Old Noses – Page 2 – Keen to Cross the Pond

Whenever I smell Guerlain, Aqua Allegoria, Bouquet Numero 2 (Guerlain 2011) I think of a vacation I took with my husband to Switzerland in the summer of 2011. It was then that I first purchased a bottle of Bouquet Numero 2 and, of course, that was the year it debuted (2011). It certainly did feel new and of the moment.

Our visit to Switzerland was lovely and nowadays when I remember it, it feels like yesterday and a million years ago at the same time. The smell of dozens and dozens of impeccable roses, gorgeous, almost aquatic lychee and iris in Bouquet Numero 2 is my passport to those moments. When I smell Bouquet No. 2 I get nostalgic for the remarkably fresh air and bright gentle sun of Switzerland. That country has a way of feeling charmingly remote and cosmopolitan at the same time, and I believe this scent captures that feeling quite well.

I suppose it’s not surprising that, given my immediate liking for this Guerlain fragrance and the positive associations I have with it, Aqua Allegoria Bouquet Numero 2 is one of my favorite perfumes. Very favorite. Longevity is moderate and sillage is strong to moderate.

The classic kiss picture all couples eventually find themselves taking…

This week is the last week I’ll be featuring the Norwegian language primer as my “Book of the Month” and that saddens me a bit. Of course, I did realize that it was an old book and that if I really want to learn Norwegian with the way languages change over time I’ll have to look elsewhere. But, I did learn some intriguing pieces of the Norwegian language to be stored away for potential use.

Anyway, until Friday…

Nose Gay by Dorothy Gray (Dorothy Gray 1938) is a pelargonium, dirty, musky, mossy rose scent. It’s a bit woody, Earthy and green. And, despite its sweet name (a nose gay is a small bouquet of flowers usually carried about – ie for a formal dance), Nose Gay is actually dark and mysterious with an almost buttery, salty, slightly sweet floral kick.

The florals I believe my nose detects most are honeysuckle, heliotrope, violet and tuberose. I would label this perfume a rich creamy floral chypre with a sweet smoky drydown. The sandalwood and animalic notes (perhaps?) in the base actually make this fragrance a bit wild. Indeed, Nose Gay would never be sold as mainstream perfume today. Even though people of the past were supposedly less rambuntious than today, it’s fragrances like this that really make you wonder…

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It’s hard to believe it’s mid June already. It feels like it should still be April or May. Where is this year going? As someone once said, the days go by slow but the years go fast.

In some ways it feels like the last ten years were a vapor. Poof they’re gone! I wish I could just pause life for a week and take time to reflect a little.

There are so many things that take time to figure out. Even if I’ll never figure them out in this life, and I try to be ok with that, I still wonder… 🙂

I hope you’re having a pleasant Friday dear reader.

Category Archives: Old Noses

Aqua Allegoria, Bouquet Numero 2 (Repost from my blog from 2014)

Nose Gay (repost from my blog in 2015)