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What’s Your Fragrance?

You know how some people just have a certain smell about them? Granted, some are worse than others, heh. I’ve never had a fragrance to call my own. (Unless it’s one that I’m unaware of, and then that might not be such a good thing.)

Well, that’s not true. As a teenager I wore Beautiful by Este Lauder for a few years. But since then, I haven’t really gotten into anything new, and any time I do find something I like, I only wear it occasionally. I had a sample of D Yurman for a while that I really liked. And then I received Ralph Lauren’s perfume last year at a BlogHer event, and I wear that as often as I wear anything, I suppose. But again, nothing that I consider My Scent.

As I mentioned, last week Melissa and I were invited to a Stylist Luncheon at Neiman Marcus to see some of the new fall trends and beauty products and fragrances.

Evidently there is a entire culture of fragrance aficionados with a language all their own. They casually toss around terms like curves and weight and note. (I just thought notes were what you see on the treble clef. Ha!) I just went along with it and tried to take mental notes so that I could sound somewhat intelligent when I got home to write about it. Then I decided, who am I kidding!?

Well, I may not be able to talk the talk, but I know what I like, and I discovered a fragrance that I simply cannot live without. No lie, as soon as it hits the stores, I’m going to be first in line. I think I might have found My Scent.

For those of you who are as ignorant as I am of such things, Bottega Veneta is an Italian luxury design house that produces elegant leather handbags, luggage and fine jewelry, but until now lacked a fragrance. That’s all about to change.

HINT: This is big news in the fragrance world. Here is what they have to say about it:

Starting September 11th, Neiman Marcus will be the exclusive home to Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum, Bottega Veneta’s debut fragrance. The notes included are patchouli, oak moss, bergamot, jasmine and pink pepper.

Creative Director Thomas Maier on his inspiration when creating the fragrance: “An old house in the beautiful countryside in the Veneto region of Italy with rolling green hills, where we’re from. I envisioned a room with old wood floors, library walls and leather-bound books with the windows open wide, the breeze coming in and cut grass, hay, moss, garden flowers, growing through the room and everything mixing up. That’s where we started.”

Who knew so much thought went into the scent of a perfume!?

We sniffed eight brand new fragrances to be debuted at Neimans this fall, and I chose to try the Bottega.

Here’s the thing about fragrances. When I wear one, I feel like I smell it all day, and even when the scent is pleasant, sometimes it feels like it’s choking me. But the Bottega was different.

They didn’t even have samples available to give us at the time, so I only got to wear it for one day, but what I loved about it was that although it was there, but it wasn’t potent. I didn’t smell it constantly, but every once in a while, when I was least expecting it, I’d just get a whiff.

It’s a soft fragrance, slightly sweet but not sickeningly so. I generally prefer a fresher, cleaner scent, but this one intrigues me, and I am dying to get my hands on some of it! (I don’t know if that conveys my point or not, but those are the only fragrance terms I know how to use, so that will have to do!)

As far as the breeze and cut grass and hay and moss and garden flowers and leather and old European houses… I dunno about all that, but sign. me. up!

In the fragrance world, even the bottle design is carefully crafted to contribute to the overall experience of the perfume.

The bottle’s design is about contradictions: soft, rounded curves coupled with a substantial weight. Maier said the design came naturally as an organic process after working with the same Murano glassmakers who developed the glasses and water carafes of his eponymous home collection. A small metal brunito cap (the standard Bottega Veneta color) and a leather ribbon clipped with a butterfly stamp hides an underside evocative of the house’s signature intrecciato woven leather.

Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum should arrive in select Neiman Marcus stores (including mine!!) on September 11. It’s definitely going on my Christmas list if I don’t get a chance to snatch some up before then.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post, nor was I asked to write about our lunch at Neiman’s or anything we sampled. I just had too much fun NOT to share! And as an aside, how annoying is it to constantly end posts with a disclaimer!!?

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22 Responses

  1. JL, I had a fragrance I adored as a young woman (also my mother’s favorite), but it was discontinued. It’s called “Ecusson” by Jean d’Albret. Anyway, a few years ago I found a shop here in NC called “The Fragrance Shop,” and this family of perfumers (some of them have excellent noses, I suppose), has crafted all the old favorites (and some new), by scent. They sell only the actual oils, so it’s very strong, and takes only a drop. No spraying all over your body, unless you purchase their body oils, which blend the essential fragrance oils with other oils. And I found my “Ecusson” there!!! But all that to say, they never put any alcohol in their fragrances. Most fragrances on the store shelves have LOTS Of alcohol, which means a lot of it evaporates. It evaporates from your skin, so you use more. It eventually evaporates from the bottle too. Just something to look into. Their oil fragrances are expensive, but they last forever. It’s such a fun shop! They ship, and their flagship store is in Miami.

  2. My first job out of college was Assistant Buyer of Fragrances for a now closed department store in NE PA. I smelled fragrances all day long as we had samples lying everywhere. I’ve never really had just one fragrance that I stuck to. I had several that I like and I wore what I felt like depending on my mood or my outfit.

    Those days are long gone, I stopped wearing fragrances altogether when I had my first baby in 2005 and haven’t worn any since. Maybe I need to find a new scent.

  3. Obsession by Calvin Klein. I smelled it on a flight attendant once, asked her what it was, and have been wearing it ever since.

  4. I have always wanted to have a signature fragrance I always wore but I have never found the “one”. I hop around between, BBW Sweet Pea, Wild Honeysuckle, Plumeria, Warm Vanilla Sugar, to now their new one Country Chic. I LOVE it! So much I actually bought the eau de parfum of it instead of just all the different lotions and splashes. Now whether I keep it and not use anything else from now on remains to be seen. =)

  5. When I was a teenager and into my early 20’s I wore “Vanilla Fields” until I got sick of it – in fact I threw away the last half bottle just a few weeks ago, I haven’t worn it in at least 8 or 9 years, so I decided it was time for it to go!

    A couple of years ago I tried Bath & Body Works scent – Jasmine Vanilla – and it’s my new fragrance, I layer the scent using the shower gel and the body spray – gives me the right balance. I’d use the lotion too, but my skin is Not. Dry. and I don’t need it!

  6. I can hardly wear anything because I am either allergic to it or my husband doesn’t like how it smells, but for the last few years I’ve been wearing Victor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb and I love it.

    My husband chose it so he likes it. I like it because it smells so pretty and doesn’t give me a headache, and I also like that no one I know wears it. 🙂

    I will have to check yours out though, sounds intriguing!

  7. I just found a new scent (that seems silly coming from me!) yesterday. It’s Mustela Musti and I found it in a maternity/gift shop. I didn’t buy it, but that had a bottle on the counter to sample and I just loved how fresh it was all day long. I also love BLV by Bulgari.

  8. Sounds wonderful and right up my alley! Heh but don’t worry, I won’t get it, or if I do, I’ll make sure you won’t be in the same room 😉 I like unusual, old world fragrances. I used to wear Capucci by Roberto Capucci, who is now being “rediscovered” and has a retrospective at the Phila Museum of Art. Really hard to find.

  9. I finally found my signature scent a few years ago…Euphoria by Calvin Klein. I LOVE that perfume. It is feminine without being cloyingly sweet and it isn’t over powering. I find that with my allergy to trees there are a LOT of perfumes I find myself allergic to because of the woody scents and components.

  10. Sounds like a lovely perfume! I wear Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana. It’s light, clean, and has a hint of citrus. To me it smells like fresh linen and paper. After an hour or so of wearing it, I can no longer smell it on myself, but I have people asking me (up to 10 hours later) all the time what I’m wearing and that it smells amazing! It’s not cheap, about $80 for a large bottle, but it’s perfect for both night and day.

  11. I am a little sensitive to smells– maybe some people want to make their signature fragrance a little overbearing– my signature smell is just me. 🙂

    I do have a bottle of a bath and body works perfume (when they used to sell that) that I save for special occasions. It isn’t sold anymore-not even on ebay so I use it sparingly- it is the smell that I wore when I met my husband. 🙂

  12. I’ve worn 5th Avenue by Estee Lauder for years. It was never one of the most popular fragrances with other people, but I LOVE it. I also like Light Blue by Dolce. It is a great day perfume.

  13. I’ve always wanted to have a scent but, like you, never really have. For awhile I wore Ralph and really liked it but then it ran out. I have a friend who wears it now so I like to smell her every now and then. THankfully she’s not freaked out by that. After reading this I want to go out and find me a new smell.

  14. I will have to try it because I am a sucker for fragrance. And you’re right, the fragrance addicts have their own language. Before I got into REAL food (thanks Jo-Lynne), I read perfume blogs every day. There’s only so many blogs a person can read!! I like the chypre fragrances – oakmoss is one of the notes. Cabochard and Mitsouko are two of my favorites.

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