Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Vintage Perfume Spotlight: Arpege My Sin

 



Created in 1924, My Sin was Lanvin’s first successful perfume, the only one surpassing it being Arpege which was beloved by stars like Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth. It was originally named Mon Péché for its French release before being renamed to My Sin for American audiences who loved the scent so much it skyrocketed in popularity, which it never quite got in its home country.







It's advertisements featured a black cat, to convey the scents mystery and sensuality. The base of musk and civet (before it was regulated) is what gave it it's raunchy animalic base. Truly a feline perfume.



My Sin by Gabilla (left) and Lanvin (right)

The original formulations were created by perfumer Gabilla before Jeanne Lanvin moved forward with new perfumers, yet Gabilla also created a scent called My Sin and it is thought she was inspired by her time working with Lanvin.


It was said to have been an aldehydic bouquet of white flowers that then bloomed into a more sexual and exotic blend of florals that truly lived up to it's name.



Being that this scent was discontinued in 1988, I haven't been able to try it myself, though I do plan on changing that soon.

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Vintage Perfume Spotlight: Chloe Innocence



Launched in 1995, Chloe Innocence was supposed to be the epitome of fresh faced girlhood. Inside it's frosted bottle contained a sugar-water floral that was dewy and soft, giving the impression of dewfrosted flowers. This was many a girl's first fragrance and for many it made them feel elegant and mature.




With the ad campaigns blonde haired, blue eyed model, she was every bit the ingenue, gazing past the viewer with a sort of timid sensuality. She just doesn't know what she does to people! Like many things of the 90s, this ad is a subconscious nod to Nabokov's famous nymphet, straddling the line between child and woman. Her skin is blemish free, and the sort of mirrored image displays both well--innocence and alertness. She looks both past you and through you. Woman and child.





The bottles were available in many shapes, giving it the aura of uniqueness, and its slightly phallic appearance was quite common in what I like to call 'sexy baby' perfumes: scents both seductive and guileless, barely containing burgeoning sexuality.


Yet their sculptural qualities akin to a modern art piece and frosted pearl blue color adds to its allure. While innocent, she's no baby. She's maturing, she's curious, she's artistic.


Crafted by Nathalie Lorson, this is a perfume of my dreams and one that continues to allude me due to its near obsoleteness on the resale market. And I don't have $500 to spend. So instead, I'll reread this review over and over.



Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Queens of Spring: Layering Combos as Bright and Fresh as You Are

 Spring is a fickle season, we all know that. That's why we have April showers bringing May flowers and what not, but despite the temperamental weather, spring always brings a sense of hope and rejuvenation even when winter tries her best to keep her icy fingers clutched around our ankles. To ring in the new season and brighten our moods, here's a few layering combos to bring us out of hibernation ranging from light and dewy to a trip to the cafe after a downpour.


The Darling Dewdrop:

You’re as fresh as a daisy. Wide eyed and excited for new life and new adventures as the temperature rises inch by inch every day. Spring is your favorite season and you look forward to wearing ballet flats and juicy clear lips in the crisp new air, even if you do need to bring an umbrella just in case, you'll splash in the puddles regardless.


Lotion: Tree Hut Lotus Water is a juicy, refreshing watery scent. Super lightweight it sinks into the skin easily and has a light scent that plays beautifully in crisp air.

Perfume: Miu Miu L’eau Bleue is a crisp aquatic floral that smells like new beginnings. It’s a little sharp with its white florals but that adds to its uplifting nature as it has a nice greenness to round it out and keep it dewy. Perfectly fit for an optimistic young woman, 

The Spring Dream:

The girl waiting for a warm sun to blanket her cool breezes, the Spring Dream is hungry for something lighter to sate their appetite. A subtle sweetness with a calming earthy base, there’s nothing like strawberry mochi and cup of iced green tea on your daily walk.


Lotion: Eos Strawberry Dream brings some coziness and softness to the skin. making for a wonderfully sweet base to build on.

Perfume: D’annam Strawberry Mochi is a gourmand for people whose highest compliment for a dessert is “its not too sweet”. It balances well with the lotion as it avoids becoming a cloying, sugary mess. The strawberry is subtle and the powdery almost savory combo of red bean paste and rice gives it a unique scent.

Perfume Oil: Beyondscents Green Tea oil is subtle and refreshing. Not just a straight green tea scent, it combines bergamot, mandarin, asian peony and musk for the perfect amount of earthiness to tie the whole scent together.

The Earth Sprite:

This girl really thrives during the spring. But not the bright crisp spring days; it’s the April showers she loves. A rolling storm allows her to enjoy the quieter moments: smoking a joint, eating warm soup and dancing to her cd player. Maybe she’ll paint, maybe she’ll create a new avant garde hairstyle, maybe she’ll just enjoy the day.


Lotion: Mill Creek botanicals Lemongrass lotion is a refreshing scent that instantly brightens the mood. It leans more herby and citrusy than sweet but is still a very pleasant scent.

Perfume: D’annam Pho Breakfast is less of an umami broth smell and more of the crisp fresh toppings. The cilantro, the ginger, the spices all combine to make a fresh herbal scent that truly is reminiscent of pho, balancing savory and aromatic with fresh and clean. If you love the way the tips of your fingers smell after garnishing you pho this is for you.

Perfume Oil: Beyondscents Lemon Verbana accomplishes much of what the lotion does being a bright zingy scent that marries everything together.

The Green Goddess

The Earth Sprite’s sister, she’s a little softer. If the former is the thunderstorm then the Green Goddess is the dewy lush earth after. Stretching her limbs in the humid air as the temperature raises enough for a sweet treat or a cold drink. She’s more playful, and a touch sweeter but still grounded.



Lotion: By/Rosie Jane Dulce Body Milk is a creamy sweet lotion that avoids stickiness but is still very rich and to me genuinely smells like sweetened condensed milk which to be fair can be a lot for some people.

Perfume: D'annam Matcha Soft Serve is not a sweet matcha scent, instead being a little more bitter and herbaceous which  think makes it a wonderful pairing for the lotion as it tempers the sweetness down and makes it lean towards more of an earthy and savory gourmands. That's not to say there's no sweetness as there's still milk and waffle cone notes, but the matcha here is more of a matcha powder dusted on top bringing it a great balance.

Perfume Oil: Sugarmilkco Oat Milk is a nutty, kinda powdery lactonic scent that doesn't lean too hard into sweetness but instead gives it a nice depth to create a refreshingly sweet scent.

The Naughty Naiad

As the earth de-thaws so does she. Crawling out of her tree stump coated in moss to bathe in a fresh algae covered pond and run through the forest bare nude with the rest of her sisters.


Lotion: Method Daily zen is bright and refreshing. Perfect to step into the new season with as it brings a sense of calm and peace befitting its name.

Perfume: Alberta Ferreti Femina is a dewy watery green floral that's complex in ways lots of modern florals are not. It's ahead of it's time with it's watermelon It's rich flowers floating on a pond. A young naiad, freshly formed and eager to explore once she grows pasts her lazier aptitude.

Perfume Oil: Beyondscents jasmine oil are the flowers adorning her hair. A headier scent floating around and grounding the waterier florals to give her a more sensual edge that makes you fall in love.


Mississippi Queen

A blooming magnolia in the hazy southern heat. She's sweet, refreshing and intoxicating enough to give you a little buzz. It's just on the edge of gourmand. A cocktail after church, with white flowers still staining your wrists.


Lotion: Native Eucalyptus & Mint is a wakeup call. It's stimulating scent sinks into the skin and seems to awaken all your senses from the inside out.

Perfume: Imaginary Authors Saint Julep is exactly how it sounds. A boozy, crisp mint julep on a hot summer day both refreshing and tempting with its soft hint of sweetness. A little sin at the end of the day.

Perfume Oil: Bourbon French Perfumes' Perfume of Paradise is a lush, heady bouquet of white florals. It truly blooms when the skin is damp with sweat or on an overcast day. Truly intoxicating with its sensual aroma.

BATTLE OF THE NICHE CHERRIES: Una Tira I Altra Hilde Solani vs Indecent Cherry BTS)

 Early in my perfume journey I tried a lot of cherries: Prada Candy Gloss, Lolita Lempicka Sweet, Guess Seductive Red and more. As time has ...