Spring Fling

By Tom Spring for me is always a period of joy. After months of cold, drab weather (yes, even in Los Angeles, where it's raining as I type this) spring will, well, spring. Growing up in New England that meant that practically overnight the maple trees that ringed my parents house would burst into full leaf, the lawn went from greyish brown to almost cartoonish emerald, lilacs exploded into showy purple or white blooms and crocuses seemingly shot up before your eyes like time-lapse photography. Winter clothes could cautiously be abandoned, and my bicycle could come out of the garage. People say there are no seasons in Los Angeles. They're wrong of course. We have winter and it has definite stages. The deciduous trees here lose their leaves in Winter: there are Maples planted on Alden Drive not far from my place that put on a 3 block mini-show for us with bright orange leaves, Right around now they're awaiting the day they burst into full leaf. We don't have lilac, but the Jacaranda trees on Oakhurst and Palm Drives and the Magnolias on Beverly will do nicely, thanks, even if there's no smell. That comes with the jasmine. But for me Lily of the Valley is the ultimate scent of spring. At my parents it was a sigh that spring was well and truly here. Now, since it doesn't grow where I live (that I know of) I have to buy it in a bottle. The one that I'm most reaching for is Comme des Garçons Series 1: Leaves, Lily. It's lovely straightforward lily, with hints of freesia and lilac leaves that reminds me of those New England springs years ago. At the time I reviewed it last year I was told that it might be going away. I'm glad to report that it's still in stock at LuckyScent, so I can continue to have this Technicolor simulacrum of my youth on hand. Image, New England Spring by Robert Harrington, is from fineartamerica.com.

Pencil Pusher: Wonderwood by Comme des Garçons

By Tom This past Saturday ScentBar had a little gathering to try three new Amouage scents that will be out in August. I came, I smelled, I went to LAX to pick up the godchild. As I've reacted to all of this line so far, I like them- they're obviously made of quality ingredients. If the prices were about 30% less I'd most likely sing the praises. But $325 for 100ML of a lesser concentration makes me say "Tennis, anyone?" I suppose if I was in a higher income bracket (or just was not cheap) I'd feel differently. What was there that caught my fancy was the new Comme des Garçons, called Wonderwood. It's written of as "wood gone wild". I'm not sure that "wild" is the word for it, but it's certainly "all wood, all the time". It's guaiac, cedar, and sandalwood with just enough incense to put a toasted burn on it. It has a touch of Faber No. 2 to it, but then you wouldn't expect a Comme des Garçons to be delivered without a definite wink, would you? Luckily the peppery bergamot in the opening and the cashmeran and oud in the drydown make that wink a decidedly sly one. Best part? $95 for 50ML and $125 for 100 At places that sell CdeG. I asked for a sample at ScentBar.

This 'N That: Strange Invisible Perfumes Essence of IX, Comme des Garçons Series 1: Leaves Lily

By Tom This weekend I was out and about with no-one to play with. So what did I do? I sniffed perfume, naturally. That and I looked at the iPad. Saturday was a trip to Venice to try the new SIP, Essence of IX. It's a lovely thing that opens with bright blackberries and rose that's inspired by a napa winery. Sadly it sort of died on me, but I'm not sure that isn't the fault of the testers being EdP spray strength while the actual product is pure perfume. But since they didn't have testers of the actual strength (nor did they have samples or offer to make one) I can only judge by the spritz on my wrist. Well, that's money towards my car insurance. Easter Sunday was a trip to the Grove to take a look at the iPad. If you wish you can read more about that at my blog since I ramble enough here.. Scentbar was open on that Easter Sunday so I stopped in. I had a lovely conversation with the nice young man about various things and he told me that he had heard that the Leaves series of Comme des Garçons most likely was going away. Since I had never bought a bottle of Lily and there was one left in the store I felt I had to: Lily of the Valley is one of my all time favorite smells, and this one is a literal take on my childhood memories of it. It grew wild in patches in the shade of the Maple trees ringing my New England childhood home- trees that were at the time very old and whose shade made sure that our house was always about 20 degrees cooler on a hot summer day and provided a riot of color in fall (as well as endless raking..). It was such a lovely scent that for the few weeks they bloomed we would mow around them. Comme des Garçons take on it adds in the grass clippings and a fair bit of soil. It's almost exactly like laying in that new mown lawn in that dappled shade, or at least my memory of it more than a quarter century old. At $82 dollars (and the last one in the store) I bought. Later having coffee I did feel the earthquake in Baja and it was a reminder to keep vigilant. Coincidentally, it's earthquake preparedness month in Beverly Hills, and there's an emergency preparedness list at the city website. While all of you don't live where there might be a quake, it's actually a pretty good idea to keep some of this on hand if you live in an area that floods or snows or tornadoes or hurricanes. In other words, everywhere Essence of IX is available at their $320 for .25 oz. Lily is still listed as available at Luckyscent.

Comme des Garçons Dover Street Market

By Tom First: The winners of the Calvin Klein draw are Marko and Diana. Please use the "Contact Us" button so I can pass your info to the nice people at CK. Now, to the review. Comme des Garçons is a house that I really love. They are fearless about putting out scents that define their brand, even if they can range from pretty odd, to kind of strange. Dover Street Market was created to celebrate their store in the Piccadilly section of London. I've never been there so I can't say whether it's an accurate scent portrayal of the area, but I can write that it's a winner; it's very wearable with a soupçon of C de G oddness to keep things interesting. It starts with very peppery bergamot and mandarin, then veers from woody to incense back to citrus to pine. According to the designer Rae Kawakubo, he wanted to create an atmosphere of "beautiful chaos". I think that's the best way to describe it. Even better is the price: $90 for 100ML, at LuckyScent (who I asked for the sample) and the C de G Dover Street Market website

Comme des Garcons 2: Perfume Review

If I were to come up with perfumes to represent times of the day, Comme des Garcons 2 would be Morning. The pleasantly sharp floral-inky-rooty top accord is a wake up call after which the fragrance settles into a softer, cuddlier feel of a leisurely Sunday AM. Having given a nod to the de rigeur Comme des Garcons quirkiness (ink + aldehydes + incense do create an at once familiar and alien accord, one that is as odd as it is oddly attractive), the scent relaxes into what I personally consider to be quiet comfort. A tea note gives the scent a cozy, "domestic" feel, the balsamic sweetness of labdanum, magnolia, woods and patchoui makes it pleasantly fluffy...this is a scent to wear when snuggling under a blanket with someone you like a whole lot... wearing his t-shirt...sharing New York Times and bagels with cream cheese... To cuminophobs and fellow cuminophiliacs I have to report that the note is present but delicate...like a hint of sensuality in that idyllic NYC morning together. CdG 2 can be found at luckyscent, $100.00 for 50ml.

Comme des Garcons 2 Man: Perfume Review

Comme des Garcons 2 Man does not make a perfect gift for a male who always has to be No. 1. Especially the kind that is prone to paranoia reading too much into things. Because he will ask you as if jokingly, so I am Second, am I? And then you will have to explain at length how it is a masculine follow-up to Comme des Garcons 2, and thus 2 MAN, how its incense, spice and leather blend is a perfect match to his tastes and brooding personality, and how he is, of course, your absolute, total, utter No. 1 in each and every way. Just trust me on this and do not give 2 Man to a Type A Personality individual. Give him I Am King instead. In fact, disregard the fact that 2 Man, with its trademark Mark Buxton resinous darkness, with its spicy sensuality, with its very-bad-boy vibe, smells amazing on that débile of yours, more amazing maybe than even Gucci Pour Homme (and that is saying a lot!)...so amazing that it makes your knees week...disregard that and take away the bottle and use it yourself. Because as gorgeously masculine and forceful 2 Man is, it is absolutely wearable for a woman. The sweet piquancy of saffron and nutmeg is delectable here; the spices are a ray of golden light in the pitch-black abyss of leather and incense. That smoky leather, powerful as it seems at first, actually melts into the skin, becomes the skin...it might quite easily be the sexiest accord in all masculine perfumery. Forget what I said about taking the bottle away. SHARE 2 Man with the No. 1 Man in your life. Sharing perfume is a sensual experience and brings you closer together. On that Dr. Phil-worthy note...look for 2 Man at Luckyscent, $95.00-$125.00. Image source, lundlund.com.

Comme des Garcons Series 6: Synthetic

By Tom As you are all aware, CdeG is the maker of interestingly weird clothing and intriguingly odd fragrances. They have started to open "Guerrilla" stores in various places, the latest here in Los Angeles, steps from my office in downtown Los Angeles. The stores are only open for a year, selling some items at a discount. Being one of the cool, in the know people (well, I heard about it on KCRW, does that count? No? K.) I was of course there about thirty seconds after the place opened. Not being a cool, wealthy person, about the only thing I could justify even thinking about purchasing were perfumes. There are of course Guerrilla Store inspired scents, but Columbina summed them up brilliantly so I will attempt to cover another range.. I had been given a sample of the Synthetic Soda in one of the first packages I ever ordered from a decanter on eBay: I honestly don't remember if it was Nancy or Patty or who it was. I remember liking the fragrance immediately and then completely forgetting about it when something shiny was dangled in my general direction. I was pleased to retry and to sample the rest of the series. Dry Clean should have sent me running for the hills, with it's notes (via LuckyScent) of ozone, aldehydes, and nail polish but it doesn't. It's not really ozonic, it's not really dryer sheets and it's not really what you would think of when you think of "fresh". It's somewhat the scent of a really nice wool suit that has just come from a good cleaner: freshened wool, wooden coat hangers, a slightly plasticky smell of the cleaner bag and a slight whiff of cedar closets. I suppose you could get the same effect just wearing a garment bag, but it would be churlish to point that out, and rather missing the point. These are different, dammit, and if you want to be a stick-in-the-mud and expect linear progression and conventional beauty then you are just the sort of staid old Grundy that expects to wear shirts with two sleeves, one on either side of the chest. I kid because I love... Skai starts off sweet, with a note of frankly-fake grapefruit before settling into a leather note that's more Cordoba than Cordovan. If you've ever gotten into a hot car with vinyl seats you'll know that particularly compelling smell. There is a later coal tar note, keeping the J G Ballard portion of the program going. If ever there was a fragrance to release your inner Grace Jones, then this is it. I'm hearing "Warm Leatherette" in my head as I type.. Garage is one that thankfully doesn't try to be too literal in expressing it's name; there's leather, a light whiff of kerosene (but not nearly as much as in the opening of Tubereuse Criminelle) and a certain oiliness to it that makes me think of a very clean mechanic after a day of work. Oddly, this is an extremely light fragrance, one of the cleanest fragrances using those notes I've ever run across. There seems to be nothing musky about it at all, which would be the expected base, or at least the one that I'd expect. But really, there are so many other scents out there that do the expected, it's nice to smell one that refuses to.. Tar doesn't refuse to. Now you all know that both Columbina and I loves us some tarry scents. Fatty Kolnisch Juchten? Check. Smoky Patchouli 24? Sign me up! Where Tar goes with it is to the track: Le Labo is all about the NoLiTa meets Grasse uber-coolness. KJ is a Tatar prince ripping blackened fatted meat fresh from the campfire. Tar is a NASCAR hottie: tarmac, tires, seat belts and sweat. Dario Franchitti after a hard race. Yum. Soda was the one that I first tried and liked very much. I'm a sucker for lime in fragrance and this one is so fizzy with aldehydes that you would half expect to wake up with a hangover from it. Of course, the limes are far more like the ones that are inhabiting Roses Lime Juice than anything that recently came from a tree, but that's sort of the point. The frank insincerity of the lime notes are perfect- this is the synthetic series after all. There's also musk in there, but it's also quite amusingly synthetic. Think robot musk. Like the rest of them there isn't a lot of progression, sillage or conventional prettiness in any of these. If you can get behind that, then you will enjoy the heck out of them. If not I think they will leave you very cold. LuckyScent carries these at $65 for 75 mls in the slightly off-putting packaging, which looks a bit like face cleanser or bug spray. I do have a concern about plastic packaging changing the scents, but since these are so aggressively synthetic, perhaps the concern is unfounded.

Perfume Review: Comme des Garcons LUXE Champaca and Patchouli

Question: after every single brand has jumped on the trend-wagon and created a luxury line within a line, would that saturate the fragrance market with high-priced scents to an extent that exclusivity will loose its elegant sheen and "luxe" won't seem all that luxurious anymore? ...And do you, like me, feel that the moment of such saturation has actually already arrived? And now for Comme des Garcons not just luxe but LUXE duo of $265-for-45ml-of-not-even-parfum creations. Champaca starts wonderfully well, as what I think of as champaca per se, robustly floral, with a prominent green, herbaceous undertone. It then goes through an uninteresting stage when it smells like your basic, fresh jasmine. Fairly soon, however, the scent develops a strong tuberose note, which, thanks to the presence of angelica and pepper, is green and dewy rather then sweet and creamy. After hours and hours of unchanging easy, breezy, beautiful tuberosiness, it simply wears off my skin seemingly without featuring any typical base notes: no woods, no noticeable musk, just fresh, slightly green flowers. Champaca is not something I came to expect from Comme des Gacons. It is not strikingly orginal, it is "simply" beautiful. A good-quality, handsome floral blend. Worth $265 for 45 ml? Not for me. Patchouli. Now we are talking. Now we are talking the birth of a lemming. Now we are talking a new cold weather favorite. It might be called, Patchouli, but the scent is much more than that, it is a complex, ever-changing blend of all things wonderful. First blast is that of peppery incense, dark and warm. A dry, resinous woody note that I take to be oak materializes from the brooding depths of incense. The austere, arid wood slowly becomes a little sweeter, a little softer - this is when I smell fenugreek, which, as we all know, has the same green, meaty, curry-like sweetness as immmortelle. Opoponax covers that woody greenness with a layer of golden powder and vanilla and sandalwood ...oh, vanilla and sandalwood are delicious together, creating a strangely gourmand, warmly-piquant base on which the intricate composition finally rests. And patchouli? Patchouli is everywhere and nowhere at once. It is playing games, hiding in the fleshy verdancy of fenugreek, suddenly appearing from under the black cloak of incense, adding something almost chocolate-like to the woody-sweet notes of the drydown. In other words, the presence of the star note is always noticeable, but never too obvious, never trivial. Is LUXE Patchouli worth $265 for 45ml? I would be lying if I said that I am not longing to buy it...but, no, it probably isn't worthy that much money for that size, in that concentration. Frankly, nothing is. Comme des Garcons LUXE Champaca and Patchouli are available at Luckyscent, in Pyramid (interesting) and Cube (Piguet-inspired?) bottles.

Lily of the Valley Week. Day 3. Comme des Garcons, Floris, Jessica McClintock, Les Parfums de Rosine, Parfums de Nicolai

Comme des Garcons – Lily I debated whether to include this scent in the Lily of Valley Week or to wait till the Lily week (yes, it’s coming, as well as Gardenia, Tuberose and Jasmine weeks…do you see a trend here? ). Lily of the Valley won, because, although I smell both flowers in Comme des Garcons surprising creation, lily of the valley is much more prominent. I say “surprising creation” simply because this rather conventionally pretty, frankly unexciting scent seems rather out of place in the brand’s quirky lineup of fragrances. It starts with a very green muguet, and that is the stage I enjoy the most; the scent has a dew-drenched feel of an early, cool spring morning…then the perfume grows considerably sweeter and stronger, this is when I smell lily (maybe Casablanca lily) and freesia. The latter adds an unwelcome pink heaviness to the blend; it seems incongruous in this ethereal white-green composition. After going through the very sweet phase, the scent does a full turn and becomes fresh and green again, but to me the freesia-laden heart is a good enough reason not to ever want to own a bottle of Lily. Floris – Lily of the Valley First created in 1847, Floris’ Lily of the Valley is the oldest of the muguet scents I am talking about this week (Guerlain’s Muguet was originally released in 1906). The title note is indeed very prominent here and is at the center of the composition, but I almost hesitate to call the perfume a soliflore. The rose is particularly strong; it is sweet, juicy, and very life-like. I imagine Floris’ creation to be a lovely bridal bouquet made of delicately-pink roses and dazzling white lilies of the valley. The scent is very pretty, very easy to wear, but it has too much rose for me to absolutely love it. Jessica McClintock – The Fragrance Again, this is not a soliflore, but the lily of the valley is prominent enough to warrant the perfume’s inclusion in the muguet week. The beginning is citrusy, slightly herbal, almost a little peppery, with the green basil note serving as bridge of sorts to the green lily of the valley, which will become apparent in the heart. Jasmine is almost as strong as muguet, but not quite; on my skin, lily of the valley is the dominant floral element of the blend. The drydown is softly woody, delicately sweet. The scent makes me want to don a white sundress …maybe even a sundress with ruffles…and to act all demure and a little coquettish, in other words, completely out of character…I am considering buying a bottle. Les Parfums de Rosine – Le Muguet de Rosine It is rather sad that Parfums de Rosine decided to focus on rose scents only, as the now discontinued perfumes, the opulent, fruity-ambery Coupe d’Or, the fresh and creamy tuberose Mea Culpa (one of my favorite tuberose scents of all time) and Le Muguet, are as beautiful as the rose perfumes in the collection. Le Muguet is a tricky one for me. It likes to play with me; on some days, it is green, green and green, with fresh lilies of the valley and lots of grass and not much else. On others, it is a fragrance of considerable depth and breathtaking complexity. On those days the jasmine becomes very prominent, bringing with it a vaguely indolic quality, and the rose adds to the scent a wonderful honeyed aspect. The drydown is musky and slightly resinous. An interesting, sophisticated rendition of lily of the valley, and it truly is a shame that it is now practically impossible to find. Parfums de Nicolai – Eclipse There are many "light-green" renditions of lily of the valley, Nicolai’s is "dark-green". It has sumptuous, peppery greenness of basil and oakmoss. Because of the presence of anise, lily of the valley here has sweet spiciness… or spicy sweetness. I strongly believe that there is rose somewhere in this beautiful composition, as I sense rather than distinctly smell a presence of its bordeaux-colored petals among the greenness. Much more than simply a muguet soliflore, this is a very elegant, very sophisticated blend that possesses the sort of creamy sumptuousness that I came to associate with the work of Patricia de Nicolai. Comme des Garsons Lily and Parfums de Nicolai Eclipse are available at luckyscent.com, $68.00 and $70.00 respectively; Floris Lily of the Valley is sold at florislondon.com, $45.00-$70.00; Jessica McClintock can be found at jessicamcclintock.com, $48.00-$68.00. We take a break tomorrow for Tom's report on L'Eau du Jatamansi. Lily of the Valley will be back one last time on Friday.

Perfume Review: Comme des Garcons Guerilla #1 and Guerilla #2

Guerilla #1 and Guerilla #2 were inspired by Comme des Garçons “guerilla” stores, which are “pop-up” stores that appear temporarily, for one year only, in off-the-beaten-path locations in cities around the globe; for example, one outpost was in the pillar of a Warsaw bridge. (From JCreport) The packaging of the new scents is as original as one would expect from this avant-garde brand, the black rectangular bottles are boxed with a set of mock papier-mâchè canteens. The juice inside …sadly, I think this is the case, where the concept and the packaging are “bigger” and more interesting then the scents themselves. Guerrilla #1, named after Comme des Garçons' first boutique in Berlin, a former butcher shop, was created by Marie-Aude Couture Bluche (S de Scherrer, Jacomo For Her). In the perfumer’s own words, “If you think of a butcher’s shop, you think of meat, blood and then the very clean, bleached aprons... It’s carnivorous, but we have added the Indonesian flower champaca, it sensual, and then orange, so it’s fruity, with jasmine and gardenia too." (From FemaleFirst.co.uk) Hard as I try, I do not get either carnivorous or sensual from Guerilla #1. It is a rather fresh, cool, grassy-woody-floral fragrance with a vaguely medicinal top accord of saffron (mainly) and clove (just a hint), an airy, watery floral heart of champaca and what I perceive to be jasmine and perhaps some orange blossom, and a bracing, dry and earthy drydown of vetiver and cedarwood. It is the more interesting of the two Guerillas; it has that "slimy", faintly nauseating, borderline repulsive, fascinating quality of some of the stranger Comme des Garçons scents, for example Odeur 53. And yet it feels to me that the fragrance tries too hard, that it is very conscious of the fact that it is a Comme des Garçons scent and strives to live up to the wearer's expectations of weirdness and oddness. Its strangeness is uninspired, too predictable somehow. It goes to show that it is not enough for a fragrance to be almost-unpleasant to be judged avant-garde and original. There should be depth and the audacity of going too far instead of almost too far, which in the end feels as not far enough. Guerrilla 2, created by Nathalie Feisthauer (Versace Blond, Hermes Eau des Merveilles), on the other hand, seems not to aspire to be strange and striking. Said to be inspired by the color red, this is a succulent and simultaneously dry raspberry scent with appealing piquant nuances of ginger and pepper and a woody undertone, which goes a long way to stop the berries and, at the middle stage, the tuberose, from becoming too sweet. The scent makes me think not of freshly picked raspberries, but of the raspberry preserve my grandmother used to make, which basically consisted of raspberries very lightly cooked with sugar. Although it does not taste “straight from the raspberry bush”, it is much more natural than a jam. To return to Guerilla #2, I would go as far as too say that this is a berry-fruity scent for berry-fruity scent haters like me. Is it interesting, is it on a par with some of the breathtakingly weird Comme des Garçons perfumes? Not really. But it is certainly comparable to their less strange but still very appealing creations like Rhubarb or Rose. To conclude, Guerilla #1 is sort of interesting but rather unwearable, Guerilla #2 is very wearable, in fact, rather enjoyable, but not really exciting. If it ever goes on sale, I might buy Guerilla #2. For its full price, however, it is not full bottle worthy for me. Both Guerillas are available at Luckyscent, $98 for 85ml. The image is from JCReport.

Coffee Scents: A Story with a Happy Ending

Contender No. 1. Hippie Latte: Comme des Garcons Series 7: Sweet – Wood Coffee Notes: cardamom, liquorice, chinese ginger, almond, coffee essence, wood, indonesian patchouli, vanilla. Wood Coffee was the first coffee scent I tried, and, it being Comme des Garcons, I expected something striking. Alas, I was disappointed. I did not encounter much wood, and even though there was plenty of coffee, it was not the coffee of the Turkish proverb, "black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love." Rather, Wood Coffee is a diluted, cold latte and I don't mean intentionally cold as in some fancy Starbucks creation, but rather as in “forgotten in a mug and gone cold and stale”. To make the matters worse, in the drydown, patchouli reared its ugly head demoting Wood Coffee from the status of unremarkable to almost unwearable. Contender No. 2. Politically Correct: Jo Malone – Black Vetyver Café Notes: coffee, vetiver, temple incense and sequoia. Black Vetyver Café was allegedly born from Jo Malone’s passion to create the perfect coffee note. I have a passion to find a perfect coffee scent, so there seemed to be a great chance that I would love this. And I don’t dislike it, but…as Ernest Hemingway said, “But did thee feel the earth move?” I did not. This is a big improvement on the stale, cold, patchouli leaden Wood Coffe. However, if, like me, you a crave a rich, dark, sensual coffee scent, this is not it. Black Vetyver cafe is a very neutral fragrance, civilized, elegant, appropriate anywhere...It is very wearable and actually even full-bottle worthy for me, but…this is not It. Contender No. 3. “The Spirit of the Unexpected”: Bond No 9 – New Haarlem Notes: coffee, vanilla, patchouli. How I love the beginning of this fragrance. It is dark, sexy, sweet and very recognizably “coffee”. Very hip, very sophisticated, and, at that point, very wearable. Unfortunately, that is not where the story ends. Memories evoked by scents can be a wonderful thing and enhance one’s love for a new fragrance; they also can be a curse. In this case it is not a bad memory that New Haarlem brings to mind, it is simply that, sometime during the drydown, the scent becomes, to my nose, a fragrance a person from my past used to wear, and I simply cannot get over that and enjoy New Haarlem. I feel that I am wearing another person’s skin so to say. The scent it reminded me of is Route 66, created in 1995 by Coty, which, for those unfamiliar with it, is a tobacco-woody-ambery fragrance. Damn be the tricks of olfactory memory. Memories aside, a masculine cologne drydown is simply not among the characteristic a coffee scent has to possess, in order to come close to the ideal I have in mind. Contender No. 4. Holy Grail Alert! Dawn Spencer Hurwitz – Coffee Absolut Notes: coffee absolute. Wowza! My search for a perfect coffee scent ends here (for now, that is, since a perfumista's job is never done). It is hard to imagine that there can be anything more coffee-like, apart from the coffee itself. From the dark colour of the liquid to the incredible scent, this is it, black, strong and sweet. I don’t know how she did it, the notes on her site don't disclose much, but DSH somehow created that elusive ideal coffee scent I was looking for. Wood Coffee? Purleeze! Black Vetyver Café? Laughable. New Haarlem? Sorry, not even close. A side note for other incorrigible layerers out there. I accidentally layered Coffee Absolut with Bourbon French Romanov (a sweet rose scent) and the result is incredible, I have a feeling this DSH creation would bring a certain stunning dark undertone to many a scent. Know of more coffee scents? Please send your recommendations!

Colonia per il Papa: Avignon by Comme des Garcons

According to Proverbs 27:9, incense brings joy to the heart. I have yet to find an incense perfume that would do that to mine. The feeling I often get is that of desolation, loneliness and gravity. Parfum Sacre is the only exception, but that one is a different story, sensual incense, almost sacrilegious. Avingon, along with Messe de Minuit and, to a lesser degreee, Passage d’Enfer, is the most somber and sorrowful of the incense scents I've tried. This is undeniably a Catholic church incense, evoking an image of a Papal cathedral no less, a place that is grand, important and unapproachable, all cold marble and disapproving statues of saints. The incense note here is somber and chilly, but if I try really hard I can smell some patchouli here, like a dirty earthly undercurrent hidden under all that holiness. This is a wonderfully unique, albeit intimidating, fragrance. I could never be able to wear Avignon, but it makes one's idle mind wonder, do Pontiffs wear cologne? I can't imagine an edgy, trendy brand like Comme Des Garcons being popular behind the walls of the Apostolic Palace, but their Avignon really should be. There is no other scent that would be so fit for Papa, although I imagine the late John Paul II might have liked something more cheerful and less formal. I will stop now before I start any blasphemous rumors and get disowned by the Church.