On Perfume

 We've taken quite a break, this is true, but exciting things have happened in the meantime. Em launched her new webcomic, Living History, and Anne managed to survive a rough transition at work. We're back now for the new year with a joint post!

Are you the type of person who uses one perfume, or do your scents change with your mood?

E: I use one type of perfume. My scents change, but I unfortunately use esoteric perfumes that occasionally stops being made, which means I have to change periodically which is super-frustrating. But I always wear the same type of scent.

A: I'm a one perfume kind of girl. But since scent is associated to clearly with my memories and experiences, I can definitely see myself changing perfumes when I change my life, like if I move or get married or something. That way, when I sniff my past perfumes, I will remember details of my life then.

What is your current perfume?

E: Yemanja by Lily Lambert, from her Goddess collection.

A: Lola Marc Jacobs.

Describe your journey to finding that perfume, including missteps.

E: I really can't wear a lot of commercial perfumes because artificial scents smell really soapy on me, especially florals. Which is frustrating because a lot of perfumes out there are citrusy or floral, or kind of old lady musky with lots of gardenia. I'm also allergic to most of the artificial scents. I had one body splash growing up that smelled good, but when I put it on it made me smell like play doh, which is not an attractive scent. I wore for a long time a perfume--I think it was called Arabian Nights--and that smelled really spicy and attractive. Now I mostly wear scents with vanilla and spices and other natural scents. I loved that perfume, and it was a sort of organic market perfume by one of those companies that specializes in patchouli, and it was really nice, really warm, which is what I have to have in a perfume. And then in Portland, we went to that place that has those samples [Blush Beauty Bar]. I tried a bunch and really liked the Yemanja. I asked for it for my birthday, and got it.

A: I'm not sure what sparked this, probably just a passing fancy, but I started a recurring feature on one of my other blogs called "In Pursuit of Perfume," which gave me a platform to try different perfumes and write about how they worked or didn't work. I wanted to see more about which perfumes I liked, and how they worked with me, and how people reacted to them. So I just started trying a bunch of different perfumes every time I was near a perfume counter. Eventually I discovered Lola Marc Jacobs, and surprised myself but correctly identifying the pear note in it. It's the only floral-heavy perfume I've encountered that doesn't smell terrible on me, especially since it doesn't have a musky or spicy base note. Then I asked for it and got it as a Christmas present a couple years ago. I just got a second bottle now too, so I'm pretty happy I won't run out.

How have you found that scent interacts with your natural musk, as it were?

E: I think I sort of have a sweet/spicy natural scent, or this is what I've been told by people who have been smelling me, and so I think wearing sweet/spicy scents really compliments what I smell like already without getting the antiseptic scent I get. Also, it's really important that I only have natural ingredients in my perfumes or it won't smell good on me, or it will make me sneeze.

A: A long time ago, and old roommate of mine brought home some pheromone perfume that was supposed to interact with your natural pheromones and produce some incredibly intoxicating and seductive scent, or whatever. We each tried it, and everybody came out a little different--mine smelled like citrus, my super-girly roommate like flowers, and then other roomies sugar cookies and dirt, that nice earthy smell of newly tilled soil in the sunshine. So I guess I think I should smell best with extra citrus, but I never really looked that hard. Florals are everywhere, and tend to smell really cloying and sour on me, so to work they need something deeper, like patchouli or musk or apparently pear.

What parts of your personality do you think your signature scent represents?

E: I don't know. Now that I asked that question, I think "hnng." I think I'm a warm, sweet person. And I think spicy earthy scents work well with my personality. I think it would be a little strange if I were wearing really floral perfumes. Just between the way I look and the way I smell naturally, I don't think floral is really--I need something smokier, almost.

A: To me, Lola smells like sunshine and honey, which is part of what really drew me to it. I smelled and started wearing it when I moved away from home, and was in grad school, and got really lonely and kind of depressed. Something happy and warm was really what I craved and what I needed, and I think it helped keep me in a better frame of mind. I'm normally a pretty optimistic person--I like to see the potential for good in everything--but I can forget that sometimes. I guess it's kind of a reminder to myself to not forget who I really am.

How do you apply your perfume? Do you feel that your application method makes a difference?

E: It depends on what I'm doing that day. Usually I just put it on my wrists and my neck. But if it's a special occasion and my hair is down I will spray it on my hair, too.

A: I usually just spray it on my wrists, but if any dribbles onto my fingers I'll smudge it behind my ears. I got the accompanying lotion too, but it's super sweet and kind of overwhelming, so I don't use it much.

What perfume do you wish you could wear but can't?

E: I wish I could wear some of those really classic, sexy scents, but they just smell dusty on me. I don't smell sophisticated, I just smell like an old woman. I also wish I could wear those fun, playful perfumes, but most of those have artificial ingredients.

A: I wish I could get away with wearing those really ostentatious, ridiculous perfumes like Poison or Opium, that are all in-your-face and aggressive. I don't think I have an extroverted enough personality for that. And I'd really like to be able to afford all those layering fragrances, that smell like grass, or books, or violets, that you can just spritz as you please.

How do you respond to perfume on other people, both men and women?

E: I tend to like perfume on women more. I tend to notice it a lot when it's overpowering or one that everyone is wearing. A lot of the Chanel scents are so overpowering and worn by so many people that they've lost their power for me. Overexposure to Chanel No. 5, when people bathe in it, is enough to make me have unpleasant associations with it. I think it smells really good, it's such a classic scent, but I get these visions of a well-dressed, older, Southern woman who's bathed in it, which has been most of my exposure to it. And that's gross.

I have really good associations, actually, with L'Aire du Temps, because that's what my mother wears. It smells super-good on her, but smells like dust on me.

A: I love a good cologne on a man, especially when you can't smell it until you get really close. That makes me sound like I make a habit of it, though. Hah. On women, I'm not fond at all of those women who bathe in it. After a while I can't even tell which fragrance is which, and it all just smells like perfume and is completely obnoxious. I love the idea of perfume though, it's so romantic and elegant.

Sundark and Riverlight

I woke up this morning and checked my email and realized that Patrick Wolf's latest album Sundark and Riverlight had been released!!

I immediately dropped down my 11.99 on iTunes, and burned myself a copy for my car. Literally, twenty minutes later, I was parked in a random parking lot, sobbing.

Patrick Wolf has that amazing ability to wrench all sorts of beautiful and painful emotions out of me- and I know I'm not the only one. I've been along for the ride since Wind in the Wires, and the first listen of a new album is always an emotional journey.

Sundark and Riverlight is a retrospective voyage through Patrick Wolf's diverse discography. It is stripped down, acoustic, and, as his voice has matured in the last 10 years (P Wolf is 29) some of the songs have changed key and taken on a more adult quality. His re-recordings of pieces from Wind in the Wires(2005), especially, sent chills up my spine.

Sundark and Riverlight is like seeing a picture slideshow of the great life events of a dear friend, and while I listen obsessively to this album, I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

Camping Again!

 

This week I went camping again! This time we went to Hurricane Ridge. It really is a great time of year to go camping, because it is still warm enough, but kids are back in school, so the campgrounds are less crowded. It is usually a few retired couples in RVs and a few other young people. Perfect.

We camped down at the base of Hurricane Ridge, as our first attempt to drive up lead to my car making some pretty horrifying noises. At our campsite, a hare was nosing around, and let me take pictures of him.

We got up early and headed to Hurricane Ridge in the morning. Spectacular.

 

What a perfect trip!

Smørrebrød Party!

Do you know how to confuse the heck out of your friends? Ask them to bring toppings for Smørrebrød. Even when you explain that they're Danish-style open face sandwiches, you still get stares of incomprehension. But when everyone has assembled and your friends are starting at slab of dark rye bread holding a delectable pile of shrimp and cucmber...they'll come around.

Bon Appétit magazine recently published an article on Smørrebrød, and since I am a sucker for appetizer-like mix and match things, I had to try it. So I tacked it onto a picnic that I had already planned with a group of friend. Because the toppings are so easy to carry around, nobody had a huge burden, cost-wise or transportation-wise. As the host, I provided bread, drinks (water and iced tea), Shrimp and Cucumber Salad, and extra Horseradish Mayo. [note: I cheated, though, and used frozen shrimp.] As for other toppings, my suggestions (ripped from the page of BA) were

• Roast beef
• Gravlax/smoked salmon
• Greens (lettuce and/or watercress)
• Jarlsberg cheese
• Pickled herring (feeling adventurous?)
• Hard-boiled eggs (sliced)
• Honey mustard
• Cucumber (sliced)

We had to do without greens and pickled herring...but everything turned out well. We even had a flask of Aquavit! Passing toppings around the picnic table definitely helped spark lively conversation.

I must say: roast beef, horseradish mayo, and cucumber makes a very tasty sandwich.

xo, anne.

Rainier Adventures

So last weekend, some friends and I headed up to Mt Rainier for a little relaxation at my friend’s cabin. It was an amazing weekend; we swam in the glacial melt, sunned on the rocks, went hiking in the woods, had some drinks, and I made AMAZING tofu curry.

I find that it is challenging and exciting to cook for a group that includes vegetarians: I was a vegetarian for many years, and cooking for vegetarians gives me the opportunity to use recipes that I don’t usually get to. Most of my cooking lately revolves around at least one kind of meat, and finding ways to satisfy vegetarians and carnivores alike is exciting! I recently read an article in Saveur magazine about an all-vegetarian Thanksgiving feast, and it has inspired me to work on my vegetarian repertoire.

My curry included tofu, potatoes, mushroom, onions, carrots, and sweet peppers, with red curry and coconut milk, and it turned out FANTASTIC. My special secret was marinating and frying the tofu in soy sauce, and adding a generous portion of honey to the sauce! 

The area around Mt Rainier is spectacular! 

 

 I met a friendly elk along the roadside!

 

<3<3