New Year Collage by Nicoleta (Unsplash image & official brand photos)
This year has been various shades of bad, for all of us: the on and off lockdowns, the chaos and uncertainty, the changes – outside and inside, the time-compressed and dragged between four walls – well, in these conditions, even an introvert needs to appeal to some magical thinking and wish for some kind of rite of passage into a better new year. So, I’ve been starting to make plans for this New Year’s party in October, and I went through all the possible scenarios. Tonight, I’m sharing five of these scenarios with you, paired up with an outfit idea and the best fragrant choice:
Ormonde Jayne official brand photo and Unsplash images, collage by Nicoleta
Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman (Geza Schoen and Linda Pilkington) 2002
Setting: home, cozy in a blanket, watching Netflix, comfortable and unbothered
Dresscode: New year’s Eve Dress Code Pjs & a fluffy robe
When I don’t know what to wear, when I need something that would bloom beautifully on my skin in any temperature, in any season, that would fit any occasion and any mood, and that I would trust even if I feel sick, Ormonde Woman comes to the rescue: a self-assured, pick-me-up, give-me-wings or give-me-claws potion that infuses a dose of magic into any scenario, no matter how mundane. There’s more than meets the eyes in this mixture of warm spices and deep green mossy woods, and I hold it as one of the best perfumes of the last two decades. (PS: my jaw just dropped when I realized that 2002 was twenty years ago)
Notes: Cardamom,coriander, grass oil, black hemlock, violet, jasmine, vetiver, cedar, amber, sandalwood.
Atelier des Ors official brand photo and Unsplash images, collage by Nicoleta
Atelier des Ors Lune Feline (Marie Salamagne) 2015
Setting: a secluded wooden cabin in the woods, preferably unhaunted
Dresscode: Mountaineering boots & winter thermal jacket
Almost two years since I quit smoking, but oh boy, do I miss it sometimes! Not the lung damage, coughing and smelling like an ashtray part, but the second of pure bliss that went through your my body, when the lighter clicked and I inhaled the first drag of a certain scenario* (cue song Saint Motel – My type for the lyric that says “I’m a man who’s got very specific taste “). If you have ever been a heavy smoker you know the subtitle differences between the morning coffee cigarette, the one hurriedly and nervously smoked outside the office building or the restaurant, and the *specific scenario ones. For many years, I could not conceive a new year party that was not spent in the mountains, the more off the grid the lodge, the better. The smell of woods, the smoke of the bonfire, and the crackle of the dried-out Rothmans held between my frozen fingers, lighting up, are the combined sensations that spell my version of a very specific paradise. Lune Feline smells nothing like tobacco, but somehow, it lights up the same pleasure nerves as this long-abandoned, never forgotten evil vice. It’s smoky, resinous, woody, dark, intensely sensual, and deeply satisfying. Guilt-free.
Official notes: cardamom, cinnamon, pink pepper, ambergris, woodsy notes, styrax, cedar, green notes, Tahitian vanilla, Peru balsam, musk
Francesca Bianchi Sticky Fingers and Hedonik official brand photos, Unsplash images, collage by Nicoleta
Francesca Bianchi Sticky Fingers
Setting: your favorite pub, fun drunken party with your best friends
Dresscode: fishnets, a leather harness & Dr. Martens
It’s not often that I buy a perfume immediately after sampling it, but it was the case with Francesca’s Sticky Fingers, as I needed to connect to its raw energy as soon as I sniffed it. A perfume that I will forever associate with the autumn of 2020 and the beginning of the groundhog day cycle of lockdowns. For all of us who hoped the apocalypse would be more Mad Max in leather, riding cars in the desert, and less connecting on Zoom calls while you wear your PJ bottoms, Sticky Fingers was the middle finger manifesto to the glitched reality and a fabulous escape to a parallel universe where everything feels badass and cool. If for New Year’s party you just want to be with your mates, drink in pubs and be a deliciously irresponsible and naughty grownup, this is your safest choice 😀 (kudos to me for finding the only scenario where I can say Francesca Bianchi and safe in the same sentence).
Notes: Coriander, cinnamon, iris butter, patchouli, sandalwood, heliotrope, musk, castoreum, leather, tobacco, tonka bean.
Der Duft Bubble and Unsplash images, collage by Nicoleta
Der Duft Bubble (Alexandre Illan) 2020
Setting: an office party or dinner at your significant other’s parents (or any scenario somewhere where you will have your drinks counted)
Dresscode: uncomfortable but swanky attire
Imagine the unfortunate scenario where you will have to attend a positively stiff and proper party, where you will have to be on your best behavior, not laugh too loud, dance too wild, or have too much fun? Then you have no other option than to pour that extra glass on your skin, before leaving for the party. Bubble is exactly what the name says: an effervescent, exuberantly fizzy reincarnation of a freshly filled champagne glass. Uninhibited, full of joy and sparkle, these champagne-colored glasses could make even the dreariest party feel like a festive bonanza.
Notes: Champagne, Cassis Nectar, Rose, Chamomile, White Musk, Sandalwood, Ambrette.
Xerjoff Pikovaya Dama and Unsplash images, collage by Nicoleta
Xerjoff Pikovaya Dama (Chris Maurice) 2014
Setting: in the limousine, on your way to the ambassador’s mansion for the poshest masked ball one can imagine
Wearing: Alexander McQueen lace gown & a feather mask
For Pikovaya I have no words, only various intensity of sighs and exclamations. As the perception of beauty is so deeply subjective and as we are a product of our memories and experiences, I’m not surprised that I find such a degree of joy in soapy scents – and as I have previously disclosed, with details, in my fragrant awakening. Pikovaya smells like the elevated smell of the best royal ivory soap, turned into frost shards by the hands of the Ice Queen. A cold, aristocratic, knee-weakening opulent perfume that summons an aura of timeless elegance with a vintage flair.
Notes: Aldehydes, Neroli, Bergamot, Rose and Lemon; middle notes are iris, Incense, Cedar, Nutmeg and Coriander; base notes are Musk, Vanilla, Sandalwood and Patchouli
Nicoleta Tomsa, Senior Editor
Thanks to the generosity of Der Duft we have a draw worldwide for a bottle of Bubble
You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest about Nicoleta’s article An introverts guide to surviving New Year’s Eve, what you will be doing New Year’s Eve and where you live. Draw closes January 4, 2021
On behalf of all of us at CaFleureBon we wish you a healthy and happy New Year
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