Gwen's blog

Photo: Gabriella Chieffo courtesy of Maison Gabriella Chieffo

One of my most exciting fragrance discoveries has been Ragù from Italian niche line Maison Gabriella Chieffo.

Patchouli is used in many, many, many fragrances, usually in the base as a fixative and balancing note, but sometimes as the star attraction. Paired with woods and mosses, florals, spice and gourmand notes, patchouli scents seem to appeal to everyone, and are the perfect shared fragrance. Here are four of our favourites.

Note Series #12 – PATCHOULI
4-1ml. decants for $12.00, regular $16.00. Gift-wrapped.

Photo courtesy of Farmacia SS Annunziata dal 1561

Just before the holidays, we decided to renovate parts of our house, so for Christmas I was given a copy of the hot new book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ by Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo.

I have a single girlfriend who has made it very clear to all her friends that she would like to meet the right man. One afternoon, when I dropped round her place to return a book I had borrowed, I noticed a sports station playing on the radio in the background as we chatted.

“Since when did you start following hockey?” I asked.

My secret garden in Venice. Photo: perfumeniche.com.

Venice is a place of secrets, a result of its geography, I think. Built on 117 small islands, linked by bridges and canals, Venice is a maze of hidden entranceways, narrow corridors and passageways, just big enough for surreptitious meetings and clandestine assignations.

^{Image - Cuban cigar and rum - agoranews.it}

When I was a young, callow perfumista, I had a bias against flankers, those siblings of successful scents that often just share a fragrance note or name or packaging of the original fragrance and I dismissed them as money grabs.

Incense - photo courtesy Wiki Commons

Vertical Garden at Pershing Hall photo courtesy of Paris 75007

In 2001 French interior designer Andrée Putman introduced her first fragrance, Préparation Parfumée and my world shifted a little. I have been an admirer of her design work for years.

^{Image - Wikipedia - "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book cover}

The one post of ours that people mention the most often as their favourite is this one. Orginally posted in December 2011, we offer it here again this year.

Tuberose blossoms - profumo.it