Eau de Parfaux

Personal diary on cigarettes and perfumes. ENG | FR | TAGALOG

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Chypre Chypre (pronounced [ʃipʁ] or she-pruh) finds it origins in Francis Coty’s fragrance by the same name. Characterised by bergamot-labdanum-oakmoss accords, fall into numerous classes according to their modifier notes, which include but are not limited to leather, florals, fruits, and many more.

Here are the few I sampled from contemporary to classical.

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Indigo Smoke is a smoky, sweet tea— comfortably warm in your hands and goes down easy. It’s the dark, varnished hardwood floors of an antique home. It’s the pressure in your nostrils, relieved, under steam.

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Moth & Rabbit’s La Haine is youth amidst chaos. It’s the smell of liquor passed around from comrade to comrade after a police chase. It’s the smell of a close call after a shot that’s been fired. It’s the smell of hot pavement stinging your bloody knuckles after a fist fight.

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Love is a budding flower tickling your nose— a little green, the bud still waiting to come to a full bloom. Love is a fresh hand squeezed lemonade on a sunny spring day, but when you lick your lips, you can taste your lipgloss subtly sugaring the tang of the bright citrus.

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Arquiste’s ella is a warm summer night in 1978. you’ve stepped out of the club, your curls are caked with sweat. a girl ashes her lipstick stained cigarette on the heel of her go-go boots. The smell lingers but it’s subtle as the scent of new blossoms waft across the city.

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The dragon’s nostrils flare with smoke, but it’s sweet unlike the stories you’ve been told. Likewise, it’s not scalding but warm; akin to the days where you stand by the fire after spending the day trudging through crisp snow

That is The World According to Arthur by Penhaligon’s

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Corpse reviver is a prep cook told to bartend on a short staffed friday night but he was unfortunately forced cover both roles as well. He comes home exhausted with whiskey on his breath, and his sweat honeyed with the smell of tempered chocolate for the petits gâteau baking in the sweltering kitchen

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Poudrextase by Marlou is the sweat of a coworker, a family friend, a loved one, a stranger at a bus stop. The way it settles on your skin is a toss up. It could be an effervescently sweet skin scent or as heady as the sweat on the back of your knees. You just won’t know till you try it.

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Room progress— 15/2/2025

[jezzball]

vintage Avon snail perfume bottle

[goshyesvintageads]

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, 1968

[vieneinpace]

1950s Removable Flower Petal Ashtrays

[miamaimania]

“Canarina’s Gaze” by René Lalique, 1928.

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I went to my local Nordstrom one day to do a bit of personal research on designer cologne. My original goal was to familiarise myself with a vast array of different fragrances as it occurred to me that my impression of men’s colognes lacked any depth. I thought of them as all the same, having no real discernible qualities from one another other than what someone has described to me as— a barber shop sort of smell. I came away stepping over my ignorance and gaining a newfound appreciation for men’s colognes, but that’s a different story. Today, I wanted to talk about the special treat my nose indulged in when I came across the Tom Ford Kiosk. 

I’d like to start with Tobacco Vanille, as it was my first impression of the brand when I smelt it a while back. I was a blind buyer back then, and I came across a good deal on a coffret set that also included Soleil Blanc, Deep Cherry, and Oud Wood. Sadly, out of the four, I only ended up keeping Oud Wood, and regifting the others to friends and family as I found that they weren’t really to my tastes at the time. I remember my disappointment with Tobacco Vanille, finding it pungently sweet and nauseatingly cloying on my skin. I have the delicious misfortune of being a regular smoker, so I had this expectation that the scent would have an essence of smoke or perhaps something sharp to balance out those richer notes. Though this scent isn’t for me, I have a deep appreciation for what it perfectly achieves— an intimate Turkish smoker’s lounge with complimentary bite-sized hors d’oeuvres of sweet treats for their patrons. It’s a scent I can see myself returning to at a different point in the future, but as of right now, I’ll appreciate it on those who walk past. 

As for Vanilla Sex, which despite my critical opinion of the sickeningly sweet quality of Tobacco Vanille, I found Vanilla Sex’s burst of vanilla to be deliciously pleasant— a vanilla scent that would agree with any gourmand lover! However, I will say I think this fragrance lacks a certain depth compared to her siblings. I personally find that the bitter almond and the floral notes do a lovely job of balancing out the rich foundation compared to Tobacco Vanille, but despite it, it’s a very one-dimensional scent. What you see is what you get, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I would consider Vanilla Sex to be the bubbly, and charming little sister that folks dote and fawn over, whereas Tobacco Vanille is the try-hard, suave middle brother. 

Now, while I personally found Vanilla Sex to be comparatively more pleasant on first sniff, Vanille Fatale has a fascinating depth and complexity throughout the entirety of its wear. If Vanilla Sex is the little sister, and Tobacco Vanille is the younger brother, then Vanilla Fatale is the elegant and mature older sister. Vanille Fatale is the perfect blend of her sibling fragrances— sweet but not cloying, and well balanced by its bouquet of florals and side serving of fruits. The rum, myrrh, and saffron on top give her an air of sophistication that avoids being egregious thanks to the thoughtful bursts of citrus, and the barley, coffee, and plum in her heart beautifully carry that air of sophistication as it settles alongside the base. The vanilla and tobacco in its foundation are lovingly cradled by the mossy, sturdy mahogany and sensual suede, complimented by the patchouli, and brightened by the violet. A lovely fragrance through and through that had me tilting my head and beaming each time my nose came across a different note. 

Vanilla as a fragrance personality is notorious— beloved or belittled by those who come across it. Tom Ford’s olfactory range is unsurprising given their large arsenal of fragrances, but the noses behind each fragrance and the way they choose to interpret the impressions of a single note never ceases to amaze me. This scent journey reminded me that regardless of any aversion or preconceived notion I have towards a fragrance, I will at some point find an exception due to the vastness of the world of parfumerie, and it makes me absolutely giddy for all the new fragrances I’ll come across. 

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i finally thrifted a genuine burberry scarf for under $50 omg

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Sniffs Mini Bundle: A brief personal review

I had gotten a $40 gift card and was looking for the most bang for something my buck and came across one of Snif’s best sellers sets. I was mostly enticed by Tart Deco but wanted to expand my collection beyond gourmands and here’s what i’ve found.

Tart Deco, like most cherry based scents that I’ve smelt, still has yet to disappoint. A pleasantly sweet scent thanks to the elegant balance of the florals and woods in the heart and the foundation that remains scrumptious from the beginning all the way to the end.

Sweet Ash was a scent that took time to love. It smelled lovely in its vapourised form, but I found that it wasn’t well suited to my skin chemistry. In my disappointment, I put off giving it a second wear, but when I did, I found that for some reason, it was far more pleasant than the first! As fragrantica and parfumo have stated, there is no distinction between the top, heart, and base notes and I would have to agree that the scent is consistent throughout the day, but now that I’ve been building my olfactory muscles, I’ll most likely have to give it a few more wears and take a few more notes if that is actually the case.

Golden Ticket like Sweet ash has no distinction between top, heart, and base. This is a scent that I found personally questionable in its vapourised form upon first sniff. While the black and green tea notes appealed to me, I found that the bergamot has unfortunately made it too tart for my liking. This one will take some getting used to and i intend to give it a few more times come spring !

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The scent of the day is the first ever fragrance i’ve ever made which i’ve dubbed Fumée Douce— or sweet smoke. A sweet, smokey, boozey tobacco scent that I’m not satisfied with, but I feel shows a lot of promise. It’s very one dimensional to me, but I’m hoping to refine it soon!

Parfümerie is a new hobby of mine, and I’ve never really fathomed making my own scent, but lately I’ve been thinking of fragrance as an art form, and how scents are able to provoke guttural reactions and transport people into different worlds. I’m an art major entering my senior year at my university and I’ve had my final exhibition in mind lately so I was thinking of finding a way to incorporate scent into my work in addition to my visual media. But, it’s not enough for me to just find a fragrance that I feel would pair well with my art, I want to do things the hard way and make a scent of my own! So this is my first step in my journey.

I attended my first fragrance making workshop today at Portland’s Artemisia and the course gave each attendee over 50 absolus, oils and extraits to play with over the course of 2 hours. The first hour was dedicated to tutorial, and the final dedicated to experimentation. I could have spent hours tinkering on this. Playing with ingredients and concentrations, but I was strapped for time and any ingredient in addition to the 5 included in the starter package would be an added $10 💀

I learnt a lot in that workshop, and even more so afterwards with the research and notes I took. I’m not satisfied with this scent as I find it cloying and one dimensional. Though, I found that spraying it on my fingers after a smoke actually gave it a certain depth I was trying to achieve. It’s akin to TF’s Tobacco Vanille which unfortunately, is my least favourite of the tobacco based scents I’ve smelt. So afterwards, I took the time to research what made the other tobacco based fragrances I’ve enjoyed stand out to me, and the obvious answer (which I eventually came to find out in the middle of the creation process) was citrus— something tart or sharp to balance out the sweetness of tobacco and wine currant. So by the end, I was thinking to myself— What if i had bitter peach or a sour cherry or cranberry as a top note ? Or oud smoke rather than birch tar as the base? But unfortunately, even in a collection of over 100 extraits and absolus, there are still limitations to what is available to me so i can only wonder 😔

The workshop I attended has play and experiment sessions where you can spend any amount of time with 5 free scents with an added $10 for each scent you’d like to play with, and I fully intend on returning to fine tune this fragrance. I feel like this fragrance shows a lot of promise, and I hope to report back soon! 🫡