Go on, go on and talk...

First, dear reader, let me say that this author has been touched beyond belief with the calls, emails, Facebook messages, tweets, and, in one case, an actual visit to my house in response to my last post.  

 I love you, dear reader, and it is startling to know that you, within the confines of the various forms and functions love allows, love me, too. You make every day worthwhile. 

Okay, having been accused of "blerghing" rather than blogging last week, let's move past the mushy stuff, shall we? FN1.

It's getting cooler in Portland, which means we are approaching my favorite time of year: Fall. I love everything about fall. The holidays. The cool weather. The fall leaves that paper the streets, slick with rain. The moody cloud cover. The foods. The smell of fireplaces and wet pines and musty wool. School spirit and new beginnings and Friday night football games. FN2. FN3.

Last week I woke up and the rain and wind were knocking yellow leaves from the trees along my drive in to the office, when only the day before those leaves had been green. Fall isn't here precisely, but it will be soon.

The winter ships come and go
despite the Columbia fog...

What does Fall mean to you, dear reader? For me, it means a change in scent wardrobe, thought that likely won't occur until I come back from Nashville next week. FN4. FN5. But I've been thinking about it a lot. What will inevitably rotate to the back of the scent collection and what will come to the fore. Since I'm skipping my annual September trip to the Olympic Peninsula in lieu of Nashville and won't likely get up there now until it is full on winter, you will all have to cope with tales of broody Portland fall this year. FN6.

Since it was cool and wet yesterday morning, I dug out my bottle of Bvlgari Black. If you've never tried Bvlgari Black, you really should. It's beautiful, edgy yet feminine, and you can always find it at a reasonable price.


To get to Bvlgari Black, I had to reach past Tauer Perfumes L'Air du desert marocain, a long standing favorite, and Pentachord Auburn, which I bought after wearing it out of The Perfume House and then thinking about it for the next two months. Both of these are nice for fall.

Last week, I whipped out Lorenzo Villoresi Alamut, which is indelibly sweater linked in my head. I also recently found a place for my Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay on my Lazy Susan which holds my seasonal choices. (I rotate things in and our of drawers on the Lazy Susan, which I can spin at leisure in the morning.)

What else smells like fall to me? As someone who associates fall with it beginning to rain again, I can't ever smell those wet leaves without thinking of CB I Hate Perfume Black March, which I love layering with the easy, soapy, beauty of Jo Malone Red Roses.

Another happy Fall scent for me is slumberhouse Rume, which I once referred to as "the fall evening aromas of humidifier mist." It is a spicy, wintry, vaguely medicinal fruitcake liqueur of a scent, and every time it gets cooler, I reach into the cabinet for a healthy spray of it.

For something more toward the foodie end of things, may I recommend Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise for fall? This vanilla plays toward the burnt sugar and salted caramel end of things for me. When I saw the salted caramel mochas were back on the seasonal menu at Starbucks, I knew it was the right time to dig this one of the the drawer. Vanille Exquise always reminds me of pie walks and homemade carnival treats at elementary school carnivals. I think I only got to go to one at my own school when I was very little, but it remains one of my favorite childhood memories. If anyone has a recipe for really good popcorn balls, I'll take it.

For my final Fall-scented thought for this moment of transition, when every breath carries with it the death of the old in favor of a long coming new beginning, I'll add one of those scents that, if money were no object, I'd buy a giant bottle of so that I would never run out: By Kilian Back to Black. Tobacco and sugar are at their best here, intermingled together with a laudanum undertone that makes it a perennial hit in my book.


So there you have it, dear reader. Ten forward thinking Fall scents for the coming season. I know these are all scents I've reviewed before, and I promise, new reviews are on the horizon. But I realized this week that I haven't really sat down and spent quality time with my current collection in a long while…too long, really. I need to take some time to reflect on what I have and what I want and what I am missing. I suspect this will also result in a round of "What I can give away," so be prepared for that to come, too, dear reader.

The time has come to reassess and clean a little house. So mixes and scent packages will be forthcoming, as well as some long overdue gifts I owe.

Until next time, when I hope to write you from the land of barbecue, boots, and bourbon, I'll be thinking of you.

Pier 39, Astoria, Oregon.

You know this isn’t right, 
can’t we just have a fair fight?
So you need to hide to get through the day.
Stop being nice. 
Say it to my face:
am I Jezebel or am I Gargamel today?
You know it makes me laugh out loud.
You can’t hurt me now.
Go on, go on and talk
You can say whatever you want
Call me a homewrecker; call me a monster.
Give me what you’ve got!
~ "Give Me What You've Got," The Shondes

______
FN1. I'm looking at you, knife boy.
FN2. Okay, technically Lewis & Clark plays on Saturday afternoons, which is weird, but whatever. I'm from Texas, and in my head, it's all about the Friday Night Lights.
FN3. And here's why:

There is no quit in those boys. NO QUIT. And as my beloved brother was once a teenage Texas football player, a lingering intense pride remains.
FN4. Oh? Did I fail to mention I am currently in Nashville for a week to hang with my very own The Kate? Yep.
FN5. I am buying my first pair of cowgirl boots in over a decade while I am there. I am very excited. There will a fancy new shoes post to come soon for those of you into that sort of thing.
Wait.
That came out wrong.
FN6. Though I also have a trip to Chicago in October and a trip to Seattle in November, so there will be multi-state perfume plotting.

Blackberry winter in a little white church...

Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay

You know what I love, dear reader?

A fancy 'do. I don't mean a fancy hairdo (though those are nice, too), I mean a fancy schmancy party. Doubly nice? Perfume release parties. Seriously. They are the height of indulgence. Nice food and drinks, nice smells, nice people -- the best of all.

Now I know that a lot of people have middling feelings about Jo Malone scents, particularly among the those who are run perfume blogs. I personally find their scent line to have a lot of scents that hit a pleasing note that isn't aggressive or hard to deal with, just pretty and fun and easy in a thoughtless way, which frankly, has been kind of nice given my stress levels of late. I have quite a few of their scents and I know my local reps at the downtown Nordstrom by name, so when they have events, I tend to get invited. I finally managed to make it to the release party for their newest fragrance, Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay. Say what you will about the fine people of Jo Malone, but know this: they do throw a pretty lovely perfume release party.

The event started with the group of attendees being provided blackberry lemonade for sipping and personal blackberry tarts in to-go boxes  and little jars of blackberry jam for us to enjoy at our leisure. We sat in a small group, talking about early remembrances of scent and our experience of the line under the coordinated prompting of the regional training specialist. We were given different scents in the line to try along with a brief description of Jo Malone's history as a company. When they finally came around to producing the scent we were there to meet, they started by passing out fresh blackberries to the crowd along with fresh bay leaves. We were asked to crush the berries on our tongue and describe the way the fruit tasted, then to tear the bay leaf, and after a few sniffs, do the same.

Then out came Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay, which Jo Malone describes the scent as follows:

Vibrant. Verdant. New Blackberry & Bay. Inspired by childhood memories of blackberry picking. A burst of deep, tart blackberry juice, blending with the freshness of just-gathered bay and brambly woods. A scent of innocence. An irresistible collection to savour.

The immediate opening of Blackberry & Bay is more bay leaf than blackberry. The immediate berry aspects coming through is the tart aspects of the berry crushed immediately on the tongue. This part of the scent is interesting. it's fresh without being too light or overly fruity like so many more mainstream scent takes would be on a similar perfume effort. Unfortunately, it doesn't stay in this tart, fresh place as long as I'd like it to. Like the real fruit, it bursts into sweet fruit, and while still slightly tart and green thanks to the bay leaf note, those aspects become side players in the scent, the kind of character actors you wish would come back to steal the story from the supposed stars.

Now don't let me undersell you on the fruity part, because it is very nice. I just wish the tart and green bits were stronger. My biggest beef with the middle to end of the scent is the musky base. It is a little distracting, like the sound of a low radio from another room. Which is too bad, because the fruit part is lovely. As fruity scents go, I can attest that it is surprisingly realistic. The scent is realistic, robust, dare I even say, supple? Go back a moment to the experiment from the experiment from the scent release event -- berry crushed on tongue while torn bay leaves waves under the nose. Honestly? Thanks to the immediate fruit-in-mouth to scent-on-arm comparison, I can tell you they did a pretty good job.

On the whole? I really like Blackberry & Bay. But more than that, I needed it. Fall is late coming here in Oregon. It's been hot, dry, and sunny for far too long for my tastes. I was out watering the lawn today, trying to keep my plants alive, and could not believe it was already October. October! It is the time of leaf peeping and corn mazes and caramel apples and carving pumpkins. It should not feel like summer as the leaves begin to change, but it does. The last golden light of summer. And while I crave a scent that says "Fall," it needs to be a whisper. It needs to evoke Fall without invoking cashmere sweaters or very hot drinks or crackling fireplaces. I needed something that said Fall in the same way that Dar Williams "End of Summer" is about both endings and transitions into something new.

So if you, like me dear reader, think the best time of year for rebirth is the season of 'death,' the moment that gold goes down to grey, then I submit Blackberry & Bay as a terrific scent for this liminal moment of transition. Me? I bought a bottle.

My frequently mentioned partner in crime, the Kate, decided on a whim to come with me to the event, and it was nice to have someone there who wasn't a 'perfume' person because it provided me some additional perspective on these events. I asked Kate to give me a little feedback on how she found the event as someone largely unfamiliar with perfume and with Jo Malone as a line. Her general response?

OMG. I'm eating a pastry that I smell like. I may not be a perfumista, but I endorse this lifestyle.

And as for you, dear reader, I have not forgotten you. I did not tell you this story of fancy food and drink and perfume to show you all I have that you cannot. Nope. I believe that good things should be shared. And while I can't make the delicious lemonade and berry tart appear at your home, I can provide a sample of Blackberry & Bay and a CD for you to enjoy.

She remembers the nights he’d come calling,
his yellow silk tie.
In love, she saw him falling for her in the fire of July.
Then one day as the nights grew longer,
blackberry winter in a little white church
stood a young pretty bride...
~ "Forever Changed," Carrie Underwood

So! Leave a comment to enter, any comment at all, and I will pick TWO WINNERS! That's right, two winners. Twice as nice.

Winners will receive a copy of my Fall 2012 Mix CD and a sample of Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay (and probably a couple of other scents). Comment by Monday, October 8, 2011, 11:59 PM PST! Open to U.S. and International readers.