Foodie Thursday: Persimmons

By Tom I have never had a persimmon in my life. Until today. I was having some painting done and the painter, a very nice man in his early 60's came in at the end of his work and offered me what I took to be an almost criminally over-ripe tomato. Being my mother's child I happily accepted it, thanking him thinking I'd just toss it in the disposal if I could get it to the kitchen without it exploding in my hand. Then he mentioned that he and his wife have a tree in the backyard that produces them. Now, my horticultural experience is limited, bur even I know that tomatoes grow on vines and while vines can grow on a trellis, they aren't going to be confused anytime with a tree. That's when it hit me- it's persimmon colored. It must be a persimmon. So upstairs I went and ate it. It was interesting- sweet and pulpy, almost gooey. Looking at Wikipedia, there are several varieties. I believe mine was the Hachiya, which is apparently the most common. While I don't think this will be elbowing apples and blackberries out of the way for the #1 top spot in my personal pantheon of Fruit That I Love, I'll certainly be trying them again. Do you like persimmons? Have any recipes you'd like to share? Please leave a comment. Image: Wikipedia

Scents of Summer

By Tom Well, I'm a week late with talking about the summer scents that I'm looking forward to; chalk it up to lazy summer-ness.. I've talked about some of these before Aqua di Parma, Eau de Sud and Hadrien, and Hermès Eau d'Orange Vert. I've also talked about the one I'm really looking forward to wearing: Frederic Malle's French Lover. French Lover is a green, green, green rooty scent that was created to "attempt to create the ultimate man’s scent." It's all green roots and  smoky woods and a final clean muskiness. It's a very patrician smelling thing- it makes me think that if Cary Grant were somehow alive and 35 years old this is what he'd be wearing. What are reaching for for summer (winter if you're below the equator?) Let us know in the comments. French Lover is called Bois d'Orage in the US because apparently they thought we wouldn't get the joke. So we get the name that sounds translated like a porn star (Thunder Woods). It's available at Barneys in several sizes. Mine is from my bottle. Image: Wikipedia

Off Topic: Roses

By Tom I love roses. Not usually in perfume since I think it's oddly one of the most difficult one to do well. There are a couple out there that do get it right: Mona Di Orio's gorgeous Rose Etoile de Hollande is one, Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit and La Fille de Berlin are a couple of others (see, I got perfume in there!) But mostly I like the flower itself. But mostly I like the flower. When my friend Sue lived in LA she was an avid rose grower. Her driveway was lined with them. I haven't been there since she moved, but I assume they're still there. The rose in the picture is from one of the blocks in Beverly Gardens Park and is a Gemini rose. Which, since this is June and my birth month I think is apt. This garden was designed by rose expert Dr. Tommy Cairns, who will be a judge in the 2014 Rose Parade. I met Dr. Cairns because of a project I volunteered for. In January of 2014 the city of Beverly Hills will be 100 years old. The city is celebrating in a number of ways and one of them is to have a rose named after it. Dr. Cairns walked us through the project and helped us select where the garden will be. Dr. Cairns came up with 5 finalists that would be good in our soil and give good color. It had been decided that we didn't want white and we didn't want too dark, so the choices were in the range of yellow to peach. The one that won out was the dark peachy-pink one, a floribunda (multiple blooms like the pictured Gemini). The reason I liked it was that it had the most petals and is almost the color of the Beverly Hills Hotel and the bed is going to be in the park right across the street. They will be in the center planters in the picture below. I think it will be gorgeous. I will be started soon so that the 200 plants will have a chance to go through several bloom cycles before it's formally dedicated as the "Beverly Hills Centennial" rose next April. Oh, and of course it does smell. Dr. Cairns was nice enough to take my suggestion- all the ones he brought to the table had a scent. This is a spicy one. Yay! I love the scent of roses en masse and will be looking forward to spending some time in this park reading when it's in bloom. The other part of the committee is selecting a centennial tree. We wanted one that would last at least until the next centennial. We chose a Moreton Bay Fig. It was a no-brainer; they're a beautiful tree, and it will be a twin to the one that was planted when the city was founded. It will be in Beverly Gardens Park diagonally across from City Hall. So, do you like roses? Tea rose or floribunda? Single color or bi-color? What color? Let us know in the comments. Photo of Gemini Rose from my iPhone Photo of Will Rogers Memorial Park from the City website

Strange Invisible Perfumes Musc Botanique

By Tom As you know from reading the Posse, the LA ScentSation was a big success. The first gift bag (the one from the event, not the ones from the stores we went to) alone was worth the the trip. I think the highlight everyone would agree was the full-sized perfume from Strange Invisible Perfumes (I think it's $225 retail). I lucked out and got Musc Botanique. I write about it previously and bought myself a bottle years ago.back in the day I wrote: "But the one that I kept coming back to was Musc Botanique. Through the alcohol haze I remember the nice girl telling us that it was meant as a sort of riff on the idea of plants seducing each other through their smell, like the musk that animals produce to attract a mate. This makes immediate sense in its tart opening: the woody, almost harsh geranium mixes with sweet angelica to make me think of berry patches. It gets earthier and earthier as the frankincense and amber come in, until the whole thing gets surprisingly, delightfully slutty. But slutty in a wholly different way that you would imagine: not human and not even animal. It's as if you're walking in a night-time garden and suddenly the whole place starts giving you the glad eye; the woods, grass and flowers are waving their little fronds at you with a decided "Hello, Sailor" attitude. Not in that somewhat confrontational Satyr-of-the-berries CB I Hate perfume way (which, as you all know I adore) and not in some Majicky, Sci-Fi way either. It's different: it's also entirely wearable (I would and did wear it to the office) but definitely, wonderfully.. odd." The pure perfume version takes it even further- it's more than winking, it's standing there, hands on hips, daring you to come over. It's Sadie Thompson in a bottle and I love it. It's also very long-lasting for a pure botanical- I smell it on me the next day. There are many SIP fragrances that I would cheerfully buy if I could just hit the darned PowerBall: Lyric Rain, Fire and Cream, and Black Rosette to name three. But I was so thrilled to get Musc Botanique in my goody bag I feel like I did win the lottery.. Notes from their website: Egyptian geranium, frankincense, notes of white amber & botanical musk $225 for .25 ounce at their store in Venice, which if you're in Los Angeles you really need to visit. Mine came in the gift bag at the event. Image: Legendary Joan Crawford Website

Nasomatto Pardon

By Tom Another one of those best-laid plans weeks this week. I wanted to review this one since I liked the opening on it so much- a smooth and yummy oud with a touch of raw cacao and cinnamon. Unfortunately my skin ate it alive. Every time I tried it it was gone within an hour or so, culminating in tonight where I got dolled up (for me that is- I put on a tie and a jacket, which always gets a comment from the local ladies, mostly because it's as rare as a blue moon..) at 6 to attend a City Council meeting where after our election the new council members are seated and the retiring one's tenure is marked. I gave myself a pretty liberal application and sat in the auditorium, planning on writing this upon returning home. It's 11:00 Pacific time and it's completely gone. It isn't like I was jogging or digging ditches; I was sitting in air-conditioning and actually unable to move much lest I be considered rude during the 3-hour meeting. Since this is the fourth time this has happened I can't say this is a true review. I also can't say that I'd pay the $165 for 30ML to find out if a liberal spraying rather than a liberal dabbing will change that. At Luckyscent, where I asked for and received a sample. Image: Luckyscent

WWYW- Birthday Party edition

By Tom Today I went to a birthday party. It was at Spago, where I'd never been before. I was the only man in a group of about 40. I am friends with about half of them and was invited by the birthday girl, who jokingly said "are you sure you'd like to be alone in a roomful of women? (Husband) wouldn't on a dare." Of course I answered "well I consider myself one of the girls.." Of course being ladies from the real Beverly Hills they ran the sartorial gamut from just-came-from-elementary-school jeans to Chanel suits. I recognized a few scents that I really love: Joy, Fracas and (the real, original) Chanel No 19 I recognised, all applied in the proper "you can only smell me if I choose to hug you" daytime strength. There were others I didn't recognise, but they were lovely ones. I'll have to shoot off a few emails to find out what they were. I wore nice Khakis, a blue blazer and a tie. Oh, and one spritz of Féminité du bois. What would you wear to a ladies who lunch lunch? Wolfgang Puck came through at one point to say Happy Birthday to the birthday girl and clapped me on the shoulder on his way out of the room, saying in that singular accent "How'd you manage to be the one man in this group of women?" My answer? "Blind luck".. Image: Basenotes

Off topic...

By Tom Well, I got slammed this week with a lousy cold. I cancelled everything I could and am spending my week doing my taxes, dribbling and watching television. Why does everything taste vaguely of tinfoil when I have a cold? The last thing I wore was Ava Luxe Rasa Extreme, which I reviewed on The Posse last year. I didn't realize how tenacious it is: I dabbed on the rest of the sample my friend sent me on Sunday night and just sort of basked in it's lovely musky rosiness. I knew I was getting a cold from the tickle in the back of my throat so I wasn't going to shower and leave the house with a wet head. (Does anyone else get that warning? The slight achiness, chill and tickle that's like the temperature drop before a really ripping summer storm?) But I did need supplies, so out I went. It was actually a little distracting. I was wandering the aisles of the Beverly Hills Market (The cheapest and best market in my 'hood, with $3.99 lunch specials that are fab, in case you ever get here and need cheap eats) in my old LL Bean hoodie and jeans while shadowing me, or more to the point radiating off me was this femme fatale scent. I half expected to turn a corner and find Phyllis Deitrichson looking at this grubby little schlub that was I and wondering where the hell Walter had gotten to.. Ava Luxe Rasa Extreme is still, sadly discontinued. I read in comments that she can no longer get the ingredients so It will most likely stay gone. My sample is empty, so I can only hope that there will be some revival in the future. I hope by next week to be back in the saddle, as it were..

From the closet: Serge Lutens Rahat Loukoum

By Tom Rahat Loukoum is a perfume that by all rights I should hate. I don't like sweet and I don't like fruity, but somehow I adore this. Marina calls this 1998 release "chewy", which is a fitting description for a scent that's named for the candy "Turkish Delight". It starts with a boozy hit of cherries as if you were starting the process of putting fresh ones up for the winter by boiling them in some sweet liquor, the boozy fumes palpable and heady. Almost immediately the candy starts to soften with almond and smoke. Well, soften isn't quite the word. It never becomes as soft as say, Lutens own Louve, which I bought at Barneys and abandoned when I acquired a bell jar of this. The hard-edged opening cooks down into a warm and sensual honeyed musk with just a trace of the opening spikiness in the heliotropic cherry/almond notes. Today (Wednesday, April 11th) it's a rainy day in LA where the temps may, or may not hit 60. It's the perfect weather for this scent: cold enough to tame what could be a tiger of a scent and yet make me crave its warmth. Rahat is sadly one of the ones that you have to be in Europe to buy. It's €125 for a Bell Jar and I have no idea if it will ever come to these shores. As a caution, my bottle is several years old, so I can't speak to whether it has been reformulated, If you've been to the Palais and can comment, please do.

Something Different: Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector

By Tom Saturday was chilly and rainy in Los Angeles, so it was decided that my standing Saturday lunch with my BFF would be at The Beverly Center food court. I forget what I got (which shows you how memorable it was) and mall wanderage ensued.. One of the places I wandered into was the Body Shop, where my friend wanted me to smell the chocolate body scrub. Well, yes it's chocolaty. Disturbingly so. Like, I'm sure it's a great scrub, but I would have an insuperable desire for a Kit-Kat after it. On a whim I tried the Hemp Hand Protector. As I've been coasting into, er, my late twenties I've noticed that the hands have actually needed some help. I'm not at the gnarled-claw stage, but a good hand-cream is needed. This is great hand cream. Not greasy feeling, very hydrating and very long-lasting (even through a hand washing). It even smells nice. They list it as being for people with dry to extremely dry skin, but I don't consider mine to me that dry and I am seeing benefits, although I use about a corn-kernel sized amount.. $18.50 for 3.3 ounces at the Body Shop, where I purchased two tubes (2nd one 1/2 price)

Shocking: CK One Shock for Him/Her

By Tom We've discussed many time CK One and the various flankers that have come since. So seeing a new one in my local Sephora pretty much was met with a big yawn. However, shock of shocks, I actually found myself liking them. My first encounter was with the hers (the Sephora at the Beverly Center only had the hers for some reason); it's a sweet little floral with a little chocolate note to it and some of the cereal element that I love in Lostmarc'h Lann-Ael. Just at the point where I get sick of it (about three hours) it's gone. Macy's next door had the mens, but ask for a sample at Macy's and they'll look at you as if you suddenly your request was made in Urdu, or perhaps interpretive dance. So it was off to Sephora in Century City. Shock Him is a lot more conventional: a freezer-blast opening citrus and green that warms to a rather staid clean 'n fresh ambery patchouli. It's something you will no doubt be smelling on the young guy who brings the mail in your office. On me it's also gone in about 3 hours. Also on the shelf at Sephora was the original CK One, a scent that I liked back in the day. I don't know if it's the fault of reformulation or my advancing years, but testing it was a bit like running into a person you had a mad crush on 20 years ago. You look at them without the chemical attraction that made you weak when in your presence, and you wonder what it was that was so fascinating about them in the first place. CK One, we're done. These are both $40 for 1.7oz, $50 for 3.4oz and him has a whopping 6.7 ounce bottle for $65. Available practically everywhere. I tested at Sephora.

Sweet tooth: Chocolate .

By Tom When I smelled the first scent that had discernible chocolate in it I was horrified. It was, of course Angel and it was, of course usually worn by people who loved it to abandon and wore a lot if it. I loathed it. Then one day I smelled it on someone who wore just a touch and it was lovely. Really lovely. It wasn't something that I would wear but I could appreciate it. But I still told myself that I didn't like chocolate in scent. Then I found Borneo 1834. Like Angel, it featured chocolate and patchouli, but Borneo's was dry and vaguely dusty, like something that had been found in a desert tomb and I loved it. Since then there are been others, like Bud perfumes Ugly Bastard, Parfumerie Generales Musc Maori and Uncle Serge's own Vetiver Oriental. I don't own all of them by any stretch of the imagination, since my urge to wear that note is easily taken up by Borneo, but I do love smelling them and if any showed up on a birthday I'd be thrilled.. What chocolate scents do you love, or loathe? Let us know in the comments..

Turtle Vetiver Front by LesNez

By Tom One of the things that I really like about LesNez (in addition to really loving some of their work) is that they've never fallen into the trap of feeling that they have to release something on a schedule X many times a year. I always think that if one has nothing to say then don't speak. LesNez waits until they have something to say. Turtle Vetiver Front is a continuation of the late and much lamented Turtle Vetiver. It's a creation of Isabelle Doyen and is meant to be an "Outlaw Perfume in Progress", which means that it's a limited edition. Which I hate. I hate that because this is a winner and deserves to stick around. Vetiver here is perfectly played: in turns smoky and warm yet crystalline and icy, and very rooty. As the scent progresses it becomes warmer and more skin-like. The lasting power is phenomenal: the scent I sprayed on in the morning was easily discernible upon waking the next am. Frankly, it's the best vetiver I've smelled since Vero Kern's Onda, and that's saying something.. Available at the LesNez website or at LuckyScent, $120 for 50ML. My sample was sent by LesNez

This 'N That

Well, this is perfume tangential.. Really this weather..  I'm not complaining mind you, since I actually like cold weather, which it is at night.  The days have been quite warm however, meaning that the scent that was so snuggy and wonderful overnight must be showered carefully off the next day lest it be cloying. But here's the real issue.  Skin.  My now over 50 (yes, I admit it) pelt has gone a little nuts, and whatever I'm doing to it isn't helping.  My forehead is dry and actually flakey and I need to get a big-time moisturiser, which I've never used.  Or exfoliator.  Or a RotoTiller.  Or something.  Maybe all of the above..  I had been for years using Laszlo black soap and some Kiehl's moisture gook but I need advice on what to try.  So I am asking you dear readers.  I'd love if there's something that's relatively cheap, if that's possible.  So please, dear readers, suggestions? Image: Wikipedia Commons

Sniff First, Read Later: A Lab on Fire What We Do In Paris is Secret

By Tom If I'd actually read the copy on LuckyScent before smelling this I might have been more inclined to roll my eyes.  Calling themselves "The Unlikely Company: an enigma wrapped in mystery" and, well let me just let them say it: (from LuckyScent) "We emphasize the hands-on and artisanal aspects of creating original fragrances along with our priorities for their safety, stability, freshness and quality. Each fragrance, created by a famous nose, is batched at a state-of-the-art factory in New Jersey but packaged by Brooklyn neighborhood artists whose hand-labeling sometimes results in serendipitous touches that lend individual character to each bottle." Well, bully. But I did smell it first, and you know what?  It is kind of all that.  It's got some of the raw comb honeyed lusciousness of Botrytis along with creamy woods and a fair bit of salty ambergris and drrty musks.  Even the dreaded lychee is so perfectly done here that I that wanted more.  I admit that I only gave this a cursory test since I was at ScentBar for a different mission but I liked this one.  It's a winner, especially for winter.  Although I think I might need the zip-tie packaging explained to me at some point.. Notes from LuckyScent, where I sampled: Bergamot, honey, lychee, Turkish rose essence, tonka bean, vanilla, heliotrope, tolu, sandalwood, ambergris, musks.  $110 for 60ML Image: LuckyScent

Foodie Sunday: Hearts and Flowers

By Tom Valentine's Day is coming.  A day of expectations that often aren't met.  Chocolate is considered a usual gift, perfume and champagne isn't unheard of.  Some people even get jewelry. Those of us who are alone of course can indulge ourselves in any way we feel.  Beauty treatments involving masques that we wouldn't want to be seen in while soaking in a suds-filled tub while eating twinkies and swilling champagne out of the bottle?  Hey, who's gonna know? I'm not going to go that far, but I will certainly do something involving chocolate.  What are you planning for the day? Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Tickle Me: Eau Pear Tingle by Opus Oils

By Tom It's not a secret that I really like Opus Oils, the Hollywood-based house known for it's cheeky, wink-wink packaging containing seriously nice scents.  Recently, house nose Kedra Hart took up the challenge to create a scent that could be experienced by people who were anosmic to scent.  This of course makes the scent hard to review, since I am anything but unable to smell perfume.  So I can't comment on its central purpose; I can comment on what I'm smelling.  Eau Pear Tingle starts off with a literal tingle of mint.  It's not mint in a chewing gum kind of way: it's like going into your garden to the plant, ripping off a handful and burying your nose it the torn leaves.  It's bright and peppery and quite wonderful (do I smell parsley in there?).  It's joined by lime blossom, pear and musk that balance each other perfectly: the pear is juicy while the musk and lime cuts the sweetness.  It kind of reminds me a little bit of Annick Goutal Un Matin d'Orage, not necessarily in the notes but in the sort of green and vaguely watery aspect to it, like wandering in an orchard after a hard rain.  Jasmine is discernible but not overwhelming while the listed pine seems to be there only to add some more "tingle" rather than being up in the front: Filles en Auguilles this isn't. Would I wear it?  No.  Pear and I aren't friends, no matter how well done.  I also think this is one that I'd rather smell on a woman than on a man: there's something about its musky sweetness that makes me think of the nape of the neck of a woman who has just pulled up her hair into a chignon to escape the warmth of the afternoon and is enjoying feeling the breeze, lightly pressing her icy glass of mint tea to her throat.  It's another feather in the cap for Kedra Hart and Opus Oils and can see why it was nominated for a FiFi award. Available at their website in various sizes and products.  My sample was sent by the perfumer.  Image from their website.

Foodie Sunday: Tea Time

I love tea.  Even more than coffee.  There are several that I drink on a weekly basis: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, various green teas. In Los Angeles, we have the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, which is always within a block of Starbucks.  The Bean (as we call it) has more tea, and in my opinion better coffee.  But the best place for tea in town is Chado in West Hollywood.  They have literally hundreds of teas that can be shipped to your door.  They also have a "high tea" in their restaurant where they'll serve you whatever tea you like with a good English cream tea, which is the best thing you can have on a cold afternoon, or what passes for one in LA.  If you come here, I urge you to stop in. What's your favorite place for a cuppa? Image: Chado

Chocolate, Greedy.

By Tom I'd be willing to bet that most of us had our first experience with chocolate notes in perfume with Angel.  I'd also be willing to bet that quite a few of us shrank from it.  I know I did.  I convinced myself that I hated it until I smelled it on someone on whom it worked and it was delicious; I also think that the person in question wasn't someone who over-applies, because Angel is one of the big time offenders in the Smell-It-From-Space hall of shame.  I've smelled it on the lowest escalator in the Beverly Center while the offender is up top by Bloomingdales.  Over-apply and it's like chocolate patchouli jet fuel contail. But there are ones that I really love. Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 is a cousin to Angel, but instead of milk chocolate and head shop it's dark, almost burnt cacao and bone-dry pathouli leaves.  This was the first Lutens I ever smelled and I still have a bell jar of it.  Luckily it's in the export range ($140 for 50ML) so it's available where all the others are, for now. Bud Parfums Ugly Bastard seems to bridge the two: not as parched as Borneo but not as, well shall we be polite and call it "lush" as Angel.  It's one of those that's only available as far as I can tell down under, which makes it a reason to visit. Musc Maori is another that comes to mind: like rich, hot, creamy coffee poured over rich chocolate with just enough musc to take it from foodie to feral,  My scent twin says it gets compliments like almost no other. $105 for 50ML at Luckyscent. So, tell me, what are your favorite chocolate scents, and which ones drive you from the room?  Leave a comment.. Image: Wikipedia Commons

Other Things

Sorry, I've been running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off trying to put together formalwear for myself on the cheap.  Yes, I have the conundrum of having been invited to a Formal Event.  It's extremely nice of the person who invited me, but when I started pricing tuxedo rentals I was shocked.  Over $180 for something that looks like a business suit with satin lapels and a pink sateen tie?  Not even a bowtie but a regular one?  Harrumph.. So here's the deal.  I have black wool trousers, a cummerbun and bow tie.  I found a Bill Blass tuxedo jacket for $10 at the Council Thrift store that looks like it was made for me and have a pair of shiny leather loafers that can pass for evening shoes.  All I need to do is get a proper shirt and I'm done.  At least I hope so.  I know no matter what I do I will certainly not be the best dressed person at the ball, so I'm shooting for reasonable looking.  I'm sure the photos will end up on Facebook, unless I look like a gargoyle and unlink myself from them.. Here's a fragrance question: what scent?  Help me out and chime in in the comments.  Please? Image: Internets

Foodie Sunday: It's the Morning After the Day Of..

By Tom So it's 2012 and you've made your promises to diet.  But you've perhaps woken with a head bigger than the Kansas plain after one or two trips to refill that delicious glass of whatever.  What to do?  I've not indulged in years (I'm unpopular) but I'd always liked a big fat burger the next morning.  Nigella Lawson had a show called "Temple Food" on her "Nigella Bites" where she extols the virtue of the prairie oyster. Personally I'm fond of the idea, but would more like the idea of Spaghetti Carbonara.  Feel free to share your day-after recipes in the comments and welcome to 2012!