Winter Favorites

By Tom Winter is a great time of year for me. Mainly since in the Los Angeles area of California the temps are usually fairly gentle in the day and the worst we get at night will be in the high 30's. (The downside of that is that most buildings here aren't very well insulated, so you're going to have to have quite a few blankets on hand..) One of those "blankets" can be scents. Wearing some of the ones that I really like in Winter in Summer would feel like wearing a down coat and boots. I'm just going to list three, off the top of my head: Rahat Loukoum: Cherries, almonds and musk. Gorgeous, and gorgeous on, but would feel like drowning if I wore it outside in August. Back in the day I wrote: " It opens with a hit of bright, boozy cherries that remind me of (oh god, here he comes with the stories again...) my first job after college. I worked at Dean and Deluca in New York, and one of the things we sold were incredibly boozy fruits in, well, booze. Raspberries in framboise and cherries in cherry marnier. The opening of Rahat Loukoum smells exactly what it smelled like taking the cork out of the wide mouth of that big 8 quart jar. Rich cherries, almond and spikey booze."Yup, and still gorgeous. Available in the US via Barney's on Madison Ave and the Serge Lutens website in the bell jar for $300. Le Labo Patchouli 24: Tarry, smoky, leathery and wholly delightful, this is one that I'd still do on a summer evening when the temps drop, but just the barest touch. I wrote back in the day: "As Le Labo states 'patchouli is not easy to detect in this formula'. That's an understatement. Patchouli is almost nowhere to be detected in this one. I'd be seriously upset by this, but what is there is so wonderful, I don't much care. The patchouli is in fact there, but it's very dry and somewhat dusty, like ancient leaves of the plant combined with sweet smoky birch and bone-dry leather. I only get the merest hint of the vanilla that Colombina gets, which is fine with me." Available at Le Labo's website, Luckyscent, and most Barney's now at various sizes and prices (I love that they will do a beensy baby-sized one that's affordable) Parfumerie Generale Musc Maori: I'd better like this one, we named is one of our top winter scents of a few of years ago. I first smelled it on a trip to LuckyScent with my Scent Twin (an experience I hope to repeat very soon). I subsequently wrote: "It's a divine comfort scent with an edge: scalded cream over dark, coffee infused chocolate with a generous helping of white musk in the drydown. Like Daniel Craig bringing you a nice steaming cup after he.. you get the picture. Gaia recommended it as one that always gets compliments.." Divine, yes, but on a hot summer day cream tends to curdle on me and if even Daniel Craig tried to touch when the temps hit the triple digits I'd brain him with the nearest lamp. $100 for 50ml at Luckyscent. So, Tonstant Weader, what are your favorites in winter? Let us know in the comments, and feel free to discuss! Image: Wikipedia