Maya writes:

Hi Nadine — by chance are there any men’s colognes you recommend at the moment?  I think the person I’m dating could use something other than Acqua di Gio.  Thanks, and thanks for everything you share!

Hi Maya!  Fragrance is obviously a really personal thing, so what one person thinks smells divine might be absolutely horrendous to another’s nose.  Regardless, there are a few classics that it’s pretty hard to go wrong with.  For a masculine scent that’s not your typical college boy musk, check out Givenchy Pi, which is my favorite cologne in the history of the world.  It’s fresh, woodsy and very mysterious. Other sexy, giftable, you-won’t-be-able-to-stop-sniffing-him choices: Chanel Allure Homme, Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy for Him (seriously!) or Creed Green Irish Tweed.  (By the way, they all smell fabulous on women, too.)

My perfume addiction

Tuesday, July 5th, 2005

As my friends know, I am completely addicted to perfume. Despite having done a bathroom purge about six months ago, when I got rid of 10-15 fragrances by giving them away to needy friends, a quick check shows that I still have 25 perfumes on my bathroom vanity. I suppose I could get rid of most of my fragrances, since I only wear four or five on a regular basis, but how can you toss classics like Amarige, Shalimar, J’Adore, Marc Jacobs and Fleurissimo?I currently rotate between Calvin Klein Eternity Moment, Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue, Narciso Rodriguez for Her, and Miss Dior Cherie, with the occasional Escada Rockin’ Rio, Chanel Chance, Givenchy Pi or Stella McCartney thrown in for good measure. But the one fragrance that provokes the most reaction when I wear it is Coco Mademoiselle—my current obsession—which has notes of jasmine, rose, bergamot, orange, vanilla, and patchouli. Fragrance writer Chandler Burr describes it by saying, “It is lovely, flowery, a fresh-faced seventeen-year-old in a summer dress…when you come across someone wearing it, you want to lean closer to them,” which is a pretty apt description from my experiences. If you’re looking for a gorgeous fragrance to make people say, “You smell delicious—what are you wearing?”, Coco Mademoiselle is it.

Sephora, Mon Amour

Monday, July 18th, 2005

Sephora has opened their new Union Square location, finally wising up to the fact that lazy 14th street shoppers like myself don’t want to walk all the way over to Fifth Avenue just to touch up their eyeliner before a big date. (Those avenue blocks—they’re killers.) I spent half an hour browsing the new store today, playing with the makeup, spritzing on the perfume (my new must-haves: Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and Lanvin Eclat d’Arpege) and sizing up the skincare lines (currently reinfatuated with Lancome. And what has become of Darphin, an old favorite?). The wonderful thing about Sephora for somebody like me is the rare opportunity to see an entire line laid out—no press releases, no selective mailings from PR people, but simply row after row of blushes and gloss, moisturizers and cleansers. It also makes me realize that, no matter how much time I devote to it, I will never be able to try all of the beauty products in the world. I find this exciting: there will always be new products and new innovations. And, alas, my bathroom cabinets will never be tidy.

While walking down Fifth Avenue this afternoon, I passed a stunning, sexalicious Saks window display devoted to the new Gucci by Guccifragrance and decided to go inside and sniff it out.  Within seconds, I was pounced on by the perfume sharks, who sensed a potential sale and pulled me this way and that, shoving fragrances under my nose.  The Gucci sounds great on paper (according to the website, it’s a “chypre floral…top note of guava and pear, heart note of tahitian tiare flower, base note of musk and honey”) but in practice, simply didn’t work for me.  (Sort of like that really gorgeous guy from high school that you always died for, but when you finally had the chance to kiss him, you were like, “Eh.  Damn it.”) I spent ten minutes testing out other scents (some old, some new) and was surprised to find myself liking Juicy Couture (very fresh and playful; it has a fruity, apple-y quality that reminds me of Ralph), and unsurprised to find myself melting over Guerlain My Insolence (smells like raspberries tinged with vanilla) and Delices De Cartier (which has cherry, bergamot and sandalwood and is absolutely scrumptious.) I’ve recently been testing Marc Jacobs Daisy and Sarah Jessica Parker Covet, which are both quietly lovely, but we’re still in the courting phase. I’ll let you know my full opinion after (if!) I finally get seduced.Check out David Lynch’s Gucci by Gucci commerical here, if you haven’t already seen it.  It’s very late 70’s Halston-era Studio 54

I went to Duane Reade last week and, on a whim, bought a small nail-polish-sized bottle of something called Mystical Musk Oil.  It was hidden on the bottom shelf, down with the nail treatments, and only cost $2.99, so I thought, “Eh, why not?”  And, more importantly, when Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely came out, I remember reading an article (in Vogue, perhaps?) where she mentioned that she created her own perfume concoction, mostly based around some sort of musk oil she got at the drugstore.  Could it be the same?  Am I copying channeling SJP? All I know is that it warms up every fragrance I pair it with, lending an extra quality of soft sexiness, and I love it.

As a child, there was nobody more glamorous than my Aunt S.  She was all khol eyeliner and red lips, her long black locks always curled and glossy, nails groomed to perfection. Her purses were an endless parade of Vuitton and exotic finds from her Middle Eastern travels, and inside she carried a bottle of Givenchy Amarige, which she’d spray liberally about her, creating a spicy, sweet cloud that I still associate with intrigue and adventure. In the years since, I’ve used many scents, but have only fallen head over heels for a few: Narciso Rodriguez, Coco Mademoiselle and Bond no. 9 Chinatown being my all time favorites.  I have another fragrance to add to the All-Time Greats list: Tom Ford Black Orchid.  It’s a sultry, sexy, I-want-to-go-skinny-dipping-and-have-affairs-with-Sheikhs perfume that I simply can’t get enough of (my roommate D., by the way, feels the same, and even insisted I leave it behind while traveling last week).  I’ve been testing the dark, woody Black Orchid eau de parfum, the sweeter, more floral Black Orchid Voile de Fleur eau de toilette, and the Luminous Hair Perfume, and they are all absolutely divine, but the Finishing Oil Spray is the real star of the show.  (I spray it in my hands and then rub it liberally everywhere, and the scent clings like a cocoon of gorgeousness for hours.) I cannot recommend it all highly enough—run, don’t walk.