Late Spring, Early Summer
Thoughts on perfume and scent, things I read and did in May, and looking ahead at the summer.
May came and went so quickly. I feel I finally left whatever slow reading season I was in, and finished a good number of books - and I got out of the house more even though it’s beginning to get too warm to get out too much.
I visited a new-to-me local queer bookshop pop-up, where I picked up a copy of Maggie Nelson’s Bluets and Maggie Thrash’s Rainbow Black. I went to a miniature anime convention with a friend and picked up some adorable macarons I pre-ordered with Smackarons. I’ve been on a fairly restrictive diet for a while now (shoutout to IBS for being the worst), but I have managed to have a few delightful culinary adventures.
I’ve been thinking about perfume and scent a lot recently. I chalk it up to a combo of landing on #PerfumeTok (specifically, scoutdixonwest), and not having a “signature” scent for the first time in years. Let’s talk perfume TikTok - how in a medium where you cannot smell the perfume do these creators do such an incredible job of reeling me in with the idea of what these things smell like? I find myself watching so many of these videos and learning so much about scent without smelling - and honestly wanting to start a small collection of my own.
I wore Tom Ford’s Noir Pour Femme for years. Economically purchasing rollerballs until saving for or being gifted a bottle at some point. I blame a salesperson at Sephora who gave me a generous tester, after that I couldn’t look back. That was THE smell. But - I ran out, and when I went to replace the bottle a few years ago I found out it had been discontinued - along with Noir, the “men’s” scent - and been replaced with Noir Extreme. Both Noir and Noir Extreme are different from Noir Pour Femme, and each other, but only slightly - but that night, wanting what I couldn’t have, it wasn’t the same. So, I had to start thinking about what I wanted to smell like. (I do have the smallest amount left in an old rollerball - but it has become a special occasion scent.)
I’d been a “signature scent” person since before that term started getting so much use. Before Noir Pour Femme there was Coco Noir, which is similar and likely why the person at Sephora pointed me toward the Ford. It was like Coco, but more complex and less powdery - but it still had all the hits: citrus, jasmine, balsamic. Coco has more patchouli, and Noir Pour Femme more mastic resin. If I could, I’d combine my favorite things about both into a bottle. Before that still, were three other “signatures”. “Signatures” mostly because I liked them enough, got them as gifts as a teen, and hadn’t figured out 100% what I liked and disliked in a scent.
In my late teens, there was Marc Jacobs by Marc Jacobs. This I had only the smallest sample bottle of (it was a very cute replica of the full size), but I made it last. Bergamot, Jasmine, Cedar. It was lovely, but as I entered adulthood I intentionally made a jump to more intense scents with the same profiles. At 16 I think, there was Vera Wang’s Princess. I recently won a bottle of this in a bridal shower game, and it is a sweet sugary blast from the past. My first perfume was Miami Glow by JLo. 13-year-old me loved the smell of sunscreen, and this smelled of sunscreen. Looking at the scent notes I can see the beginnings of my current taste forming: citrus, black currant (notoriously my favorite flavor of anything), amber. It’s really only the coconut water that makes you think “sunscreen”.
After resigning myself to not having Noir Pour Femme I started thinking about what I wanted to smell like. I remembered walking past this woman while walking my dog. I couldn’t tell you a thing about her other than the fact that she smelled so beautifully of jasmine, and it lingered as she walked away. I wanted to smell like that. While shopping around I found another Tom Ford, Jasmine Rouge. It’s a very different mood from Noir Pour Femme - but I love it. More recently though, about a year ago? I got bored? Curious? And wanted to start wearing different scents based on mood. I haven’t committed to any full-sized bottles, but I’ve gotten free samples and purchased samples and minis. My favorites being Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino (though the scent doesn’t linger long), and Oud Wood which I’d love a full-size of someday. I tried Royal Apothic’s Earl Grey since I’d had a rollerball as a teen, but it isn’t as good as I remember. And I got a small bottle of a vanilla that is just as good as I remember. Most recently though, I picked up a sample set from DS & Durga. It was hit-and-miss. The two I wasn’t a big fan of were the pistachio and coriander. Too powdery after applying it to my skin. I very much like Debaser, but only for the first ten to twenty minutes, and then it also becomes too powdery for my taste. Mississippi Medicine though, I love. It’s so strange. Like something on fire. Wood and incense, and more wood, and tar, and more wood. I’m tempted to try another set now that I know more about what I like - but also worried I’ll once again only like one of the four I’m sent.
Do any of you have a perfume/cologne collection? What are your favorites? Any tips on sample/discovery sets for newbies?
What I Read in May:
There’s Always This Year & A Little Devil in America, by Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif is always a favorite. I will read anything he puts out into the world. I feel supremely lucky to have hosted events for him twice in my previous life as a bookseller. There’s Always This Year and A Little Devil In America were both incredible. This interview is exceptional. “We are all certainly going to die, but we are not dead yet, and so since we are not dead yet, have you ever considered the sunset?”Exhibit, by R.O. Kwon
Stunning and startling. Following a woman whose marriage has come up against a challenge she didn’t anticipate: her husband changing his mind and deciding he wants children. Amidst this shift in her life, she meets an alluring ballet dancer recovering from an injury and they strike up an intense relationship. Confiding about her marriage, and an ancient family curse she could ignite just by revealing it. I was so immersed in Kwon’s writing, both sharp and rich, and was fortunate enough to initially read via an ARC. However, I’m revisiting it this month with a few friends as a sort of extension to a small book club on sexuality and sexual politics.My Work, by Olga Ravn (translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell)
If you’ve spoken with me about books in the last two years, you’ve heard me rave about Ravn’s The Employees. A tiny, poetic, and strange novel about a corporate spacecraft and those inhabiting it. After reading The Employees, I knew I’d need to read whatever else of Ravn’s I could get my hands on. When My Work was announced, I immediately pre-ordered a copy. My Work is entirely different from The Employees. Both in size, coming in at just over 400 pages - and in subject, motherhood. However, it’s similar in Ravn’s talent for subverting traditional novel form. I’ve become such a fan of novels by poets for this ability. (See also: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong) The novel changes format throughout - but the central thread is the main character’s struggle with becoming a mother. What that means about who she is fundamentally, and how that changes her relationship with herself, her partner, the world at large. But also her struggle with being a mother. With not always wanting to be one, with worrying that she isn’t a good one, or that there’s something wrong with her or her child. I intentionally took my time with this one and will be revisiting it in the future.All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
This is one that had been recommended to me countless times, by countless friends and booksellers, and it just took me ages to get to it. There is so much to read all of the time, and I am one person with a full-time day job that is not reading. Anyway, y’all were right. This was excellent. I want more, so waiting was probably the right call because now there’s a bunch more in the series out that I don’t have to wait for.
More Books I Read: Life is Short, by Dean Rickles - 10 Things That Never Happened, by Alexis Hall - We Could Be So Good & You Should Be So Lucky, by Cat Sebastian.
What I Watched in May:
Fallout, Ripley, Pretty Woman, Red White and Royal Blue*, Hitch, and Chicken Run Dawn of the Nugget (*indicates a rewatch)
Fallout was really good. I haven’t played the games (now something I plan to do), but they did a very good job of laying out the world for the audience regardless of familiarity with the source material. I will say, the few Amazon shows I’ve seen pump all this money into their productions - and the sets and costumes still feel cheap and flimsy and fake. So that’s a bummer. But I will certainly be watching for the next season.
I still have three episodes left of Ripley. Thoughts pending completion. Otherwise, it was fun rom-coms and the delightful sequel to a childhood favorite.
Music:
These playlists have been in rotation (1, 2). So has Taeko Onuki’s “Sunshower”, and the Drive My Car soundtrack. Also - all the Chappell Roan.
Window Shopping or Things I won’t buy, but that I’ll have a tab open with anyway:
Black Crane’s Star Neck Dress
These adorable cat trays
In closing, some current happenings:
I’m reading an ARC for the upcoming Penguin Book of Demons. I just restarted Little Witch in the Woods - I’d played the beta, but an update and expansion just went out and the game is out of beta so I wanted to revisit and start fresh. Nothing new, but I’ve also just been thinking about - David Bowie - a lot. I made a “starter pack” Mountain Goats playlist for my mom, but maybe y’all want to get into them too?
Stay cool y’all.
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