January 29, 2011 by Undina

Elusive Perfume

An ancient Parfumista’s wisdom teaches us:

“Do not buy a perfume unsniffed.”

I haven’t. It still hasn’t helped.

What can be better than spending time with friends you haven’t seen for a long while? To spend it tasting great wines in the magnificent wine country. And to make it even better add a perfume testing (at the end of the day, of course, not to ruin the appreciation of wines).

I don’t know if it was the perfume itself, the wine we tasted earlier this day or the dinner at a somewhat pretentious Michelin starred restaurant, but it was a love at first sniff. I opened the vial, put a couple of drops to my wrist, inhaled the aroma and started planning when and where I will buy it. The label on my vial stated Frederic Malle Carnal Flower.

Dive in to keep reading…

January 24, 2011 by Undina

First Love: Perfume

I grew up in a country where the term French Perfume was almost a brand on its own. “She wears French Perfume” or “He gave her French Perfume for her birthday” – without even a notion to specify a house or a brand. But then there weren’t that many perfume brands … I won’t even say available – present or widely known there at the time. French Perfume was in some respect a status symbol.