Katie,
Today I'm wearing Guerlain's new Idylle and I might as well be wearing Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely. I guess this is one of those modern Guerlains meant for the masses. It's vaguely rosy, vaguely lily-ish, vaguely peony-y (peony-esque?), but mostly it's one of those sweet, light florals with lots of musk and gentle caresses. It's designed to make the wearer feel good. Superficially so, at least. (It told me it liked my new haircut.) It's pretty but oddly common and utilitarian for a Guerlain.
And that's my new perfume review for the day.
Dan
Shooting from the Lip
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Aroma
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Essence and Alchemy
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Also, it's your new haircut review for the day. (Great haircut.)
ReplyDeleteHa-ha, a b. I hope to have a new haircut review up soon, myself!
ReplyDeleteDan, This vaguely sounds like something I would like. While your review was lukewarm at best, the faint praise you gave it is enough for me to trot down to Sephora and hope for a sample. While feeling vaguely resentful as being lumped in with the masses, any opportunity to feel good is hard to pass up. I think feeling vaguely good is about all I can handle right now!
ReplyDeleteScentsofSmell, as for being lumped in with the masses, sometimes the masses are onto something. "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong", and all that.
ReplyDeleteFeeling vaguely good is perfectly fine, ScentsofSmell. And so is Idylle. Every perfume doesn't need to touch our souls. (If they did, we'd all be exhausted.) Though from now on, all sweet and musky perfumes like this should be forced to use "Sara Jessica Parker" in their names: Sara Jessica Parker Lovely; Sara Jessica Parker Flower; Sara Jessica Parker Idylle. It's only fair.
ReplyDeleteLet us know what you think of Idylle after your Sephora trip.
Ha-ha, "Sarah Jessica Parker Sinner by Kat Von D"!
ReplyDeleteI like this game.
If only there was an emoticon for tongue planted firmly in cheek! But seriously, I think this might be a nice fragrance to try and will dutifully report back!
ReplyDeleteI tried it and I liked it. At the beginning, it's like you said, a very fresh floral, with a lot of fresia that seems to be marketed for the Twilight fans (remember? Edward says Bella smells like fresia). But after a couple of hours it reveals a fair complexity, an animalic, beautiful base that reminds me of the old, unfogettable Guerlains.
ReplyDeleteIt's like starting to talk to a Twilight teenage fan and finding out that she's read also Dostoievsky. And can tell the difference. An unexpected depht, all of a sudden.
Elena, my favorite thing about the "Twilight" phenomenon is the emphasis the story places on sexy vampires' sense of smell. If the follow-through is that teenage fans are running around trying to familiarize themselves with vamp-luring notes, then they're on the road to full nose-consciousness. And that means future fumeheads to join our smelling party.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what aromas the Brothers Karamazov find appealing?
Your description of Idylle is compelling me to give it a go. Thanks for that!
Kate, your comment about what aromas the Brothers Karamazov would like made me wonder - what DID the ladies of that time like to wear? I did a little (very little) research and found this fragrance. It is called Krasnaya Moskva (Red Moscow or Moscow Rouge) and was created for the Russian Empress by a well know French perfumer in 1913. The notes are described as floral, with Bergamot, ylang-ylang, rose, jasmin, iris, vanilla beans. It is described as "warm". And the concept of the fragrance is "interesting", if enigmatic: alive communication of times.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting the Brothers to be of a time of dark, heavy perfume, like incense, woods, moss and patchouli and whatever is in Elizabeth Taylor's Passion. I wore that one years ago and it is overpowering, but good after many hours.
Anyway, it is interesting to me how the same notes can be reinterpreted over the centuries and made new and fresh.
SoS, you're touching on one of my favorite daydreaming topics: what perfumes did famous olden-days folk wear? For instance, it's fascinating to learn that Casanova found heavy musks nasty, and preferred a light, fresh (and at the time, avant-garde) cologne.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to hear about Krasnaya Moskva, and the "brief" behind it. The history of perfume is a sliproad alongside the freeway of the times, and can provide so many humanizing insights.
Agreed - fascinating topic. I've always been intrigued that Creed Tabarome was created for Winston Churchill and became a favorite of Humphrey Bogart. Given the Churchill origins, you would think it more appropriate to Sydney Greenstreet...but I digress.
ReplyDeleteDan, thanks for the Idylle review. Now this weekend I will be sampling it along with the new L'Occitane Labdanum de Seville.
Have a fumey Friday!
BooRad, if you can smell Bogart, Churchill or Casanova (through their preferred fragrance), it's almost like you're standing right next to them! It's olfactory time travel!
ReplyDeleteI too am keen to try the new Labdanum de Seville - want to work up a L'Occitane review.