Welcome Sniffapalooza to Twisted Lily: Karen Dubin, Rich Scaraville and David Ecker

For only the second time in its thirteen year history, Sniffapalooza kicked off on a Friday evening before the weekend’s main events. Team Karen (Karen Dubin and Karen Adams) began Fall Ball Weekend October 24-25, 2015 at Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique. Brooklyn’s hottest niche perfumery showcased their new Autumn releases from brands local and global such as Blocki, Coolife, UNUM, Nishane, Monsillage, Euphorium Brooklyn, and Apoteker Tepe.  Owners Eric Weiser and Stamatis Birsimijoglou welcomed all of us with nibbles and libatations as well as a special 20 percent off a purchase offer; I left with Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Lumiere Rose.

Top Left: Karen Dubin and Tom Crutchfield of Roja Parfums,Benoit Verdier of EX NIHILO, Bottom Left: Robbie Wilson of Orlov and Sylvana of Shalini, Michelyn Camen and Karen Dubin

Day One: October 24, 2015

7:45 AM in front of Bergdorf Goodman in New York City

Breakfast at Bergdorf Goodman is a Sniffapalooza tradition and this year the program featured over fifteen brands. Always the effervescent emcee, Tom Crutchfield of Roja Parfums  made everyone feel welcome.

Highlights from the breakfast presentations:

Tom led off the with the latest news and releases from Roja Dove. Tom and Samantha presented three from the Amber Collection, Parfums del La Nuit and introduced two new perfumes, Beguiled and Risque. A Limited Edition candle will be available for Christmas as a Bergdorf Exclusive,

Lusine Jacobs of By Kilian debuted Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi (Alberto Morillas). The fifth and final scent from the Garden of Good and Evil collection, and even if you don’t speak French everyone knows what the name means.  It is an oriental floral with definite sex appeal. The Tom Ford team presented Venetian and relaunched Amber Absolute (Limited Edition and exclusive to BG). A happy coincidence occurred when the original perfumer, Christophe Laudamiel, was present to sniff the new reformulation. Atique Majrouh of Robert Piguet showcased another Bergdorf Exclusive, V. Intense, a sensual version of the House’s big hit Visa, in a lovely gold bottle. Miu Miu presented their first fragrance, Miu Miu for Women (Danielle Roche Andrier). Actress Stacy Martin is the face of the campaign. Norell New York is a modern take on the original 1968 masterpiece composed by Celine Barel. 

New and Noteworthy: Shalini Parfum (Maurice Roucel),exclusive in the US at Bergdorf Goodman, presented by our own Editor in Chief Michelyn Camen. The white floral perfume is housed in a Rene Lalique flacon, "Le Coquillage" designed to evoke a butterfly wing. Only 900 bottles were created. Bergorf Goodman exclusive, Orlov Paris was presented by Global brand manager Robert Wilson presented Star of The Season, from the collection of five fragrances composed by Star perfumer Dominque Ropion. All are based on famous diamonds- Orlov and Star of The Season are available in extraits and include a certified ¼ carat diamond (G, VSI). Franck Salzwedel is a designer whose mission is to translate his artist universe into a scent and capture its soul in a bottle and one of the highlights of the morning was his collection Elisire (a desire). Co-founders, Sylvie Loday and Benoit Verdier of Parisian custom perfume house EX NIHILO, presented their fragrance collection which also offers a personalized customization program of their scents.    

Luxury, Designer and Niche Perfumes Gift Basket

From 10am-12pm we adjourned to peruse the fragrance and cosmetic counters while catching up with friends. At noon Karen Dubin picked a name from the bowl of cards to present the lucky winner with a fabulous gift basket worth over $2000. 

Lunch was at the chic Brasserie 81/2 with guests checking in and receiving a fabulous Sniffapalooza swag bag of fragrance loot. Everyone settled to enjoy lunch with guest speaker presentations presented by Team Karen. 

Mary Ellen Lapansky and Lyn Leigh of the Perfumed Plume Awards, Sarah Horowitz Thran and Scents of Self, Carlos Powell of Brooklyn Fragrance Lover and Christophe Laudamiel

Beauty Habit's Paula Vasquez & Teresa Mitchell gave us a glimpse into their business model and the scent lines we would be seeing later at the Back Label Wines cocktail party. The Perfumed Plume's Mary Ellen Lapsansky & Lyn Leigh spoke of their nascent venture's Fragrance Awards  whose mission is to recognize editorial excellence in a wider variety of categories awarding the best in creative storytelling and visuals that capture the heart of fragrance as an art form. The awards will be modeled after the prestigious Prix Jasmine Awards (originally in France, now defunct) and the Jasmine Awards in the UK. One of the highlights was Sarah Horowitz-Thran’s emotional presentation of the QVC exclusive Biography Scents of Self. an artisan and bespoke perfumer for 20 years she recounted her deeply personal journey that touched us all. Congrats Sarah. Pauline Rochas and Carole Beaupre of Coolife spoke of origins of the brand and their latest scent, Troisieme (Patricia Choux). Chandler Burr talked about perfume as art, and our reliance on reading a list of ingredients, “We don't wear "notes." We don't look at red and yellow and grey and orange. We look at a painting and we wear a perfume.” He teased us with a new project that he is working on which will be launched in February 2016.

Chandler Burr, Pauline Rochas and Carole Beaupre and Francois Damide of Parfumerie de France

 Editor in Chief Michelyn Camen spoke about launching CaFleureBon 5 ½ years ago and how the site became a game changer in the blogosphere with focus on art direction, interviews with master perfumers,  Creative Directors, American Perfumery, Modern Masterpieces, spotlighting emerging natural and artisan perfumery, olfactive storytelling all leading to The Fragrance Foundation Award for Editorial Excellence this year. Of course there was a giveaway; her semi bespoke perfume created by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Reveries de Paris was won by David Ecker and Mary Beth Devine. Francois Damide announced his latest venture with Karen Dubin, Parfumerie de France, a curated selection French luxury perfumes for women and men as well as a line of home fragrances. Carlos Powell spoke about being an “average guy who had a passion for perfume” and introduced us to Brooklyn Fragrance Lover.  Each year, Sniffapalooza features a charity and for this Fall Ball 2015 it was Christophe Laudamiel's The Academy of Perfumery and Aromatics Sense of Scents Edu-kit. This interactive program brings olfaction to grade school children with a fragrance kit of 20 IFRA compliant essences that can be donated to schools and to educators. 

Penhaligon's Perfumes and Molton Brown 

First stop after lunch was Molton Brown's Flagship store. We were welcomed with prosecco and delectable treats with a private presentation of the new Tobacco Absolute Eau de Toilette and Bath & Shower Gel line. Next was a visit to Penhaligon's gorgeous brand-new Rockefeller Center flagship store. Store manager Olivier Reyes spoke to us of the the Company's rich history which began in London late1860s then introduced us to the newest fragrances Blasted Heath and Blasted Bloom.  

Beauty Habit Teresa Mitchell and Paula Vasquez

The day concluded at Back Label Wine Merchants cocktail party hosted by Beautyhabit. Store owner Patrick Watson served wines selected to be enjoyed while pursuing the curated labels Beautyhabit had on display. Sensory overload was in full effect now (but loving it) with new creations by Raw Spirit, Sabe Masson, I Profumi di Firenze, Lubin, Alora Ambience, Soap & Paper Factory, One Self Organics, Baudelaire, Acorelle, Fleur 09, Eau d'Italie, Les Cocottes de Paris from Anais Beguine, Maison Incens, Nuxe, Persephenie, Terveer, Tocca, Vered Botanicals, Ovando, CLIQUE by Roble, Parfums DelRae, Ligne St. Barth and (personal fave) Olfactive Studio from Celine Verleure.

Le Labo New York City SoHo

Day 2: October 25, 2015

A light rain greeted us on the way to Birchbox Soho. Karen Dubin announced, "it never rains on Sniffapalooza" and true to her word, the sun broke through as we departed. At Birchbox Soho, we enjoyed a mini Master Class with Harvey Prince Fragrances  presented by Karthik Aggarwal. After, everyone had a chance to enjoy browsing the stores two levels of beauty and fragrances. Le Labo is always a favorite stop. Boutique manager, Erika gave us a sneak sniff of Thé Noir 29 (Frank Voelkl); which we reviewed last week. It's been two years since their last release so interest was high.  Up the street at Atelier Cologne, Ross Barry had prepared mimosas for us to enjoy their latest releases, Jasmin Angélique and Musc Impériale. 

RedFlower Boutique 13 Prince Street

The last two stops prior to lunch, Red Flower and Rituals were less familiar to the group. Red Flower is botanically based and 100% vegetarian and paraben-free. While candles are the best known  from  the company, there is much to explore in the product range of face, body, hair and scents. Guaiac by Red Flower received four stars from Chandler Burr and owner Yael Alkalay was written up on our pages in 2010.   

Rituals NYC

Rituals, a Dutch based international company with over 350 stores in Europe launched in North America two years ago with three doors, two in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. The brand is no animal testing and paraben-free. Store manager, Rafaella Alberts guided me through the collections of Eastern based traditions. 

Mark Behnke and Katy Knuth with Beckie Sheloskie of Rebel Intuitive

Lunch at La Mela is a five course affair. Everyone gets to rest their feet and enjoy a glass of wine with the feast. The lunch presentations are always a blast with emcee Mark Behnke of Colognoisseur. First presenter was Los Angeles based Jennifer McKay Newton of DefineMe Fragrances. From Interior Designer to perfumer by way of candles, DefineMe launched earlier this year with collection of fragrances packaged as empowered women. The name and signature for each fragrance represents both the scent and the personality behind it. She shared that it was during her tween years that YSL Paris sent her down the rabbit hole and she never looked back. A percentage of her sales goes toward Girls, Inc. Beckie Sheloske & Katy Knuth of Rebel Intuitive Perfumes, (discovered by CaFleureBon, it is true!!!) presented their natural fragrance line which are pure, unadulterated and untouched by technology. They marry old world techniques and traditional raw materials such as flowers, plants, seeds, woods, fruits, resins and animals with a rock and roll sensibility. They talked about “Rebel Smells”  blind  testing with a group of friends, without prior information on the inspiration or notes, and ask who record their first impressions of the perfume through color, shape, texture, image or  memory.

Sue Phillips of Scenterprises Photo Sue Phillips

Sue Phillips of Scenterprises updated us on recent developments with regard to bespoke fragrances. After lunch, Sue hosted a Custom Fragrance Creation Session at The Scentarium where she takes clients on a journey through her personal world of custom fragrance creation. A Scent Personality Quiz and evaluation determines which blends work best to design one's own signature scent. To close Sunday’s lunch, we met  Will Yin of Scent Truck, who developed a subscription service where he curates every box with three scents every month, predicated on one's profile. 

Byredo Perfumes

Stockholm's niche perfumerie Byredo was our last stop. The airy minimalist store is the brand's second location. Store manager, Alix Han Jiang greeted us with flutes of champagne as we all tested the new release Rose of No Man’s Land.

Thank you Team Karen, (Karen Dubin and Karen Adams) for (yet again) another scentually wonderful weekend. See you at Spring Fling!

Hernando Courtight, New York City Events Contributor and CaFleureBon Ambassador-at-Large. All Photos by Hernando of CaFleureBon unless otherwise stated

Look at all this fabulous perfume and goodies!!!!

We have a ginormous swag bag filled with dozens of samples thanks to Team Karen and Beautyhabit including mini and sample size fragrances and goodies from Acordelle, By Kilian, Nuxe, Harvey Prince, RedFlower, Parfums de Marly, Coolife, Parfums de Delrae, Thierry Mugler, Sarah Horowitz Thran, Robert Piguet, Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Elisire, Michel Germain, Robert Piguet, Houbigant, Tiziana Terenzi, Molton Brown, Fleur 09, Alora, Kai, Soap and Paper Factory.

To be eligible you must be a registered reader in the CON USA (you have to do this folks) and leave a comment with what you enjoyed about Hernando’s Sniffapalooza Fall Ball report, if you have attended a Sniffa event before and which brand or perfume you are really excited to win. Draw closes November 5, 2015

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