the notes list, but the more prominently it's mentioned, the less likely I am to like the fragrance.
• Ambergris: Ugh. It's no longer a guaranteed dealbreaker, but it's a hard sell.
• Aquatic: No luck yet. But I am going to try Miller Harris Fleurs de Sel. We'll see.
• Bitter Orange: Love the idea. Haven't yet enjoyed any version of it enough to buy it or even wish for it, unless Theorema can be considered to have this note. (I think I smell it, but it's not listed.)
• Clean Musk: Lorenzo Villoresi Musk is coming close to selling me, but this note is still on probation. Dirty musk, on the other hand, was such an easy sell that I can't remember what sold me.
• Frankincense: I do like L'Eau D'Italie Paestum Rose and Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles, but otherwise, frankincense seems to be a near-guarantee that I'll dislike a fragrance.
• Fruit: (Other than citrus.) Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea and Annick Goutal Petite Cherie and Philoskyos are the only ones that tempt me, and they don't tempt me that much.
• Gardenia: I love Tom Ford Velvet Gardenia, but what I love in that one doesn't seem to be in any other gardenia fragrance.
• Honey: Ick. Love it in real life; hate it in perfume. Honey notes, as opposed to beeswax notes, are always horribly urinous on my skin.
• Oud: Noooooo!

Photo: By Fumiaki Yoshimatsu. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Parfumerie Generale Cadjmere (And interesting consequences of over application)

Cadjmere is usually a two-spray scent for me. Today, since I'll be alone at home for most of the day, I applied five sprays. Or possibly seven. I lose track.

I expected this to make the scent stronger, of course. But to my surprise, it also seemed to change the proportions. Normally, Cadjmere is sweet powdery coconut milk, with some wood to ground it and just enough sandalwood spice to keep the sweet from going overboard. I don't usually perceive the sandalwood as such, I'm just aware of it adding complexity to the scent.

With the overapplication, the sandalwood is magnified; it seems to be as strong as the coconut milk. The scent is less sweet, less pretty, and even more interesting.

I feel as if I should be able to figure out the reason behind this. As I understand it, the scent of a perfume comes from a mix of aromachemicals that are evaporating, in different proportions, from my skin. I have a faint memory that the reason that a scent can smell different from different distances, is that the heavier chemicals don't travel as far as the lighter ones, so the proportions keep changing with distance. I don't know if that's true, but it makes sense.

But I can't come up with a geeky explanation for changed proportions with heavier application. It has to be something that involves the heavier chemicals - the sandalwood is a basenote and therefore heavier, right? - being available in a higher proportion than they usually are. I think. But no theories are coming to mind.

I'll keep thinking. Meanwhile, I like it a lot. It's unfortunate that I'd have to drown everyone around me to experience it. But I have a new at-home scent now, and I'll be experimenting with over application of other scents.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Photo: By Dino Sassi - Marcel Fayon. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!

It wasn't weird enough.

I love the idea of Dzing!. The circus scent. Leather and horses and rubber and stale peanuts and cotton candy. I love the bottle, with the lady-riding-the-tiger logo.

And I love the idea of its weirdness. I like weird. I like scents with gasoline and mothballs and dry cleaning fluid and pencil erasers. I don't like the ones with stale nuts, but I'm sure they'll grow on me. After comparing Bandit's animalic note with that of Dzing!, I decided to wear it today and bask in the weirdness.

But I don't actually experience it as weird. And I find this disappointing.

It's nice. It's very nice. It starts out with an odd rubber/leather/animal note, and progresses to a soft ambery sweetness. Very enjoyable. I'm more than willing to try it again. But when I do, I hope I get the weird.

Review Roundup: Now Smell This and Bois de Jasmin and Perfume-Smellin' Things and Perfume Posse and Legerdenez and PereDePierre and Perfume-Smellin' Things and The Non-Blonde and Now Smell This again and Now Smell This a third time and PereDePierre (brief) and Now Smell This (brief) and Feminine Things (brief) and WouldSmellAsSweet (brief) and The Left Coast Nose and Perfume Nerd and SmellyBlog and Feminine Things and Nathan Branch and +Q Perfume Blog and Perfume Shrine (extra brief) and The Scented Salamander and Chandler Burr and Katie Puckrick Smells (video) and MakeupAlley and Fragrantica and Luca Turin's review quoted in the NYTimes and Basenotes and Badger & Blade and The Wit of the Staircase and Sanguinista and Perfume Patter and Mossyloomings.