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aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen by Blacknall Allen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Monthly Archives: July 2012
Being Henry
Recently I read a description in a style magazine of stylishly appropriate and inappropriate houses. Among the latter group was Henry Higgins‘ in the movie of My Fair Lady. (You know, the blockbuster with Audrey Hepburn making you feel … Continue reading
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
The churchmen knew their business when they brought scent into the worship of God. Elemental stuff, you see. Like Proust’s madeleine. The origin of the word perfume relates to it. Per fumen – through smoke. Some words are so ingrained … Continue reading
Posted in Bruce Ware Allen, People, Perfume
Tagged Carnaby Street, Casanova, Delphi, Homer, profumigatio horribilis, smudging, Tobit
6 Comments
Day In the Night Garden
There may be nothing new under the sun, but sometimes you come across something that is at least new to you which is just as good. This happened to me with two perfumes recently, Les Nez, Manoumalia 2009, and Van … Continue reading
Posted in Perfume
2 Comments
Laughter Upwind
Something about perfume attracts people who love the beautiful and who are often quite serious about it. But there’s this thing about beauty; it’s just not as much fun as- well, fun. Think about it. Even Garbo, that queen of … Continue reading
Posted in People, Perfume
4 Comments
Rosewater, Marjoram, and Common Sense
Not what you would consider the world’s most formidable arsenal of seduction, is it? And yet that combination won Mme. De Maintenon the heart of a king, and not just any old king either but Louis XIV, the Grand Monarque … Continue reading
Posted in People, Perfume, Plants
2 Comments
What to Smell When You’re Expecting
As little as possible, if you can. You will go right off scent. That was my experience. Awful, I know, but the nausea of pregnancy makes most perfume torture, and in my experience it lasted all the way through. I … Continue reading
Posted in People, Perfume
4 Comments
The Strange Carapace of Coco
There is something sclerotic about the house of Chanel, perhaps part and parcel of the business, since it is all predicated upon the talent, business acumen (some might say rapacity), tenacity, and remarkable personal style of a dead woman. The … Continue reading
Posted in People, Perfume
5 Comments
Allons Enfants!
We have been successfully hornswoggled by the French. The fact that it is a very old and sophisticated form of hornswoggilification is no real excuse. They have put one over on us, that’s the fact, and one of the greatest … Continue reading
Dear M. Robert
Mals of The Muse in Wooden Shoes recently posted about people who seem to gravitate to the work of certain perfumers (Nose Pickers) and while she didn’t think she had a favorite perfumer, I found that for years, I did, … Continue reading
Posted in People, Plants
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Bigger Than a Beefsteak
There is something about paternity that seems to make men think of growing tomatoes. Who knows what it is? A sense of the passage of time, a yen to carry on tradition, or possibly noticing, while you are out putting … Continue reading
Posted in People, Plants
10 Comments
