hortus conclusus

I have been thinking about the fact that for most people, drying hair and clothing is one of the most intimate fragrance experiences they have in any given week. Looking at this painting by John Sloan, I can almost imagine all the different smells—the soapy clean musk of the laundry, the animalic smell of human hair, the perfume from the shampoo, the smell of sweat, the hot asphalt, the myriad city smells of exhaust, heat, sewer, food, etc. The act of drying one’s hair is such a special, human thing, such an affirmation of femininity… Consider the beautiful image of women throwing their hair up to dry it in Robert Frost’s “Birches”: When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy's been swinging them. But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay. Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning After a rain. They click upon themselves As the breeze rises, and turn many...

Bella indeed! I have received a bunch of samples from A Wing and a Prayer natural perfumes, and I was stuck by the simple beauty of this lovely herbal/citrus/floral. Verbena dominates—I get that sharp twinge of freshness you get when you brush or rub the leaves of the lemon verbena plant, married to a bright citrus topnote. Later on, Bella becomes less herbaceous and more floral, rounding out and opening up to a delicate rose-verbena fragrance that smells very fresh and true to life. I actually feel as if I were in a garden when I wear this. I also have to say, I have NEVER seen packaging as beautiful as this. I took pics and I want you all to see how much care and love these perfumers put into their work. Every element of the multi-part package was carefully, lovingly, and beautifully wrapped, and it came complete with ribbon and lovely, expensive note, hand-written, of course, because this niche company does things in style……   The main event, Tallulah B, was w...

I don’t know about you guys, but I sometimes get confused about the differences between all the different resins out there used in pefumery. So I compiled a gallery, so I could remember a little better…. MYRRH Somali man collecting myrrh. from “Beautiful Somalia”, by the Somalia Ministry of Information and National Guidance. found in Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia 100g of Myrrh resin from the Dhofar region of Oman, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons FRANKINCENSE/OLIBANUM Frankincense trees taken by Eckhard Pecher Found in Oman, Yemen, and Somalia, Bag of frankincense at Dubai spice souk, taken by Liz Lawley . LABDANUM rockrose, or Ci stus ladanifer, courtesy Wikimedia Commons found in the Mediterranean, generally. image f rom incense wiki, uploaded by en:User:Sjschen , PERU BALSAM, ALSO KNOWN AS TOLU tolu is found in Central and South AMerica. from Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen . AMBER Wood resin, source of amber. Phot...

For your viewing pleasure--or displeasure, as the case may be-- a gallery of beasties traditionally used to produce perfume civet cat, for civet. from Lloyd's Natural History: "A hand-book to the Carnivora. Part 1, Cats, civets, and mungoose", uploaded to Wiki Commons [1] by Richard Lydekker Sperm Whale, for ambergris. Sperm whale and Bottlenose whale by Archibald Thorburn Musk deer (and other musk-producers) for musk. William Daniell, “Musk Deer, And Birds Of Paradise”, courtesy of artrenewal.org Beaver, for castor. “North American Beaver (Castor canadensis)”, Painting by John James Audubon, 1854, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Elena of Perfume Shrine recently sent me a bottle of Andy Tauer’s latest creation, Carillon pour un ange! Of course, thrilled and so eager to smell the new lily of the valley composition—which is bound to be delightfully challenging and unique coming from Tauer--I tore open the dainty box and sprayed it on my waiting wrists! Lo and behold, an angel of the Lord came down and  glory shone around…..well, noooo, but I did gasp in surprise and wonder at the brilliance of this new fragrance. It is golden green—I can’t think of another way to de scribe it but in color. That famous bitter, almost oily, Tauer  citrus peel, an intense grassy  green, and a lush, wet, overwhelming Lily-of-the-valley. This is damp gorgeousness, and not an everyday perfume—it is too decadent for that. I find myself thi nking about gold filigree, baroque symphonies, in a lush contrapuntal swell of color, sound and memory. Breathtaking.   CREDITS: Stained glass windows in the Maus...

5 years ago today, I married my husband, at my family’s cabin in Red Lodge Montana. I know you may all be tired of hearing me ramble on this week about our anniversary, but the 5-year mark has me thinking a lot about that day. It was a very homemade wedding—family members, friends, and I made all the food; my mother, mother-in-law, and I sewed the wedding dress, and a large contingent of friends arrived at our cabin about a week early to help decorate the place.   I loaded up my old station wagon with flowers, and we spent the day before the wedding making bouquets and corsages, among sundry other things….I will never forget the way my car smelled as  I drove up into the mountains. In the evenings, the intrepid wedding party relaxed from their labors with a hookah and some drinks down by the creek (I therefore always associate the sweet smell of hookah tobacco with my wedding. Go figure) And of course, I was a bit preoccupied and nervous about the big ...

Jameel is ready to go on a postprandial stroll, so he calls ringingly out to his friends with a fresh green citrus shout! Once they have all convened, he opens the hike through the southern Mediterranean citrus groves with a brace of bitter petitgrain or neroli,  but then, just as quickly, he kicks up some dust, then squats down in the middle of the dirt path. He Isn’t going anywhere till he gets his lemonade. And a brandy and a cigar. For he is a well-travelled and coddled sophisticate, this Jameel , even if he is a bit indolent. Credits: James Tissot , the holiday, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Well, here we are at the last Tauer review (at least for now, until Andy releases his new fragrances) and I feel a little melancholy to have completed this project! It has been a blast exploring this exotic and fragrant world with you. But since we are at our last review, I chose to try something a little different. I am going to review Lonestar Memories through the lens of my own memories of my artist/cowboy uncle, whose face immediately came to mind the first moment I smelled this sagey, western fragrance. My uncle Bruce started out as a talented artist making his living painting watercolors and creating pots, table tops and other useful and decorative items o ut of fiberglass. Then in the late 1980’s he designed and directed the building of Transisco tours’ "The 49er Express", a dining/tourist train which ran in northern California and Nevada. He and my aunt Roxanne were the owners of Dr. Hoys, a line of body products  that he developed, manufactured and sold for man...

SO my cat looks like I feel: pooped. It has been a great week, but very busy here! First, my best friend and his girlfriend stopped by on their cross-country roadtrip….   they were doing contact dance and gymnastics in the living room. You know, like you do (LOL). we went on a picnic together, and toured downtown Ithaca (I won a free rose here!) we walked around the lily pond in Cornell’s Plantations and listened to the frogs in the evening. Some bird dropped a feather here. After they left, my brother and his wife (the Brazilian) came over from michigan to spend the 4th here. we went on a drive to Skaneatles, a Finger Fake and town to the east of us where the water is crystal-clear and got some homemade malts and super-fresh fish  at Doug’s Fish Fry for the 4th, I threw a party down by Cayuga Lake. my thesis advisor and a bunch of grad students came. we sat on the dock, watched the sunset, and then the fi...