CaFleureBon’s Surprise Birthday Bash for Managing Editor Mark Behnke + The Love Shack Party Bag

 

In an industry withso many personalities, perspectives and perceptions about perfume can a single blogger make a difference? The answer is yes and one of the people whose mission is to build bridges between fellow bloggers, fragrance enthusiasts, retailers, perfumers and perfumeries all over the world is Mark Behnke, Managing Editor of www.cafleurebon.com . October 23rd is his birthday (a cusp baby), so we decided to throw a virtual surprise birthday bash.

Brothers in Arms-Neil Morris and Mark Behnke

“Happy Birthday to my Brother-from-another-mother! 

 When I first met Mark we immediately hugged each other – it was as if we'd both found a long lost brother. Mark told me how much he appreciated the fragrances I've created, especially his favorite – GOTHAM! Now when I wear GOTHAM I ALWAYS think of Mark; such is the power of fragrance
association!  He would also joke and say that he should simply set up camp outside my window and just drop him any new fragrance I'd completed! LOL! So here's to you, my friend! Wishing you Happiness and Good Health and of course,

FRAGRANT DREAMS!

And let me say too that I miss you!”

Neil Morris, Neil Morris Fragrances

Liz Zorn of Soivohle

“Remembering when we first crossed paths, or when I was first aware of your support for my work. I can say that one of my favorite reviews is the one about Oudh Lacquer. Initially I had put off releasing it for a  year thinking that there were too many Oudhs. Little did I know that the market would be saturated and a small artisan like me could easily get lost in the mix. You write with a fair and thoughtful hand, and take the time to know a scent which is important with a natural like Oudh Lacquer.

 Wishing you a most auspicious Birthday.”

Liz Zorn, Soivohle

 

 

Riding high- DSH on Mark's shoulders Spring Fling Sniffapalooza 2010

"Meeting Mark Behnke in person was a revelation. He and I had made our acquaintance on twitter and it was obvious that he was a man with great taste and a strong knowledge of perfumery. Upon meeting him in person at Sniffapalooza in 2010, I knew that we were kindred spirits. He is absolutely one of the best people in the world to sniff around and talk about perfumes with! Not only is Mark brilliant when speaking to the chemistry of perfumes, he also values the historical context within which each new launch resides. Mark and I have spoken extensively about many perfumes, their construction and relevance but perhaps the best conversation for me was when we began discussing the concept for my Bancha Extreme perfume. I knew that he loved my original Bancha for its ability to calm, soothe and render a feeling of balance, yet he wanted to expand it from its light simplicity into a more complex and deeper experience without losing its essential aromatic signature. We contemplated enriching the base with more moss and cedar as well as adding the true tea note, that original Bancha does not actually have. His feedback during the design process was invaluable and Bancha Extreme would not be what it is without him.

Happiest of Birthdays to a dear friend in fragrance! oxoxox"

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, DSH Perfumes

 Happy Birthday Mark!

It’s a pleasure to be part of this special celebration for you so and to say a big thank you for your support and kindness. I will never forget when we first met in New York for the Sniffapalooza 2010 event at the Jo Malone counter. Later after I presented my first fragrance at the Emerging Artist Uncorked, it was you who wrote the first review for Regalisse Noire for CaFleureBon. I was smitten with your kindness, enthusiasm, authenticity and good taste. I still hold that review as my favorite. I wish you a most wonderful birthday filled with lots of great fragrances, happiness and dreams realized.

~Jessica September Buchanan, 1000 flowers

Tabac Aurea and Incense Pure by Laurie Erickson, Sonoma Scent Studio

Happy Birthday, Mark!

I always enjoy reading your reviews and often buy samples based on your tempting descriptions. Your first review of one of my scents was for Tabac Aurea, and it came as a wonderful surprise. Since then I’ve appreciated your feedback on numerous scents in progress, especially with the long process of creating Incense Pure. Keep up your inspired writing and event coverage; the indie world is better for your work, and we appreciate your generous spirit. Hope you have a fabulous birthday!

Sending all my best wishes to you!"

Laurie Erickson, Sonoma Scent Studio

Ineke Ruhland

I first met Mark when Michelyn introduced us at Takashimaya during a Sniffapalooza event about three years ago. Takashimaya always hosted afternoon tea for the Sniffapalooza crowd, and encouraged all the perfumers and creators of the brands they sold to come out for the event. This turned out to be the last event at Takashimaya before they closed sadly (RIP, we miss your beautiful, zen environment). I was encouraging everyone to smell my latest fragrance, Field Notes from Paris, and at some point a teddy bear of a man came up to me for a chat. He was charming, warm and deeply knowledgeable about fragrance, and told me his name was Mark. Before he left, he gave me a very nice gift.  I had started explaining the new fragrance I was working on, a Japanese mountain lily that I was incorporating into a fruity chypre structure that I was planning to call Gilded Lily, a phrase from a Shakespearean play. He jotted down notes for an article he was writing for CaFleureBon and said, "So would you say the concept is something like 'Shakespeare meets manga'?". Well yes, I would say that if I had thought of it, but I'm not as good a wordsmith as Mark. After that, I used his phrase incessantly whenever I described the inspiration behind Gilded Lily. So thanks to Mark for this little gift of words, and I hope you get many gifts of a more concrete nature for your birthday. Have a happy one!

Warmest wishes,

 Ineke Ruhland, Ineke Perfumes

 

Michelyn and Mark at Takashimaya Sniffapalooza Spring Fling 2010-  Yo Mark, What a noble brow!

Photo: Bill O'Such  (Ineke's husband) Takashimiya New York

I started a thread on a Basenotes forum about men who wear perfume marketed to women in 2009 and you responded with enthusiasm. I remember thinking how helpful you were and how well written and thought provoking your  response was and in spite of your protests, I persuaded you that you were a talented writer and invited you  to become my colleague for the on line publications I was affiliated with at the time. You were (and are) fearless, even when I had you go to a chic New York City salon to have your eyebrows waxed for an article. When I started CaFleureBon, there was no question as to who I wanted alongside me.  I don’t mention to you every time I receive an email from folks you meet when representing CaFleureBon, who tell me how amazing you are, because I lost count and I am not sure if your hat is one size fits all. Your energy, passion and commitment is cherished and I wanted to give you a gift you would never forget, one that you could “spritz with abandon" (one year I gave you my back-up Slatkin & Co. Absinthe, but that can’t last forever).

 I hope that our scented birthday cards are the perfect present. There would be more fragrant well-wishers, but, you know how annoyed you get when a post is longer than1200 words and this one topped 1500.

Have a great party!

 Michelyn Camen, Editor-In-Chief, CaFleureBon

 

“Daddy, don’t forget about us. We love you even when you pet us while wearing Secretions Magnifique. Since we know your favorite band is REM we are going to bark Shiny Happy People for all your human friends if they come to visit and we will serenade you with the greatest hits all year long…especially when you have a Bad Day”

 –George and Rocco Behnke

TheB52s aka CaFleureBon's Editors John Reasinger, Michelyn Camen, Tama Blough and Mark Behnke 

So now it is time to party! Thanks to Neil, Liz, Dawn, Jessica, Laurie and Ineke we have a Behnke Birthday Bag filled with  25ml of Neil Morris Fragrances Gotham,  2ml  Soivohle Oud Lacquer,  2ml of Sonoma Scent Studio Incense Pure, 10 ml of DSH Bancha, 15ml of 1000 Flowers Regalisse Noire, and deluxe samples Ineke Perfume of Field Notes from Paris and Gilded Lily to offer one reader.

 Want to join in the fun at the Love Shack…please leave a comment wishing Mark a Happy Birthday, and something special you would like to say to him…it could be about a favorite personal encounter, or an article you remember, but save the generic Happy Birthday Mark for his FaceBook Wall.  Draw closes October 26, 2012.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume

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77 comments

  • hey, Mark! Don’t enter me in the draw. I just wanted to stop by and join in the birthday festivities and wish you all the best and hope you get mountains of presents – all things that you have wanted for years or at least a month or two!

    Happy Birthday!

  • Hi Mark,
    Thanks for being part of such a benchmark blog and giving the rest of us something to aspire to. We often refer and defer to your wisdom on APJ. Happy Birthday,
    Portia x

  • Mark,

    I wish I could bake you the biggest cake! You are such an amazing presence, so kind, knowledgeable and generous!! This comment is going to be full of superlatives and exclamation marks because that’s just the only way to roll when one is talking about the FABULOUS MARK BEHNKE!

    Happiest of Birthdays and here’s wishing you so very many more in health and happiness!

    xooxAnita

    ps. don’t enter me in the draw. I just wanted to make sure I added my birthday wishes here!!!

    (see? exclamations abound!)

  • Thanks for the wonderful blog. Happy birthday, I hope the following year is blessed for you.

  • Happy birthday Mark !
    It’s through Cafleurebon and so many of your reviews I learned so much about niche perfume . I especially enjoyed your posts when you review multiple fragrances all at once. Actually it’s because of your post of the other day about Kilian in the garden of good and evil that I went out and bought forbidden games today
    Cafleurebon is my favorite blog and I enjoy all your reviews

  • Happy Birthday! I just wanted to say I found it interesting that Mark doesn’t like to give perfumes as a gift..very interesting! The Sniffapalooza write up on BN was a good one!

  • I feel I ‘met’ you for the first time with your Chandler Burr video interview a few weeks ago. Your enthusiasm and positivity is infectious and it certainly comes through in your writing. I look forward to a post from you everyday.
    Have a fantastic birthday, Mark! I hope you get everything you wish for.

  • Janet in California says:

    Happy birthday Mark! Cafleurebon is a marvelous creation! You should be very proud to be part of it
    I hope this is your happiest year yet.

  • Happy Birthday, Boss Man!

    It has been such a pleasure having our working relationship unfold and grow, and I appreciate your input and guidance. I look forward to continuing along that path, and hopefully meeting you in person along the way.

    Enjoy your special day!
    Xox

  • lovethescents says:

    Have a wonderfully happy, healthy and joy-filled birthday and year. What a wealth of information, is this Cafleurebon, and Mr. Mark as well. Hoping to meet you at Sniffa, if I’m lucky enough!

  • Wow the way you met each perfumer and has some influence on them is amazing especially since they are all great indie perfumers
    I have only recently started reading Cafleurebon because all my perfumista friends say its the best place to learn what’s new
    You had your brows waxed for an article ? Really ? You look so happy and cheerful in every photo
    I have only heard stories about the shangri la that takashimiya was and I wish I had visited it when I was in the NYC back in 2007
    What a nice present this must be to have so many people send you wishes
    Btw I love George’s and Rocco’s quote

    Happy birthday and I hope you have a great year

  • Happy Birthday Mark from “Down Under”. May all your wishes be met and may love and joy invade your space for the coming year! Your writing gives us all immense pleasure so thank you!

  • Dear Mark,
    I wish you the happiest and most blessed birthday! I hope you’ll experience at least a part of the joy you bring to perfume enthusiasts all over the world, as it would only be fair for some of it to come back to you.You are a pleasure to read and I wish you many, many a year of health, love and unwanning passion for fine fragrance.

  • Discovering Cafleurebon has made my life ever-so-much better! Here’s wishing you a splendid birthday and manymanymany more to come!

  • Michael Devine says:

    Happy Birthday, Mark! I toast to you and all that you do for this community! Wishing you all the best today and always!

  • The true wealth of a man is his friendships. This post shows that you are blessed with friends – both human and canine- and great taste in perfume and music. Happy Birthday Mark and may all your fragrant dreams come true.

  • Dear Mark,
    Happy Birthday! I love that picture of you and Neil, brothers for real =)
    Just wanted to wish you a birthday filled with joy and times with your loved ones. You are a treasured asset to the fragrance community, sharing your passion for perfumery with such eloquence and grace. I hope that your enthusiasm will only increase in the coming year and look forward to seeing more insightful posts from you on CaFleureBon!

  • Happy Fragrant Birthday Mark! You are a very talented writer and really enjoy reading your reviews..some day we will meet…all the best

  • Happy birthday, Mark! It is an absolute joy to read your essays. You have an amazing way with language. And the fact that you obviously love dogs just makes you an even more special person.

    Hope your day was glorious and may your wishes all come true!

  • Heidi Schroeder says:

    There are so many creative people in this world of fabulous-smelling people, and you are one who leads that brigade. I loved reading your stories and reviews at Basenotes, and I love reading them here. Wishing you a wonderful birthday and an even more wonderful year!

  • Happy birthday, Mark. I’d love to meet you and sniff with you someday. You sound like someone very special!

  • Happy birthday Mark. Since a few months I discovered Cafleurebon I visit every day. I really enjoy reading all the reviews and blogs so much. I hope you can continue doing this for a very long time. Have an awesome day!

  • Happy Birthday Mark!

    I want to personally thank you for all the time, effort and commitment you’ve put into this wonderful site. Your knowledge is incredible and you are always such a pleasure to read.

    Thank you and enjoy your special day!

  • marcopietro says:

    Cafleurebon is a fantastic companion of my daily exploration on the net. An essential appointment with your expertise and passion. Thank you for your work.
    Happy Birthday Mark !

  • Happy Birthday Mark! I really enjoy your contributions to the blog – i.e. it was great to see you chatting live with Chandler Burr about his new releases. I really enjoy your humor and wish you all the best in the coming year of your llfe. Have a great party! 😉

  • Mark, thank you for introducing me to so many talented perfumers (three of my absolute favorite are contributing to this draw :)!) through your fantastic reviews that I always look forward to reading! wishing you the happiest of b-days and many more to follow!

  • Happy birthday fellow cuspian! Seems like it is common for one to love both perfumes and horoscopes. I wish there are perfumes based on horoscope personalities including cusps.

  • Happy Birthday Mark!!
    I so enjoy your style of writing, and always look
    forward to your reviews! I’m not surprised your
    birthday is Oct. 23…lots of creativity and artistic
    point of view, those born on this cusp…(Me too!)
    All the best!

  • Borko Boris says:

    Happy Birthday, Mark! and thank you for all the wonderful articles that are signed by you. I consider Cafleurebon a book, from where I learn something new everyday, and I am glad that Mark’s name is on it’s cover!

  • Happy Birthday from Italy! I’m sorry, I don’t speak english quite well to describe how much I learned about fragrance in Cafleurbon articles. I will never be grateful enough…. Many many thanks!

  • I want to tell you that your work is highly appreciated by all of us and I hope that in the next years I will have tha chance to thank you again and again for your great articles and the great amount of information you bring to us all.

    Happy Birthday!

  • Mark, Happy Birthday! Your review’s are always done with such great knowledge, charisma and enticement.
    Wishing you an amazing Birthday!

  • Happy Birthday, Mark!!!!! Thank you for your devotion to the art of perfumery, and for your passion and commitment to talk to us about it. Love your commentaries and reviews. Keep up the good work, and all the best to you!!!!

  • Dear Mark, wishing a wonderful birthday. Thank you for all the gifts we receive in the form of your beautiful reviews.
    All the best to you and a big SKÅL!
    (no need to enter me in the drawings, thank you)

  • I’m sending you cyber fragranced Happy Birthday wishes! I have learned so much from you this year on my new scented journey and I was lucky enough to hear you speak at the Sniffapalooza luncheon last spring. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, essays, thoughts and ramblings. You are a pleasure to read.

  • Happy Birthday, Mark! I invite you to join me this afternoon for a coffee at the Starbucks on Elm Street. We’re neighbors, right? You’ll be able to identify by my scent: I’ll be wearing Jean Patou Joy. (-;

  • Mark!!
    Happy Birthday to you, hope you are having the best day ever. Thanks for your generosity of spirit, honesty, and encouragement. It means more than you know, and plus you are just plain fun to be around sniff and talk perfume with… Keep on keeping on..ox Valerie

  • Happy birthday Mark!!! Best of wishes to you and all your loved ones !! Thank you for your lovely reviews my tastes are so alike yours my favorie Neil Morris is Gotham, Gilded Lily is a fragrance I just can;t live without and so on!!! Keep on intoducing us to your newest finds!!

  • Discovering this site has enriched my daily reading and Mark’s thoughtful writing has been a big part of this. I hope to meet you in person someday. But, in the mean time, I wish you a wonderful birthday and blessed year ahead.

  • I loved the photos in this tribute, especially the one of Mark carrying dawn Spencer Hurwitz on his shoulders.

    A review that Mark wrote a little while ago has made an impression on me. He had high expectations for Serge Lutens Une Voix Noire. It was a gardenia fragrance and said to be based on Billie Holliday. When first smelled, it seemed to be a browned and wilted and diminished gardenia. Not a big white floral that many love to wear and smell on others. Mark tried it again, leaving expectations behind. Maybe that dying gardenia, with notes of rum and tobacco, was more in keepng with Lady Day, anyway, and could be excellent for itself.

    Have a joyous birthday, Mark.

  • I love reading all of the articles on CaFleurBon, especially Mark’s. I am a newbie perfumista and have a very limited budget. I was primarily a Chanel girl, and they were all gifts from my late husband. It is so interesting and informative to read CaFleurBon, and to read about all the fumes we’d like to sample.m I just wanted Mark to know he is appreciated, and how much he teaches us. Happy Birthday to You!!!

  • I only recently discovered this site, but it has opened my eyes to so many fragrances I had no idea existed. Thanks to your review of Reglisse Noire, I will soon be receiving a bottle. Thank you for all your lovely writing! Happy Birthday!

  • Happy Birthday Mark! What are you wearing? Lol. Thanks for all the writing. I love your turns of phrase.

    “Jasmine greets you and she seems very “good girl” for the early moments but then her friends show up as tuberose and narcissus help her out of her pinafore and into her leather pants.”

    Yes! Have a wonderful day! 🙂

  • The first CaFleureBon article I read was about fractionation (which up until I read the article made absolutely no sense) and that began my love of this blog. Mark, you seem to have a gift for teaching. I find that although there are lots of places where I can find informative fragrance reviews, yours in particular make me long to try scents that I would usually dismiss and help me to understand the reasons for my preferences. Thank you for all your hard work and happy birthday!

  • Happy Birthday Mark! I so look forward to your reviews, written so beautifully and thoughtfully. On the basis of your reviews, I have tried many wonderful perfumes, but there is one perfume I just love, and every time I wear it, I think of you – – PG Indochine! Thanks for your inspiration and dedication, as you have touched us all. Have a very special birthday!

  • Although I already posted a comment I just have to add (b/c I forgot to before) that the picture of Michelyn (drop dead gorgeous,petite and the epitome of “tres chic”) and Mark ( a handsome,larger than life big bear of a guy) is priceless 🙂

  • Happy birthday to you Mark, and thank you for your contributions to this here favorite perfume blog of mine. I check here every day to see what wonderful reviews and interviews the CFB crew have cooked up. Rock on forever for that terrific review of Regalisse Noire which made the perfume world swoon over a jewel we might otherwise have missed. MWAH!

  • Somerville Metro Man says:

    First I have to thank Michelyn for getting everybody together to wish me Happy Birthday.
    Second thanks to all of you who took the time to comment. I write about perfume because I love talking about perfume, but your wonderful wishes let me know it is appreciated and that is as good a present as one could ask for on their birthday.
    Thanks to everyone who made this a very special 53rd birthday for me.

    Mark

    P.S.: Sherapop if I still lived in Somerville I definitely would’ve met you at Starbucks in Davis today. How we lived so close to each other but didn’t connect is one of life’s great mysteries.

  • Mark
    There was so much frosting and white flour on your Facebook wall I thought you would have been in a sugar coma by now
    Happy birthday…the comments attest to the fact that what you do touches so many who admire, love and respect you and there’s no spilled perfume to be found

  • Happy birthday, Mark! I “met” you back in 2008 (I think) when you first joined Basenotes. Soon you were writing wonderful reviews, keeping very detailed statistics on what was worn and how often with the SOTWs for an entire year!, and writing your “Welcome to Candy Town” saga … How jealous I was of the BN get-together in Boston years ago! Anyway, we have had some very fun discussions about perfume, art, True Blood, and dogs over the years!

    I’m glad you still drop by BN now and then (your contributions to the Chandler Burr Untitled threads have been interesting) and I enjoy reading your reviews right here on CaFleureBon! Keep it up!

    All my best, shannon

  • Mark, I mus say I always appreciate the historic and cultural context you give to your articles. It is one of the things that sets your writing apart. Happy birthday!

  • Happy Birthday!
    You are such a talented writer! I love the vivid descriptions you bring to all of your reviews ^^ as well as the occassional mythology lessons!

    Thank you for giving us so much of your time to share perfume with us!

  • I am afraid my message can’t be very personal. I hadn’t realized who wrote each cafleurebon article until a few months ago so although I have been an avid reader for I’d say more than two years now, I am only starting to get acquainted with every writer’s personal style. Mark, you seem like a fun guy to be around. From the resent articles, one that really got me interested was Luxor Oud, and this was the review that got me to discover Memo. Thank you for that (although my budget received yet just another blow). Happy Bday Mark

  • chayaruchama says:

    No one finer, believe me.
    I’m late here, sadly [ curse work, sometimes] but he knows how I feel …

  • Happy birthday, Mark!

    The lust for life can be seen in any of the pictures above. This joy, you transpose in every article that is signed by you increasing the pleasure of learning and making it more easy to comprehend. I know that I will be here 10 years from now wishing you again a Happy Birthday and who knows, maybe someday I will have the pleasure to meet you in person at a sniffing session.

  • I hope your birthday was a happy one, Mark! I’m afraid my message isn’t too personal, as I only recently discovered this website. But I do have to say how much I appreciate your wonderful reviews, I have already run to check what you have to say before falling under the spell of an advertisement! And thank you so much for introducing me to so many glorious scents!

    Many happy returns of the day, and here’s too many more lovely-scented years!

  • tomatefarcie says:

    My meeting exists in the world of the imagination. Thank you for your fragrance reviews. They are so much more than that; history, literature, painting. Thank you for enriching my life in ways too numerouse to count.
    bonne anniversaire!

  • Mark, first, wishes for a happy fragrant birthday. I enjoy the different writers and viewpoints presented on Cafleurebon. One thing I appreciate about your reviews is your ability to clearly describe a perfume so I get a real sense of how it smells, and to stand back and give an objective review, even if it’s not your cup of tea. Ok, that was two things!

  • Wow, such great photos! I really enjoyed reading these tributes to you, and have looked forward to your reviews for both your manner of writing and for the quality of content. Happy birthday; in fact, why not celebrate the whole month? Enjoy, and keep doing what you do best!

  • Mark…Happy Birthday, I really just started reading your site but I have learned a lot so far. Thanks. Greg

  • As a writing professor, I have a particular appreciation for Mark’s graceful prose. His pieces are typically insightful and packed with information, but he does a great job of making his work look effortless. I appreciate his objectivity, his ability to describe scents, his warm candor…but most of all, I appreciate the way that I always feel a bit smarter about fragrance after reading one of his pieces.

    Thank you, Mark…I hope that you had a wonderful birthday and a joyous, scent-filled year to match.