The pleasure principle — that we are entirely motivated by the attraction to pleasure and the avoidance of pain, has come to the cultural/political/economic news cycle foreground lately, in so many ways. What an ironic coincidence, for one, that the…
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September 16th, 2008 — , Leather, amber, annick goutal, incense from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Come to your Senses
September 4th, 2008 — , musk from Lucy @ indieperfumes
I’ve been on kind of a perfume hiatus for a bit, but was re-energized by my package arriving from the Perfumed Court, of a selection of musk samples. It was exciting to try them all one after the other, but in the end, I find this confirms what I sus…
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August 7th, 2008 — , harajuku, otaku, visual kei from Lucy @ indieperfumes
I have been fascinated lately by the creativity and the extremity of the Japanese subcultures in fashion and make up styles. There is a vocabulary that has been developed to describe some of the concepts. Otaku, to my understanding, describes a pers…
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Musk
August 1st, 2008 — , I Hate Perfume, ambrette seed, musk, tresor from Lucy @ indieperfumes
I recently became aware, through reading an entry by Christopher Brosius in his I Hate Perfume blog about the chemical musk situation in perfume and how it affects different people so much. (Please see his post here, it’s well worth reading if you hav…
Related StoresA World of Summer Heat and Perfume
July 27th, 2008 — , Russian perfume, Symrise, l'artisan from Lucy @ indieperfumes
This long heat wave combined with high humidity and intermittent intense electrical storms in NYC makes it seem to me like we are all engaged in playing an extreme form of city/weather sports. I think of enduring the weather and the conditions it cau…
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July 13th, 2008 — , Sniffapalooza, l'artisan from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Last week Bertrand Duchaufour came to the 82nd and Madison branch of L’Artisan to talk about a new perfume, to be released in October of 2008. For the time being, it is not to be specifically described, but suffice it to say it is a continuation of th…
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July 4th, 2008 — , Eau d' Hadrien, L'air du desert Marocain Diptyque, L'eau de Hespirides, annick goutal from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Because summer is the season we are outdoors the most, even in the city, the scents emanating from everything around us will then have the strongest effect on our daily lives. I am fortunate to live near an enormous old park (Prospect, designed by Olm…
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June 23rd, 2008 — , Books from Lucy @ indieperfumes
This book by Avery Gilbert, who is a smell scientist/psychologist, describes aspects of the sense of smell through lots of entertaining and instructive anecdotes. They range a wide spectrum across nature and chemistry from the beautiful to the terri…
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June 14th, 2008 — , Caron, Yosh, creed, i Profumi de Fierenze, white floral from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Midsummer festivities are June 20, a Friday night, downtown at the water’s edge in NYC this year, sponsored by the Swedish consulate and the Parks department. They promise 3-5 thousand people, many of them Swedish or from some other far Northern pers…
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June 5th, 2008 — , Patchouli, Sandalwood, incense, obsession, opium, sillage from Lucy @ indieperfumes
All the tributes and postings on Yves Saint Laurent this week have brought forth nostalgia in me for the seventies. Personally handsome, he had an aware, melancholic, elegant and slender beauty. He was a fragile yet bold introvert who seemed constantl…
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May 27th, 2008 — , Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild, Cassis, Liz Zorn, Parfume Moderne, Sleep, Soivohle', Writing Lyrical Poetry, citrus, white floral from Lucy @ indieperfumes
This is a ‘mixed media’ eau de parfume by Liz Zorn in her Soivohle’ brand. Soivohle’ stands for the acronym of her daily morning meditation: Sending Out Inspired Vibrations Of Healthy Loving Energy. This line is made of a combination of a high level …
Related StoresAroma - The Cultural History of Smell
May 19th, 2008 — , Books from Lucy @ indieperfumes
This book is a rich experience for those who are sensualists of the scented world. It has been out for some time (1994, by Classon, Howes and Synnott) and is well known, but I personally have only just started reading it, and finding it an immense ple…
Related StoresSuper-heroines and the Senses
May 11th, 2008 — , Bandit, Midnight Violet, Shalimar, jolie madame, mitsouko from Lucy @ indieperfumes
During a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I chanced upon an exhibit of exquisitely beautiful super-heroine costumes. (There are some super heroes too, but that is another story — these MMA essays are fascinating). The designs i…
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April 27th, 2008 — , Beyond Paradise, Books, Chanel, Estee Lauder, Guerlain, luca turin, pleasures, tania sanchez from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Reading the Turin/Sanchez book is so much fun. They are opinionated and unapologetically subjective. Their personalities are so big and they give them free rein, so I find it a joy to read. Why read anything about perfume if it is not entirely idio…
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April 21st, 2008 — , Champa, Guaiac, Red Flower, ambrette seed from Lucy @ indieperfumes
At the Red Flower presentation at the Sniffa at Blue Mercury there were samples of the three certified organic fragrances, which I was very pleasantly surprised by. I usually do not have very high expectations of a perfume created under such strict an…
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April 15th, 2008 — , Lily of the Valley, Pavillon des Fleurs, Septimanie, Sniffapalooza, jasmine, ylang ylang from Lucy @ indieperfumes
One of the perfumes featured by Aedes for the Spring Sniffa was Pavillon des Fleurs, an eau de parfum by Septimanie Perfumes and Jeanne Weber was there to talk about it. As a garden designer, she is inspired by the mood lifting experience of the bloom…
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April 10th, 2008 — , Andy Tauer, Floris, hyacinth, spring from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Hello all, yes, it’s been awhile! The new season and its sense of renewal is including me.The Spring always seems like the beginning of a new year to me, rather than January 1st. I think the gardeners would agree with me.Today was balmy and soft, the f…
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November 9th, 2007 — Celebrity Perfumes, Now Smell This, animals, perfume posse from Lucy @ indieperfumes
I have been working on getting something new online so I haven’t been posting much here lately, and now I feel that I must take the next two months off as far as posting on this site goes (pretty much) to concentrate on getting the new project off the …
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October 27th, 2007 — Neruda from Lucy @ indieperfumes
I wanted to share this poem I happened to find this morning. It delivers a powerful message about emotional connections forming spontaneously between a deep, complex scent and a strong emotion — they can become identified with each other as one and…
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October 23rd, 2007 — Caron, Chanel, Ineke, Sniffapalooza, l'artisan from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Having gone to the Fall Sniffapalooza on Saturday, I came away with a number of impressions. Actually, the experience is so intensive it takes a few days to sink in. One thing I was ultra happy about was finally meeting the perfumista-par-excellence …
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October 16th, 2007 — Anya McCoy, Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild, Rachel Herz, mandy aftel from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Today is blog action day, and thousands of blogs are participating in order to bring attention to environmental issues - see link here. This put me in mind of something I read recently (in Scent of Desire by Rachel Herz - see my posting below) about th…
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October 13th, 2007 — Perfume Bloggers from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Everyone has their personal style icons, and some of mine were formed by watching foreign films from the early to mid sixties. One whose beauty really spoke to me was Anna Karina, in her Godardian incarnation. She has an ineffable quality in her sensit…
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October 4th, 2007 — , Caron, Comptoir Sud Pacifique, Etro, Layering, Poivre, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Vetiver Molinard, amber, creed, mber from Lucy @ indieperfumes
There are as many ways to layer scents as there are to layer clothes, which can be a good way to deal with the variable temperatures, atmospheric conditions and moods of the Fall.Lately I find I am increasingly drawn to this practice. Combining and set…
Related StoresThe Scent of Desire by Rachel Herz
September 28th, 2007 — , Books from Lucy @ indieperfumes
The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell, by Rachel Herz is a new book on the psychology of smell, that promises much — that is, to astonish as it informs. There are a number of things not commonly known about this most mysterio…
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September 23rd, 2007 — Now Smell This, annick goutal, lavender from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Please check out my posting on Now Smell This today on making floral waters for personal use, (most particularly about Lavender Water). I will be posting from time to time on Now Smell This about scented body care products, home fragrances, and some …
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September 17th, 2007 — Guerlain, Sniffapalooza, Vanilla, rain from Lucy @ indieperfumes
One of the best things about belonging to Sniffapalooza, is being invited to events such as the Guerlain master class this past weekend. It was a luxurious sensory review of Guerlain’s fragrances; a dreamy experience. There were also spectacula…
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September 14th, 2007 — Perfume Bloggers from Lucy @ indieperfumes
I wanted to change the look of this site because the black background was starting to seem too heavy to me, it was too much of an influence on the feel of the writing and the illustrations. I may make more changes before I am through, so please be pat…
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September 11th, 2007 — Apivita from Lucy @ indieperfumes
After a long period of time in a perfume or EDP mode, I have lately come to really appreciate Eau de Toilette. At the last Sniffa I got a sample of Euphoria EDT with Ylang Ylang/Vanilla made by Apivita which I never tried till now, because I have be…
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September 7th, 2007 — Etro from Lucy @ indieperfumes
End of Summer but before the beginning of Autumn, these days it seems too late to wear light summer perfumes but not quite time for the more powerful ones appropriate to colder weather. I have a number of Etro samples, and because they are Eau de Toil…
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September 2nd, 2007 — Tobacco Leaf, jasmine, lavender from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Recently I received a selection of absolutes from two sources, Anya’s Garden, and Nature’s Gift. It was almost overwhelming because each one is so intensely dimensional and requires time for development and reflection on the experience. From Anya’s G…
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August 26th, 2007 — Ineke, Lemonbalm, Liberty Natural from Lucy @ indieperfumes
The mild breeze of warm, pleasantly sweet and clear air is called balmy. The very word balmy calls forth pleasant associations. The concept of balm is identified with particular sweet smelling plants and resins, and soft air that seems to have a caress…
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August 20th, 2007 — Demeter from Lucy @ indieperfumes
After the Rain is the title of a very classic, evocative short piece by John Coltrane and also is one of the most universally loved scents. There is a difference between before and after the rain scents. Before is caused by an increase in ozone in c…
Related StoresRest, Unrest, and Roses
August 16th, 2007 — Perfume Bloggers from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Insomnia has been plaguing me, as it does many. Fighting it too hard can be counterproductive. I find it best to just accept it and look for rest in other ways. I read somewhere recently that ten minutes of deep relaxation each day will do all mann…
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August 11th, 2007 — Chanel No. 5, Molinard Jasmin, joy from Lucy @ indieperfumes
August for me is the month of jasmine, it’s the quintessential scent of summer. It has that heavy sweetness and mellow buttery undertone, that seems to lift into the humidity of August like an embodiment of deep joy itself.I would love to go to Grass…
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August 8th, 2007 — Ajne, Anya McCoy, Ayala Sender, I Hate Perfume, Liz Zorn, Strange Invisible Perfume, annick goutal, jo malone, lutens, mandy aftel from Lucy @ indieperfumes
When I try to explain my interest in niche perfumes and the current explosion of creativity in that area of endeavor, I find that it easiest to relate some stories about the niche perfume makers. Learning about the new perfumers who have been doing …
Related StoresSillage: ephemeral beauty
July 29th, 2007 — Diane Ackerman, carnal flower, sillage from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Some enjoy a big sillage, the ephemeral, trailing cloud of scent left behind in the wake of a perfume, that acts as a distinctive signature to a stylish persona.The humidity of summer creates a very conducive atmosphere for the sense of smell. Sill…
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July 22nd, 2007 — Comptoir Sud, La Maison de la Vanille, Montale from Lucy @ indieperfumes
One of the most precious and valuable plant substances and an important factor in many perfumes, vanilla was a great discovery for Europeans when they encountered the Aztec aristocracy drinking vanilla flavored chocolate from gold cups. They imported …
Related StoresBigelow Chemists, NYC
July 17th, 2007 — Bigelow Chemists from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Bigelow’s, in the West Village on Sixth Avenue near Eighth Street claims to be the oldest continually operating drug store/apothecary in the U.S., and it’s well worth a visit for anyone who loves to get involved with considering their options as to p…
Related StoresPerfume Noir and Duende
July 14th, 2007 — Crystal Noir, Datura Noir, Narcisse Noir, Nobre Noir, Noir Epices, Noir de Noir, Orris Noir, Rose Noir from Lucy @ indieperfumes
In the style of “black” or dark perfumes are Datura Noir, Nobre Noir, Noir Epices, Orris Noir, Narcisse Noir, Crystal Noir, Noir de Noir, and Rose Noir, to name a few. What they have in common is perhaps an earthy basenote such as oakmoss or spices …
Related StoresOde to the Smell of Wood
July 14th, 2007 — Pine and Eucalyptus, Sandalwood from Lucy @ indieperfumes
by Pablo Nerudatranslated by Jodey BatemanLate, with the starsopen in the coldI open the door. The seagallopedin the night.Like a handfrom the dark housecame the intensearomaof firewood in the pile.The aroma was visibleasif the treewere alive.As if…
Related StoresNotions of Beauty
July 10th, 2007 — Laudamiel, taste, tresor from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Some prefer beauty that is an expression of the harmonious while others prefer it with a touch of the strange or unusual. So many reviews of certain fragrances are at variance with my own experience of them, and I am always bemused when I find that t…
Related StoresVintage Perfumes - Remembrance of Things Past
July 5th, 2007 — Les Parfums de Rosine, Osmotheque from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Summer is a good time to begin or to reread Proust, or Colette, or Nabokov, or any of the specifically detailed writers about everyday beauty of the past, or to personally revisit many of the experiences similar to their described sense memories which …
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Continue reading → Vintage Perfumes - Remembrance of Things Past
Ava Luxe
June 29th, 2007 — Ava Luxe, Labdanum, Leather, violet from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Ava Luxe is an artisan perfume line from California created by Serena Ava Franco, based on inspirations from modern culture, music and art. Her fragrances are currently available only online directly from her well organized site. Her products are ext…
Related StoresSources for Essences
June 26th, 2007 — Liberty Natural, White Lotus Aromatics, profumo from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Liberty Natural, White Lotus Aromatics, and Profumo, are special suppliers of high quality essences, for those of us who like to gain exposure to and use the basic and exotic materials of fragrances and beauty ingredients. Each of them also have wond…
Related StoresAmbergris
June 22nd, 2007 — Perfume Bloggers from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Ambergris, the precious animalic substance that stabilizes and enhances fine perfumes and essences, is very rare in its natural form, therefore very expensive, since unfortunately its source has become more and more rare. The giant sperm whale, whic…
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June 18th, 2007 — Chanel, Perfumes de Rosine, Poiret from Lucy @ indieperfumes
So many have written extensively and beautifully about the Met exhibition on Poiret, the first modern designer to create a life-style to reflect his individual sensibility with clothing, interior design, and signature perfume. It gives me the feeling …
Related StoresSigmar Polke’s New Paintings Must be Fragrant
June 15th, 2007 — Polke, lavender, painting from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Recent attention to Sigmar Polke’s use of lavender oil in his latest work reminded me of the significantly aromatic nature of oil painting. I have always found the smell of linseed oil, aka flax seed oil to be delicious, and since it all comes from t…
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Sniffapalooza Event - Creed Master Class 2
June 12th, 2007 — Leather, Sniffapalooza, birch, creed, kvass from Lucy @ indieperfumes
This past Sunday we had yet another wonderful perfumista event in NYC - the main attraction was the second Creed Master Class presented by Roberto Ferreira at Saks Fifth Avenue for Sniffapalooza. One of the best parts was the review of Creed’s history …
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Vetiver
June 10th, 2007 — Etro, Guerlain, Herbal, Liberty Natural, White Lotus, creed, vetiver from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Vetiver is fashionable these days, and has always been used in wide array of perfumes, because it is so intensely aromatic and it blends so well with many other of the classic natural elements. The plant is a tall grass in the same family as bamboo; lo…
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June 7th, 2007 — Clary Sage, Eucerin, Liberty Natural, Peru Balsam, frankincense, vetiver from Lucy @ indieperfumes
Having accumulated some essences of excellent quality from Liberty Naturals and others over time, I have been fooling around and “making messes” as some would say — thothere have been some wonderful “accidents” that I have been able to use for gifts a…
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