My world does not exactly smell of roses right now—sigh, I’m surrounded by grey and gloomy skies and grey and gloomy news reports. When I want to escape reality for a bit—and who doesn’t want to escape reality these days?—I head for the perfume counters.
Somehow the sight of all those pretty bottles lined up, vying for my attention, never fails to bring me comfort, and a chat with a sales assistant who loves fragrance as much as I do always cheers me up.
Perfume is, for the most part, one of the most affordable luxuries available to us. It has the ability to transport us to another place or time with just a sniff. It reminds us of a person or place we love, or just brings a smile to our faces when we smell something beautiful and unexpected. Suddenly all is well with the world again …
Féerie by Van Cleef & Arpels
Féerie has just been released by luxury jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels. Top notes are violet, black currant, and mandarin; middle notes are Bulgarian rose and Egyptian jasmine; and base notes are iris butter and vetiver.
Féerie opens with a big blast of fruity currant that quickly mellows to a smooth violet that I really like. As it dries down, it becomes a lovely, floaty, floral with just a hint of the vetiver to bring it back down to earth. Féerie isn’t adventurous or even anything new, but it is a very wearable, extremely pretty scent that will get you compliments on how good you smell and the lasting power is good. The downside to this scent is definitely the price, which is steep but not unexpected given the Van Cleef & Arpels name.
The bottle gets my vote for most quirky creation of the year. The base is a lovely faceted deep blue crystal, topped with a spiky fairy inspired by Van Cleef’s Midsummer Night’s Dream jewelry line. The jewelry line has some amazing pieces, but the fairy bottle cap I could do without. It’s more cute than elegant, and I’m pretty sure I would either poke my eye out opening the bottle or drop the cap and step on it—both scenarios ending in blood and unpleasantness.
Body lotion, shower gel, and Eau de Parfum, $45–$170. Available exclusively at Neiman Marcus.
