Amouage - Gold Man

For gesticulating wildly.

Paquin - 9x9 (vintage)

I probably shouldn't write about this, since the quality is so degraded. It smells like Ivory soap concentrate and decades-old unsold nylons.

Histoires de Parfums - Ambrarem

Amber as seen by Weegee - gritty, oil-slicked (hints of Petroleum?), harsh, glaring, medicinal. Warned by the shop assistant that "it was not for everyone," I find myself attracted, pitcher-plant-like, to this gunmetal ink sac of doomy oud and animal nothingness. I find it terribly sexy, despite it being deemed repugnant by those around me. It goes on forever.

Dr. Vranjes - Gigember e Estragone

Completely bonkers witches' tincture, strong enough to expel tumours.
My husband said I smelled like jalapenos.

Pascal Morabito - Or Black edt

Even more leaden than Bandit. I feel that I should not walk but hover soundlessly, fix a penetrating gaze upon unsuspecting townsfolk, point a skeletal finger at their trembling countenances, and declaim premonitions of their deaths from TB or bloody flux.

two for imaginary sunshine

Guerlain - Anisia Bella (Aqua Allegoria)
Delicious, drinkable green anise and citrus fizz, for sundress weather.

Jacques Fath - Fath de Fath (vintage edt)
The same effect as Petit Guerlain - tonic and sparkling, with a pronounced lilac-soap/green drydown. My huge 227ml bottle came from the Ahlens Swedish department store, and the box lists the accord dominant: iris, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, sandalwood, and vetiver. To splash on after summertime baths.

Alpinia speciosa.

The plant with the singsong name of ALPINIA SPECIOSA entrapped me by first smell, in Chidoriya's Secret de Geiko face cream - warming a little crescent between my palms, it released the most meditative, entrancing scent - moist, piney and still. It was the smell of Kawabata's House of the Sleeping Beauties, with its paper screens and window overlooking the sea. I find it more relaxing than lavender, with its skin-soft hint of camphor evoking snowy forests and childhood slumber. It's a smell of spectres and magical foxes stalking in the cool, silvery mist.