Joe and Anthony's Clearwater Meetup

Awesome picture. Clear sky, water, boats...umm jealous. Sounds like you guys had a nice visit. Thanks for sharing.

I don't know what you're talking about. Me? Hyping ISM? LOL. So glad you got to experience it Joe - isn't it glorious. Told you so. The first time I smelled it, it kind of haunted me for the following weeks (I'd phantom smell it, in my house, when I know I hadn't had any iris scent on at all). It is the ONLY SL bell jar I own. Good stuff.

I love Cuir Mauresque a lot as a leather scent Joe - that's weird that it wasn't leather prominent to your nose. I say retry it later on, maybe your nose was slightly fatigued.

Nice to finally see what you look like nthny! You both are so photogenic.

Isn't meeting up with another Basenoter just the best?

I love these kinds of posts (ie. meet -ups). Kinda like when you hear about people meeting on the internet and then getting married and having kids, only the kids are samples and the relationship is a menage a trois with perfume as the 3rd person.

I've been meaning to try ISM too these days cuz of "certain people" (Mike I'm looking at you too)

great pic indeed !

ISM..ISM..ISM...Must.resist.as.i'm.broke.

At least Anthony came down to see you this week (mid 60's F high temp) rather than last when it was in the mid-high 80's and exceptionally humid here in Pinellas (and, of course, the air conditioner in our apartment had broken that week). May have to try out that Iris Silver Mist... ::sigh:: The girlfriend is going to hide my credit card.

And I'm more than a little disturbed by the menage a trois comment.... and yet intrigued by the logistics.

Great shot and news, gents. Really great to see. I always wonder at meetups like this how either of you (you both have smelled hundreds if not thousands of scents) can find something new for the other to smell. Clearly you guys picked wisely!

Great shot again--I need that weather up here.

NOOOOO! Stop with the ISM praise! I have a sample en route, and I already have the money set up for other stuff, must....resist....falling....in love.

Edit: Looks like you guys had a great time!

Edit 2: Hey, 1000 posts! YAY!!!!

Thanks for the review and the pic. Sounds like a good time.....and since I'm still stuck in the snow up here in baby Siberia, I am jealous.

I have so much to add I don't know where to begin. I should say that the purpose of my visit was actually to purchase a long time favorite, Armani Prive Cuir Amethyste as well as Ambre Soie. Little did I know I was in for a perspective altering glimpse at some truly gorgeous works of fragrance art.

Joe opened my eyes. I mean, I have smelled some wonderful things, some beautiful things, some complex things, but I had never experienced a Mozzolari before, and never a Histoires de Parfums fragrance, and am just scratching the surface of Parfums de Nicolai. I now understand what so many veteran basenotes members mean by lasting power, complexity, and longevity all having to come together in a perfect balance to achieve a 5 star rating. Let me explain:

Joe and I had met before, but I had NO idea he was as in deep as he is (pretty much everything we've all been discussing here on basenotes within the last two years is to be found in his beautiful waterfront home in full bottle form). I felt very small hahaha! He had carefully selected fragrances he thought I'd love and I'll say this, he knew what he was doing.

I'll start with Histoires de Parfums 1740 (Marquis de Sade). He said, "now this is something that I knew I had to have the moment I smelled it..." I simply couldn't believe my nose. I was breath taken. It was sweet, it was unbearably complex, and strong but not harsh, and it seemed to go on forever. It was gorgeous. I'll have to describe this one at some other point because I need a while to digest its beauty. By this house, I also smelled Noir Patchouli, another knock out.

The second mind blower was Givenchy Vetiver. I'll be brief. It's so real it's frightening. It's like taking some other attempt at creating the fragrance of real vetiver, and turning up the resolution to 100%. It smells like squashing up vetiver roots, wringing them out into a glass and adding a little salty iodine. It's so simple, yet so exact, you think you are looking at a photograph.

Other amazing fragrances Joe shared with me were Annick Goutal's Ambre Fetiche, Mazzolari Patchouli (and I thought Montale Patchouli Leaves was powerful), The Different Company Bois d'Iris, Body Kouros (I'd never smelled it before... lovely!), Shiseido Basala, PdN Maharadjah (wasn't too sure about a lavender oriental at first but after a few hours, long after I'd left Joe's, I was left without words) and so many more I can barely recall. I was in fragrance bliss!

I have been changed by this wonderful, generous basenotes member and friend. I thought I understood niche perfumery but there is an entire world left to explore. A world of daring note combinations, beauty, turmoil, tranquility and poetry within a bottle that I had never imagined. And Histoire de Parfums 1740 is my personal catalyst. I'm still coming down from this whole expierence quite frankly.

I'm not being HALF as detailed as I'd like to be, because I just got back from being out in the boat with my dad and dogs but wanted to make sure to respond. Not only did his lovliness send me home with some amazing samples, he was also thoughtful enough to make a large decant of Guerlain Vetiver for me, having seen my search for a good deal on it in my signature. How amazing is that? THANKS JOE! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a sample of the 1740 (Marquis de Sade) too - it also impressed me too, from the first sniff, nthny.

Mike, That's great. I think it's really something special, although now experiencing the very gourmand drydown, I'm trying to decide if I'm smelling coffee. What I smell is somewhat reminiscent, superficially perhaps, of some perfumers' interpretation of dark coffee with cream and sugar accord. (EDIT: This morning, I woke up and sniffed again and it's most decidedly immortelle I'm smelling, just treated a bid differently than usual. It actually smells quite mapley 15 hours later. And me being the immortelle fan I am, I see in part why I love this fragrance so much.) If only I could hold onto the opening for longer! BTW, that sample we tried of Iris Silver Mist was totally bought with you in mind. It was really incredible. I'm so glad I was able to experience it.

nthny....thanks for the wonderful report on the visit. I guess I need to get around to sniffing Iris Silver Mist at some point. I am jealous that you guys get to share sampling frags in person.