I’m still on a fragrant cloud after another fabulous Sniffapalooza In New York City. As always Karen Adams and Karen Dubin created a program which had the participants experiencing fragrance in traditional and non-traditional ways. This was the sixteenth edition of Sniffapalooza and we jokingly referred to it as “Sweet Sixteen”. This is a misnomer because this event has long ago come of age although even with all of its history it still manages to seem to be fresh every time.
One of the things that helps keep it new and exciting is the new fragrance releases on display. This Spring Fling we had a very special premiere courtesy of Joe Garces of Robert Piguet. The new five fragrance Nouvelle Collection was on display especially for us for two hours. These five new fragrances all created by perfumer Aurelien Guichard undeniably carry the Robert Piguet DNA. I liked all five but there are two which were particularly memorable; Casbah and Notes. Notes is the first fougere with the Robert Piguet label and it is an elegant sophisticated fragrance. Casbah delivers on its promise to whisk you away to a Middle Eastern locale. I’ll have reviews of all five coming soon. When I was talking to Mr. Garces he told me there is another new collection coming which will be exclusively sold in Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong. He dropped one little bit of a tease. He related to me talking to M. Guichard and asking him to make a tea, lemon, and honey fragrance. M. Guichard was dubious about the honey. When Mr. Garces arrived in Paris the problem had been solved and both of them were very pleased with the outcome. I hope this particular creation won’t require me to find a contact in Hong Kong.
The other new fragrances on display were Amouage Beloved which is beautiful. The Scent of Departure Collection, I picked up MIA and IST. Molton Brown showed off the new Londinium which has a creamy myrrh filling in the heart. It was fun to watch others experiencing the Xerjoff Oud Stars at MiN New York on Sunday.
The speakers supplied a number of non-traditional ways of integrating fragrance into our lives. We were introduced to the Givaudan app called iPerfumer 2.0. It is an app which allows you to input your ratings on fragrances and like other recommendation services it uses that data to suggest new perfume you might like. I’ve been using it for a couple months and I find it a lot of mindless fun. Veronika Bartosch of Naked-Scent.com presented a more personal version of the app where she will apply her hand to help a consumer find a fragrance that can become their signature scent. It seems a fascinating combination of expertise and science and it will be interesting to watch it evolve. It seems like we are in a perfume writing Renaissance and two of the authors contributing to it participated. M.J. Rose who wrote the novel “The Book of Lost Fragrances” held court on the new beauty level at Henri Bendel and displayed the scent inspired by her story, Joya Ames Soeurs. Alyssa Harad read a passage from her fragrant memoir “Coming to My Senses” and she described a conversation every perfumista has had with their non-perfumista friends. I even had the opportunity to speak about Artisanal Perfumery prior to introducing the three perfumers, Kelly Jones, Kim Spadaro, and Charna Ethier; for Sunday’s Emerging Artists Uncorked lunch. Each of these talented women illustrated the principles of Artisanal Perfumery better than my words ever could.
The final bit of fun at every Sniffapalooza is finding a few new people to get to know who share the same passion. This year it turned out to be the women I shared my breakfast table with on Saturday morning. I’ve received a number of fragrant packages from Lisa Lawler, of Surrender To Chance, but it was nothing compared to listening to her talk about perfume. The next time I receive a little white envelope with her name on the return address I’m sure I’m going to smile a bit. My other companions were two other bloggers; Judith Tabron a.k.a The Unseen Censer and Arielle Weinberg of Scents of Self. They both displayed their passion for everything fragrant. Judith educated me on the joys of the Molton Brown line of fragrances and Arielle fell for L’Artisan Bois Farine because it made her smell like peanut butter in a very, very good way.
As I rode the train home I reflected how much things must have changed from edition one to sixteen but one thing I think must be a constant is the camaraderie of this amazing smelling group of passionate perfumistas. Thanks to the Karens for continuing to provide a place for us to gather twice a year amongst our friends in fragrance.
–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor