Yesterday's Perfume

MAC Creations MV2 (2002)

In 2006, before I became a perfumaniac, I actually strolled through department stores, much as I did as a tween, randomly sniffing and spraying perfume, occasionally being moved to buy something.

In some ways, I long for that blissful Eden of perfume ignorance again! Before I read perfume books, perfume blogs; before knew I could get free samples or purchase decants; and before I'd go perfume sniffing with an idea of what I wanted to try (and more importantly, with an arsenal of info on why I should try it), it was just my nose and my limbic system that made decisions.

The ultimate imprimatur? The wallet pulled out for a full-bottle purchase. ("Wait, really?" the contemporary perfumista asks. "Without first swapping with someone on Facebook or MakeupAlley? Or buying a decant on SurrenderToChance? Or checking to see if it was deep-discounted on eBay, Fragrance.net or Amazon?") Yes, dear reader, really. Kind of like how in the olden days, people just sniffed around each other at dances and mixers, deciding someone was The One from their sweat or the way they stood or cocked their head or smiled, instead of choosing people by looking at a static picture of them on OK Cupid or Tinder. 

But I digress.

I was recently organizing my perfume (i.e., cramming things into various plastic boxes), when I came across a small bottle I've kept with me through various moves across the country. Over the years I'd sniff this curious little gold-capped thing, feel comforted by it and besotted with it, then confused about whether or not I "should" like it, become overwhelmed by too many conflicting feelings, and move on. Back to the plastic box for you, MV2.

But for some reason, I decided recently to pull it out and spray it on. Umm… wow. It is ridiculously sexy. Spicy. Dirty. Wrong. I realize now that although I'd say to myself, "mother's milk," every time I sprayed it, what kept me from fully embracing it back in the day it was all the confusing dirty elements: Its muskiness, booziness, how amplified  the vanilla and piquant notes were. MV2 is almost oppressive.

What's been the same over the years is what overwhelmingly pulls me in every time: MAC Creations' MV2's milky quality.

Jules by Christian Dior (1980)

I was recently given some romantic advice about men that I find pertinent to this fragrance review.

Stop going for the flashy, obnoxious, weird extroverts, a particularly astute person told me, and begin to notice the quiet, watchful guys who aren’t vying for your — or anyone’s — attention. They’re the truly interesting ones.

Jules is that second guy in perfume form.

It announces itself as a fougère from the beginning, with the barbershop-y accord of aromatic lavender, florals and tonka (coumarin), but its primary character is leather chypre.

Puckery green notes mixed with herbs and fresh florals seem to radiate outward into an ambery-warm animalic base of leather. If the glowing Peridot birthstone had a scent, it would smell like Jules: light-green, iridescent, pale, fresh, angled, sumptuous, jewel-like, reflective.

"Well-blended" and "balanced" are terms you hear a lot in perfume descriptions, but they are particularly apt descriptors here. The seams do not show in Jules; it’s one unbroken line of beautiful.

 

A Vintage-Inspired Modern Perfume by Perfumer Antoine Lie? Help Me Make It Happen on Indiegogo

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

HELP ME CREATE A SEXY, VINTAGE-INSPIRED SCENT WITH ANTOINE LIE!

I'm raising money on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo to create a new perfume with world-renowned perfumer Antoine Lie.

Ever since I began to collect and write about vintage perfume, I’ve dreamed of creating modern equivalents of some of the beautiful fragrances of the past. Antoine Lie's beautiful and erotic perfumes really speak to me, and after I interviewed him for my book, I approached him with the idea to create a floral animalic inspired by vintage perfume but updated for modern consumers. He was eager to be on board, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

ABOUT ANTOINE LIE

Antoine is a world-renowned perfume who is privileged because he has both the opportunity (thanks to Paris-based perfume house Takasago) and the desire, to work in both the mainstream and niche worlds of perfume. I’m so grateful a perfumer of this caliber is interested in this project. 

Here's what one writer had to say about Antoine: “There are few creators who can balance between the needs of the perfume industry and the genius of an independent work of art. Subversive perfumer Antoine Lie is surely one of them. This man is very well known for stepping in two apparently opposite worlds—the mainstream giant brands and the most obscure niche ones.” — Miguel Matos, Fragrantica.com

HOW THE FUNDS WILL HELP GET THIS PERFUME OFF THE GROUND

My goal is to raise $6,000 by July 13^th. I’ll use the funds to register the perfume trademark (around $300); to pay perfumer Antoine Lie for both his time and for the high-quality perfume oils that will go into making this fragrance; and to purchase sample vials, bottles, and prototype packaging: about $5,700.

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you've been a long-time reader of this site and would like to support the creation of a modern perfume as daring, deep, and aesthetics-driven as the perfumes of the past that you love — you can contribute anywhere from $15, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 — with some great perks attached. After the fragrance is created, I will begin looking for investors and ways of bringing this perfume — and possibly others later — into the world.

To find out more about this campaign, please go to Perfume X: A Modern Vintage Perfume on Indiegogo. There, you can find out what perks you'll get for which contribution levels, and non-monetary ways you can support this campaign, for example, by spreading the news on Twitter, Facebook, and among friends and perfume lovers.

Thank you!

*Some of Antoine Lie's perfumes:

Antoine Lie's (Takasago Paris) creations include the newest COMME DES GARÇONS fragrance “Girl” for music sensation Pharrell as well as CDG's Wonderwood, 888, Energy C Lime, Energy C Grapefruit, and Daphne Guiness Daphne; TOM FORD’s Private Blend perfumes Azure Lime and Café Rose; BURBERRY Brit Blue; ARMANI Code; CALVIN KLEIN Contradiction; VERSACE CRYSTAL NOIR; several ETAT LIBRE D'ORANGE perfumes, including Sécrétions Magnifique, Rien, Je Suis Un Homme, and Tom of Finland;  COSTUME NATIONAL's Cyber Garden; PUREDISTANCE's BLACK; NINA RICCI's Love in Paris, several perfumes for Ermenegildo Zegna, and many others.