Blame it on the Scent Twin, Part Eleventy-Three: Guerlain Sous le Vent

By Tom Well, blame it on her and a good friend with a great job who gave me a thumping gift certificate... She is the person who introduced me to it on a trip back East when we traipsed all over the East Side sniffing things. I loved it at the time (amongst others) but was going through a period of voluntary austerity (as opposed to involuntary, my seemingly default setting, but I digress. Or I whine.). As she wrote in Her 2009 post this stuff is fierce.. On me it starts with a super-bright green opening that goes to a marching band of lavender and carnation before settling into a spicy iris and oakmoss. It was meant to evoke the divine Josephine Baker, the first American-born woman to be awarded the Croix de Guerre (for her work against the Axis), entertainer, international sex-symbol, tireless worker for the cause of racial equality and loving mother of 12 adopted children, her multi-ethnic "Rainbow Tribe". I don't know it any scent could possibly capture the woman, but this certainly would be the closest. Nothing too literal (thank goodness no banana leaf), just a scent that sparkles like champagne, winks at the notion of the "jungle" with the green and finally tweaks the 20's notion of the "Créole Goddess" by showing you the sexy, suave yet supremely ladylike woody oakmoss drydown. Reading this you would think that it could be smelled from space: it is actually quite close in (as far as I can tell; I've worn it to work) and short of spraying it directly on clothing I don't think you'll be throwing off a lot of scent. But that fits: Josephine Baker in addition to being an artist, an icon, a hero and a cultural touchstone was above all a lady. Of course if you do spritz with abandon, prepare to be followed.. Sous le Vent is $305 for 125ML at Bergdorf Goodman and selected Saks Fifth Avenue. My review is based upon my bottle. Thank you Bitsy.