A Mist of Shalimar: The Nose Knows

Not Your Mother's Shalimar

There’s a new lady in town, and her beauty won’t stay bottled up for long.

The iconic bold fragrance in an Art Deco bottle.

Recently unveiled Shalimar L'Essence Eau de Parfum Intense features 

modern golden lettering and a vanilla-drenched profile. 

Eau de parfum from $115.

BY ALICE GARBARINI HURLEY

Shalimar, the storied French fragrance that has captured hearts and gazes since 1925, was the guest of honor in the Waldorf Astoria on January 31. To fete her 100^th birthday, a rejiggered version of the scent favored by screen sirens Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth was uncapped, passed hand to hand, sprayed and sniffed in the hotel’s new fifth floor Guerlain Wellness Spa.

A clutch of 56 guests of Sniffapalooza, the fragrance fan group founded in 2004, were there to meet and greet the icon's little sister, while sipping mimosas and nibbling on pastel pink and green macarons. Many purchased bottles of either the classic or new Shalimar formula from the gilded Guerlain boutique on-site. Some had loved the scent since their late teens, when their mothers gifted them a bottle, a sign that they were finally women. The classic, time-tested eau de parfum starts at $110 a bottle.

“Shalimar was independence for women,” said Lee Davidson-Xhakollari, Guerlain Manager of Education. In the 1920s, women were cutting their hair shorter and swingy, freer flapper styles were emerging.

Shalimar introduced the first footed perfume bottle, on a pedestal, with a fluted "batwing" design and then a signature blue, fan-shaped Baccarat Crystal stopper.

The glamorous crystal stopper is now a thing of the past, 

though a blue cap, batwing shape and pedestal remain.

Vintage bottles, like this one from the 1940s or 1950s, are collectibles. 

Image from GoldenAgePerfumes, an Etsy seller from Kansas.  

                                                                The fragrance was "conceived in a garden of India."

Shalimar perfume history began with Shah Jahan, the 17th century Mughal emperor of India, who was mourning the death of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He built the Taj Mahal and the royal Shalimar gardens in her honor as a timeless tribute to their love. Inspired by this story, Jacques Guerlain created the sensual, opulent scent--the first amber--with woody, sweet and floral components. The blue, fan-shaped bottle stopper is said to be inspired by silverware owned by the Guerlain family.

On Saturday, guests passed around the footed and still sapphire-blue capped bottles, waving their wrists, or Guerlain paper cards, for first and second impressions. The intense contemporary eau de parfum “celebrates vanilla in every form,” according to Guerlain, incorporating precious Madagascan vanilla tincture. The “floral heart" blends bergamot with rose absolute and iris.  

“I like the original Shalimar better,” said veteran sniffer Judy Davis of New York City. "But," she cautioned, "you can’t buy a perfume online. I never have. You have to smell it.” 

Snowy Morning at the Waldorf

The group included “noses” who had traveled from Poughkeepsie, Philly or other parts of NYC. 

“This event sold out in six hours,” said Karen Dubin, founder and CEO of the fragrance group, “with a waiting list of 30.” She has collected scents since age 6 (Arpège by Lanvin) and has over 2,000 in her New York apartment. The original Shalimar “was too cloyingly sweet” for her. But the new Shalimar L'Essence Eau de Parfum Intense? “I’m wearing it and can’t stop wearing it,” Dubin said. She plans to spritz it on for cocktail parties.

You will have to mist your wrist and decide for yourself.

Sniffapalooza hosts several events a year, in places from far-flung Provence lavender fields to bespoke boutiques, including Frédéric Malle on Madison Avenue and Hermès. In the Waldorf Astoria lobby, a second Guerlain Boutique is fully stocked with fragrances, makeup (KissKiss Bee Glow Hydrating Tinted Lip Oil in a lavender hue, anyone?) and refillable candles, steps from the historic Peacock Alley Bar.

 

 

New York City Style Holds up in Thursday Downpour

Above: LoveShackFancy store on Madison Avenue--a street that is a living museum of style shops.

Sis is my museum mentor. (Dan is another.) She is a fan of The Frick Collection of art, temporarily relocated to the building that housed the Whitney Museum--at Madison Avenue and 75th Street. 

She got us two tickets to the Frick Madison. Enlightening. History, beauty, masterful skill. Ornate gold frames, blue and white urns, sculptures, marble-topped tables. Paintings of impressive height and width. You would need a mansion with big rooms to display them.

Above: We saw this painting....Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1658.

The Montclair-based Decamp bus line to NYC suspended its by-then-phantom buses in August. The #66 careen up and down Valley Road for months, empty--people were working from home, not commuting on buses that were previously packed at rush hour. And in the summer, they took (safe) vacations. The New Jersey Transit train line has been up and running, but since the pandemic hit, I have only gone into NYC by car:

• In the fall, when Dan and I drove in to meet our friends Celia and Greg for Saturday sushi dinner near Stuyvesant Town.
• In December 2020, when I drove Skippy in with two friends one evening to window shop and see holiday decor as only NYC can do it. (Skip’s two young friends are Jewish, and we even saw a donut menorah and, on the Upper East Side, the moving, mobile Mitzvah Tank.)
• In February, when Sis and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and got corned beef sandwiches and best pickles to go at Katz’s Deli.
• Today.

Sis and I sat outside in the street at Serafina--plastic tent, heat lamp above each table, plexiglass barriers, masked wait staff--and talked about our beloved city over ravioli with porcini mushroom sauce (me) and salad with steak (she). We talked and ate as the rain poured outside.

Our city isn’t the same, and that’s no surprise. We miss the passion, the pulse, the crowds, the hustle and bustle. I miss seeing people of all ages chasing the best of the best--writers, models, actors, hotdog vendors, artists, comedians, dancers, singers, editors, reporters, ballerinas, chefs, makeup artists, doctors, scientists, bookstore owners, tailors, designers, salespeople, baristas, fashionistas, coffee roasters, sandwich makers, cookie bakers--with a fire in their bellies and their hearts. 

I hope our beloved city comes back full swing.

Fun sightings today:

1. LOVESHACKFANCY store on Madison Avenue. I’ve seen the brand in collaborations on Aerin.com but was exited to see the shop. Wow. We walked in and a young man was styling the final details for a bridal shower in the store this evening. The tables looked so beautiful--with LoveShack pink floral linen tablecloths, pink china, exquisite flower bouquets and pink iced cookies. Glass jars filled with pretty pink candies and pink-foil-wrapped Hershey's Kisses. The other store locations are in Newport Beach, CA; Palm Beach, FL; Sag Harbor, NY, etc. So glad I went in here, and got less frivolous Sis to enter, too! The hand towels and the candle in a teacup--so lovely.
2. MEPHISTO. Stylish, comfortable shoes--flat or not, sneakers, Mary Jane styles, sandals--made in France. So pretty. Cork inside. Going back! Really nice. I'm behind the curve, not walking on Madison Avenue to window-shop and wish, as I used to. I am behind on knowing my fashion labels.
3. JOE COFFEE. Served in the Frick Madison cafe. But my parking meter was going to run out and I didn’t want to risk a ticket (I paid $10.75 twice, for two maximum two-hour blocks of time). It smelled very good; the large lattes/capps in cups and saucers looked great. I like the blue packaging/logo.
   
   
   
4. DIPTYQUE (pronounced DIP-TEEK). Luxury French fragrance and sensibility via Madison Avenue outposts, and several other NYC locations. Sis had been eyeing a scent for her bday--I paid for about a third of it. They gift-wrap beautifully. And we attended a virtual Sniffapalooza Diptyque event from our homes that entitled us to a solid perfume in pretty case with any purchase.

Eyes closing. I drove us back to Sis’s in Connecticut and I’m sleeping over tonight. Good night.

Time to Catch up on “This Is Us"

It’s been a long break since I’ve seen Jack, Rebecca and the (now #40 yo) triplets....

#thankgoodnessforgoodTV #andmovies #NBC #peacock

Spoiler alert: I could’ve sworn I'd seen TV promos saying the new, final season would start March 9 but now OnDemand says March 16. Boo.

TCOY

1. Healthy eating feels good. Salad, chicken sausage, almond butter, yogurt with apple and walnuts...not in that order. So does coffee in a cup & saucer from my parents’ 1951 wedding china set. Brings “Mad Men” to mind--coffee cups were so much smaller back in the day.
2. Walked Sug around the block.
3. Talked to Sis.
4. Raked and gardened, first two big brown bags of the season. Ready to dig into more.
5. Reviewed work invoices. Last year was a hell year in many ways and I hadn’t sent an invoice for articles I submitted in November. So now I did.
6. Starting to mentally gather items for Goodwill drop-off. Feels good. (The Ann Patchett essay in The New Yorker about decluttering was inspiring. I love Ann Patchett’s writing style.)
7. Short chat with neighbors outside, good to catch up.
8. Attended a virtual Diptyque Paris fragrance event on Zoom with Sis and a few dozen other scent lovers. It was fun. (Sniffapalooza).