L'Artisan Parfumeur

It took me several years and countless of samples to start enjoying Ananas Fizz by L’Artisan Parfumeur. I couldn't get past the pineapple and its friends, the rum and coconut milk notes. I don't want pink paper umbrellas in my perfume, and even though I could recognize that Ananas Fizz was not your typical Pina Colada scent, it still had all that happy pineapple. I couldn't deal.

Sometimes, though, the stars and nose align right and you suddenly smell the magic, or at least the perfume story the perfumer meant you to feel. I don't know how or when it happened, but one day I was sniffing some L'artisan samples and absentmindedly applied Ananas Fizz and it was there- not just the tropical fruit (diluted in citrus juice), but also the green notes and dry wood, with only a hint of sweetness. It's a lot more wearable than I ever thought and actually has a kick- not just the fizz, but also the type you usually get from a chypre. I'm not sure i can explain it through the official notes, as there's no oakmoss, patchouli or labdanum listed. The recognizable notes to me, other than pineapple, are lemon, bergamot, a hint of coconut and cedar. It's not exactly a recipe for a chypre, and yet it feels exactly right.

There's something very sheer and gauze-like about Ananas Fizz. It's like looking at a tropical scene through a veil or a light fog. The colors aren't very vibrant and won't make you start dancing or doing the Hippy Hippy Shake*. It's the contrasts between the initial expectations and the actual scent development that make this scent interesting and enjoyable for me. The official carded L'Artisan samples are doing this perfume (and most of the others) a disservice. Dabbing a drop here and there isn't the best way to wear Ananas Fizz. I transferred several samples into small spray vial and that made a huge difference in terms of longevity and sillage. It makes the scent feel a lot more substantial without compromising its lightness.

Ananas Fizz is still available from some L'Artisan retailers (Barneys, Luckyscent, Blue Mercury), but it has been removed from the L’Artisan Parfumeur website (artisanparfumeur.us), and we all know what that means.

*The Hippy Hippy Shake:

I'm sure this happens to you occasionally: You hear some very familiar music playing in another room, another floor or even from a car passing by. It's too far away for every note to actually reach your ear, but you know the song so well that you "hear" the missing pieces- your mind is stepping up and filling the gaps.

I'm still dealing with a raging head cold and my nose is (maybe) working at 25% capacity . But I can't go through my day without perfume, so I'm turning to the cornerstones of my wardrobe and wear the ones I can smell with my memory just as well as with a functioning schnoz. I start the morning with vintage Chanel No. 5 in eau de cologne, but as the day progresses I turn to something sweeter and softer, but still one I would recognize anywhere- Premier Figuier Extrême by L’Artisan Parfumeur.

Premier Figuier Extrême can be a bit misleading. Yes, it's a sweet milky fig over a creamy sandalwood base. But the reason I love it so much (besides my fig obsession, that is) is the way it juxtaposes the shade of a fig tree that grows beside a cool running stream- it's green and blue, very refreshing after walking a few miles on a hot summer day and reaching that hidden sanctuary. Then you have the smooth warmth of wood and coconut milk like a satisfying and comforting dessert, an inviting rustic kitchen where you sit at a slightly worn down hand-made table and getting a whiff of the fresh figs in the blue and yellow bowl.

Premier Figuier Extrême ($115, 1.7 oz EDP) is available from the L’Artisan Parfumeur boutique at Henri Bendel in NYC and from the company's website, artisanparfumeur.us . I bought my bottles years ago at the (now defunct) free-standing SoHo L'Artisan boutique in NYC.

Art: Fig Leaves by Yvonne Ayoub.

Méchant Loup by L'Artisan is a seducer. It lures you in with sweet promises of honey and hazelnuts toasted just enough. It doesn't have any of the popular mainstream opening notes- nothing fresh, green or citrusy here. It's all heart.

While a hazelnut, honey and wood perfume could have easily turn into the land of praline and become another one of those "eat me" mall scents, this isn't the case. In fact, Méchant Loup is generally regarded as a masculine scent. And indeed, once the initial notes calm down and retreat, you are left with a very woody and quite dark fragrance. It's very smooth though not quite creamy, and surprisingly chilly- like touching the bark of a tree in an old forest, so thick that sunshine doesn't reach through the thick intertwined treetops.

Does evil lurk in that ancient forest? After all, Méchant Loup means 'bad wolf'. It's the temptation, I think, to get closer and closer to the source of the sweetness and discover its true face. A man wearing it is quite irresistible. I wear it for that smooth honeyed core as well as for the coolness of the wood. I spray it liberally so the EDT lasts for at least ten hours on my skin, and while it doesn't make me feel like a she-wolf I can't help but sniff myself often.

Méchant Loup ($95, 1.7 oz) is available from Henri Bendel,  L'Artisan Parfumeur boutiques (where they still exist. The freestanding ones in NYC have all closed), Barneys and Aedes in NYC and Blue Mercury stores. Most of them also sell online. I bought my bottle a few years ago, probably from Aedes.

Image: Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf by Richard Hermann Eschke.