Fabienne's First Year Death Anniversary

[Minh Scent]

Oooh, Dracula Rising is a very good perfume!

Thank you for your analysis of the osmanthus in Vide Core Meum, Marisaviola.

I am still trying to do "favorites " so today is Nuut - the Sky Goddess which is...dirt with the silver base.

[churchdoor]

Previously, I wore Wraith, whose demeanor is both chilly and at ease. I wouldn't have been able to guess the notes: "6 musks blended together in a way which is frosting for the heart and soul. Primal and honey filled with a hint of cake." The musk blend here is cool and sweet, almost floral in its fresh lift. In comparison, Satan has a more identifiable, more blanketing musk, to me.

Now I try Silver Ginger, which at first appears exactly as advertised: "smooth and sweet but alluring concoction pushed with just the right amount of aromatics and that wonderful silver base which makes everything heavenly." That ground ginger note isn't near as lasting as the spicy floral feature in Silver Carnations, though, so the blend quickly develops into that sweet silver on its own.

[marisaviola]

Today is the anniversary of the passing of Fabienne--we are remembering her through her creations. I am wearing Beethoven's Fifth today in her memory. Possets description:
"Lime as the top note, with bottom notes of: 3 ambers, aged patchouli, two frankincenses, and dry pekoe tea. Very spicy despite no ingredients being added as "spices". Insinuating and glorious when cuddling. A true winter fragrance. No collection would be complete without this fragrance from the profound category. Oriental and resinous.Oriental and resinous."

This is a deep, glorious fragrance. It is not overly patchouli, more resinous than woody.

Fabienne, we miss you, but we are so grateful that you picked Tom and Jennie to continue your work, and we continue to love and enjoy your beautiful perfumes.

[Boudicca]

Frankenscent because Fall, October, etc.

[Minh Scent]

Such a lovely words for Fabienne, Mariesaviola and yes, happy Jennie and Tom are keeping her legacy alive.

Umph...I also love Beethoven's 5th.

Today I am wearing Hatshepsut...galbanum heaven.

[marisaviola]

Gosh, I love Hatshepsut, Minh! I just gifted my sample to someone who I felt should be introduced to it! That's a full bottle for me down the road, for sure.

Today I am wearing Femme Fatale...This is a deep, dark, and confident perfume--I have K de Krizia on my other wrist to compare and layer. They are not the same but share that dark and mysterious and really confident quality. Fabienne was able to produce something beautiful that was complex and on par with an elegant Italian perfume.

So I just wanted to point this out re: her perfume skill and the complexity of her blends. I was introduced to this scent thanks to a wonderful forum friend, Gemma, who let me have some of hers when she ordered some more during a Retour. I then ordered a full bottle of Femme Fatale the past Yule Retour. This is Fabienne's description of it: "One of the darker mysterious blend Possets has created, this one is like the beautiful and fabulous Dark Lady of Shakespeare's poems, that woman who trails by and leaves her divine scent in her wake. This brilliant perfume positively shimmers, is very long lasting, and is very strong. Your lover will smell it on his clothes and think of you. Two kinds of oudes (a white one and a black one), a dark and zesty grey musk, and a lashing of aged patchouli but not so much that it's characteristic scent overwhelms, this time patchouli is relegated to being a surprisingly tame supporting player which adds more suavity than swagger to Femme Fatale."

As I put this on and read her description of it, I was reminded also so vividly of one of my favorite videos of her that I now cannot find. The closest I can come is an article on her blog, but there used to be a video also of her talking about how Miss Dior had been reformulated and how shocked and hugely disappointed she was when she sprayed it on in a department store. It was filmed outdoors, and I remember her looking happy and flushed and her usual vivacious and confident self and at the end she said something like "Come to Possets, I make gorgeous smells that are far more beautiful than these department stores perfumes!" Anyway, I loved it and it was so her. The blog article is here: https://possets.com/blog/the-biggest-di ... -in-years/

[churchdoor]

Thanks for sharing that post, marisaviola! I hadn't yet encountered Fabienne's trove of blog entries, and now I'm reading more about chypre blends. Sorrow was my first companion, yesterday, and it proves vegetal at first, then well-rounded as it dries. Chypre and fougere are unfamiliar concepts to my uneducated nose, so I'm glad I have a physical blend to consult as I try to learn from Fabienne's writings.

Here stands the overview of other samples I've tried over the past few days.

Alaska shines fresh and airy, leaping from the wrists to the atmosphere before it has time to woo the nose. On me, it aptly evokes the first part of its description: "the chill in the air ... the perfume of the riot of summer blossoms."

Puce! contradicts its bold label art with a delicate blend: "Slight spice and a hint of raspberry cozy up to a distant and ditsy pressed floral whiff." The raspberry lends a clean tartness to the floral, and the spice must be going incognito, undergirding the other notes without my detection.

The Wickedest Idea of All promises much in its description: "wintergreen and butter, most bitter chocolate enrobed in vanilla bark with the smallest whiff of gum." Through and through, however, it delivered a simple buttery sweetness, which to me evoked a popcorn jellybean. To my spouse, it recalled baked bananas. Perhaps another skin might discover the other elusive layers.

Yesterday, I also tried Arizona, and it hit the spot even in its simplicity. That sage note speaks true--at least, true to the dried culinary herb, whom I adore. Though I didn't pick out the musk without remembering it was there, the blend well fits the description: "A drop of honey mingles in the astringent fuzziness of sage, a good shot of evening musk lets you know that people really are here." And indeed, the perfume Arizona exhibits a companionable, lively nature to me.

Today, Courtly Lovers opened with an innocent, unmistakable apricot, which quickly exchanged its fresh face for a deeper dried apricot tone. The other notes are less distinct than I guessed from the description: "Coconut (here used more as a serious element rather than a novelty) dances with apricot and a light kiss of vanilla and a very sweet, not stinky, jasmine to make a honey-ed note stand out."

[marisaviola]

Thank you for the wonderful reviews, Churchdoor--you have a great way with descriptive words and lyrical writing. Possets blog is full of great information and Tom and Jennie are continuing it in that vein. I'm so glad they saved her entries. Her videos are often shown in the blog, and there's some great ones. I remember one she showed how she makes Friction by Possets with orris butter, and she filmed the stirring process for incorporating orris, which Friction has a generous amount of. That's a costly ingredient and often one does not get the "real thing" in mainstream or designer perfumes. Friction was one of my recent purchases in full bottle from Possets as I love orris and iris notes.

Today I am wearing my decant of The Dance of the Heretics: "Five ambers, crystal skin musk, a very small amount of white pepper and incense. "

[Minh Scent]

Mmmmm...enjoying reading your comments Churchdoor and Marisaviola. Goodness, I don't know how Friction got past me..orris root being a big orris fan. I love those posts and videos of Fabienne's and yes, so glad that they can still be read and viewed.

Today it is Wallis Warfield Simpson, What an exquisite sandalwood! There is supposed to be grapefruit in here, but I cannot pick it out.

[Minh Scent]

Mmmmm...enjoying reading your comments Churchdoor and Marisaviola. Goodness, I don't know how Friction got past me..orris root being a big orris fan. I love those posts and videos of Fabienne's and yes, so glad that they can still be read and viewed.

Today it is Wallis Warfield Simpson, What an exquisite sandalwood! There is supposed to be grapefruit in here, but I cannot pick it out.