Jacomo Silences to be revamped

Thanks to a tweet from Robin at NST (@nowsmellthis), I’ve read the news: Jacomo has revamped its classic green-floral-chypre Silences. I feel a rant coming on…

This article at CosmetiqueMag, dated February 13, 2012, describes the changes in French. I don’t speak or read French (I took Latin and Spanish, and precious little good it does me with perfume, I tell you), so I went to Yahoo’s BabelFish translation page to get a better handle on this news item, which reads like this:

Image from CosmetiqueMag.

Jacomo renoue avec Silences: Propriété de Sarbec depuis 1995, la marque remet au goût du jour Silences, son classique de 1978. Le jus, un chypre-vert aux facettes animales, a été revisité par Serge Majoullier (Mane). Il en a fait une composition plus moderne et lumineuse, tout en gardant le caractère vert de la fragrance, avec du galbanum et du cassis, un trio floral rose-iris-narcisse et un fond boisé-musqué. Le flacon noir garde la même allure mais la typographie du nom a été modernisée.

I suspect that BabelFish isn’t a particularly good translator. This literary gem is what it managed to come up with:

Jacomo joins again with Silences: Property of Sarbec since 1995, the mark gives to the last style Silences, its traditional of 1978. The juice, a Cyprus-green with the animal facets, was revisited by Serge Majoullier (Basket). It made a more modern and luminous composition of it, while keeping the green character of the fragrance, with galbanum and blackcurrant, a floral trio pink-iris-Narcisse and a wooded-musky bottom. The black bottle keeps the same pace but the typography of the name was modernized.

Ummmmyeeeeaah. I’m going to mess with the English version myself to see if I can induce it to make sense:

Jacomo relaunches Silences: Owned by Sarbec since 1995, the brand has revamped its 1978 classic Silences for modern tastes. The juice, a green chypre with animalic facets, was revisited by Serge Majoullier (Mane). The composition was made more modern and luminous while keeping the green character of the fragrance, with galbanum and blackcurrant, a floral trio of rose-iris-narcissus and a woody-musk base. The black bottle remains the same, but the font of the name was modernized.

Better? I hope so. (Mane is an aromachemical company and its name should not have been translated. Basket?? Pfaugh. Also, the verb tenses were inconsistent, and I don’t know enough French to tell whether that was the fault of the original article or not.)

NOW we get to my real point: They’re messing with Silences again. Is there oakmoss listed in the notes? Nope. Dang it, this gorgeous otherworldly thing, the greenest smell possible, is likely going to wind up smelling like the revamped Lanvin Rumeur. I’m going to be ticked.

Of course, I have two big bottles of Silences parfum de toilette, and it’s probably a lifetime supply (and Bookworm hates this galbanum anyway so I have to be careful where I wear it), but I am going to be ticked if they screw it up. I suppose that A) it’s been reformulated before, maybe multiple times, and B) there was no way they could have kept all that oakmoss in the formula anyway – but if it loses that strangely eerie, meditative, coolsmoothsatin quality, they might as well scrap the darn thing.

: This is what wearing Silences should feel like.

There’s so far no word on when this will take place. It may very well be that the revamped Silences will be decent, if completely different in character than the Silences I know and love. But in that case, I think I’d prefer that Jacomo discontinue Silences and give the new thing a completely different name.

Awkward Silences, anybody? (Apologies to the amazing Jack Mason.)

By Kilian – Worth it, or not?

I whined about these scents being “soooo expennnnnsiiiiive” for a long, long time. The ad copy was annoyingly pretentious, the packaging even more so. I eschewed trying them. I rolled my eyes every time somebody praised one of them. I said to myself, “There is no reason for you to go off the deep end over something so ridiculously overpriced, whether they’re good or not.”

But, see, the thing is, the By Kilians are good. Really good. I still don’t feel that I need one of them fancy-pants black bottles in a locking box, not for $225 a pop, and I probably don’t need a refill bottle for $175, either. (Probably not.) But the travel bottles (7.5ml) are slightly less ridiculously-priced.

Thanks to a generous giveaway from Musette at Perfume Posse in November, and to a promotion involving By Kilian’s Facebook page, I have recently had the opportunity to try several others from this brand. Like most houses, it’s a mixed bag for me – some of them are terrific, some merely competent. There were two that I didn’t like at all and wouldn’t wear. All of them are clearly composed of some good stuff, which at least justifies, to some degree, the crazy price point.

Continue reading →

Scent Diary, Feb. 13-19, 2012

Monday, Feb. 13: Grocery shopping today. Wrote some on the novel. SOTD: Vintage (1980s) Coty La Rose Jacqueminot on one wrist, Teo Cabanel Early Roses on the other. I was thinking that I needed some more Early Roses because my decant is getting low, but honestly, I just love Parfums de Rosine Rose d’Ete so much for a quiet girly soft rose – I don’t really need anything else in that line. I really need to pare down my collection, pass the stuff I don’t wear on to people who would love it. La Rose Jacqueminot, of which I have a mini, is one of those things. I think it’s terrific, but I never wear it.

Tuesday, Feb. 14: SOTM: a smidge of SSS Velvet Rose on one thumb. Man, that’s some powerful stuff. SOTAfternoon & Evening: By Kilian Rose Oud. I had planned on wearing Liaisons Dangereuses and then Lumiere Noire pour femme, but I picked up Rose Oud thinking it was LD, and Rose Oud is just so darn nice that I couldn’t be bothered switching at that point. We had a nice family meal, baked chicken with ham and provolone and basil, and roast potatoes and green beans, and Chocolate Truffle Pie with strawberries. Yum. The kids watched an edited-for-TV showing of Star Trek (the 2009 movie with Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine, Karl Urban and Zoe Saldana) with us. Gave The CEO a large decant of Gres Cabaret, which is awesome on him, all spicy-musky. Continue reading →

Top 20 Bestselling Women’s Fragrances of 2011 in the US: part II of the mini-reviews

Here’s the second installment of mini-reviews of the most popular women’s fragrances in the US last year. For Part I, click here, and for the description of the original project, click here.

Estee Lauder Knowing – I once owned a miniature bottle of Knowing parfum, and it was glorious for two hours: rosy-green chypre with plenty of moxie and plenty of waft. There is a ton of green stuff in here, with some sharp green bergamot, some rich patchouli, some galbanum and moss and woody notes, and there is a full delicious rose with some mimosa for depth. After two hours, though, Knowing begins to make me feel physically ill. (I traded away that mini, feeling really happy about getting it into some appreciative hands.) Resmelling it in EdP on my skin, I had much the same experience – gorgeous for two hours, and then immediately nauseating.

My aunt wears this, and she smells wonderful, both elegant and warm. This is the aunt who just retired from a 35-year career as a chemist, and I always thought she smelled the way I would expect a “career woman” to smell: like she has good taste and won’t put up with any nonsense, even-tempered, secure in herself. I’m beginning to realize that if I apply Estee Lauder scents to fabric, they smell whole and coherent, rather than the sickening mess they degenerate into on my skin. Dear Estee, it’s not you, it’s me.

Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude – This is really lovely, if quiet, for about ten minutes. Continue reading →

Thursday Blogger Recipe: Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Zuppe di Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup)

This recipe has evolved from a simpler one that The CEO and I had at an Italian restaurant called Norberto’s back in the dark ages when we were dating. That soup was basically chicken broth with some minced garlic, tomatoes, white beans and small pasta shapes, and it was delicious. However, I like soup with, you know, chunks of stuff in it, and so when I recreated it for family eating, I added some ingredients that seemed to want to go into the soup and join the hearty-eating party… This is terrific for using up leftover chicken and pasta, and it’s relatively quick. I have made and let it simmer only about 35 minutes, and it’s still good, though I prefer to let it cook a little longer. Continue reading →

Top Ten for Winter 2012

My Top Ten lists are always changing, but here’s the current list of things I find good for winter weather:

1. Teo Cabanel Alahine. There was never any doubt, was there? This floral amber says, “Madrigal Dinner” to me in the best possible way. It’s golden and happy.

2. Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums Carnal Flower. Carnal Flower is stunning at any time of year, a juicy tuberose-jasmine halo with an florist-case-fresh green top. Cold weather highlights that icy, minty green opening and makes me glad I’m alive.

3. Givenchy Organza Indecence. A cozy woody vanilla scent with an orange-spice angle, it feels like that warm sunny spot on the back of the couch that the cat occupies.

4. Guerlain Shalimar Light. Lemon custard with a drop of jasmine, just the sort of thing to help you weather a blustery chilly night. A comforter fragrance. Continue reading →

Valentine’s Day 2012: A Dozen Roses, Bottled

The classic – some would say cliché – gift to a woman on Valentine’s Day is, of course, a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a dozen red roses, and jewelry. (My teenage daughter’s boyfriend brought her a card and six red roses yesterday; she gave him a handmade card and some candy. All together now: awwww, how sweet!) I don’t like chocolate in perfume, and the idea of jeweled perfumes will have to wait for another day, so here’s a look at some rose perfumes that I love. (Also, it’s an excuse to post beautiful pictures of roses.)

I do indeed love, love fragrances in which rose plays a major part, from light and girlish ones all the way through to dark Gothic ones. So many fragrances contain at least a little bit of rose – even if you can’t smell it on its own, it’s there, making everything smell round and full. I’ll admit up front that it is very, very difficult to find a rose fragrance that smells just like a freshly-cut dewy rose, because in order to obtain rose essence, the rose petals have to be treated in some way – from steam distillation to enfleurage (which involves pressing fresh petals in fat), to the modern scientific method called distillation moléculaire – and you always get “cooked” rose, not fresh. I figure if I want fresh roses, I’ll go to the florist.

For rose perfumes, I have a stash! Some of my favorites, starting from the light and girlish end:

Continue reading →

Scent Diary, Feb. 6-12, 2012

Monday, Feb. 6: Errands today. Kids home early from school, due to parent-teacher conferences. Bookworm and Gaze had excellent report cards, and Taz’ was also good in terms of his academic grades. He did receive an “Unsatisfactory” in handwriting, however, and until further notice will be spending half an hour every day practicing writing legibly. Both his older siblings have miserable handwriting too, but at least you can read theirs! My handwriting isn’t all that great, either, but I can remember caring about it looking nice… seems like my kids don’t care at all. Sigh. SOTD: Liz Zorn Centennial, such a nice cozy fuzzy-peachy floral chypre.

Tuesday, Feb. 7: SOTM: various samply things. Worked on the “practice prom dress.” SOTEvening: YSL Paris. I had a miniature dabber bottle, but the plastic stopper split and would no longer seal the bottle, so I wound up decanting it into a glass atomizer. I like Paris. I’ve finally run across that greenish streak in it, where before I only noticed the pastel pink-and-purple rose-violet.

Wednesday, Feb. 8: It snowed just a bit this morning, but nothing stuck. The ground’s too warm. We’re going to get through this winter without any serious snow this year, darn it. I miss snow. I planned to go hit the mall to do some sniffery, so I did not wear any scent this morning. Instead, I did some laundry and wrote a little and reordered running shoes for Gaze, in the correct size this time.

This afternoon I went to Belk and attempted to cadge samples of fragrances, but the sales associates were unwilling to let me make my own. In fact, they sprayed the testers for me. (Must be store policy.) I sampled the following on tester strips: Chance EDT, EDP, and Eau Tendre, Cashmere Mist, Burberry Body, Light Blue, and Justin Bieber Someday. Of course, six hours later I can’t tell the difference between them by smelling the strips. I do remember what I thought of them when they were freshly sprayed. I asked to try Light Blue on my wrist, and then requested Sensuous Nude on the other wrist. That was hideous. It was only later that I realized that the SA had picked up the purple bottle of Sensuous Noir, not the flesh-toned one of Sensuous Nude. I didn’t notice at the time. I also asked for a big spritz of Beautiful on my scarf, to see if the Lauder base bothered me when it wasn’t on skin. Turns out that Beautiful is stunning on my scarf, thus ever-so-slightly reinforcing the idea that there is some strange kind of reaction between the Lauder fragrances and my skin. Continue reading →

Top 20 Bestselling Women’s Fragrances of 2011 in the US, part I of the mini-reviews

I went malling this week! Here’s the first installment of mini-reviews for the Top 20 Bestselling Women’s Fragrances in the US for 2011. (Thanks again for the push, Ari.) All images are from Fragrantica.

Chanel No. 5 – I have a long history of familiarity with No. 5, and reviewed the parfum here. I have been wont to grab a spritz or two from the tester when I breeze through the mall (it’s not often, but that’s a whole ‘nother story). I tried the EdP last summer and was surprised that I did not like it much; there’s an odd plasticky sort of accord in the drydown that seems out of place and just plain wrong. In Perfumes: The Guide, Luca Turin says that the EdP composition contains Polysantol, described as “the oily and prodigiously durable sandalwood drydown of Samsara.” (I didn’t mind Samsara so much, but I do admit that it smelled cheap to me, which I declare to be unforgivable in a Guerlain.) My store doesn’t have a parfum tester, so I make do with the EdT, which is still lovely and instantly identifiable as No. 5. I begin to wonder whether so many people continue to buy it because it is a) Chanel, the epitome of “classy” to so many Americans, b) despite reformulation, still smells mostly like itself, thus c) recognizable. No. 5 still has its furious whirlwind of soapy-whooshy aldehydes, and its golden-glow floral heart of rose, jasmine and ylang. It’s still worth wearing.

Coco Mademoiselle – this, as regular readers might remember, is the other fragrance, besides Dune, that my younger sister has forever banned me from wearing because she’s claimed it as hers. What she hadn’t realized is that her Coco Mlle is safe from me: I don’t like it. I smell it on a lot of women our age (30s and 40s) in this area, and I don’t like it on them, and I sure don’t like it on me. It’s a patchouli bomb on me, with a sharp screechiness to the topnotes and a muddy indistinctness to the floral notes. I wore it every day for about two weeks in 2011, connecting with a character I was writing whose signature scent it was. (Would it surprise you to find that I took an intense dislike to the character and stalled out on writing her story?) Continue reading →

Top 20 Bestselling Fragrances of 2011, or, They do still sell Shalimar here, don’t they?

It’s Ari’s fault. Again. I have jumped on Scents of Self’s Clever Bandwagon to do some reviews of the Best-Selling Fragrances of 2011 in the US (see Victoria’s original post on the matter at Bois de Jasmin).

Top 20 Bestselling Women's Fragrances of 2011 in the US, image from Scents of Self

Ari sees this as an anti-perfume-snobbery move, becoming further acquainted with the bestsellers, lest she suddenly be capable only of buying niche fragrances no one else has never heard of, and which are only available for purchase in person in Belgium on the alternate Wednesday of months ending in R, after one has purchased an option to buy well beforehand, and Lord help you if you leave that option ticket stuck to your fridge with a magnet before you leave the house.

Point well taken. I know that when I look at my favorite favorites, a good number of them are niche and still others are no longer available in the version that I prefer. (vintage Chanel No. 19, in the leathery old EdT, anyone? Discontinued Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur? 1974 Coty Emeraude parfum de toilette?) Hardly any of them are available at my local mall – local, pish, it’s 18 miles from my house and it takes half an hour to drive there.

I don’t think we’re in that much danger of becoming terrible snobs, sneering at Estee Lauder, as we are of overlooking something good at the most mainstream of mainstream perfumery outlets. Will I still love Amouage after this experiment? I’m sure I will. But I also notice that even after wearing Amouage or F. Malle fragrances, Jovan Musk for Women still smells good to me, too. Sure, it’s a little downmarket, like grabbing a burger after spending the week eating chef-cooked meals, but that doesn’t mean the burger can’t be awesome. Besides which, if I only bought Lyric, Memoir, Carnal Flower and Iris Poudre, I’d be broke. (I only have decants, y’all.) Continue reading →

The Muse in Wooden Shoes

Exploring a Scented Life: a blog about perfume, cooking, literature, family