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.

Pétroleum

I got a 60 ml bottle of Histoires de Parfums Édition Rare Pétroleum.  My first from this line, although I have samples of a bunch.  This was the first I felt compelled to get (although I do like the Tubéreuse 3:  Animale). Very nice presentation!  Are all their bottles like this?

Also in my package was a Slumberhouse sample set, including Ore, Sova, Jeke, Pear + Olive, Norne, and Vikt.  I'm looking forward to testing these.  I dabbed a little of Pear + Olive on, and I'm wondering if they're labelled correctly.  Smelled of cocoa to me!

Photo from Aedes de Venustas

Nuit Etoilée Eau de Parfum

I got a 100 ml bottle of Annick Goutal Nuit Étoilée eau de parfum, which just arrived tonight.  I have the eau de toilette already, with the manly bottle.   The eau de toilette to me smells very synthetic, in kind of an interesting way.  It initially reminded me of a swimming pool.  More like an inflatable raft, actually.  Kind of like Comme des Garçons Skai.  With a quick spritz of the edp, it is quite different.  I get more of the mint here.  People mention iris, which I'm not getting.  Nor do I get pine. I'll need to do a full wearing.

Photo from amazon.com, which is where I bought it. 

Rose Poivrée

I ordered a 90 ml bottle of The Different Company's Rose Poivrée from Beauty Encounter.  It just arrived tonight.  I have a 2 ml official sample in a little cubed bottle like this.

The perfume in the bottle I received  is much stronger than the sample, which I liked (hence I ordered it), but in comparison it smells very thin.  I'm not sure if that is because I dab from the sample versus spraying.  Anyway, I'm very happy with this purchase.  Again, I'm wondering if this is an older bottle, and "pre-reformulation," as rumor has it that recent versions of this are much less pungent.

The perfume itself is dark, like this picture, if that is a clue.  Other pictures of this have a much lighter color. The box is the older, grey box and it does have the older cap.  As I have no experience with "vintage" Rose Poivrée, I have no way of knowing if this is the same.  

It kind of gives me a headache when, on Basenotes, some people refer to fragrances that came out two years ago as "vintage" and worry that currently-selling bottles have already been reformulated.

Anyway, this smells great! My main commentator  doesn't like this much and calls it "death by cumin." I'm happy, though. 

Sample photo from Flickr.

Full bottle photo from foro.deperfumes.com.

Naoki's Visiting!

I was testing my cell phone's camera....

Three fun-filled days!  Then back to Japan.  Typical.....

A Recent Obsession

IKEA pickled herring with dill. It takes me around three hours one way to get to IKEA on the bus.  I could eat this every day.  I'm not about to carry a case of these home on the bus, kids.






Photo from IKEA.

Bargains...?

Neiman's sent me a $25 off coupon since I seemed to be such a potential spendthrift.  Anyway, it expires July 26.  I have been combing Neiman's web site for something to buy (fragrances were excluded) and I could find NOTHING.  I would have liked some new pants, but all they seemed to sell were skinny jeans, which I hate.

Today I decided I would use the coupon to get a shoe tree.  Seems sensible, ne?  As I was paging through the shoe selection looking for the shoe tree, I came across... THESE:

Anyway, they are Pumas, "AMQ Deck Mid II Print Sneaker, North Sea" is what they are called (I guess "North Sea" is the color).  They were on sale, in my size, and with $25 off and free shipping, they weren't that bad.  I'm not entirely nuts about mid- to hi-tops, but I really liked the look of them.  AMQ stands for Alexander McQueen, so there must have been some collaboration going on there.  I've had good luck with Pumas in the past, so I imagine they will be comfortable.


I also ordered these, from Barneys, on sale:

Yes, I know, Pradas.  I am now officially a stereotype. 

I'm done with shoes for this year.  Promise. 

[NOTE on above:  both models were made in Vietnam.]

Pumas photo from Puma.

Pradas photo from Barneys New York.

Once More Into the Mangle

Photo from Luckyscent.

I Like That Party Hat

Elixir

I've meant to get this for a while but it is totally the wrong season.  It was on sale. 

Photograph from Penhaligon's.

Lunch

I had lunch with Sara and her friends Shannon and Debra.  We, of course, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, where Laura works.   Normally Laura is a waitress, but she recently broke her foot, so is only folding napkins until she heals.

We actually spent several hours at the restaurant, Sara treated.

Afterwards, I went to Barneys, natch, and bought the travel atomizer from Le Labo with Rose 31.

I like the heft of the atomizer case.  Feels kind of like a weapon.  Miss Scarlett did it in the conservatory with a lead pipe. 

I run hot and cold with Le Labo, and this is my first purchase from them.  I think 10 ml will last me a long time.  I like Rose 31 pretty much, I guess, but not enough for a whole bottle.

Scarpe

Proof -- If Proof Were Indeed Needed -- That I Have Gone Completely Insane

I bought this.

For some beautiful photos, please click here.

Photo from Lalique.

At The Beach

I ordered CB I Hate Perfume At The Beach 1966.  It arrived today.

I have a very strong memory of the way Coppertone smelled.  A perfunctory spray of this when I opened it, and to me it doesn't smell like Coppertone smelled... or how I remember it.  Not as ozonic as Fire Island, but similar.

I"ve really gotten a lot this month, haven't I. I had better quit.  However, I have ordered one thing that should be delivered next week which proves once and for all that I am completely insane.






Photo from Cult Beauty.

Divine Bergamote

I ordered a bottle of The Different Company Divine Bergamote (now, just Bergamote).  My bottle still has the "Divine" on it, so it must be an older one, before the name change.  Same screw-top lid as with Osmanthus.  I also ordered a bottle of Bvlgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Rouge for a present for someone at work.

I went to Barneys today and got a bottle of L'Artisan Parfumeur Al Oudh for a present for Tamio, since he drives me to work all the time.  He has no life lately, and just seems to work all the time.