In Praise of Shamhain & Halloween

The time of the year when the veil between the world of the dead & the living is said to be the thinnest.

Bring out the black blouses & long coats from the back of the closet, carve a pumpkin, put a plummy lipstick on a pale face like a gothic heroine and light a (scented) candle for your beloved dead. Happy Halloween!

A Coveted Position & an Invitation

It is with great joy that I am presenting you with my latest writing project, which will hopefully bridge a gap, that between the hardcore perfumista reading & participating on blogs & fora and the newbie, who is interested in the world of scent but wants clear info, without the burden of feeling being left behind on a hundreds posts, and possibly appreciates a less eccentric point of view.
Joining the team at About.com, becoming their Fragrance Expert and building the Fragrance site from scratch is a great responsibility in addressing this gap and I hope to do it with the great insights that you, my dear readers, have given me over the years. It was an honor to be offered this position and I intend to give my due with great, engaging content.

In the meantime you can check out the site on the link Fragrance.About.com and subscribe to my Newsletter if you like. The process is easy: you enter your preferred email address on the left hand column (under Free Email Newsletter) and hit Sign Up. That's it! The newsletters are going out just once a week, so they won't cram your inbox, every Sunday afternoon US Eastern time.

I'm sure that even seasoned perfume lovers might find an interesting nugget here and there on my new venue and please feel free to email me offering suggestions on themes! I will continue to write on this blog, where we can take it on a more personal and quirky level, as well as on Fragrantica, where I'm indebted to the kind owners who have treated me so nicely. So, Elena to the power of 3! You can roll your eyes now, I suppose ;)

The Scent of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: Not What You Think

Dear reader, you who are about to grab your credit card and order that fabulous new bottle of Tom Ford Velvet Orchid to go with your new velvet berry lip and your black suede ankle boots, or you shopping for a Christmas gift of Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt for your spouse. Stop and think a little about the greater picture; outer space, to be exact!

via

Yup, you heard that right, scent is a universal thing. A comet in space smells of rotten eggs, horse urine, formaldehyde, bitter almonds, alcohol, vinegar and a hint of sweet ether. Incredibly eh? Apparently researchers at the University of Bern in Switzerland deciphered how the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet smells by analyzing the chemicals in its coma, the fuzzy head surrounding the nucleus, using one of the instruments aboard the European spacecraft Rosetta which is preparing to drop a lander onto the comet's icy surface on November 12. What's even cooler (if you're so inclined) is that the closer the comet comes to the Sun, the more intense the odor will become as per project leader Kathrin Altwegg from the University of Bern.

News according to Times of India reproducing metro.co.uk reportage.

Acqua di Parma Collezione Murano: Christmas Holidays Gift Ideas

The silhouette of the small island is visible from Fondamenta Nuove to the open sea. Known as the “Isle of Glass”, Murano is famous the world over as the place of origin of beautiful glass objects and sculptures. A patchwork of workshops and furnaces spreading across the lagoon, where skilled masters work, blow, cut, and shape their unique masterpieces. The art of glass-blowing was developed in Venice in the year 1000. In 1291 furnaces were moved to Murano and since then the whole island has been dedicated to the glass-blowing art. In Murano, like nowhere else, Italian genius figured out a variety of techniques to draw different and fascinating shapes from glass.

With the Collezione Murano, Acqua di Parma launches a new form of multi-sensory design: combining the famous art of Venetian glass-blowing with 3 ambient fragrances in double-poured wax.

LINDEN TREES  FROM  GARDENS  BY THE WATER
The bright and floral notes of the linden tree spread through the air and seem to unveil the thousand secret gardens concealed among the canals and buildings in Venice. A city within the city, pervaded with green, flowers, and perfumes. A fragrance full of light, enriched with sweet honey and elegant sandal wood.

MAHOGANY FROM THE MARITIME REPUBLIC
The flame fluctuates gently, meanwhile the deep embracing notes of mahogany are perceived, blended with the energizing accents of vetiver and the resinous ones of elemi. These are the warm and intense scents of one of the wood varieties used by Venetian craftsmen to make the famous gondolas, which was also used in the past to build the huge vessels sailing towards the East.

THE TONKA OF VENETIAN SPICE MERCHANTS
A fragrance diffusing the soft notes of tonka. A scent inspired by the splendor of  Venice, the ancient exchange and trade venue. A maze of bazaars and small shops, a crossroads of travelers and merchants that brought treasures from all over the world. Dive into the past with a voluptuous fragrance, which blends tonka with caressing vanilla, spicy clove accents and vibrant ginger notes.

More info & purchase: www.acquadiparma.com

The winner of the draw....

...for the giveaway of Youth Dew is Любов / Lyubov Please email me using Contact with your shipping data so I can have this arranged to be shipped to you.

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation (thanks to Lia for offering in the first place!!) and till the next one, soon!