Falling in love with Fracas

-

tuberose This week I spent five days in the city, and have been away from the blogosphere, but now I’m back to share all my news! The question is, what is the most exciting thing that happened to me fragrancewise? With my busy fragrance schedule (see my Birthday Pilgrimage) it’s hard to say, and I will surely be mulling over all my experiences online over the course of this week, but I think I must first come out with the most exciting news of all: I fell in love. And bought the bottle (thank God Bergdorf-Goodman was having a $25 off sale)  The lucky fragrance? Robert Piguet’s Fracas. I had never really understood what all the fuss over tuberose was about until I wore this. Yes, I’ve sniffed it before, and other insanely bold tuberoses like Tuberose Criminelle and Carnal Flower, but wearing 4 spritzes (overkill, I know!) of Fracas around Greenwich Village on this past Thursday night made me understand.

On me, Fracas smells like tuberose, yeast, and butter—and warm, unwashed sheets. And that makes me deliriously happy. My darling and I went to dinner at an absolutely fabulous Cuban restaurant, and as we wolfed down the light-as-air yucas fritas and the equally ethereal ceviche, the Fracas unfolded around me, making me feel like the back patio of the restaurant really was in Cuba, and that we were on an exotic vacation together, not just 4 hours from our home Upstate.  The yeastiness and the butteriness make Fracas seem almost fatty, like it could be eaten and enjoyed, which only adds to its deep sexiness, in my opinion. It also allows it to play very well with food, as my experience in the Cuban restaurant showed.FRACAS perfume

IN terms of longevity, Fracas hung on my skin and my silk scarf until the next morning, and again, the warm sexiness of the aroma made me want to lounge naked in bed for hours. It has been said before, by better writers than me: (see Grain de Musc, bois de jasmin, and Beth at Perfume-Smellin’ Things,) that Fracas smells like a woman’s warm skin after a night of love, and I couldn’t agree more.

Ever since I was a teenager, I have tried to purchase a fragrance as a souvenir of a meaningful trip; I find it helps me remember the experience as well as—or better than—snapshots, so it was clear I needed to get this gorgeous creation for myself as a reminder of that supremely sensual evening I spent in Cuba/Greenwich Village with my beloved.  

Comments

  1. Tamara*JJuly 23, 2010 at 3:10 AM

    I adore Fracas as well and I understand completely what you feel for her.
    She is Thee Ultimate.
    On me she casts off her orange blossom very strong but as she melds and sinks into my skin, I just bathe in the olfactory glow of her floral drama that surrounds my being.
    On a summer night , she swells and blooms in the heat,although I'm in Wa. I feel like I'm on a island somewhere exotic and far-away.
    But come winter she is like the ghost of my tropics that are now in reality ,crisp and frigid forests and there's nothing like huffing her in the lonely cold to remind me that my get- away exists as long as she's there.

    I'm so happy you found Fracas to always remind you of happiness.
    I also get a kick how you call your hubby your 'beloved'
    How sweet!

    xoxox ~ T

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fire Restoration DuluthAugust 15, 2022 at 4:08 PM

    This was great to read thanks

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

what thinkest thou?

Popular posts from this blog

book and fragrance giveaway: Rebecca

-
Image
Many authors use pe rfume as a novelistic shorthand for memories awakened in complete recall. A character smells something and it awakens deep memories, or takes him back in time. In Daphne du Maurier’s neo-gothic romance Rebecca , this motif takes a sinister turn. A youung girl marries a widower with an obscure, tragic past and moves to his ancestral estate . She soon discovers that the place is haunted by the presence of the memory of the previous wife, Rebecca.  This ‘haunting’ is mostly expressed through smell and fragrance. Azaleas, overpowering, overfeminine, unnaturally-abundant blooms which choke the manor of Manderley, become a symbol of the dead wife’s overpowering femininity. Rebecca even wore a perfume which smelled of azaleas. The hapless new wife discovers traces of perfume on Rebecca’s clothes, which have turned musty with age, she experiences the oppression of the obscure yet present past in the form  a choking fog that blights the landscape at the mom
Read more

A Perfume Riddle

-
Image
I am introducing a new feature here on Hortus Conclusus , in which a perfume bottle sings a little riddle, and it’s up to you, dear readers, to guess which bottle of perfume is riddling. To start us out on the best possible foot, My first poem has an easy solution! Which of you will be the first to guess, I wonder: I’m not a pentangle. I live in a square I bubble like golden champagne filled with air, My obscure beginnings are shrouded in mystery But that won’t stop people from telling my history. I fly through the air, I swim with the fishes. Scientists say I reside in all ditches. I go everywhere, and all know my fame therefore I know that you have guessed my name. I will never die; you keep me alive. By now you have guessed, I’m ________! Image of Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.  
Read more

Tauerama!: Tauer perfumes discovery set giveaway

-
Image
  The generous and talented Swiss perfumer Andy Tauer was kind enough to send me samples of all his fragrances to review over the coming week or so—and an adorable sample set to give away to YOU ! Yay!  I am very excited to announce this new giveaway drawing! Tauer got his PhD in chemistry, and went on to start a small perfumery, which has gone on to win many awards and even more praise. For more about Andy, and to get  a real sense of what a cool dude he is, I highly recommend this fragrantica article. Details about my giveaway below : What is it? A very sweet glide-cover metal tin, embossed with the Tauer logo, with 5 1.5. ml samples of Tauer fragrances inside. when will the winner be announced ? There’s no fixed end date; when I have written something about all ten of the fragrances, the winning name will be drawn. how do I enter? post a comment expressing interest below, then keep checking in at Hortus Conclusus ;-) I will post links to all my comm
Read more