Scents & Scentsibilities

I’ve been entranced by perfume all my life. Forget Proust and his Madeleine’s—Coco and No. 5 transport me to my past.

I catch a whiff of Chloé and remember the time my sister doused herself with so much we had to open the car windows in the middle of winter to survive the drive to Sunday Mass. Opium sends me to the 80s, huge shoulder pads and red power suits (with three-inch heels, too!) Oscar reminds me of my friend Val, an elegant and extraordinary woman who introduced me to the fragrance. And what can I say about Chanel No. 5, that most iconic of perfumes? To this day, one sniff takes me to Hong Kong and a life long gone …

And this is the stuff I can’t wear anymore. Somewhere along the line, I developed asthma and allergies, and all my old loves sent me running for an inhaler (sort of like my divorce, which happened around the same time.) A husband I could live without. Perfume? Never! So, like any true fragrance fanatic, I’m perpetually sniffing out new scents that will transport me to a state of perfume bliss ... without killing me.

You might wonder why a person with allergies and asthma is joyfully writing of fragrance. Fragrance is my passion and obsession. I love visiting perfume counters and scent bars, and sharing my discoveries; I love introducing a good friend to a great new fragrance, and enjoying her (or him, because we’re not going to leave men’s fragrances out) wearing the scents I can’t. There are so many new fragrances to explore and so many classic perfumes to revisit. My “scent doubles” help me with the perfumes I can’t properly explore, and we will be sniffing out as many fragrances as time—and our noses—permit.

So, to all of you who love perfume, come and join us on our fragrant travels and remember: that which doesn’t kill me, makes me smell better!

Omnia Amethyste

Bulgari’s latest offering is Omnia Amethyste, the third in the Omnia line, following 2003’s Omnia and 2005’s Omnia Crystalline. Its top notes are green sap and pink grapefruit, with a heart of iris and rose, and base notes of heliotrope and solar wood.

Omnia Amethyste starts with a crisp clean floral burst. After about an hour, it moves on to a pleasant, powdery floral on me. On one of my scent doubles, it was more spicy and alluring, the heliotrope unfolding nicely. I love the heliotrope in my garden, it smells amazing on a warm summer night. But in fragrance, it often smells musty and old-fashioned—not so here. I smell more rose than iris, but that could be because I have never smelled an iris with much identifiable scent. It dries down to a light woody scent, which still had traces six hours later. We use a generous “two sprays” rule to test scent, on the principle that your perfume should not precede you into the room (and the fact that anything more than that generally has me reaching for my inhaler!)

Bulgari has a definite winner with this Eau de Toilette. I got lots of oohs, aahs, and “I’d wear that” from everyone who smelled it. I will definitely be wearing it, although I wish I had the body chemistry to turn it spicy and alluring. Omnia Amethyste is appropriate for both day and nighttime use, although I think it’s more of a daytime fragrance.

The bottle continues the shape of the other two Omnia scents. It reminds me of two interlocking bracelets and for those of you familiar with Bulgari jewelry, the solid yet fluid lines are reminiscent of its classic jewelry.

Eau de Toilette, Body Lotion and Shower Gel, from $36–$68. Available at Bloomingdales, Nordstrom’s, Sephora, other retailers, and online.

Leiber

Luxury designer Judith Leiber’s first fragrance, Leiber, features top notes of bergamot, mandarin leaf, pineapple, and osmanthus (so much nicer than simply saying “olive and its relatives”) with a heart of pimento, rose absolu, rose essence, jasmine absolu, mimosa absolu, gardenia, and cyclamen. Base notes are cedar, amber, musk, patchouli, and vanilla.

The first sniff of Leiber is a heady one, full of bergamot and spice. After about an hour, the bergamot had faded and I smelled mostly cedar, patchouli with the floral notes, and vanilla peering through. On my scent double, it smelled flowery; less warm and the vanilla was sweeter than on me after an hour. The perfume was still going strong after six hours, so I advise caution when first applying Leiber; you can always spray more on later.

In general, I’m a fan of the Chypre-type perfumes on other people, but I like this complex, sophisticated scent quite a bit. I would wear it in the evening, but if used sparingly, you could carry it during the day.

Judith Leiber made her reputation designing crystal-covered minaudières, so it’s no surprise that the glass bottle is so beautiful. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand comfortably, and shaped like a step cut diamond. The ends have metallic inserts, one of which is the spray cap.

Eau de Parfum and body cream, $75–$110. Available at Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Lord& Taylor, and other retailers.

Parting note: “Perfume is ... that last and best reserve of the past, the one which when all out tears have run dry, can make us cry again!”—Marcel Proust