Beating the Birthday Blahs: Parfum d'Empire Wazamba, Aziyadé and 3 Fleurs

By Tom Well, the day came and went. I got up, went to the Farmers Market and the Fathers Day classic car show on Rodeo, to Sweet Lady Jane for cake and to Scent Bar (where two nice ladies from Basenotes were visiting and shopping, so I didn't interrupt) I smelled a few things: the new L'Artisan Nuit de Tubereuse which is a joy, the new Commes des Garcons which are some joke I don't get and a couple more Xerjoff which aren't doing it for me. Then I ran across the Parfum d'Empire area. I've liked their scents in the past, but they aren't for the faint of heart. They are, well definite scents. Aziyadé is a definite scent. Imagine if you will the stewed fruits of Lutens Arabie mixed with a heapin' helpin' 'o the cumin in Eau d'Hermes. I love this, but I love the drrrty. If you're a cumin-phobe you will feel like you died and gone to hell. If you are a very bad person, Karma will make sure that you're trapped in a stuck elevator with someone wearing this. Wazamba is hardly a shrinking violet: it also has fruits in the form of a stewed apple note, mixed with incense and woody myrrh. It certainly doesn't whisper, but it's more day-t0-day wearable on me. 3 Fleurs is one that I personally wouldn't wear any more than bias-cut silk. It's gorgeous; a perfectly balanced concoction of rose, jasmine and tuberose brightened by mint, each smoothing out the rough edges of the other unto the sly musky drydown. Between this and the L'Artisan tuberose has been redeemed... $75 for 50ml, $110 for 100, at the usual suspects