Notes from my NY sniffing trip

Hi all,

I've been away for a little while now on vacation in New York, smelling my way around the city. Instead of hogging the SOTD and "Today I Bought" threads, I figured I'd make my own.

DAY 1:

The Comme des Garcons boutique



The CdG boutique is in an area filled with modern art galleries, and is set up like a gallery as opposed to a traditional store. There's no sign and you enter it through a long silver tunnel. It's worth checking out, just because the setup is so interesting.

Here in SF, I've found a few of the CdG fragrances, but I'd never had the opportunity to try much of the line.

Here's what I ended up trying on and my thoughts:

parfums*PARFUMS Series 2 Red: Harissa - Cinnamon candy, red jelly beans, and a hint of green grass, all over wood and smoky Iso E Super. Really interesting. Sounds gross but I like it a lot.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 1 Leaves: Lily - faint watery floral. Not strong, but grabbed me nonetheless.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 4 Cologne: Citrico - Spicy green citrus with a hint of green. Dried to spicy orange with a hint of vetiver. Great for summer.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 2 Red: Rose - Weird. Strange synthetics (rubber, the smell of working in a factory surrounded by hot machines) with one of those fancy grandma rose-smelling guest soaps mixed in, too.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 5 Sherbet: Rhubarb - The smell of my mom baking rhubarb pie. Quickly faded to the smell of a wet paper bag.



Here are some thoughts on others, based on sniffing on paper:

parfums*PARFUMS Series 1 Leaves: Calamus - Like green grass mixed with the smell of construction paper or old newspapers.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 2 Red: Carnation - Really nice clovey carnation scent. I would have bought it, but I planned on buying the more natural and better JAR Golconda later in the trip. I'd still highly recommend it.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 1 Leaves: Tea - Pepper, Iso E Super smoke, civet, and tea leaves. Kind of gross but completely captivating.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 4 Cologne: Vettiveru - Encre Noire with poop added.

parfums*PARFUMS Series 2 Red: Sequoia - Nice. Very similar to Jaisalmer (Iso E Super + Cedar) but faded to rosewood. Recommended.

I also smelled Cumming at a nearby boutique. It was a lot like Leaves: Tea, but not quite as haunting or nuanced.


In the end, I bought Harissa, Lily, and Citrico.

(more later!)

DAY 2 (part 1):

The Le Labo boutique.





Thanks to the Barneys here, I can get Le Labo in SF, but I wanted to try Tuberose 40, the scent exclusive to this shop. Of course I tried it on.

The top was pure classic cologne, with a bright orange citrus top. It quickly faded to a mix of orange, flowers, and indoles. Eventually, the indolic note morphed into tuberose. All in all, it was floral, but never too heady. The main attraction was always the orange - the tuberose was there for support. It's a weird one - the tuberose would turn off people like me who like citrusy colognes, while the manly citrus top would probably turn off many tuberose fans. And it's really expensive. Nice, but kind of "meh."

I was happy to see that they sell a smaller size at the boutiques, so I ended up picking up two scents I liked but didn't want a full size bottle of, Bergamote 22 and Vetiver 46.

(more to come)

DAY 2 (part 2)

The Santa Maria Novella boutique.



The great old building covered with wrought iron was beautiful, but under construction, hence the ugly photo.

All in all, I didn't care much for SMN's frags, but bought some soaps and souvenirs for friends. It's a beautiful shop, and they also carry Eau D'talie and Lorenzo Villoresi.

Some thoughts, based on sniffing on paper:

Santa Maria Novella Vetiver - Vetiver + hay with a minty Italian top.

Santa Maria Novella Nostalgia - Orange leather musk. Very old-smelling.

Lorenzo Villoresi Piper Nigrum - Black pepper with a really super-creamy sandalwood. Interesting, but I found the creaminess off-putting.


I ended up buying Eau D'Italie Bois D'Ombrie (interesting deep smoky incense wood), and getting samples of the entire Eau d'Italie line.

The store is definitely worth checking out.

(more to come)

DAY 2 (part 3)

Up the block to a little boutique called In God We Trust to check out D.S. & Durga.



I have to say that D.S. & Durga turned out to be really interesting. Niche to the max, their scents are pretty challenging, but some really got me and rewarded the patience it took to appreciate them.

I tried on:

Cardamom - Familiar but unplaceable. Sort of like red kool-aid, sort of like tea, sort of like spices, and sort of like leaves. But not really any of them. Later, it faded to bay leaf. Kind of like Green Green Green and Green, but with a fruity top added.

Cedar - Mixed woods on top, leading to rosewood. Morphed back into redwood/cedar with a citric brightness on top. Faded to black pepper and incense. The deep base was nothing but smoke (not the Iso E Super kind, but the smell of a fire pit)


Thoughts on others from paper:

Burning Barbershop - Really, really odd. Smoked lapsong souchong tea. Smoky, like liquid smoke, with medicinal notes (lavender?).

Bear Trapper - Leather + taragon + really sweet fruit. A really odd mix.

Cowgirl Grass - Basil, oregano, and floral bubble gum. Yuck.


I bought Coriander, and spent the rest of my trip kicking myself for not picking up Cedar, which entranced me the whole day. One for the wish list.

(more soon)

DAY 2 (part 4)

Popped into Bond No 9's flagship store



Nothing there I hadn't smelled before, but it's nice.

Then it was off to C.O. Bigelow.



I tried on Parfums de Nicolaï Eau d'Été - Bright 7up faded to ginger and light fruit punch. Too sweet for me and quite weak.

On paper, smelled Juliette Has A Gun Citizen Queen - Powdery floral with light berries. Not my thing.

Off to an afternoon lunch to take a break before pulling out the big guns...


(more to come)

DAY 2 (part 5)

Finally, off to Aedes de Venustas (forgot to take a picture, sorry...)

After hours of sniffing everything and generally getting in the way, I tried on:

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Fraiche Passiflore - Strawberry soda, fruit punch, grenadine, and a grassy green undertone. Fruity floral minus the floral - one for the clubs.


Tried on paper:

Brandy by Brandy - Apple/strawberry & Hawaiian punch. Bright and fun.

Lubin Vetiver - Encre Noire with lettuce.

Amouage Dia - Peppery wood, vetiver, Iso E Super smoke.

Amouage Jubilation - pepper, smoke, and musk.

Amouage Silver - powdery leather bread.

Lalique Amethyst - Grape kool-aid with apple.

Lubin Idole - Amber, pepper, wheatgrass, lemon, and musk, but mostly musk. And the bottle was even uglier in person. Sorry Mtgprox05...

Hierbas de Ibiza - Artificial blueberry cupcake frosting.


I ended up buying the MPG Fraiche Passiflore, mostly because I felt like I had to buy *something* because I'd spent so much time there. They made me some samples of a couple of Parfums d'Empire and their L'Artisan Aedes de Venustas.

And I ran back across the street to C.O. Bigelow to buy MPG Garrigue ("Creedy" top over an interesting base), which Aedes had out for sniffing but didn't have in stock...

DAY 2 (part 6, and fading fast)

On the way home, stopped by the Malin + Goetz boutique to sniff the new ones.



Some thoughts:

Lime Tonic - Bright lime that got soapy.

Petitgrain Tonic - Kind of a shock to me, because I always thought this smell was an element of neroli that I didn't really like. A note identifier for sure, but kind of gross.

Synthesized Geranium Leaf - Pretty flowery greenness. (Note to M+G's sales department: If you want your perfectly nice but unremarkable geranium to get noticed at all, don't put it out at the same time as the new Malle Geranium...)


Later that night, I scrubbed everything and gave a proper wearing to the L'Artisan Parfumeur Aedes de Venustas:

The top had a lot going on - incense, sandalwood, pepper, smoky Iso E Super, as well as something sweet (rum? or maybe just the cinnamon top of the sandalwood). This all settled down into a warm rum raisin cake with cedar and pepper.

The heart of this was like a British sticky toffee pudding (dried fruits and nuts, rum, and sticky cake).

The base was cedar (the hamster cage kind), which further faded to rosewood.

Hours and hours later, I was left with burnt caramel and coffee beans, with cream, though the coffee could have been a trick of the cedar and the cream was probably sandalwood.

All in all, this is quite good. Nuanced, with lots of depth. The caramelized gourmand elements and the dried fruits never got cloying because of the interplay with the woods. And the smoky woods never got linear or boring because of the ever-shifting dessert notes.

I don't think I need a big bottle, because it's not really my style, but I can see this as being an incense fan's holy grail. Worth trying.

DAY 3 (part 1)

Sniffed my way through Henri Bendel



I tried on:

SixScents 1 - Realistic mango/papaya. Similar to Byredo's Pulp, but much cheaper.

SixScents 3 - Interesting spicy wood. Unique.


Thoughts on scents tested on paper:

Smiley - Based on a completely unplaceable note - like vegetables and bread baking in the oven, with fruits and musk. Odd but compelling.

SixScents 2 - Oud, baby powder, and kool-aid. Yuck.

SixScents 5 - Pepper and sandalwood. Like Piper Nigrum, but not as creamy.

SixScents 6 - Peppery fruit. Wearable but nothing special. Red berries/cherry soda with Iso E Super.

Miriam Mariani (the whole line) - loved the bottles, but all were kind of "meh."


I ended up buying SixScents 1 and 3, as well as a very cool limited edition Aftelier Perfumes sampler pack made for a Living Perfume event. I got number 11 of 12! And they gave me a ton of Etat Libre d'Orange samples...

DAY 3 (part 2)

I stopped into a Molton Brown boutique to sniff their mens fragrances.

Thoughts on paper:

Pepper - One-dinesional. Meh.

Cool - Aquatic. Meh.


Then it was off to Etro to ogle the ties and smell the frags.



I tried on and ended up buying Palais Jamais - The top was basil, vetiver, and citrus. The strong greens of the top faded a bit, leaving a heart of citrus with lingering green freshness.

They threw in a sample of Vetiver.

(more to come)

DAY 4 (part 1)

I started off at Takashimaya



I tried on:

Profumo Del Forte Roma Imperiale - A nice citrus top quickly faded to butterscotch candy. Later, grassy camphorous herbs came in over the butterscotch. The herbs eventually faded and the butterscotch got creamy. Later, some caramel came in and the deep base faded to chocolate.

Neil Morris Zephyr - Indoles + citrus. Not very floral, though the indoles were *huge*, with massive silage. The whole thing smelled moldy. Later, only the moldy indoles remained. By the base, it smelled like a nasty old kitchen sponge that should have been thrown out long ago. Interesting, but pretty gross.

Keiko Macheri Sanguine - A soda-ish top faded quickly to light candy with burnt caramel. The whole thing was kind of odd, like a mix of fresh, clean, artificial-smelling cleaning product and marshmallows, like something a little girl would wear. I ended up scrubbing it.


Thoughts on paper:

Ineke Derring Do - Creed-esque citrus.

Ineke Evening Edged In Gold - Similar to the bread portion of L'Heure Bleue.

Neil Morris Takashimaya - Light and bright (but strong) perky faux-citrus. Maybe some Yuzu in there. Sort of a Clinique Happy for Men on steroids with tea.

Neil Morris Clear - Dryer sheets? Snuggle fabric softener?

Neil Morris Afire - Fruity floral with super-sweet red fruit punch. Bright and perky like Takashimaya - is this "up" quality a Neil Morris trademark?

Neil Morris Gotham - baby powder.

Neil Morris Storm - Sometimes public restrooms have things that spray a little puff of scent every few minutes - this reminded me of their smell. It had those huge horrid indoles, too. Not for me...

Keiko Macheri Peau de Peche - bright peach aldehydes & lemon.


All in all, I didn't end up buying anything there, but had fun sniffing.

(more to come)

DAY 4 (part 2)

Saks 5th Avenue.



Beautiful store. Some SA's were much nicer than others. Strangely, no one gave out samples, which is a hallmark of the San Francisco Saks. And they had the Chanel Exclusifs. Odd.

I ended up sniffing Penhalligan's and buying the little sampler pack.

I also ran through Barneys and was relieved to see they had the same stuff as the SF Barneys, so I didn't really have to spend any time there.

Then, it was off to Bergdorf Goodman.



What a beautiful store...

I started at the Guerlain counter to check out the exclusives.

I gave a full wearing to:

Moscou - Bright citrus mint with a slightly out-of-place vanilla on top. Very Italian-smelling. Later, it all meshed into orange candy, which faded away. No Guerliande? No base at all??

The new one Les Secrets Noir de Sophie - A lightly indolic floral top faded quickly into gorgeous boozy cinnamon vanilla Guerlinade. Later, the booze went to wood over the Guerlinade. Eventually, the Guerlinade faded and the indolic flowers came back (!?!). It's unexpected that the expected base was in the heart and the top repeated itself in the base, but this one is REALLY nice. Skip the city exclusives and go directly to this!

Thoughts on paper:

Guerlain Habit Rouge Sport - I liked this one again. I'll have to give it a real wearing. But understand that I don't like the original Habit Rouge, which this isn't like at all.

Guerlain Tokyo - Bright sparkly fruit with a touch of the breadiness of L'Huere Bleue.

Guerlain New York - Smells like face cream - buttery and sort of flour/bread/powder. Probably the most "classic" of the city exclusives.

I also tried By Kilian - the exclusive new oud fragrance - Just oud. I don't know that much about oud, but it smelled like the real thing. Mellower than I expected, with nothing fecal. Somehow very oud without getting rough. It smells expensive.


I ended up buying Ajne Om (burnt caramel and wood) for 40% off. I almost picked up another Ajne that smelled dead-on like stargazer lilies, but figured I'd never actually wear it, even though it smelled great.

They had four non-export Serge Lutens exclusively at that store. I bought Un Bois Sepia and they threw in tons of Lutens samples, as well as a cute little Eau de Pamplemousse Rose mini.

Then, to cap off my vacation with a splurge, I bought the JAR Golconda I've been saving up for.

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation.

Although this makes it look like I did nothing but smell perfume, I had a great time dancing and eating and generally living it up in a great city.

Where else can you shop for perfume at midnight besides the Times Square Sephora??



Also, my hotel gave me a massive free upgrade to a park-view room, so I got to look out on a beautiful view:



Oh, and as a cherry on top, wandering around one day, I spotted this place:



and decided to pop in, just to see if they had any hidden treasures. There, hidden in the minis, was a very underpriced $10 mini of of Le Feu d'Issey, complete with body creme!

I'm happy to be back home, but this was a great trip!

I wish I'd managed to meet up with someone from Basenotes there, but it was fun going solo, too.

Thanks to anyone who actually reads all of this...

Nope, I'm very much at home again now.

I had hoped to make it to Brooklyn for the CB/Miu Mia combo, plus a stop at the Bedfors Cheese Shop, which is supposed to be a great hidden treasure, but the crappy weather kept me from going.

As for my energy, walking miles and miles endlessly around a city is my favorite kind of vacation. The stores and restaurants were just destinations...

And, yes it was the Parker Meridien. I'm amazed that New Yorkers can recognize buildings by their views...

Despite how this long thread makes me look, I don't actually sniff THAT much at a time. After sniffing bottles to pick out the few that interest me, I spray on strips and write the name on each strip (I've long since stopped worrying about how weird this makes me look). I hold on to favorites and toss the others in a shopping bag. Once I've narrowed down to 1 or 2 I like, I spray one on each arm, and maybe one on each elbow if I'm really going nuts.

My "on paper" comments were based on smelling the strips later, only a few at a time. They're certainly not intended to be in-depth reviews, just passing thoughts...

And, as always, my apologies to anyone who loves a frag I say something "questionable" about...

Thanks to all who read this!