Estée Lauder : Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia

Created by : Harry Frémont

Date : 2007

Genre : Gardenia soliflore

Concentration : eau de parfum

The first potted plant I bought when I left home was a gardenia.  I still remember that fresh, heady scent and I bought it because I had seen Lady Sings the Blues and I was fascinated by Billie Holiday.  She often wore gardenias in her hair and although Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia is not as true as a real gardenia bouquet, it comes pretty close.

I wore Tuberose Gardenia regularly to the office a couple of years ago and it was addictive.  I loved wearing it and while researching this post, I wasn’t surprised to read that it is attributed to Harry Frémont because I also love his David Yurman rose chypre.  The man can put a fragrance together!  And Aerin Lauder, Estée Lauder’s granddaughter, was behind this one which is proof positive that good taste is genetic.

Luca Turin says that “women have no business smelling like flowers” but Tuberose Gardenia makes a very convincing case for the contrary.  In fact, TG is so beautiful even men should wear it.  Anyone who doesn’t like this fragrance probably hates flowers… and kittens.

As for the tuberose… it probably represents 20% of the bouquet.  It adds a creaminess to the fragrance… not the full buttery note found in Fracas but just a warmth with a contrasting, transient vein of menthol giving the overall effect a green tinge.

Whenever I feel that there’s just too much crap out there, I spray Tuberose Gardenia on a scent strip and remember beauty is never far away.

Buy Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia even if you never wear it.

Image : Jeune Tahitien or Jeune homme à la fleur (1891) by Paul Gauguin

Chanel No. 5 as a MARC21 record

I didn’t have time last week to test any perfumes because I was preparing to give a lecture to the École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (the library school) at the Université de Montréal on perfume classification.  Specifically, I was comparing the Société Française des Parfumeurs classification with the Michael Edwards’ Fragrances of the World taxonomy.  Approximately 50 professors, researchers  and students attended and I had a great time putting it together and sharing what I had learned of perfume classification over the past few years… fascinating subject.

Part of the presentation included cataloguing Chanel No. 5 as a MARC21 record (in French) which will probably only interest 1 or 2 people on the planet!  So… here is the result of my work.  I must say that an expert cataloguer helped me through this… (in fact, Gaston did 99% of it).  He prefers to remain anonymous but I’ll thank him here.

This record is absolutely free for anyone who would like to add Chanel No. 5 to their library collection and is looking for a pretty nice MARC21 record to go along with it.  Beauty!

100 1#  $a Beaux, Ernest,$d 1881-1961.$e parfumeur
245 10  $a Chanel No 5$h [parfum] :$b eau de toilette /$c [parfumeur Ernest Beaux, éditrice Gabrielle Chanel]
260 ## $a Paris :$b [Parfums Chanel,$c 1921].
300 ## $a 1 flacon (100 ml) dans une boîte.
700 1# $a Chanel, Gabrielle,$d 1883-1971.$e éditeur

P.S.  I know there shouldn’t be blank spaces within the record but I added them to make it more readable.

February 15th addendum – Two corrections to my MARC21 record were sent to me by a highly respected scholar and Director of the Library School.  The record has since been corrected.  I removed the periods after No. and ml.   “Merci beaucoup Monsieur Arsenault!”

Women love Bleu, men love David Yurman

After 8 perfume talks, one thing is becoming clear.  Women love Chanel’s masculine Bleu while men love feminine rose chypres, notably David Yurman.  And so my question to my women readers is… do you love Bleu enough to wear it or would you want your man to wear it?  As for the men, do you like David Yurman enough to wear it or would you be attracted to a woman wearing it… or both?  Are women’s perfumes meant to seduce women at the perfume counter… or men in the bedroom?  So let’s say a male friend asks me how to attract the woman who works in the cubicle next to him.  Am I better to recommend Bleu or David Yurman?  Or nothing!  (No scent, that is.  Naked doesn’t work… I tried.)

As for colognes, everyone loves them.  The Farina eau de cologne that I distribute during my talks continues to get compliments about how clean it smells while Fracas is the great divide!  It could part the Red Sea a second time!  Half my audiences love it, the other half hates it.

People find White Linen too aggressive and Paris too overpowering.  They much prefer local favourite Neiges by Lise Watier in the floral aldehydic genre.

Although I set up Muscs Koublaï Khän before distribution as an animalic musk, they don’t hate it.  “Pas si pire”, they say.  (Loosely translated, “not that bad”.)  People don’t seem to know what to do with Chanel’s Cuir de Russie.  I think they admire it for what it does (smells of leather)… but they’re not likely to run out and buy a bottle… although I did get an email awhile back from a woman pleading to tell her where I bought my own bottle.  So when people get it, I guess they REALLY get it!

Everyone loves Eau Sauvage… in fact, many women confess to wearing it in the past.  As for Diorella, not so much.  Aqua Allègoria Pamplelune gets two thumbs up.  They appear to be neutral to Chanel No. 5 and less than neutral to Shalimar although I quickly tell them about Shalimar Parfum Initial, pleading with them not to dismiss it altogether.

Last week’s group at Saint-Basile-le-Grand was absolutely charming!  They asked intelligent questions and, more importantly, they laughed at my jokes!  But some of those people already knew about perfume.  While I was setting up Jicky as a confection of vanillin and lavender, one participant spoke out… Pour Un Homme de Caron!  Very, very bright!  Another participant yelled out “Angel” when I asked what perfume was the instigator of the gourmand family.  Lots of fun and a great group!

Have a nice week everyone!

Addendum (Feb. 8, 2012) – Everyone seems to love Pour Monsieur by Chanel.  Participants are encouraged to take scent strips at the end of the lecture and I never come home with Pour Monsieur scent strips.  Never.  The same goes for Caron’s Pour Un Homme and Knowing by Estée Lauder.