Bottega Veneta – Knot

source: thechroniclesofher.com

The bottle of Bottega Veneta‘s Knot is drop dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, that’s the highest praise that I can accord to it, since the juice is, by all accounts, utterly yawn-inducing.

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L’Artisan Parfumeur – Nuit de Tubéreuse

source: deviantart

Let’s face it: Nuit de Tubéreuse is neither ‘nuit’ nor ‘tuberose’ in any sense of those words. Despite a somewhat promising opening, in which the floral notes sing together harmoniously, the whole choir falls apart into an off-key mess in less than five minutes, with a cheap orange blossom soap attempting to soprano its voice over the rest, but cracking nevertheless – the result is a sweet, faceless dreck that seems to have been cobbled together in a focus group… except L’Artisan Parfumeur doesn’t do focus groups. This is not the beautiful ‘abstraction’ that Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez speak of in describing Beyond Paradise in Perfumes: The A-Z Guide; rather, it is a clueless Bath and Body Works wannabe. Heck, I’ve smelt better Bath and Body Works fragrances that I’d much rather wear, thank you very much. To make matters worse, Nuit de Tubéreuse degenerates into a sweet vat of musk that further underscores the fragrance’s utter lack of direction, in the same way that a tourist visiting Paris for the first time tries to navigate his way around without a map, except the latter experience is far more enjoyable. Imagine my dismay when I found out that it was created by one of my favourite perfumers, Monsieur Bertrand Duchaufour. I guess even the best have their bad hair days. Avoid it if you actually like perfume.

~ The Smelly Vagabond

Perfume Haiku Series: Dzing! by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Dzing! by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Homeless baby boy
Sitting on cardboard boxes
Pooped in his diapers

~ The Smelly Vagabond

Perfume Haiku Series: Drôle de Rose by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Drôle de Rose by L’Artisan Parfumeur

On her wedding day
The young bride wears her makeup
A sheer rosy blush

~ The Smelly Vagabond

Perfume Haiku Series: La Chasse aux Papillons by L’Artisan Parfumeur

La Chasse aux Papillons by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Summer butterfly
Flitting gently in the breeze
Lands on tuberose

~ The Smelly Vagabond

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!

Perfume Haiku Series: Timbuktu by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Timbuktu by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Somewhere far away
In a mountain-top temple
Their chants rise like smoke

~ The Smelly Vagabond

The Penhaligon’s Invasion + A Rather Late Review of Iris Prima

For those residing in London or those who keep up with perfume news on the blogosphere, the news that the only L’Artisan Parfumeur boutique in the UK (13 Market Building, The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RB) has been replaced by a Penhaligon’s boutique must surely be old news. For those not in the know, you might wish to check out what the good Persolaise has written about the closing of L’Artisan Parfumeur and the opening of the Penhaligon’s boutique.

My intention with this post is not so much to rehash old news, but rather to present some of the thoughts that plagued me when I first found out that L’Artisan Parfumeur would be closing and when I paid a visit to the new Penhaligon’s boutique recently.

Who Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea? L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Ananas Fizz + Giveaway!

Spongebob’s Pineapple Under The Sea

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Why, SpongeBob SquarePants, of course!

For those of us privileged enough to be young (at heart!) or to have children, SpongeBob is someone we’d be familiar with. He’s inane, irreverent, impudent and just a whole lot of fun! And well, he’s my favourite cartoon character, so I just couldn’t resist the urge to feature him and his lovely pineapple home in this review of L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Ananas Fizz.

Boring details first, because I wish to overturn the clichèd convention of writing all the interesting stuff first. Oh wait, I’ve actually broken the rule by featuring SpongeBob as a hook for a perfume review. Oh well, writer’s license!

Battle of the Orange Blossom Beauties

© thesmellyvagabond

What do you get when L’Artisan Parfumeur‘s Séville à l’Aube meets Vero Profumo‘s Rubj EDP? You get an orange blossom diva-off, that’s what.

Now, Séville à l’Aube and Rubj are two of my favourite orange blossom-dominated fragrances, so as the judge of this extravagant perfume one-upmanship, you can count on me to be absolutely objective, right? Right. 😉 So, down to business. Who’s better, Séville à l’Aube or Rubj?