HS3

Well, it seems silly that I had a come-back post, only to post nothing for another long stretch. I’ve been pretty stressed between work, the idea of moving, being newly married, and the like so I just haven’t gotten around to a new post. I’m way overdue for some thoughts on the basenotes Musk Project – I’ve even worn the incredible Kewdra about 4 times over the course of the couple weeks and will be posting a nice glowing review soon.

Anyways, sorry for the absence lately. For those that know me or care, the decision to search for a job back in the old area of Washington, DC has become the foremost priority. It will be sad to leave my perfect job situation here, but you have to do what you have to do for a family! I can’t wait for a fabulous evening of beer at RFDs or a great meal at Zaytinia. Soon.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately – I got married last weekend and am heading to the honeymoon tomorrow! I have a pile of things waiting to have pictures taken and reviewed that will be tended to when I get back.

See you soon!

One of these is not like the other. Wait, yes it is. As I was arranging things and moving things about this evening, I noticed that the older style bottle for Keiko Mecheri (Oliban in this case) was very similar to the bottle used by Guerlain for a number of their scents. Wait, not similar… the same. Exactly the same. So I get that a lot of smaller perfumers use pre-made bottles, but I would hardly consider Guerlain a “small perfumer.” I wouldn’t think Keiko is either. I can assume that it’s an off-the-shelf bottle that some glass company had and they both opted for, but I really would expect Guerlain to do something a bit more custom, especially considering the exorbitant price one must pay for their scents in those bottles.

What struck me as sad as I was formatting these pics was how much has been used of the bottles. Oh, bottles, why can’t you refill yourselves?

I finally caved. It was going to happen sooner or later. I ordered a Nikon D90 this week and it will arrive on Friday. I won’t have a good macro initially for close bottle shots, but hopefully soon (I’m selling loads of old film equipment right now… and my broken old dSLR sold for $125!). I switched to Nikon for a number of reasons, but from what I can tell, the D90 is the best in its class, even considering that it was released in August of 2008. My previous camera was a Minolta Maxxum 7D, so with the fold of that company, Sony took over and continued development of the camera division. I could have just as easily bought an Alpha A-550, but the picture quality just wasn’t up to the D90, not to mention the fact that it’s missing some serious functions like Depth of Field Preview and Program Shift. Once I sell all of my Maxxum/Alpha mounts (it’s sad to part ways with the Maxxum 7 film body, but what can ya do…), I’ll get a shiny new macro and get back to taking some fragrance porn.

That needs to happen soon though, since that pretty bottle of CdG Patchouli is arriving today. Once all of my camera shuffling over the past year is complete, I’ll be perfectly happy with a Hasselblad for medium format, D90 for digital, and an old Canon A-1 for 35mm. Now that’s some efficient camera exchanging (6 cameras to 3).

I ended up going back over there on Monday rather than Sunday. I ultimately got what I came for, but the experience was far from stellar. I came in and asked for the person I was told to ask for. He wasn’t there. I asked for Cari, the manager. After telling them my name, and a few minutes later, she came out. She explained I could either replace the bottle with an non-engraved version, or she could just give me some vials filled to make up for it – I told her that would be perfect. While I was standing there I glanced over to see the same Colombian SA that sold it to me in the first place. She had the gall to snap in an uppity way “you know, they ALL come that way.” I told her she was wrong and it had been used. She snapped back “uh, no it wasn’t.” I explained that the bottle didn’t have to be primed (not to mention the huge amount missing), so she was unequivocally wrong. She smirked and said whatever. I loudly told her she didn’t have to get snotty and I certainly didn’t come there to see her. That was enough to make her turn around. When the manager came back, I told her I didn’t appreciate her SA accusing me of lying to which I only received a grunt back and a “sorry.” Long story short – the service at the Guerlain boutique in Epcot sucks and that Colombian SA is incredibly rude. I can’t remember her name, but the next time I’m there I’ll be certain to remember it. I’m planning on getting a bottle of Moscou this spring, but I can guarantee I’ll be selecting my salesperson very carefully.

Unbelievable.