Bedelia du Maurier

Among the surprises of Hannibal's season finale.... Hannibal on a plane to Europe with Bedelia du Maurier.... yikes!

It's kind of funny that Gillian Anderson appears time to time on this show.  In the pilot of The X-Files, Dana Scully pretty much was a copy of Clarice Starling.

Anyway a great season finale.

Laine de Verre

Serge Lutens was/is selling their recent Laine de Verre marked down on their own web site.  Is it selling that poorly?  Anyway, I took advantage of it.   Not sure I like it, but it is kind of interesting.

Photo from Grain de Musc.

I've Been Getting a Lot, Lately

Sunday I went to Barneys.  I figured I would get something, since I haven't been there since the bag event.  There was something going on and if you spent $250 you got a $25 gift card.  So, I got Frédéric Malle Une Fleur de Cassie, 50 ml, which I had been meaning to get for a while.  Last year when Mr. Malle came to Barneys I almost got it, but it smelled sour on me.... I ended up getting a candle, which I gave to my sister for Christmas.  I'm sure she didn't care that it was signed by Mr. Malle.... But candles are lost on me.  But I digress.

This may be an odd choice right when the weather is warming up.... There was nothing else there that grabbed me. The SA talking to me (Andy was off) was pushing Le Labo on me and, well, no thanks.

I also ordered Serge Lutens L'Eau Froide, 100 ml, and it finally was delivered today. The price was half off on Amazon, and I figured, why not?  It is stronger than L'Eau Serge Lutens, but doesn't have that interesting ironing board note.

I think I'll chill out for a bit.. at least until my credit cards are paid off.

Ashley who worked the L'Artisan stuff at Barneys is no longer there.... There is someone new named Bonnie, whom I haven't met.

Vitriol d'Œillet

I got a tester of Serge Lutens Vitriol d'Œillet.  The opening kind of reminds me of Un Lys.  I thought it might be ok for  the summer, but Un Lys tends to get kind of cloying in the heat.  I'll give it a try anyway.

I, of course do not have this bottle, dang.




Photo from Perfume Shrine.

A couple things more

A week or so ago, I got a few things.  I got Hermès Eau de Mandarine Ambrée.

In the same order I got Christian Dior Eau Sauvage Fraîcheur Cuir.

I just got back from four days in the LA area.  I visited my father, who lives in Dana Point.  Actually, his address is Capo Beach, which he dismisses, and says it is Dana Point.  His view off his back porch is this:

His house in San Clemente was nicer as a house. I think he and Barbara bought this house for this view.  I'm tempted to say it's worth it. So it goes living in a gated community.

I visited my friend Ricardo in LA after visiting my father.  I got him to take me to the Scent Bar, since I had never been.  We were the only customers, and there were two very nice and knowledgeable female sales assistants.  I ended up getting Naomi Goodsir Bois d'Ascèse.

A almost got Neela Vermeire Creations Ashoka, but didn't want to spend that kind of money.  It's beautiful, though.

More Shoes, Perfumes....

I got these Converse plimsolls --- as opposed to sneakers... hmmmm.

They feel kind of narrow.  I wore them to work today.  My feet were really sore when I got home.  Maybe it's just because they are new.

I got État Libre d'Orange La Fin du Monde, 50 ml.  Which I like.

Also, the reissue of L'Artisan's Jour de Fête, 100 ml.

That Mall Smell!

I ordered Bentley For Men Intense blind, based on a bunch of super positive reviews.  The boys at Basenotes went wowie over this, saying it smelled so niche for a designer scent. What they hell were they thinking???

It smells so designer.  The smell of the shopping mall.  The smell of numerous pullouts in fashion magazines.  Maybe a little added pepper. It wasn't so ridiculously priced, at least, on Amazon.

Nice bottle.


UDATE:

It does smell much better hours later on the drydown. But at the beginning and for several hours it has that horrible generic ambery-woody smell.

Cheapies

I got a couple of old cheapies this week.

Back in the '90s, Yasutaka used to wear this, and I started to wear it and wore it exclusively for several years .  It's been discontinued, but Fragrancenet had it on sale, so I bought it:  Dunhill Edition.

The opening is harsher than I remember. This may have to do that it is old, and the top notes have gone.  We will see if I still like it.  The bottles I had back then were splash bottles, and I dabbed.  This bottle is only a spray. I think Zino took over as the main thing I wore some time in the '90s.

My second cheapie is Oscar de la Renta Pour Lui. Back when I first joined Basenotes in 2009, a few more senior members got together and gave a bunch of samples to new members, and I was one of the lucky ones.  AromiErotici sent me, among some other things, Oscar Pour Lui.  It just smelled so gorgeous at the time.  I remember spraying my sample in front of my mother and she just smiled. I went through the sample pretty quickly, and oddly never got a bottle, until now.

We shall see if I still like it.  Also, if I remember correctly, the sample was vintage.  This is no doubt a reformulation. (It was only like $20.)  So it may smell completely different.  [EDIT:  I ended up giving this to Junior, who sits next to me at work.  I'll have to get my own bottle at a later date.]

The other two bottles I ordered were backups:  L'Artisan Parfumeur Bois Farine (100 ml -- news is out that it is being discontinued).  The bottle I already had was 50 ml.   I was afraid I might run out if it is gone.   The second backup is Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chéri par Camille.  I heard this might be discontinued as well, which is just weird, since it was just released a few years ago. If Janet likes it, I may give her one of the bottles.  But I really love it.  Both of these bottles were very much discounted.


Dunhill Edition photo from Ozmoz.
Oscar Pour Lui photo from Fragrantica. 

Congratulations!

My niece, Julia, who, since graduating Juilliard, hasn't gotten a job other than freelance, has been named Principal Harp at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach.  I guess it starts in the fall, and continues for three years. She was just told today.  I'm glad for her.

Iris Nazarena

Barneys had their semiannual bag event, which ended yesterday  I met Sara for lunch, and she  brought her friend Shannon again... so the three of us headed over to Barneys.

Sara bought makeup... I got Aedes de Venustas Iris Nazarena.

A few weeks ago, I got these shoes.  I've been kind of embarrassed about getting them.   They were super expensive, although what I paid was $600 less than their selling price. I'm also not sure about when I would have the chance of wearing them.   Well, here they are:

I guess Alexander McQueen put out a bunch of things with this motif for last fall.  I like the suits with the stained glass.  I'm not sure about wearing a whole outfit with the design, though.  For me, just the shoes are good.. I wouldn't want to overdo it.  The women's dresses and purses, though look nice.  A scarf might work, too, for either men or women.  But I am happy with the shoes.

When I first saw the shoes, I kept thinking of a scene in the movie, Performance,  towards the beginning, when James Fox, as a gangster, is trying to rent a room in reclusive rock star Mick Jagger's house to escape police and other gangsters.  Mick Jagger is saying he doesn't want any tenants.  James Fox is smoking a cigarette, and an ash falls to the floor, atop an oriental rug.  Mick tells Fox, that rug is 200 years old.  Fox  just says, "Valuable antique, is it?"  Anyway, when I saw the shoes, the  image from the film of the ashes falling to the rug kept coming to my head.

Tons

I bought a couple of things in the past week.

Last week I ordered some decants from Surrender to Chance:  Mono di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Oud, 3 ml. I didn't get a whole lot of oud from it and from a quick sniff it smells very perfumey.   Armani Privé Bois d'Encens, 5 ml -- I'm a bit disappointed.  The three Guerlain Les Déserts d'Orient,  Encens Mythique d’Orient, Rose Nacrée du Désert, and Songe d’un Bois d’Éte, each 1.5 ml.   I've only smelled the last so far.   It reminded me of L'Artisan's Al Oudh.  Annick Goutal Eau du Fier, 8 ml, since a full bottle seems unlikely. Finally, Serge Lutens Miel de Bois, 2 ml, just to see what the brouhaha was all about.

I also ordered a couple of things from Luckyscent.  First, Phaedon Grisens was over half off, so I got that.

I also got CB I Hate Perfume Burning Leaves, which I had been meaning to get for a long time.  It was much sweeter than I remember.

If you ordered more than $100 of stuff, you could add a code enabling you to receive a 20-piece surprise sample pack (see Luckyscent Gifts with Purchase in the drop down menu).  I'm kind of impressed with what they sent:  Amouage Ciel Man; Maison Francis Kurkdjian Oud and Lumière Noire pour Femme; Lubin Gin Fizz and Black Jade; Parfums Nicolai Eau d'Été and Patchouli Intense; Juliette Has a Gun Mad Madame and Romantina; Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Ambre Précieux; Parfums Delrae Coup de Foudre and Bois du Paradise; Diptyque Tam Dao edt and Philosykos edp; Serge Lutens Serge Noire; By Kilian Liaisons  Dangereuses, Flower of Immortality, and Love and Tears; Histoires de Parfums Vert Pivoine, 1889: Moulin Rouge, and Tubéreuse 2: Virginale; Profumum Antico Caruso; Costes; and finally, 10 Corso Como.  Some of these I already had samples of, but a lot I really didn't, and several I would never have even asked to try.... so it is exposing me to some I wouldn't otherwise look at.  Most of these were manufacturer's samples.

Anyway, as  you can see, I have a lot of sniffing to do.

New Year

I'm on vacation for two weeks.  Naoki was here, so I probably won't go to Japan.  He'll be busy  with work every day if I go.  There is a holiday on the 13th, so he may have a three-day weekend.  Anyway, I am still deciding.  The weather has been bad out east, so loads on planes to Japan from here have been pretty bad.  Maybe it would clear up.

It's been snowing here since New Year's Eve.  I slipped and fell crossing the street on the first.  My knee is kinda sore, but I don't think anything was seriously hurt.

Right after Christmas I bought these boots.  Yet another pair of Palladiums:

They're wool flannel on the outside, and the lining is leather.  They are really warm, but take me a bit of time to get on.  I'm not used to wearing high-tops.  But if I am only going out for a bit I won't put them on. Hence, I slipped.   Anyway, I like the boots.  They also have good traction.  They were a collaboration with designer Richard Chai.  They kind of remind me of these German wool army pants we used to wear in the '80s.

Today I went to Barneys and bought  D.S. and Durga's Spirit of the Glen from the Hylnds series.  It's supposed to smell like The Glenlivet scotch.  Andy had been trying to get me to buy it last time I was there, but I felt it would be queer (in the junior high school sense) to get a perfume with my name on it.  Also, I was afraid it smelled too much of vanilla extract. But I've decided I like it.  It was kind o pricey, though.  My first purchase of the year.

Palladium photo from freshnessmag.com.
Spirit of the Glen photo from Barneys New York.

L'Eau Du Navigateur

I ordered this a while back (around the same time I ordered Chaos), and it just arrived today.

I bought this blind, partially because it has been discontinued, and partly because it was pretty cheap. Per Fragrantica, the notes are coffee, spices, woodsy notes, floral notes, rum, resin, incense, tobacco, leather, cedar and myrrh. I've read some reviews and some people say they don't get coffee at all.  I smell coffee and cinnamon right off the bat.  After a quick sniff, it smells nice.  Don't quite get the love some people shower on it, though.   I'll wear it more before making a complete judgment.







Photo from L'Artisan Parfumeur.

Black Friday

Well, I had ordered it earlier but it arrived on Black Friday:  Donna Karan Chaos.  I'm wearing it now!

Reminds me a lot of Idole de Lubin.  Or I suppose that should be the other way around.

So things I actually bought on Black Friday:

Dyson DC35 vacuum cleaner from BestBuy.

 It was significantly discounted.

Some Pumas:  The MY-70.

Rudolph Dassler Ansbach Mid.

Some presents:  Person of Interest Season 2 for Dawn for Christmas.  For Junior (real name Florencio) who sits next to me at work, the below Skagen Hiromichi Konno watch.  I have the watch already, and Junior said at one point he liked it.  He buys me lunch all the time, so I figure a Christmas present is not out of line.  On sale at Amazon.

Fight Club in Blu Ray was only like $3, so I got that.

And finally, today, I got yet another pair of Palladiums, the below Pallabrouse Baggy Leather 2! On sale at Amazon.  I hope the color really is like this!

I had had another pair of shoes, a pair of Lanvin sneakers that were more than half off at Barneys.  I paid for them, got a confirmation, but later got a retraction.  It was probably the last pair, and someone else had ordered them at the same time.  I really like Lanvin sneakers, but they are ridiculously priced.  These are the missed opportunity:

Basenotes Chicago Meet-Up

I met a bunch of people this weekend from Basenotes who all came to Chicago to walk around, shop, and talk perfume.  I had a great time, and I hope we can all do this again.  Some came all the way from Boston and Seattle! I felt ind of odd-man out, especially as I was the only man there not married to one of the participants.  But everyone was extremely nice and mdd me, as well as other newcomers, very welcome.

I ended up getting L'Artisan Parfumeur Amour Nocturne.

I'm surprised this is the second of the Explosions d'Émotions that I got.   I was expecting to get Skin on Skin, but, after multiple wearings, decided it was kind of sweet.  This may have to do with the soap I have been using lately, this interesting gel foam by this brand called Rituals.  The can of soap came with the Barneys bag.  Because I bought more this weekend, Andy gave me another bag, PLUS two more cans of the soap! Anyway, the soap is supposed to be scented of cherry blossoms (I never knew they had a scent), which may explain the heightened sweetness of Skin on Skin.  I will try it again later, without the soap.

We also went to Hermès, where I got, oddly, the Terre d'Hermès Parfum.  I like it more than the edt, but I wasn't really feeling it when I wore it today.  Nice cap/sprayer, though!

Again, my reaction may have to do with the dang soap. I could have gotten it at a discounter, rather than pay full for it at the Hermès boutique on Oak Street.  Also:  when I checked the Hermès web site, they had a different bottle (1 oz) plus a large refill bottle for the same price.

Saks has the Christian Dior Collection Privée line, and I was looking forward to testing them all out.  However, several people wanted to decant my bottle of Byredo Black Saffron (and one of my M/Mink), so I took the bus home, got stuff, and then came back, missing their tour of Neiman Marcus and catching them at the tail end of Saks.  I live here, so I suppose I can go myself any time.  Also, I didn't need to spend still more money! But I wanted to sniff.

After Saks, we went to Nordstroms, which I guess I have never been to before, and I was kind of lost, not seeing much that I was interested in.

Finally, we went to Merz Apothecary.  They have Santa Maria Novella, and this time, they finally seem to have the potpourri, but only for the terra cotta urns.  They also had the terra cotta pomegranates.  So I may get one or the other for someone for a Christmas present.  Alas, no Nostalgia!

From there we went to Quarry's room at the Palmer House, and everyone swapped samples.  There was nowhere really to sit except the floor.  As I was not feeling especially limber, I stood the whole time, and finally just pooped out and went home on the bus with another newbie, Annette, who lived near me.

Amour Nocturne photo from Barneys.
Terre d'Hermès Parfum photo from Badger and Blade.

Explosions d'Émotions

Today, I went to Barneys.  They were having yet another bag event.  Ashley had called me Thursday to ask me to come to a L'Artisan thing that was also going on today.  The last time there was a L'Artisan thing at Barneys, I was on my way to Japan, and couldn't make it.

Anyway, the L'Aritisan event coincided with the release of their Explosions d'Émotions trio, Amour Nocturne, Déliria, and Skin on Skin.

For some reason these come in 125 ml bottles, and kind-o-deluxe packaging.

Don't know about you, but whenever I hear Explosions d'Émotions, this song goes running through my head.... where it has been stuck all day. Maybe I'm showing my age.

Anyway, I liked all three of these.  Déliria is the weirdest scent L'Artisan has come out with in a while.  I'm not sure how to describe it. Delirious kind of fits.  On another customer at Barneys, it was very sweet.  On me, not so much, thank you.  Skin on Skin is a nice leather -- non-sweet for all you who were wondering.  The closest I can think of is Tom Ford Tuscan Leather. I'll have to compare.

The woman from L'Artisan was lovely.  I was kind of confused at one point, because all press I have read lists gunpowder as a note in Amour Nocturne.  The woman from L'Artisan said, no, it is in Skin on Skin.  Smelling the latter, I do smell it there, and not in Amour Nocturne.  So I don't know what to think about this.  Even the L'Artisan site says gunpowder is in Amour Nocturne.

I ended up going home with a bottle of Déliria, along with an atomizer full of Skin on Skin.  If I wanted to shell out all the money, I could have gone home with all three full bottles, which would have been signed by Bertrand Duchaufour.  Well, now. Other perks include a 15 ml bottle of La Chasse aux Papillons, which, you know, is not me! I'll probably give it to Janet.  Continuing with my free-association trend today, whenever I hear La Chasse aux Papillons, I think of being chased by a pack of these things:

In the 1960s, Mattel had a line of their Liddle Kiddle dolls called Kiddle Kolognes, with scented dolls in perfume bottles. To me La Chasse aux Papillons smells exactly like the doll Janet had when we were kids, Honeysuckle Kiddle.

No wonder we grew up so twisted!

I had a selection of the minis to choose from, and I had the other ones already, or didn't like.  (I think they were Mûre et Musc Extrême [which I hate, actually] or Premier Figuier.)

The bag from the bag event actually was very nice, with more that I can use than usual.  I think Andy gave me double on certain items since I am such a good customer/easy mark.  I'll talk more about some of what I got in a later post.

Déliria photo from L'Artisan Parfumeur.
Papillon photo from thedogtrainingsecret.com
Kiddle Kologne photo from etsy.com. 

George Nelson Swag-Leg Chair

This is the most used piece of furniture in my apartment.  I'm sitting at it right now.

I have this color-scheme.  My chair's legs, however, are chrome.  I've had the chair at least five years.   I sit at my desk, which is an Eames Desk, as below.  I guess, since I sit at this desk every day on that chair, both of these get equal use.  I bought the desk right after I moved in here, so in 2005.  To be honest it is kind of beat up.

Anyway, about a month ago, two of the bolts holding the legs on the chair broke.  I paid Pedro who works in this building to fix it.  He fixed it yesterday. 

Prior to getting the Swag-Leg Chair fixed, I had been using a Vitra Visavis chair, by Antonio Citterio.  This is my favorite chair.  I have six of them.  I bought them on ebay from a place in Houston, which had bought a bunch of them when Enron liquidated.  I love the design, and they are comfortable.  I don't have a dining room table, though.  I meant them to be dining room chairs.  The backs are somewhat scratched up, and I don't like the blue upholstery on the seats.  One day I'll get that changed. 

This may be the actual color of my seats.  But these are the chairs. I love these chairs but they are too low for desk chairs.

Actually, I found a picture of what pretty much my chairs looks like, from a web site called Metro Retro Furniture.  Which is the store from where I bought them.

Photo of Nelson Swag-Leg Chair from Herman Miller.

Photo of Eames Desk and single black Visavis chair from Architonic.com.

Room full of blue-seated Visavis from smow.com. 

Photo of single blue Visavis from metroretrofurniture.com

Okay...

OK, I got these, which are pretty much the same shoe as the Puma AMQDek Mid II, only the AMQDek Lo II.  I was waiting for them to drop to a certain price, and, well, they did.

Photo from canalmasculino.com.br.

Well, well

I had some kind o training session for work downtown yesterday so figured I would drop in Barneys on the way home, since I hadn't been there in months.  Neither Andy nor Ashley were there so I should have just left.  I ended up talking with this young'un named Ricky who I have never met before, and this woman who for some reason I can't remember her name.  She kept trying to get me to buy Byredo's 1996 or whatever it's called.  I kept insisting the picture of the baby was important and she wouldn't believe me.  She finally looked it up online and found out what that was all about.  Anyway, I had fun.  Ricky was fun to talk with.

They had Comme des Garçons Stephen Jones which I had never seen there before, and that is what I ended up walking out of there with.

I had also ordered a pair of Havaianas espadrilles, which were on sale for $19.  I figured I could have a fresh pair for next year.

While I was at it I got the Laundress/Le Labo Rose 31 laundry detergent.  I thought I would give it a go. I'll fill you in once I try it. $45 for a teeny bottle of detergent is kind of ridiculous, though.  We'll see how long it lasts. 

Stephen Jones photo from Amazon.com
Havaianas and The Laundress/Le Labo photos from Barneys New York

So I Lied

Photo of Vivienne Westwood PVC Sneakers from Zappos.