A poem ouverture...

As I was thinking about perfumed matters in general and Parfum de Peau in particular (whose review will run shortly, check back later on!), with its very relevant maladjusted story behind its creators, a poem by a well-loved voice whispered to my ear...

The Satrapy

What a misfortune, although you are made
for fine and great works
this unjust fate of yours always
denies you encouragement and success;
that base customs should block you;
and pettiness and indifference.
And how terrible the day when you yield
(the day when you give up and yield),
and you leave on foot for Susa,
and you go to the monarch Artaxerxes
who favorably places you in his court,
and offers you satrapies and the like.
And you accept them with despair
these things that you do not want.
Your soul seeks other things, weeps for other things;
the praise of the public and the Sophists,
the hard-won and inestimable Well Done;
the Agora, the Theater, and the Laurels.
How can Artaxerxes give you these,
where will you find these in a satrapy;
and what life can you live without these.

~Constantine P. Cavafy (1910)

Originally uploaded on this page.

Leather Series 11: the Big Bruisers

Perfume directions often go the way of fashion trends and lifestyle choices, which sometimes translates as going the way of the dodo, and this is nowhere more obvious than in the leather scents that emerged in the late 70s and during the 80s. After the brief optimism of the mid-60s, the world entered a grim period of oil crisis, economic downfall and the threat of the planet suffering nuclear annihilation. So what emerged from this situation? Consumerism, the cult of the ego, striving for quick wealth and excessive partying all rolled into one big cigar! Bret Easton Ellis wasn’t far off in his American Psycho: there was some degree of paranoia running through the course of that era and the leathery scents that graced it partook of it in some degree.

Many of those big, nasty bruisers that emerged owe a lot to the intense patchouli high of such scents as Aramis (1965). Composed by Bernand Chant who would follow with equally patchouli-laden Aromatics Elixir, Aramis, arguably the male version of same nose’s oeuvre Cabochard, made it OK to leave a bombastic luxurious sillage announcing itself in Wagnerian ouvertures that demanded their own Brunhilde following.

But it was Estée Lauder’s Azurée which was continuing the noble lineage of leathers in 1969. With its rather masculine edge despite its feminine gardenia aspirations, submerged into deceptive aldehydes or cyclamen and jasmine aromas, it opens on dark, musty oakmoss that grabs you and makes you pay attention. In a way though its leatheriness does not possess the striking green slap-across-the-cheek of Bandit or the smooth caress of a gloved hand that is Diorling; resulting in diminished revenue in today’s currency.

Caron’s Yatagan by nez Vincent Marcello came out in 1976 to a striking ad campaign brandishing a man with a giant curved Ottoman sword, the yatagan in question. On a par with Djedi in its uniqueness and otherworldiness it conjures up visions of fierce Tatars roaming through the steppes, stomping over jade artemisia and dark pine needles and keeping the meat for their meal under the saddle, imbuing it with the horse’s dense sweat. Its odour of livestock is peculiar, in an accord with liquor that has gone rancid. The culinary image of steak tartare with its weird vibe of sour, bitter and metallic is embossed in the fluxes of memory and never fails to raise its head when I am thinking about this arresting, avant-garde and trully brave scent which inspired and is still inspiring many niche perfumers, even today.

One of the first masculine scents I purposely tried to locate and wear was Jules by Christian Dior. It came out in 1980 and for years it kept a low profile saleswise, until suddenly it stopped being carried by my local store. It was at that minute that the quest for it became an impossibility and therefore (predictably) a semi-obsession: how could they do this to me? Discontinue it when I hadn’t even paid enough attention to it in its darkly aged-tobacco-ish flacon? It was de trop! I was determined to locate it! Of course decisions and determination often culminate in materialisation years later and such was the case with Jules. My encounter with it was sudden, brisk and like seeing a familiar face which I hadn’t thought of for a long time: Cuir de Russie amped up via a peppery accord like bell peppers getting cut in front of me.

Cartier made their own pilgrimage in 1981 through the cult of the watch: the leather wristbands of their Santos watches, inspired by aviator Santos Dumont, and on a second level the bomber jackets of the first days of aviation gave cue to Santos the fragrance. One of my personal favourites it is perhaps too butch, yet its mesmerising nutmeg and cumin spice pas de deux hidden in the effluvium of dark and dank patchouli and rich castoreum never fail to captivate me. Strange as it might sound, Santos has all too often served as a personal ambience scent for centering: How many happy hours have I stooped over historical documents and textbooks trying to think of this or that relation between cause and effect while the gentle remnants of Santos on little silk cushions were wafting their magic…
Santos was followed with many flankers, one of the most memorable ones being the Concentrée version which mollifies the spice duo and renders the greener aspect more intense.

But Santos was not alone: that same year Chanel gave Jacques Polge the brief to come up with a new masculine that would make waves and he succeeded with the intense sweaty macho maleness of Antaeus with its unusual honeycomb accord in the deep drydown and the strength of its mythological inspiration.

On the vein of the intense Van Cleef & Arpels homme, Trussardi Uomo (which came out in 1983) was for one brief moon the scent of choice of my father, its crocodile-print flask bottle garnering pride of place on the bathroom sill. Spice along with tobacco is prominent in this one as well, highlighting my predilection for such materials, with a passing touch of serene incense. But on re-smelling the fragrance for the purposes of this article I came upon a distinctly sour note that has a pin-and-needles effect up the nostrils which I didn’t recall in my father’s morning ritual. A little research quickly yielded its unsavoury results: there has been a reformulation which happened around 1995 when the bottles were redesigned. Too bad!

Guerlain is no stranger to leather and Derby, a masculine leather fougère, is one of the most elegant and debonair fragrances in the genre one could hope for. First issued in 1985 by nose Jean Paul Guerlain, it got re-issued for the removation of La Boutique Guerlain in 2005 to great and deserved critical acclaim. The leather notes rest atop the moss and minty herbs, with a very thick, spicy clove introduction. After some time a floral phase of carnation and jasmine peek under the clove and give a smooth richness that then goes into the forest floor of a traditional men’s fougère and the leather note of a battered jacket that has withstood the elements in a battle at some far away place.

The less controversial Bel Ami by Hermès was brought out in 1986 and it placed leather firmly in the map with all the determination of the purveyors of fine saddles since 1837. Leather was cool by then. It wasn’t the mark of the daring individual a la Yatagan, but a distinguished mark of sophistication all over again.

But the two most legendary ones are intended for women: Paco Rabanne’s long defunct La Nuit (1985) and Claude Montana’s Parfum de Peau (1986). The quintessential bruisers, both scents sport an unapologetic dash of panache which prowls across the room, across the corridor and probably over down the street as well.
As to La Nuit and its amazing drydown despite the unasuming opening, I am leaving you to enraptured Luca Turin on his take ~which probably caused a stampede to try and locate some of the elusive juice:

“This is the warmest, sultriest perfume imaginable. To think I hated it when it came out ! My extenuating circumstance was that at the time (1985) I lived in Nice, where women can be toe-curlingly vulgar, and it was a big hit. La Nuit is probably the most animalic perfume ever made by a major firm, and I don’t just mean musky à la Koublai Khan, or castoreum as in Tabac Blond, but something beyond that, almost urinous/sweaty, “wrong” and truly wonderful. Spray Tabu on a horse, and you’ll get the idea. I wrote a disparaging review of it in 1992, apologized for it in 1994 and only recently treated myself to a bottle. Now that the Niçoises have moved on, I see it for what it was all along: the sexiest fragrance since Cabochard”.

Parfum de Peau was my major introduction to castoreum, of which it features copious amounts, and thus merits its own full review shortly.

Pic of Glen Ford originally uploaded by spuzzlightyear on livejournal. Pic of La Nuit and Jules ads courtesy of parfum de pub.

Winner announcement!

Ooops, I forgot! I have to announce the winner for the Quiz from last week.

The winner is DONANICOLA who nailed it with her first guess. Congrats! Send me your data, please, so I can mail a decant of the vintage I have on hand to try it out.
The fragrance in question was indeed Parure: from the venerable house of Guerlain, reformulated sometime during the last few years and then very recently discontinued altogether. It is also the signature scent of Kim Catrall and belongs to a family I enjoy: chypres.

Thanks for participating and for the wonderfully clever guesses.
Stay tuned for the next one! ;-)

What fragrance would these Oscar winners wear?

You do realise this is a post from the storehouse, don't you! What I mean: Oscar weekend came and went by the time you'll be reading this and I have no idea what fragrances the Oscar winners and nominees for 2008 chose to wear and if they were their favourites, but it had seemed a great idea to me last week. The Yahoo movie page must be filled with all the details about the winners by now (hope my pics did them justice) and the world will be abuzz with the fashion choices of the celebrities. Perfume Shrine couldn't ignore this little bonfire of the vanities...

In a way it's become unglamorous. Like Julie Christie exclaimed:

"It's product placement now. 'Who are you wearing, from where have you borrowed your jewels?' I don't know where the 'glamour' is in admitting you've borrowed your jewelry, or you've been put together by a stylist. How about not wearing jewels? Would that be so terrible? And what's wrong with fakes? They glitter, that's the point, isn't it?"

Herself she proudly wears two antique rings of unidentified make.


I have to admit she does have a point! For someone who is so level-headed about it, despite her enormous body of work and being a 60s icon, I was always curious to find out what fragrance she wears. This is one of the most famous and popular Perfume Shrine projects. Alas, she has never divulged. And so we are left to our own devices to choose one for her!
It's rather interesting that a famous Dior commercial, J'adore ~with Charlize Theron dropping her clothes one by one entering that mansion~ is directly inspired by a famous Julie Christie scene in the film "Darling". But this is not the fragrance I would imagine Julie to revel in. For her very feminine personality I imagine her in something sensuous, deeply floral loaded with reminiscences, like Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. Or Boucheron Femme.

Marion Cotillard is such a cute gamine face that I bet one of those petulant but nice, perky fragrances with a little twist, would suit her to a T.
I propose to you (and her!) Passage d'enfer, an incense executed in watercolours, the savoury/sweet Pleasures Delight or the ultra-cosy Amber Splash by Marc Jacobs. Her own favourite however is Après l'Ondée, which is so wonderful melancholic...
However her role in La Vie en Rose would demand at least some identification with the character of Edith Piaf or -am I very unimaginative in suggesting this?- some rosiness. For her ethereal physique and sprity spirit I would love to propose Un Zest de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine as a fitting scent.

When it comes to Cate Blanchett, one is spoilt for choice as she has expressed fondness for a whole array of perfumes from the enigmatically mossy Aromatics Elixir to crowd pleaser gourmand Burberry Brit, to the more individual Mure et Musc by L'artisan and Kisu by Tann Roka.

Ellen Page and Laura Linney on the other hand are entities unknown to the demystifying of their fragrance choices world. The former is very new in the game, while the latter is probably not much in the celebrity watch radar to register as an endorser of perfumes. But she did grace the Donna Karan Gold party launch and I would think that she grabbed a goody bag or two. Which might serve her rather well: What do you think?

Men nominees and winners are even more difficult to assign fragrances to. Basically because, despite their outstanding thespian qualities, three out of five are either too unglamorous for such concepts (Tommy Lee Jones) or too immersed into their own little indie universe (Daniel Day Lewis, Viggo Mortensen). However, there are some established favourites for two of them: Zino by Davidoff for Johnny Depp whereas George Clooney has admitted to a predilection for Io Carthusia and Green Irish Tweed.
Which is rather fun.

I don't know if these tidbits of info add or detract from these Oscar actors' and actresses' allure, but you're free to suggest what they should wear in your opinion! I am looking forward to reading your views and comments on Oscars' night.


Hold the press (just saw this!): please take a minute to check The Non-Blonde for witty and pithy commentary on the Oscars.

Pic of Daniel Day Lewis courtesy of Moviemarket. Pics of Julie Christie and Mario Cottilard originally uploaded on MUA. Pic of Johhny Depp sent to me by email unnacredited.

I'm back!

It has been simply fab albeit tiring. The Quiz is closed and thank you for your participation and your very clever guesses! It was a joy skimming through them.


Please check back later for an announcement on the winner and a post for the day which I hope you will find fun!