On me: Vintage Balmain Jolie Madame (parfum and eau de toilette): Violets, artemisia, galbanum, and leather.
On him: Guerlain Lavande Velours: Violets, violets, lavender and iris.
-
Recent Posts
- WHAT PERFUME TO WEAR TO THE POLICE STATION ? – VOL II
- I RISKED MY LIFE FOR SOME SPICED CHINESE CHICKEN
- The Return
- YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY : A LOVER’S TALE (2018) + ETRUSCHAN WATER (2019) + LOST IN HEAVEN (2019) BY FRANCESCA BIANCHI
- TWO HOT, GORGEOUS FLORALS FOR EARLY SUMMER : : : : : :: TUBEROSE & MOSS + JASMIN ANTIQUE by ROGUE PERFUMERY (2020)
Archives
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
Categories
- 'Orientals'
- abstract moderns
- Almond
- amber
- amber floral musks
- Antidotes to the banality of modern times
- Antiperfume
- Apricot
- art and politics
- autobiography
- B0RN TO BE TROPICAL
- Banana
- Basil
- BAY LEAF
- Benzoin
- Bitch
- Black Narcissus Conversation Series.
- Blackcurrant leaf
- Bluebell
- boobs
- Bric-a-brac
- CAMBODIAN TRAVELOGUE
- Camel
- Carnation
- Catastrophe
- Celebrity Scents
- Celery
- chamomile
- Cherry
- Chestnut
- Chocolate
- Chypre
- chypres
- cinema + perfume
- Cinnamon
- Citrus
- Civet
- Classics
- CLAUSTROPHOBIA
- Cocoa
- Coffee
- Comme Des Garcons Japan
- Confectionery
- Coniferous
- Cosy Comforting Orientals
- Daphne
- Depressed
- destroying the shackles of heterosexuality
- diptychs
- Djedi
- dreamscapes
- Exquisite Perfumes
- Faux Toxic
- Fetish
- Fifty Shades Of Grey
- Fig
- Floral Aldehydes
- Floral Aldehydic Chypres
- Floral Bouquet
- Floral Chypre
- Floral Peppered Amber
- Floriental
- Flowers
- for those who need to hide
- Fougère
- Frangipani
- Frankincense
- Fruit
- Fruity Floral
- FUCK EVERYTHING
- FURIOUS PERFUME CRITIC
- galbanum
- Gardenia
- Ginger
- Gourmand
- Grapefruit
- Grass
- Green
- groping motherfuckers
- Hairy Masculines
- Herbal
- Honey
- I really do have a bad feeling about all of this
- Incense
- incomplete perfume reviews
- inexplicable happenings
- Iris
- Iris perfumes
- Ivy
- Japan
- JAPAN PHOTOGRAPHY
- Japanese Cypress
- Japanese Perfume
- Jasmine
- Jonquil
- JOUISSANCE
- Kiwi
- Last Sunday in Tokyo
- Lavender
- Leather
- Leather perfumes
- Lemon
- Lemon Chypres
- Lilac
- Lily
- Lily of the Valley
- Linden
- Liquorice
- LOVE
- LUXURIANCE
- maison francis kurkdjian ciel de gum review
- maison francis kurkdjian oud satin mood
- Mango
- marine
- Marsh Mallow
- Masculines
- Mastic
- Mimosa
- Mint
- Mojito
- Moss
- Muguet
- MUSINGS
- Musk
- MY FUNNY VALENTINE
- Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy's The Tribe
- Narcissus
- Neroli
- neurotic meltdowns
- New Beginnings
- Oakmoss
- occasionally sickening scents
- Oceanic
- operatic
- Opoponax
- Orange
- Orange
- Orange Blossom
- Organic
- Orientals
- osmanthus
- Oud
- OUT OF THE STRONG CAME FORTH SWEETNESS
- Ozone
- Patchouli
- Pepper
- PERFUME AND PERFORMANCE
- Perfume Reviews
- PERFUME: IN SEARCH OF YOUR SIGNATURE SCEN
- PERFUME: IN SEARCH OF YOUR SIGNATURE SCENT reviews
- petigrain
- Photography
- pigs
- postcards from the edge
- Powder
- pretentious aesthetes
- Prune
- Psychodrama
- Quince
- Rare
- Raspberry
- religious hatred and death
- Republican
- Rhubarb
- Rice
- Rose
- Rose perfumes
- rosewood
- Saffron
- Sandalwood
- Saturday morning in Tokyo
- SCANDAL
- SELF-OBSESSION
- Seringa
- SEX BOMB
- Shiseido Shiseido Shiseido
- Slinky
- Smoke
- SOFT ALDEHYDES
- Spice
- Spice Orientals
- Spiced + Powdery Orientals
- spiced ambers
- Stinging Nettles
- Tea
- the loneliness of the sea
- THE WORLD
- this is not a perfume review
- Tobacco
- Tokyo Art Museums
- Tomato Leaf
- Tonka
- TROPICAL
- Tuberose
- Uncategorized
- Urine
- Vanilla
- Verbena
- Vetiver
- Vetiver perfumes
- Vietnam photography
- Vietnam travelogue
- Vintage
- Vintage Bonanza
- Violet
- Violet perfumes
- Voyeur
- Weil Antilope Vintage Parfum Review
- when an artist spins in his grave
- Witchy
- Woods
- Woody Florientals
- wordy perfume reviews
- Writing
- Ylang Ylang
Search posts by tag:
1910s scents 1920s scents 1930s scents 1940s scents 1950s scents 1960s scents 1970s scents 1980s scents 1990s scents 2000s scents 2010s scents Annick Goutal Armani Articles Balmain Bertrand Duchaufour By Kilian Cacherel CARNATION PERFUMES Caron CB I Hate Perfume Chanel Christian Dior Christopher Brosius Comme des Garçons Creed Demeter Diptyque Dolce & Gabbana Editions de Parfum Etat Libre d'Orange Floris flower photography Geo F Trumper Givenchy Gorilla Perfumes Grès Guerlain Hermes Illuminum Iris Perfumes Japan Japan photography JASMINE PERFUMES Jean Patou Jo Malone Kenzo L'Artisan Parfumeur Lancôme Lorenzo Villoresi Madonna Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Mark Buxton Miller Harris Mona di Orio Montale Nina Ricci Olfactoria orange blossom Parfums Nicolai Patchouli Penhaligons Santa Maria Novella Serge Lutens Sisley Sonoma Scent Studio Terry de Gunzburg The Different Company Tokyo Tom Ford Ungaro Union vanilla vanilla perfumes Yves Saint LaurentRecommended Perfume Blogs
Meta
The Black Narcissus · perfume obsession and the scented skin
Love this post…the photos and the song!
We just had a great day out. Pure schlepping hedonism on a shoestring.
There’s something about that phrase….’Violets for your furs’….. that is so appealing somehow.
(and Jolie Madame matches it perfectly I thought)
I adore Jolie Madame. The current one is pleasant but it can’t hold a candle to the vintage. The leather reminds me of kid gloves in a handbag with a scented handkerchief. I had Lavande Velours years ago but it wasn’t for me and I gave bottle away. Back in the day when the AAs were good. You two smell great together. 🙂
I also didn’t think much of Lavande Velours initially but I found a bottle cheap ( it now goes for 250 dollars on Amazon!) and it smells supremely fresh and elegant on the D.
I only wear the Balmain very occasionally but it is perfect when the time is right. Really distinctive and unique.
What an incredible photograph.
Such a nice thing to wake up to, Neil. I love both those scents, and also was thinking of the original formulation of Serge Lutens Bois de Violette: not entirely dissimilar to Shiseido Feminité du Bois. Also, Le Dix Balenciaga. Quite a lot of fur with those violets!
I LOVE ALL OF THEM. Le Dix is magnificent and really beautiful but too feminine for me to wear (Jolie Madame, despite its name, is hilariously almost too macho for me would you believe)
I wish I had a bottle of the Bois De Violette, actually. I like that side of Serge Lutens (and love the Feminite du Bois vintage parfum on D. It smells incredible).
The too-macho Jolie Madame IS funny.
I know: ridiculous.
Incidentally, have you ever smelled Serge Lutens Une Voix Noire, allegedly inspired by Billie Holiday? I still haven’t – a murky gardenia or something – I find the idea quite intriguing.
And I don’t like to be a reformulation harpy, but the new BdV is a shadow of the original. Like quite a few SLs. Unfortunately. Fortunately, you seem to have a nose for sniffing out vintage!
No I was just VERY lucky in once finding a parfum that we are still eking out. It only happened once. On the whole I now find almost the entire Serge Lutens range attenuated and weakened and nothing like what it was when the perfumes originally came out. They have really been watered down!
https://theblacknarcissus.com/2012/07/11/butch-jolie-madame-by-balmain-1953-5/
That CHEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haven’t tried Une Voix Noire yet, but will keep a nose out.
Of gardenias, and although I’m not a fan of Tom Ford, his (retired) Velvet Gardenia was a blast of the murky-creamy dark-mushroom side of them. Yum.
And of course it had to be discontinued.
And the pictures – well, they are from a ‘thinking man’s gay rag’ from Amsterdam called Butt. I found it hilarious to physically place my parfum on its pages. The juxtaposition kind of works.
Love the picture of the white fur stole with the nose gay of flowers. Who is the elegant lady?
I believe it is one Marlene Dietrich…
“Pervy Madame” I love that. I really seem to go for the pervy old classics. I get bored with the clean, scrubbed ones, though I wear them as the occasion suggests. For myself, however, when it’s just me and I can indulge, it takes a little filth to keep my interest. This surprised me about myself but now I just roll with it. It’s not that I like pervy scents for the perviness per se – they have to be interesting and have some magic to them, not just club you over the head like some. But these old vintage scents with their mysterious bases have an aliveness to them. They’re fascinating and a little scary.
Definitely. The lingering of smudges of Madame on my black cashmere sweater today are undeniably erotic. They COMPEL. No violets, now, just animals.
Well said.
This post made me remember the second reason I love perfume so much–to heighten the experience of watching my beloved old movies and listening to my beloved jazz singers. It’s so timely because just two weeks ago I ordered a sample of Une Voix Noix and also Une Fille de Berlin. Have you ever tried anything from the Berlin-based perfume house Frau Tonis? They have one called 37 Violet inspired by Marlene Dietrich. I’d so like to try it.
I am so happy you are posting more and more!
And I love reading this; mutually inspiring. I actually quite like Fille De Berlin – it reminds me of Calandre or something like that but a pink, oompah loompah rose version. 37 Violet sounds interesting.
And I totally agree with the whole ‘sensurround’ approach. In these scary, crazed times we have to protect ourselves with beautiful things and people.
I just adore vintage Jolie Madame, there is just something so magical and mystical about it. It is a scent I am sure we will never see the likes of again; the reformulation is pretty grim.
Lavande Velours came out while I was working for Guerlain. I thought it was a very well constructed scent, very well thought out if you will. I could see it smelling perfect on D.
As I said I never liked it at first : sharp violets and lavender was quite an unusual thing in a way (although I can see some vague similarities with Fahrenheit now). Somehow though I now think it has a singularity to it and a very uplifting quality. The sillage is tremendous!