AK!!! I've just read on basenotes that Hermès is coming out with a fragrance this year called Hermèssence Vétiver Tonka. I must say, that certainly sounds promising! It's not on their site yet, so I'm presuming it's not out yet. I wonder what it will smell like--since vetiver has that grassy, rooty smell and tonka (which smells like autumn happiness) has that rich coumarinic smell, I imagine it might be a refined, high-end version of those Grass scents that start out with the sharp, green, fresh-cut note and then have the warm coumarin note beneath it. Or maybe it will be more of a fantasy tonka smell. Tonka bean smells sooooooo incredibly wonderful; I wish I could find a just-tonka-bean scent. Or for that matter, tonka bean oil, which once upon a time I was able to find, but for years has completely eluded me. (Enfleurage doesn't carry it; Aphrodisia doesnt; Angelica's Herbs seems to not know of it; and other places don't seem to have heard of it. Speaking of Angelica's Herbs, they tried to tell me that beeswax absolute doesn't exist. I can't stand it when these people try to tell me about fragrance when they don't know about it themselves.) So I can't wait to smell this one. I wonder when it's coming out.
Speaking of Hermès, I got some Equipage the other day. I was going to buy it online, cux I didn't want to spend the Sephora price, but the more I looked around, the less confident I was in purchasing it. I saw it on some eBay store for $20, but when I read the reviews, focusing on the negative ones, I realized that it was too risky. The reviews complained of bottles that leaked or lacked tops, and also imitations (not just of fragrances). They talked of informing eBay and the authorities. So I decided hells no on ordering from them. (I disregarded the positive reviews cux I figured half of them were probably put up by the company or their sympathizers.) But then I went to this perfume shop in Union Square and got it for a very good price there. We'll see if I still like it as much come December. It was still, even as I was getting it, a toss-up between Equipage and Bel Ami, because they both had good prices (and I love Bel Ami), but I went with Equipage cux it has a carnation note and is more versatile.
Continuing to speak of Hermès, go look at their site if you haven't before. Gak, the photos--they're just breathtaking. They oughtta be--Hermès is high-end enough. Just look at some of these:
Now that's some good product display, there.
Last thoughts on Hermès: you know, I realized the other day that just a few years ago I would never have really liked a Hermès fragrance. I liked them more synthetic, sharp, sweet and dazzling; whereas Hermès fragrances seem to be to be more natural, balanced, subtle, refined and understated. I guess my fragrance aesthetic has matured. The scents I prefer now tend to be Cartier and Hermes, whereas before they were Calvin Klein and the like. And I still like the other fragrances (I keep trying to compare it to music, with Calvin Klein et al being poppish and Hermès et al. being something I can't describe quite well, something more acoustic or substantial. However, my attempt at comparison keeps failing and I keep deleting what I type), but they just come off as really loud now (even Mont Blanc's Individuel, which I loved when I first smelled it, now seems to unnecessarily shout with its berry notes) much of the time. And when I actually purchase a scent, I gravitate more to Carter and Hermès. It leaves me to wonder whether I'll be wearing Creed in the future. But then I haven't smelled enough of Creed to have that much of an opinion on it.
And that's my beep for now.
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