perfume riddle IV

-

800px-Franz_von_Stuck_Sphinx

Welcome to the fourth installment of my new feature here on Hortus Conclusus, in which a perfume bottle sings a little riddle, and it’s up to you to guess which bottle of perfume is riddling. Hark! The bottle speaks:

Although I delight in barroom raunch,

I’m not recommended to those with a paunch.

You must be quite lean,

and perhaps somewhat mean,

to wear me; I pack quite a smokey, dark punch.

That is the problem, and also the solution,

but also, my white flowers suffer no dilution!

They swim side by side

with the ciggies so snide,

I’m retro-ironic-- t’was my author’s intention.

Who am I?

CREDITS:

Franz Von Stuck “Sphinx” courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Comments

  1. earthaJuly 11, 2010 at 4:23 AM

    jasmin et cigarette??
    maybe...
    is that *too* obvious?

    ReplyDelete
  2. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    nope, that's it. I am a pretty obvious poet, alas! (LOL!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katy JosephineJuly 11, 2010 at 11:39 AM

    Your riddles are great! Not too obvious for me...

    Jasmin et Cigarette is lovely but not 'cigaretty' enough on me. I detected a strong hay note (brought back memories of the farm) which I liked but didn't love.

    Hope you're enjoying the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 12:12 PM

    Yeah, I remember that hay note, though to be honest, it's been a while since I've smelled this. My husband--usually very sweet-- said I smelled like a skanky barroom wench when I wore it, so.....

    I'm trying to class up my life, you see. After all, I'm trying to become a professor, not a barmaid. ;-)

    but I LOOOVVVEEE smokey things!

    ReplyDelete
  5. hotlanta lindaJuly 11, 2010 at 12:54 PM

    I was guessing Tango from Mandy Aftel could work, too - maybe as a more polite sister!

    ReplyDelete
  6. earthaJuly 11, 2010 at 1:54 PM

    i likes these riddles
    your cryptic clues were great its just that my minds dwells in skanky bar rooms most of the time!

    funnily enough the the Lady Nicotiana has narcotic white flowers. Haven't smelt it raw, but its supposed to be heady stuff.

    (btw, your blog is a recent discovery and I *love* it! Been digging in the archives.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 5:34 PM

    Thanks eartha, for your kind words!

    You know, I never made that connection about lady nicotiana--I have smelled those raw, and *whew*!

    I never thought abotu the fact, though, that nicotiana are basically night-flowering white flowers too....


    SO COOL!

    ReplyDelete
  8. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 5:34 PM

    HOTLANTA LINDA!

    You won the draw, did you know?

    contact me with your info, and I'll send out the discovery set....

    ReplyDelete
  9. DMJuly 12, 2010 at 8:45 PM

    I love the riddle and i LOVE LOVE LOVE this image! such a find!

    ReplyDelete
  10. La Bonne VivanteJuly 13, 2010 at 11:35 AM

    Thanks! That's high praise indeed coming from the famous Hibernian Homme! Thanks so much for dropping by.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

what thinkest thou?

Popular posts from this blog

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

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

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