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November 3, 2011 | Clinique Aromatics Elixir Perfumer's ReserveThe Scent Critic always wanted to be older than she was. (Until recently, anyway: that ambition’s definitely lost its allure.) So, looking back, my fragrance choices were ludicrously sophisticated for a teenager. While my friends were swathing themselves in Avon Honeysuckle, my tastes were distinctly more mature – and that’s where Clinique Aromatics Elixir, currently [...]  June 24, 2011 | Christian Dior Ambre NuitAnd so we come to the end of what’s turned into ‘Christian Dior Week’ on The Scent Critic. After today, I still have seven more of the Collection Privée to work my way through (and they are all worthy of review, without exception – which isn’t something you can say of many scent ranges). But [...] May 6, 2011 | Hermès Eau de Pamplemousse RoseThere is a day, in early summer, known simply and jubilantly to me as ‘The Day’, when you can throw open the windows upon waking to find the world is already warm outside, with the leaves everywhere you look unfurling in that reach-for-your-sunglasses shade of spring green that’s perfect for foliage. (Though pretty terrible for [...] May 3, 2011 | Guerlain Idylle DuetNobly (in every sense of the word), Catherine Middleton wore a British perfumer’s creation for her wedding – White Gardenia Petals by the ubertalented Michael Boadi – keeping the Union Jack flying in the same steady-handed way as she did with the choice of bubble-and-squeak canapés, the seasonal home-grown flowers, the field maples now destined [...] February 2, 2011 | Boadicea GlisteningSo, belatedly, to Boadicea the Victorious fragrances. Let’s start with a confession: the packaging’s always put me off. Mea culpa. Thou shalt not judge a fragrance by its ‘cover’, is the important lesson learned. Just because the Celtic-esque ‘medallions’ on the front of Michael Boadi’s bottles are a bit too Medieval-battle-re-enactment, let’s-raise-a-tankard-of-mead for my personal, [...] January 27, 2011 | Strange Invisible Perfumes L'InvisibleLet me start by paying homage: the Strange Invisible Perfumes store on too-cool-to-live Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, Ca., is almost worth a 6,000 mile (carbon-offset) trip in itself. Indeed, The Scent Critic was so keen to visit this botanical perfumery that when a business trip to Los Angeles was on the cards, a hotel [...] December 20, 2010 | The 12 Scents of Christmas No. 12: Guerlain MitsoukoThis is about saving the best till last. You know, the way you leave the biggest present under the tree, to enjoy the anticipation. And so, on this 12th day of my Christmas perfume countdown, I reached for my bottle of what I consider to be my ultimate fragrance. Yes, The Scent Critic can be [...] December 7, 2010 | The 12 Scents of Christmas No. 5: Chanel No. 5Now, what else could I have chosen for No. 5 in the 12 Scents of Christmas…? But even for an old scent-hack from way back, it’s challenging to put digit to keyboard about the most famous fragrance in the world. Ever. In all of creation. Still a bestseller, getting on for 90 years since Ernest [...] December 6, 2010 | The 12 Scents of Christmas No. 4: Miller Harris Fleur OrientalLight, airy, whispery, uplifting: those are all (flattering) words I associate with Miller Harris, the fragrance house created by talented British ‘nose’ Lyn Harris. But warm…? With the exception of the enchanting fairy-juice that is L’Aire de Rien, and Un Petit Rient (inspired by Jane Birkin and reviewed here by The Scent Critic), that’s not [...] December 3, 2010 | The 12 Scents of Christmas No. 2: Dana TabuIt’s not very often that The Scent Critic is given a bottle of perfume by her husband. (Slight coals-to-Newcastle thing there. Although that doesn’t explain a similar dearth of fresh floral tributes…) So it is a Very Special Occasion when it happens – as it did with Dana’s Tabu, which he’s been rather fond of [...] |
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