#perfume hobby

[blossomsinthemist]

"Queen" Perfumes from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

This series feels very fitting for Pride to me, so I thought I'd make a post about it. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is a very well-regarded American indie and niche perfumer, one of the pioneers of both American indie perfumery and natural perfumery, based in Colorado. She does a lot of vintage and retro style perfumes and also interesting constructions inspired by things like colors and avocado toast. I really love her Haiku series.

So onto the Queen perfumes! I'm going to link and talk about "Drama Queen," "Disco Queen," "Warrior Queen," and "Balls...Said the Queen."

First we have Drama Queen:

Drama Queen {CaFleureBon X DSH Perfumes}

A retro-nouveau, aldehydic, white-floral chypre fragrance created to celebrate CaFleureBon’s 11th Anniversary.

"While some might think of Drama Queen and immediately get a vision of hyperbolic eye rolling and fainting, the image that came for both Michelyn and myself was that of some Old Hollywood stars and operatic divas, who experienced extreme heights and valleys in their careers and personal lives. Our minds and conversations were filled with the likes of Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, Dorothy Dandridge, and Eva Gardner. Each put on a brave face to shine in the spotlight and for the flash of paparazzi only to know darkness and heartbreak behind the closed curtain.

When translating the concept of Drama Queen into scent, I had two big ideas whirring through my mind: I wanted the perfume to be a vintage-style, aldehydic, white floral-chypre that even Michelyn could (and would!) wear. Because while Michelyn LOVES Old Hollywood, vintage perfumes just don’t really excite her. Above all, though, Drama Queen needed to be a perfume that we could imagine ALL of our stars wearing. The kind of “show stopper” fragrance that would mirror their star power!

As befitting our Drama Queens and the era in which they reigned, the top note of the perfume shines with aldehydes like the bright, flashing bulbs of paparazzi. Juicy, voluptuous ribbons of fruit, neroli, and sambac jasmine dazzle as the heart note develops while just one step below grandiflorum jasmine, orange blossom absolute, and the ‘great floral diva’ tuberose steals the show. This is the kind of sex appeal and pure pleasure that we imagine stars being filled with. But in the dry down is the ever present darkness; the classical elegance, and delicate melancholy of oak moss is balanced with the sensuality of tolu balsam, ambergris, musk, and civet."

After a year of being locked away, with nowhere to go and seeing most people through online meetings, we’ve become accustomed to our sweatpants. With one spritz of Drama Queen we can all be transformed. We can experience an expression of glamour, star power, and DRAMA." (description from the DSH site and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz)

Next is Disco Queen:

Disco Queen {CaFleureBon X DSH Perfumes}

An exuberant and sparkling fruity-aldehydic, floral dance odyssey that feels both fabulously of the moment and vintage inspired. Created with Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen to celebrate CaFleureBon’s 13th Anniversary.

"Unlike the fiercely chilly intensity of last year’s “Warrior Queen”, this year’s Queen is filled with youthful exuberance, dancing sensations, and the excitement  of one’s first real independence.  Disco Queen, as she is aptly named, is a brightly sparkling fruity-aldehydic floral fragrance with a burst of Bellini and aldehydes in the opening and a sexy base that references the glamor of vintage Calandre (a la one of the the kings of disco fashion, Paco Rabanne).  It’s as dazzling as a disco ball making the room feel as though it’s filled with stars and possibility.

I have to admit that I utterly love Disco Queen!   Not only in the fragrance (which I do!) but also in being allowed to live in the telling of Michelyn’s memories of her first years after moving to Manhattan.  Disco Queen is a young, high-powered Manhattan executive by day, and a dancing queen* by night.  While finding the kind of balance that the young can manage best, only a ‘disco nap’ was needed after the 9-5 seriousness to cut loose and dazzle until all hours at some of the hottest places in town, like Area and the Limelight, while drinking Bellinis and wearing Paco Rabanne’s Calandre perfume.  (*Michelyn even won a dancing contest at the Limelight !)

Disco Queen has had a prescient quality about it since Michelyn and I began working on it together last year.  We both have a personal relationship with Calandre (created by Michael Hy) and wanted to reference the gorgeous metallic and glass tones evoked by this perfume in Disco Queen.  And with the passing of Paco Rabanne earlier this year, it felt all the more right.

As Spring opens its doors to the world again, Disco Queen comes in beaming with shimmering beauty and sweet delight; a perfect celebration!" (description from the DSH site and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz)

Also available here on Etsy (when the shop's not on vacation.)

After that we have Warrior Queen:

Warrior Queen {CaFleureBon X DSH Perfumes}

A modern abstract white lily floral fragrance with a deep sense of icy coolness at first impression. It develops a beautifully grounding effect as it dries down. Warrior Queen is a stunningly fierce fragrance created to celebrate CaFleureBon’s 12th Anniversary under the creative direction of Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief.

"The inspiration for Warrior Queen  was born out of the shadows to bring light and strength.  This year’s Queen has a completely different feeling and personality than 2011’s  Drama Queen, which was meant to  bring a sense of glamour to what had been a very dark, and isolated year.  Warrior Queen is intense with an ice coated suit of silver armor as the first impression of the scent.  The metallic accord in the opening tells you just how strong you are and, I feel, a sense of protection comes along with it.  No one wants to mess around with this Queen!  Inside we find a metallic rose surrounded by hawthorn branches, and a cool lily in the heart.  The base is grounding and made of abstracted earth notes: moss, stones, and wood.

For Warrior Queen, Michelyn wrote,

It’s as if  the world has been frozen underwater not able to break through and allow our true selves to emerge”. She let me know that she wanted something powerful, ’not pretty’ (but wearable), and abstract to speak to the sense of power and intensity that this year has brought.  Michelyn sent me a quote that hit very deeply for both of us and informed this perfume  at each stage of its composition the design:

“The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about”.  Jonathan Harnisch, The Brutal Truth

We all have battles that we wage in our lives; many of us are living with pain, trauma, and hardships that we don’t make public.  And now, as I write this, there is a war raging in Ukraine, brutalizing the people with unbelievable loss and suffering.  We all have to be strong to fight the good fight in big and small / public and private ways.  This year we bring you Warrior Queen; an inclusive, fierce, that I hope will help us all find within ourselves." (description from the DSH site, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, and Michelyn Camen)

And last but not least, we have Balls...Said the Queen:

Balls…Said the Queen

“…If I had them, I’d be King”.

A tongue in cheek, yet unapologetic fragrance that playfully pokes at gender roles.

"A stone fig leaf accord, like from a Greek or Roman statue, opens the design which gives way to a more warmed and fleshy fig fruit center paired with a salted rose accord.  As the fragrance transitions into the drydown, a rich, fruity, and slightly animalic Oud note emerges along with fascinating facets of olive fruit – olive wood, warm skin musk, and ambergris.

I think it’s kinda badass.

The notion of gender and gender roles is always in play in society and the world at large as we navigate how to live together on the planet and how we want to live as individuals. This phrase and how it is adapted to the perfume concept will, I hope, give us a moment of levity, a wry smile and a giggle perhaps, but also a moment to pause and consider how we approach gender and what it means in terms of freedom, power, and expression in our lives." (description from the DSH site and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz)

Also available on Etsy.

Personally I think it's interesting to have a gender play "queen" fragrance, and it makes me think about kings and queens who maybe do and do not have balls, in multiple senses.

DSH perfumes are rather expensive, but there's lots of options for buying them, and some are more affordable than others!

[blossomsinthemist]

A to Z Tips for Enjoyable, Affordable and Rewarding Perfume Hobby - Bois de Jasmin

A compilation of A to Z of tips for Enjoyable, Affordable and Rewarding Perfume Hobby

People were asking my about my perfume hobby, so I thought I'd link to this article - I follow Bois de Jasmin, and I feel this article is really good!

[blossomsinthemist]

:o

How does one get into perfume as a hobby? Do people buy bottles and swap samples, do you get sample sizes, are there perfume cons you go to and smell stuff?? Amazing also that you know so many! That’s so cool

All of these things are true! I mean, the perfume cons are a bit more like industry events, lol, but you can still go to them! The other big hack is going to department store fragrance departments and testing stuff out. I get a lot of samples from various places - some online stores (like luckyscent, for examples) offer them, some perfumers offer them, and then there's places online that make samples/offer decanting services. I spent a lot of time reading fragrance blogs like boisdejasmin and nowsmellthis and going on Fragrantica. I'm into indie perfume like Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, too, and go on their forum a lot, and they have a very robust swapping/selling marketplace and social network there. That's how I first got into it, really. And then I just ... buy a lot of perfume. It's one of my things like, "I'll buy a new fragrance to cheer myself up" kind of things. My favorite frivolous purchase (followed by comics and food and books, haha.)

So yeah, I think there are a lot of ways to get into it, honestly! I'm always happy to talk about perfume, to be honest!

[blossomsinthemist]

…soooooo, you enjoy perfume as a hobby? That’s so interesting!

please tell about the rainbow of scents that Tony goes throughout his life. The perfumes and colognes on himself and others.

The eras and daily choices of scents he makes, the fizzy bubblegum sprays that doubled as body glitter he and his friends bath in on their party adventures, the “manly” aftershaves he picks when he firsts inherits the company and is trying to seem so grown up, the colognes he tries to use to mask the whiskey on his breath. The perfumes you mentioned when he’s feeling flirty. The sandalwood and lavender deodorants he uses when he’s dating a yoga instructor lol

The smell of his mother’s favorite perfume that his father hates (maybe because it makes he happy more then any personal preference). His father’s aftershave that never changed (but the Scotch smell of his father that overpowers it is the reason Tony tried to hide his alcohol smell at all). Steve’s everyday cheap soap and his “fancy” aftershave for galas, dates, and military functions. Janet’s array of scents, even more vast then his own but so often have an under currant of honey.

(What was the name of the “girly” perfume he was wearing when his father called him a slur for the last time, what was he wearing at his and Maria’s funeral? What was he wearing at Rumiko’s? Steve’s? What cologne did Ty stealmirror from him? Did his use of scents change now that he has to strap into a suit of armor for hours? Did the smell of metal on his skin after a flight make him seek out a similar smell to mask his escapades? Is he like MCU Tony and has a can of Axe for emergencies/baths in as a punishment when he’s forced to resurface from a work binge against his will so everyone around him has to suffer either Axe or his BO and motor oil lol?)

Well, first of all, this ask is like a fic in and of itself, and I'm just ... wow. This is SO good, so many things to think about and contemplate. I almost don't want to answer, so we can just leave those question up in the air, rhetorical, for each reader to answer for themselves however they want to.

But I have a ton of thoughts about Tony and scent and perfume and cologne, so I can't resist diving in, either. I tend to think a lot about favorite characters and scent, whether they exist in a version of our modern world or not, but when in they're in a version of our modern world, there's the added bonus that they could be wearing the scents and perfumes on the market in our world, which adds this whole other dimension of fun and interest to think about. And there are so many different possibilities, especially for someone like Tony, for whom money would often in his life have been no object. I tend to think that he has a fairly extensive scent collection (though maybe that's just projecting from mine - but I think he'd like the variety, the ability to make different choices from day to day and project different images, and the changing collection could also show how he changes over time).

First of all, I really love the sort of progression of various "eras" of Tony's scent journey you have outlined here, the idea of fizzy bubblegum sprays with body glitter that he and his friends used in his party era as a youth (as a very young high school and college student, no doubt), the manly aftershaves when he first inherits the company and is trying to seem grown up, his attempts to mask the whiskey on his breath when he's drinking. All of that rings so true to me. I can just see it, all of it.

In my own mind, Tony (especially in Ultimates, but across the board) has a fondness for sugary celebrity fragrances when he's feeling flirty that started when he was a teenager, that often seem far too femme for a man to most but that he carries off. I imagine that he's very fond of Britney Spears' fragrances in particular, and I can see him wearing Fantasy in Bloom, the original Fantasy, the Fantasy Naughty Remix, and especially Midnight Fantasy, but most particularly Private Show, when he's in this kind of mood. He also isn't above buying Victoria's Secret Fragrances for this kind of thing. Recently, I feel like he might wear their new-ish scent Bare to bed from time to time, whether there's action or not.

When he starts wearing his most manly aftershaves, after he first inherits the company, I imagine he'd go for something classic and classy, something that reminds him of what Howard wore without being the exact same, trying to assert his own identity a bit. I imagine Howard's chosen cologne was both classic and particularly butch, something like Knize 10, Aramis, Givenchy Gentleman, Ralph Lauren Polo, Halston, or Dior Eau Savage. I tend to picture Tony in something like Aramis or Chanel Pour Monsieur in this era. (He probably also wears Ralph Lauren Polo, some variation of it, including the original green.) As he got a little older, and he became more his own man and the company more his, I imagine he branched out a bit but stayed in the masculine cologne style, wearing things like Guerlain's Vetiver or Habit Rouge, or Acqua di Colonia's classic Colonia. In his drinking era, I imagine he wore louder colognes, like Gucci Rush, or Calvin Klein Obsession, Yves Saint Laurent's Opium Pour Homme or Armani's Eau Pour Homme, or the sweet and bold Joop! for men, to mask the smell of alcohol.

I always picture Maria's favorite scent as Chanel's No. 22 for going out (bright, light, aldehydic, structured) and Chanel's No. 18 (warm soft powdery ambrette) for staying home, alongside Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue, so I think Tony ended up liking to wear those himself to remind himself of her. I especially think that No. 18 can be very convincingly unisex and probably smells great on him, like warm soft skin. (Steve probably loves it on him.). Speaking of Steve, I think Tony has always had a fondness for wearing Shalimar to be sexy, despite (and because of) its fame as a feminine sexy scent par excellance, and since it can smell amazing on men, I bet he rocks it, but I always picture him wearing it for Steve particularly when they go to bed together, and since Steve probably associates it with his own era (as well as being far too expensive for someone like him to ever buy for his girl back then), it probably drives him absolutely wild.

Other scents I tend to picture on Tony are Tom Ford's (after all, we know MCU Tony likes a Tom Ford suit) Vanille Fatale, Tom Ford's Neroli Portofino when it's warm and he wants to smell light and fresh, Tom Ford's Tuscan Leather, Noir Anthracite, Noir, Noir Extreme, Grey Vetiver, Black Orchid, Japon Noir, Beau du Joir, Bitter Peach, and the cherry suite of Lost Cherry, Cherry Smoke, and Electric Cherry (which he would wear playfully), Chanel's Allure Pour Homme and Allure Sport, Egoiste, Le Lion, Sycomore, and Paris-Venise, Dior Homme Intense (the irisy version, the leathery version, and the light current EdT) and Dior's Bois d'Argent, Prada L'Homme and Amber Pour Homme, Prada's L'Infusion d'Iris Cédre, the 2018 EdP version of Givenchy Gentleman, Chopard's Iris Malika, Maison Crivelli's Iris Malikhan, Parfum Satori's Mizunara, Iris Homme, and Satori, Sisley's Eau d'Ikar, Dolce & Gabbana The One, Guerlain's L'Homme Ideal (in all its variations), Spiritueuse Double Vanille, Santal Royal, Vol de Nuit, Liu, Mitsouko, Chamade Pour Homme, Amouage's Reflection Man, Silver Cologne, and Material, Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Amyris Homme, Petit Matin and APOM Pour Homme, Nikos Sculpture Homme, Diptyque's Tam Dao, Yves Saint Laurent's Grain de Poudre and Y, Eris Parfums's Mx., Frederic Malle's Geranium Pour Monsieur and Vetiver Extraordinaire, Lalique's Encre Noir, Hermes' Equipage and Terre d'Hermes, Bond No. 9's Dubai Ruby, and Parfums de Nicolaï's L'Eau Chic and L'Eau Mixte. I really like the idea of him wearing rose scents, too, like Maison Francis Kurkdjian's L'Homme À la Rose, Le Labo's Rose 31, Tom Ford's Rose Prick (look he just would), Aedes de Venustas by Aedes de Venustas, Rrose by Ellis Brooklyn, and Gucci Guilty Pour Homme EdP (not just because Chris Evans was in that Gucci Guilty Black commercial ...).

Two of my Ultimate Tony Scents, though, are Tauer Perfumes' L'Air du Desert Marocain (and the later version of it, Au Coeur du Désert) and Parfums de Nicolaï's New York and New York Intense. Tauer's is a dry, spicy warm desert wind that sinks smoky and dark into the right skin chemistry and starts to smell almost like some dark floral spiced incense chocolate, and New York is a sophisticated and complex unisex scent that just seems to fit Tony perfectly (to the point that Luckyscent must agree because their description seems to reference him, haha). I'm currently writing a post Civil War (616) fic where he's wearing the Tauer in my head, though I don't reference it by name.

I feel like Steve uses Ivory soap and has ever since his childhood and wears a traditional barbershoppy aftershave, like Pinaud Clubman, and also tends to wear traditional soapy lavender-y colognes when he dresses up, like maybe the original Old Spice or YSL's Rive Gauche Pour Homme. I also often picture him wearing a soft and warm vanilla cologne, too. And I absolutely adore the idea of Janet having an incredibly vast array of scents but often honey-based scents.

I can also picture Tony wearing Jean Paul Gaultier's iconic Le Male fragrance, sweet, floralicious lavender, famous for its queer branding and popularity with gay men. Maybe that was the scent he was wearing when Howard called him a slur for the last time, but I think in my mind, I'd rather go with a classic women's perfume he was wearing in defiance of his father for that moment, so I think I'm going to go with Fracas by Robert Piguet, a garish and femme gardenia bomb, maybe the original Yves Saint Laurent Opium, or Cacharel's gentle Noa, maybe one he thought he could get away with, or big blowsy bold Lou-Lou. (These days, I think he rocks Mugler's Angel and Yves Saint Laurent's Black Opium and knows he does.) For Howard and Maria's funeral, I imagine he wore something he knew Maria would have liked. I want to say Guerlain's softly melancholy heliotrope, cool-toned violet Après l'Ondeé. While he can still wear Apres l'Ondee, I think he probably wore Shiseido's Zen for Men, a gift from Rumiko, to her funeral, and hasn't been able to wear it since. I think he probably wore Versace's The Dreamer, a soft dreamy tobacco iris lavender, to Steve's funeral and immediately donated the bottle to a homeless shelter the next day. I bet Ty wore Polo Ralph Lauren, but then started wearing Chanel Pour Monsieur and Aramis to mirror Tony. As for Tony, I'm not sure if his use of scent would change after Iron Man, honestly. But it would be interesting if he wore something like Dior's Fahrenheit with the strong motor oil/gasoline opening to cover the scent of metal. And the can of Axe for emergencies is hilarious. It might depend on the era there--in the eighties his regular cologne might have been obnoxious enough! But overall I think 616 Tony might be a little less in your face about his annoyance, and wear a well-behaved sandalwood and vetiver deodorant with citrus cologne even then.

[blossomsinthemist]

*Tony finds or commissions a Sakura scented cologne after this, he wears it when he’s missing Steve (so Steve never smells him wearing it until the reunite after time away, making it all the more sweeter)

Steve paints cherry trees when he misses Tony, thru all the seasons (their bare narked branches in winter, their lush green leaves and red fruit in summer, their riot of colorful leaves in autumn) but rarely ends up painting them in spring in person because he rarely misses Tony in spring now that they have a standing date tradition to sit amongst the petals every year

* https://www.tumblr.com/blossomsinthemist/717923807100354560/tony-taking-steve-to-a-hanami-in-the-brooklyn

Omg, yes, goodness. All of this is so on brand for me, haha, cherry blossoms and Steve/Tony. A Sakura cologne for Tony! I'm imagining something like Acqua di Parma's Sakura cologne or Esteé Lauder's Dream Dusk, or Komorebi by Fueguia 1833, but maybe he goes fully decadent like Amouage's Blossom Love or soft like Kenzo's Kenzo Amour. (Now I have it in my head that he sometimes wears stuff like MAC's Candy Yum Yum, Britney Spears' Fantasy In Bloom, or Christina Aguilera's Cherry Noir around Steve when he's feeling flirty or teasing, lol). I imagine Tony's commissioned cologne would have the sweet almondy nuance of cherry with a gentle, clean floral, with a mixture of citrus and vetiver over a warm and woodsy base like sandalwood. And Steve never smelling it on him until they reunite after time away because he wears it when he's missing Steve! Oh my gosh, my heart.

Painting cherry trees! When he misses Tony! But hardly ever in spring, because they enjoy them together in spring! My heart is both melting and full. Maybe their first kiss is under the cherry blossoms, while Tony is drinking a fancy cherry blossom flavored soda (because no alcohol) but feels tipsy and fizzy on Steve's presence, and leans over his arm before he thinks, and then Steve moves in and kisses him, almost in a dream.

[blossomsinthemist]

squeeful

replied to your post “So the drugstore I was in today had a perfume display. Here are some...”

                       What...what does holy water smell like?                    

It smells basically like incense, lol.

[blossomsinthemist]

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's newest Activism collection.

omg, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s new collection is amazing.

“In an effort to justify the cruel, heartless separation of migrant children from their families, Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that it is “very biblical to enforce the law”, and Attorney General Sessions invoked Romans 13 – the same Bible passage so often utilized in the past to justify slavery: ‘I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes.’ Boy howdy, you monstrous, merciless ghouls, does Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab have a Bible lesson for you.”

(Proceeds from the sales of these scents will benefit RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas.)

[blossomsinthemist]

I desperately need to update my perfume inventory on LJ, but maybe I should make one here too and link it in my about me info.  Hmmm.