Category Archives: Old Noses

Nose Gay (repost from my blog in 2015)

DSC01721 (2)

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…

DSC01723 (2) DSC01727 (2)

—

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…  ðŸ™‚

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

Quelques Fleurs (repost of my own blog from 2015)

image

Quelques Fleurs (Houbignant 1913) is citrusy, with a definite note of orange blossom and as it progresses it floats into a sugary sweet fresh floral with a particularly refined tarragon that adds depth and mystery.  Oakmoss and civet also do not disappoint as they lend sophistication and punch to the very vintage flowers.  In particular heliotrope, orchid, violet orris root, and ylang-ylang are noticeable but really, more than most fragrances, it’s possible to find each and every floral note.  With the base notes of tonka bean, honey, sandalwood and vanilla this scent finishes with a pleasant airy softness.

Top notes: orange blossom, green notes, tarragon, bergamot, lemon and citruses.  Middles notes: carnation, tuberose, orchid, lilac, orris root, jasmine, heliotrope, yang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley, rose, violet and iris.  Base notes: sandalwood, tonka bean, amber, musk, civet, oakmoss, honey and vanilla.

—

Last night I drove around our neighborhood and the surrounding areas and discovered a Whole Foods.  The was strangely comforting… And I saw the Puget Sound from a closer view. I love water…  I love big bodies of water.

And then as I was headed back to where I now live I found myself missing St. Paul again.  I’ve never experienced anything like this before…  I’ve moved about eight or nine times since I was born including college when I moved to the other coast…  I didn’t miss St. Paul, Minnesota, or even the Midwest back then.  I was glad to go.  But this time…  I stayed in St. Paul just long enough and lived in just the right place to let it get to me.

I miss the way the land felt under my feet – nearly level, solid and unchanging but with a gentle, elegantly placed hill here and there.   The trees seemed relaxed, and weathered by age but grand and soul searching.  The air felt dense and heavier but equally mysterious. And all those old brick and stone buildings…  All that history.  I miss it.

I do see the enormous amount of beauty here though.  It’s not that…   Not at all.

Sigh. More later…

🙂