Barneys Perfume/Wine-Tasting Event

Trillian (sp?), an SA at Barneys, organized an event for last night involving wine-drinking and how it enhances the whole scent experience.  I'm not sure that the objective was met, but it was a whole lot of fun, led by L'Artisan people Amy and Karen from the New York headquarters.

I'm not much of a wine drinker, truth be told, but Trillian did a good job selecting wines, I thought. The perfumes they chose to focus on were:  Rose Privée, Mandarine, Ambre Extrême, and Amour Nocturne. Three out of the four I do not own, which I was glad for, as it made the event more interesting for me.  I was able to appreciate Mandarine and Rose Privée much more than I had originally and might reconsider purchase at some date.  I still don't like the amber, but it made me realize why I liked Amour Nocturne in the first place.  The Explosions d'Émotions have not gone over too well, at least critically, from what I can tell. Paired with a dessert wine, it really shone among the night's offerings.

In addition to not really knowing much about wine, I haven't had a drink in ages. Consequently, I was rather tipsy by evening's end (we had four full glasses of wine within an hour and a half, with some nibbling on cheese and bread).   Hopefully, I wasn't too giggly.

Five attended (among 17 or so who RSVP'ed, so there were a lot of leftovers). L'Artisan was extremely generous to attendees. With a L'Artisan purchase, we received a bag which included: La Chasse aux Papillons shower gel, a 175 g Tilleuls au Vent candle, a small bottle of La Provence room spray (which they don't actually sell -- it probably smells of the new Boules de Provence), and a 50 ml bottle of either Timbuktu or Nuit de Tubéreuse -- I chose the latter, as I'm not much of a fan of Timbuktu. Anyway, this was completely unexpected.  I was thinking we would get a 15 ml of something and leave it at that. Very nice. Probably over $200 in giveaways!

I ended getting a bottle of Caligna as my purchase, which I had planned on.  I probably should have gotten the Mandarine or Rose Privée, as I would probably get more use of those than of Caligna. Or maybe backup bottles of Tea for Two or Dzing! Well, it just adds to my collection.

Anyway, it's nice to see me getting out and about.  I've tended to be a hermit lately outside of work.

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.