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A More Affordable Olfactionary

Amouage Dia (pour femme)

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Amouage Jubilation 25

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Annick Goutal Heure Exquise

Aroma M Geisha Rouge 

At the Moment (Chanel 22 & Marshall Crenshaw)

At the Moment (Saki & Lubin Idole edt)

At the Moment (Secret de Suzanne /D'Orsay L'Intrigante)

At the Moment (Summery Things...Love Coconut)

Ava Luxe Café Noir 

Best of 2009

Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory

Bond No. 9 Brooklyn

Bond No. 9 Little Italy

Bond No. 9 New Haarlem

Bottega Veneta eau de parfum

Breath of God

Byredo Green

Calyx by Prescriptives

Canturi by Stefano Canturi

Capote, Truman & Evening in Paris

Caron Aimez-Moi

Caron French Cancan 

Caron Parfum Sacre

Caron Tabac Blond

Caron Tubereuse

Caron Yatagan

Cartier IV L'Heure Fougueuse

Chanel 31 Rue Cambon

Chanel Bel Respiro

Chanel Chance

Chanel Coco

Chanel Coromandel

Chanel Egoiste

Chanel No. 5 (vintage)

Chanel No. 22

Chantecaille Petales

Chantilly Dusting Powder

Comme des Garcons LUXE Champaca

Comme des Garcons Series 7 Sweet Nomad Tea

Coty Ambre Antique

Coty Chypre

Creed Acqua Fiorentina

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie

DSH Perfumes Bancha Extreme

DSH Perfumes Quinacridone Violet 

Deneuve

Dior Diorissimo (vintage)

Donna Karan Black Cashmere

Estee Lauder Private Collection

Estee Lauder Private Collection Jasmine White Moss

Faberge Woodhue Cologne

Favorite Fall Fragrances

Fendi Uomo

Fragrances for Sweden

Frapin 1697 Absolu Parfum

Frederic Malle Angeliques Sous La Pluie

Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentrée

Frederic Malle Carnal Flower

Frederic Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur

Frederic Malle Iris Poudre

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Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady

Frederic Malle Une Fleur de Cassie

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Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel

Gone Fishin'

Gucci L'Arte di Gucci

Guerlain Aroma Allegoria Exaltant

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Histoires de Parfums 1740

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Honore des Pres Vamp a NY

How I Store Decants

Il Profumo Cannabis

In Memory (w/mention of Lanvin Arpege)

Jacomo #02

Jacomo #09 (Link to my review in Sniffapalooza Magazine)

Jean Desprez Bal a Versailles

Jean Patou Joy

Jean Patou 1000

Jo Malone Sweet Milk Cologne 

Juliet by Juliet Stewart

Kai Eau de Parfum

Kenzo Jungle l’Elephant

Lancome Magie Noire (vintage) 

Lanvin Via Lanvin (vintage) 

L'Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubereuse

L'Artisan Parfumeur Orchidee Blanche 

L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer

L’Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two

La Via del Profumo Balsamo Della Mecca

La Via del Profumo Hindu Kush

La Via del Profumo Oud Caravan Project

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Le Labo Gaiac 10

Le Labo Patchouli 24

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Little Lists

Lorenzo Villoresi Yerbamate

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Absolue Pour le Soir

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Eau des Iles

Message In A Bottle 

Michael Storer Winter Star

Miller Harris L'Air de Rien

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Molinard Habanita

Mona Di Orio Nuit Noire

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Montale Black Aoud

Montale Boise Vanille

Montale Intense Tiare

Montale Patchouli Leaves

Montale Red Aoud

More Roses (rose cookie recipe)

My Heart Has Skipped a Beat (summer smells)

My Perfumes Have Theme Songs

Nasomatto China White

Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps

Northern Exposure "A Dash of Chanel No. 5"

Odin 04 Petrana (Link to my review in Sniffapalooza Magazine)

Olivier Durbano Black Tourmaline

Omar Sharif Pour Femme

Ormonde Jayne Frangipani

Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman

Oscar de la Renta Oscar for Men

O Tannenbaum Joint Blog Project

Parfum d'Empire Cuir Ottoman

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Parfumerie Generale Bois de Copaiba

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Perfume Quotes - The English Patient

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Profumum Roma Acqua Viva

Profumum Roma D'Ambrosia

Puredistance I

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Recipe for Socca

Robert Piguet Fracas

Robert Piguet Visa

Rochas Mystere 

Sarah Horowitz Parfums' Joy Comes From Within & Beauty Comes From Within

Scented Reading

Scents of the Mediterranean

Scentuous Reading: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Serge Lutens Arabie

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Serge Lutens Five O’Clock Au Gingembre

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Snow Days

Sonoma Scent Studio Incense Pure

Sonoma Scent Studio Jour Ensoleille

Sonoma Scent Studio Winter Woods (brief mention)

S-Perfume 100% Love {More}

Strange Invisible Perfumes Lyric Rain

Sweden Is For Lovers

T is for Taxes

Tauer Perfumes: Incense Extrême, Incense Rosé, Lonestar Memories, & Reverie au Jardin

Tauer Perfumes Vetiver Dance

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The Intimacy of Scent

Thoughts of a Perfume Collector

Tightly

Unlocking an Unknown: Webber Parfum 6T

Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery Bed of Roses

Vero Profumo Kiki, Onda, and Rubj

Viktor & Rolfe Flowerbomb

What I’m Lovin’ Now

Yves Saint Laurent Nu

Snow, frankincense, and Coromandel

 

The first snowfall of December arrived earlier this week—a gentle amount, only an inch or so—and, though it is mostly gone now, replaced by a cold drizzle of rain, I spent a day or two enjoying the quietude it cast.  It was a featherweight snow that reflected light into the house at a time when the hours of actual daylight are waning, and its sheer softness beckoned me to take a walk in the fields, to feel the bracing air and the stillness of this rural corner of Central Pennsylvania, where I live.

 

It’s amazing how, when one sense is muted, it changes our perception of a place or thing.  Snow muffles the sound of traffic from the nearby roadway, and even my own footfall is reduced to a gentle swish, as if I am walking on a cushion of soft pine needles.  In the silent stillness, my others senses are heightened: I am aware of the ozone-and-mineral taste of the winter air, the starchy feel of it against my cheek and teeth.  Architectural aspects of nature that escape my sight when the fields are ripe with vegetal color now stand out in stark relief under this fine cover of snow: the spindly-umbrella skeleton of elderberry branch; the domelike crater where a deer has slept in the switch grass; the marshmallow boulder that guards a hedgerow.  If winter were a garment, it would be a white cotton dress with crisp Victorian pleats and puffed sleeves.

 

Returning home, I leave the cold at my doorstep while the tranquility of my perfect winter day follows me inside.  I decide to perfume myself with frankincense and amber and patchouli drier than the downy snow.  Chanel Coromandel.  It is one of the scents I have turned to most often this year, throughout the summer (when the heat combines with it in a most sensual way) and into the fall (when I crave amber scents above all others).  I went through two decants before breaking down and buying a full bottle.  It’s possible I love it even more now, in early winter, when the natural world enters its desert-like slumber.  Though classified as an oriental, Coromandel is neither spicy nor strong—and though it has a sharp pine-like note in the opening, this passes so quickly that in minutes I am enveloped in warm balsam-y frankincense and soft patchouli, which later dries down to an even softer whisper of vanilla notes emanating from the benzoin and amber base.

 

Frankincense, a gift from the true desert, is one of my very favorite perfume notes.  For 5,000 years, “tears” of frankincense have been burned in temples throughout the world and across most of its religions.  The aroma of frankincense is said to represent life,” states Wikipedia, “and the Judaic, Christian and Islamic faiths have often used frankincense mixed with oils to anoint newborn infants and individuals considered to be moving into a new phase in their spiritual lives.”  When burned, its smoke is thought to carry prayers to heaven, and it is used in meditation and yogic practices to deepen the breath and still the mind.

 

How perfect, then, to have Chanel Coromandel close at hand.  For me, early winter is a time of solitude and reflection.  A time to give thanks for the year behind me and to look forward, with hope and prayers, for the new year ahead.  At some point (oh, around February), I will want to walk away from the desert-like solitude of winter, and then I will look to my lush floral perfumes to transport me elsewhere.  But here in early winter, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Chanel Coromandel with its precious resins will follow me into another season.

 

Coromandel, an edt, is part of Chanel’s “les exclusifs” collection and can only be purchased at Chanel boutiques or at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.  (Update: I believe Saks Fifth Avenue in New York might carry the Exclusifs collection now too.)


Decants of Chanel Coromandel are available for sale on my website.  See
Perfume Catalog & Prices.

Image: "The White Veil" by American Impressionist painter Willard Metcalf (1858-1925) is from IllusionsGallery.com, where it can be purchased as a print.


Posted by Suzanne Keller, 12/9/2007.

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