Katie Puckrik Smells

Valentine's Day Fragrance Picks

2012-02-03T23:54:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is rolling around again, and you know what that means: fragrance for everyone -- even the dog! Here are my bright ideas for his and her scents to wear and to give to make your puffy heart-filled day as dreamily romantic as it can possibly be. For Her: Love, Chloé by Chloé This incredibly beautiful perfume dwells at the intersection of innocent and intimate. Violety iris and

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Aniston

2012-01-31T13:05:00.000-08:00

I was about to say that “Jennifer Aniston” is a pretty unevocative name for a perfume, but then I realized that you can't get more evocative than suggesting that the entire essence of a whole person has been crammed into a tiny bottle. And unlike most celebrity scents, which usually smell like the dregs of the berry vat, the cupcake vat and the tuberose vat poured into a single new vat

The Guest Nose: Bond No. 9 New York Amber

2012-01-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

By Stefush Okay, so Bond No. 9 has this new EDP called New York Amber. I know this because on a recent visit to NYC, I was at their shop during a ridiculous rainstorm that had me trying to huff strips while my clothing dripped all over the countertops. New York Amber is not what I’d call an amber. It’s what I’d call a soup. Specifically, hot and sour soup from your favorite Chinese take-out

Winter 2012 Top Fragrances and Other Stuff

2012-01-26T03:10:00.000-08:00

We've been experiencing those curious 80 degree January days here in Los Angeles, the kind accompanied by dry hot wind loaded with freeway dust and desert viruses, livid tomato sunsets and mutterings of “earthquake weather.” It's a sneak preview of summer before the winter rains start in earnest, and this is the meteorological setting in which I reflect upon some of my favorite sensory

Perfume Pen Pals: Comme des Garcons Eau de Parfum

2012-01-25T00:14:00.000-08:00

Katie, What of this new Comme des Garçons Eau de Parfum? Did you try that one? It seems like it might smell like Cumming. Dan Dan, The new CdG in the bottle that looks like a deflated hospital fluids bag? Yup, cool packaging, but approach with caution. I missed Cumming in its mainstream release (peat and wet dog, I remember the description being), but unless Cumming smelled like swimming

Perfume Pen Pals: Humiecki & Graef Blask (Part Two)

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

Dan, So, did your Humiecki & Graef Blask arrive yet? With its red wine, walnuts and bay leaf, does it smell like salad dressing or what? Katie Katie, Blask is “a fragrance about trust”, KP! Salad dressing isn't about trust. The salad itself, maybe, but dressing is a cover-up, a disguise. I'm choosing to side with the phony marketing spiel over the phony list of notes. I'm having a hard

Perfume Pen Pals: Parfums MDCI La Belle Helene

2012-01-22T00:13:00.000-08:00

Katie, Remember my anticipation over Parfums MDCI La Belle Helene, how enthusiastic I was because it was reported to be an pear/osmanthus/licorice/wood and that sounded ideal? La Belle Helene: the little marble head means it's classy. Well, today is the day and La Belle Helene turns out to be an overly sweet, fruity thing of no real interest. It's pleasant, like most sweet, fruity things

Two Perfumed Days in Paris - Day Two

2012-01-18T01:02:00.000-08:00

On the second and final day of my brief Parisian idyll, I started the day right with Champagne at L'Hôtel Le Bristol, the swank setting for a bloggers' meet with Michel Almairac, the nose behind Bottega Veneta's debut perfume. (Read about the encounter here.) Fume talk with Almairac and esteemed perfume writers, combined with très fancy hors d'oeuvres, got me prepped and lubed (okay, maybe it

Rochas Man

2012-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

When it comes to stylistic choices for men, there are unspoken yet ironclad rules of what the hairier sex are “allowed” to enjoy, wear and use. Too many colors, too much design, and the item, be it shoes, spectacles or a shirt, veers dangerously into dandy territory. Which is fine if you're actually a dandy, but less so if you're just a guy who is sick of looking like the Banana Republic

Two Perfumed Days in Paris

2011-12-22T00:03:00.000-08:00

Day One: How is it that the most romantic time I've ever had in Paris are the two days last September when I wandered its streets happily alone? The unexpected, golden heat of summer's final flare-up had something to do with it, as did the absence of “to-do's” to be sternly ticked off a list. And there was the dramatic contrast with my previous visits over the years: one tense and joyless with a

The Guest Nose: Serge does Tuberose - Tubereuse Criminelle v. Cedre

2011-12-18T01:36:00.000-08:00

by jtd I'm familiar with two tuberoses in Serge Lutens' line: the nominal Tubéreuse Criminelle, and the possibly misnamed Cèdre. Tubéreuse Criminelle has now come to the States, and thanks to my enabler Steve at Scent Bar, I’ve been hitting my sample pretty hard. When you encounter something beautiful-ugly, the line between jolie and laide typically blurs before your eyes. Beautiful-ugly isn’t

Perfume Pen Pals: biehl.parfumkunstwerke gs02

2011-12-15T23:12:00.000-08:00

Katie, I've mentioned biehl.parfumkunstwerke gs02 to you a few times, worn it a bunch, and I think I love it. It's my new favorite perfume, even though I bought it a year ago. There's a dominant smell that makes me feel good about my place in the world (and, believe me, that's quite an achievement for a single smell), but I don't know what it is. I'd assumed it was tonka bean, because of gs02's

Beauty Bloggers Charity Auction Final Hours!

2011-12-11T23:03:00.000-08:00

The second annual BeautyBloggers.org charity auction is wrapping up today, Monday December 12th at 5pm CST, so now is not the time to shilly-shally if you expect to snag some of the primo goodies on offer. Katie Puckrik Smells' contribution is Guerlain Shalimar's Oiseau de Paradis limited edition eau de parfum. The winning bidder will end up with classic Shalimar presented in a rare bottle (seen

Holiday Fragrance Picks 2011

2011-12-10T02:39:00.000-08:00

I'm hosting a fragrance event at Scent Bar, and you're all invited! And by "event" I mean "Katie lolling around Scent Bar like an unrepentant barfly, knocking back greedy whiffs of too many perfumes, and hashing out the possibilities inherent in each and every bottle with her fellow barflies." So yes, an event! I would be tickled the most delicious shade of hot pink if you'll join me at my happy

Vera Wang Lovestruck

2011-12-07T21:54:00.000-08:00

As a brand, Vera Wang stands for virgin-bride purity. My own wedding dress incorporated a Vera Wang high-necked lace blouse -- very lovely, although I don't think it had the power to restore my virginal purity. However, judging from the blandness of some of Vera Wang's perfume offerings, I suspect that purity restoration -- or preservation -- is a tacit goal. It only makes sense that there's a

Perfume Pen Pals: Binge-Buying Perfume

2011-12-05T02:44:00.000-08:00

Katie, You know how you sometimes skip a few meals, you go long hours without eating, and you finally start feeling like you're making progress on that last fifteen pounds you want to lose? (Contrary to the laws of grammar, the second person in this sentence refers to me and not to you.) And then, bam, you eat half a pie? Dismayed by all the terrible perfume samples I'd been wearing (it

Le Labo City Exclusives: Poivre 23 and Musc 25

2011-11-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

For the entire month of November, Le Labo offers its City Exclusives for purchase worldwide. As the last minutes of the last day of the 11th month tick by for adrenaline-charged, online-shopping fumeheads to score a bottle of New York (Tubereuse 40), say, or Dallas (Aldehyde 44), here's an overview of the exclusives I've had a chance to wear. Poivre 23 -- London Exclusive by Annick Ménardo I'm

Fumes in the News: Casanova's Favorite Panty-Droppers

2011-11-29T01:45:00.000-08:00

“As for women, I have always found that the one I was in love with smelled good, and the more copious her sweat the sweeter I found it.” So wrote original man-about-town Casanova in his memoirs, The Story of My Life. The 18th century seducer, swindler, diplomat, alchemist, and all-around roister-doisterer is back to school a new generation of swingers through an exhibition of his writings at

Smell Good, Look Good, Do Good

2011-11-28T00:54:00.000-08:00

Beauty auction benefits Doctors Without Borders Here's an opportunity to shop for a great cause: the BeautyBloggers.org annual charity auction. For the second year in a row, beauty bloggers and brands have joined forces for an online auction benefiting Doctors Without Borders. Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization providing independent, impartial

Perfume Pen Pals: Humiecki & Graef Blask and Huitieme Art Myrrhiad

2011-11-26T23:52:00.000-08:00

Katie, Check out the press release for Humiecki & Graef Blask: "BLASK, a fragrance about trust. BLASK is a Polish word that means glow, brilliance, glory and glamour, the shine of the sun and the gleam of moonlight. The dry, savory tang of bay leaf oil together with the full, elegant body notes of rich red wine and a woody walnut note give a deep, solid sense of maturity and intimacy. BLASK is

The Guest Nose: Nostalgia and the Rose Chypre

2011-11-23T00:33:00.000-08:00

By jtd Nostalgia is not the same as retro. Retro is light role-playing with stylistic imagery. The danger is that it can appear authentic without in fact being genuine. Nostalgia has its dangers as well: when a notion of the past becomes more desirable than the experience of the present. But in order to understand nostalgia, sometimes we must embrace it. I embrace nostalgia for the following:

Aftelier Perfumes Secret Garden and Oud Luban

2011-11-21T23:33:00.000-08:00

Aftelier Perfumes' tagline is “Modern Natural Luxury,” and with Secret Garden and Oud Louban, perfumer Mandy Aftel delivers more two fine examples of her swellegant specialty. Secret Garden parfum I'd say this particular secret garden was originally planted in the tropics, what with its humid, candied jasmine. If that showgirl Fracas ever hauled her feather-festooned hindquarters out of the

Perfume Pen Pals: BLOOD Concept B

2011-11-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

Katie, Okay, I'm getting to know BLOOD Concept B and, I don't know, it's sort of standoffish in the same way BLOOD Concepts A, AB and O are. I definitely smell some patchouli, and the apple is right out front. But it's not a friendly apple. It's an apple preserved in a dry-ice container, in a cryonics lab. It's the smell of something that once was alive but now is cold and stiff. I suppose

L'Artisan Parfumeur Mon Numero 8

2011-11-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

I first encountered Bertrand Duchaufour's newly-released Mon Numéro series at L'Artisan Parfumeur's Printemps boutique in Paris in September. My advance research had lead to me to anticipate Numéro 10 the most feverishly, built as it is around my ever-lovin' solids: incense and amber. But as I huffed and puffed my way across the collection, it was Numéro 8 that had my number. Right out of the

The Guest Nose: Balmain Monsieur Balmain

2011-11-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

By Stefush Monsieur Balmain by Balmain isn’t so much a scent as it is the hologram of a perfect lemon emanating from a bright yellow perfume bottle. It’s a cheeky, fun and deceptively simple fragrance that stands as an excellent bookend to those ponderous woody orientals brooding in the back of your cabinet. According to the Balmain website, ingredients include mint, lemon, bitter orange,