40 Days and 40 Nights of Fragrance Reviews: Pepper

Pepper Patti
by Patti F

Along with shopping for perfumes and talking about perfumes and sharing perfumes with my perfume-loving friends, we have many other things in common. We love beautiful fashion, pretty jewelry, the latest fabulous cosmetics (lipsticks!) and then there are shoes. So, the conversation at lunch often turns to these other subjects in addition to fragrances. On our table at the Cleveland Gang gathering place (in front of the H&M Store) you'll see vials, bottles, and little boxes of fragrance samples sitting right there with our food court trays. Which leads me to just one other thing we have in common, food! So many of my fragrance friends are gourmet cooks. They know their food. They have access to great markets like Whole Foods (wish we had one here!) Trader Joes, and great fresh fish markets and the amazing West Side Market in Cleveland, full of the most delectable goodies, meats, cheeses, and produce. We absolutely love unusual spice notes in fragrances, cumin, coriander, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove. These are not necessarily in fragrances that are known as gourmands, they often pop up in mysterious orientals, woodsy scents, and even lighthearted eaux and florals. The Cleveland Gang has been known to ditch the mall, pile into their cars, and head to Whole Foods for an afternoon of gourmet food shopping instead of the displays at Sephora, the perfume counters at Nordstrom, and the shoe racks at Saks. We choose foods over Choos.

I learned to cook at my Mother's side. We never had a pepper shaker at our house. All we had were fresh peppercorns, and several pepper grinders. We set one on the table at dinnertime. A touch of freshly ground black pepper is the magic in so many dishes, and added at table directly onto whatever's on the plate, its aroma entices even before the taste. Ask my sister, who carries a mini pepper grinder in her handbag. Just in case the restaurant doesn't have a pepper grinder!

Fragrances with the pepper note use black, pink, or white pepper. The note adds zest and spice, and it works especially well with rose scents. My beloved Mille Et Une Rose does not list pepper in the notes, but it's a peppery rose to me, fascinating, unusual, always full of pleasure. Bond No. 9 adds pink pepper to its light and breezy rose scent, Bryant Park. These two rose scents could not be more different from one another, and yet the pepper-rose combination makes the most of a mutual admiration. They play well together.

My latest peppery fragrance discovery came in a swap I arranged with a lovely lady. I don't remember what I sent to her. I had never tried Si Lolita by Lolita Lempicka, but I love the original and the quirky anise note it contains (not to mention the adorable bottle) and I was hoping I'd love it. And I do!
Si Lolita opens with the fresh pink pepper combined with gorgeous bergamot. It makes me happy right from the first sniff, quirky and fun, and again delivered in an adorable bottle. I wonder if the dots on the box are the pink peppercorns! Pretty florals follow, mostly sweet pea and heliotrope, in a base of amber, patchouli (not too much, I am glad to say) and tonka bean which gives the impression of vanilla, but not as sweet. The pepper resides through to the end, keeping the spark alive in the base notes. I wish I'd swapped for a larger bottle.

Opium by Yves Saint Laurent is a legend in the oriental fragrance group. With clove, pepper and myrrh, its spices and lush, resinous woods together with lily of the valley, rose, and jasmine created quite a stir when it was first launched. The tagline on the print ad (translated) read: For those who are addicted to Yves Saint Laurent." It was quickly changed from "are addicted to" to "adore" because the opium-as-drug connection was just too scandalous and edgy at the time. My how we've changed. Thankfully, Opium has not. It's still as dark, sophisticated, and beautiful as ever.

Theorema by Fendi, long gone and still so well-loved, combines pepper with orange notes, spices and woods. There's never been anything to compare. Theorema fans will do just about anything to get their hands on a dab or two. To think these were showing up on the shelves at TJMaxx!

In 2005, Clarins, the well-respected skincare company, launched the mother-and-daughter fragrances called Par Amour and Par Amour Toujours. Par Amour, the "Mother" scent, is another pepper-rose combination, sparkling with blackcurrant, warmed with vanilla and sandalwood, and absolutely beautiful. Nobody talks about either of these scents. Maybe because Clarins is not usually known for its fragrances. Both of them are sitting happily side-by-side (as they should be) on my perfume shelf. Daugher does not contain the pepper. Maybe she's just a bit too young for that right now.

Guerlain's "Love" series doesn't really deserve much attention. Most of them have been so unwearable on me that they're long gone from my collection, swapped out as quickly as I got them. But then there was With Love. This wild rose-pink pepper fragrance reminds me a bit of Mille, but it's lighter, fresher. The drydown of sandalwood is exquisite.

I love all of the Agent Provocateur scents. The most unusual of all of them, Eau Emotionelle, is a combination of cape snowbush (a wild rosemary from South Africa,) lie de vin (a red wine sauce? with shallots? and garlic?) pink pepper, white tea, and osmanthus. I get the winey note but not the garlic, thank goodness! Eau Emotionelle is actually a beautiful tea fragrance with fruity apricot notes from the osmanthus, and the snap of pink pepper. If I reach for this bottle, I'll wear it all week, it's just that good.

Rose combines with violet (and you know I love that) in the latest fragrance from Nanette Lepore, called Nanette. Soft florals are deepened with cedar and incense, and spiced with pink pepper. This is no cutesy-girly fragrance. Just like her beautiful garments, Nanette is growing up. She hasn't lost her vision, the signature style remains, with refinement, editing, and confidence. Ms. Blogdorf and I are proud of our hometown girl and her huge success in the fashion world, and in fragrances as well.

I'm going to teach Ms. Blogdorf how to cook. I'll be gifting her with her very own pepper grinder when we start our first lesson. She will probably sneak off to play in the perfumes. I'll let you know.

Do you have a favorite fragrance that has a pepper note in it? Tell us about it!

Disclaimer: All fragrances in the photos were purchased by the reviewer, with the exception of Si Lolita
which she obtained in a swap.
Reviewer: Patti F
Photo Credit: Patti F
Graphic Credit: Melanie Parker