Crisp roadside pear slices and lemonade, then a big swallow of juniper gin that fades into the musk at the end.
Sunny day pretty, but there’s a haze underneath, like diesel fumes.
Not for me, but I would crawl inside the clothes of the man wearing it.
Here’s Dwight Yoakum’s hit from the album Three Pears.
Candy sweet artificial red, like the lollipops from the bank teller.
Childish despite the white musk, Barbie perfume in plastic go-go boots.
Lasts through the play-date and nap hour, but fades before snack time.
*
A fun song for kids and adults.
Artificial raspberries and vanilla in the most nostalgic way.
This is like getting pulled back in time, listening to Aerosmith while coloring a school poster with a Mr. Sketch scented marker–the fuchsia one.
We thought we were cool, drinking French vanilla powdered cappuccinos and sneaking sprays of our mother’s Hypnotic Poison before the dance.
Love this cover.
David Bowie wore Minotaure.
So of course I had to know what the Goblin King smelled like.
Paloma Picasso’s only masculine opens with a sharp and spicy fizzy lime pop, then eases into fruit candy–the fancy jelly slices with sugared edges. The sweetness turns floral, then herbal, bubblegum slowly drying down to brooding cedar.
Sandalwood talc and vanilla tonka powder settle above the skin, shimmering all night long, both comforting and seductive, sexy Stardust indeed.
Fades into the collar and cuffs with androgynous amber, and leaves songs stuck in your head–You remind me of the babe–for days.
My favorite Bowie song is still China Girl.
*(sigh)*
“Les Fleurs du Dechet” sounds so much prettier, but…
I Am Trash is found object art, a lovely re-purposing of unwanted scraps into elegance.
The opening is shocking–orange rind and a vodka note of fermenting potato parings, but then apple peel quickly takes over and blooms into bruised rose petals, and it’s suddenly gorgeous.
The flowers stay for an hour or two at arm’s length, then fade into a sweet woodsy musk that lingers comfortingly on second hand sleeves all afternoon.
I love the cleverness of it.
Happy Merry to me.
Vagabond Prince’s Enchanted Forest is exactly that: dark balsam fir woods and tangles of black currant shrubs and wine and roses.
The first spray turns one into a wayward elf, dressed in flowers and drunk on berries. The acid bite of the fruit slowly softens with benzoin, sweet on the skin, and lofty on clothes for hours.
I feel like I’m the heroine in an epic fantasy novel saga wearing this stuff.
This is an enchanting take on a Ukrainian Midsummer folk song.
Rather nice fruit-chuli, in a motorcycle pants and pineapple LifeSaver way.
The lavender lingers, but doesn’t turn to soap.
I have to wonder at that leather note, though. There’s a shoe salesman vibe that makes me conscious of my fallen arches and scuffed toes.
This one is a bit fruity and edgy at the same time. Also came out in 2014.
Bat is entertaining, but makes me feel like I’m in a nature documentary narrated by David Attenborough.
“The species Chiroptera wakes in his cave, rife with mineral dirt, dust and a trace of smoke, hungry for the tropical fruits of his diet. Bananas and figs sustain him for several hours, but eventually rain hinders his foraging, and he must find refuge in the green forest floor, hiding under his own leathery wings in the woody undergrowth until it passes.”
This weird little song was in the soundtrack for Batman & Robin and might be the best thing about that whole movie.
Marshmallow fluff–that powdered huff of air when you open a fresh bag of Jet-Puffed minis–and candied violets, the kind on wedding cakes.
Then a whiff of apples, waxy red delicious skin, that first sniff just before you bite.
Miraculously, it doesn’t do the expected caramel-amber-musk dry-down thing, it stays fresh and sugary and bright.
Ridiculously feminine, lip-gloss blown kisses last for over two hours, hovering a few inches off the wrist, then mature into woodsy sweetness on the shirt cuffs.
*
Miles Davis was a painter, too, influenced by Joni Mitchell and Jean-Michel Basquiat. (Check out this article featuring some of his works.)
This song was in the soundtrack to the Basquiat movie, starring Jeffrey Wright and David Bowie.
Gorgeous. Violets and blueberries and dark Halloween magic. Vampires wear this stuff.
Sapphire potion water, a hint of smoke, a toast of witch booze.
Sugared black currants and leather and spruce, a soft animalic purr.
Bitter chocolate tempers the sweetness and brings out the violet leaf.
Ends with a short puff of bourbon pipe tobacco and clean velvet musk, but clings to clothes all night long,
Moody vampire songs are the best.
kira a. gold 