HS3

Tom Ford recently released his new White Musk series, consisting of Jasmine Musk, Urban Musk, White Suede, and Musk Pure. All 4 of them were pretty impressive to my nose. Musk Pure is like a new interpretation of Kiehl’s Original Musk and Serge Luten Musk Koublai Khan, but with a twist. Jasmine Musk is a good take on what the title says, White Suede is a creamy leather with light, sweet musk notes, and Urban Musk (which I found to be the most daring of the bunch), adds a dirty note to the opening and heart and dries surprisingly sweet on my skin. Tom Ford calls this one “carnal.” I talked myself into getting Urban Musk recently at a Tom Ford event at Saks and have been enjoying it quite a bit. My SA threw in a huge factory spray of White Suede as well so I’ll be set with that one as well.

Here are a few shots of Urban Musk… I think they could have done a bit more with the bottles than just make them clear with a white top, but it’s still pretty striking.

Recently, the house of Narciso Rodriguez released a his and hers limited edition version of their hugely popular musc series in EDP form (and a new, different formulation). I was in Saks over a month ago when my SA showed me the limited edition musc for him tester they had from under the counter. She said that they had only gotten 3 bottles, and they had all sold the day they got them. I tried the tester and got the familiar Narciso musc notes, but with a twist. This is like a combination of the musc oil for him and the regular musc for him EDT. It is said to be “a tribute to musk” and it lives up to its billing. It’s by no means a dirty musk – you won’t be howling or wondering whether people will think you just forgot to bathe. Among the listed notes are musk, iris, and pink berries.

A few weeks went by and I got an email from my SA that she had gotten a couple more bottles in and had one put aside for me. It was only $59 (minus the 10% off for a Friends & Family event), but the difficulty of tracking a bottle of this down makes the price a non-factor. It’s no easy feat to find one. I eagerly picked it up (and was also talked into a bottle of the new Tom Ford Urban Musk by the Tom Ford reps on hand during the event… another fabulous musk) and wore it that night.

The bottle is gorgeous as well – it’s similar to the regular musc for him, but the lining inside the heavy glass is metallic. The sprayer is also just as full and sturdy as you’ll find on the EDT. I am by no means a one scent kind of person, but if I was forced to narrow it down to 10, this would certainly be a top contender. I’ll post a few more photos of the great bottle this week.

I was kindly sent a mini of Gucci Rush in a recent purchase. I haven’t had much of a chance to wear it, other than directly from the bottle rather than on skin. I decided to make it my “back-of-hand” scent for the day today.

I’m really pretty impressed with this one. It’s a comforting blend of cedar, oaks, and sandalwood notes. It reminds me a bit of Le Boisé by Ginestet with perhaps a touch of Let Me Play the Lion by LezNez. It starts with a great juicy floral burst, but pretty quickly settles into the base. I’m glad I have the Ginestet and find it similar, because if I didn’t it seems like it would be like pulling teeth to find a bottle of this sadly discontinued winner.

My second major in college was photography. I absolutely loved the darkroom, creative processing, and the beauty of medium format photography. For a few years after school, I stayed really into photography and developing even though the cost was outside of my income at the time and my space was not conducive to it. However, when I moved to Florida, it sort of got put on hold. It seems the extent of my photography now is just an outdated digital SLR that I use to take shots of fragrance bottles. I’ve been thinking about it and realized how much I miss it. I’ve decided to immerse myself back into that hobby.

I’d managed to amass a number of cameras over the years, 35mm to medium format, new to old. I’ve decided to sell off most of them that will earn more money (I won’t bother trying to sell a Kodak Brownie from the 50s for $20 for instance), and replace them all with a Hasselblad. I’ve always loved the images they can make, but never been able to buy one. If medium format film photography is something you’d like to get into at a great price, help me out by buying my cameras! I’ve got them all on ebay now. Click here to see them. I currently have a Bronica SQ-a, a Mamiya RZ67, and a Yashica Mat 124G for sale. I think I might sell a 35mm or two, and a few accessories, like a Minolta ring light later, but the first three will be a good start for me to justify buying a new camera to take out shooting. Drop me a note if you’d like to see some examples of photos taken with them!

Barney’s does “bag events” right. Saks does not. Last week was the bag event for both Saks and Barney’s. Me, being the sucker I am, had to do both. I picked up a bottle of the new Jo Malone Anise & Vanilla (it really blends well with their others), and a bottle of Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere for the GF from Saks. Fortunately, my SA there likes me and always hooks me up – she snuck in an extra bag, and a hand bag for the GF. However, Saks bag events are pretty weak, so even the extra “bags” she threw in still only amounted to a handful of samples (not complaining at all, but you’ll see what I mean).

Barney’s, on the other hand, knows how bag events should be. Granted, the minimum to get a bag from Barney’s is $100 more, but it’s still a pretty impressive prize. I ordered a bottle of Cereus #14 and a bottle of Diptyque L’eau de Neroli from my great SA in the Vegas Barney’s last week. She had to do a drop ship from another store for the Diptyque and claimed they were no longer offering it in 100ml (which I think is a crock), so I had to get the monolithic 200ml. I didn’t include the toiletry bag it all came in (surprisingly high quality for a promotional bag, too!), but here’s a snap of all the goodies she stuffed into it:

That’s the kind of bag event I like. I had asked for a few samples as well, so she made 4ml samples of Serge Lutens Douce Amere, Feminite de Bois, Heeley Esprit du Tigre, and Cuir Pleine Fleur. Every time I’ve ordered from her, I get those monstrous samples… THAT keeps me coming back. Occasionally, I’ll come home to find that she’s sent a few of them anyways without me asking (she sent the whole Byredo line a while back… too bad none did much for me). I guess I need to learn to keep the wallet hidden.

Here are a few shots of the Cereus and Diptyque in a bit more detail…

I know a while back and I had written L’Eau de Neroli off because it had that slightly creamy honey note in it, but at that time I was really looking for a pungent, sharp orange blossom – the L’Artisan I got then did the trick… but this one came back to haunt me. It’s fabulous – and perfect for a generous application in the heat.

There you have it. A couple of gorgeous scents, and a heap load of samples to play with. Drop me a note if you’d like that SA’s name – I’m sure you’ll be just as pleased with her as I have been.