I was explaining to a friend how the West of Paris Boutique selects a theme each month and three fragrances that best showcase that theme. "Oh!" she said, "Like an 'Iron Chef' of perfume!"
If you're familiar with the Food Network television show "The Iron Chef," you know that for each episode, the Chairman, with a malicious cackle and a great flourish of a sequined tablecloth, reveals the theme ingredient at the beginning of the show. The chefs compete to "best express the unique qualities of the theme ingredient."
Of course, the "theme ingredient" is often jellyfish or persimmons, making it a less than completely practical cooking show for the likes of myself. But fun to watch and actually quite educational - I had no idea so many things could be made into ice cream.
In any case, my friend was correct. That's basically what we do at the West of Paris Boutique. I know that selecting a perfume can be overwhelming, and information is best absorbed a little at a time, and a "theme" is a great way to go about picking a few fragrances to highlight so that nobody's nose or noodle gets overtaxed. There's a lot of science, history, chemistry, politics and art in perfume. And yet there's also a lot of "nonthinking" about perfume as well- it's a very subjective judgment of what we like, what we feel, what memories are evoked, and so on.
So, for July, the theme ingredient is (may I have a drumroll please?)
JASMINE!
There's a lot to tell about jasmine, but I will save it for future posts.
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