Know-How: Perfume Shopping in Las Vegas

February 28, 2012

 

Las Vegas isn’t the most obvious destination for the perfume shopping but if you happen to be there for any more suitable activity (let’s say, a trade show or a tech conference ;-) ), here’s several destinations you might want to check out.

Las Vegas

Sephora (1 on the map below – click to enlarge) next to The Venitian carries the range of usual mainstream brands.

Barneys (2) at The Venetian has a nice selection of niche brands: Acqua Di Pharma, Antonia’s Flowers, Arquiste, Bois 1920, Byredo, Carthusia, Cereus, Comme de Garcons, Costume National, Escentric Molecules, Frederic Malle, Heeley, L’Artisan Perfumer, Le Labo, Les Parfums de Rosine, Nasomatto, Odin NY, Parfums Del Rae, Serge Lutens, The Different Company and Yosh.

Las Vegas Strip Map

The Palazzo Hotel (3) hosts several boutiques: Guerlain carries the range of perfumes available in the US (I wrote more about it in one of my previous posts); Dior with all perfumes from this line including La Collection Privée (a sales associate Michael was very helpful and friendly, absolutely no pushing – I can highly recommend him); Van Cleef & Arpels has just a couple of perfumes from their Collection Extraordinaire (and very beautiful jewelry). There is also Fresh store in The Palazzo.

Las Vegas Dior Boutique

Wynn Hotel (4) has Chanel, Dior and Hermès boutiques but I haven’t checked if they carry cosmetics/perfumes. (UPD: Chanel boutique offers the Exclusifs collection)

Right across the street from Wynn there is an enormous shopping center – Fashion Show Mall (5). I won’t list all the brands since between Dillard’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus there are not that many mainstream, high-end mainstream or niche brands missing (those that are available in the US, I mean). In Saks I came across an item unique for that location – Saks Fifth Ave. Las Vegas by Bond No. 9. It’s a super-limited edition in a bottle decorated with Swarowski crystals. There are still a couple of bottles of this perfume, launched in 2010, left in the store but once they’re gone – it’s gone (just in case there are hardcore Bond No.9 fans reading this).

Las Vegas Bond No 9 NY

Caesars Palace Forum Shops (6) while being not the best place for a perfume shopping (it’s too big for the number of perfume-related shopping destinations) but if you go there anyway, there is a handful of shops that carry perfumes: Sephora, Anthropologie (with a very limited choice of perfumes), Fresh, Agent Provocateur boutique (with their complete perfume line), Emporio Armani (with a couple (literally!) of perfumes from Armani Prive line and several mainstream perfumes) and Chanel boutique (I think I saw the Exclusifs line there). That’s it. So unless you’re really into Agent Provocateur perfumes I’d recommend skipping this part.

Las Vegas Strip Map

With a big disappointment I should advise omitting Paris Hotel (7) from your perfume shopping trip. There is a perfume shop on premises but let me put it this way: it makes any of the nearby Sephora stores look like Les Salons du Palais Royale.

Planet Hollywood (8) has a shopping mall inside – you can ignore it, there isn’t much going there perfume-wise.

Skins 6|2 at The Cosmopolitan (9) has an assortment of niche brands: Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Serge Lutens (limited selection), Diptyque, By Killian, Juliette Has A Gun, Tokyo Milk, Creed (limited selection).

Crystals at City Center (10) – a new and, in my opinion, strange shopping center with sparse boutiques dispersed over an enormous building. For perfumes check out Hermès (Hermessence), Tom Ford, Van Cleef & Arpels (Collection Extraordinaire) and Prada (Exclusive collection).

It doesn’t matter in how great physical shape you are you will walk yourself to half-death if you do not plan your route carefully. Hotels and shopping malls in Las Vegas are huge, each hotel tries hard to take you from point A to point B through the point C (casino) which is understandable, that’s how they’re making money. So do not just wander around hoping to come across a store eventually, check maps/directories and choose the shortest path.

Las Vegas

Images: my own.

37 Comments | Know-How, Random Stuff | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Undina

What Happens in Vegas… Part II: Confession of a Sillage Monster

February 21, 2012

What do I think about Las Vegas? It’s a quintessence of kitsch. It’s busy, crowded, artificial, vain and idle. I like Las Vegas exactly for all these traits. Having grown up in the downtown of a multi-million-population city and living now in a suburbia (highly urbanized but still and all), I miss crowds. I miss well-dressed work crowds and dressed-up holiday crowds. All that is within a 30-minutes drive from where I live but I do not take that drive too often in my day-to-day life.

Las Vegas is my fix. Once every 2-3 years for several days I live in a very busy downtown. Every time we’d stay at one of the newest hotels, walk the Strip, do some [window] shopping, watch a show and occasionally pay for resting at a video poker machine.

Many years ago my vSO and I went to Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday. The plan was to have a dinner and go for a walk but then my vSO decided to take me to see Riverdance show which I wanted to see but was hesitant to spend money on (for budgetary reasons). It was a very thoughtful gift on its own but while we were getting ready to go out my vSO handed me a nicely wrapped gift. I suspected (and hoped) it would be a perfume but wasn’t sure which one since at the time there were several perfumes that I liked and hinted to my VSO I wouldn’t mind having in months preceding my birthday.

Riverdance

It was Vera Wang’s first perfume Vera Wang.

Vera Wang – created in 2002 by Jean Claude Delville and Harry Fremont, notes include Bulgarian rose, calla lily, mandarin blossom, gardenia, musk and white woods. In 2003 it won two Fifi awards – for the Women’s Packaging of the Year and Women’s Nouveau Niche.

I liked Vera Wang perfume very much and was so excited that I got it that as soon as I tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box I sprayed myself all over with this wonderful perfume. I mean all over. I don’t remember how many sprays it was but I wasn’t trying to be frugal: after all, it was a new 100 ml bottle of eau de parfum.

Riverdance performed in a small venue with somewhat unconventional seating arrangements: there were sets of a table with four chairs next to it. Tickets stated only a table number. When we arrived there a couple who shared the table with us was already there. They had occupied two seats adjacent to the table leaving us two seats a table and two chairs apart. I felt bad about it: it was my birthday, we paid a lot of money (for us at the time) to go there and we were forced to sit apart. My vSO is a nonconfrontational person and I… they were just much older and I didn’t find the right words.

Vera Wang EdP

So we sat apart. And despite everything I was enjoying the show. Until I realized that a woman sitting next to me started coughing and sneezing and I suspected it was caused by my perfume. Because even two hours after the initial application I was still in a fragrant cloud. I felt hostile towards her for grabbing those seats but at the same time I felt guilty for aggravating her allergies. I even contemplated apologizing to her after the show. But then I thought she could have changed places with her companion (or with my vSO to be even further from me) but she hadn’t. So I kept silent. I don’t know for a fact that she did react to my perfumed indiscretion but since then I’ve never applied too much perfume when going to any performance.

Since then for many years Vera Wang was my dress-up perfume. I used it for occasions where I wasn’t afraid to over-apply it. On the onset of my perfume hobby my tastes and my collection changed and for a while I forgot about my old favorite. And then I took Vera Wang to my most recent trip to Las Vegas and wore it (very discreetly) to a show (Penn & Teller – we loved it). I still enjoy this perfume. I have no idea if it’s good or if it just holds a sentimental value but I love it. It’s loud, very feminine and very flowery. And, I think, it’s mostly (all?) synthetic. But I still would wear it from time to time and remember myself being once a Sillage Monster.

Vera Wang perfume and my cat Rusty

 

See Vanessa’s take on this perfume: The Art of Wearing Perfume Ironically: Vera Wang EDP

Images: Riverdance from broadwaysd.com; perfume (and the cat) – my own.

23 Comments | "Four legs good", Favorite Perfumes, Not a Review | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Undina

What Happens in Vegas… Part I: Guerlain – Mission Accomplished

February 16, 2012

While helping Birgit with charts for her Monday Question: Guerlain or Chanel? I was fascinated by the list of perfumes from Guerlain that respondents named as their favorites without which they couldn’t imagine their Perfume World. That was when I realized that I’d tried merely one third of all perfumes that others loved.

There is a Guerlain boutique at San Francisco Saks. It’s not too far from where I live but even a 30 minutes drive combined with the cost of downtown parking makes it an unlikely place I’d go casually to try one perfume after another.

That’s why when I realized that during my birthday trip to Las Vegas I would be staying at the hotel that hosted the only stand-alone Guerlain boutique in the city… wait… or was it that I booked my stay at the hotel because of that?.. Anyway, I thought it would be a chance to try all those perfumed wonders and asked for an advice.

As you might have noticed already, I like numbers. So here are some relevant to the topic:

  -  28 perfumes were suggested for testing and 14 of them were mentioned more than once;

  –  The most popular suggestion (7 voices) was Chamade;

  –  On this trip I smelled 14 perfumes from the list and tried some on the skin;

  -  3 days are not enough to do justice to what a great perfume house has to offer (duh!).

Las Vegas Guerlain Boutique in Palazzo

Once checked in, I immediately embarked on my mission. I went to the Guerlain boutique and explained my intentions to the SA who greeted me. He was professional and helpful but somehow we didn’t “click”. I might be wrong but I guess he didn’t think I would end up buying anything. Nevertheless we went through a number of bottles, I chose two to try on my skin and went on with my vacation. I came back the same day and then the next one, and the next – and everything repeated. 

I didn’t try Chamade this time because I tried it before and liked, so it was my back-up plan (together with Vol de Nuit) – I decided I would try these two and choose one of them if I wouldn’t find any other perfume that I’d like more. I still plan to seek samples of Chamade and Vol de Nuit to figure out if I can go with the EdT, EdP or need an extrait. But all those who suggested this perfume were right: I like Chamade.

Suzanne, your bet on Samsara extrait would be safe: you were right more than you could imagine (but it’ll be a separate post next month – “How’s that for mysterious?” ©Natalie).

Out of those perfumes that I tried on the skin two were a definite No: Nahema (“old lady perfume” on my skin – sorry to everybody who loves it) and Sous le Vent (I might try it again one day but this time it wasn’t close to what I was looking for). I need to test more Angelique Noire, Cuir Beluga and Bois d’Armenie: I liked them all but it wasn’t love. At least not yet.

Las Vegas Guerlains

And then I took a blotter, inhaled and thought: This is the one! Probably you know that feeling when you smell a perfume and immediately like it. You do not need to work on it, learn to appreciate or let it grow on you. You just like it. That was what happened to me with Cruel Gardénia. It is extremely beautiful and the moment I smelled it I wanted to have it in my collection.

I wore it twice and even though I had one more day to decide (or try more perfumes) I felt it would be right to get my birthday bottle of perfume on the actual day of my birthday. When my vSO and I went to the boutique the guy who was helping me previously (you see, I don’t even know his name since he’d never introduced himself!) wasn’t there. I felt a little bad since I usually try to be fair and buy from those SAs who helped me. But in this case it was for the best: Jorganne, who was there and helped me with my order, was just a right person for me. It was a very pleasant shopping experience including a hand-written card from Jorganne that came in my package (I had to have it delivered since we had only carry-on bags). Guess where I’ll be buying my next bottle of Guerlain. And I have no doubts there will be more.

Guerlain Cruel Gardenia

And finally, please meet Elena from Perfume Shrine – a Godmother of the first Guerlain perfume bottle in my collection. She was the first to suggest Cruel Gardenia and she wrote a beautiful review for this perfume. An honorable mentioning: Asali who seconded that advice.

 

Images: my own

47 Comments | Favorite Perfumes, Meeting People, Random Stuff | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Undina

WANTED: Guerlain Perfume Godmother

February 9, 2012

I have a confession to make: I do not own a single full bottle of perfume from Guerlain. While I’m at it, I don’t think I have more than 2-3 ml of any Guerlain scent in my collection. Here, I said that.

Many years ago I was gifted with a bottle of Champs Elysees (EdT? EdP?). I didn’t dislike it but I wasn’t too impressed either. There was something unsettling about that scent. I kept the bottle but didn’t use it much. Until one day I read something very nice about this perfume somewhere. I do not remember exactly where or what (it was more than 10 years ago), I remember only that it was described as bold and sexy… Yeah, I know, nowadays which perfume isn’t described along those lines one way or the other. But back then that suggestive description made me change my mind about Champs Elysees. And I wore it happily feeling sexy, and daring, and vivacious. Until… One day a co-worker who was also “in perfumes” came over for a quick lunchtime sniffing session, picked up my bottle, sniffed it from a nozzle and pronounced: “It smells like a bug spray!” And that was it. I didn’t suddenly realize Champs Elysees smelled the way she described. She wasn’t even my close friend! But nevertheless I couldn’t bring myself to wearing it again. That’s how impressionable I am. Luckily my second bottle of that perfume was almost empty so I didn’t waste much. But that was the only and the last bottle of Guerlain perfume in my collection.

It was a preamble. A tale comes next.

As I’ve mentioned already I am impressionable. Not only my Champs Elysees story above but a list of my last year’s perfume godmothers attests to that.

Guerlain Perfume Godmother WantedAs an aspiring perfumista I made a New Year resolution to find at least one Guerlain perfume to love (and to hold in my collection). For my upcoming birthday I’m going to the ball traveling and staying in a very close proximity to a Guerlain boutique for several days. What I need now is an inspiration, a perfume godmother to share her (his?) passion for a perfume from this perfume house.

If you had to name just one Guerlain perfume (currently available, modern formulation) for me to try what would it be? If you’ve previously reviewed it on your blog give me a link, I’d love to read it. Or just tell me why you love it.

To make it harder, I’ll list those perfumes I’ve tried already.

Vol de Nuit is the closest to become a bottle in my collection.  I was tempted (surprise!) by Natalie’s review of Vol de Nuit and since then I kept trying Vol de Nuit in both concentrations – EdT and parfum. I have a strange love-hate relationship with it: every time I apply it I think: “Hmm… not bad. Why didn’t I like it last time?” Five minutes later: “It is unpleasant on my skin. It’s definitely not for me.” Thirty minutes into wearing and for as long as it stays on my skin I like it very much and keep sniffing my wrist. And the next time it all repeats.

Usual suspects – Shalimar (EdP), L’Heure Bleue (EdT and parfum) and Mitsouko (EdP and EdT): I tried them again and again (and again…) and no, I do not want to wear them. I can appreciate them, even like them on paper and kind of like some stages of their development on my skin but I do not think I would choose any of them to wear as my perfume if I had other choices.

I do not mind Shalimar Parfum Initial, it’s never unpleasant on my skin (unlike its classical siblings mentioned above) but it’s too boring.

I like how Rose Barbare develops on my skin but in the beginning it’s too sweet. I have a large sample to keep testing and make up my mind but I do not see it as the bottle now.

What say you? Is there a hope for me?

 

Image: my own (with the help of glassgiant.com poster generator)

29 Comments | Bête Noire, Favorite Perfumes, Random Stuff | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Undina

Entertaining Statistics: January, 2012

February 2, 2012

January finally has brought some rain. There is a threat of drought in our state so I was glad it was raining. There were five really cold days (coastal California cold, I mean) but no snow storms or freezing rains.

Let’s see how my first month went resolution-wise.

I haven’t bought a single full bottle or any samples and a damage on decants front is 15 ml.

Even though it was a last year’s resolution, I’m still keeping an eye on my perfume habits: this month I wore my favorite perfumes 5-6 times a week. Somehow it felt right to wear perfumes from my bottles and decants instead of chasing new scents. Also I tried to revisit some perfumes which I tested before but about which I hadn’t made up my mind yet. As a result, my testing of new perfumes went down significantly.

I’ve implemented adding categories to my perfume collection. I found out that mostly I wore/tested perfumes from the high-end niche category and didn’t wear any mall scents at all (see the chart).

January 2012: Perfumes by category

Quick January stats:

* Different perfumes worn/tested: 57 from 25 brands on 69 occasions;

* Favorite perfumes worn: 20 on 23 occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 14;

* Perfume house I wore/tested most often: Tom Ford and Neela Vermeire Creations (if you haven’t tried yet read and see if you could solve Three Pieces of Neela Vermeire’s India Puzzle);

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear, not those that I tested for the first time): top – (not counting bergamot) orange and pepper; middle – (not counting rose and jasmine) iris and ylang ylang; base – sandalwood, musk and vanilla;

* Total number of different notes in all perfumes I wore/tested this month:  214;

Do you think in January you tested more new perfumes (compared to the previous month) or less?

 

Image: my own

14 Comments | My Stats | Permalink
Posted by Undina

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