Molly: ?? Perfume Diary
I have a draft that's been palely loitering since late August about becoming Catholic. I would, of course, like to finish it sometime - maybe even this year - but not hitting publish on anything has been getting me and my etiolated sense of an intellectual life down. Writing about perfume has often been a good jolt out of not writing anything but I've also not been logging stuff as regularly as usual! Whatever!
Recently our new parish priest made a quick announcement that one of his "side quests" (you can't hide being in your early 30s) since coming to our parish was to find an incense that was less irritating to people's heads and allergies. Now I am in the strange position of not being censermogged. I kind of miss it tbh. I often wear something churchy to mass. Most of the perfumes with this distinction in my collection are fall/winter to me - Bengale Rouge, With the Candlestick, Coup de Pied, etc. Reve D'ossian is like the "three season" jacket of churchy perfumes. Clementine and Edward Steal a Painting (feel kind of embarrassed every time I say the full name) is another great one that won't feel weird in 80 degree October weather.
For my confirmation in July I dipped into my tiny vial of Apres L'Ondee extrait!!!, the only time I've done anything other than just huff it. But for everyday summer Catholicism I didn't have much that spoke to me. So, I was immediately obsessed with Miskeo's Allegorie de L'Ete, a spicy citrus but not the dreaded (to me) green. It has a rich myrrh note and I do try to wear one of the gifts of the magi when possible. Immortelle has also become one of my favorite notes this year - if you are reading this and for some reason want to spend money on my I would love a full bottle of Immortelle Solaire...
I got the Miskeo Rococo discovery set mostly for Portrait de Madame Et Son Chat, which I ended up being the least taken with. Allegorie's somewhat unique chinotto note is delicious, but scent as a whole is just so wonderful to me. I have a lot of salt and white florals for summer and scents I reach for without thinking during that time - Wavey Tulip, Virginal, and the like, but I don't have anything like Allegorie. I like spicy and fresh perfumes to be sticky, almost something that feels like the thickness of humid air.
July was kind of a big perfume month. I visited my best friends, now in Southern CA, and aside from sharing our samples and passion, I bought Centerfold, which was going to happen at some point, at Scent Bar DTLA. July is Tanabata/my wedding anniversay and thus the one night per year I wear This July Evening.
I've gotten really into Mistouko. I never disliked it or anything, but in the words of Guerlain's old ad campaign, I felt like I was not "her type." Aside from Apres L'Ondee, I loved L'Heure Bleue, the older and powdery-er the better, immediately. And it is a titan of perfumery! But there's nothing about it that challenges my self-concept. I am already violet blue and romantic and melancholy. Mitskouko, on the other hand, asks me to rise to it. Basically, I put it on to force myself to feel like an adult woman and not a whiny little baby bitch.