New year wishes

We're closing in on 2010.

2009 was definitely something of a roller-coaster -- in the best possible ways. Lots of change, a steep learning curve, lots of new things, lots of being reminded of the precious nature of support of family and friends.

For 2010, I wish for pretty much more of the same (but with no repeat of a couple of the yuckier, more irritating experiences).

Here's to the glories of my son, hard work, soaring amusement, thinking outside the box, leaps of faith, good surprises, great music, wonderful haircuts -- to name just a few things.

Here's to fragrance -- in all its permutations.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and productive next year.

Ode to Kiehl's

After a couple of days of contemplating light and colour -- and my emotional reactions to both -- back to smells.

Kiehl's is a company that was started up in New York eons ago (1851, in fact). It makes all kinds of potions and lotions and when I lived in New York I visited the East Village shop often. There's a London shop (or shops? I'm not sure) and Kiehl's products are now quite widely available.

When I lived in NY, the various things available were priced within my regular treat range (ie, 12 years ago, I could buy a reasonable-sized bottle of the most gorgeous shower wash for $6-7 US). As with most brands that migrate over here, the prices got heftier. So, Kiehl's is now out of the 'regular' treat range into the seriously special. In fact, I can't recall the last time I treated myself.

Some Kiehl's products are available at spacenk shops, which gives you an idea of their current price points. I recall trying the cult fave Kiehl's musk oil at the Hampstead branch.

On a visit to Brent Cross John Lewis yesterday for my son's new school shoes I was reminded that JL houses a Kiehl's concession as well. This sent me off thinking about past Kiehl's purchases, so I thought I'd muse about some of them here.

I know people who think splashing out on nicely scented shower gel is silly because it just gets washed down the drain. I see the point. However, sometimes it's just soooo lovely to suds yourself up with something that smells beautiful and/or unusual.

Of the Kiehl's shower washes I've bought in the past, the one that stands out most clearly in my memory is coriander. Green, sharp, herbal -- I have a thing about cooking with coriander (cilantro) and love the smell in any permutation. I know over time I also bought coconut, vanilla, mango, grapefruit, probably lavender and something light and mixed floral that was gorgeous, which I think is forest rain.

I also recall buying various body creams, the blue astringent, lip balm and various shampoos. They were all very good quality and the shampoos in particular were a pleasure to use. And, there is this goo called Cream with Silk Groom, which I adored when I had very short hair -- and still strangely yearn for even though my hair hasn't been the right length to use it for years.

But it remains the body cleansers that I loved most dearly and truly miss: not only the glorious smells, but the wonderful silkiness.

One of the great things about Kiehl's is they always gave samples with a purchase -- very generously. I recall the New York shop assistants asking what sorts of things I might like to try and then bustling around grabbing three or four things from various drawers.

So, if you need a pick-me-up, are bent on a bit of self-gifting, need something/some place to suggest to someone who's at a loss for a gift for you, have a look at the Kiehl's website. I'm sure you'll be enchanted -- and converted.

Of gorse

My 2010 wall calendar is called Herbology. I got it at Borders, in their going-out-of-business sale. While I buy the majority of my books on Amazon now, I did visit Borders Brent Cross with some frequency -- even if only to browse. It makes me sad when a real live bookstore disappears. I have much appreciation for the internet (particularly given it's how I make my living) but bookstores hold a special place in my heart among bricks and mortar retailers.

But that was a digression from the heart of today's matter.

There's a month entry for gorse in my herbology calendar, which is how I got on to this strand.

On a number of occasions when I have visited my Devon friends -- and during my teenage years spent hiking in the mountains of New England -- I've encountered great expanses of flowering herbs/plants on moors and in mountain fields. I'm not clear why but I find these expanses of other colour amidst the varying shades of green (and brown) exceptionally moving. Even now writing about the images I get a tightness in my chest and become slightly teary. Gorse and heather -- I think those are the most common. Yellow and purple.

There are other, more citified, flowers that cause this sort of reaction as well -- in particular, foxglove (digitalis). This is not only beautiful on its tall stem, it is slightly menacing because it is poisonous. Maybe a bit like a beautiful but slightly menacing man -- so attracting, but someone you know you should steer clear of, who seems to whisper 'slide away: I know you desire me, but I'm no good for you'.

But the swathes of gorse and heather I've seen take my breath away. No real strong scent that I recall -- just out-there, other-worldly wildness. You want to lie down in it but there are prickles and rough stalks that will stick into your side, tear at your clothes, pull your hair. Stuff maybe not quite of this world but one more older and more mysterious, maybe inhabited by magical creatures.

The thing about the colours is that the heather blends in ever so slightly more than the gorse, which stares at you, it's such a bright, almost acidy, yellow: look at me, it says, I flourish up here while you just visit and stumble along.

I haven't been been to Dartmoor in a while, and haven't hiked in New England in years. But, when I spied the picture of gorse on the back of the calendar I was shocked at my yearning.

Perhaps it's the wildness, a sort of anarchy of flora, that calls me out of the somewhat sameness of the winter landscape. In any case, it does -- and I can see this being a theme I return to over the course of the barren time to shore up my optimism and energy while I await the emergence of spring.

Delight in light

It may seem ridiculous, but since we have moved past the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year, I feel better, lighter, more optimistic.

It is like this every year for me: I almost hold my breath going down the slippery slope towards the first day of winter and then, even the day afterwards, even though I know it's only a fractional change each day, I heave a sigh of relief and bask in that infinitesimal change. Strange, I know.

We're still a good ways off days when it gets light before one is supposed to awaken in the morning and gets dark at what I perceive to be a reasonable hour, but my mind is turned to the sights and smells of seasonal shifting. I think to myself that soon the snowdrops will poke through the ground, then the crocuses. I know I'll still be cold, will still be wrapped in jacket, hat, scarf and mittens for another couple of months at least. But still, that sense of expectation, that sigh of relief.

It's grey outside the window onto the lawn, but the flowering cherry tree has buds along its bare branches, and I know the tulips, daffodils and narcissus will shoot up around its base, followed by the bluebells.

The jasmine out back has buds (even though it shouldn't -- we're in a somewhat sheltered position).

I received a basket of hyacinth among my holiday gifts. They're still closed tight. I expect the flower stems won't have grown the three-four inches they need to bloom for several weeks to a month.

But the promise of colour and fragrance is there for me every morning now when I come downstairs -- thanks to the increasing light. Ahhhhhhh...

"I play my drum for you..."

Many years ago, when I was at university, an updated, sort of rock 'n roll version of Little Drummer Boy was released for Christmas. For reasons that I don't understand, this particular rendering of the holiday classic really floated my boat. Every year at this time, it rumbles back into my head and I end up humming it (and singing the lyrics inside my head) for a week or so before the big day.

However, I've never been able to find a video or audio recording of it. It's almost like I imagined it.

In any case, the presents are wrapped, the stockings are filled. Only the Christmas morning bagels to be procured from our award-winning local bagel shop.

Per Basenotes, the winner of the holiday give-away of a bottle of Tauer L'Air will be announced after Christmas. Again, thank you for your patience and someone will be getting a special post holiday surprise. :)

Happy holidays!

The smell of being really cold

I don't do cold well. I know I've said this before, but the past week has been very cold in London and London boroughs don't deal well with things that come from the cold.

Gritting and salting are haphazard (on the Brent side of Cricklewood Broadway, the closest main road, it was gritted; not so on the Barnet side of CB, where I happen to live). The little single-track lanes where my house is located are ice skating rinks -- even days after the brief snow we experienced.

I posted last week about perfumes that have the sense or feel of snow.

Today, a brief exploration of the sense of cold. The coldest perfume I can think of is Serge Lutens' Iris Silver Mist. I thought and thought of things. I cast my mind back over vetivers, irises and incenses, all of which can have a cold aspect. I thought of Paco Rabanne Metal for the name, but this is a floral that is not at all cold.

In truth, ISM was the only fragrance to immediately pop to the front of my mind during this contemplation. Nothing else comes close. I've covered its rooty, carroty aspect in the past, but I can think of nothing else, no other perfume, that is, for me, so absolutely grey and frigid. It is metallic in the same way as cold air is; it is earthy, but not at all sensual to my mind; it is grey even though the most beautiful of irises I've seen are blue to purple. Grey being the colour of bareness, if that makes sense.

I've said I don't like Iris Silver Mist, though there are a number of other iris perfumes I love.

So, Serge, you've captured my least favourite time of year in a fragrance. Interesting.

Today is the winter solstice. I believe the exact moment of the start of winter in the UK is around 5:30 this evening. It gets lighter from here.

_____________________

I don't yet have results for the give-away on Basenotes, which was very well 'subscribed'. I will post information as soon as it is available. Thank you for your patience.

Basenotes competition finished

The joint give-away with Basenotes on the www.basenotes.net site finished Friday, 18 December, at midnight.

We are now co-ordinating and I should be able to post a winner on Monday, 21 December (the first day of winter).

Thank yous to everyone who participated, thank you for a bit more patience, and thank you to Grant and Danielle at Basenotes for hosting things.

Friday roundup

A number of random things.

1) A reminder that today is the last day (ie, 18 December) packages posted First Class Signed For are likely to make it to their destination by Christmas. After today, it would be best to post things Special Delivery Next Day from the site.

2) Today (Friday) is the last day for UKers to participate in the Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume/Basenotes joint holiday give-away. Have a look at www.basenotes.net for details.

3) I highly recommend Jamie Oliver's Christmas programmes on Channel 4. I think I might actually be able to make decent roast potatoes after watching him on Wednesday night, and the clementine jelly from last night was very popular with my son.

4) A friend is visiting Amsterdam on Sunday for the day (it's self-gifting on her birthday). If anyone can recommend an Indosian restaurant (or, for that matter, any good place that opens for lunch on a Sunday), I would much appreciate it. While I did live in Amsterdam for a bit under a year, the restaurant I most enjoyed (Tempo Doeloe on Utrechtsestraat) is only open for dinner. Any other suggestions for things she should do also very welcome.

5) There was a very sad post on www.perfumeshrine.blogspot.com yesterday about the demise of Guerlain Attrape Coeur. The whisper is that Guerlain has decided to discontinue this fragrance rather than dumb it down to fall into line with the new IFRA standards. Looks like this is going to be the frequent hard choice regarding a number of classic fragrances.

Happy snow day. Stay safe and warm.

Snow!

It snowed here yesterday. Not really sticking, but it was our first proper taste of winter. The school run was neverneverland.

I don't like winter. I don't like cold. Yuck. Feh. But even I can appreciate snow -- fluffy, white stuff that transforms the outer world...

And we're supposed to get at least three days of snow -- through Saturday!

The year before I left New York for first Amsterdam and then London, we had the best snowstorm evereverever. A Sunday in January 1998 it started snowing in the afternoon and didn't stop until Monday afternoon.

I went to work on the Monday (none of this silly closing down a city for 1/2 an inch of snow: New York is made of tougher stuff than that). The stock market was open, so my workplace was open. The subway was open too ... for a while.

I think the market closed around noon. So, I went with a couple of workmates to the local Maroccan cafe and had lunch: lamb sausages, cous cous and mint tea, if I remember correctly (isn't is odd I can recall that lunch years and years ago -- must have been the snow magic).

Then, I got on the A train, planning to change to the F at Boro Hall in Brooklyn.

Nope. Nosirreebob.

No more subway. So, instead I walked home. Usually, a walk from Boro Hall took 20 minutes or so.

Two hours later, after struggling through thigh-high snow, walking through the middle of dead-quiet streets, I made it home. It was a glorious experience.

A few perfumes that I think of when it snows:

Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige. Well, there's the name obviously :). This is soft and powdery smelling. Gentle, like snow wafting down. I don't really 'do' powdery -- but you might.

There is one powdery scent I adore, though, which somehow bucks the trend: Laura Tonatto Plaisir. This is vanilla-almond-powder and it is gorgeous. No talc here -- just serious grown up pretty, but with a difference and a kick that make it seriously womanly stuff. Achingly beautiful and perfect for a snowy day.

To close this post, Guerlain Shalimar. The myth is that Jacques Guerlain dumped a load of new synthetic vanilla into Jicky to see what would happen. What he got is soft, vanilla, sublimely carnal. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

Just like a snow storm.

A CJScent: a review of Darkness

CJScents in a US-based fragrance etailer -- for my US-based readers. It's been around for a bit over a year and is the baby of Candice, cjj88 on MUA.

Candice began producing fragrances a few years ago. Initially, these were available only (I hope my memory is correct on this) via Etsy. Success meant a shift to an own-brand website, which you can access here: www.cjscents.com).

Candice sent me a vial of Darkness in a packet with various things and I am really enjoying it. This is lush and animalic, with patchouli, rose, sandalwood and frankincense listed as the main notes. It has a nice oiliness on the skin and is quite long-lasting.

The main ingredients blend quite seamlessly and I found myself nose to wrist quite often during the day I tested it.

The rose is definitely apparent, but this is more about the resinous/woody ingredients, which is right up my alley.  

Definitely an autumn/winter sort of fragrance to my mind, Darkness might be a bit overwhelming in warm weather.

CJScents offers oils and diluted fragrance, so you have a choice in how to wear this. I noted the site address above and Candice also writes a blog, which I believe is accessible from the main site.

Since we're in the runup to Christmas, I'm always on the lookout for fragrances which are particularly appropriate for the festive season: Darkness certainly fits the bill.

Odes

One. I can hold back no longer: an homage to my Blackberry.

I've never been big on mobile technology. For years I had the most basic phone on the market. The whole point was for people to be able to find me if they needed to. I didn't needs aps; or fancy ringtones; or to hold my phone tightly in my hand as I moved between tube, bus, shop, etc, during the course of my day.

Then I started the eshop and all of a sudden I really needed to up the tech-ante: in particular, I needed to have access to my email wherever I happened to be. So, a Blackberry.

And ya know what? I'm addicted. I looooove my mobile device. I know it's sad, but it's true. I've succumbed.

Next. An homage to The Chocolate Society, a truly great chocolate store and more, which has gone into receivorship.

The Chocolate Society, located at 36 Elizabeth Street in SW1, was a serious destination for chocolate lovers. It sold chocs, truffles and other sweet things, and offered hot chocolate at the shop. No pretensions, no silly-frilly arogance: it just offered great indulgences (well, if you think chocolate is an indulgence, which I don't -- more an elixir of life, up there with bagels).

I've written about it in the past tense, but the shop is still trading -- for how long is unclear. So, while you can't access the products by internet or over the phone, you can still visit the shop (cash or cheques only). So, get thee to the chocolate shop.

Last. An homage to caffe lattes. I love milky coffee. At home, I mix decaf and caf in a small cafetiere and warm up some milk. A serious mid-morning treat that keeps me from getting into the brownies.

When I'm out and about, I'll do Pret or Starbucks or any of the other chains, but the fact is these mostly taste of milk with a whisper of coffee. I've read about a 'real coffee' place called Flat White, which I'll try at some point. However, the key issues here are warmth and comfort on the run -- I rarely sit down to have coffee out. Mostly, it's a cardboard cup for the bus, tube or walking, with the last probably not great for digestion.

Still, coffee really is up there with bagels and chocolate as an elixir (yes, I know bagels and chocolate aren't liquid, but you get the point) of life.

Tomorrow, it's back to celebrating perfume.

Basenotes contest

More perfume to be won!

Over on Basenotes (www.basenotes.net) a joint (with Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume) contest/give-away is going on all week.

I won't tell you the prize -- :) -- you'll just have to visit Basenotes (except to say this is a UK-only give-away).

So, good luck and holiday cheer!

Pink bunny fart smell

It is wonderful the stories that come back to you when you 'enable' friends fragrance-wise. The more people who are introduced to the 'dark' side, the more people there are out in the world 'seeing' the world through their noses.

It's great.

So, a story-reaction from a friend's nine-year-old son regarding a fragrance he smelled on someone standing nearby. Apparently some woman was silly enough to wear a very sweet, artificial fragrance and he was scathing, giving me the title for today's blog post: pink bunny fart smell. How precise and evocative.

I can see some readers thinking Angel with this, but I have a feeling it was one of those generic fruity florals that are too much in circulation, both on young girls and, actually, on proper, full grown women. These aren't fragrances I seek out to test and blog about, so I can't provide an actual list of what I'm referring to. But my nose just knows what these are.

Let us say now that cute, sickly sweet and nastily synthetic melon or strawberry are not fragrances we want to smell on human beings.

It seems to me that there are lots of mass market fragrances that are good. Really really good. And not particularly expensive. And widely available (that being the point of mass market).

So, the idea that someone would make a calculated choice to smell of pink bunny fart induces head-shaking.

In any case, I was deeply impressed with Danny's descriptive skills regarding what he had smelled.

Alas, however, I couldn't find a scary pink bunny picture that didn't cost the world. So you'll just have to use your imagination.

A quick reminder

Dear Fragrant Friends,

If you are a UKer and would like to order from the site, you must build a profile before starting to fill your basket. You are prompted to do this on the entry page.

Also, the profile will ask for a birthdate in the American format (that is, month/date/year).  

Here's to a fragrant holiday season!

Winner of Thursday's give-away is ...

Karlie! Congratulations.

I'll email you with confirmation a bit later. Please reply with your address.

Thank you all for participating. I'll be doing this again at Valentine's Day (fear not, I'll post a reminder closer to the time).

Finally, I'll be teaming up with Basenotes next week. So have a look there from 14 December.

A small piece of pleasure

I promised another holiday give-away on the site (see 6 December post for first one).

So, today I am offering a bottle of Tauer Perfumes' Une Rose Chypree, a gorgeous spicy rose fragrance. Very seasonal indeed. I call it a 'hot chypre' at scent gatherings.

What you need to do to be entered is tell us, in the comments section, what your top holiday fragrance is and your fave holiday smell (ie, non-perfume) -- and remember to say you want to be entered in the contest.

The winner will be picked at random on Friday, 11 December. I'll notify you and post the winner in my Friday entry.

Please note: this is open to anyone who reads the blog, meaning I will ship outside of the UK.

Happy commenting!

Holiday posting dates

A quick reminder of last dates for posting of holiday parcels from the site:

First Class Signed For -- Friday, 18 December

(last orders by 8 PM Thursday, 17 December)

Special Delivery Next Day -- Tuesday, 22 December

(last orders by 8 PM Monday, 21 December)

My Lady Maureen

My friend Maureen visited last weekend. It was a flying visit with a lot packed in.

We got to eat a lot of bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. As a native New Yorker, I find this pretty close to nirvana (especially as we have an extraordinarily good bagel bakery nearby).

We played with the fragrances in my stock and talked about a myriad of things.

On Saturday afternoon, Maureen went off to the end of the climate change demo in London and then to do some solo perfume sampling (Maureen is one of my enabling success stories: someone who wore mostly Coco Mademoiselle for years, before being introduced to the dark side).

A surprise success from earlier sampling was Lady Knize, so Maur was off to Les Senteurs to procure some more of it.

Now, I was familiar with Knize 10, the gorgeous leather fragrance, but not with the line's feminine.

Originally created in 1938, it was re-released in 1955 and isn't widely available. In London, Les Senteurs in Belgravia is the only place I know of that stocks it.

Lady Knize is a classic, sophisticated chypre and on Maureen it is just gorgeous: all full floral and sophistication, but with a great animalic base.

Notes list includes rose, jasmine, tuberose, coriander, clove, sandalwood, amber and musk. Given it appears to be classed as a chypre (from my reading) there's probably oak moss in the mix as well.

Maureen commented that it had the effect of giving her boundaries, since when she wears it people move back a pace. I think this is because it has such gravitas, not because it is in any way unpleasant.

On her, it smells wonderful: warm and a bit sharp; floral but slightly mossy; and the dry-down is hot -- no other word for it.

Alas, on me it is just powdery (the strangenesses of chemistry). Even so, it is great to discover another truly womanly fragrance, as these are rather few and far between.

So, if you're a chypre lover, this is well worth sampling (if you can find it), though I'm not entirely sure Maureen will be willing to share it.

Ginestet Botrytis

Botrytis is from the Ginestet line, which I added to the site around a week ago.

I have to say to my mind this is one of the loveliest autumn/winter fragrances I Know of. I tested this years ago and was completely taken with the honeyed-dried fruit accord. I love honey in perfume, but it frequently can take on a somewhat unpleasant waxy urinous aspect.

Botrytis cinerea is proper name for noble rot, the process that transforms grapes from fruit to the glorious ingredient of sweet dessert wine, most notably Sauternes.

This is full grown woman stuff. I know I harp on about womanly fragrances a bit, but I'm ever on the lookout for things that are constructed to be worn by real adult women, who know their own minds, what they like to smell on themselves, and enjoy things that smell adult, inviting, heady and lush -- and absolutely not cute or girly or subtle or retiring or pale.

Botrytis absolutely fits into this category.

Notes include honey, candied fruit, quince, grape, white flowers, ginger and amber. I'm sure there are some spices floating around in there as well, maybe a bit of musk and even some sandalwood.

The other thing that gets me about Botrytis is the bottle. This is one of the most beautiful I've encountered in a looooong time. The bottle alone would make a wonderful holiday gift, a standout for any dressing table. As the pic shows, it's round, it's got this beautiful pull-off top, it comes in a satin pouch.

And, the bottle has heft and the eau de toilette concentration has oomph and is long-lasting.

So. If you're looking for a standout fragrance for those holiday parties or as a gift for your beloved or you've been on the lookout for something lush and enveloping to draw those admirers closer, this just might fill those requirements.

Ooooooh, pretty

I want this.

I keep my nails short and when they do sport colour it's generally cherry red, those almost black purples or something like this: quirky but subtle but different.

It's definitely count-down to holiday time (particularly in my son's head).  So, here's to small but pleasurable holiday treats.

On the seventh day...

We have a winner for Andy Tauer's beautiful box, choice from Tauer Perfumes' stock and that special sample.

It is ... drum roll ... PhinClio! You lucky person!

I have passed along your details to Andy, who will be in contact.

As for me, keep watch on the blog, as there will be another (not nearly so grand but still fun) give-away later this week. Just to reiterate, I will send that contest winner's prize anywhere in the world, but a reminder that purchases from the site remain shipping within the UK only.

Have a lovely day.

On the sixth day of Christmas...

Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume helped the wonderful Andy Tauer of Tauer Perfumes with his gift giving.

Andy is doing a sort of Advent Calendar this year, with 24 days of giveaways. Below I show the tree symbol for his calendar.

So, Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume is hosting today’s prize draw.

And it is a truly special prize: a limited edition handmade Thuja wood treasure chest from Morocco which contains a 50 ml bottle of a Tauer perfume.

Not only does the lucky winner get this beautiful box, they get to pick their desired fragrance from any offering in the Tauer line. And --cherry on the cake, angel on the tree -- they will also get one sample of an “experimental, fresh from the lab” fragrance called Eau d’épices. Ohmywowgoodness.

In order to be in the running to win this lovely and rare holiday gift, you must leave a comment below (including something to the effect of "Please enter me in the draw", but you can say other things as well).  You can do this all day today (Sunday, 6 December). The winner will be picked at random on 7 December, be communicated to Andy and be posted on my blog.

So, happy holidays, get commenting and remember to leave your email address!

Basenotes event

Yesterday, I did a short pre-lunch presentation at an event organised by Basenotes (www.basenotes.net), which included morning and afternoon visits to a number of retailers (Penhaligon's and Ormonde Jayne, among others).

I spoke, in a church room near Piccadilly Circus (which made me think of incense and lilies), about setting up Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume and offered 10 of the fragrances I stock for sampling by the participants. I had brought along information packs that included an envelope with blotters, enabling those around the table to spray and write names -- the easier to recall a specific perfume later.

We worked our way from Lostmarc'h Ael-Mat, with stops at EllieD Ellie and IPDF's Magnolia Purpurea, via Dorissima Narziss, Ginestet Botrytis and Hilde Soliani's Bell'Antonio and Stecca, finishing with three of Andy Tauer's fragrances: Vetiver Dance, Lonestar Memories and L'Air du Desert Marocain.

Although the majority of the participants were seasoned perfumistas, a fair number of these fragrances, to my pleasure, were new to them (it's great to be an enabler). There was some fascination with Stecca, trying to work out its component parts beyone the 'tomato fruit, leaf and soil' description. Ellie was also a focus for its ethereal-though-grounded beauty. The jammy lushness of Botrytis garnered appreciation. And, of course, the Tauers were admired for their beauty, depth and density.

After my 'illustrated' talk, we went to a nearby hotel for a wonderful three-course lunch and more discussion of perfume. One of the participants had brought along Turin and Sanchez's Perfumes: The Guide for perusing. Among other things, we talked briefly about how some fragrances develop better on fabric than on skin. So, loads of things in the soup.

It's wonderful to be involved in these sorts of events and great to be able to meet and talk with perfumistas from around the UK and farther afield.

Many thanks to Grant and Danielle at Basenotes for organising the day's events.

Fingers crossed

I'm speaking at the Basenotes event today: prelunch slot. I've spoken in public before, but not for a while. So, good vibes, please.

One of the best things about doing this is the 'show 'n tell' section which closes my talk. I'm bringing along ten fragrances from my stock so that participants can test things. I guess this is sort of like one of my scent gatherings. I am planning to blog about the experience tomorrow.

So, I promise more substantial posts for Saturday and Sunday: definitely watch this space on the weekend!

No non-UK shipping from Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume

Just a notice for blog readers and interested parties: I do not ship outside of the UK from the website.

Please, if you are from the Republic of Ireland, I cannot ship to you. I'm very sorry about this, but as a very new start-up I am concentrating on the UK market.

Please be aware, however, that I will ship worldwide for winners of competitions on the blog this December.

A few notes on the way things are

Bottles of L'Air du Desert Marocain are back in stock on the site! Hurrah!

The weather here is utterly perplexing: warm, grey and wet one day, freezing and clear the next. All one can do is gently shake the head and put on something warming and enveloping. The other, cold day, I did Theo Fennell Scent -- I love the saffron in this. Yesterday, it was bits of Botrytis while I did samples: gorgeous dark, dried fruit and amber. Today, it is Le Boise for the fruity-woody warmth.

I tried a new brownie recipe which used chocolate and cocoa powder. My strange, off-the-internet cocoa-only recipe is better -- and much faster and easier.

Getting paper for blotters today from the art shop near Finchley Road station. Good quality, high cotton count paper seems to hold fragrance well.

The blotters are required for the talk I'm doing tomorrow during the Basenotes event and also for my next scent gathering, which takes place next Tuesday.

Finally, I am deeply frustrated that the next True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse book won't be published until spring 2010. True Blood on television is very good, but it has nothing on the written material -- and the Sookie of the books is way more of a true heroine: much smarter, braver and sharper, with much more moxie.

A new house -- 2 new perfumes

Yesterday was very busy. Actually, most days are very busy now. I make a list at the beginning of a given week, add to it as I go along and tick things off as they get done. It's the only way I can function right now.

In any case, yesterday I sent out my first newsletter from the site. I will be doing this on a quarterly basis, so this one was Holidays 2009. The next will be published in Spring 2010.

I also added two perfumes from Ginestet to the site. Ginestet is a Bordeaux-based wine merchant that dates from the late 1800s. Some serious history there.

In the early 2000s, Ginestet brought out a number of perfumes based on wine, or which actually have their concept based on types of wines. I now stock two of these: Botrytis, conceived around sweet Sauternes, and Le Boise, conceived around red wine.

Both of these perfumes come in very wonderful wine-related packaging.

Botrytis is a beautifully unctuous gourmand sort of fragrance. Notes for this include honey, candied fruit, quince, grape, white flowers, ginger and amber. This is just mouth-watering -- lush and candied, but very very grown up and womanly.

It is on the right side of sweet and is perfect for autumn/winter and definitely for the holiday season. It is also a very 'happy' fragrance: not in a cutesy way, but in a confident, knowing, very pleasured manner.

Le Boise is marketed as a masculine. It is very strong, but smooth and woody, with a nod to the barrels in which red wine is aged, and with touches of sweet vanilla and spice to balance things out. I'll talk more about it tomorrow (note about the picture: you pull the red top up to reach the spray).

I brought out samples of both of these at my last scent gathering. Both garnered major oohs and ahhhs. The marriage of wine and perfume works beautifully.

Both fragrances are eau de toilette and the gorgeous bottles I mentioned are 100ml. Each is £90 on my site (with samples at £4 each).

The smell of holidays

My son came home recently with a note from school telling parents that the children would be designing holiday cards -- and we were asked to buy lots of them.

Instead of a Christmas fayre this year, there will be an afternoon event at which, among other things, the children's cards will be for sale.

The flyer informed us we need to help our child/children to design a picture. They would then draw it and colour it in on the back of the flyer, which would be used for the printing of the cards (at some firm in Dorset, I think).

So, my son said he wanted to draw a Christmas tree, a mantle with Christmas stockings and a penguin (he's deep into penguins). And he needed help with the tree outline, the stockings and part of the mantle.

He transferred his drawing to the back of the flyer and coloured it in. He even remembered he needed his school pencil case, which has a gold sparkly pen in it.

So, some thoughts on holiday-ish fragrances. Some sort of obvious; some not so much.

My experience of London in the run-up to Christmas has been cold and wet, though last year it was just extraordinarily cold.

Cold and wet to me call for big florals, gourmands and orientals with a twist -- oh, and incense.

Tauer Perfumes ticks a lot of these boxes, with the floral-oriental Le Maroc Pour Elle; the incenses Incense Rose and Incense Extreme; and, of course, the glorious incense-resinous L'Air du Desert Marocain.

I Profumi di Firenze's lush floral Caterina de Medici also comes to mind, along with the perfect spicy-orange of Spezie de Medici. Lastly, Vaniglia del Madagascar's caramel-vanilla is warm and inviting.

Hilde Soliani's gorgeous tobacco-coffee, Bell'Antonio, would also work in the cold and wet.

Other things I am thinking of include Serge Lutens' Arabie, Dior Hypnotic Poison and Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman.

So, in the spirit of this post, and my post from yesterday about commenting to be entered in the various give-aways this month, you can practice today: which fragrances come to mind as perfect for this time of year?