Holiday Fragrance Picks 2011


I'm hosting a fragrance event at Scent Bar, and you're all invited! And by "event" I mean "Katie lolling around Scent Bar like an unrepentant barfly, knocking back greedy whiffs of too many perfumes, and hashing out the possibilities inherent in each and every bottle with her fellow barflies." So yes, an event! I would be tickled the most delicious shade of hot pink if you'll join me at my happy place for an afternoon of sniffing and chatting. Scent Bar Master of Ceremonies Steve will be keeping the party percolating with bubbly drinks and crunchy comestibles.

The wingding is 1-4pm this Sunday, December 11th at Scent Bar, 8327 Beverly Bl, Los Angeles 90048

I'm really looking forward to meeting as many of you passionate fragrance fiends as can fit in Scent Bar's bijou digs -- please stop in and say hi, and let's go on a smelling spree together!

For those of you who can't hop in a transporter beam and speed-of-light yourself to LA, I've poured over Scent Bar's inspiring selection and come up with my picks for the festive season:

Cuddly but predatory: Parfumerie Generale L'Ombre Fauve

The furry-powdery scent of Kitty Tummy in the Face. An amber with claws.



A non-ecclesiastical incense that sings of sap and moss and myrrh. Smells like enhanced nature.



The uplifting smell-scape of an orange grove at the seashore. A holiday on your own private Mediterranean island.


Comfortable in his skin: biehl parfumkunstwerke gs02

This fresh, herbal, almost hempy scent turns a corner and warms up into soft leather. Subtle enough that you can take all the credit for smelling so good.


Boldly romantic: By Kilian Beyond Love

Tuberose times ten: buttery, enfolding, muggy and alive.


Disturbing allure: Nasomatto China White

The smell of sweet ash and shattered porcelain, warm thighs and cold incense, dry rose and rooty vetiver. An irresistible transition from aloof to intimate.



Dry iris and suede gently candied up by apple and nutty Turkish delight. A grown-up gourmand.



A soft-focus leathery floral via carrots and ginger. Mellow and friendly.



One sniff begs the question: am I smelling this, eating this, or doing this? Saffron, rose, vanilla and sandalwood intertwine in deeply satisfying sensuousness.


Approachable mystery: Van Cleef & Arpels Bois d'Iris

Smoky driftwood and a spicy sweetness turn this iris into a smooth operator.

23 comments:

  1. This sounds like so much fun! For those of us in San Framcisco, I think we need our own event...maybe with penpal Dan.

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  2. Dear Katie Puckrik -

    I wish I could be there with you tomorrow and go nutso with the scent strips. But, gadfly, you live on the West Coast. Why can't you ever come out to Boston or even NYC? I could buy you a bagel or something. Wouldn't that be nice - a hot, fresh bagel?

    Sincerely, Stefush

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  3. brookesfca, Dan was just joking to me that he could hold an event at his loft, because he has enough perfume to keep a crowd entertained for hours.


    Stefush, you'll be the one poppy seed missing from the Scent Bar bagel. It'll taste great, but not as perfect as it could if you could've been there.

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  4. Lemme know when you come to the Big Apple! Such fun!

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  5. wish you would get yourself down to australia!

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  6. NYC, Australia...I like how my hypothetical world tour is shaping up!

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  7. Hi Katie, how are you. I want to buy a tuberose perfume, do you think By Kilian Beyond Love is a good pick and why.

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  8. Beyond Love smells so rich and full and joyful, without leaning towards the menthol angle of some tuberose interpretations that can be challenging. It's deep but accessible, without going to that sweet candy side that Fracas leans towards. For what it's worth, Luca Turin considers it the truest tuberose around. My other fave tuberose is Carnal Flower, which has a greener, more jasminey aspect.

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  9. Im in LOVE with Bois d'Argent by Christian Dior....and the woman that was wearing it hahaha.

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  10. I have tried neither Beyond Love nor Carnal Flower yet, but I have some favourite tuberose-based scents - Diptyque's Do Son, which is about the lightest play on this flower I've ever smelt, CD's original Poison, on the other extreme end of the spectrum, juxtaposing tuberose with plum & damascones.

    There's rubbery mentholated Tubereuse Criminelle and tuberose-white flowers-musk scent howitzer Chloe from the '70s.

    I wonder how the above two stack up against these.

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  11. Oh,and not forgetting Cartier's Panthere,which smells like a direct knock-off of Poison.

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  12. Bummer! I haven't check your site in a couple of days and did the Holy Trinity on Sunday (you know, Barneys, Saks and NM). Sorry I didn't make it!

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  13. DomPerrier, you will be sighing with perfume pleasure when you finally do make the acquaintance of Carnal Flower and Beyond Love. They're the Goldilocks "just right" renditions of tuberose: not too sweet, not too menthol-y, not too rubbery, not too sinus-clearning, not too tropical. Bigger than Do Son, and more of a soliflore idea than Chloe or Poison.

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  14. Aww, sorry to have missed you, Kym! It was fun being a perfume whisperer. The shop got cleared out of its supply of Safran Troublant.

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  15. Parker, funny you should mention Bois d'Argent - I'm gearing up to include it in a round up of "Winter Woodyland" scents.

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  16. That is the best description of Safran Troublant (a scent I like on me and adore on my husband) I have ever read. Just perfect.

    I trust you know that you are a fashion as well as scent guru (inevitable hazard of wearing so many cute dresses on video). Luckyscent posted some photos on facebook of this event; please tell me more about that dreamy sequined jacket you were wearing!

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  17. elizabeth, thanks indeed. I got everyone jazzed on ST at this event. The intel on the sequin cardigan is that it's a J Crew number from last winter. It's a cotton jersey thing, so very soft to wear.

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  18. that j.crew really can do comfortable sequins right. it's dangerous, though, as every year around this time i find myself shopping as though i attend some school with a strict sequins-only dress code. something about all the twinkly lights just makes me want to coat myself in sparkle.

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  19. I think I attend the same academy: The Liza Minnelli Finishing School for Girls.

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  20. Darling you come to Australia and spread some scented sumptuosness. Your you tube channel is the most to say the least and the fact that you adore Shalimar as much as I do seals the deal. Come down under it'll be bigger than Oprah's visit!!
    Keep spritzing doll x x

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  21. L'Ombre Fauve and Safran Troublant are two major winter loves of mine, and you have reminded me to get out my gs02 sample and have another play. I didn't quite know what to make of it first time. Couldn't work out what I was smelling, even, so it got tossed in the puzzling cipher bag (okay, the general bag of purgatory...I lied).

    Now I don't suppose you would notice this in LA, but in chilly Britain my sample of L'Ombre Fauve keeps solidifying! Though it thaws out at room temperature again all right. It is the only perfume I have ever seen do that, and would love to know why.

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  22. Ooh, weird about the solidifying L'Ombre Fauve, Vanessa! I'd want to know why, too. Why don't you write to PG and find out?

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