Had a lovely day yesterday. We finally got to Yokohama’s Izezakicho, the place I had wanted to go to more than any other ther, and had a wonderful time walking in the heat, eating ice cream, perusing the junk shops, and finished off with a delicious Greek meal, where we sat outside on the pavement watching the curious people walk by drinking retsina.
There is no doubt that the vintage perfume is drying up though. It used to be a wonderland, but several shops that used to be bonanzas have stopped selling scent, and even those that do had lean pickings. Still, I found a beautiful Mitsuoko vintage extrait, a small bottle of Acqua Vitae by Maison FK, and another Guerlain, one I had never smelled before, a full, inexpensive bottle of the long discontinued Orange Magnifica. I already have, and like, Mandarine Basilic, which is fresher, greener, but as a committed fan of oranges of all varieties ( I consider their scent the happiest smell in the universe ) and a diehard fan of Guerlain – something about them just makes me irrational -I had to get this other orange as well. And it is nice : like unpeeling a Jaffa while a joss stick burns away in the background, a woody, ambery, almondy basenote that is just a tad too insistent for me to wear with ease but which melds beautifully with the spicy incense I use in the toilet. It feels a bit wasteful ( this is not a bad perfume- I can’t stand bad fragrance in my vicinity, even in that particular context : do you also ever do this? ) but I can’t say either that I entirely dislike the sheer plenitude of it all : the ‘decadence.’
The Black Narcissus 
Sounds a great day! On topic, my current loo spray is Caldey Island Lavender. I bought it blind, charmed by the Guide review, but it turns out to be badly reformulated. It makes quite a decent air freshener though. For when it runs out – it feels more blasphemous, but I have more Santal Carmin and Silences than I’m ever likely to wear, and the opaque bottles make them unsuitable for ebaying…
Wow. The Caldey Island has been relegated to the bathroom – I love it.
And Silences…. that’s a sinister but alluring choice for the water closet…
I keep 4-5 perfumes that I never wear in the powder bath toilet for spraying. This morning it was Penhaligon’s Elixir. Most of the bottles are patchouli based which do not last long on my skin, but are lovely in the air. My two favorites are Oriza Le Grand Horizon and Von Eusersdorff Patchouli.
This is actual decadence.
Sheer decadence. You only live once…I love it!
Well I do sometimes think of the Greeks, the Egyptians and Romans, who scented everything ( I love perfuming money in my wallet so it smells swoony when I hand it over), different rooms, notebooks, it’s all very pmeasireable
I not only use “perfectly good” fragrances I don’t wear much/at all to scent the air in my house, I actually use my favourite, highly wearable rare vintages. I’ll even decant splash bottles into small sprays just for that purpose. I love smelling them from a distance, as it were. It gives me a whole other perspective, a fresh way to appreciate them. And I love the idea of my home smelling like No 19.
Love orange, love those Guerlain AAs, and happy to hear that, while pickin’s aren’t what they used to be, you still manage to find some lovelies.
There is definitely a general dearth, at the flea markets, everywhere, perhaps the sources are drying up, although there is an actual recycle chain in Tokyo now which is kind of amazing.
The Orange Magnifica is kind of gorgeous, actually : I love it when overt mandarin or orange notes shine out from clouds of warmth: this almost reminds me of the original Dolce &Gabbana in that sense; Opium, KL, YSL Vice Versa, I find an orange peaked perfume mountain delicious. Also each time I go in there I keep trying a bit.
Spraying the preciouses though…. blimey. I mean I have done it, and there is a thrill in the knowing how limited they are, but that feels like truly living dangerously.
I don’t ever, or hardly ever(!) spray rare extrait, just so you know I’m not (entirely) barking mad!
A couple of other interesting oranges that come to mind are Theorema, Eau de Merveilles and Parfums de Nicolai Maharanih. There are many.
Like Robin, I use quite a lot of my expansive perfume collection for spraying through my condo after I clean it. I could never even possibly use up my collection during my lifetime, so why not let me condo smell great even if it only lasts a few minutes.
Exactly. Which ones smell best in the air? I’m intrigued.
Yes! I’ve also got a case of SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) and scenting my home with beauties actually often feels downright . . . sensible. That No 19, for instance: I’ve got one of those gigantic splash bottles, eight ounces or so, from the seventies, and it ain’t gettin’ any younger. Also, I’ve got a tiny wee cottage, so it doesn’t take much to make every inch of it smell Chanel, etc.-esque.
And oh the iris vetiver elegance… it must linger beautifully
One of my best friend who is french and black uses his bottles of guerlain vetiver for the loo since the controversy, it says it’s where they belong (aux chiottes!} He was a 30 years vetiver wearer and guerlain lover, always buying bottles for the scores of delightful women that fell for his charm. When his brother passed, he was equally dedicated, his habit rouge went there as well. Me I do my best to ignore the thing but the great house is forever a bit tainted
!
I know exactly how he feels. Vetiver was so perfect it is almost unforgivable.
Habit Rouge is perhaps the only time I have used a perfume so profligately – we had a party, Red, and I sprayed the whole club with it.
I use the fragrances I can’t get way with wearing as air freshener. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them. The old version of Y by YSL comes to mind. I also like to spray perfume on all my handkerchiefs, scarves, and under garments. My favorite for this is Tuscan Leather and an oldie by Avon called Occur. The dry down of Occur lasts forever on fabric. It reminds me of vintage Miss Dior. Just opening the door of the wardrobe in my bedroom scents the room so beautifully.
Another Avon fan! Some of those blasts from the past are amazing, aren’t they? I wore Moonwind the other day and got a vintage Dior chypre vibe from it, too. They had a lot of good ones in the ol’ arsenal.
I’m going to search for Moonwind. It’s so much fun to experiment with old Avon fragrances. Also old drug store finds. A nice break from the niche world.
I agree. Those frumpy/weird bottles, the lack of pretension yet the surprising sophistication and decent components of the mid-western-housewife-geared vintage Avons, same with old drug store stuff — Emeraude, Chantilly, etc. So true. Niche can get a bit, hm, self-conscious and self-important . . . and often disappointing, after the hype and $$$$. Ric wears vintage Avon Wild Country (in a glass and plastic golf bag bottle, yet) and it blows the doors off a ton of current high-end stuff. Very “niche” to sniff it; you’d never know!
I agree – much better quality than they ought to be for the prices
Love it!
“Toilet should smell like water” Serge Lutens.
😉
Theoriquement oui, mais en fait…
Yep! For months I’ve used Premier Figuier (Artisan Parfumeur) in my bog and some morroccon mint and green tea designer combo with a long sentence for a name (easily forgotten!) bought on a whim from a trendy shop. Had a change last week and stuck some Yardley Peony and Yardley Hyacinth in there just to use them up really!
The Figuier is sacrilege! And it must leave a disturbing musky undertone that melds with…
Haha, I know, a mulchy linger of fruity, figgy, f…! Aroma homeopathy! I had to make use of it though. I used to love it but got all figged out and what used to smell luxurious and light suddenly smelt chemical and cleggy. I’ve restored it to the perfume cupboard for rehabilitation now though. It may come back in to my daily wear at some point…
rescued by a spritz of fresh coconut…