Looking for the Moon

In my obsession to find a signature scent, I have been lurking, or stalking Ebay for deals on yummy perfumes. I have already scored about 3 small bottles of pure Diorissimo, the siren fragrance that pulled me into this torrid affair. Diorissimo, even in EDT form, is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. It is how perfumes are supposed to smell. Diorissimo is all about the Lily of the Valley, which is associated with the month of my birth and Mother's Day.

Another Dior I am waiting for, but tried a tester for was EAU SAUVAGE Eau De Toilette. This citrus chypre, and has notes of lemon, rosemary, petitgrain, basil, jasmine, rose, iris, oakmoss, vetiver, and musk. It is designed for men, but since its birth on the year of my birth, 1966, women have been wearing it as well. It is very Summery for me and very sexy. It is like borrowing your man's big shirt. Another scent I am waiting for from the house of Dior is a vintage Miss Dior. Yesterday, I received J'Adore L'Absolu a newer scent from Dior. L'Absolu is a more floral version of the popular J'Adore. This scent is very pretty and work appropriate as it is a very gentle floral even in EDP form.

L' Instant from Guerlain got the most immediate response by my hubby for it's vanilla note along with the honey florals. It is a comforting scent and gives me the feeling that Guerlain will be a house I will explore more deeply. I am still awaiting an EDT of Mitsouko that I bid on by mistake and hope that it will be a way into this magnetic fragrance that I despirately want to experience in the EDP pre-formulation state. It still stings losing a bid on a collection of 7 Guerlains to a snipe. Those 7 are on my wishlist: SAMSARA (1989)- spiritual, serene-inspired by a woman whose inner beauty captivated its creator. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain, MITSUOKO (1919)-mysterious, assertive--dedicated to the elusive heroine in "Madame Butterfly". Created by Jacques Guerlain, EAU DE COLOGNE IMPERIALE (1853)-fresh, invigorating--commissioned for Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain, SHALIMAR (1925)--sensuous, seductive--inspired by the love of an Indian Emperor for his cherished wife. Created by Jacques Guerlain, EAU DE GUERLAIN ( 1974 ) -- Vibrant, Inviting. Inspired by the sun - kissed region of Provence, France. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain, Jardins de Bagatelle ( 1983 ) -- Festival of White Flowers. This carefree celebration of sunlight and happiness evokes the joy of a lover's rendezvous in a moonlit garden. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain,
CHAMADE (1969)--feminine, assured--translated as "The wild beating of the heart". Inspired by a womans confident nature. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain.

My way of dealing with the pain was to get a bottle of Chamade by Guerlain.

There is a real anticipation for Arpege from Lanvin. I got a vintage 1.5 oz bottle of this scent that is considered a classic scent in honor of mother and child. Could Arpege be my signature scent? We will see.

Another highly rated fragrance that I ordered is FRACAS by ROBERT PIGUET . Hopefully, it will do well with my body chemistry. A test today on my hand seems promising as I cannot stop sniffing the hand. It is an 1948 fragrance that is an evening scent to be applied judiciously. It's main note is tuberose, a scent that is considered to be narcotic and aphrodisiacal (That's what I'm talking about!). It is indicated for impotency and frigidity and to induce relaxation. Woohoo!

Only one perfume is left in bidding mode: LE NARCISSE NOIR Vintage Mini Perfume Tester CARON. Le Narcisse Noir is another evening scent that was worn by one of my favorite writers, Anais Nin.

"He left me at the gare St. Lazare last night. I began to write in the train to balance the seven-leagued boot jumping out of my life with the ant like activity of the pen. The ant words rushed back and forth carrying crumbs: such heavy crumbs. Bigger than ants.
'Have you enough heliotrope ink.", Henry asked.
I should not be using ink but perfume. I should be writing with Narcisse Noir, with Mitsouko, with jasmine, with honeysuckle. I could write beautiful words that would exhale the potent smell of women's honey and men's white blood." - Anais Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin, vol. 1 1931-1934

Christian Dior, Guerlain, Lanvin, Caron, and Robert Piguet are a good start.

Fragrance Fetish Unleashed!

In my 20's I discovered Lancome's Tresor (1956) from a friend of mine in college. To me then the pink liquid was bohemian romance in a bottle, but I was not very knowledgeable about scents. In the mid-90s, I picked up another Lancome, Poeme (1995), which seemed more warmer and spicier. It was the end of the 1990s that I picked up Lancome's Oui (1999), which was a more fruitier and fun offering. The 2000s, I held off on fragrances as I went back to school, worked at home, and became a mother. When I look back, I am afraid I may have overused these fragrances and I apologize.

Since I have been back to working outside of the home, I have found myself in a fragrance-friendly workplace. Our employer bought a Sephora fragrance sampler for a co-worker, which brought three of us women to the store to try on scents. It awoke something in me, but I was fully pushed over into obsession when my employer shared a spritz of Diorissimo Parfum. Oh, my. Since you cannot get Diorissimo at Sephora, I tried Dior L'Adore and found it delightful on me as well. There are samples of Vera Wang by Vera Wang (nice), Magical Moon by Hanae Mori (little too strong -- need to try it but pull back on the amount I dab on), Bvlgari by Bvlgari, and somewhere I have Marc Jacobs Daisy.

My nose has put me in a disadvantage as I cannot smell very well unless it is on my skin. The parfum needs to cook on my skin for me to judge if it will work. Since I have only used EDT versions of fragrances, I need to get used to applying sparingly the parfum (not hard when the pocket book only allows small bottles).

The Internet has been a great source for getting up to speed on fragrances. I am on the trail of Mitsouko by Guerlain before it was re-formulated to replace the oak moss. The intense descriptions of this 1919 fragrance intrigues me. Dior's Eau Savage is on my list to get even though it is a men's fragrance. This fragrance would round out my collection with a citrus-green that was born on the same year I was -- 1966 (another source has it 1956). My surname de plume was Savage once and it is a good choice for Summer so it is naturally on the list. In looking around, I found a limited edition version of Dior J'Adore L'Absolu, which is supposed to be an improvement on J'Adore and an alternative to buying an ultra-popular scent.

So on the way is a bottle of Christain Dior J'Adore L'Absolu and a bottle of pure parfum of Diorissimo. On Ebay, I am bidding on a Lot of (5) Guerlain Mini Parfumes. The five are Shalimar, Champs Elysees, Samsara, Mitsouko and Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune. Each bottle is full and holds .17 fl. oz. except for the Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune which holds .25 fl. oz. Another lot is SHALIMAR PARFUM - 0.17 FL OZ 5 ML, SHALIMAR EAU DE TOILETTE NATURAL SPRAY - 0.5 FL OZ 5ML, SAMSARA EAU DE TOILETTE - 0.17 FL OZ 5ML, CHAMPS-ELYSEES EAU DE TOILETTE 0.17 FL OZ 5ML, MITSOUKO EAU DE TOILETTE - 0.17 FL OZ 5ML. I am also bidding on a Mitsouko By Guerlain Women EDT Spray NIB 1.0 oz RARE. Among the 3 bottles of Mitsouko I am hoping to find the holy grail of pre-reformulated bliss everyone is talking about.

[Lost the first group of mini-bottles by 50 cents! doh!

With any luck, I will have three Diors and some Guerlain to add to three Lancomes. Will I be wearing the Lancome fragrances? They are Eau de Toilette, so you get more alcohol than what you would get in a parfum. The Eau Savage is EDT, so I guess I won't be completely abandoning EDT. I guess I will rotate them and see if they stand up to the Diors and hopefully the Guerlain.

My fragrance fetish may not be the most healthy vice, but as I am giving up the last of my vices for a diet -- I need something to replace them. Spare amounts per day shouldn't be a problem and if it is oh heck, it makes me happy and it appeals to my nostalgic nature. It makes me feel more optimistic, feminine, and finished. Parfum is just another layer of clothing. Parfum is like having a piece of finely crafted chocolate, silk stockings and lingerie, and a shot of really good liquor in a vintage apartment in Paris reading Anais Nin's diary.

My current obsession connects me to my great, great grandmother, Salome who would get the latest perfumes and fashions from Paris back in the late 1800s and early 20th century. Her sister, Mary Jane, who was married to the famous photographer, William Rulofson would go to Paris and bring back these fragrances and clothes. Salome was a down-to-earth woman who loved to ride horses, but always smelt wonderful.

Speaking of smelling wonderful, I tried L'INSTANT DE GUERLAIN EAU PARFUM, and it is very dreamy with its honey, magnolias, and amber. Some say it is heavy for Summer, but just smells wonderful on the skin to wait for cooler weather. Dabbing a little from the sampler on my wrists, I walked in the room and my hubby commented how nice it smelled.

So, Guerlain works for my chemistry so I am hoping to get the following in my collection:

1. SAMSARA (1989)- spiritual, serene-inspired by a woman whose inner beauty captivated its creator. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain
2. MITSUOKO (1919)-mysterious, assertive--dedicated to the elusive heroine in "Madame Butterfly". Created by Jacques Guerlain
   
3. EAU DE COLOGNE IMPERIALE (1853)-fresh, invigorating--commissioned for Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain
   
4. SHALIMAR (1925)--sensuous, seductive--inspired by the love of an Indian Emperor for his cherished wife. Created by Jacques Guerlain
   
5. EAU DE GUERLAIN ( 1974 ) -- Vibrant, Inviting. Inspired by the sun - kissed region of Provence, France. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain
   
6. Jardins de Bagatelle ( 1983 ) -- Festival of White Flowers. This carefree celebration of sunlight and happiness evokes the joy of a lover's rendezvous in a moonlit garden. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain
   
7. CHAMADE (1969)--feminine, assured--translated as "The wild beating of the heart". Inspired by a womans confident nature. Created by Jean - Paul Guerlain.