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Kate Apted
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Years ago, I saw Beige sitting on the counter at the Chadstone Chanel boutique. You are kidding me that Chanel would call an exclusive … Beige?! Such a boring, nondescript name would have to have a boring scent inside. To top it off, the sales assistant told me it is her favourite from the line. I walked past it and never, ever tried it. I felt I was missing nothing.
For some bizarre reason, I bought a used bottle of the EDT from an Ebay seller I have implicit trust in just two months ago. A huge 200 ml bottle with about 50 ml left. And it was cheap!
Beige EDT by Chanel (2008) – Jacques Polge
Fragrantica lists the following notes: frangipani, freesia, honey accords and hawthorn.
Upon first spray, I began to have this dialogue run through my head; “Kate, you let this go, girlfriend?! WHY did you not try this before it was discontinued?? *eyes roll back in rapture* Get another bottle STAT!”
Every single day since that first spray, I have been trawling through all my familiar online haunts to secure myself at least another 50 ml of this honeyed beauty. I have not been this smitten with a scent upon first sniff ever. I am yet to find a bottle, used or new, that is within my budget and able to be posted. It will happen.
The notes really do not appeal, on paper. I adore the freesia in my Antonia’s Flowers, so a mighty high standard for any other freesia to match. I am not a fan of frangipani, as I had overdosed on it living in Bali. Honey is a sweet note I would prefer to eat than simply sniff (OMG, stringybark honey!!). As for hawthorn, huh?? Yet, together, the effect is a smooth elixir of something not tropical, sweet or boring. Polge did an astounding job of making a seamless, rich golden floral.
Beige should not be oversprayed. One torso spritz is all I need, and I am a habitual oversprayer. Beige hums on my skin for a good four hours, with all the notes ever present and in equal amounts. I get a constant aura that tickles my brain in such a delightfully playful way, yet Beige is very much a grown up scent I feel a little fradulent wearing, to be honest. It is in a similar vein to 24 Faubourg by Hermes, but much more approachable.
I understand the story that is learned verbatim by Chanel sales assistants regarding Beige, however, the name brings to mind those horrid neutral toned body hugging dresses a certain American reality star-cum-model-cum-whatever else she is today wears. Beige, as a colour, to me, is devoid of character, mood, interest and texture. I find myself mentally and emotionally disengaged from the word and the colour. The sheer genius is in the perfume itself. But nothing attracted me to want to try it, much to my chagrin. The redeeming fact in all this is my renewed interest in the Les Exclusifs line. I am now wondering if I am missing out on any more strokes of Polge talent.
And I humbly admit to my own prejudices. Excuse me while I go and sniff at the altar of Beige divinity…
Have you disregarded a scent based on the whole package, only to find you got to the party too late?
Ciao bella et bello.
Kate xx
Edinburgh is a city of contrasts with the Old Town and the New Town. The architecture is stunning and the sheer determination of humans to occupy the Castle Rock, where Edinburgh Castle is positioned is unfathomable to my feeble brain. Edinburgh has stolen my heart with its magnificence.
The 19th century Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson described Edinburgh so eloquently when he wrote the following in Edinburgh Picturesque Notes. “Into no other city does the sight of the country enter so far, if you do not meet a butterfly, you shall certainly catch a glimpse of far-away trees upon your walk; and the place is full of theatre tricks in the way of scenery. You peep under an arch, you descend stairs that look as if they would land you in a cellar, you turn to the back-window of a grimy tenement in a lane: -and behold! You are face-to-face with distant and bright prospects. You turn a corner, and there is the sun going down into the Highland hills. You look down an alley, and see ships tacking for the Baltic.”
Our tour of the Highlands was a highlight on this trip and has ensured that we will return next year to further discover what the Highlands has to offer. As a child I believed in Nessie the Famed Loch Ness Monster. My son is not quite the believer I was but he had a wonderful conversation with one of the crew on our cruise of the Loch. Maybe one day he will believe. Ben Nevis was clearly visible on a partly cloudy day and the air was so fresh and clean that it reminded us of Austria. But our absolute favorite part of the Highlands was Glencoe, the famous glen surrounded by snow capped mountains, waterfalls, lush greenery and clean air. We could have spent hours leisurely walking around and discovering the wilderness there. We spotted a herd of red deer grazing which elicited squeals of joy from both of us.
Scotland is fantastic and I will go back next spring break with my son. We plan on exploring the Highlands a bit more. Perhaps The Isle of Skye and the surrounding area.
I was monogamous in my perfume choice for the entirety of the trip as well. This past winter I fell in love with Frederic Malle’s Dries van Noten and it was a perfect choice for the trip. Due to the chilly air I needed something cozy and warm. The opening is a tad bit harsh but Dries van Noten quickly dries down to a soft vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood, woody dream. I am not a light sprayer and the more I spray of Dries the better my experience. It melds beautifully into my skin creating this wonderful aura. I usually stick to one perfume if I am traveling to an unknown destination, I don’t want any challenges to my olfactory senses when I am trying to focus on the new destination. If it is a family vacation I tend to bring samples or decants so that I can vary things up a bit.How about you? Do you travel with perfume? Please tell me what you have all been up to. Any trips? Any new perfumes?KissesSandra xoxo(All photos taken by me.)
Australian Perfume Junkies 