My box of samples arrived today from Lucky Scent. I immediately tore it open and selected New York by Parfums de Nicolai. I wanted to experience the idea of New York that a perfumer would think to bottle.
At first, it didn’t really bring to mind anything except that it’s a nicely balanced fragrance — not too harsh, not too sweet, not too spicy or sour, just . . . nice. Then after about fifteen minutes, I was suddenly hit with a memory of meeting a guy for drinks at the Four Seasons bar in midtown New York back in 2002. Lots of glass, brass, leather and wood, with nothing but lawyers in suits as far as the eye could see.
Everyone was drinking single malt scotches, and when they found out I wasn’t a lawyer but rather a (gasp!) writer/musician, their eyes glazed over. I gamely attempted some conversation about copyright law, but it wasn’t their field of expertise, so I just ordered another scotch and left it at that.
Parfums de Nicolai is a lot like that experience — it’s not me, per se, but it’s solid, attractively proportioned, well-mannered and with great taste in suits. The whole thing has a burnished, golden glow as if time itself stopped and out stepped a Hudsucker Proxy of a creature — broad shouldered, chiseled chin and charmingly old-fashioned.
***Review updated 10/13/08
