Memo Paris- Lalibela And Other Treats

Five months after returning from Paris, there's still one more story left to be told and perfume boutique to talk about.

Unlike my other scent destinations I had on the trip, the visit to Memo boutique was not planned. The Blond and I stumbled upon the store while walking around. I don't remember for sure, but I think we were heading to the nearest Metro station when we spotted the place, and since it looked pretty, trendy and obviously smelled good, there was no other choice but to enter and check what it was all about.

While you won't learn much from the company's website, Memo is a home and fragrance collection created by Clara Molloy, a book publisher who travelled extensively and was inspired by (more or less) exotic places. About half the beautiful store is dedicated to candles and room sprays, which all seemed quite nice even if none has actually captured me. I preferred to concentrate on the perfumes, which back then there were four of them ( a fifth one was launched last month), and on the very handsome sales assistant.

The perfumes, a range called 'Les Echappees', just like the other products are supposedly evocative of faraway places, from Sundance, Utah (hence my raised eyebrow at the exotic claim) to Ethiopia. I tried three on my skin, and sniffed the bottle of the fourth, Inlé, which is osmanthus, jasmine and tea, named after a lake in Burma. It felt too watery from the bottle, but I'm not big on osmanthus to begin with and never gave it a fair chance.

Siwa, a floral vanilla, didn't convince me it evoked the Egyptian desert. The notes: cinnamon, aldehydes, narcissus, whiskey, popcorn, musk and vanilla sound more interesting than the result on my skin. It was too pale for my taste. I like my vanilla opaque and thick, but can't deny Siwa is probably easier to wear for most than my beloved Un Bois Vanille or even Shalimar. The lasting power was the least impressive in the group.

Sundance is inspired by Sundance, Utah, and is all about a softened tuberose. The notes sound a bit scary: bergamot, pear, lemon, tuberose, pimento, tiare, iris, sandalwood, musk and tonka bean. However, everything here was so smooth and toned down I can't even complain about the pear. Unlike my taste in vanilla, when it comes to tuberose I usually prefer mine to be housebroken. I really liked Sundance and was close to buying a bottle (I almost regret my decision to pass). It would make a cute, friendly warm weather fragrance and shouldn't scared even those who have emotional scars from Fracas.

The last one I tested was Lalibela, named after an Ethiopian holy city which is a pilgrimage destination and has several ancient churches. Out of the note list (coconut, orchid, rose, peony, jasmine, patchouli, cistus, vanilla, tobacco leaf, incense and woods), what I'm getting in huge amounts are a dark and dirty rose and thick, heavy incense. This is a seriously gothic rose which makes the original Regina Harris oils seem like Little Miss Sunshine. The sales assistant called it "a sad rose" and I could tell he was not a fan, but I was captivated by this scent. It felt... purple, I guess. Deep, dark purple. It lasted on my skin for the rest of the day, into the night and until my shower the following morning, when I returned to the store and bought the bottle.

Lalibela is really that strong and should come with a warning label. You can do some serious damage to your nearest and dearest if you don't spray with utmost caution (said she who can wear two spritzes of Miel de Bois). But the right amount is gorgeous and provocative. It works beautifully on a cold night (we've been having plenty of those recently) and stays on my scarves until I haul them to the cleaners.

As I said, I didn't get to smell the most recent addition to the line, Jannat, which is described as
'The wild flowers of paradise'. It's centered around frangipani, which tends to scare me, but I'm very curious if anyone has tried it. Please tell me in your comment.

Oddly enough, the bath and body products are related to the home fragrance and range and not to the perfumes. I'm not sure what's the logic here. In any case, Memo products are only available in the Paris boutique (60, rue des Saints-Pères), Bon Marché department store or in the UK from Harvey Nichols (London and their other locations). The company's website tells you they do not ship to the US, so I'm assuming shipping to anywhere in Europe is ok. No one carries it here in America, but The Perfumed Court offers samples and decants of the first four scents, including a sample pack.

The bottle I bought, 1.69 oz, was 80€ . The now have both bigger and smaller sizes, priced accordingly. The newer bottles also look a lot better (at least online) than the original one. I'm a bit annoyed with the cheap looking white plastic cap that evokes a drugstore product more than luxurious exotica.

Memo Paris- Lalibela And Other Treats

Five months after returning from Paris, there's still one more story left to be told and perfume boutique to talk about.

Unlike my other scent destinations I had on the trip, the visit to Memo boutique was not planned. The Blond and I stumbled upon the store while walking around. I don't remember for sure, but I think we were heading to the nearest Metro station when we spotted the place, and since it looked pretty, trendy and obviously smelled good, there was no other choice but to enter and check what it was all about.

While you won't learn much from the company's website, Memo is a home and fragrance collection created by Clara Molloy, a book publisher who travelled extensively and was inspired by (more or less) exotic places. About half the beautiful store is dedicated to candles and room sprays, which all seemed quite nice even if none has actually captured me. I preferred to concentrate on the perfumes, which back then there were four of them ( a fifth one was launched last month), and on the very handsome sales assistant.

The perfumes, a range called 'Les Echappees', just like the other products are supposedly evocative of faraway places, from Sundance, Utah (hence my raised eyebrow at the exotic claim) to Ethiopia. I tried three on my skin, and sniffed the bottle of the fourth, Inlé, which is osmanthus, jasmine and tea, named after a lake in Burma. It felt too watery from the bottle, but I'm not big on osmanthus to begin with and never gave it a fair chance.

Siwa, a floral vanilla, didn't convince me it evoked the Egyptian desert. The notes: cinnamon, aldehydes, narcissus, whiskey, popcorn, musk and vanilla sound more interesting than the result on my skin. It was too pale for my taste. I like my vanilla opaque and thick, but can't deny Siwa is probably easier to wear for most than my beloved Un Bois Vanille or even Shalimar. The lasting power was the least impressive in the group.

Sundance is inspired by Sundance, Utah, and is all about a softened tuberose. The notes sound a bit scary: bergamot, pear, lemon, tuberose, pimento, tiare, iris, sandalwood, musk and tonka bean. However, everything here was so smooth and toned down I can't even complain about the pear. Unlike my taste in vanilla, when it comes to tuberose I usually prefer mine to be housebroken. I really liked Sundance and was close to buying a bottle (I almost regret my decision to pass). It would make a cute, friendly warm weather fragrance and shouldn't scared even those who have emotional scars from Fracas.

The last one I tested was Lalibela, named after an Ethiopian holy city which is a pilgrimage destination and has several ancient churches. Out of the note list (coconut, orchid, rose, peony, jasmine, patchouli, cistus, vanilla, tobacco leaf, incense and woods), what I'm getting in huge amounts are a dark and dirty rose and thick, heavy incense. This is a seriously gothic rose which makes the original Regina Harris oils seem like Little Miss Sunshine. The sales assistant called it "a sad rose" and I could tell he was not a fan, but I was captivated by this scent. It felt... purple, I guess. Deep, dark purple. It lasted on my skin for the rest of the day, into the night and until my shower the following morning, when I returned to the store and bought the bottle.

Lalibela is really that strong and should come with a warning label. You can do some serious damage to your nearest and dearest if you don't spray with utmost caution (said she who can wear two spritzes of Miel de Bois). But the right amount is gorgeous and provocative. It works beautifully on a cold night (we've been having plenty of those recently) and stays on my scarves until I haul them to the cleaners.

As I said, I didn't get to smell the most recent addition to the line, Jannat, which is described as
'The wild flowers of paradise'. It's centered around frangipani, which tends to scare me, but I'm very curious if anyone has tried it. Please tell me in your comment.

Oddly enough, the bath and body products are related to the home fragrance and range and not to the perfumes. I'm not sure what's the logic here. In any case, Memo products are only available in the Paris boutique (60, rue des Saints-Pères), Bon Marché department store or in the UK from Harvey Nichols (London and their other locations). The company's website tells you they do not ship to the US, so I'm assuming shipping to anywhere in Europe is ok. No one carries it here in America, but The Perfumed Court offers samples and decants of the first four scents, including a sample pack.

The bottle I bought, 1.69 oz, was 80€ . The now have both bigger and smaller sizes, priced accordingly. The newer bottles also look a lot better (at least online) than the original one. I'm a bit annoyed with the cheap looking white plastic cap that evokes a drugstore product more than luxurious exotica.

Memo Paris- Lalibela And Other Treats

Five months after returning from Paris, there's still one more story left to be told and perfume boutique to talk about.

Unlike my other scent destinations I had on the trip, the visit to Memo boutique was not planned. The Blond and I stumbled upon the store while walking around. I don't remember for sure, but I think we were heading to the nearest Metro station when we spotted the place, and since it looked pretty, trendy and obviously smelled good, there was no other choice but to enter and check what it was all about.

While you won't learn much from the company's website, Memo is a home and fragrance collection created by Clara Molloy, a book publisher who travelled extensively and was inspired by (more or less) exotic places. About half the beautiful store is dedicated to candles and room sprays, which all seemed quite nice even if none has actually captured me. I preferred to concentrate on the perfumes, which back then there were four of them ( a fifth one was launched last month), and on the very handsome sales assistant.

The perfumes, a range called 'Les Echappees', just like the other products are supposedly evocative of faraway places, from Sundance, Utah (hence my raised eyebrow at the exotic claim) to Ethiopia. I tried three on my skin, and sniffed the bottle of the fourth, Inlé, which is osmanthus, jasmine and tea, named after a lake in Burma. It felt too watery from the bottle, but I'm not big on osmanthus to begin with and never gave it a fair chance.

Siwa, a floral vanilla, didn't convince me it evoked the Egyptian desert. The notes: cinnamon, aldehydes, narcissus, whiskey, popcorn, musk and vanilla sound more interesting than the result on my skin. It was too pale for my taste. I like my vanilla opaque and thick, but can't deny Siwa is probably easier to wear for most than my beloved Un Bois Vanille or even Shalimar. The lasting power was the least impressive in the group.

Sundance is inspired by Sundance, Utah, and is all about a softened tuberose. The notes sound a bit scary: bergamot, pear, lemon, tuberose, pimento, tiare, iris, sandalwood, musk and tonka bean. However, everything here was so smooth and toned down I can't even complain about the pear. Unlike my taste in vanilla, when it comes to tuberose I usually prefer mine to be housebroken. I really liked Sundance and was close to buying a bottle (I almost regret my decision to pass). It would make a cute, friendly warm weather fragrance and shouldn't scared even those who have emotional scars from Fracas.

The last one I tested was Lalibela, named after an Ethiopian holy city which is a pilgrimage destination and has several ancient churches. Out of the note list (coconut, orchid, rose, peony, jasmine, patchouli, cistus, vanilla, tobacco leaf, incense and woods), what I'm getting in huge amounts are a dark and dirty rose and thick, heavy incense. This is a seriously gothic rose which makes the original Regina Harris oils seem like Little Miss Sunshine. The sales assistant called it "a sad rose" and I could tell he was not a fan, but I was captivated by this scent. It felt... purple, I guess. Deep, dark purple. It lasted on my skin for the rest of the day, into the night and until my shower the following morning, when I returned to the store and bought the bottle.

Lalibela is really that strong and should come with a warning label. You can do some serious damage to your nearest and dearest if you don't spray with utmost caution (said she who can wear two spritzes of Miel de Bois). But the right amount is gorgeous and provocative. It works beautifully on a cold night (we've been having plenty of those recently) and stays on my scarves until I haul them to the cleaners.

As I said, I didn't get to smell the most recent addition to the line, Jannat, which is described as
'The wild flowers of paradise'. It's centered around frangipani, which tends to scare me, but I'm very curious if anyone has tried it. Please tell me in your comment.

Oddly enough, the bath and body products are related to the home fragrance and range and not to the perfumes. I'm not sure what's the logic here. In any case, Memo products are only available in the Paris boutique (60, rue des Saints-Pères), Bon Marché department store or in the UK from Harvey Nichols (London and their other locations). The company's website tells you they do not ship to the US, so I'm assuming shipping to anywhere in Europe is ok. No one carries it here in America, but The Perfumed Court offers samples and decants of the first four scents, including a sample pack.

The bottle I bought, 1.69 oz, was 80€ . The now have both bigger and smaller sizes, priced accordingly. The newer bottles also look a lot better (at least online) than the original one. I'm a bit annoyed with the cheap looking white plastic cap that evokes a drugstore product more than luxurious exotica.

Warm Fuzzies- Le Labo Vanille 44

I remember when the news first broke about the Le Labo Paris exclusive, Vanille 44, people were equally excited and disappointed. Some wondered what could be so special in a vanilla fragrance to justify the hype and the price (obviously they have yet to be introduced to Shalimar parfum), while others went into a vanilla coma based on the fantasy and the imaginary pleasure.

Then the first samples arrived and it became clear that once again, Le Labo aren't into accuracy in naming. While there's vanilla somewhere in the composition, this isn't about smelling like cupcakes (good), but those who hoped for a modern Shalimar offspring were disappointed. Still, the fragrance has created enough obsession, addiction and devotion. And of course irritation about the company's marketing methods.

I was ready to buy a bottle last summer when I was in Paris. But once I actually tried it on, I just couldn't see why I should. Granted, it was pleasant and wearable, but it didn't rock my world enough to justify the cost (it was during a week the US dollar was at its humblest point and the exchange rate was impossible. The price was somewhere north of $300).

I resisted when during the month of September you could get bottles at the Colette mini-store in NYC (it was a limited time thing), but I did go for a decant (The Perfumed Court has them), seeing as I liked it enough to want to have some on hand. I can't help it: Vanille 44 makes me happy in its weird little way.

It's not the vanilla, I can tell you that. What I'm getting is the rare creature of soft and warm incense, peppery on top, woody and fuzzy later on. It lacks any sharp edges or mysterious sexiness. Instead, there's a mellow, squishy musk and a mostly dry, smooth ambery base that works for me like a cashmere wrap.

It's called Vanille, but it's a grownup, unisex scent, more complex than meets the eye and nose at first. Had it been reasonably priced, I'd happily buy a bottle and indulge often. But at twice the price of a Lutens bell jar, I expect at least that level of greatness, which is just not there.

Le Labo Vanille 44 can only be purchased from Colette, Paris (their willingness to ship overseas is questionable). Samples and Decants can be purchased from The Perfumed Court. That's how I got mine.

Photo: Early morning in the Bois du Boulogne by Tara Bradford, Paris Parfait.

Warm Fuzzies- Le Labo Vanille 44

I remember when the news first broke about the Le Labo Paris exclusive, Vanille 44, people were equally excited and disappointed. Some wondered what could be so special in a vanilla fragrance to justify the hype and the price (obviously they have yet to be introduced to Shalimar parfum), while others went into a vanilla coma based on the fantasy and the imaginary pleasure.

Then the first samples arrived and it became clear that once again, Le Labo aren't into accuracy in naming. While there's vanilla somewhere in the composition, this isn't about smelling like cupcakes (good), but those who hoped for a modern Shalimar offspring were disappointed. Still, the fragrance has created enough obsession, addiction and devotion. And of course irritation about the company's marketing methods.

I was ready to buy a bottle last summer when I was in Paris. But once I actually tried it on, I just couldn't see why I should. Granted, it was pleasant and wearable, but it didn't rock my world enough to justify the cost (it was during a week the US dollar was at its humblest point and the exchange rate was impossible. The price was somewhere north of $300).

I resisted when during the month of September you could get bottles at the Colette mini-store in NYC (it was a limited time thing), but I did go for a decant (The Perfumed Court has them), seeing as I liked it enough to want to have some on hand. I can't help it: Vanille 44 makes me happy in its weird little way.

It's not the vanilla, I can tell you that. What I'm getting is the rare creature of soft and warm incense, peppery on top, woody and fuzzy later on. It lacks any sharp edges or mysterious sexiness. Instead, there's a mellow, squishy musk and a mostly dry, smooth ambery base that works for me like a cashmere wrap.

It's called Vanille, but it's a grownup, unisex scent, more complex than meets the eye and nose at first. Had it been reasonably priced, I'd happily buy a bottle and indulge often. But at twice the price of a Lutens bell jar, I expect at least that level of greatness, which is just not there.

Le Labo Vanille 44 can only be purchased from Colette, Paris (their willingness to ship overseas is questionable). Samples and Decants can be purchased from The Perfumed Court. That's how I got mine.

Photo: Early morning in the Bois du Boulogne by Tara Bradford, Paris Parfait.

Warm Fuzzies- Le Labo Vanille 44

I remember when the news first broke about the Le Labo Paris exclusive, Vanille 44, people were equally excited and disappointed. Some wondered what could be so special in a vanilla fragrance to justify the hype and the price (obviously they have yet to be introduced to Shalimar parfum), while others went into a vanilla coma based on the fantasy and the imaginary pleasure.

Then the first samples arrived and it became clear that once again, Le Labo aren't into accuracy in naming. While there's vanilla somewhere in the composition, this isn't about smelling like cupcakes (good), but those who hoped for a modern Shalimar offspring were disappointed. Still, the fragrance has created enough obsession, addiction and devotion. And of course irritation about the company's marketing methods.

I was ready to buy a bottle last summer when I was in Paris. But once I actually tried it on, I just couldn't see why I should. Granted, it was pleasant and wearable, but it didn't rock my world enough to justify the cost (it was during a week the US dollar was at its humblest point and the exchange rate was impossible. The price was somewhere north of $300).

I resisted when during the month of September you could get bottles at the Colette mini-store in NYC (it was a limited time thing), but I did go for a decant (The Perfumed Court has them), seeing as I liked it enough to want to have some on hand. I can't help it: Vanille 44 makes me happy in its weird little way.

It's not the vanilla, I can tell you that. What I'm getting is the rare creature of soft and warm incense, peppery on top, woody and fuzzy later on. It lacks any sharp edges or mysterious sexiness. Instead, there's a mellow, squishy musk and a mostly dry, smooth ambery base that works for me like a cashmere wrap.

It's called Vanille, but it's a grownup, unisex scent, more complex than meets the eye and nose at first. Had it been reasonably priced, I'd happily buy a bottle and indulge often. But at twice the price of a Lutens bell jar, I expect at least that level of greatness, which is just not there.

Le Labo Vanille 44 can only be purchased from Colette, Paris (their willingness to ship overseas is questionable). Samples and Decants can be purchased from The Perfumed Court. That's how I got mine.

Photo: Early morning in the Bois du Boulogne by Tara Bradford, Paris Parfait.

We'll Always Have Paris

My posts about the gorgeous and fun jewelry stores I visited in Paris, Taratata and Skalli, triggered many emails from readers eager to see more and buy online. My friends in Europe had it easier, but there was little to none for us here in the US.

Earlier today I got a lovely email from an executive at Taratata, who gave me a link to an online store, Olivolga, that sells part of the Taratata line, as well as Skalli and several other brands. They ship worldwide, including to the US (though apparently not to Canada) and if you spend more than 90 euros (which is frighteningly easy), shipping is free.

EDIT: See update here

I think I'm in love with this elephant necklace by Sabrina Dehoff:

We'll Always Have Paris

My posts about the gorgeous and fun jewelry stores I visited in Paris, Taratata and Skalli, triggered many emails from readers eager to see more and buy online. My friends in Europe had it easier, but there was little to none for us here in the US.

Earlier today I got a lovely email from an executive at Taratata, who gave me a link to an online store, Olivolga, that sells part of the Taratata line, as well as Skalli and several other brands. They ship worldwide, including to the US (though apparently not to Canada) and if you spend more than 90 euros (which is frighteningly easy), shipping is free.

EDIT: See update here

I think I'm in love with this elephant necklace by Sabrina Dehoff:

We'll Always Have Paris

My posts about the gorgeous and fun jewelry stores I visited in Paris, Taratata and Skalli, triggered many emails from readers eager to see more and buy online. My friends in Europe had it easier, but there was little to none for us here in the US.

Earlier today I got a lovely email from an executive at Taratata, who gave me a link to an online store, Olivolga, that sells part of the Taratata line, as well as Skalli and several other brands. They ship worldwide, including to the US (though apparently not to Canada) and if you spend more than 90 euros (which is frighteningly easy), shipping is free.

EDIT: See update here

I think I'm in love with this elephant necklace by Sabrina Dehoff:

An American Blogger In Paris: Etat Libre d'Orange

Our last full day in Paris (or actually, our supposed last one. We ended up staying another day because of a cancelled flight and airline delays, not that it did us any good, being stuck in an sub-par airport hotel that had no wireless connection) was spent at the Marais. I already wrote a little about it here and The Blond gave a culinary tour in his own blog. But the afternoon was about perfume.

I had the pleasure of meeting Denyse of Grain de Musc (a brilliant bi-lingual blogger who is as fascinating as her vintage perfume collection). We arranged to explore the Etat Libre d'Orange boutique, a line that I only knew by reputation and have previously avoided, mostly because of the marketing hype around it.

Launched in 2006, the house has made a conscious decision to build a reputation of questionable aesthetics (drawings of erupting penises, names like Don't Get Me Wrong, Baby, I Do Not Swallow) instead of promoting the actual quality of the scents (which is high) or the talent of their noses (ditto). The marketing was just a bit too junior high for my taste, so as curious as I've always been about any new releases, sniffing them never became a priority.

Thanks to Denyse who translated and explained, I got to hear about the notes and ideas behind the scents I smelled and tried. And it's always a lot of fun to sniff with another perfume lover. These are the people who would never give you weird looks as you inhale deeply and do a stream-of-conscious blabbing.

First I asked to try Rossy de Palma because I've always been fascinated by the actress/model with the amazingly unusual look. The perfume, however, didn't live up to the legend. It's a rose and not an interesting one. I wasn't moved enough to give it skin space, but then again, I'm not that big on roses to begin with.

Next came Vraie Blonde (a name that alludes to the age-old question of drapes and carpet matching) which earned my curiosity just because. It's a cute little aldehydic bellini, but I'm just not the type.

Encens et Bubblegum was different enough to earn precious skin real estate. There was something about the game of bold sugar and soft incense that captured me. I expected it to be much more crass, like a middle school Lolita who giggles too much and hikes up her skirt to show a bit too much not yet fully formed thigh. Instead, I got something twisted but pretty, girly but not all the way Barbie. It makes me happy every time I wear it, and the only thing preventing me from calling Bendel and ordering a bottle (other than my dislike of such a hassle. I've already whined about Bendel's miserable e-commerce) is the husband's deep disapproval of the bubblegum note. He picks it up in blind testing, so it's not just an aversion to the idea.

Then came Rien. That's one big oxymoron if there ever was one, named "Nothing" but haunting and distracting like very few scents can do. It reminded me of Bandit and has a lot in common with it, except that it's much more butch. It's like Bandit stripped from its floral heart and having everything else about it amplified to an almost cartoon version of a smoky, tarry, black leather scent.

It's fascinating from the very first beautiful/ugly notes. This is the scent I would have expected to see named after Rossy de Palma, her avant-garde face and twisted characters. The first couple of hours are all burnt leather that fascinates, repulses and makes me question my taste. I don't know where or how I could wear it in public, as to a "normal" person who stumbles into my personal space it would smell downright scary and not at all like a perfume.

The drydown is all dark and subtle incense. The smoke and tar are toned downed and it's different enough from Bandit to deserve a place in my wardrobe. I still don't know where I could wear it, and I would advise anyone to sample thoroughly before purchasing (and not to wear it on a first date, unless applied at least two hours prior to your rendez-vous).

If you're somewhat familliar with the ELdO line you know what comes next.

Yes, that one.

I wasn't willing to leave the store without trying the infamous Sécrétions Magnifiques. A perfume that's supposed to have accords of blood, sweat and sperm with a side of milk and is so reviled that sales assistants are rumoured to avoid spraying it. I didn't want to stink up the place so I dabbed it on instead. The metallic opening was certainly unpleasant. I suppose that's the bloody part. Then it became watery and most of all reminded me of a stale load of handwash water that was left in the sink for too long after the dirty clothes were removed from it. There's an unwashed aspect there and a floral laundry detergent but that was about it. Not something I'd like to wear, but not really puke-inducing. And unlike any other ELdO I tried then or since, Sécrétions Magnifiques had the least staying power.

To read Denyse's account of our sniffage, go here.

Images: photos of the boutique (that has a large part dedicated to artistic erotic photography): http://www.parismarais.com. The colorful illustrations that adorn the tester bottles but not the ones that are actually for sale are from the ELdO website.

Etat Libre d'Orange perfumes are available from Henri Bendel in NYC and Harvey Nichols in London, as well as online from the French site (that will ship to the US and charge an arm and a leg for that. It's better to deal with the concierge service at Bendel). If you're in the UK you can also order through amazon.co.uk. Imagine that.

An American Blogger In Paris: Etat Libre d'Orange

Our last full day in Paris (or actually, our supposed last one. We ended up staying another day because of a cancelled flight and airline delays, not that it did us any good, being stuck in an sub-par airport hotel that had no wireless connection) was spent at the Marais. I already wrote a little about it here and The Blond gave a culinary tour in his own blog. But the afternoon was about perfume.

I had the pleasure of meeting Denyse of Grain de Musc (a brilliant bi-lingual blogger who is as fascinating as her vintage perfume collection). We arranged to explore the Etat Libre d'Orange boutique, a line that I only knew by reputation and have previously avoided, mostly because of the marketing hype around it.

Launched in 2006, the house has made a conscious decision to build a reputation of questionable aesthetics (drawings of erupting penises, names like Don't Get Me Wrong, Baby, I Do Not Swallow) instead of promoting the actual quality of the scents (which is high) or the talent of their noses (ditto). The marketing was just a bit too junior high for my taste, so as curious as I've always been about any new releases, sniffing them never became a priority.

Thanks to Denyse who translated and explained, I got to hear about the notes and ideas behind the scents I smelled and tried. And it's always a lot of fun to sniff with another perfume lover. These are the people who would never give you weird looks as you inhale deeply and do a stream-of-conscious blabbing.

First I asked to try Rossy de Palma because I've always been fascinated by the actress/model with the amazingly unusual look. The perfume, however, didn't live up to the legend. It's a rose and not an interesting one. I wasn't moved enough to give it skin space, but then again, I'm not that big on roses to begin with.

Next came Vraie Blonde (a name that alludes to the age-old question of drapes and carpet matching) which earned my curiosity just because. It's a cute little aldehydic bellini, but I'm just not the type.

Encens et Bubblegum was different enough to earn precious skin real estate. There was something about the game of bold sugar and soft incense that captured me. I expected it to be much more crass, like a middle school Lolita who giggles too much and hikes up her skirt to show a bit too much not yet fully formed thigh. Instead, I got something twisted but pretty, girly but not all the way Barbie. It makes me happy every time I wear it, and the only thing preventing me from calling Bendel and ordering a bottle (other than my dislike of such a hassle. I've already whined about Bendel's miserable e-commerce) is the husband's deep disapproval of the bubblegum note. He picks it up in blind testing, so it's not just an aversion to the idea.

Then came Rien. That's one big oxymoron if there ever was one, named "Nothing" but haunting and distracting like very few scents can do. It reminded me of Bandit and has a lot in common with it, except that it's much more butch. It's like Bandit stripped from its floral heart and having everything else about it amplified to an almost cartoon version of a smoky, tarry, black leather scent.

It's fascinating from the very first beautiful/ugly notes. This is the scent I would have expected to see named after Rossy de Palma, her avant-garde face and twisted characters. The first couple of hours are all burnt leather that fascinates, repulses and makes me question my taste. I don't know where or how I could wear it in public, as to a "normal" person who stumbles into my personal space it would smell downright scary and not at all like a perfume.

The drydown is all dark and subtle incense. The smoke and tar are toned downed and it's different enough from Bandit to deserve a place in my wardrobe. I still don't know where I could wear it, and I would advise anyone to sample thoroughly before purchasing (and not to wear it on a first date, unless applied at least two hours prior to your rendez-vous).

If you're somewhat familliar with the ELdO line you know what comes next.

Yes, that one.

I wasn't willing to leave the store without trying the infamous Sécrétions Magnifiques. A perfume that's supposed to have accords of blood, sweat and sperm with a side of milk and is so reviled that sales assistants are rumoured to avoid spraying it. I didn't want to stink up the place so I dabbed it on instead. The metallic opening was certainly unpleasant. I suppose that's the bloody part. Then it became watery and most of all reminded me of a stale load of handwash water that was left in the sink for too long after the dirty clothes were removed from it. There's an unwashed aspect there and a floral laundry detergent but that was about it. Not something I'd like to wear, but not really puke-inducing. And unlike any other ELdO I tried then or since, Sécrétions Magnifiques had the least staying power.

To read Denyse's account of our sniffage, go here.

Images: photos of the boutique (that has a large part dedicated to artistic erotic photography): http://www.parismarais.com. The colorful illustrations that adorn the tester bottles but not the ones that are actually for sale are from the ELdO website.

Etat Libre d'Orange perfumes are available from Henri Bendel in NYC and Harvey Nichols in London, as well as online from the French site (that will ship to the US and charge an arm and a leg for that. It's better to deal with the concierge service at Bendel). If you're in the UK you can also order through amazon.co.uk. Imagine that.

An American Blogger In Paris: Etat Libre d'Orange

Our last full day in Paris (or actually, our supposed last one. We ended up staying another day because of a cancelled flight and airline delays, not that it did us any good, being stuck in an sub-par airport hotel that had no wireless connection) was spent at the Marais. I already wrote a little about it here and The Blond gave a culinary tour in his own blog. But the afternoon was about perfume.

I had the pleasure of meeting Denyse of Grain de Musc (a brilliant bi-lingual blogger who is as fascinating as her vintage perfume collection). We arranged to explore the Etat Libre d'Orange boutique, a line that I only knew by reputation and have previously avoided, mostly because of the marketing hype around it.

Launched in 2006, the house has made a conscious decision to build a reputation of questionable aesthetics (drawings of erupting penises, names like Don't Get Me Wrong, Baby, I Do Not Swallow) instead of promoting the actual quality of the scents (which is high) or the talent of their noses (ditto). The marketing was just a bit too junior high for my taste, so as curious as I've always been about any new releases, sniffing them never became a priority.

Thanks to Denyse who translated and explained, I got to hear about the notes and ideas behind the scents I smelled and tried. And it's always a lot of fun to sniff with another perfume lover. These are the people who would never give you weird looks as you inhale deeply and do a stream-of-conscious blabbing.

First I asked to try Rossy de Palma because I've always been fascinated by the actress/model with the amazingly unusual look. The perfume, however, didn't live up to the legend. It's a rose and not an interesting one. I wasn't moved enough to give it skin space, but then again, I'm not that big on roses to begin with.

Next came Vraie Blonde (a name that alludes to the age-old question of drapes and carpet matching) which earned my curiosity just because. It's a cute little aldehydic bellini, but I'm just not the type.

Encens et Bubblegum was different enough to earn precious skin real estate. There was something about the game of bold sugar and soft incense that captured me. I expected it to be much more crass, like a middle school Lolita who giggles too much and hikes up her skirt to show a bit too much not yet fully formed thigh. Instead, I got something twisted but pretty, girly but not all the way Barbie. It makes me happy every time I wear it, and the only thing preventing me from calling Bendel and ordering a bottle (other than my dislike of such a hassle. I've already whined about Bendel's miserable e-commerce) is the husband's deep disapproval of the bubblegum note. He picks it up in blind testing, so it's not just an aversion to the idea.

Then came Rien. That's one big oxymoron if there ever was one, named "Nothing" but haunting and distracting like very few scents can do. It reminded me of Bandit and has a lot in common with it, except that it's much more butch. It's like Bandit stripped from its floral heart and having everything else about it amplified to an almost cartoon version of a smoky, tarry, black leather scent.

It's fascinating from the very first beautiful/ugly notes. This is the scent I would have expected to see named after Rossy de Palma, her avant-garde face and twisted characters. The first couple of hours are all burnt leather that fascinates, repulses and makes me question my taste. I don't know where or how I could wear it in public, as to a "normal" person who stumbles into my personal space it would smell downright scary and not at all like a perfume.

The drydown is all dark and subtle incense. The smoke and tar are toned downed and it's different enough from Bandit to deserve a place in my wardrobe. I still don't know where I could wear it, and I would advise anyone to sample thoroughly before purchasing (and not to wear it on a first date, unless applied at least two hours prior to your rendez-vous).

If you're somewhat familliar with the ELdO line you know what comes next.

Yes, that one.

I wasn't willing to leave the store without trying the infamous Sécrétions Magnifiques. A perfume that's supposed to have accords of blood, sweat and sperm with a side of milk and is so reviled that sales assistants are rumoured to avoid spraying it. I didn't want to stink up the place so I dabbed it on instead. The metallic opening was certainly unpleasant. I suppose that's the bloody part. Then it became watery and most of all reminded me of a stale load of handwash water that was left in the sink for too long after the dirty clothes were removed from it. There's an unwashed aspect there and a floral laundry detergent but that was about it. Not something I'd like to wear, but not really puke-inducing. And unlike any other ELdO I tried then or since, Sécrétions Magnifiques had the least staying power.

To read Denyse's account of our sniffage, go here.

Images: photos of the boutique (that has a large part dedicated to artistic erotic photography): http://www.parismarais.com. The colorful illustrations that adorn the tester bottles but not the ones that are actually for sale are from the ELdO website.

Etat Libre d'Orange perfumes are available from Henri Bendel in NYC and Harvey Nichols in London, as well as online from the French site (that will ship to the US and charge an arm and a leg for that. It's better to deal with the concierge service at Bendel). If you're in the UK you can also order through amazon.co.uk. Imagine that.

An American Blogger In Paris: Skalli Jewelry

Le Marais quarter in Paris is a fun and eclectic place. It has a mix of Judaica, a gay population, two (great) vegetarian restaurants, art galleries, trendy stores and falafel. We were there to meet Denyse of Grain De Musc and explore the Etat Libre d'Orange fragrance line (which will be the subject of another post), but on our way to the store, we stumbled upon an interesting looking jewelry boutique that attracted me with bright colors and clean, geometric lines.

Jean-Marc Skalli launched his line in 1997, first selling through other retailers and department stores before opening the first boutique in 2001. His jewelry is now sold at Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, as well as in five Skalli stores in Paris and one in Lille. The website promises that online shopping is coming soon, but doesn't specify a time frame.

The store also offers watches and (gorgeous) cuff links in addition to the expected earrings, necklaces and other pretties in glass, enamel and silver. I loved the pop-art feel of the designs and the strong colors, but didn't need too much time to zero in on this green necklace. It's different enough to make a statement without being over-the-top.




The address for the Marais store is 9/11 rue des Rosiers. Other locations can be found here.
Images: storefront from Skalli website, necklace photos are mine.

An American Blogger In Paris: Skalli Jewelry

Le Marais quarter in Paris is a fun and eclectic place. It has a mix of Judaica, a gay population, two (great) vegetarian restaurants, art galleries, trendy stores and falafel. We were there to meet Denyse of Grain De Musc and explore the Etat Libre d'Orange fragrance line (which will be the subject of another post), but on our way to the store, we stumbled upon an interesting looking jewelry boutique that attracted me with bright colors and clean, geometric lines.

Jean-Marc Skalli launched his line in 1997, first selling through other retailers and department stores before opening the first boutique in 2001. His jewelry is now sold at Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, as well as in five Skalli stores in Paris and one in Lille. The website promises that online shopping is coming soon, but doesn't specify a time frame.

The store also offers watches and (gorgeous) cuff links in addition to the expected earrings, necklaces and other pretties in glass, enamel and silver. I loved the pop-art feel of the designs and the strong colors, but didn't need too much time to zero in on this green necklace. It's different enough to make a statement without being over-the-top.




The address for the Marais store is 9/11 rue des Rosiers. Other locations can be found here.
Images: storefront from Skalli website, necklace photos are mine.

An American Blogger In Paris: Skalli Jewelry

Le Marais quarter in Paris is a fun and eclectic place. It has a mix of Judaica, a gay population, two (great) vegetarian restaurants, art galleries, trendy stores and falafel. We were there to meet Denyse of Grain De Musc and explore the Etat Libre d'Orange fragrance line (which will be the subject of another post), but on our way to the store, we stumbled upon an interesting looking jewelry boutique that attracted me with bright colors and clean, geometric lines.

Jean-Marc Skalli launched his line in 1997, first selling through other retailers and department stores before opening the first boutique in 2001. His jewelry is now sold at Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, as well as in five Skalli stores in Paris and one in Lille. The website promises that online shopping is coming soon, but doesn't specify a time frame.

The store also offers watches and (gorgeous) cuff links in addition to the expected earrings, necklaces and other pretties in glass, enamel and silver. I loved the pop-art feel of the designs and the strong colors, but didn't need too much time to zero in on this green necklace. It's different enough to make a statement without being over-the-top.




The address for the Marais store is 9/11 rue des Rosiers. Other locations can be found here.
Images: storefront from Skalli website, necklace photos are mine.

An American Blogger In Paris: More Perfume Shopping

Living right next to the Paramus malls and 15 minutes away from Manhattan makes one a bit jaded and hard to impress when it comes to shopping. There are very few things you can't find around here, fashion-wise, but when it comes to perfume shopping I was quite jealous of what I saw in Paris.

I'm not even talking about the obvious ones: Serge Lutens and his bell jars or the gorgeous Guerlain boutique. It's more about the variety and the many options, far above and beyond what we're used to see here.

Let's start with Sephora. While I've been told their stores vary and not all of them are that amazing, the flagship on Champs-Élysées is a huge wonderland. They had just about any beauty and makeup brand I could think of, including Bobbi Brown and Armani (the former has been gone from our Sephoras years ago, the latter has never made it). As far as fragrance goes, I was surprised to see the entire Serge Lutens export line, Bond no. 9, many other brands and scents that have been taken off mainstream shelves in the US (Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant!) and the entire regular (not the Exclusifs) Chanel range in all concentrations, including parfum.

Speaking of Chanel, the perfumes can be found everywhere. From department stores (more about them in a minute) to big and small perfumeries, and the parfums are right there on the shelves. The same goes for Robert Piguet. Here, you're lucky if you see Fracas at a brick & mortar store, but in Paris you can go out and also buy Bandit, Baghari, Cravache and Visa (I think I need a bottle of that. I spritzed it at just about every store I visited, and the verdict is that it makes me happy in all its fruitiness).


A special pleasure are the lovely boutiques of niche and semi-niche lines, where you get to play with the entire range. Parfums de Nicolaï have a couple of stores. We visited the one on avenue Raymond Poincaré, tested a few things and liked the brand as a whole, couldn't find anything we absolutely had to have right away, though Maharnih might be calling my name, after all. There was something in the rich base that grabbed my attention. Maybe the (synthetic) civet.

The Maître Parfumeur et Gantier boutiques are on the baroque side of interior design with their marble floors and lavish decoration, full of ornamental bottles, scented gloves (their specialities) and thy stock the full range, including those scents you rarely see on our shores. They also have an impressive (and expensive) line of home fragrance (I adore the amber). I still prefer their masculine scents to the girly ones, and there is a bottle of Racine in my future.

My one disappointment was Evody, a store famous for niche offerings. I hoped to see a much better selection of Parfumerie Generale and was certain I'd be leaving it with at least one bottle, but they only had about 1o of the scents, which is far less than what you can find at Scent Bar in L.A., and none of the limited editions. They did have all the Lutens, Piguet, By Killian, The Different Company and several other lines, as well as Marc Jacobs Daisy, for some inexplicable reason. Actually, Daisy was everywhere, you couldn't escape it.

We visited Colette, mostly so I could smell their Le Labo exclusive, Vanille 44. It's far less vanilla and much more labdanum, and while I liked it, it wasn't a must-have. I've heard people complain about the noise and chaos atmosphere in Colette, but I actually enjoyed it. It's very informal and you can play with the perfumes (many niche lines and the unavoidable Daisy) as much as you want without a SA breathing down your neck and trying to explain to you about the Comme des Garcons aesthetics. The Blond has fallen hard for Hinoki, which smells fabulous on him: dark and earthy, the funky notes are far less prominent on him than the incense and vetiver. I did my best to like the Juliette has a Gun scents, but failed miserably. One was too fruity and young, the other a boring rose. They didn't like my skin, either. The fashion floor at Colette was fascinating. Hair-raising expensive and gorgeous items. You're not allowed to take pictures and the security guys are very efficient about it, so I have nothing to show, you'll just have to believe me it's worth a visit.

Paris Department stores are not your local Macy's. I don't think I saw even one bottle of Britney Juice or Eau de Donald, but both Printemps and Le Bon Marché have an amazing selection of luxury and niche brands. On top of the many others I've mentioned above, you can waltz in and buy Tom Ford Private Blend, Armani Privé, the entire Miller Harris range, L'Artisan, Annick Goutal (because, apparently, all the free-standing Goutal boutiques are not enough), including Les Orientales (lovely and raising the question regarding Musc Nomade: exactly how many musks do I need?) and Lubin. Le Bon Marché was especially amazing, offering the Il Profumo line (I don't think I've ever seen them outside of Scent Bar) and the quirky bottles of Isabel Capeto. They also have a mini Guerlain boutique (like the one at Bergdorf) that had all the rarities, from the Art et Matière line, Les Parisiennes and the Four Seasons collection.

Something that made my day (or week, even): Printemps have a nice L'Occitane counter. It wouldn't have been worth mentioning, considering I have a L'Occitane store practically a walking distance from home, except for one thing: They were clearing out old stock of the original Neroli perfume, an old favorite of mine, which I was left with less than 1/4 of my last bottle (and recently watched how a bottle on eBay has gone well over $100. I'm not paying that for a L'Occitane). It was 40% off and now I have a lifetime supply.

Less satisfactory but very interesting was a private perfume store, Parfumerie Victor Hugo (130, Avenue Victor Hugo. It's a few stores down from the Frederic Malle boutique and around the corner from Parfums de Nicolai). A mom & pop shop (literally. The owner, her husband and daughter can all be found there) with great selection of cosmetics and fragrance. The makeup includes Chanel, Dior and Clarins, and the perfume section would make your head spin. I don't think I ever saw all the Dior masculines on one shelf, including Jules (!!! I really should have made the Blond get it). There were several other colognes that are considered extinct on our side of the pond (the original Lagerfeld and Calvin Kline) as well as new stock like Encre Noir. On the feminine front they had all the Chanels, including bath and body products, all the export Lutens, By Killian, Piguet and many other brands, old and new (when was the last time you saw Ma Griffe in an actual store?).

I was testing happily when I suddenly saw a very familiar blue box. Niki de Saint Phalle. And I don't mean the EdT. They actually had the parfum, both 1/2 oz and a 1 oz. The prices were outrageous: the smaller bottle was north of 200 euro and the 1 oz was marked well over €300 (I can't remember the exact price for the life of me). Niki, in all its weird glory is among my most favorite perfumes and I was dreading the day my 1/4 oz runs out. So I decided to treat myself to the smaller bottle. Thus begun an hour in which the store's owner and her husband tried to make their their credit card reader work. It took them a while to discover it wasn't connected to the phone, and then there was a whole other saga which we couldn't understand due to the language barrier. It was so aggravating I wasn't thinking straight, otherwise we'd have just walked to the nearest ATM and paid cash. But I just gave up, which turned out to be a very good thing, because I just discovered that Parfum1.com have the 1 0z bottle currently in stock for 1/5 of the price. There's also a 10% coupon floating around and free shipping. My bottle has arrived today and I couldn't be happier. It's the real thing and smells as gorgeous as ever.

On top of all the niche and luxury brands you can easily find, there's the mainstream market. There's a Marionnaud store on every corner, which is more or less a b&m equivalent to Fragrancenet, albeit far more expensive (I don't think Paris believes in discounters). But you can try everything on, so no need for crazy unsniffed purchases. I was interested to check the Balmain exclusive, La Môme, which wasn't yet available here. I thought it was nice, but for the price (49€) my socks remained fully unrocked. The same went for the other new Balmain, Ambre Gris that you could see all over Paris. Of course, upon my return I started kicking myself for not getting them, if only for the sake of their hard-to-find status. Thankfully, I didn't have to kick too hard. If you've seen the various perfume forums you know that Parfum1 now has both scents for a lot cheaper. Last week it was $25 each, before the discount code. Now it's been kicked up slightly to around $30, but still a bargain that would make our friends in Paris cry. It's an interesting lesson in global marketing, if nothing else.



All photos are mine. The two at the top are of Niki de Saint Phalle's Stravinsky Fountain near the Pompidou Center. Sadly, the fountain, the sculptures and the entire area are dirty and run down. Some pieces are missing and there's no sign that explains anything about the artist or this creation. We stumbled upon it by chance and immediately recognized her work. One of the sculptures is very similar to the snakes on the perfume bottle.


More perfume shopping in Paris:
Guerlain
Frederic Malle
Serge Lutens
Caron
Etat Libre d'Orange
Memo

An American Blogger In Paris: More Perfume Shopping

Living right next to the Paramus malls and 15 minutes away from Manhattan makes one a bit jaded and hard to impress when it comes to shopping. There are very few things you can't find around here, fashion-wise, but when it comes to perfume shopping I was quite jealous of what I saw in Paris.

I'm not even talking about the obvious ones: Serge Lutens and his bell jars or the gorgeous Guerlain boutique. It's more about the variety and the many options, far above and beyond what we're used to see here.

Let's start with Sephora. While I've been told their stores vary and not all of them are that amazing, the flagship on Champs-Élysées is a huge wonderland. They had just about any beauty and makeup brand I could think of, including Bobbi Brown and Armani (the former has been gone from our Sephoras years ago, the latter has never made it). As far as fragrance goes, I was surprised to see the entire Serge Lutens export line, Bond no. 9, many other brands and scents that have been taken off mainstream shelves in the US (Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant!) and the entire regular (not the Exclusifs) Chanel range in all concentrations, including parfum.

Speaking of Chanel, the perfumes can be found everywhere. From department stores (more about them in a minute) to big and small perfumeries, and the parfums are right there on the shelves. The same goes for Robert Piguet. Here, you're lucky if you see Fracas at a brick & mortar store, but in Paris you can go out and also buy Bandit, Baghari, Cravache and Visa (I think I need a bottle of that. I spritzed it at just about every store I visited, and the verdict is that it makes me happy in all its fruitiness).


A special pleasure are the lovely boutiques of niche and semi-niche lines, where you get to play with the entire range. Parfums de Nicolaï have a couple of stores. We visited the one on avenue Raymond Poincaré, tested a few things and liked the brand as a whole, couldn't find anything we absolutely had to have right away, though Maharnih might be calling my name, after all. There was something in the rich base that grabbed my attention. Maybe the (synthetic) civet.

The Maître Parfumeur et Gantier boutiques are on the baroque side of interior design with their marble floors and lavish decoration, full of ornamental bottles, scented gloves (their specialities) and thy stock the full range, including those scents you rarely see on our shores. They also have an impressive (and expensive) line of home fragrance (I adore the amber). I still prefer their masculine scents to the girly ones, and there is a bottle of Racine in my future.

My one disappointment was Evody, a store famous for niche offerings. I hoped to see a much better selection of Parfumerie Generale and was certain I'd be leaving it with at least one bottle, but they only had about 1o of the scents, which is far less than what you can find at Scent Bar in L.A., and none of the limited editions. They did have all the Lutens, Piguet, By Killian, The Different Company and several other lines, as well as Marc Jacobs Daisy, for some inexplicable reason. Actually, Daisy was everywhere, you couldn't escape it.

We visited Colette, mostly so I could smell their Le Labo exclusive, Vanille 44. It's far less vanilla and much more labdanum, and while I liked it, it wasn't a must-have. I've heard people complain about the noise and chaos atmosphere in Colette, but I actually enjoyed it. It's very informal and you can play with the perfumes (many niche lines and the unavoidable Daisy) as much as you want without a SA breathing down your neck and trying to explain to you about the Comme des Garcons aesthetics. The Blond has fallen hard for Hinoki, which smells fabulous on him: dark and earthy, the funky notes are far less prominent on him than the incense and vetiver. I did my best to like the Juliette has a Gun scents, but failed miserably. One was too fruity and young, the other a boring rose. They didn't like my skin, either. The fashion floor at Colette was fascinating. Hair-raising expensive and gorgeous items. You're not allowed to take pictures and the security guys are very efficient about it, so I have nothing to show, you'll just have to believe me it's worth a visit.

Paris Department stores are not your local Macy's. I don't think I saw even one bottle of Britney Juice or Eau de Donald, but both Printemps and Le Bon Marché have an amazing selection of luxury and niche brands. On top of the many others I've mentioned above, you can waltz in and buy Tom Ford Private Blend, Armani Privé, the entire Miller Harris range, L'Artisan, Annick Goutal (because, apparently, all the free-standing Goutal boutiques are not enough), including Les Orientales (lovely and raising the question regarding Musc Nomade: exactly how many musks do I need?) and Lubin. Le Bon Marché was especially amazing, offering the Il Profumo line (I don't think I've ever seen them outside of Scent Bar) and the quirky bottles of Isabel Capeto. They also have a mini Guerlain boutique (like the one at Bergdorf) that had all the rarities, from the Art et Matière line, Les Parisiennes and the Four Seasons collection.

Something that made my day (or week, even): Printemps have a nice L'Occitane counter. It wouldn't have been worth mentioning, considering I have a L'Occitane store practically a walking distance from home, except for one thing: They were clearing out old stock of the original Neroli perfume, an old favorite of mine, which I was left with less than 1/4 of my last bottle (and recently watched how a bottle on eBay has gone well over $100. I'm not paying that for a L'Occitane). It was 40% off and now I have a lifetime supply.

Less satisfactory but very interesting was a private perfume store, Parfumerie Victor Hugo (130, Avenue Victor Hugo. It's a few stores down from the Frederic Malle boutique and around the corner from Parfums de Nicolai). A mom & pop shop (literally. The owner, her husband and daughter can all be found there) with great selection of cosmetics and fragrance. The makeup includes Chanel, Dior and Clarins, and the perfume section would make your head spin. I don't think I ever saw all the Dior masculines on one shelf, including Jules (!!! I really should have made the Blond get it). There were several other colognes that are considered extinct on our side of the pond (the original Lagerfeld and Calvin Kline) as well as new stock like Encre Noir. On the feminine front they had all the Chanels, including bath and body products, all the export Lutens, By Killian, Piguet and many other brands, old and new (when was the last time you saw Ma Griffe in an actual store?).

I was testing happily when I suddenly saw a very familiar blue box. Niki de Saint Phalle. And I don't mean the EdT. They actually had the parfum, both 1/2 oz and a 1 oz. The prices were outrageous: the smaller bottle was north of 200 euro and the 1 oz was marked well over €300 (I can't remember the exact price for the life of me). Niki, in all its weird glory is among my most favorite perfumes and I was dreading the day my 1/4 oz runs out. So I decided to treat myself to the smaller bottle. Thus begun an hour in which the store's owner and her husband tried to make their their credit card reader work. It took them a while to discover it wasn't connected to the phone, and then there was a whole other saga which we couldn't understand due to the language barrier. It was so aggravating I wasn't thinking straight, otherwise we'd have just walked to the nearest ATM and paid cash. But I just gave up, which turned out to be a very good thing, because I just discovered that Parfum1.com have the 1 0z bottle currently in stock for 1/5 of the price. There's also a 10% coupon floating around and free shipping. My bottle has arrived today and I couldn't be happier. It's the real thing and smells as gorgeous as ever.

On top of all the niche and luxury brands you can easily find, there's the mainstream market. There's a Marionnaud store on every corner, which is more or less a b&m equivalent to Fragrancenet, albeit far more expensive (I don't think Paris believes in discounters). But you can try everything on, so no need for crazy unsniffed purchases. I was interested to check the Balmain exclusive, La Môme, which wasn't yet available here. I thought it was nice, but for the price (49€) my socks remained fully unrocked. The same went for the other new Balmain, Ambre Gris that you could see all over Paris. Of course, upon my return I started kicking myself for not getting them, if only for the sake of their hard-to-find status. Thankfully, I didn't have to kick too hard. If you've seen the various perfume forums you know that Parfum1 now has both scents for a lot cheaper. Last week it was $25 each, before the discount code. Now it's been kicked up slightly to around $30, but still a bargain that would make our friends in Paris cry. It's an interesting lesson in global marketing, if nothing else.



All photos are mine. The two at the top are of Niki de Saint Phalle's Stravinsky Fountain near the Pompidou Center. Sadly, the fountain, the sculptures and the entire area are dirty and run down. Some pieces are missing and there's no sign that explains anything about the artist or this creation. We stumbled upon it by chance and immediately recognized her work. One of the sculptures is very similar to the snakes on the perfume bottle.


More perfume shopping in Paris:
Guerlain
Frederic Malle
Serge Lutens
Caron
Etat Libre d'Orange
Memo

An American Blogger In Paris: More Perfume Shopping

Living right next to the Paramus malls and 15 minutes away from Manhattan makes one a bit jaded and hard to impress when it comes to shopping. There are very few things you can't find around here, fashion-wise, but when it comes to perfume shopping I was quite jealous of what I saw in Paris.

I'm not even talking about the obvious ones: Serge Lutens and his bell jars or the gorgeous Guerlain boutique. It's more about the variety and the many options, far above and beyond what we're used to see here.

Let's start with Sephora. While I've been told their stores vary and not all of them are that amazing, the flagship on Champs-Élysées is a huge wonderland. They had just about any beauty and makeup brand I could think of, including Bobbi Brown and Armani (the former has been gone from our Sephoras years ago, the latter has never made it). As far as fragrance goes, I was surprised to see the entire Serge Lutens export line, Bond no. 9, many other brands and scents that have been taken off mainstream shelves in the US (Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant!) and the entire regular (not the Exclusifs) Chanel range in all concentrations, including parfum.

Speaking of Chanel, the perfumes can be found everywhere. From department stores (more about them in a minute) to big and small perfumeries, and the parfums are right there on the shelves. The same goes for Robert Piguet. Here, you're lucky if you see Fracas at a brick & mortar store, but in Paris you can go out and also buy Bandit, Baghari, Cravache and Visa (I think I need a bottle of that. I spritzed it at just about every store I visited, and the verdict is that it makes me happy in all its fruitiness).


A special pleasure are the lovely boutiques of niche and semi-niche lines, where you get to play with the entire range. Parfums de Nicolaï have a couple of stores. We visited the one on avenue Raymond Poincaré, tested a few things and liked the brand as a whole, couldn't find anything we absolutely had to have right away, though Maharnih might be calling my name, after all. There was something in the rich base that grabbed my attention. Maybe the (synthetic) civet.

The Maître Parfumeur et Gantier boutiques are on the baroque side of interior design with their marble floors and lavish decoration, full of ornamental bottles, scented gloves (their specialities) and thy stock the full range, including those scents you rarely see on our shores. They also have an impressive (and expensive) line of home fragrance (I adore the amber). I still prefer their masculine scents to the girly ones, and there is a bottle of Racine in my future.

My one disappointment was Evody, a store famous for niche offerings. I hoped to see a much better selection of Parfumerie Generale and was certain I'd be leaving it with at least one bottle, but they only had about 1o of the scents, which is far less than what you can find at Scent Bar in L.A., and none of the limited editions. They did have all the Lutens, Piguet, By Killian, The Different Company and several other lines, as well as Marc Jacobs Daisy, for some inexplicable reason. Actually, Daisy was everywhere, you couldn't escape it.

We visited Colette, mostly so I could smell their Le Labo exclusive, Vanille 44. It's far less vanilla and much more labdanum, and while I liked it, it wasn't a must-have. I've heard people complain about the noise and chaos atmosphere in Colette, but I actually enjoyed it. It's very informal and you can play with the perfumes (many niche lines and the unavoidable Daisy) as much as you want without a SA breathing down your neck and trying to explain to you about the Comme des Garcons aesthetics. The Blond has fallen hard for Hinoki, which smells fabulous on him: dark and earthy, the funky notes are far less prominent on him than the incense and vetiver. I did my best to like the Juliette has a Gun scents, but failed miserably. One was too fruity and young, the other a boring rose. They didn't like my skin, either. The fashion floor at Colette was fascinating. Hair-raising expensive and gorgeous items. You're not allowed to take pictures and the security guys are very efficient about it, so I have nothing to show, you'll just have to believe me it's worth a visit.

Paris Department stores are not your local Macy's. I don't think I saw even one bottle of Britney Juice or Eau de Donald, but both Printemps and Le Bon Marché have an amazing selection of luxury and niche brands. On top of the many others I've mentioned above, you can waltz in and buy Tom Ford Private Blend, Armani Privé, the entire Miller Harris range, L'Artisan, Annick Goutal (because, apparently, all the free-standing Goutal boutiques are not enough), including Les Orientales (lovely and raising the question regarding Musc Nomade: exactly how many musks do I need?) and Lubin. Le Bon Marché was especially amazing, offering the Il Profumo line (I don't think I've ever seen them outside of Scent Bar) and the quirky bottles of Isabel Capeto. They also have a mini Guerlain boutique (like the one at Bergdorf) that had all the rarities, from the Art et Matière line, Les Parisiennes and the Four Seasons collection.

Something that made my day (or week, even): Printemps have a nice L'Occitane counter. It wouldn't have been worth mentioning, considering I have a L'Occitane store practically a walking distance from home, except for one thing: They were clearing out old stock of the original Neroli perfume, an old favorite of mine, which I was left with less than 1/4 of my last bottle (and recently watched how a bottle on eBay has gone well over $100. I'm not paying that for a L'Occitane). It was 40% off and now I have a lifetime supply.

Less satisfactory but very interesting was a private perfume store, Parfumerie Victor Hugo (130, Avenue Victor Hugo. It's a few stores down from the Frederic Malle boutique and around the corner from Parfums de Nicolai). A mom & pop shop (literally. The owner, her husband and daughter can all be found there) with great selection of cosmetics and fragrance. The makeup includes Chanel, Dior and Clarins, and the perfume section would make your head spin. I don't think I ever saw all the Dior masculines on one shelf, including Jules (!!! I really should have made the Blond get it). There were several other colognes that are considered extinct on our side of the pond (the original Lagerfeld and Calvin Kline) as well as new stock like Encre Noir. On the feminine front they had all the Chanels, including bath and body products, all the export Lutens, By Killian, Piguet and many other brands, old and new (when was the last time you saw Ma Griffe in an actual store?).

I was testing happily when I suddenly saw a very familiar blue box. Niki de Saint Phalle. And I don't mean the EdT. They actually had the parfum, both 1/2 oz and a 1 oz. The prices were outrageous: the smaller bottle was north of 200 euro and the 1 oz was marked well over €300 (I can't remember the exact price for the life of me). Niki, in all its weird glory is among my most favorite perfumes and I was dreading the day my 1/4 oz runs out. So I decided to treat myself to the smaller bottle. Thus begun an hour in which the store's owner and her husband tried to make their their credit card reader work. It took them a while to discover it wasn't connected to the phone, and then there was a whole other saga which we couldn't understand due to the language barrier. It was so aggravating I wasn't thinking straight, otherwise we'd have just walked to the nearest ATM and paid cash. But I just gave up, which turned out to be a very good thing, because I just discovered that Parfum1.com have the 1 0z bottle currently in stock for 1/5 of the price. There's also a 10% coupon floating around and free shipping. My bottle has arrived today and I couldn't be happier. It's the real thing and smells as gorgeous as ever.

On top of all the niche and luxury brands you can easily find, there's the mainstream market. There's a Marionnaud store on every corner, which is more or less a b&m equivalent to Fragrancenet, albeit far more expensive (I don't think Paris believes in discounters). But you can try everything on, so no need for crazy unsniffed purchases. I was interested to check the Balmain exclusive, La Môme, which wasn't yet available here. I thought it was nice, but for the price (49€) my socks remained fully unrocked. The same went for the other new Balmain, Ambre Gris that you could see all over Paris. Of course, upon my return I started kicking myself for not getting them, if only for the sake of their hard-to-find status. Thankfully, I didn't have to kick too hard. If you've seen the various perfume forums you know that Parfum1 now has both scents for a lot cheaper. Last week it was $25 each, before the discount code. Now it's been kicked up slightly to around $30, but still a bargain that would make our friends in Paris cry. It's an interesting lesson in global marketing, if nothing else.



All photos are mine. The two at the top are of Niki de Saint Phalle's Stravinsky Fountain near the Pompidou Center. Sadly, the fountain, the sculptures and the entire area are dirty and run down. Some pieces are missing and there's no sign that explains anything about the artist or this creation. We stumbled upon it by chance and immediately recognized her work. One of the sculptures is very similar to the snakes on the perfume bottle.


More perfume shopping in Paris:
Guerlain
Frederic Malle
Serge Lutens
Caron
Etat Libre d'Orange
Memo