How To Describe Perfume

The perennial and elusive question of how to describe a perfume has risen at one of Spain's top style magazines, EL TOCADOR and journalist Ana Fernandez Parrilla accosted me to provide her with some insights.

via laboratoryperfumes.com

I'm pleased to see the published article and hope that it is of some enjoyment to our Spanish-speaking readers. You can take a glimpse using this link. (click on arrow > to read the next page)

Perfume quote: by Maurice Roucel

Maurice Roucel, the acclaimed perfumer behind such block-busting fragrances as 24 Faubourg for Hermes, Insolence and L'Instant for Guerlain, Missoni by Missoni, Tocade for Rochas and cult wonders like Musc Ravageur (for Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle) has pronounced his judgment.
You have been warned. Sail out to the world broadcasting the right Mors code.

Photo of fashion and cinema icon Catherine Deneuve by Helmut Newton. 
Added quote provided by Jane at Daly Beauty. 

Perfume Quote: Guerlain Jicky- "witty without being coarse"

Our hero is in Paris with various characters of repute or disrepute, whereupon he visits the author Colette. Impressed by her perfume, he describes it as "kinky".

via slate.fr

 

"The room smelled of her perfume (at some point I asked her what it was, and Colette said: " Jicky. The Empress Eugenie always wore it. I like it because it's an old-fashioned scent with an elegant history, and because it's witty without being coarse--like the better conversationalists. Proust wore it. Or so Cocteau tells me. But then he is not too reliable.)"
~ From Truman Capote's "Answered Prayers"*

via quoteauthors.com

*appearing in Susan Irvine's guide & echoed by ewojdula/mua

Perfume Quote: Just like men...

via theredlist.fr

Jean Patou, fashion innovator, creator of Joy ~one of the revered classics~ and the brand behind the mysterious 1000 fragrance, once said, “Just like men, perfume is never perfect right away; you have to let it seduce you.”

Perfume Quote: When All our Tears Have Run Dry...

Élisabeth, Comtesse Greffulhe, one of Proust's models for the Duchesse de Guermantes

"[Perfume is] that last and best reserve of the past, the one which when all our tears have run dry, can make us cry again.” ~ Marcel Proust

Especially poignant and funny when one considers that Proust had acute asthma and suffered from life-threatening allergies to pollen, mildew, smoke, dust and (yes) perfume...

And yet the constant reference to Proust in "perfume related writing" goes on. Avery Gilbert has a good post on why it might not be such a good idea to reference him and his madeleine so idly all the time after all.

But Marcel was a literary genius with no writer's block in sight. Here's how he describes asparagus giving pee its distinctive aroma:

"“... asparagus, tinged with ultramarine and rosy pink which ran from their heads, finely stippled in mauve and azure, through a series of imperceptible changes to their white feet, still stained a little by the soil of their garden-bed: a rainbow-loveliness that was not of this world. I felt that these celestial hues indicated the presence of exquisite creatures who had been pleased to assume vegetable form, who, through the disguise which covered their firm and edible flesh, allowed me to discern in this radiance of earliest dawn, these hinted rainbows, these blue evening shades, that precious quality which I should recognise again when, all night long after a dinner at which I had partaken of them, they played (lyrical and coarse in their jesting as the fairies in Shakespeare’s Dream) at transforming my humble chamberpot into a bower of aromatic perfume.” ~M.Proust, Swann's Way

quote source

The Power of Perfume: Jail-time & Shalimar

Although many stars have worn [Guerlain] Shalimar, none of them are famous for pouring it down a prison drain, which is what Maharani Gayatri Devi, the princess of Jaipur, reportedly did during her stay in a Delhi penitentiary in 1975. Jailed for violating tax laws, the Maharani doused the pipes to relieve the jail of bad odors.

 via glo.msn.com

Perfume Quote: My Entire Childhood Smelled of Cassie

"The hours I spent with my mother were full of mystery; we sat opposite each other, she on a chair beside the window, me on a stool, and in the silence I felt my chest to fill to satiation, as if the wind around us were milk and I was suckling it. Over our heads stood the acacia tree and when it was in bloom the courtyard was gloriously scented. I loved how my mother put the fragrant yellow flowers in all our chests and linens; my entire childhood smelled of cassie.

We were talking, a lot of quiet conversations, when my mother recounted about her father and the village she was born in, and then I told her about the lives of the saints I had read and tried to unravel their life using my imagination; as if what they had suffered already weren't enough, I added more of it on my own, until my mother started weeping.
Then I felt regret, sat on her knees, caressed her hair and consoled her: -"They went to heaven, mother, don't worry, they're strolling under blooming trees, chatting with the angels and have forgotten their sufferings. And every Sunday they put their gold clothing, caps with red tassels and go to pay a visit to God".

Mother then wiped her tears, looked at me as if saying "Really, do you think so?" and she smiled. And the canary, in its cage, listened to us, lifted its throat and sang drunkenly, happy, as if it had left the saints for a moment and came down to earth to spread goodwill among the people.

My mother, the cassie and the canary are inseparably mingled, immortal in my mind; I can no longer smell acacia or hear a canary without having my mother rise from the tomb ~from my gut!~ and to mingle with this scent and the singing canary".

~Nikos Kazantzakis, from "Report to Greco" (translation from the Greek by E.Vosnaki)

Perfume Quotes: According to Perfumer Lyn Harris

“I’m a Halifax girl. I used to work in a perfume shop, literally just sweeping up. I loved the whole fantasy behind fragrance and the women that shopped there. What was wonderful was the women who bought fragrance were really amazing characters. At that time fragrance wasn’t accessible for everybody – it was only for the wealthy. We sold perfumes like Chanel, Guerlain, Lauder, Arden, Van Cleef. People had their hair done upstairs, and the perfumery and beauty department was downstairs. It was the first shop in the north to get a French fine fragrance. Being a perfumer was definitely my destiny and working in that perfume shop as a young girl was the start.” says Lyn Harris on the M&S Magazine to editor Michelle Pamment. (It was a propos the creation of 3 feminine -La Fleur, La Rose and La Poudree- and 3 masculine fragrances -Le Cologne, Le Sauvage, Le Noir- which Lyn Harris composed for Marks & Spencer, launching this past September)

via Helen James Design

And she gives us a tip on choosing a personal scent, as leaned from the Telegraph: "When you're choosing a fragrance, try a few different scents and pick according to what makes you smile and makes you feel good. You will know that instantly. Everyone has an idea of what they like, but be wary of presumptions. A lot of people say, 'I hate anything musky' - but most fragrances have musk in them!"

 

Perfume Quotes: "You have to feel like it's your own skin sweating perfume"

"There (should be) space between you and your perfume. It shouldn't be obnoxious and it should blend in a way that it almost gives you the feeling that it's your own skin that smells that way. I think that the intimacy between your perfume and your skin is very important. I envision my perfume of being, in a way, a no make-up make-up concept. You have to feel like it's your own skin sweating perfume. I love that idea." [It personally reminds me of concubines being fed raw musk to emit a pleasant scent when caressed in the distant past and of the swallowable perfume pill launched recently]

 Thus describes perfumer Francis Kurkdjian the two-plonged affair between perfume and wearer, a propos his newest perfume duo under Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Amyris for Women and Amyris for Men, disputing another famous perfume quote in the process too: "(Coco) Chanel used to say that you could put perfume wherever you want to be kissed. It doesn't work; I have tried. It gives a nasty taste when you eat perfume and it's the most horrible thing ever. No one wants to be kissed that way. I love to quote her sometimes but not that. Instead, put it next to where you want to be kissed."

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Perfume Quotes 

[quote source] [pic source]

"Mascara frames the eyes but perfume will always leave a long lasting impression"

Thus says Jill Hill, MD of Aspects Beauty Company in Harvey Nichols.Little wonder that in times of economic uncertainty, women won't compromise on this one beauty treat. "People trade to smaller sizes, look for promotions or retreat to safe classics," affirms Jill. "In Harvey Nichols Dublin the DSquared2 fragrances are very popular due to their fresh, woody elements and Trussardi's signature scents Uomo and Donna are selling well." Of course perfume tastes evolve and as women gain self-confidence they tend to go for what they want in a more assured way. Which can get reactions from those not sharing her tastes...

 According to Tanya Sweeney, author of the article in the Herald.ie (with the rather confusing sub-header) from which the quotes come from, "women aren't the only ones to either love or loathe the way you smell. In fact, one male friend has even used the word 'dealbreaker' while referring to the fragrance choice of a potential girlfriend. The Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation in Chicago has researched men's reactions to perfume ... and the results are startling. Natural, 'clean' fragrances like Christian Dior's J'Adore * were a favourite; woody fragrances were also popular, while florals (like roses) didn't rate too highly.[...] Notes Jill: "In a woman, men prefer floral orientals, femininity and allure."

And the author continues: "Vanilla notes in perfume are particularly attractive to men as it subconsciously reminds men of breast milk. [ed.note: And you thought men have progressed beyond the Freudian!]  "This is well known," says Jill. Vanilla is a sweet scent which occurs naturally. It is such a comforting smell that Johnson's Baby Powder has it, which of course has a childhood nostalgia for many people."
Likewise, citrusy perfumes may be too young and overpowering for many men. "The fact that there are very few successful overtly citrus fragrances perhaps tells a story," suggests Jill. "Fruity or gourmand fragrances seem to appeal to women, rather than to men. Some authors ascribe this to the fact that in ancient times women were the gatherers and the smell of berries and fruit was associated with their tribal function, rather than their personal function as mates." [there you go, there's an anthropological explanation for everything!]

*whether you find J'Adore "clean" or "natural" is purely subjective; I find it neither particularly.

It all makes for interesting discussion, eh? What do YOU think? 


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Perfumes that Attract Men and Smells which Turn Women On

Guy Robert: Loving Tribute to a Legendary Perfumer

The creator of masterpieces Madame Rochas, Amouage Gold & Gold for Men, Dioressence, Calèche and the original 1955 Doblis by Hermès  is no more: Perfumer Guy Robert died on Monday 28th May. His mantra: Un parfum doit avant tout sent bon (a perfume should first and foremost smell good).
 One small anecdote (and some perfume quotes I will address below) shows us how historical memory is fleeting when it comes to perfumes and perfumers' work. Despite Robert's amazing and historically important work, not everything is recorded and much of what passed behind closed doors has escaped the written word. Like Robert's unknown perfume called Chouda...

Guy Leyssène, who met Madame Grès at a dinner part two years prior to Cabochard's launch, suggested that she should issue a perfume because it was a profitable enterprise which all the other fashion designers of the times had embarked on. The perfume that was in works was a composition by legendary perfumer Guy Robert, called Chouda. Then young Robert ~under the guidance of mentor Andrée Castanié, then editor of L'Officiel de la Mode et de la Couture~ had been introduced to Mme Grès in 1956. But it took a trip to India, the land of exoticism, which prompted Alix Grès to further her plans on the house’s fragrance. The visit had begun innocuously, invited by the Ford Foundation to assess Indian brocades. It was there that Alix Grès discovered water hyacinth: a flower she became enraptured with. It has a sweet odour, rich like tuberose, yet with a fresher top and slightly warmer. The experimentation of Guy Robert yeilded rich fruits: Alix loved it, however Chouda was almost exclusively used by her (only five litres of Chouda were ever made) as it was too flowery for the tastes of the 50s which veered towards classic chypres. She launched another fragrance under the pressure of public input: the mod of what was to become Cabochard, made by Bernand Chant of IFF, was received much more favourably and thus the plan to push Chouda was ultimately abandoned, although the two were issued almost simultaneously in 1959. It comes as a surprise that there were focus groups even back then, but it is a fact that puts things into perspective: public reception is (and will always be) the moniker of how things work in a sector that, although hinges on art, is also largely a business.

According to Luca Turin, as quoted by Chandler Burr:  "I got to know Guy Robert particularly well. He's a professional-level jazz pianist, writes fiction, is a terrific cook. You should hear him talking about olive oil. He knows the only place to get it. He took me to one of the best restaurants I've ever been to, Le Bistro le Paradou, west of Aix. He's in his seventies now. He's been in the business a long time, has bad relations with Jean Amic, the old head of Givaudan. It's a small world, Grasse. Everyone's screwed everyone else at some point, literally and figuratively."

Guy Robert's wit and realism were unparalleled. He said of Piguet's Bandit scent: "A beautiful, but brutal perfume." And on Ernest Daltroff of Caron, lamenting current state of affairs in perfumery: "Today, when copycats make money, and perfumers are discouraged by lawyers and toxicologists from using some of nature's most fascinating products, Daltroff's creations are a reminder of what true perfumery is all about. He devoted his unique taste and sense of balance to a quest for fragrance perfection." [quotes via Michael Edwards, Perfume Legends]
And on composing: “We are like painters: some use simple colors, others prefer sophisticated ones. It's the result that matters” [quote Guy Robert, Les Sens du Parfum]

Guy Robert belongs to a clan of perfumers as is typical with classic French noses; nephew of Henri Robert, the second perfumer after Beaux at Chanel and famously the nose behind Coty's Muguet de Bois, Chanel pour Monsieur, Chanel No. 19 and Cristalle, while Guy's own son is François Robert who worked on Lanvin Vetyver and the newer Les Parfums de Rosine scents. Between 1949 and his death he worked for six different fragrance houses (Hermès, Rochas, Dior, Gucci, Amouage and The Pink Room), learning perfumery, creating perfume and then supervising groups of perfumers.

In 1961, at the prompting of Jean-René Guerrand (son-in-law of Émile Hermès and founder of the fragrances branch), the perfumer Guy Robert composed Calèche, a masterpiece which instantly transformed Hermès into one of the major players of modern perfumery. Nine years later, moreover, he would be the author of Équipage, the House's first fragrance for men and arguably one of the most graceful to this day. But in the decades of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s he also composed numerous perfumers' bases and accords which have been incorporated into ready-made fragrances credited to other perfumers. He also composed The Pink Room perfume Parfum No.1 pour toi: "The Pink Room Parfum Number 1 was then created with the wonderful Guy Robert as mentor, guide and friend. It was an eidetic experience of the textures, colours and ambience of The Pink room. Having produced Number 1, it became clear to Sarah where her senses were leading her, in a very niche and special way." [quote: Sarah Barton-King]

In his work he served internatioal clients but also involved in the training of new perfumers. Guy Robert considered 'Amouage Gold' a symphony and the crowning glory of his career.
Robert was not without author's credentials either: His Les Sens du Parfum (where he lists some of his favorite perfumes, among them the original Quelques Fleurs, Coty's Cordon Vert alongside Coty's Chypre, Ambre Antique, Emeraude, L'Origan and devotes space to the opus of Germaine Cellier) is considered a handbook into appreciating the art of perfumes, while he served as President of La Société Française des Parfumeurs.

He will be sorely missed. Our condolences to his family.

Guy Robert's known perfume oeuvre comprises, apart from scented products for the body, perfumers' bases and cosmetics:

• Hermès, Doblis (original) (1955)
• Rochas, Madame Rochas (1960)
• Hermès, Calèche (1961)
• Christian Dior Dioressence (1969)
• Rochas, Monsieur Rochas (1969)
• Hermés, Équipage (1970)
• Gucci, Gucci No. 1 (1974)
• Gucci pour Homme (1976)
• Amouage, Amouage Gold (1983)
• Amouage, Amouage Gold Men (1983)
• The Pink Room parfum No.1 (1997)
 

Read fragrance reviews of Guy Robert perfumes here.  

vintage ad via vintageperfumevault.com, photo of Guy Robert via mangalorean

Perfume Quotes: Habit Rouge [Genre (tres) masculin]

Promotion for fragrances don't have to involve much to be suggestive and to stir the imagination. Forget bimbos rolling on the bed, blinged out couples coupling amourously and lots of skin display; forget long tirades extolling the virtues of precious ingredients and mellifluous emotion. A mere suggestion and a quote from a legendary celebrity saying they found a fragrance to have an influence in their lives is enough.

Behold a photo shot by Peter Lindberg for Guerlain's classic masculine fragrance Habit Rouge, genre: (tres) masculin. [translation: Gender: (very) masculine].

Habit Rouge refers to the red riding jacket donned by gentlemen in equestrian days. Of course!

And then you have Keith Richards, of Rolling Stones infamous celebrity, reminscing in his memoirs about choosing Guerlain's Habit Rouge as his signature scent [Mick Jagger prefers Chanel Cuir de Russie]:

"One minute no chick in the world. No f*cking way, and they're going la la la la la. And the next they're sniffing around. And you're going wow, when I changed from Old Spice to Habit Rouge, things definitely got better."
 ~Keith Richards, 'Life'

quote thanks to yum_yum/mua

Karen Khoury: Perfume Inspirations for Estee Lauder & Tom Ford

"I love fragrance and I have lots of ideas. I can be inspired by a piece of art. For example, Pleasures was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe's paintings and Beyond Paradise by a painting I found in a gallery in the old section of Paris. I have fragrances inspired by travels. Fifteen years ago when I made my first trip to Turkey, I was enamoured by the spice market.

I brought some home and had them analysed and put into fragrances and in Morocco I became obsessed with the smell of thya wood and the beautiful bowls they carved out of it.
I took the pieces home and we recreated Bois Marocain for Tom Ford.

And I find women incredibly inspiring. I think women in different cultures share common threads, but the way in which they are expressed is influenced by the culture. It's so fascinating. When I start to understand that I see certain notes, certain ideas in my mind.".

Thus reminisces Karen Khoury, creative director for 27 year and Senior Vice President at the Lauder Companies Inc, responsible for the creation of numerous best-sellers in her career from Calvin Klein to Lauder to you name it.

photo of citruses & lilac flowers by Meg Smith & Associates via Laurie Arons

Perfume Quote: "All I can think about is her wearing nothing except that perfume."

Fragrance and scent in general plays a big role in what guys find attractive (or not) on a woman and on a recent Shine article titled "10 Beauty Moves Guys Find Sexy" it features prominently. Experiences range from the clean & scrubbed effect to having perfume lingering on a pillow...

"I don't know how she does it, but she always smells delicious," says Brent, 29, of his girlfriend, Cate. "Even when she just gets out of the shower!"
"I love inhaling her right here," says Damien, 35, pointing to the area of his girlfriend Veronica's neck right under her ear, where she says she applies Burberry's The Beat perfume every morning. "She smells amazing, all sexy and soft."
Mike, 30, loves his fiancée Nadine's Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise perfume. "All her stuff smells like it" he says. "I love it when I wake up and she's gone, I can still smell it on her pillow."
Tyler, 26, says his girlfriend "asked for a bottle of Stella Nude by Stella McCarthy for her birthday, and now I know why. She smells incredible in it. It's seriously like an aphrodisiac for me. All I can think about is her wearing nothing except that perfume."

Ladies, you have been warned!

Fragrance Choices in Relation to Character & Ambience Delineation in Novels

"He had been before in drawing rooms hung with red damask, with pictures 'of the Italian school'; what struck him was the way in which Medora Manson's shabby hired house, with its blightened background of pampas grass and Rogers statuettes, had, by a turn of the hand, and the skillful use of a few properties, been transformed into something intimate, 'foreign', subtly suggestive of old romantic scenes and sentiments. He tried to analyse the trick, to find a clue to it in the way the chairs and tables were grouped, in the fact that only two Jacqueminot roses (of which nobody ever bought less than a dozen) had been placed in the slender vase at his elbow, and in the vague pervading perfume that was not what one put on handkerchiefs, but rather like the scent of some far-off bazaar, a smell made up of Turkish coffee and ambergris and dried roses."
~Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence

I have been re-reading Wharton's masterpiece and noticing page after page the meticulous care with which the author has created a vivid universe of that crumbling world of social conventions. I follow the eyes and thoughts of late 19th century young gentleman Newland Archer, about to marry the perfect girl of his New York circle, May Welland, but who nevertheless ~out of a rebellion of his inquisitive spirit~ ends up in a frustrated, unfulfilled love story with her cousin, the Countess Olenska; a woman who inwardly snubs conventions, but seems eternally trapped by them in a pre-arranged world of genteel suffocation. No detail has been spared by the author in delineating the mores, the customs, the rites and rituals of a disappearing world and, within it all, one of the most characteristic seems to be the one hinting at smells; such as the above passage, recounting the house in which the Countess Olenska stays, a house she has decorated herself and which reflects her rebellious, cosmopolitan and free nature.

Other fragrant details surface frequently too: May Welland receives posies of lilies of the valley daily ~ Diana-like, pure, beautiful, virginal and above board~ all through her engagement to Newland. As he shops for her bouquet he suddenly notices...

..."a cluster of yellow roses. He had never seen any as sun-golden before and his first impulse was to send them to May instead of the lilies. But they did not look like her -there was something too rich, too strong, in their fiery beauty. In a sudden revulsion of mood, and almost without knowing what he did, he signed to the florist to lay the roses in another long box, and slipped his card into a second envelope, on which he wrote the name of the Countess Olenska; then, just as he was turning away, he drew the card out again, and left the empty envelope on the box".

Such small details can create a whole scene! The lily of the valley stands as the symbol of the virgin bride who is spotless and seems frail, yet surfaces triumphant in the conventional approach to marriage she seeks in the end, much like the aroma of the tiny blossom is piercingly sweet and surpasses most others. The sun-yellow rose is more mature, more feminine in a retro, "full" way, symbolising the giving and open nature of Ellen Olenska, its delicate scent a crumbling beauty that is trampled by those whose trail travels farthest.

Perfume mentions in novels, whether by general description or by specific brand names is not new, but it always strikes me as poignant and significant in setting the mood and tone of the literary work at hand. Indeed, there are books in which it sets the very plot, like obvious paradigm Das Parfum by Patrick Süskind, À Rebours (Against the Grain) by J.K. Huysmans or Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Then, they are those which use perfume references creatively, like The Petty Demon (Melkiy Bes) by Fyodor Sologub, chronicling Peredonov's ambition to rise from instructor to rural gymnasium to school inspector as well as the erotic dalliance between Sasha Pulnivok and Lyudmilla Rutilova.
Take White Oleander by Janet Finch as well, where every character signals a hidden side of them by their choice of fragrance: The biological mom looks stealthy if deliquent, but smells of shy, tender violets. The foster mom with the suicidal tendencies chooses L'Air du Temps, fusing her frail personality with the graceful and assured arc of the Nina Ricci's classic. The upscale hooker down the road wears steely and classy chypre Ma Griffe by Carven. Even the fragrant gift of the promiscuous neighbour to the girl heroine, Penhaligon's Love Potion No.9, is a plea and realisation for what the protagonist needs most: approval.

In Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love the protagonist's wearing of Guerlain's classic Après l'Ondée elicits favourable reception. In Joanne Harris's Chocolat the depiction of all the village women wearing Chanel No.5, till the arrival of the trail blaizer heroine, is akin to a red flag of conventions-adoring set to be shred to pieces. In Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle the scent that permeates the romantic atmosphere is Penhaligon's Bluebell; as British as you can get.
Sometimes scent in novels can even become an idée fixe:

"...and I could see Maxim standing at the foot of the stairs, laughing, shaking hands, turning to someone who stood by his side, tall and slim, with dark hair, said the bishop's wife, dark hair against a white face, someone whose quick eyes saw to the comfort of her guests, who gave an order over her shoulder to a servant, someone who was never awkward, never without grace, who when she danced left a stab of perfume in the air like a white azalea."

Thus writes Daphne du Maurier in Rebecca and continues:

"And then I knew that the vanished scent upon the handkerchief was the same as the crushed white petals of the azaleas in the Happy Valley." Or "The wardrobe smelt stuffy, queer. The azalea scent, so fragrant and delicate in the air, had turned stale in the wardrobe, tarnishing the silver dresses and the brocade, and the breath of it wafted toward me now from the open doors, faded and old."

And who can forget literary giant Honoré de Balzac when he describes down to the filthy detail and to the last minutiae the places where his heroes live and work in Père Goriot?

Fragrance references and scented descriptions add a whole different sublayer to a novel's charm and sometimes worth, by injecting it with a subtle nuance like nothing else. Simply put, the novel would be incomplete without referring that sense which makes up for so many of our memories, sentiments, preconceptions and aversions.


What about you? Do you enjoy fragrance references in novels or do they distract you? And which are your favourites? Share them in the comments.

The Indefinable Allure of a Signature Scent

“One of the most wonderful things for a man is to walk in a room and know that that woman was here because of that lingering smell.” Isn't that a most romantic thought?Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be thus ingrained into the mind of another? Thus, dreamingly, muses designer to the stars Oscar de la Renta. According to him perfume is integral to an overall look and a woman should be known for her signature scent, as he told StyleList apropos his upcoming fragrance launch, a feminine floral-oriental perfume for the "chic and sophisticated women of a new era" inspired by his own daughter Eliza Bolen. [source] .


In the 19th and early 20th century the mission of finding an appropriate signature scent was built into the minds of coquettes and ladies of the house alike, becoming a laborious occupation and a rite of passage. Women chose at an early age among tiny nuances within set parameters. Ladies of virtue went for violets or roses, but done in a variety of styles and with small details differentiating from maker to maker. The promiscuous or demi-mondaines went for jasmine and tuberose in unapologetic mixes, still treated to the slight variation of technique that produced an array of interpretations. But once they chose, they stayed the course, being identified by their choice. Sometimes they were more faithful to their perfumes than their husbands, preferring identification by intellectual and emotional choice than societal mores.

Finding one's signature scent is an all consuming occupation today as well, in those in whom it is an ardent desire and in those in whom the pang of the new or the newly-found drums its drum with the fervor of the newly converted. Lexa Doig, the Canadian actress best known for her role in the Tv series Andromeda, admits she can't curtail temptation when she says "I'm totally on a mission to find my signature scent, but I'm too mercurial". Fashion model and TV-presenter Lisa Snowdon finds the variety hard to resist: "I enjoy popping in to World Duty Free at the airport and trying out perfumes - I can never resist a new scent". So, I bet is the case with most perfume enthusiasts or fragrance writers such as myself. Even if we know our true tastes very well indeed, the lure of missing out on something unanticipated keeps us on our toes. After all the concept of changing fragrances according to mood and fashion trends is a clever device of marketing to get us to consume, otherwise where would the market be? On the antithetical pole, we have Oscar de la Renta's thoughts (who perhaps ironically enough has his own share of eponymous scents beneath his belt): “I say a fragrance should become part of your identity. [...] When I want to smell that fragrance, I want to recognise you by it”. He's not alone.

Perfume writer Susan Irvine, who tests fragrances for a living, recounted a story in which a young mother was telling her how a particular fragrance was encapsulating a particularly happy era in her life, getting her first job in New York City in her early 20s; but also how she purposefully extended its aura into how she wanted the rest of her life and her personality to project: crisp, energetic, with the dynamism of a young woman who is gripping metropolis by the horns and makes things go her own way. The definition of a signature scent, this magical amulet never missed to put a spring into her step. But it also stood for something more: "I like to think that when I die, this is what my children will remember me by" she finished. The fragrance of pure rapture and dedicated passion in question? It was none other than Aromatics Elixir, the Clinique classic which still goes strong since its introduction in the early 1970s. Irvine was inwardly ~and outwardly too, come to think of it, since she divulged the story, didn't she?~ questioning her own choices, her fickleness and pondering on the existence or not of children as historians of the scent trail that is left lingering in ether and memory long after someone passes. The fragrances we choose become our own memorable chronology, marking important events: our first job, a fling that slowly becomes something serious, the birth of children, a promotion, the passing of someone we cherish.

Signature scents can become our own geography as well; precious places that come back, without beckoning, upon uncorking a rich bouquet of complicated molecules. In the words of Diane Ackerman: "Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains". How many among us think lovingly of holidays spent on some beloved locale, peppered with precious memories and beauty that sustaining us in the months of daily commute?



But more deeply than either personal history or individual geography, signature scents can be signposts of the self: I remember my own mother, her bosom and her endless scarves aromatized by the mysterious vapors of her beloved fragrance, rising as if from within her very self: Was Cabochard by Madame Grès such a womanly mantle in its vintage form or was my association of it with her that tinged it with the exasperation of an unfulfilled longing? The thing which made it so magical in my heart? Continuous wear seemed to have effectuated not only a change of the person thanks to the perfume, but, mysteriously enough, a change of the perfume thanks to the person, even in its bottled form! Cabochard thus lost some of its aloofness, gaining instead a sui generis enigma that was beyond anything else a daydream; like she was.
She didn't always wear Cabochard, having the occasional fling with other fragrances that tickled her fancy, like women who are faithful in other ways, and she seemed to instinctually instill some of her primary goodness, her unbridled kindness and openness to the world in each and every one of them. I smell those fragrances now on my own skin and I find them lacking compared to how she manipulated them into something ghostly that evoked no other but her.

That signature scent remains poised on a scarf locked in a drawer. Whenever the mood strikes me, I gingerly open a tiny crack when nobody watches and, scared I'm letting out a little bit of a finite amount of an eidolon each time, I'm inhaling a miniscule whiff while my eyes get misty.

And you? Do you embrace the idea of a signature scent or not? And why?


pics via pinterest.com and sparkles & crumbs

"I'm a Servant to Perfume": Serge Lutens on France24

"Talking of perfume is like talking about everything. When one talks about a perfume there is usually a false story behind it. When you create a perfume it is not created for a man or a woman, it's something to be determined afterwards; it's the people who determine what it is. The sex isn't determined by perfume, choice is.

I am its servant. It's It (perfume) that I have to serve. I am its servant. If I don't serve, I'm but a merchant, making tricks with paper (blotters) like everyone does...

Perfume is not a product; it's something else, it's mystical. [...] A perfume is brilliant when it manages to create a response in itself; if it does not, what's the purpose? [...]{The business} is a vast operation...it's like Viennese waltz, it's mild and turns around and around. That is embarrassing! Before disgust, there's ennui.

If perfume becomes a discourse that is politically & sentimentally correct, it no longer holds any interest."

(NB.the translation follows the most important quotes)


thanks to Alesio Lo Vecchio for bringing it to my attention ETA: And thanks to Bela for dependable bitch-slapping spellcheck!

Chrstina Hendricks Loves Some Manly Smell!

In the new issue of Esquire magazine, in a column devoted to 'Mad Men' beauty Christina Hendricks, the real-woman's-body champion dares to tell men what she really thinks about them: 'We love your body. If we're in love with you, we love your body. Your potbelly, everything,' Hendricks writes in 'A Letter to Men.'
'Speaking of your body, you don't understand the power of your own smell. Any woman who is currently with a man is with him partly because she loves the way he smells.'
We're hanging from your every word, dear Christina...

Spoil the Perfume?

The New York Post has a very intriguing snippet regarding perfume use, containing two quotes from people famous for their perfume lines: Chanel and Guerlain.
Coco Chanel once said that "it was the height of arrogance for a woman to think that she smelled good enough to go out without perfume", while Jean Paul Guerlain has been known to say "you can put all the perfume you want on a smelly beggar but it will not conceal his odor and it will also spoil the perfume."

Excuse me, are we on serious mode now?
Because I find nothing wrong with a clean woman's scent which doesn't need adornment if she and her partner do not wish to go that route. But that wouldn't help the perfume business along, would it? I guess it is the same thing as with makeup: we have been so much conditioned to believe that a naked face is so shockingly nude that we feel the masochistic need to plaster on various unguents in a futile attempt to conform to someone else's standards. And this is no mere feministic parlance, because The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolfis rather old news by now (although still quite true!). It's nice to play charades and reveal facets of oneself through the use of artificial means, but let's admit it as such: a game; not a necessity!

And considering the poor beggar: what cruel soul would offer perfume in lieu of a decent bath and clean clothes? Makes you think of American Psychosomehow...
Is it certain we're not in Pygmalion-mode? I was a bit flustered there for a second, not sure if Eliza Doolitlehad been offered perfume in that attempt to conceal her humble origins, posing as to the manor born. And on top of that the audacity of spoiling a perfectly good perfume by putting it on a low-class amoebidae form of life...Mon Dieu! The nerve!

Pic courtesy of Athinorama, with apologies to the -I am sure- innocent bearded man who is certainly not a beggar. But it might look like one to Jean Paul.