New Fragrant Desires

 Immersed as I've been in one capacity or another (student, teacher) in the academic division of the year, putting September 1st as the signpost of an annual rebirth, and rebaptizing myself into the holy waters of knowledge, so to speak, autumn is my favorite time of the year. Not only is the feeling of organizing new schedules, new modes of the everyday, new stimuli to engage my mental capabilities, but it's also the perfect backdrop for fragrance testing and wearing. After the torpor of the heatwave in the city, the long swims of vacation when fragrance is not really necessary, and the languor of serene and lazy-smelling fragrances of holidays, this period is rejuvenating olfactorily. I therefore set out with a renewed interest in the afición! 

Fragrances old and new which caught my eye lately

Korres Vetiver Root

Recently I retried this on my skin and on the sleeves of my light windbreaker. Two days later I was still smelling it going strong, in that nevertheless mannered way of solid persistence that never overextends its welcome. Impressive. Previously circulating as Vetiver root, Green tea, Cedarwood -don't you just love it when they put the notes on the bottle- it combines the lavender/amber chord we so associate with good ol' masculine cleanliness and grooming. A combination I find irresistible myself. And one which I also want to borrow. A bottle of this vetiver fragrance is going on my To Buy list. 

Dana Tabu

No treatise or fragrance review is necessary for this bold vintage Tabu by Dana scent. The patchouli-carnation chord is reverberating in my mind. Its warmth and come hither is calling me for winter ahead. I had this and I want it back again. I definitely want to find the older version in the violin bottle, however, preferably a smaller size in order to savor. 

Milano Fragranze Basilica

For a genre so populated with specimens of varying intensity and adherence to try frankincense oil, which is very different from the impression of incense as a general notion, Basilica is a fragrance that manages to mingle the essence of the oil with the ambience of the liturgical place where said oil is meant to be used. In short, the temple congregation, a human made atmosphere, which however seems to transport you above. The note of snuffed out candles is lovely. The inspiration behind the fragrance is the Basilica di Sant' Ambrogio in Milan, a roman architecture marvel.  

Shanghai Tang Golden Lily

I've got this on my list for some years now and it's never crossed my path since its first sampling. I wonder why I haven't searched for it more energetically as I truly appreciate its floral spicy message so well. Brand scarcity and its retro ambience make it a rarity in fragrance communities, which narrows down its swapping and reselling potential, I guess. It's a clarity and balance feat, a beauty. We need these in late autumn, don't we. 

pic borrowed from fashion for lunch

At the Moment: October 2026

 

photo borrowed via pinterest

It seems like it's been ages since I last compiled an AT THE MOMENT post. Indeed it has. Wow how time flies. Without further ado my current list of things occupying my everyday these past few days and weeks. Share your current obsessions, hobbies and tricks in the comments section below the post. 

[This post contains a few select Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through these links I might make a tiny commission to upkeep this blog.]

READING

I started Labyrinth, The Art of Decision Making by Pawel Motyl, a modern classic which takes a seemingly self-help title and addresses historical moments when the decision making made or ruined major sociopolitical events. Motyl digs into the series of decisions that led to some of the modern world’s most dramatic events: from the Cuban missile crisis to the 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster; from the Apollo 13 rescue mission to the ill-fated Daimler–Chrysler merger. Along the way, he reveals 16 rules for effective decision-making that will challenge pre-existing beliefs, and change one's outlook forever.

 

It is a fascinating read, and I admit I picked it up knowing I am inept at decision making, so it is essentially eye-opening to see history in the making AND grasp how too much hesitation is just as bad a decision as any.  which you can find HERE for Kindle and tablets. 

WEARING

It's been rather hot in Athens these past few weeks, nothing really bad, but not quite autumnal either, minus the occasional rain. Therefore I have again resorted to my very light windbreaker jackets for rain deterance mostly; generally more flimsy than a trench coat, easier to carry in arm if bothersome. This style by SaphiRose is especially becoming, and the light color gives a visual jolt, instead of the dreary greiges. It also doesn't contain harmful chemicals, as per the requirements of the maker. 

borrowed via 

PLAYING WITH

I have long held the view that makeup is playthings for grown girls and I'm sure lots of women the world over agree with me. The influx of happily faced women painting their faces a million ways possible and having fun starting anew every day on a gazillion of channels and reels proves that I'm right. And of course that's nothing new I'm saying. Therefore, recognizing that in difficult time we play with war paint -see what I did there- I'm currently enthused with the KIKO MILANO long-lasting eyeshadow sticks. Back when I was way younger I used to snub eyeshadow sticks and shadows-built-into-pencils; maybe because I have witnessed many middle-aged women using them. Who knows. Now that I'm a middle-aged women myself I found a newly minted appreciation for them. These are beautiful, softly shimmery when you need it and provided your eyelids are not crepey -thankfully mine are not- and in tenacious shades of a 24-hour duration. Not that you'd keep them on your eyes that long, but you know what I mean. I especially like Slate Grey which makes a contrast with my cool-shaded brown eyes. The next shade to try is Golden Taupe 38 which, judging by the Pinterest photos, looks really a-ma-zing...

RESEARCHING

Deep into the archives of antiquity the plethora of information on perfuming and scenting objects are fascinating to follow. Hopefully this will become the subject of an article with practical purposes. More to come and my lips are sealed. 

In the interim I'm writing a dedicated article for Fragrantica on Colombian perfumery. Not the historical period as in pre-Colombian, but of the country. Exciting things to come. 

Santa Maria Novella Alba di Seoul- fragrance review

 

Smoky is a loaded concept, because so often it falls into one of either styles: the incense-y smoke that recalls woody and resinous scents of piety and zen like Avignon, or the dense feel of the campfire like Lonestar Memories or the fragrances by Beaufort. These both lend themselves to autumn, of course, but we aim to provide a middle-ground between seasons, for which Alba di Seoul feels exceptionally well-matched. 

via

 There is something undeniably familiar to me in Alba di Seoul and I managed to track it in the vintage version of Tsar by Van Cleef & Arpels, a wonderful fragrance in the old-school-mold of masculines, with a mossy background. I remember the days I adored it on my beloved and recall the days I borrowed it in the desire to extend those memories. In Alba di Seoul the citrusy, botanical and mossy elements manage to project light, bright and unfazed by the warmth, still lending a soupçon of darkness for the days to come, just like in Tsar, though they do not smell identical by any stretch of the imagination (if only...). It is the melding of light spice (nutmeg) with the tightly woven elements of wood, leathery tones, green violet leaves with their acrid, sharp and jolting feel, and plush patchouli with just a warm tinge of musk which bring on the ambience which I love. Despite the word Alba meaning dawn in Italian, the feel in Alba in Seoul is that of a cloudy afternoon when the sun is there but hidden behind the trees and you savour the warmth on the skin but also feel a light chill to come. 

It's a complex feeling of tactile sensations which I personally enjoy very much any time of the year, but especially in the first days of autumn when I'm feeling particularly energized. Criminally unsung, delightfully unique if you like things no one else has discovered...yet.

Etat Libre d' Orange Soul of My Soul-fragrance review

 Soul of My Soul by Etat Libre d' Orange was originally a Selfridges exclusive coming out in 2020, but I smelled it a couple of years later, after the quarantine of the pandemic, which limited my traveling severely.

It was a sampling in passing; it seemed nice enough, but in that lackluster quality that "nice things" often display. Damned with faint praise, in short. The fact that it was in "the expensive line" by Etat Libre d' Orange made me crinkle my nose (and my mind too!). Why is it that companies need to introduce a more expensive collection within their existing perfume brand? As if to alienate their older customers through snubbing, and to attract a new kind of customer that is not very knowledgeable about fragrance—the kind of customer who thinks "it's expensive, it must be very good indeed." For anyone seasoned in perfume collecting and appraising, this is surely reason to turn up one's nose and leave empty-handed. And this is exactly what I did. Though in hindsight, it wasn't too expensive. In the span of a mere six years, we have seen exorbitant prices asked.

A few years passed by. This past summer, in a perfume swap with a lovely lady, she sent me a decant of Soul of My Soul, and the fragrance ended up in my lap again. Lap, almost literally, as I tend to sample fragrances not only on wrists but lower on the body, observing how they rise and flow in the air, noting down their development and sillage. It was nice but not perfect. But quite nice indeed. There was an oddly familiar tonality about it. For a couple of days, I struggled to recall what it reminded me of. Hell, that's a difficult situation for any perfume lover, when you almost have it at the tip of one's tongue, but the actual name of the scent eludes you. If you have sampled, worn, and owned too many fragrances, this is a plight you must have found yourself in more than once.

"Soul Of My Soul draws inspiration from the refined butter and milk offered in honor of the gods of Mesopotamia, the god of fire in Persia, and the gods of India. The scent is described as a creamy explosion in which the scent of musk mixes with iris butter and conveys a strong vanilla balm, followed by a combination of tonka and benzoin for a sweet but strong trail."

What can you expect from that? A lactonic fragrance, right? A warm scent, fit for wintertime.

Wrong. 

And then one day it dawned on me: Soul of My Soul had something in common with the discontinued Ginepro di Sardegna. It opened differently, with a bit of lightly smoky, masculine, woody elements, but yes, it dried down after a few minutes into the well-known dry, powdery freshness I had loved in the Acqua di Parma scent.

I scavenged my old blue bottle to compare, with remnants only remaining at the bottom. Yes, I was right. Though it's not actually as powdery as a vat of talc. Most people do tend to wax on about Mediterranean forests, which is odd, because juniper is not exactly the kind of tree one finds in Mediterranean landscapes in abundance; one would sooner find maritime pines, olive trees, fig trees, cypresses, and a vast array of bushes with dry, dusty-smelling branches that read scorched and botanical under the sun. The power of naming and imagery is eternal, I suppose.

Karmacoma by Anomalia Paris- Bittersweet Suede Embracing Vanilla Pods

 Karmacoma by Anomalia Paris: A divorce from everything you used to call “normal” — from habits, permission, and the version of you that learned to behave seems like the perfect motto for entering autumn and the new academic year with flair. Karmacoma is inspired by the aesthetic of a blank canvas, where we boldly script our dazzling and magnificent future. This is also the autumn I'm researching vanilla, it seems, and although I tried this during the warmer months, as the weather cools down, it translates as the perfect cozy fragrance to warm my way into the rainy season. 

The delightful element is its leathery top note, composed by Sidonie Lancesseur as a bittersweet element to enhance the saffron note. A Greek saffron note, no less, among the top quality ingredients in the world, small production extracted by hand. The powdery effect of vanilla and musk is further enhanced by a peppery, spicy garland that ebbs and flows. Its effect on the wearer is what the French call "troublant," which means "intriguing" in the best possible sense. Who could have thought a vanilla would be so nuanced?