Buly 1803 opened as a cosmetic and fragrance store on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. Founded by Jean-Vincent Bully, who had a reputation for welcoming scientific breakthroughs into his cosmetic developing methods, in contrast to many of the old-school perfumers who treated perfumery as artistry and preserved and kept secret old traditions in favor of the new. He invented new methods and new formulas for his products, and was well-regarded as a distiller, perfumer, and cosmetician.
The other week, I bought a custom mix off of Twisted Lily, fragrance boutique and apothecary located online and in Brooklyn. I actually bungled it up a bit since I was supposed to put what I wanted in the order description, and while I had created a list indicating as much in Notepad, I forgot to put the list into the description. I didn’t know I had forgotten either so I delayed the whole process a few days by being a terrible customer, but I did finally reply with my choices, and they sent my choices on over (thanks Stamatis!) In fact, they included two more Tauer samples: Incense Extreme and Incense Rose, and I’m really excited to open those up too!
Sylvie Jourdet, professor of olfaction and perfumery accords at the ISIPCA in Versailles, vice president of the French Society of Perfumers, crafter of most of the HdP juices, just made me groan out loud on the train because I am not her and not likely to ever be her. She makes me hate my life a little.
Ms. Giacobetti is 49 years old today. She is my newest woman crush that I should have high-lighted a long, long time ago.
Olivia Giacobetti is an amazing French perfumer who has created fragrances such as Frederic Malle’s En Passant (my favorite Frederic Malle), Diptyque’s Philosykos and Ofresia, a whole host of L’Artisan fragrances including the infamously difficult to get Tea for Two (my favorite L’Artisan!), and fragrances for Hermès, Guerlain, and Penhaligon’s. I love her for her delicate simplicity and the subtle way she crafts her fragrances. I have loved everything she has touched that I have smelled so far, and can’t wait to smell more.
The L’Artisan website claim that she was inspired by the depictions of perfumery in the film le Sauvage which means I need to seek this film out with English subtitles in a hurry (or learn French. I feel I have more of an incentive to learn it than even mandarin.) She trained from the age of 17 at Robertet, a huge French distillery known for developing new ways of obtaining natural raw material from its distillation sources before opening her own firm Iskia, which I unfortunately couldn’t find any information about. And she does all this while staying oh so effervescently lovely.
She is currently working as creative director at one of the oldest perfume houses, Parfum Lubin.
When I went on the American Music Abroad tour in Europe, we visited France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland and the beautiful cities I visited still haunt my stagnant legs and beg me to come back. I wouldn’t consider myself a Europhile, as I’m a tad too patriotic for that, but I do love the land and the history and the majesty within the old world and the people who walk on it, and I would like to join those people again one day soon.
Now unfortunately, my group did not get to visit Italy which with its sumptuous intellectual and creative history has had a little pining space inside of me since I started listening and playing Vivaldi and Paganini transposed for the piano. But now with another one of my interests illuminated in the destination (as if music, art, and chocolate weren’t enough), the waiting is going to be maddening.
And the end of the Ineke reviews is here! I especially enjoyed the last three letters of her alphabet, but I admire her talent and ability and can’t wait to take a peek into her Floral Curiosities collection. Florals are absolutely my cup of tea, and I’m sure she’s done as lovely a job at creating those as she did her alphabetical collection.
Whoever enjoy this scent probably takes their tea with cream, as the florals in it are backed by a definite creaminess and richness atop a little table of natural wood. This is a light, sweet scent, the lightest I think, of all of the selections in my little box, but bright and lush, with a scent similar to a ripe fruit. I think it’s a ripe banana, personally, but a ripe banana that’s still on its vine in someone’s garden somewhere foreign to me surrounded by other flourishing plants and you can still smell the tree on the fruits after you pick them, not the ultra-sweet piece of fruit someone’s been allowing to languish on a counter somewhere. It’s really very lovely and unobtrusive in a way all of the other scents besides Derring-Do have been. I would love to smell this scent on someone shy, as I think a fragrance like this garners quiet notice and, just like the smell itself grows on me as I wear it, indicates someone worth getting to know. This person may wear glasses, but they definitely wear cardigans and keep their arms close to their body.
This smells as though someone took an enormous amount of lilies and buried them in a stone garden and was immediately set on fire, and the scent is that moment as everything becomes really hot but nothing is smoking yet. It’s a very, very fleeting moment that is now preserved in my imagination by scent. The lilies are rooted in the stick labdanum and oakmoss and while it gives a nice, warm floral feeling, I really wish there was a little more dirt to round it out and make this the organic scent I was hoping this would turn into. This scent is sweet and fragrant and a little flirty, but I don’t find it sexy. This is more for the girl next door who wears fuzzy pastel sweaters and greets everyone with an enthusiastic “Hi!” Pretty, cute, and light-hearted.
Ms. Giacobetti is 49 years old today. She is my newest woman crush that I should have high-lighted a long, long time ago.
Pomelo girl thoughts 