Tobacco Rose is a rich, saturated, luxurious rose fragrance from Papillon Perfumery that would probably have inspired Shakespeare to write another dozen sonnets or plays. In Romeo and Juliet, he said “a rose by any other name smells as sweet,” arguing that names do not matter, only the essential nature of a thing. He’s right, but I don’t think that his… Read more »

Anubis rose from the darkness to survey his kingdom. The Underworld was a vortex of blackness from the incense in the air and the monstrous lava waterfall that cascaded a torrent of sticky, smoking, balsamic resins into the thick, turgid brown rivers of musky, leathered castoreum below. Anubis, God of the Dead, was himself made of these same things:… Read more »

An ethereal spring bouquet of silvery iris and white flowers dusted with mimosa’s golden sweetness. Then, a lush, orchid-like, champaca vanilla infused with boozy, fruited liqueur and smoky guaiac. Finally, an extremely woody fragrance with masculine elements of burnt leaves, smokiness, and musk. That was the very surprising progression of Angélique, a chameleon scent that first filled me with visions… Read more »

By Laurin Generally speaking, I’m quite happy to live in 2014. I do have the occasional fit of Mad Men-inspired melancholy, but although I’d be quite happy to have regular access to 60’s style hair and music, I’m decidedly less keen on 60’s style access to contraception and career opportunities. So despite its aesthetic deficiencies and… Read more »

I wrote briefly yesterday about the launch of Papillon Perfumery, the brand created by perfumer Liz Moores. What I didn’t mention is that at one of Odette Toilette‘s events, I smelled a scent created by Liz that captured the smell of her grandmother.  It captured the scent of most grandmothers, as far as I could tell, and I was sent… Read more »