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Monthly Musings: Tu Quoque, June 2017
June seems so far away. I have been slack, and it’s almost time to publish a July musings too. I am too tired to expound on meta-topics here today, despite having a lot of ideas. Such writing tasks are arduous; monumental challenges of translation from idea and concept to a…
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On Rose: Six Roses to Know
Taste is not static! Would you believe that I once found rose fragrances unappealing? I can’t either. Rose is now one of my most highly worn notes, and I am captured by its ability of metamorphosis between compositions. Here are six rose fragrances (of the many other roses) that I frequent…
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A Treatise on (Soft) Orientals: Chinoiserie – From Opium to Coco
A blog reader put me to task for not connecting Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium and the idea of spice in my most recent treatise on spices. How could I be so foolish? Until recently, Soft(er) Orientals have always seemed like a half-baked idea to me. Yet an inclination for extremity and…
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Swiss Meringue: L’Eau by Tauer
Tauer’s L’Eau is a beautiful meringue. It feels plump and full in a way citrus shouldn’t. Thank lemon blossom – an exceptionally soft and quite palpable note that delivers a distinctively tart note of lemon zest merged with a powdery, ethereal floralcy. Like many L’Eau’s before it, Tauer’s take is…
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Sceptical: Superstitious for Frederic Malle
Let’s look beyond the narrative Malle and Elbaz set out – I am incredulous, forever sceptical, and am not willing to accept it at first glance. My suspicion may be wrong (of course), but launching Superstitious seemed to be the next logical move for the Frederic Malle brand, injecting a…
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Monthly Musings: Advice for the Young at Heart, May 2017
This month I will be expounding (in a quick flurry) a number of ideas I’ve had fermenting away in my head these few months. Appeals to Authority. Is there any good reason to accept the judgments and musings of a brilliant scent-scientist over the everyday bystander who wears a dribble…
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Le Parfum de Therese for Frederic Malle
My quest for the objective in no way undermines the subjective experience. I have always admired Le Parfum de Therese, capturing the fiercely strong style of Edmond Roudnitska and demonstrating it with the utmost amplification and clarity. Every other Roudnitska work in reference to Therese never quite captures the same…
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On Vetiver: Vétiver Oriental by Serge Lutens
I have never actually liked vetiver-centric perfumes. This is a subjective fault I am happy to admit, and in fact, it is something that I should admit to. Readers would know that I place Malle’s Vetiver Extraordinaire, L’Artisan’s Timbuktu, and Chanel’s Sycomore in particularly high regard. Readers would also know that…
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Mille Feux, Matière Noire, and Dans la Peau by Louis Vuitton
I finally made my way to the Louis Vuitton boutique here in Melbourne. It’s not that I don’t have the opportunity to, for I walk past it on a weekly basis – I just don’t ever need to make my way inside. I rely on Longchamp for my bags, which to…
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Monthly Musings: How to Smell – The Polygonal Approach, April 2017
Allow me to begin with an apology, for excuses are less tenable – I have had little time to draft anything scent related. The weather has changed quite drastically here in Melbourne. It is cold. And I am enjoying the cyclical process of rediscovery. Rediscovery as a wearer is one…
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Olfactics 