New York City is a crazy quilt made up of its neighborhoods. Bond No. 9 is going to eventually make a fragrant statement about every one of these neighborhoods before Laurice Rahme is done. The most recent piece of NYC real estate to get the Bond No. 9 interpretation is one of my favorites in the entire city, Central Park West.
I think as an American perfume reviewer it becomes very easy for me to keep my eyes trained on the bounty of independent perfumers that abound close to home. The latest perfumer to help cure me of my myopia is Maria Candida Gentile. . I soon ended up with the six fragrances which make up Mme Gentile’s Classic Collection in front of me and over the course of a couple of weeks let them impose their will and Mme Gentile’s vision upon me. A couple of them have left indelible imprints.
Probably the hoariest pick-up line of all time is “What’s your sign?” It truly takes someone of phenomenal talent to rehabilitate that corny come-on. Alexandra Balahoutis of Strange Invisible Perfumes has that level of talent. Ms. Balahoutis is easily one of the top botanical perfumers working and all of her compositions are examples of the complexity that natural perfume can reach.
The Elements Showcase turned one-year old but this January 2012 edition was its third edition. This bi-annual perfume event is trying to be a North American alternative to the European perfume expositions. With this third outing organizers Frederick Bouchardy, Ulrich Lang, and Jeffrey Lawson have evolved Elements Showcase into something which has its own vibe.
One of my favorite fragrance stories of the last two years has been the slow and steady resurrection of the Lubin perfume house. I reviewed both of the more recent releases of Black Jade and the extrait version of Idole de Lubin. At the recent Elements Showcase I was reminded that there was a set of three other fragrances, Figaro, Itasca, and Bluff from back in 2010 that I also thought were pretty good.
Every time I am at a trade show the best part of it is when I find a something completely new to me. That moment of discovery is where the magic is. At the most recent Elements Showcase that bit of serendipity occurred midway through the first day as I approached the Di Ser Eau de Parfums booth. What was there was a display of ten fragrances completely unknown to me and I’m guessing the rest of the attendees as well.
