Tobacco and French Perfume

Jennifer Lawrence, or rather her character, Rosalyn, in the movie American Hustle has accented (or acscented as Alex would pun) "scents for women" with her enthusiasm for the smell on her nail polish topcoat- "smells like flowers but with garbage" she raves. Interesting that the garbage adds to the allure. Or is Rosalyn just wacky? Yes but I think there is something to having the somewhat off, earthy scent adding to the appeal of the sweet, citrus or floral. I prefer that as well in a scent (to put on my body)- maybe not garbage though.

On my recent trip to the Yucatan peninsula I stopped by the local perfumerie, Coqui, Coqui in Valladolid. They had a lab on site (because they use local organic material) and a very posh sales clerk who spoke perfect English and allowed me to sample some of their more popular fragrances. I tried quite a few but none was quite so alluring as the tobacco scent.  It was...rich, mysterious and yes, smoky. I had to have some-- who wouldn't?

Tobacco perfume....drool!

I would have bought more because the essence was so great but I am a big fan of the french perfume-(the floral but mixed with  the dark, hefty scents which include roots, wood, pepper, black tea), the Hermessence four pack to be exact.  Mr. L got me hooked on Hermes perfume when he bought me the Vetiver Tonka as a birthday present one year. Here is the write up: "powerful vetiver smoothed out by velvety hazelnut. A hint of pralines is mixed with the sweetness of Tonka beans to soften the earthy rough effect of the roots".

Here's what the vetiver root and the tonka bean look like:

vetiver root- rough

tonka bean

and here is the swanky Hermessence bottle:

It has a slightly green tinge

I love wearing this sophisticated perfume. I feel very grown up, edgy, sexy. Like I did when I used to smoke. (Ya that's why tobacco and perfume mixed together- really the perfect combo!) When it was just about finished Mr. L offered to buy me some more.  I guess he liked it too. Well, what's a girl to say? (Thank you darling,that would be divine. Yes, that's the ticket.)  We trekked down to Hermes in Toronto and found that they had a product we had never clued into before, on offer- the Hermessence 4 pack:

Signature orange box

with

4 gorgeous perfumes

4 of 11 options

Personally,  I am drawn to the scents that have floral tones but combined with woody and murky essences- like cedar, pepper, tea.  The four I now have are the Vetiver Tonka, Paprika Brazil (brazil tree mixed with paprika), Santal Massoia (which comes from the massoia tree which is native to New Guinea) and the Poivre Samarcande (old oak mixed with pepper). I sometimes combine two.  I wear perfume every weekday and when going out on the weekend and I have to say I get quite a lift from it.

My next purchase will be the Ambre Narguile which Jean-Claude Ellan (a Hermes perfumeur) describes as follows:

Amber, the Western expression of Eastern fragrances, has a warm, enveloping, almost carnal smell. (ME - Do you mind- Jean Claude!)  I wanted to imbue this idea of amber with the memory of the East I love where tobacco - blended with the smells of fruit, honey and spices - is smoked in narguilés, or water pipes, and where swirls of smoke diffuse a sweet sense of intoxication." 

SWOON!
They didn't have this fragrance the last time but now that I know that tobacco and perfume go together it's the one.