Peony and rose, with a bit of fruit.
Very bridesmaid gift basket, this My Happy line–one in each color to match the flowers and the dress–but this pink one is the maid of honor.
I’d enjoy this one as a flavored tea.
SCENTS
Fragrance du jour, recent sniffs, random notes.
The Only One
A surprisingly fresh violet, lime and espresso shot opening. Morphs into wet pears and patchouli with a few rose petals for a good hour or two.
The black coffee comes back later, roughing up the caramel at the base and turning the sweetness sophisticated.
An adult version of the cooked sugar gourmands everyone is putting out right now–Prada Candy, Viva la Juicy, BonBon, etc.
Nice, though I wish the uniqueness of the top notes lingered longer.
Mad Madame
Big green leaves at first spray, then waxy flowers and roses in a huge stainless steel vase.
Eventually settles into a watery flood of black currant tea and wet dog–a fancy one with manicured paws and a pompadour.
Both swanky and skanky. Not for me, but it’s got a certain likeable strut.
Kathi MacDonald was an unsung rock and roll heroine–she recorded with The Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and many more.
She had lots of strut.
What Would Love Do?
Shalimar for broke stoners.
Sprays a blast of window cleanser on the skin, then blooms with lavender and Lemonhead sweet-sour candy–in the best way.
Later it settles into caramel-vanilla benzoin and a faint burble of bong water.
I bought the big bottle with no regrets.
*
Une Amourette
Smoky neroli that dissipates into sweet iris, then completely disappears. An elegant one-hour-stand, but I don’t remember her name.
(Roland Mouret is a French fashion designer who is all the rage right now for his body celebrating dresses in all sizes.
I was hoping his perfume would somehow be more voluptuous.)
Amourette means “a fling.”
Tiger’s Nest
This is one of those fancy organic sodas from the health food store with the artsy label–that’s totally worth the ridiculous price.
Uncaps to smoky root beer, then settles into Sprite and an aldehydic seltzer. Lasts a good two hours a foot off the wrist and leaves a pleasant malty sweet amber on the skin the whole afternoon.
Perfect for a sushi lunch date.
I played second flute for an excruciating season of junior high band–The Eye of the Tiger was our big number. I like Katrine Ottosen’s cover. (Her Tiny Desk Concert is over here.)
Fatih Sultan Mehmed
Gorgeous, but so fleeting it’s utterly frustrating.
A gasp of green apple and herbs, then a held breath of the sweetest rosy ambergris, and a sigh of smoky benzoin.
That’s all.
It’s like being given one single Vosges chocolate sprinkle.
Eau de Cologne Imperiale
Paul Newman wore this one.
Nice bergamot and neroli with a hit of waxy lemon polish at the end–basically 4711 driven by a race car rather than a horse-drawn carriage–and fades into the distance just as fast.
*
The Entertainer was a theme in one of Newman’s greatest movies–the Sting.
Here’s an absolutely not-sober version by the Reverend Horton Heat, that ends as quickly as the cologne.
Lost Cherry
Well named–there’s absolutely nothing virginal about this stuff.
Maraschino stem teasing over a powder puff of musk, cyanide sweet foreplay for hours, ending in a melting dish of Ben&Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream.
Pure sex.
This song is also pure sex.
Dragon’s Blood
Spiritual Sky oils are an iconic staple of head shops and non-profit food co-ops everywhere–Strawberry, Rose and China Rain are on the altar of every wicca-chick from the East Village to Haight Ashbury.
Cheap and artificial and easily scrubbable, they are the washable kid’s markers of perfumery.
Dragon’s Blood is a resinous dark musk with some wannabe myrrh, sweetened with benzoin. Great fun for a young changeling on a pagan exploration.
*
This is cute.
kira a. gold 