Megan has moved away to a dream house in the Blue Ridge mountains with a man who is now her fiance, which is very exciting, of course, but also very sad. Her internet connection is not the best, so we mostly communicate via text message these days. However, the love of perfume and costume dramas has not waned for either of us, as evidenced by our text messaging correspondence from yesterday:

Kerry: Suddenly bored with my old lineup except for [ Miss Dior Cherie ].  I ran out of [ Chanel Chance ] Eau Fraiche this morning and was bummed out. Trying out [ Chanel Chance ] Eau Tendre,  [ Paco Rabbone ] Lady Million and [ Versace ] Versense to see if I want them in my rotation.

Megan: ( In [ the style of ] costume drama letter from a loved one being read by protagonist but narrated aloud ) I am happy to report I'm still wildly in love with Versace. But let me state the particular name of my interest so that I make plain my meaning; it is Bright Crystal – could it have been another? At another time or place perhaps, another was in my favor, but at present I can scarce remember a single scent beyond my brightest gem, full of sparkle, yet delicate & modest.

I am happily surprised at our reuniting in the country when the city had seen our love in ruins. Oh, I am the happiest of perfume wearers!

Kerry: Dearest Megan – I can't tell you how satisfied I am to hear this wonderful news! I have always been of the opinion that your Crystal quite suited you and was, myself, nearly ill when I heard of how the dirt and depression of industry had affected it so. Perhaps some of my former suitors could do with a bit of country air themselves!

Megan: Indeed, goodly done & LOL heartily!

Oh, Thierry Mugler, you crazy Frenchman!  I love you and your olfactory genius!  I love Angel, I love Innocent , and now I love Womanity!

However, this is a love that, at first, did not seem meant to be. Let's go back in time to a few months ago, a time before my nose had ever touched this fragrance and my knowledge of Womanity was based purely on press releases and preliminary product reviews.  In spite of loving Mugler's other creations and a consistently concerted effort not to formulate opinions about scents I've yet to smell,  I hated almost everything I knew about Womanity from the first moment I read about it.

Let's start with the name: Womanity. What? Really, Thierry? When someone asks me what I'm wearing, I'm going to have to say that ridiculous "word" out loud? Yeah, no. I'm not doing that.

Then we have Womanity's ridiculous "bond between women" brand messaging -  I'm convinced there's an army of ad executives somewhere that are still working on replacing all the pants they ruined when they forced this campaign so hard they shit themselves. I'm extremely insulted by the entire concept and its components: 

• An "artsy" product website covered in platitudes submitted by "real" women with music I'm either supposed to use as a yoga backdrop or a soundtrack to a tear-filled epiphany about my vagina
• A separate Womanity "ambassador" site with a ridiculous splash page (REALLY? A SPLASH page? In 2010? ) plastered with a trio of  women holding the world's most unintentionally scary Halloween masks – women that I'm pretty sure would also like to advise me on yeast infection treatments, tampons, and what to do when I get that not-so-fresh feeling
• The overall presumption that women don't already have a bond, and that Thierry Mugler himself is the only one who can see this travesty and fix it – with perfume

The notes in Womanity are simply said to be caviar, fig, and fig wood, and early reviewers actually described the top note as being somewhat fishy which nearly sent me over the edge for reasons that should be obvious. Luckily for Thierry, my going over the edge would never affect him in the least and even if it magically did, I didn't completely fly off the deep end because:

•  The bottle with its kick ass Gigeresque embellishment is crazy awesome and -
•  Thierry Mugler is responsible for two of my favorite olfactory creations in the universe so I felt compelled to give him the benefit of the doubt until I smelled this perfume for myself.

Now let's fast-forward to 3 days ago when Megan finally caught me in a moment when I wasn't already doused in another perfume. She had me try on the Womanity she received in the form of a deluxe sample from a Mugler rep. and what can I say? I LOVE IT.

There's absolutely nothing fishy about it – the caviar note manifests itself in the form of the fleeting essence of a salty sea spray that almost immediately melds itself with the sweet, rich aroma of figs.  The heart delivers on Mugler's attempt to create a fragrance that is both savory and sweet, and the "caviar" note's transformation to just plain salt adds a dimension to the fragrance that, much like the hearts of his other creations, cannot be compared to anything else.  The base retains the salty-sweetness of the heart, but the understated fig wood note smooths things out and allows the scent to live out its extended dry down in a form that's still sexy but much less dramatic.

If you're not into sillage, Womanity is definitely not for you. In fact, neither the sillage nor the lasting power leave anything to be desired – I sprayed it on myself early in the evening and could still smell it the next morning.

Everything about it sings autumn and winter to me just as richly as Angel and Innocent do, but with less spice and more sugar. I love the smell of fig, but find it's usually executed in a way that's perfectly pleasant but just a touch too dainty ( Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris) , or with a cheap, heavy hand ( Bath and Body Works' Brown Sugar and Fig).

Womanity isn't cheap but it's not over-the-top expensive, and for a normal perfume user, even a 1.7 oz. bottle ( $78)  should last for quite some time. 

However, I still wish the ad campaign had been entirely different and it was named something I wasn't embarrassed to speak aloud, like maybe "Fig de la Mer" or "L'océan de la Figure" or even just, "Fig and Sea Spray." Really.

"I've never turned over a fig leaf yet that didn't have a price tag on the other side."

— Saul Bellow

Deanna G! Congratulations!

Email or tweet a direct message @howtosmell and let me know where to send your Dark Kiss EDT & Lotion!  Contact me before October 7th – after that I will have to pick a different winner.

However, Megan and I have some cool perfume gifts for the other entrants. We've selected some perfume samples for the rest of you based on what smells you said remind you of fall. SURPRISE!

Email or tweet your contact information to @howtosmell and tell us where to send your samples.

Perfume Boxing Day is nothing like regular Boxing Day, mostly in the sense that "Boxing Day" is an actual holiday and "Perfume Boxing Day" is something I just made up a few hours ago.  Perfume Boxing Day is the day I've decided that the season specific scents that have been in my current rotation are no longer relevant, so they are stored away until they are, once again, seasonally appropriate.

The activities that take place on Perfume Boxing Day are not to be confused with the activities that take place when a perfume of mine has been "Permanently Boxed." A Permanently Boxed perfume has underwhelmed, disappointed or disgusted me to the point of being stashed inside a giant box in my closet, where it patiently awaits its fate, a fate that is very much akin to that of a boxed Cylon or a Dollhouse Active that's been sent to the Attic. Perfume Boxing Day is not nearly so grim. It's fun and temporary! It's like wintering in the islands or going on the lam until the statute of limitations for your crime finally runs out!

Today I celebrated Perfume Boxing Day, bid farewell to my summer scents, pulled out the fall/winter perfumes that have been waiting patiently in their storage drawers, and made a list of the gaps in this season's collection that must be filled.

Perfumes that were boxed for the season include:

• Estee Lauder Brasil Dream EDT

• Estee Lauder Pleasures Bloom EDP

• Escada Ocean Lounge EDT

• Beyonce Heat EDP

• Escada Moon Sparkle EDT

• D&G L'Imperatrice EDT

Perfumes that weren't boxed, but won't be repurchased in the near future:

• Gucci by Gucci EDP

• Elizabeth Arden Mediterranien EDP

• L'Occitine Notre Flore Myrte EDP

• Annick Goutal Mandragore EDT

Perfumes that made the trans-seasonal cut:

• Christian Dior Miss Dior Cherie EDP

• John Varvatos for Women EDP

• Moschino Glamour EDP

• Every single one of my Wiggle Perfume Oils

• Every single one of my Alkemia Oils

• Bath and Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom EDT

• Bath and Body Works Raspberry Vanilla EDT

• Stella McCartney Rose Absolute EDP

• Stella by Stella McCartney EDP

• Stella McCartney Stella in Two: Amber Perfume Solid

• Stella McCartney Stella in Two: Peony EDT (Just barely)

Perfumes that have been (or will soon be) reintegrated from last year's fall/winter wardrobe:

• Thierry Mugler Innocent EDP

• Badgley Mischka by Badgley Mischka EDP

• Versace Signature EDP

• Burberry London EDP

• Guerlain Mitsouko EDP (or pure parfum if I play my cards right)

• Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur EDP

• Tom Ford Private Blend Champaca Absolute EDP

• Tom Ford Private Blend Amber Absolute EDP

Newcomers:

• Thierry Mugler Angel EDP ( It's been in retirement long enough to be considered "new")

• Queen Latifah Queen EDP

• Queen Latifah Queen of Hearts EDP

• Bath and Body Works Dark Kiss EDT

• Tom Ford Black Orchid EDP

• Guerlain L'heure Bleue (or pure parfum if I play my cards right)

• Givenchy Ange Ou Demon Le Secret EDP

Do you swap your perfumes when the seasons change? What didn't make the cut? What will you bring back from next year? Most importantly, what new perfumes will you be adding this cold season? Spill.

( Also, a quick reminder, September's Giveaway ends in 3 days and once again: not many entries, so your chances of winning? REALLY EFFIN' GOOD! Enter now! )
 

Angel was a big shit deal when it came out back in '92, and has managed to stay a big shit deal over the course of the past 18 years. I loved it as a teen and then moved on to other things – lesser things – and have recently rediscovered it thanks to Megan's recent obsession with it. There's nothing else on the market like it, and in fact, it's so distinctive that I thought I would have trouble wearing it again because the smell so intensely puts me in a specific time and place that it was actually a disorienting experience to put it on at all ( Yeah, you had your highlights, winters of '94 and '95, but I do NOT need to relive you ).  Eventually, smelling it so often built up a cache of envy that overpowered my need to be oriented anywhere in time, and now I am once again Angel's slave.

Angel is BIG. It is not for everyone. It is over-the-top, and it will absolutely overpower any perfume anyone within a 20 foot radius is wearing.  There are some qualities about it that are slightly gourmand, but it's not nearly as sweet as its notes would suggest.  It's spices and woods I smell in the end – it could almost be described as a sweet patchouli except that it has far more dimension. Although it's big and wild – or maybe because it's big and wild – it's absolutely a smell for the extravagantly rich and those who mingle with (but don't serve) them.

This stuff comes in just about every shape and size anyone has ever imagined, many of which are refillable. I would not be surprised to find that there is a special edition dodecohedron container in existence. Even at a discount, this stuff will cost you, but the lasting power Angel has is unmatched, which means you can get quite a bit of mileage even out of the classic .08 oz. star bottle.

Expect to pay anywhere between $30 – $165 depending on the shape, size and rarity of your bottle.

"Nothing revives the past so completely as the smell that was once associated with it."

— Vladamir Nabakov

I didn't realize it until I received my sample  in the mail, but sometimes, especially as the weather gets cooler and the air starts smelling like chimneys and burning leaves, it suddenly becomes necessary to smell like a sexy humidor.  I'll be the first to admit that I didn't think a humidor could ever be something I aspired to smell like, and although Decadence and Debauchery is extremely androgynous (possibly even erring on the side of masculine), there is something insanely sensual and untamed about it.

Years ago, my work commute made it necessary to drive past a line of tobacco warehouses that, in the summertime, saturated the air with a heavy sweetness that gave me a head rush by simply breathing, regardless of whether my windows were up or down. 

I've tried many other tobacco themed perfumes and oils over the past year and a half and they never seem to get it quite right. When I would see tobacco listed as a fragrance note in a perfume, I imagined it would mirror the smell hovering around those old tobacco warehouses, but they never delivered, instead leaving me with the dank, lasting, odor of cheap, stale cigarettes. Not so with Decadence and Debauchery.  There's no head rush in this bottle, but the aroma of sweet tobacco is here, carefully balanced with vanilla bourbon. Hints of violet leaves, resin, blood orange and bergamot round it out and give it depth. 

It is my expert opinion that this fragrance smells almost entirely like Debauchery and only a tiny bit like Decadence. I adore it – though I must advise – you should sample it first because it's not for everyone.

The packaging is 100% recycled materials and the oil itself is made from 100% natural ingredients. Visit the "For Strange Women" Etsy shop and your very own 7mL bottle can be had for $20.

"…the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it's a pity we use it so little."

— Rachel Carson ( American biologist, ecologist and writer, 1907-1964)

"Queen of Hearts" by Queen Latifah is brand new for fall 2010. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was a really short-lived fruity-floral top that quickly but gracefully settled into a warm, golden, amber.

I have a tumultuous history with ambers – I love the sensuous, musky caramel qualities most ambers have to offer but that sweet, musky caramel quickly transforms into the smell of diapers the moment it comes in contact with my flesh. Tom Ford's Amber Absolute, which sells for $190 for 1.7 oz. (and can't really be had any cheaper unless you're doing a bottle split) has, until "Queen of Hearts", been the only exception to this rule. This is a real game changer, especially since QOH retails at an immensely more affordable $59 for 3.4 oz.

It claims to have "dewy green" notes as well as "red fruits" and a big white floral something or other.  Frankly, I didn't smell any of those things, but that didn't stop me from buying a bottle.