Two weeks ago, I wrote about my encounter with Untitled #3, one of a series of specialized fragrances that the owners of Los Angeles scent retailer Scent Bar/Lucky Scent commissioned from a group of independent perfumers.
Bois de Jasmin noted back in March of 2006 that the limited edition series (with each fragrance seeing a production run of only 125 bottles) was to include some of the more adamantly niche names in the then-thriving boutique fragrance industry: Yosh Han (of Yosh), Tristan Brando (of Monyette Paris), Sarah Horowitz (of Creative Scent), Maria McElroy (of Aroma M), Sarah Barton King (of The Pink Room), Susanne Lang (of Susanne Lang Parfumerie) and Jalaine Sommers (of Jalaine Fragrances).
With this kind of cult-fave roster, you’d think the fragrances would have flown off the shelves, yet it’s three years later and five of the limited editions are still available at the Lucky Scent site, which can mean only one of two things: #1) the fragrances aren’t any good, or #2) Untitled was a concept ahead of its time. Needless to say, my positive experience with #3 by Sarah Horowitz has me leaning toward the latter explanation.
I’m wearing Untitled #1 by Yosh Han as I type this, and it’s a soft and utterly attractive vanilla/myrrh combo with a spice and cedarwood base, and Untitled #5 by Maria McElroy is a heady piece of work with a nutty clove opening and a complex evolution. The Horowitz and McElroy pieces are admittedly more challenging and abstract than the Yosh Han number, but now that even mainstream publications like Forbes are catching on to the idea of artisanal craftsmanship in a bottle, maybe a wider audience will give the neglected Untitled series a second look.
Photos below of the Untitled #3 by Sarah Horowitz:
UPDATE (and curses!):
Oh god, I’ve been tagged. Help, someone . . . ?
Okay, since I was tagged by one of my favorite fellow bloggers, I should probably at least consider cooperating. I’m supposed to write ten honest things about myself, and then tag seven people to do the same. Since I hate these blog-tag things, I’m going to just write ten honest things about myself and call it a day.
Should seven other people I know wish to pick up the thread on their own, however, I won’t stand in their way.
1.) I prefer photographing inanimate objects over animate objects. Less blur, more cooperation.
2.) A good bottle of wine doesn’t make an annoying dinner guest less annoying — it just makes you really (really!) wish you had better taste in dinner guests.
3.) I grew up as one of the youngest of eleven children; consequently, as an adult, I cherish the time I get to spend alone.
4.) If I suddenly found myself caught in a time-reverse warp and so forced to live my teenage years over again, I would take martial arts lessons, learn as many languages as possible and leave for France as soon as I graduated from high school so that I could study perfumery, viticulture and the art of designing the perfect shoe.
5.) I’ll choose personal happiness over the appearance of intellectual depth any time, any place, any day. I think this is somehow related to #4.
6.) I know pets and children bring people great joy, but I have to admit that it’s a huge relief not to be responsible for either. Sometimes, however, I still want a dog . . . or three.
7.) I adored Sylvia Plath, Ann Sexton and F. Scott Fitzgerald when I was in college. I think this reveals far more about myself than I’m ordinarily comfortable saying, and is a delayed commentary on #5 (while also likely explaining #6).
8.) There are days when I marvel at what the human species has accomplished (“We’ve gone to the moon!”) and other days when I despair of our accomplishments (“We’ve only gone to the moon!”).
9.) I don’t accept death and dying to be a natural part of existence, and hope that, before my body completely collapses in on itself, that we’ve figured out how to download the human consciousness into virtual reality.
10.) I’m allergic to every wool but cashmere. Of course.
