Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Fall Ball Part II


As if Saturday were not plentiful enough in sights, sounds and smells, Sunday offered an abundant array as well. I only wish I had been able to enjoy the entire day, but catching a flight home cut my day short. However, the highlights I experienced were the following:

Bond No. 9

This was by far my favorite shopping experience of the trip. The artistic store, the helpful sales associates and their willingness to cater to my needs was tough to beat. I felt as if I could spend hours there without concern for over-stepping my welcome. I also discovered some incredible scent combinations, with the help of my perfumista friends and the sales associates. I had no idea blending these fragrances could be so swoon-worthy!

  • New scent discoveries include Saks For Her, Fashion Avenue, New York Fling, Chelsea Flowers (which I had previously dismissed), and the new deeply rich and resinous Andy Warhol Silver Factory. The newest Andy Warhol fragrance was presented by the delightful Laurice Rahm, founder of Bond No. 9.

  • New scent combination of fragrances I already love: Scent of Peace over Chinatown (!!!)

  • Another incredible combination worth investigating: Saks for Him over Saks for Her. Yes, I meant that.

  • My infatuation with West Side has only been augmented by the availability of a positively luxurious body cream which perfectly softens the skin and makes the scent last!

  • This store was extremely generous with their gift package. They understand the needs and desires of their clientele and it was obvious they prepared for us! I could not be happier and I anticipate reviewing many more of these chic fragrances.

Le Labo

My experience here was marginal at best simply because it was so crowded when I arrived. I had no guidance regarding their fragrances and I felt overwhelmed. However, despite this I did discover a wonderful fragrance, Tubereuse 40. I am intrigued and I would love to learn more about these fragrances, just not when I am competing with 30 other perfumistas.


Lafco

Santa Maria Novella, Lorenzo Villoresi and Eau d'Italie were all offered at this beautiful, fragrant store. The space and location in the heart of SoHo make this store truly inspiring. Unfortunately I was not able to find a fragrance I truly loved here, but I did sample some nice scents, including the powdery soft Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige, the herbal Lorenzo Villoresi Spezie and the fruity Santa Maria Novella Melograno.

Lunch at Country Cafe

  • Sitting with my wonderful friends Linda and Rob and enjoying the gorgeous New York sunshine on a beautiful fall day.

  • Hearing from Debra Courtright at Floris of London (which I need to explore further!), Francois Duquesne at L'Artisan and Raphaella, editor of Sniffapalooza Magazine. Raphaella is positively one of the kindest and most sincere people I know! And I adore the CD of songs of scent that I won in the raffle.

  • I am interested in L'Artisan Perfumeur's new home fragrance gadget, Chez Moi, after listening to Mr. Duquesne and his beautiful wife describe its ability to safely and fully fragrance the home.

L'Artisan Perfumeur

My last and most appropriate stop was at L'Artisan across from Country Cafe to experience the new 2007 Orange Blossom and 2007 Iris Palladia. I enjoyed them both and found the Orange Blossom especially beautiful and sweeter than the previous edition. I also tested various other fragrances and spoke with Mr. Duquesne, his wife and the helpful Michelle. They are lovely people and I only wish I could shop at this store more often and stop by the other store to see Colombina!

There you have it my fragrance friends. What an incredible weekend it was! If only I could go back in a few weeks and do it all over again. I am sure I am not alone in that sentiment.

Image of interior of Bond No. 9 store courtesy of basenotes.net

11 comments:

rosarita said...

Thanks for the lovely post about the rest of your fabulously scented weekend. I'm currently saving up for a bottle of Bond 9 New Haarlem (or at least a sizey decant). They do have wonderful CS. When they mailed a sample order to me the sample of Chinatown was broken, so they sent me another entire set, enabling me to fall further in love. Love the bottles, for the newest scents especially. Andy Warhol Silver Factory sounds great!

Anonymous said...

Hello there!

It is so generous of you to take the time to share the details of your trip with us. It is just like being there! I have some Bond samples that just arrived-think I will test drive Chinatown today.

Glad you had a good time, and hope things are well with you!

Sincerely,

Carole

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Hello Anita,

I'm so glad you're enjoying your Bond No. 9 samples and that you had a good experience with them! Silver Factory is quite unique, very rich and very long-lasting. The owner described it as "sex in a bottle" although I found it very resinous on my skin - like a bonfire. But gorgeous. Have a great day!

T.

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Well hello there Carole! So nice to see you! Enjoy the Chinatown and let me know your thoughts. I'd love to hear them. If you find it too much, layering Scent of Peace over it softens it considerably! I'm glad you enjoyed my summary of the weekend. I had fun writing it and hopefully it will encapsulate it for me also.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting these lovely recaps of our wonderful weekend, T! I can't believe it's been a full week since Sniffapalooza - I haven't even had a chance to test-drive all of our great samples!

I'm so glad that you were able to join us in NYC, after having attended our LA event. Intense, isn't it?!

Perfumeshrine said...

Wonderful recdounting of a great experience. Thanks!
Don;t you just love Silver Factory? I think I was the first to review it back in summer and it has me thinking about it still...a good sign.
I also love L'artisan's Fleur d'Oranger. So true!

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Hi Karen. Thanks for stopping by! I had such a wonderful time and I can't thank you enough for making it such a rich experience. I also need to sort through my samples and start testing them! NYC was wonderful in a different way from LA. Intense is a good description - but intense in the most fantastic of ways!

xo,
T

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Hello Helg! My pleasure. Yes, Silver Factory is so unique and soooo resinous. Just gorgeous! It sounds like we have similar taste. ;-) Have a great day!

xo,
T

chayaruchama said...

The Karens were amazing, weren't they ?
BANG-UP JOB.

I love Silver Factory- but I'm passing, for now.
Also agree on the new Fd'O- wow.

If these events were continuous, we'd be on the streets selling ourselves for perfume !

[I wish we'd had more quiet time together]

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Yes they were! Absolute BANG-UP JOB!

Selling ourselves indeed! These events are wonderful but horrendous on the pocketbook. ;-)

I wish we'd had more quiet time together also, my sweet and wonderful East coast Jewish mother. Have a wonderful day.

Anonymous said...

Oh god....died and gone to perfume heaven! If there's a sniffa coming up, someone put me on the list!

PS I'd love to add you to my blogroll

Lissa
perfumequeen.wordpress.com