Fragrances Boutique

Any perfume aficionado with a taste for details and history knows about the story of Chanel No 5 and can describe the meaning of chypre. Some of us comb libraries for old perfume books and auction sites for forgotten vintage gems. We collect raw materials and analyze their nuances. When we start talking about accords, sillage, drydown and composition to “regular” people, their eyes glaze over. If you have a mischievous streak to your personality, take this talk to the perfume counter at your local department store. You will be rewarded with a look of total incomprehension. Therefore, when I came across a fragrance quiz that has been devised by British perfume writer Nigel Groom in July 1996 for Mastermind, I thought that I would share it with you. Nigel Groom thought that these are the things a perfume lover…

A couple of weeks ago, I finally took a break from travel, work, email, and everything else that could distract me from the most elusive of goals—rest and enjoyment of our languorous summer days. I stayed at home, breaking my previous traditions of vacations far away from home. Instead, I cooked leisurely meals, went for long runs along the nearby river, took my tea and books on the patio, which was overtaken by mint and jasmine thanks to the tropical weather we have experienced. It finally felt like summer, and I vowed that even in my busy, hectic, always on the run (well, who is not in NYC?) routine, I will make time for these small pleasures. Above all, I enjoyed rediscovering some fragrances that I have not been wearing for ages. In general, my picks for the summer fall…

While any Russian will find an ironic reference in my title to the Soviet era film “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” for me it has less to do with Russian spies improbably masquerading as German officers than with a sense of nostalgia I feel around this time. As I watch cherry blossoms wilt in the puddles, I already miss their delicate pink haze. As I feel the sun burning my skin, I crave the chill of snow. As spring unfolds with all its holidays, I miss people who cannot celebrate them with me. Therefore, my scent palette this spring reflects my yearnings and moods with particular poignancy. Exhilaration No holidays strike a deeper chord in me than Easter and Nowruz. Although they come from different traditions, their message of rejuvenation, hope and freedom is exhilarating. How magical is the smell of…

My new year has started with an Indian adventure, in which the romance of a wedding was punctuated by the typical stress of wedding planning and last minute arrangements. There were aspects that I never expected in my romantic vision: air travel mishaps, packs of wild dogs, naughty milk stealing monkeys. The tailors who insisted on leaving extra fabric were not always helpful — “but you cannot stay this thin after marriage, you will gain weight, how will you wear it then!” And the Indian concept of time as an infinitely stretchable resource required considerable patience. Yet, amidst all the unpredictable and sometimes amusing scenarios, everything turned out be to be even more splendid than we had anticipated.This was mostly due to our friends and family who actively participated in every part of the ritual and made our wedding special…

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons, given the melancholic connotations in the early dusks and fallen leaves. It is a time when I fully give in to nostalgia, imagining the cherry trees in the garden of my childhood turning russet, the first frost on the shaggy bushes of chrysanthemums near the wooden gate, and the plaintive cry of cranes crossing the overcast sky above the terracotta roof of our house. Thinking of these familiar images, I reach out for a compilation of Turgenev and gaze out of my window at the rows of slender maple trees dropping their crimson leaves into the puddles. This year is different in that I found myself with precious little time for nostalgic contemplations. I have started perfumery school full-time, which means that now I spend all of my day smelling which makes for…

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons, given the melancholic connotations in the early dusks and fallen leaves. It is a time when I fully give in to nostalgia, imagining the cherry trees in the garden of my childhood turning russet, the first frost on the shaggy bushes of chrysanthemums near the wooden gate, and the plaintive cry of cranes crossing the overcast sky above the terracotta roof of our house. Thinking of these familiar images, I reach out for a compilation of Turgenev and gaze out of my window at the rows of slender maple trees dropping their crimson leaves into the puddles. This year is different in that I found myself with precious little time for nostalgic contemplations. I have started perfumery school full-time, which means that now I spend all of my day smelling which makes for…