Art Books Events

Andy Tauer Visits Twisted Lily and NEW Tauerville Amber Flash

11/08/15 10:15:25 

by: Jodi Battershell

www.Atrbazan.ir        Te perfume Master in iran

This was my first visit to Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique and Apothecary. It resides in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn, on Atlantic Avenue—a charming street of shops that is also home to Atelier Cologne, some antique furniture stores that are giving me an itch to redecorate, clothing boutiques featuring avant-garde local designers and an eclectic mix of restaurants and coffee shops. In other words, it's in the perfect spot. You can absolutely make a day of it if you plan to visit the shop. I arrived early and had some time to explore the neighborhood and feast on a buttery croque-monsieur at an adorable French bistro around the corner from the shop.

The store's façade  is understated and elegant. Classic window lettering and a humble chalkboard announced the name of the boutique, and owners Eric Weiser and Stamatis Birsimijoglou let their wares do the talking, utilizing the store's large window display to full effect. An artful arrangement of Tauer Perfumes bottles floated in the window alongside fresh flowers, with a soft white light beneath to enhance the deep blue beauty of the pentagons.

Inside, a crowd had already gathered and perfumer Andy Tauer was greeting visitors and friends, posing for photographs and signing bottles. Both the Tauer Perfumes and Tauerville collections were on display, with testers for all the scents. Visitors were spritzing and sniffing, passing test strips around and comparing impressions and favorites.

Twisted Lily's Eric Weiser and Andy Tauer

It had been awhile since I visited a boutique that carried the full Tauer Perfumes line, so there were several newer releases I had not yet had an opportunity to try. Sotto La Luna Tuberose was getting lots of attention and it deserves it—this meaty tuberose scent with earthy undertones offers a unique take on the traditionally feminine white floral. The "back catalog" of Tauer Perfumes proved to be popular as well and I know lots of folks were just enjoying the opportunity to smell the collection in its entirety. Mr. NLS had accompanied me to the event and was sniffing some of these fragrances for the first time, with a couple favorites emerging: Vetiver Dance and Lonestar Memories.

The Tauerville collection was also getting a lot of buzz, especially with the announcement of the newest scent in the Tauerville line, Amber Flash, which was just launched that day!

Amber Flash is a warm oriental scent featuring notes of amber, labdanum, benzoin, vanilla, sandalwood, patchouli and cashmeran. It's a nice complement to the jammy floral Rose Flash, sweet and tobacco-y Vanilla Flash, and dry, smoky Incense Flash.

At the midpoint of the event, Andy Tauer made a short speech summarizing his career in the perfume industry. Recounting his humble beginnings as a blogger who had reached out to Luca Turin, blogger-to-blogger and unaware of Turin's writings and status within the fragrance community, moving through early packaging attempts and pricing concerns to the succesful perfumer of today—one whose dissatisfaction with the runaway growth and price hikes in the fragrance market prompted the creation of high-quality but reasonably-priced Tauerville as a response—it is clear that Andy is comfortable in his "outsider" status, even as he recalls the difficulties posed by this status as he tried to get Tauer Perfumes off the ground.

Clear, too, both from his speech and  from the event is how much Andy values his relationships with customers and with the fragrance community. He made time to chat with anyone who wished to speak with him. Visitors pulled bottle after bottle from their pockets and bags and Andy graciously signed them all. Andy shares so much of himself with us on social media, but I assure you he is just as warm, friendly and vivacious in person as he presents himself to be online.

  

As if the launch of Amber Flash wasn't enough, the event also provided another treat for visitors.  Everyone who attended received a sample of Andy's experimental (and as yet unreleased) fragrance, Dark Mysterious Woods. Included with the samples were postcards of the original artwork he created to go with the scent, all signed by Andy. Andy also invited everyone to let him know their thoughts on Dark Mysterious Woods and whether or not they would like to see it released commercially.  (He also notes he is not crazy about the name and it may change if the fragrance gets a formal release.)

I got a chance to speak in more depth with Andy, about art, fragrances, Tauerville and some of the less glamorous but no less fascinating aspects of the perfume industry. I look forward to sharing our discussion in an upcoming interview here on Fragrantica.

Thank you to Andy Tauer and to Twisted Lily for hosting such an amazing event! Waves of people popped in over the course of three hours to say hello to Andy, check out the latest fragrances and make purchases. I hadn't seen fragrant friends Michelyn Camen and Hernando Courtright of Cafleurebon since one of the 2013 Elements Showcase events. A shout-out to Carlos Powell, Igor Kipnis and Rich Scardaville of the Goodsmellas and a hearty hello to Leah, Paul, Raymond and Gary!  It was so nice to chat about fragrances (in person!) with others who are just as passionate about them.

Visitors at the event took the opportunity to explore all the offerings of Twisted Lily, and Eric and Stamatis were only too happy to reach for bottles, gather stock, spritz test strips (as many as anyone wanted to try) and discuss a wide variety of fragrances throughout the event.

Twisted Lily offers the best of European and American indie and artisan perfumers. They also have a special fondness for the artists and craftspeople of Brooklyn. The store's amazing decor was done by design studio PLANT of Brooklyn, and Twisted Lily is proud to feature the fragrances of multiple Brooklyn-based perfumers in its shop. Eric personally walked me through the collections of several Brooklynites and I will have some new houses to share with you in the near future.

In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the newest scent in my collection, which I purchased at the event. It's a Tauer Perfumes scent I had tried a few years ago and found was not quite right for me, but after revisiting the scent at the Twisted Lily event, I just couldn't stop sniffing it. (Looking at reviews on Fragrantica for this scent, it looks like I am not alone in this experience.)

Andy asked which of us would be wearing  the new scent. As it happens, Mr. NLS and I have a growing collection of shared perfumes we both wear (not all of which were officially marketed as unisex, even) and that collection got a little bit bigger on Saturday.

What did we buy? Here's a hint.  ;-)

Image: Maury F.

All event images:  Jodi Battershell

New Fragrances

Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely 10th Anniversary Edition

11/10/15 10:19:14 

by: Sanja Pekic

www.Atrbazan.ir         The Perfume Master in iran

The year 2015, for actress Sarah Jessica Parker, best known for her role of Carrie in the TV series "Sex and the City", marked the tenth anniversary of her successful perfume Lovely. In its honor, she presents a series of photographs, a limited-edition sweatshirt featuring the word LOVELY written in her own handwriting across the front, and a new limited edition fragrance called Lovely 10th Anniversary Edition.

"I can't quite believe that it's been 10 years since LOVELY was first introduced. I feel incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity to relaunch this fragrance for all the customers who loved it as much as we did, and still do. It's been a real treat to travel back in time to LOVELY's inception and reminisce on those fond memories. Fragrance is something I'm constantly experimenting with and I'm delighted to continue the exploration and discover what the future holds."

Top notes: mandarin, bergamot, rosewood, lavender, apple martini Heart: patchouli, orchid, white pepper Heart: cedar, white amber, musk, woods

The bottle of the new limited edition, which is signed by the actress, portrays the romantic style of vintage perfume bottles with a modern twist, colored in a champagne pink, metallized finish. For the bottle's cap, the designers chose regal gold.

The fragrance is available as 100 ml Eau de Parfum.

Art Books Events

Vintage Perfume Sniffing in Lisbon: Nº5 and the Aldehydes

09/25/15 22:45:51 

by: Miguel Matos

www.Atrbazan.ir        The Perfume Master in iran

Being an avid vintage perfume collector, I sometimes feel a little alone with my fragrant babies, especially in a country with absolutely no perfume culture like Portugal. The stories and emotions enclosed in these bottles tend to accumulate, and not everyone is really interested in hearing them. Or so I thought. But the truth is that every time I start speaking about perfumes, especially vintages, most people do have something to say or questions to ask. That's the magic of perfume. I've seen my friend and perfume blogger Barbara Herman hold vintage perfume talks in the USA and so I felt inspired to do the same here in Lisbon and here's the result:

I chose the vintage shop A Outra Face da Lua as the location for my monthly Vintage Perfume Sniffings. This is the mecca of vintage in Lisbon and the owner, Carla Belchior, is the queen of vintage fashion in Portugal, besides being a good friend. Indeed, some of my precious findings came from her. Last Sunday, the first gathering took place and in between drinks and laughs I started telling the story of Chanel nº5and the olfactive family it started: the floral aldehydes.

“Old Lady!” - that's what everyone says when they smell the vintage aldehydes. Well, that's a common reaction for non-vintage lovers, but the fact is that 30 years from now all the fruity-florals will be granny scents to our grandsons. Isn't that ironic and funny?Chanel nº5 was created in 1921 by Ernest Beaux and it reflected the childhood of Coco Chanel. The convent of Aubazine, where she grew up and where she worked in the laundry room. The smell of cleanliness, with boiling orris root inside the metal containers where the sheets were washed... It's there in Chanel nº5. The sacred numbers, the rigid structure of Aubazine containing multiples of the number 5... That's there too, in the name. The flowers; not the soliflores of respectable women, and not the strong jasmine and tuberose that courtesans wore at the time... This is an abstract bouquet. And the base notes...the animalic smell of the sheets where her lover Boy Capel slept before he died in a car accident... That's there too, inside that bottle.

Chanel wanted her perfume to tell her story in symbols and she wanted it to be clean and sensual at the same time. It resulted in the most famous perfume in the whole world. These were the kind of stories we shared, but also how it was the perfume of our mother, our grandmother...the smell of our childhood and the impossibly chic style it still represents. My bottle is a 1971 specimen and I also showed my audience the other great nº5,Eau de Cologne, discontinued in the 1980's. An ambery aldehyde, much more animalic and unusual for most people.

But there was a competitor, maybe even a copycat, emerging in 1927: L'Aimant by Coty. In fact, some say that Chanel nº5 was inspired by a previous perfume called Rallet nº1. And the fact is that Coty had bought the brand Rallet, including the formula of nº5's predecessor, so... Well, not all attendees thought that these were all that similar. In fact, my bottle is a “mist” version from the 1950's or 60's, rubber coated in bright pink. Did not convince my “sniffers”. By the way, I also brought the raw material for them to smell.

Interestingly enough, contrary to the common idea, Chanel nº5 was not the first perfume to use aldehydes. By the time it was created, another floral bouquet was enjoying a huge success: Quelques Fleurs by Houbigant (1912). And there were aldehydes in its composition. But the first of all to sport this chemical innovation wereFloramye and Rêve d'Or by L.T. Piver. I had a modern version of Rêve d'Or and it caused aaahs and ooohs of pleasure. I know for a fact that some guys were buying bottles the next day.

As we talked and shared ideas, I knew that this was a magical event and most people were fascinated by rediscovering all these smells from the past. Next in line wasArpège, a woodier version of the floral aldehyde. Launched in 1927, the same year asL'Aimant, Arpège is in the same family as Nº5 but less feminine and deeper in the base notes. Even though it is less animalic in composition, it is as sexy as Chanel's offering. For this one, I showed my audience a bottle I had bought in Paris, from the 1960's is my guess. I also gave them the opportunity to compare it to the modern version, which they thought was too 1980's. Some preferred it, some didn't. But I was happy to see that the chatting kept increasing.

I couldn't continue without mentioning L'Air du Temps, the classic from Nina Ricci, composed by Francis Fabron in 1948. This is the scent of post-war longing for freedom and happiness. A light carnation scent, very fresh and romantic, according to the wishes of the young ladies of that time. I showed a version from the 1960's that caused a gaze of wonder in most attendants. “The perfume of my mother”, “oh this smells so beautiful”, and other exclamations delighted me as I showed them a 1990's Lalique bottle and explained how I got it for just 3 euros from the local flea market. Finally, I presented a modern version and my audience wasn't impressed. Only one person liked it.

Moving to 1959, there it was, the masculine representative of the aldehydes, the classic Tabac. The barbershop smell of elegant gentlemen was a novelty for some, a memory of their parents for others. Aldehydes, carnation and lavender proved to be a timeless blend. This got my group really raving and I couldn't stop them. I didn't want to either;  I was so happy to see that I could awaken all these emotions and memories. I found myself giving directions to perfume shops that still sell bottles of Tabac. Actually, it is really easy to find and so affordable everywhere.

I had to speed things up, as two hours had passed, but I still wanted to show themMadame Rochas (1960), Hermès Caleche (1961) and Paco Rabanne's Calandre(1969), which surprisingly seemed quite modern to my croud. It's officially a chypre, but I wanted to close this session with Carven's Ma Griffe. It is al aldehydic too, and a very strange one because of the asafoetida and green notes.

Some perfumes were missing here, like YSL's Rive Gauche and others, but I just didn't have it in my collection. After a long session, some noses were tired but the conversations continued even after the shop was closed and the exchange of ideas continued on Facebook, because everyone was still on a “perfume high” after so many ideas and fragrances. I am happy and grateful to Carla Belchior and João Galiza for letting me do this in their shop, and also I want to thank all the friends that came by. Next month there will be another session and the star will be Dana's Tabu. “Un Parfum de Puta” is the title of the next Vintage Perfume Sniffing, on the 11th of October in still sunny and romantic Lisbon.

Pictures by Miguel Matos, Lisbon

New Fragrances

The Body Shop Black Musk

09/26/15 01:24:15 

by: Sanja Pekic

www.Atrbazan.ir        The Perfume Master in iran

In October 2015, The Body Shop is launching its new fragranceBlack Musk, following the lines of White Musk from1981 and Red Musk from 2014. Black Musk is announced as the darkest and the most sensual of all the scents. It represents a contrast between light, sweet flavors and dark musk with oriental woods. The creation is signed by Cecile Matton and Ralf Schwieger.

The opening of the composition symbolizes desire with notes of sweet pear infused with pink pepper and bergamot. Intense aroma of heliotrope, which varies between marzipan and almond, is interspersed with ylang-ylang and aphrodisiac notes of licorice. Hot black vanilla, musk black, earthy patchouli, vetiver and chocolate end the composition.

 

Top notes: pear, pink pepper. bergamot Heart: heliotrope, ylang-ylang, licorice Base: black musk, black vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, chocolate

Black Musk is available as 60 ml Eau de Toilette, 50 ml Eau de Parfum and 20 mlPerfume Oil.

Gender Bender

Gender Bender: Passion by Elizabeth Taylor (1987)

09/27/15 00:02:01 

by: Dr. Marlen Elliot Harrison

www.Atrbazan.ir       The Perfume Master in iran

Hello and welcome to “Gender Bender”, an exploration of aroma, gender and scented freedom. Though by no means do I personally prescribe to fragrance having a gender, sociocultural stereotypes about masculinity and femininity often prevail at the fragrance counters and are viewed as important distinctions for many fragrance fans. Join me as I explore some of my favorite 20th century masterpieces of perfumery in my quest to challenge marketing rhetoric and address the question, “How does fragrance transcend gender?”

Summary: Elizabeth Taylor’s first fragrance release is a surprising oriental chypre focused on moss, leather, incense and animalics. Though a number of classic florals are featured in the midnotes, the current formulation of Passion (for women) seems decidedly masculine in the face of the fruity-gourmand paradigm dominating current “female” perfumery.

Perfumer: N/A, please tell us in a comment below if you know.

Try this if you like: Incense, leather, patchouli or animalic scents; fragrances likePiguet’s Bandit, YSL Kouros, Alain Delon Iquitos, or Chanel Antaeus.

Pros & Cons: Incredible longevity and sillage, as well as an incredible price tag; animalic and aldehydic but well-balanced by florals and woods; a dry leather that feels more soft and sueded than rough and smoky. Passion is widely considered one of the first “celebrity fragrances” and history has it that Liz had a strong hand in the overall development. Due to its age and the number of times the label has changed hands, it’s not quite the same Passion it once was; the florals are considerably flatter and less creamy than I recall. While some wax poetic about the incense and somewhat gothic vibe of Passion, others offer “granny” and “bug spray”.

The men’s version, also still around, is far sweeter with more prominent vanilla and a heap of lavender, making it equally gender bending these days. Check out my review for Passion for Men here: http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Passion-for-Men-by-Elizabeth-Taylor-1989--5623.html.

Notes: “Top notes are aldehydes, artemisia, coriander, gardenia, bergamot, ylang-ylang and lily-of-the-valley; middle notes are honey, tuberose, sandalwood, patchouli, orris root, jasmine, heliotrope, cedar, rose and spicy notes; base notes are leather, musk, coconut, civet, vanilla, oakmoss, incense, sandalwood and cedar.”Fragrantica.com

Reminds me of: Ted Lapidus Rumba, Piguet’s Bandit, Rabanne La Nuit,Salvador Dali (original), Lancôme’s Magie Noire, Paloma Picasso, Lauder’s Knowing, Tabu by Dana.

Designer’s Description: NA

Number of times tested: 5+ over the last 2 weeks.

Number of sprays applied for this review: 1 spray to the back of hand from a new bottle I purchased online at a discount site (has the metallic plastic cap without gemstone; ca. 2015).

Fragrance strength: Eau de Toilette

Development: (Linear / Average/ Complex): Although aldehydes are listed in the top, this really isn’t an aldehydic fragrance in the style of Chanel #5 or L’Air du Temps, for example. The honeyed spices, oakmoss, leather and incense are immediately the focus of the fragrance suggesting a “dark fruit” vibe while the florals are barely perceptible (think “indolic jasmine”), much like the classic Balenciaga Rumba. As the fragrance settles, it maintains its herbal, chypre heart with wood, patchouli and musk taking center stage, and that’s about as complex as the current formula gets. I keep thinking how this could be the lovechild of Rabanne La Nuit andDior Poison (albeit with much subtler florals). I do recall the original being somewhat richer, creamier and revealing stronger white petals (gardenia and tuberose) in its midnotes.

Longevity: (Short / Average / Long-lasting) Wow! The current Passion has incredible longevity, 12+ hours and still perceptible after a shower.

Sillage: (A Little / Average / A Lot) Though Passion does relax after 2-3 hours, others still found it perceptible on me at the end of the day after using 3-4 sprays that morning.

Note about the packaging: Currently a transparent, purple, art deco style glass atomizer that delivers a generous amount of perfume accompanied by a gold, metallic, plastic cap and housed in a monochromatic purple paper box. Older versions sport a gold adornment in the middle of the bottle and a purple stone on the cap.

Where can I buy it? Found online for as little as $15 USD for a 75ml tester.

The Bottom Line: Elizabeth Taylor’s premiere fragrance is widely considered to be the first, major, celebrity fragrance. Though a handful of others arrived around the same time as Passion–e.g. Cher’s sadly discontinued and similarly gender bending powerhouse Uninhibited was launched within months of Passion, and Avon’sDeneuve arrived on counters just months prior - Liz was the first to fully capitalize on her name and firmly establish her place in scented history. Launched when I was in high school in the late 80’s, Passion was both in keeping with the “larger than life” hair, shoulder pads and fragrances of its time. However, thanks to samples I had hoarded from my teen years into adulthood, I always felt it had a decidedly vintage feel, as if it were a long lost Patou, Lanvin or Caron. It’s incredible to think that the far sweeter and gourmand Angel was unleashed just a few years later; the late 80’s were truly an exciting time for aromachemistry!

Having confounded the vanilla-rich Passion for Men with Taylor’s original aroma, I was incredibly curious to get reacquainted with the women’s scent. I was quite surprised to find it as dry and dark as it is and kept waiting for a punch of vanilla to sweeten things up. Not a chance. The moss, leather and civet are the standout stars here, even in today’s reformulation, and I can’t image that in a side by side test ofPassion and Dior Homme, for example, that anyone unfamiliar with the two would identify Passion as the “women’s” scent and Dior as the “men’s”. It’s really amazing how paradigms in aroma keep shifting!

I know how many people consider Passion to be Grandma’s scent, but if stereotypes and associations don’t concern you, gentleman readers, it will cost you only a small amount of money to experience an incredible aroma that is still quite successful today and surprisingly gender bending. For women who like their fragrances dark, skanky and rich, look no further than the purple powerhouse in the deco bottle!

New Fragrances

Yves Saint Laurent Le Vestiaire des Parfums

09/27/15 03:41:37 

by: Sanja Pekic

www.Atrbazan.ir          The Perfume MAster in iran

In November 2015, Yves Saint Laurent presents its new collection of luxury fragrances Le Vestiaire des Parfums, which includes five new releases: Caban, Caftan, Tuxedo, Saharienne and Trench. The "perfume wardrobe" collection is inspired by the iconic pieces of Yves Saint Laurent clothing.

Caban is a sensual aroma of pink pepper, rose and tonka bean. Caftan is an oriental fragrance of incense, benzoin, galbanum and musk. It was created by perfumer Calice Becker.

Tuxedo is a bit masculine, elegant and dark with accords of patchouli and spices.Saharienne contains freshness of neroli, wild herbs and white musk. Trench is a scent of citruses, dry cedar and iris.

All the fragrances are unisex. They are available as 125 ml Eau de Parfum.

Gender Bender

Bargain Fragrances: Close by GAP (2009)

09/28/15 05:17:01 

by: Dr. Marlen Elliot Harrison

www.Atrbazan.ir         THe Perfume MAster in iran

This is another in a series of bargain fragrance reviews, scents that may be found online or at discount stores for US $25 or less.

Summary: One of Gap’s best fragrance launches echoes aroma trends of its time offering a dusky fresh floral over a light musky amber base with accents of almond and vanilla; now at an unbeatable price and widely available at online and brick and mortar discounters.

Perfumer: Marypierre Julien

Try this if you like: Almonds, vanilla; peony, freesia or jasmine; aquatics or clean skin scents.

Reminds me of: Clinique Simply, Yves Rocher Neonatura Breathe, SJP Lovely, Emporio Armani White, Nina Ricci Premier Jour, Gattinoni Couture.

Pros & Cons: Coming from someone who owns or has owned each of the scents listed above, Close is like the perfect amalgamation of all of them – an easy to wear, unobtrusive, fresh floral with one of those “your skin but better” vibes. The bottle is simple though rather mundane and the longevity and sillage are average at best; indeed, the name perfectly describes the sillage here. The price is pretty fantastic, however, and I find myself re-spraying with abandon just to get another fix of Close.

Notes: “It encompasses aromas of aquatic accords, salty citruses and fresh almond scents. A heart brings us white flowers, freesia, jasmine and heliotrope while a base features sandalwood, leather musk, vanilla and amber.” Fragrantica

Designer’s Description: N/A

Number of times tested: 10 times over the last 2 months.

Number of sprays applied for this review: 2 sprays to the back of my hand from a 100ml bottle I purchased online (ca. 2015).

Fragrance strength: Eau de Toilette

Development: (Linear / Average / Complex): Close is interesting in that the first few minutes are quite sharp and sweet, absolutely not what the rest of the wearing is about. I imagine this might be the result of the “salty citruses” listed in the composition; have patience with this one upon application. After the opening, the soft jasmine and the greenness of the freesia blossom on my skin, like fresh crushed leaves, while the vanilla, almond and heliotrope expand to cushion this floral accord. The drydown is a white musk and soft amber.

Longevity: (Short/ Average / Long-lasting) Close lasts about 3-4 hours on my skin and lingers longer on clothing.

Sillage: (A Little / Average / A Lot) As the name implies, Close is a soft scent for snuggling.

Note about the packaging: Much like the SJP Lovely bottle, looks like a raindrop but in translucent white with simple silver cap. The bottle is housed in a rectangular, transparent plastic box.

Where can I buy it? A 100ml EDT spray is as low as $20 USD, and a 50ml EDT spray is as low as $12 USD on online auction and discount sites.

The Bottom Line: GAP hasn’t exactly been known for its bath and beauty lines, but when they finally launched fragrances back in the 1990’s the aromas were met with an enthusiastic reception; the company was smart to avoid the typical named, gendered offerings and instead brought us scents like Dream, Om, Grass and Day, ostensibly genderless scents of simplicity and affordability. I think I owned all of them at one time or another, having always loved the white floral sweetness of Dream and the greenness of Grass. Since the original launches I haven’t found a single scent worth mentioning. They’ve largely all been forgettable, uninspired copies of other mainstream aromas, or barely-there body sprays and mists akin to B&BW offerings. Even today I can’t say that there is anything worth noting, and don’t even get me started on the longevity issues with most of them. But Close is something different. I remember sniffing Close upon launch in an airport Gap store and finding it, simply, lovely. Understated, clean, slightly floral yet with gourmand undertones, I felt tempted to buy it. Knowing Gap, I figured I’d wait for a sale. Not having returned to a Gap store since that time, it’s been a long wait! I tend to sample my Gap scents during sniffathons at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, American discount stores. Recently, I noticed a bottle of Close and decided to revisit it. So many other scents came to mind that the aroma was immediately familiar…so familiar that I decided a purchase would be redundant. However, while browsing Ebay I found a tester at deep discount and $12 later I’m addicted. Yes, it has the soft floral musk of SJP Lovely and vanilla accents of Nina Ricci Premier Jour along with the nutty, almond notes of Gattinoni and Clinique Simply. I love the verdant vibe wafting through the opening and the musky gourmand drydown. And since I don’t have access to any of these scents while staying with family this autumn in south Florida, Close fills a gap (pardon the pun) in my current scent wardrobe. Have you tried Close? How do you feel about GAP fragrances in general? Can you recommend any of their other offerings as bargain buys? Tell us in a comment below!