Friday, February 10, 2012

Houbigant - Flatterie (vintage)

"In December 1959 at the Daniel Cordier Gallery in Paris the eighth 'International Surrealist Exhibition' devoted to 'EROS,' as conceived by Duchamp and Breton, opened its doors . . . In another room a tape of the recorded sighs of women making love played endlessly, while mists of a perfume by Houbigant, called Flatterie, scented the air."  - Perfume: Joy, Obsession, Scandal, Sin by Richard Stamelman

Glass labyrinth of mirrors opening onto billows of snow-white iris, lilies with violet hearts. Flowers with grasping hands instead of stamens. Nusch Eluard. Diaphanous milky agate of smell. I want to cradle my head to my wrist and never wake up.

EDIT FEBRUARY 14: The iris, the iris of Cuir de Russie. It's there.

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