smellbound

do you know what's amazing? when i cracked open the jun/01 issue of H&G (mentioned in my last post) i could still smell the perfume from one of the fragrance advertisements. this is nine years later, mind you. what exactly do they put in that stuff? this led me to think about my recent search for a "signature scent". i have never worn perfume, but felt the need to find one - mostly for nostalgic reasons. i like the idea that one day my children would perhaps catch a hint of something in their day-to-day travels and think "that's mom" (fondly & lovingly with faraway look in their eye, of course). and also because my husband, el jeffe, seems to always to go crazy whenever t-brain wears some. 

so where to begin?
 my good friend erin (who definitely needs to pursue a career in becoming un nez) directed me towards barney's and le labo, where each perfume is built around a primary natural essence and is made-to-order right at the counter. my favorite was patchouli 24, but it wasn't quite perfect. 

i then went to jo malone  and tried the dark amber & ginger lily - which surprisingly i loved (i almost wanted to eat it). well, no sir. it's a limited edition fragrance and i need my signature scent to be 
forever.

my hunt then led me to tom ford. oh, tom ford...i love the champaca absolute & love, love the neroli portofino (it's the sunshine of the italian coast in a bottle) but el jeffe wasn't impressed. the jasmine musk reminds me of my grandmother - the beautiful and sorely-missed phyllis prout (who i think wore shalimar), but it just wasn't me. and then i tried what i knew would be my favorite (and it was) -- velvet gardenia. notes for this fragrance are listed as: ripened black gardenia and orange, in a heart of jasmine, rose and muguet, tuberose blending with dark plum, 
honey and beeswax
 finishing with incense  and labdanum. 
perfect. 
el jeffe thought it was me in a perfume. 
i thought i was done. 
oh why, tom ford did you discontinue it?

but...there's hope. 
i may have found my next perfumer:

photo via the new york times

dominique dubrana (his nom de parfum is abdessalaam attar) of la via del profumo. according to the recent new york times' article he is "a grand eccentric and a genius of sorts" (kind of like erin). i'm extremely intrigued by the names and descriptions of his all-natural-made-by-hand perfumes - i mean, how could you not be? here he describes his night blossom:  

"this olfactory jewel 

(the tuberose is the most precious of floral essences) is set in a thick, tropical night, smelling of humid underwood and strewn with scent traces of 

freshly trodden grass." 

i especially love the warning he gives: "refrain from wearing night blossom in your office. it's power to stimulate the pituitary gland (that produces endorphin) might be perceived by the surrounding people as a real aggression."

 i think i found 

my signature 

scent.