Question Time with The Smelly Vagabond

source: keepcalmandposters.com

I’ve been sorely lacking in inspiration to write in the past few months, which I suppose comes along with having to write an economics dissertation and a sociology essay about the art critic, the latter of which I’m trying to bring in something perfume-related: What is the role of the critic in the production of art? How did the critic come about in the first place? What is the interaction between the critic and the artist? How have technological advances changed the nature and content of criticism? The essay is coming along fairly nicely, albeit nowhere near complete, but when I do finish it I’ll probably rewrite it for a perfume audience (at the moment, it’s just about art critics in general), and maybe even get it published somewhere 😉

I’ve just returned to New Haven from a weekend trip to New York, where I got to meet perfumer Hiram Green at Twisted Lily as well as attend a macaroni and cheese takedown competition! More on them at a later time…

In the meantime, though, how about some Q&A? Since I’m lacking in inspiration, why not you help me out by asking me some questions, and I’ll answer them as best as I can? It doesn’t necessarily have to be perfume-related. I’m hoping it will be fun, and I’ll update this post as we go along so that the questions get featured in the post. Time to get creative with the questions!

You can post your questions in the comments of this post, on Twitter, or on Facebook. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Advertisement

MiN New York

© The Smelly Vagabond

Around 3 weeks ago, on the Saturday after the day of crazy mad shopping stampedes also known as Black Friday, I dragged my luggage behind me as I trudged around SoHo, New York, in search of MiN New York, a perfumery that I had long heard of, but never had the opportunity to visit until now. I had taken the train down to Manhattan a couple of days before with a few objectives in mind:

1. To visit a friend and celebrate Thanksgiving over the Thanksgiving break (although in my case the “break” involved plenty of studying)
2. To keep in my tradition of participating in an annual celebration of excessive consumerism (Boxing Day in London, where I was previously based; Black Friday in the US)
3. To meet up with Portia of Australian Perfume Junkies and the rest of the gang (more on that later!) for some sniffing and catching up at Osswald NYC later that very same Saturday afternoon

Parfumerie Generale – Felanilla

source: colognoisseur.com

“How do I make the next perfume masterpiece?”

The Smelly Vagabond’s Adventures in Paris: Day 2 (Part III)

The Smelly Vagabond’s Adventures in Paris: Day 1
The Smelly Vagabond’s Adventures in Paris: Day 2 (Part I)
The Smelly Vagabond’s Adventures in Paris: Day 2 (Part II)

 Day 2 (Part III) – A Whirlwind Tour of Perfume Boutiques

source: jeanpatouperfume.com

We left Jovoy with contented smiles on our faces – well, more than just contented smiles: Monsieur D left with a bottle of Parfum d’Empire’s Ambre Russe and plenty of samples. I’d managed to muster up some inkling of restraint and left without buying anything… yet (that’s a story for Day 4). We had planned to meet up with Bianca, a friend that Monsieur D had made on the train from the airport, at 3.30pm, but there was still some time to kill, and so we decided to walk around the area. Just diagonally across the street from Jovoy was a Jean Patou boutique, where we discovered the recently launched Collection Héritage series comprising Chaldée, Eau de Patou and Patou Pour Homme. I have yet to smell the original scents, so I can’t comment on how they’ve been reformulated, and I can’t remember much of what I smelt either, save for the fact that they were quite smooth and elegant, never venturing into offensive territory. The sales assistant was helpful enough, and possibly rather hopeful that we would be making a purchase as well, given that she was quite persistent about the quality of the fragrances. I suppose it was because we were holding so many shopping bags!