Green, green grass – Elena Cvjetkovic
“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.” ― Oscar Wilde
I’ve been wanting to write you a most beautiful perfume review. It would be one that would be filled with mind-tingling, carefully chosen words, smoothly flowing, perfectly constructed sentences painting vivid images of fragrant impressions, to create a small magnetic portal into the other world(s) where perfume takes us, filled with never-fading rainbows, heavenly arrays of flowers, and a chorus of divinely singing muses of art. I couldn’t. Not today. So I stopped and took my time to notice the exuberance of spring and the beauty of little things, once taken for granted, now new and exciting entries in the fragrant diary of April 2020, even though I am quarantine.
Spring IS here, and finally in full bloom! The world outside (observed mostly through windows lately) comes adorned with colors of white, yellow, pink, and lilac hues and the scent of delicious fresh greenery, soft rains and wet soil, their scent inhaled hungrily during open windows or short, time-limited strolls around my neighborhood.
Even though your body is in quarantine – your mind isn’t. So I let it focus on something else: creating new, good memories, fragrance-colored memories, glimpses of beauty, streaks of positivity, simple pleasures amped to the maximum:
Songs of Spring by Willian Adolphe Bouguereau, 1889., detail – editing by Elena Cvjetkovic
Quarantine Day 29
Green. Bright, fresh, and new, all around. From lime to sage green, unmasked chlorophyll in all its might! Healing green, the most relaxing color there is, a symbol of growth and rebirth, of life! I wanted to touch the green, to embrace it, to rejoice in it like a little child. To feel the old, eternal and yet so new touch of wet, cold fresh grass under my feet, with dandelions and daisies singing songs of spring.
Pergola by Eglija Vaitkevice/PerfumeExaltatum: A beautifully constructed neo-vintage Fougere fragrance, soul-awakening fresh and featuring 50 shades of lavishly blended green, angelic, gentle, soothing green. A green you want to remember forever, to breathe in and soak yourself into, rejuvenating spring green!
Notes: Bergamote, Petitgrain, Green Notes, Grass, Ginger, Narcissus, Tuberose, Jasminum Grandiflorum, Violet Leaves, Myrtle, Lily-of-the-Valley, English Ivy, Ylang-ylang, Galbanum, Hyacinth, Reseda, Hay Absolute, Clary Sage, Patchouli, Vetiver, Styrax, Beeswax, Tree moss.
Spring by Frank Weston Benson
Quarantine Day 31
The elegance of white, have you noticed it all around? Little white blossoms and flowers, dandelions clad in puffy white delicate fabric, heavy branches of blooming trees bursting with whites and soft pinks, fragile white petals flying in the wind, reminding me of my favorite spring dresses, forgotten in the wardrobe, unnecessary. I almost forgot what it feels like to swirl around in a dress, the lightness and the feel of textures and different materials on the skin, a fragile touch of so much needed effortless femininity…
Oscar de la Renta for Pierre Balmain 1994
Vision in White, by Neil Morris/Neil Morris Fragrances: This beautiful perfume was created based on a photo Cafleurebon’s EIC Michelyn Camen sent Neil in 2013: an Oscar De La Renta for Balmain model “whose face cannot be seen, but whose presence cannot be ignored“. It was meant to evoke the vintage Chanel and Guerlain perfumes, and oh! did it succeed! Dignified, refined elegance that is very much alive and breathing, a white floral fragrance with an inner shine and layers of whiteness. Gentle traces of peach and sparkling, bitter freshness of aldehyde supported bergamot, and mandarin shine softly in the opening. White, heaps of dainty white jasmine, gardenia, orchid, and honeysuckle petals, forming a finely crafted white dress made of the most exquisite materials that swirls around you joyfully! I don’t even need a dress now in Quarantine: Vision in White does the trick!
Notes: Mandarin, Aldehydes, Italian Bergamot, Peach, Plum Blossom, Jasmine, Green Tea, Honeysuckle, Gardenia, Orchid, Oakmoss, Musk, Orris
Lipstick by Frantisek Kupka 1908, editing by Elena Cvjetkovic
Quarantine Day 33
The color of red, red like red lipstick that just fell out of my cosmetics bag that was sitting all alone, forgotten and lonely on a shelf in the hallway since the Q-Day 1. It felt so strange to just touch it, to try to apply it with clumsy fingers that seem to have forgotten how to dip in and move that brush in precise, smooth strokes. It might seem childish but I had to open every tube, every little lid and – smell it. Yes, I know: Frederic Malle’s Lipstick Rose might be the first and finest creamy, cosmetic-vibe perfume that comes to your mind, and I adore it, but this time something else crossed my mind. Applying red lipstick in slow motion movement felt more decadent, more…tense, highly intimate, definitely sensual.
Putain des Palaces by Nathalie Feisthauer, Etat Libre d’Orange: Its opening reminds me of the scent of a cosmetics drawer, so familiar and comfortable, tender, and gentle. Putain des Palaces is truly a beautiful spring fragrance, delightfully refined and elegant like the finest skin powder with violets and musks, but it is also purposefully seductive, dark, leathery and animalic in the drydown. The miracle of applying red lipstick: one of those little indulgences that can keep you going, with a feeling of strength, hope, and instant smile under my favorite matte intense red! What a difference a little red lipstick together with Putain des Palaces made during my April Quarantine!
Notes: Rose absolute, Violet, Leather, Lily of the Valley, Tangerine, Ginger, Rice Powder, Amber, Animalic notes.
Kintsugi, editing by Elena Cvjetkovic for Masque Milano
Quarantine Day X (Who’s counting anymore?)
Kintsugi at my Quarantine home – inside, magnolia trees blooming outside. Strange, but that was the first thing that came to my mind – Kintsugi. Cracks on the walls, vertical, horizontal, crooked patterns of breakage caused by an earthquake. Cracks on the inside, a spiderweb of invisible fine and rough lines brought about by new rules and forced habits imposed on us almost overnight. I’m observing through my window a magnolia tree starting to bloom, planning to sneak out and to pick one, just one single flower. The desire to touch those petals, to breathe in its smell is so strong that it makes me laugh. Kintsugi. The beauty of our own fragility, cracking open to reveal the sources of inner strength and resilience: forgiving, moving forward, rebounding, transitioning from broken to beautiful. Hope and acceptance, or as Masque Milano quotes: „Cherish the simple. Cherish the old. Do not hide your scars, show them with pride.“
Kintsugi by Vanina Muracciole / Masque Milano: A springtime appropriate modern chypre with an opening of bright floral notes, slightly bitter citrusy-salty vegetal to my nose at first, but touched by warm, sunlit amber. It unfolds slowly, not precisely revealing a flower-by-flower progression – it rather smells like a garden full of flowers with green and moist undertones, through which creamy magnolias and fragile roses Centifolia glow on my skin. I remembered that it smelled completely different on my friends: its heart made of Patchouli Coeur seemed to beat stronger on them than on me, although I also feel the leathery, earthy and musky tones intensely in the drydown. A chypre without oakmoss, an old form shattered and boldly recreated.
Notes: Bergamot essential oil, Chinese magnolia essential oil, Savory amber, Golden suede, Centifolia rose Grasse absolute, Violet leaf absolute, Benzoin Siam, Raspberry leaf absolute, Patchouli Coeur, Vanilla absolute
Congratulations to Masque Milano on their 2020 Art and Olfaction Finalist for Love Kills
#stayathome #staysafe and enjoy perfumes!
Elena Cvjetkovic, Editor and Author of The Plum Girl
Disclaimer: Perfume samples were provided for my consideration by brands mentioned. Opinions are – as always – my own.
art and images ©Elena Cvjetkovic unless noted
For our Perfumes to get you through Quarantine we have a most generous draw for three readers
Thanks to the generosity of Etat Libre D’Orange Paris we have 100 ml bottle of Putains de Palaces for a registered reader in the EU, Canada or USA
With love from Neil Morris Fragrances for a registered reader worldwide 30 ml of Vision in White which is a limited edition fragrance. To order email neil@neilmorrisfragrances.com
Exaltatum Pergola © Elena
For a registered reader in the EU or USA a 15 ml bottle of Exaltatum Perfume Pergola
To be eligible, you must be a registered reader. Please tell us what you enjoyed or found interesting about Elena’s perfume choices for Quarantine, which you would choose and where you live. Draw closes 5/1/2020. Tell us if you have been wearing fragrance during “stay at home” or “Quarantine.
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