A Merry, Merry Christmas...

To all my PerfumeShrine readers, who still check the page regularly, even if they do not comment, may this be your most lovely Christmas yet! May the world be at peace if possible, and may people at large feel content.


Music: O come, o come Emanuel from The Piano Guys.

Christmas Wishlists: Mine and Yours

Santa Baby can't get more busy this year. I haven't even had the time to sample most of what I wanted to, being so terribly busy and all, not to mention no budget for waste (so that puts a moratorium on unsniffed purchases). Santa might do the sampling for me as far as I'm concerned this time. I'm sure not everyone is on the same page though.

But for Christmas's sake, and making it easy on those who can and would gift us with the things we want and need, I'm sharing with you my own Christmas & New Year wish list, including style, fashion, books, movies, perfume and beauty. And I urge you to share your wish list too in the comments! I'd love to read it during the longer days of the holidays and note down interesting things to try out next.

My first wish - my foremost wish for which all other wishes eclipse- is for peace. Peace now that people drown in the Aegean every single day. Let's effectuate the change we are.

On to more prosaic things.

My perfume wish list has already been posted on Fragrantica in All I Want for Christmas. (click the link to see) Rather short and to the point; 5 new perfumes only. They should fit a stocking, shouldn't they?

But I have a few more things to be grateful if they make an appearance under the Christmas tree.

This smokey eye palette from Bobbi Brown has the requisite shades for shading but thanks to their cool undertone they won't look muddy on my lids.It's called Smokey Cool Eye Palette (pretty easy to remember huh?) and one can find it at Sephora and here on Amazon.

If Santa is really generous I'd love this Tahitian grey-classic white-South Sea gold pearl bracelet by Mikimoto. Stunner!

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli was initially the inner geek's call to polish up my physics; a subject neglected since high school. But the aesthete in me admits arrogantly that it was the book jacket which caught my eye first.Available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon last I checked.

These Sur La Table fruit grind graters are great for any of us who loves grating citrus rind with gusto only tolater  find their kitchen full of small bits scattered everywhere. I also hope that it will allow me to actually collect the the remainder grinded bits and be able to tincture them in alcohol for using in condiments and dishes. How's that for a nifty idea combining scent and food in one?

Finally a ticket for a springtime trip to Japan to experience the Wisteria Tunnel at the Kawachi  Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu. That would be heavenly indeed....

Please share your wishlists in the comments below this post. I'd love to read them all!

The Deeper Message of Christmas

I'm gazing at the plate with the melomakarona cookies, a traditional dessert to be found in every local house, and I never fail to think just how positively Byzantine they look. Their gritty but oily texture, dough folded with olive oil and wheat flour; their walnuts and honey succulence, a memory reflecting the offering of peasants to the ancient pagan gods of fertility; their deeper olive-sandy shade the same as the liturgical beeswax candles that burn in the Orthodox churches, a surefire reference of the Eastern Mediterranean, similar still to the lined faces of the old closing their eyes in piety when the censer comes out and ringlets of fragrant smoke rise up in the air. Things become symbols.

Religious I am not. But there's something about piety and contemplative ritual which deeply appeals to a (universal, I feel) need for the mystic and the offer of one's spirit to something higher. This can manifest itself in many ways, some entailing sensual ways that include our small hobby, others which explore the higher arts and others still which mean sharing yourself with the universe, belonging. Christmas, for those who partake of the tradition at least in spirit, if not in letter, means realizing that we're all brothers and sisters, that filling up one's soul with goodness and with peace allows for forgiving and for sharing and that this is the only way to conquer death.

I'm leaving you with a Byzantine-style chant performed by the monks of the Simonopetra Monastery in Mount Athos, Greece, called "Agni Parthene" (Oh Pure Virgin, Ωδή β', Ήχος πλάγιος α') composed by St.Nectarios of Aegina in the 19th century during his tenure at the Rizareios Theological School in Athens.

My best wishes to all of you for love, peace and sharing of the self during this festive season*.

*And for those who wonder (and wish me a good Orthodox Christmas later on), Greek Christmas is the same day as Western Christmas, even though most Greeks are Orthodox Christian.

Merry Christmas to You!

I am on a short trip but will be returning soon. I am leaving you with Gaudete , an early Latin Christmas madrigal, here performed by the Oxford Camerata.

Beautiful bottles in time for Christmas

Just in time for Christmas, perfume companies have issued or re-issued beautiful bottles for their precious fragrances to entice us to buy perfume for ourselves and others. The packaging of perfume does play a part in our choosing a particular fragrance and although I for one would go for my holy grail even if it were packaged in a milk carton, I have to admit that pretty bottles and evocative design does make me daydream. Sometimes the bottle proves to better than the scent, which seems like a disappointment but at least you are left with a beautiful bottle on your dresser, which is better than being left with a bad one (and aren't there lots of those?) That's some sort of consolation for the visual part at least.
Some of the bottles that have caught my eye recently are the following. I amassed them here for your delectation.

First comes the limited editionCaprice de star by Thierry Mugler, the new bottle for his infamous Angel for Chistmas 2006, pictured above. ‘Caprices de Star’ translates as “On the Whims of a Star” and is the bottle for the parfum/extrait. A stunning blue-and-white star-shaped crystal objet which cradles an ultra-concentrated scent (and Angel being what it is, you can only imagine) built around the eau de parfum’s mouth-watering oriental facets. The parfum retails for €160 for 20ml or 2/3 fl.oz. Available from major department stores.

The Dior offering for this Christmas, named Midnight Charm, is a fresh and sparkling departure that mingles Italian mandarin orange with green and fruity notes. The heart reveals a "peach-skin accord" blooming over a floral bouquet of Egyptian jasmine and Moroccan rose. The base has a mouthwatering touch of "glazed chestnut" (a French Christmas specialty; marron glacé which is really really yummy, it makes me salivate as we speak), amber and the musky sweetness of "skin" notes, all enclosed in a bottle that is inspired by the classic Dolce Vita bottle, now interpreted in silver and mauve. Avaialble at major department stores.

For our gentlemen friends the bottle that has captured my fancy is none other than that of Victor and Rolf's Antidote. "While Flowerbomb (for women) is preventive, Antidote is a cure", the advertorial on Osmoz says. Which explains how avant-garde couturiers Viktor & Rolf chose the name for their first foray into men's fragrance. An olfactory extension of their ready-to-wear line Viktor & Rolf Monsieur, Antidote has a complex construction, like a bespoke suit. It blends sensuality, freshness and elegance by using an amber-wood potion; the emerald-hued juice is contained by a black cap with a wax seal that seems about to reach meltdown and is very much to my liking indeed.
Antidote is described as a lush woody Oriental, overloaded with flowers. It has been built around 4 facets. A floral facet, (encompassing a bouquet of jasmine, violet, peony, freesia, orange blossom and more), a spicy facet (blending cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper and nutmeg), a woody, almost leathery facet (blending patchouli, gaiac wood, white cedar, sandalwood and oak moss) and for the final course the amber facet, tinted with vanilla and musk. Fragrance designers: Alienor Massenet and Pierre Wargnye, IFF. Available at major department stores.

The bottle of Nuit d'amour, the latest boutique Guerlain following Plus que Jamais from last year, on the other hand is very exclusive; but it is so old fashioned and heavy in its bacarrat crystal that is bound to procure little cries of excitement by the lucky lady that receives it. The juice purpotedly is not as interesting, which is a shame, but today we are focusing on the packaging and the superficial rejoice of seeing a pretty bottle, so for once I am willing to bypass that. For those interested however it includes notes of pink pepper, lychee, rose, violet, iris, sandalwood, musk. Available from Bergdorf Goodman in the US and directly from the Guerlain boutique in Paris. The baccarat crystal flacon is priced at $2600; while the regular 60 ml size is $390. It might as well stay on the screen for all I care...

On the contrary, the limited edition of Mure et Musc by L'artisan parfumeur is a re-issue of one of their best selling fragrances and the succulent crystal bottle is good enough to eat which prompted them to bring it back again for those interested in adding it to their collection. A very tempting, gorgeous presentation. Available at Aedes in the US and from L'artisan boutique.

Burberry seems to be on an roll with their hugelly successful Brit scent witness the limited edition of Brit Red last year) and for this Christmas they brought out a trully spectacular limited edition bottle with golden tassels on a faceted crystal to resemble the brand's plaid in relief. Available from major departement stores.

The 24 Faubourg extrait is not new, but it is so beautiful in its crystal bottle with the golden drop of the jus inside that it merits a place in this post today. Trully classy scent of orange blossom on a bed of amber and one could not go wrong with getting some. One of the cases when there is no deceptive apperance. A modern classic that never fails. Highly recommended.

And because no crime is accomplished if the starring culprit isn't yet involved, Yves Saint Laurent parfums have gone out of their way to present this smashing new collector's edition of their mesmerising Opium fragrance. Enamel designs of oriental flowers over the solid lacquered black of the bottle, it's eye-catching on the screen as it is live in the shop, making mouths water from the loveliness. Which begs the question: do I need to add this to my massive Opium stash? I guess it does.


Pics come from: Escentual, Amazon, Guerlain rep, L'artisan rep and fashionmag.fr. Many thanks!