MULTIPLE FACETS

Happy Sunday, my little cats!

 Today we're going to talk beauty, and more specifically perfume. I've always found it fascinating to read beauty articles specializing in new fragrances. I'm still convinced that it's a bloody difficult exercise to talk about something as volatile as perfume. How do you find the right words with enough imagery to make you want to push open the door of a store, to smell and, above all, buy an invisible adornment that will end up becoming an integral part of you?

Personally, I've always been a lazy perfumer, wearing Thierry Mugler's Innoncent every day for the best part of 7 years. As soon as I smell this perfume now, it makes me feel so nostalgic, it's the smell of my teenage life and my arrival in Paris, my first love stories... It's amazing how closely perfume is linked to feelings. Some perfumes make my head spin because they remind me of a guy I met a few years ago, others reassure me because it's the one my mother wore when I was a child, and others make me feel uncomfortable because they remind me of a tyrannical boss I met in my past life.

A few years ago, I said to myself that it was a shame to have only one signature fragrance, because in the end, I was multiple. I wasn't just "Innoncent", I wasn't that clueless teenager who'd just arrived in Paris. For a long time I wanted to change, but didn't know where to look, because for me the holy land of perfume was Sephora. But then I started my blog and met people. I received perfumes to smell, fabulous press kits, I met new people including Lili Barbery and Mai Hua, who introduced me to bathroom beauty, I visited perfumers' workshops. And I wanted to try new, less industrialized things, smells that I wouldn't find on everyone else either.

So there you have it, I've just broken down my thoughts as I looked this morning at my collection of must-haves sitting proudly on my mantelpiece... 

I love them all.

My favorite perfume of all is "NeroliIt's empty, but I can't bring myself to throw the bottle away. I think it's perfect, it reminds me of something very fresh, very feminine but not heady, even though as soon as I wear it, I have my man's nose grafted to my neck. Neroli, orange blossom and lemon... I wear it with my eyes closed, it's a safe bet when I don't know what to wear. But I'm forcing myself to change so as not to fall into old habits.

As I have a problem with orange blossom, I also wear the eau de toilette by Bonpoint which smells so baby-like, it gives me a boost, as if spraying it would make me lose a few years. I wear it with "Néroli" for a freshness combo. Eau de Bonpoint was created by Annick Goutal, and this brand has been my revelation of recent years.

And then, for those days when I feel like being a little more subtle, a little more boyish, I wear cologne. "l'eau d'Hadrien" cologne by Annick Goutal. I find this fragrance more unisex, it also has super-fresh citrus touches, but it's also woody and green with hints of basil and rosemary. I like to put it on right after my shower to smell clean.

And then one day, I had to do a project for Jo Malone, for the release of a new fragrance. "Wood Sage and Sea Salt literally driftwood and sea salt. The project never came to fruition, but I fell in love with the scent. It's probably the most masculine of my fragrances, and I wear it when I'm in the mood for adventure, when I want to be taken seriously. It smells of the sea and the earth at the same time. For me, it's the Oreo of my perfumes, saltier, with a little taste of "revenez-y"...

Then there are the other 3, which are stronger and stand out. The first is a body lotion "Un Jardin en Méditerranée body lotion from Hermès, which Lili gave me when things weren't going so well, and which has really been a band-aid for my morale. The scent is so strong that I wear it like a perfume and it lasts all day. I wear it as soon as the weather's nice, and I feel like it cheers me up while I'm waiting for the vacations.

Elie Saab l'essence n°1 Roseis the latest addition to my collection. For me, rose smelled too "girly" and for a long time I was in complete rebellion against anything that was "too girly", but then things changed and I put some water in my wine... Never say never. I love this fragrance, it's quite jubilant because at first it smells strongly of roses, then it literally smells of grenadine - a super-sweet scent. When I wear it, I feel like a heroine in a Jacques Demy film... I love it.

And then there's B by Balenciaga but I've already told you about that one here. It's my evening perfume, the one I wear to be noticed and remembered. As I said in articleI don't know if it's lily of the valley or iris, but it really leaves no one indifferent... 

And you, are you faithful or do you have a whole collection of perfumes?

You can find the English version here.