Figue Amere

Today was an improvement on yesterday, so it's safe for you to continue reading this. I had a long pamper session last night and an early night and it certainly was a good cure for my miseries. Work continues to be dogged by staff shortages caused by sickness, as the bug I got last week, continues its rounds. I was once again in the SkinSpa area, next to lovely smelly things. Before you nag, yes, I was good and did manage not to buy anything today.

Besides, I didn't need to do any retail therapy, I had my fabulous bottle of Geranium Bourbon waiting for me. I had to have another pamper session when I got home tonight, just so I could put it on. But I was a bit daring today. I tried Miller Harris' Figue Amere. If I remember correctly, Lyn Harris was walking down an exotic beach and she passed someone eating figs, so she recreated the moment in Figue Amere. It isn't a sweet fig fragrance like Hermes Un Jardin en Mediterranee, it's more salty with a dark chocoloate drydown, which just made me feel edible all day.

I found an amazing French blogger, who is a perfume historian, the link is to the left under Nose that Knows, and he discusses formulae, ingredients and the development of the hard core of the perfume world. He talks with passion and enthusiasm about these old perfumes, which is great to read, I've learnt quite a lot visiting his blog. But one of the things that struck me about the perfume world of the hard core of Chanel, Dior, Estee Lauder, Lanvin, Guerlin etc, is that the fragrances are designed to order. So one perfumer wanted to design fragrances to match a woman's moods. Mme Chanel, didn't really create No 5, she had perfumers and apparently there is some controversy as to how she got the formula. NB. Don't quote me on the history, I'm still learning and my details may be dodgy.

Whereas the female perfumers, within small perfume houses create fragrances from moments or for loved ones. Annick Goutal, whose fragrances are also exclusive to our department store, created Grand Amour, after her second husband bought home a huge bouquet to celebrate an anniversary. How amazing is that? Lyn Harris' fragrances all come with a story: a walk in a spring-time wood, a walk on a beach. They just seem more personal somehow.

Of course there are male perfumers who create fragrances from moments as well. Creed launched their Virgin Island Water after a sailing trip round the Virgin Islands and that really does smell like a tropical holiday. Creed are a small family business who have been creating fragrances for Kings, Princes of the Realm, movie stars for hundreds of years. They are rather special.

Perhaps that's the difference. Rather than the celebrity of the moment wanting to convince their army of teeny-bopper fans to part with more cash, or a large fashion house thinking 'hmmm...what will we do for Spring 2009?'. These perfumers create from their moments of pleasure, their passions. It shows. Yummy.