The Details

A year has gone by since I started Soliflore Notes, and this got me thinking about all the sniffing and non-sniffing experiences I have had, but didn't write about. Some of them self-imposed, and others gently stumbled upon. 

It was February when I began to notice a change. I went to San Francisco to take a perfume-making workshop with Yosh, and besides making my first blend-a green floral, I began to see even more opportunities to bring olfaction into my daily life. There is no need for separation. While all of this was happening I read the most curious article about Karl Lagerfeld in Harper's BAZAAR. http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-articles/24-hours-with-karl-lagerfeld-0412  It described the specifics of his daily life. The rigor of his aesthetic was fascinating, alarming, and I have to say intriguing.  It got me wanting to sneak a little of this back into my life.  I thought of my conversation with Carlos Huber and his love of detail and the way he easily recalled the poetry of Baudelaire. He described a poem where a man is wearing a headdress of roses in various states of decay that begin to slowly fall away. There is so much opportunity in detail, when we don't get too caught up in it. I continued to notice fragrant things all around me, the sachets that don each perfect garment in Anne Fontaine’s shop, the enormous floral arrangements at Gilt (restaurant) perfectly placed in enormous vases in the quiet prior to dinner service. I noticed the Springtime like never before, and appreciated the many folk who stop on city streets to smell a bud or two, and the aggressive way the mint in my garden has already come out to greet me. To this day I am still chilled by Christophe Laudemiel show wear he featured various scent tents, one of the them entitled, “Fear.” Metallic, mossy, my heart raced as I felt utterly alone as I stood in the tent with people all around me inhaling his creation. Next up,  I am going into my son’s kindergarten to get he and his classmates sniffing.

For now though, please check out my latest post celebrating National Library Week entitled, Fragrance, Literature, and Reflection on CaFleureBon, where I am a monthly contributor. All my best, and thanks for visiting here and there.  Valerie

Here is the link to the CaFleureBon post and the New York City Library.

http://www.cafleurebon.com/cafleurebon-celebrates-national-library-week-literature-fragrance-and-reflection/

http://www.nypl.org/