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Barry

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Posts posted by Barry

  1. I have never had any problems with receiving postal packages from France.

     

    Only last week I received a package of perfume samples posted from Clermont-Ferrand at 18:00hrs on the 9th May and I received them on the morning of the 11th. This package was sent 'Prioritaire'. It was packaged in a La Poste 500g Post Export cardboard envelope.

  2. Thanks again good people for the additional suggestions. I have certainly got my work cut out now to investigate them.

     

    I haven't read the Carol Drinkwater books but I feel that I must agree with the above comments. I have often picked them up in the book shop and looked at them and they have left me completely cold, just from reading brief extracts.

  3. I was wondering if any of the forum members could recommend any good books to read about France. To give you an idea of what I like, here are a few of what I have read and enjoyed.

    Just finished reading A perfect Circle by Susie Kelly, a very enjoyable read.

    An Englishman in Paris/Campagne, enjoyed but found that a lot of the humour was quite forced.

    The Provence trilogy from Peter Mayle.

    Perfume from Provence, Lady Fortescue, nice but a little bit too 'twee'.

    From Here you can't see Paris, couldn't really get into that one.

     

    And then a book that got rave reviews on Amazon.

    Home and Dry in Normandy by George East, I just don't get his humour, tried to get into it but gave up after 70 pages.

     

    Looking at the books that I have enjoyed, can anybody suggest other books in a similar vein?

     

    Thank you.

  4. [quote user="Apero"]

    Katie I hope one day my wife would have the aroma from the flowers of the fields of france I would never leave her side. Alas.........

    soon.....very soon.

    bonne nuit

    [/quote]

     

    A perfume with the scent from the flowers of the fields of France....sounds very nice. I will have to put my thinking cap on to see what comes to mind. Sisley make an amazing chypre scent called Eau de Campagne which is a very 'green' smelling scent and smells of the French countryside. It uses tomato leaves as one of the notes. I am quite addicted to their showergel in that fragrance. For lovers of the smell of the Linden Blossom that pervades many French towns, Parfums d'Orsay makes a lovely scent called Tilleul.

  5. Shalimar is still made in the parfum version. Guerlain just wouldn't dare discontinue it. Recently, Guerlain were going to reformulate their Mitsouko but they got bombarbed with emails from perfume lovers and decided against the idea.

    You should be able to get Shalimar parfum at any major department store that has a Guerlain concession, failing that, you could always use it as an excuse  to go to Paris and viisit the flagship store on the Champs Elysee.

    It would be great to find out about any small perfumers.

  6. Another Trumpers fan!

    I think that citrus scents work much better in hotter climates. I agree that the scent would smell better dabbed behind your ears and possibly behind your knees to create a wonderful sillage in your wake. Books just don't have the same effect...LOL, although a perfumer called Chris Brosius has created a scent called 'In the Library' which smells like library books.

    One scent that I would suggest you try if you like citrus based scents is Eau d'Hadrien made by the late Annick Goutal. It should be fairly easy to find if you live in France. It really is a beautiful fragrance.

  7. Male perfume is now usually available in edt concentration. Years ago you could only get stuff like aftershave...Hai Karate and Old Spice....just typing those names made my fingers ache...LOL. A few companies like Guerlain and Caron have actually brought out 'parfum' strength fragrances for men. Some companies like the ones I mentioned earlier like Serge Lutens create scents that are not 'gender specific', in other words anybody can wear them. The way I look at it is, if a perfume is nice and you want to wear it, go ahead.

     

    As for your comment about a violet scent for men. There are 2 which stand out as being fabulous scents. In London on Jermyn Street and Curzon Street, they also have a website, is a gentleman's barbers called Geo F Trumper and they make the most amazing violet cologne for men called Ajaccio Violets made from violets from Corsica. Another violet based men't scent is one called Grey Flannel made by Geoffrey Beene which can usually be found on the internet for a reasonable price.

     

    Here is Trumpers website. scroll near to the bottom and you will see the Ajaccio Violets.

    http://www.trumpers.com/shop_detail.cfm?family=Colognes%20%26%20Aftershaves

     

  8. Usually, they come in fairly plain bottles with a simply designed label.

    I know that there are many people who collect pristine bottles of perfume and never open them. To me this is a waste of perfume. Perfume was created to be worn and enjoyed. Having said that, I have a beautiful flacon of vintage Shalimar parfum that I haven't opened. Yes, I often wear perfumes that are marketed towards women as well.

  9. Usually Katie, the artisanal perfumers don't charge the excessive amounts that the big houses charge. They are artists of scent and do the creating through their love of the art, not to get massively rich from selling their scents.

     

    I once discovered a tiny profumeria tucked away in a back street in Venice and the prices were unbelievably cheap, so I suppose the same will apply to the ones in France.

  10. Katie, I suppose the word perfumista basically means a perfume expert but I am far from being an expert. I suppose you could say that I am a perfume critic and review various perfumes and also help people on the site where I moderate, which is listed on my profile.

     

    Perfumes these days are put into different classes. There are the mainstream fragrance houses where the majority of the scents are wholly synthetic based and can be bought anywhere from big department stores and discount shops. Next comes the 'Niche' houses like Serge Lutens, Victoire Gobin-Daude, Le Prince Jardinier etc. They use higher concentrations of better quality ingredients. These are only available at select shop locations throughout the world, places like Les Senteurs in London, Harrods, Fortnums, Liberty and Narvey Nicks. Artisanal perfumers are usually a 'one man band' operating from a small shop tucked away in the countryside somewhere. They might distill some of their own oils for use in the perfumes that they make by hand from start to finish. It's these type that I am interested in.

  11. As you can see from my profile, I am a perfume lover or to be exact, a 'Perfumista'.

     

    I was wondering if any members on here have a favourite 'artisanal' perfumer that they often visit. In other words, a small perfumery in some quiet backwater that produces the most exquisite fragrances.

     

    I would love to read about them.

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