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A More Affordable Olfactionary
Amouage Opus IAmouage Opus III
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)
Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory
Capote, Truman & Evening in Paris
Comme des Garcons LUXE Champaca
Comme des Garcons Series 7 Sweet Nomad Tea
DSH Perfumes Quinacridone Violet
Estee Lauder Private Collection
Estee Lauder Private Collection Jasmine White Moss
Frederic Malle Angeliques Sous La Pluie
Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentrée
Frederic Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur
Frederic Malle Le Parfum de Therese
Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady
Frederic Malle Une Fleur de Cassie
Guerlain Aroma Allegoria ExaltantGuerlain Jicky
Guy Laroche J'ai Ose (vintage)
Histoires de Parfums Blanc Violette
Histoires de Parfums Vert Pivoine
In Memory (w/mention of Lanvin Arpege)
Jacomo #09 (Link to my review in Sniffapalooza Magazine)
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 KushLa Via del Profumo Oud Caravan Project
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Absolue Pour le Soir
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Eau des Iles
More Roses (rose cookie recipe)
My Heart Has Skipped a Beat (summer smells)
Northern Exposure "A Dash of Chanel No. 5"
Odin 04 Petrana (Link to my review in Sniffapalooza Magazine)
Olivier Durbano Black Tourmaline
Oscar de la Renta Oscar for Men
O Tannenbaum Joint Blog Project
Parfumerie Generale Bois de Copaiba
Parfums Karl Lagerfeld Sun Moon Stars
Perfume Quotes - The English Patient
Sarah Horowitz Parfums' Joy Comes From Within & Beauty Comes From Within
Scentuous Reading: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Serge Lutens Five O’Clock Au Gingembre
Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan
Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle
Sonoma Scent Studio Incense Pure
Sonoma Scent Studio Jour Ensoleille
Sonoma Scent Studio Winter Woods (brief mention)
Strange Invisible Perfumes Lyric Rain
Tauer Perfumes: Incense Extrême, Incense Rosé, Lonestar Memories, & Reverie au Jardin
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Thoughts of a Perfume Collector
Unlocking an Unknown: Webber Parfum 6T
Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery Bed of Roses
A SNOW DATE WITH OSCAR

Today the winter sky is dull, but on Thursday and Friday we had two of the most beautiful, blue-sky days imaginable. With temperatures that seemed downright balmy (though, in actuality, they were only ten degrees above freezing), sunlight bouncing in every crazy direction off the snow, and birds gossiping as only birds can do, I decided to toss all cares to the wind. Packing my camera and batteries into the deep pockets of my winter parka, I took to the fields. Along my way that first morning, I passed a woman in the park walking a big yellow Lab while trying to push a baby carriage across a path of tramped-down snow (I wanted to take a picture, but felt it would be rude). A bit further on I sighted a red-tailed hawk napping, with carrion underfoot, in the low branches of a tree (a scene I did manage to capture in two excitedly blurry photos). And then I was climbing the hills above the park, out in the middle of my shiny, happy nowhere, when suddenly the craving hit me: I wanted Oscar.
Athletic and outdoor-sexy, smelling exhilaratingly of alpine air and woodland greenery, Oscar, if described in the pages of a novel, might conjure up the image of a ski instructor, or some other dashing sort. Which is, in fact, an apt image and the very one that came to mind when I headed out again, the next day, on the same route. With a hit of Oscar on my neck and wrists, I felt like I was channeling Claudine Longet, in the carefree days before her romance with Olympic skier Spider Sabich turned sour. (In other words, before her gun “accidentally” bit a hole in his back and killed him—remember that?) With the wind blowing my hair around and the scent of Oscar ricocheting off my skin, I felt as if I was swishing my way down the slopes of Aspen, riding on the tailwind of a cool and elegant daredevil of a man.
Launched in 1999, from the fashion house of Oscar de la Renta, Oscar for Men is classified by osMoz.com as a “woody-spicy” scent, but I think it more closely resembles a fougère or chypre. It opens with top notes of grapefruit, thyme, nutmeg and pepper, as invigoratingly tonic as a rush of mountain breeze—the kind of breeze that ruffles the ferns and firs which, in addition to geranium and spicy carnation, make up the forested heart of this fragrance. According to osMoz, Oscar’s base notes include patchouli, cedar, moss and leather, but at other sites I have also seen olibanum (frankincense) listed—and I would have to say that what I smell mostly, as the fragrance dries down, is a light haze of incense, moss and woods, with very little in the way of leather.
Oscar for Men is a lean-bodied scent that manages to marry high-spirited sportiness with a mien of nonchalant elegance. It has a distinctive air of exhilaration, and yet it doesn’t shout: the sillage of this scent stays relatively close to the skin. In some ways, it’s easier to describe this fragrance by talking about what it is not: it’s not a scent that will make you swoon with its dazzling brilliance or originality, and it’s not a scent that has its sexy mitts on the bedroom door; but, by the same token, it’s not going to kick you out of the living room and forget all about you when Monday night football comes on. In fact, I’m not sure Oscar knows about Monday night football (shhh!)—but it is quietly, confidently masculine and outdoorsy and flirty. Wearing it, you might easily be convinced that a handsome man on skis is calling to you from a bend in the slope, saying “Race you to the bottom!”
(But don’t try to
take his picture. You’ll only end up with a photo of woods and snow; trust me on that.)
I acquired my bottle of Oscar for Men eau de toilette from a department store many years ago, as a gift for my husband. He never wore it, but I have somehow managed to use up one-third of the large, 100-ml bottle on my own. Today it can be purchased from a number of online perfumes discounters for cheap, cheap, cheap. Prices vary, but are usually in the $25 dollar range.
Images, top and bottom, are my own, taken yesterday. Bottle image is from Amazon.com.
Posted by Suzanne Keller, 1/24/2009.

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