The Modern Lady, Olya Bar with a perfume bottle of Portrait Of A Lady by Dominique Ropion
To speak of my fragrant awakening, Frederic Malle Portrait of A Lady, I feel the need to turn back the clock and take you to the day I became vividly aware of what owning a perfume really feels like, or at least what it feels like to a seven-year-old.
Vivid Parfum by Liz Claiborne
My sister who immigrated to the U.S. a few years before came to visit us in Moscow and brought a gift for me, a tiny bottle of deep sapphire hue; it was a bottle of Vivid by Liz Claiborne. Every drop of it was as precious as gold, which is why I only allowed myself to indulge in it on special occasions or when I really missed my sister. It made me feel incredibly special and grown up; I now owned my very own perfume. Now that we both wore the same perfume, it felt as if we now shared invisible bond, two sisters, separated by thousands of miles, connected by the fragrant thread. After the bottle of Vivid was finally gone, came the reign of Amarige by Givenchy, with all its floral glory and almost obnoxious intensity.
Amarige by Givenchy by Dominique Ropion, 1991
I first encountered Amarige on my Godmother, it was a hot summer night in late August, and she wore a crimson red silk dress covered in bright abstract flowers of blue, green and white. Amarige was the perfect match for that look, loud and lush, it felt tropical and almost suffocating. It filled every room she would enter and would linger long after she was gone. It was ultra feminine and lifted all your senses with its sun drenched bouquet of florals and fruits. I immediately knew I had to possess it. I continued to collect and learn about perfumes ever since.
Around a decade ago destiny threw me into the world of niche perfumes, it was exciting, full of the unknown, beautiful and complex. I didn’t stand a chance of ever getting out, neither would I even consider it now. I was learning and smelling many niche fragrances, but my understanding of perfumes was about to be turned upside down by Frederic Malle Portrait of A Lady.
Portrait Of A Lady by Dominique Ropion 2010
It was a cold winter night in New York and I was meeting a friend in a bar in Manhattan, it was small and crowded, rock music bursting from worn out speakers, people shouting over each other, drinks being poured and spilled on the bar which had seen better days. The crowd’s anticipation was building up like temperature slowly rising on the thermometer. In the middle of it all stood my friend, fabulous, as he has always been, impeccably dressed, clad in a long cashmere coat and vintage Cartier jewels. Some people are born with natural elegance, and this Scottish heartthrob was one of them. When I hugged him, the fragrance he wore felt like an aura and it transported me to a far away place. Perhaps it was a castle I imagined, sadly abandoned and forgotten by its rightful owner, left to live out its final days all alone. Its cold stone walls covered in moss, the library room once warm and cozy with wood slowly burning in the fireplace was now standing completely still, weeping for its past life, and all the stories it held within. It smelled of exotic balsams and golden amber once burnt during lavish dinners with spices infused into the exquisite dishes served. Finally, I smelt the rose, dark and mysterious, oozing with ripe decadence. It felt as if the mistresses of the house turned herself into a rose, trapping herself forever within the walls of her castle, to haunt whoever dare to disturb her eternal peace. I remember riding in the cab after I left the bar, still smelling it on my vintage mink coat from hugging him. I sensed her loneliness, the sadness, the broken dreams and the longing for the one who won’t arrive.
Olya’s wedding day location 2015, shot by Andre Maier
I was finally awakened to all the depths a fragrance can take me and pervaded all of my senses. Years later when I was getting married on a beautiful crisp afternoon in the early spring, I knew I wanted only one perfume by my side and it was Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady. My wedding took place in a castle, each of the nine layers of my Zac Posen princess gown were soaked with perfume; the intoxicating trail of it filled every room and every hallway of the castle as I walked towards my new life. Portrait of a Lady became my invisible armor; it gave me a sense of power and mystery. Wearing this perfume made me feel like a queen, finally breaking free from the chains of loneliness and opening up my heart to a new beginning. It will forever be a reminder that we create our own life and we write our own stories based on who we are, where we have been and where we are heading.
Portrait of a Lady: notes include rose, raspberry, clove, black currant and cinnamon, patchouli, incense, sandalwood, musk, benzoin and amber
–Olya Bar, Guest Contributor
All photos by Olya Bar unless otherwise noted
Please welcome Olya to CaFleureBon
Do you have a favorite perfume? Which (was/is/will be) your perfect wedding fragrance?
Want to learn more about Dominque Ropion… his book for Nez Aphorisms of a Perfumer can be purchased at Luckyscent here.
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