Omni

I ordered a back up bottle today, the equivalent of building a bunker at the edge of the millennium, I fear world war and pestilence. I'm told there is a movie where Adolf HItler wakes up, bemused, and finds that the bullet that blitzed his brain simply sent him to sleep for 70 years.
He's back, and I imagine the fields of Iris pallida and Rose de Mai as scorched earth. Coco, no angel where the Nazi's were concerned, inspired the perfume that is No 19 and I adore it. As many others vocalise this is my one and only, if I wasn't totally unfaithful to any one perfume.

For a more detailed breakdown of what No 19 is driven by (no aldehydes, no labdanum, little oak moss) see Elena from Perfume Shrine's article. It's a perfume that is driven as much by what it doesn't contain as what it does contain, It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. It's beautiful, just beautiful, forever and a day, until the 12th of never.

Vol de Nuit is an anachronism, albeit a beautiful one. All the critique is somewhat true. Yes, there is a mousse de saxe to it, similar to Caron's Nuit de Noel; less flattering is the likeness to Avon's Timeless, and sitting in the middle of the road is a certain likeness to MPG's Or des Indes in EDP form. Is it like Mitsy or L'Heure Bleu.Is it like Comme des Garcon 2 for women? A bit inky?
I'm not sure and this is where Luca Turin's comments are so relevant. Is it, indeed, a bit shapeless...Voldemort rather than Vol de Nuit?

Do you wear it well? A little old fashioned but that's all right. Rod Stewart's song jollies the old girl along.
I see in beauty publications that Kate Winslet wears VdN, stray thought and not to suggest she's old fashioned, but I bet she wears it well...and her husband's name is Ned Rock n'Roll, so it fits the theme.

It's a shapeshifter, opening with the familiarity of a childhood friend, gentle enough to wear at all times of the day, but a little bit like Muzak in the lift, a background presence, a watcher on the wall of your dreams.

"The wild grass will whisper,
Lights of passing cars
Will streak across your dreams
And fumble at the stars;
Life will tap the window
Only too soon again,
Life will have her answer –
Do not ask her when."
Louis McNeice

I spent some time wearing Apres L'Ondee, L'Heure Bleu and Insolence to find that rainbow connection to LHB, but my system records the overall similarity to be most akin to Apres L'Ondee. I've even taken to wearing one single puff of Insolence EDP to the cleavage with Apres L'Ondee behind the ears, some sprayed into my hair, which acts as a good fixative, diffuser. Hawthorn comes through, the scent of the hedgerow, and you know that nobody within miles is wearing the same fragrance. Tomorrow, however, I won't have the fortitude to wear it again; these Guerlain fragrances are challenging, as many have noted. The fact that I can successfully layer Apres L'Ondee with Insolence EDP allows me to enjoy both fragrances a great deal more, toning down the strident Insolence and adding berries to the wistful wonderland that is Apres L O. If we stop to think about it, berries are a natural fit with the Ode to Spring, so thanks to Maurice Roucel, I have found another brambled path in which to enjoy a classic Guerlain

It delivers on its promise. Promise Me is a budget alternative to 'Si' The tart juiciness of Si is lacking but if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery the House of Armani can consider itself flattered. My bottle of Promise Me was a quarter of the Armani model and yet was still housed in a nice bottle. I tested a few while I waited for a script at the chemist (La Petite Robe Noir, Boucheron Place Vendome, others) and have to say that Promise Me had the most promise.

In Love Again, this one the La Collection version. I bought it to layer with Kelly Caleche. They play nicely together being variations on a theme first explored with ILA, then petalled up for Rose Ikebana and then kid leathered up for Kelly Caleche.
Jean Claude Elena has stated that his Hermes perfumes are for day use, in keeping with the staple wardrobes of the fashion house. Let's not forget those Hermes scarves either. You can femme up for evening but it is good to reach for a perfect day fragrance.
Without resorting to Light Blah this reworking of YSL's "In Love Again" joins the fragrances that I will wear when playing with my grandchildren; that probably means skin to carpet and rusk smearings. Narciso Black, Pierre de Lune, Eau du Sud and In Love Again.