Like This

"If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is, or what "God’s fragrance" means, lean your head toward him or her. Keep your face there close. Like this." Rumi It took me a while to figure out WHAT Like This reminded me of, and after the association came, I loved Tilda Swinton's Etat Libre d'Orange fragrance all the more for it. The perfume reminds me of the smell of home-made "lollipops" of my Soviet childhood, the kind that you make by dissolving sugar in some water and heating the mix in a spoon over a burner on the stove...I invariably burned the "lollipops" a little bit and rather enjoyed the bitter sweetness that resulted from that...The burnt, caramelized feel is my favorite characteristic of Like This. The home-made "lollipop" association might be responsible for the fact that everything about Like This strikes me as touchingly, endearingly child-like...from orange blossom (baby products) to pumpkin (Halloween) to ginger (Christmas) to mandarins (New Year's Eve)...Immortelle, when not in an overdose, has a certain cuddly, fluffy quality and heliotrope is an epitome of tenderness..."It’s an idea that makes me very, very warm and happy," Swinton said about the perfume. And that is an effect it has on me. Because of the delicate spiciness of ginger, slight earthiness of immortelle and vetiver and that burnt effect, there is also something undeniably quirky, slightly off-kilter about Like This...if it were a film about a childhood, it would be by Tim Burton... starring Tilda Swinton, of course... (I also adore the orange color association of the fragrance; from the packaging to the notes, it is a visual joy to this fan of the hue.) I cannot think of a better perfume in which to see off this year. (What will YOU be wearing on New Year's eve?) In fact, this is the first full bottle that I wanted to own in what feels like ages, and, thanks to my Santa, now I do; the first scent I felt "twirly" about (a term borrowed from this wonderful post on a wonderful blog, Notes from Josephine). Happy New Year, everybody! May 2011 take it easy on us and be sweet, exciting and happy. Like This. Image, my very own. :)