My Perfume is Arrogant

[ellenkushner]

We have in the past, here, discussed Chypre and Eau de Riverside (which I'm still holding my breath for BPAL to pick up) . . . . The scents that I myself wear regularly are pretty limited, though: Caleche (Hermes - and turns out to contain, guess what, chypre!); Padparadscha (Satellite); and Blenheim Bouquet (Penhaligon's).

While surfing for the ingredients to Blenheim (which elisem and Phoebe were trying to deduce this afternoon here at Hotel Chateau Riverside), I found some pretty amusing reviews on Basenotes, referring to Blenheim as austere . . . potent and dignified, but with virtually no “warm” or animal components... It’s hard to imagine any contemporary perfumer making a scent like this.... unapproachable.....not at all sexy or even concerned about being liked by anyone at all. ... It suggests a powerful arrogance .....an air of unapologetic immediacy and unquestioning self-assertion without any self-effacing self-consciousness....

Sound like anyone we know? It was, indeed, created in 1902 for a Duke (and not Tremontaine or even Avon, whatever you may think!) - though one enthusiast thinks it has all the sublimity of nature in a bottle - this is what Oberon sweats.... While another opines: a testimony to masterful blending and assured breeding.... Don't expect women to like this one. It's too resolutely masculine.

What more need be said?

OK, Penhaligon's (which does not distinguish between scents for men and women) lists the mix as: Lemon, Lime and Lavender, Pine, Musk and Black pepper.

And it smells damned good on me.

(And if you want to sniff it for yourself, they now stock Penhaligon's delicious scents at a surprising number of stores across the U.S.)

Comments

Padparadscha

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

According to one website (http://nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/2/20/1774093.html), "Padparadscha is named for the rare Padparadscha sapphire, and the notes include amber, musk, cedar, sandalwood, juniper and pepper" and also "might actually appeal to men more than women, given that it is so dry, and juniper also tends to seem more masculine than feminine."

Well, at least I'm consistent.