Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Baudelaire, Guerlain, Bob Dylan



Q: What do Baudelaire, Bob, and Guerlain have in common?
A: Allegories


Chedwick just finished reading Baudelaire's "The Dog and the Scent Bottle". A man offers a bottle of perfume to a dog. It is rejected. This is Baudelaire's allegory for an artist offering his work to the masses: it is rejected --he felt many people, like dogs, are more interested in going through the trash (trends, passing fads, tabloids, fixating on sex scandals or the latest celebrity dirt-- ) and prefer the stink of these to something good.



Dylan's lyrics are filled with allegorical images.



Guerlain has made a number of perfumes in the Allegoria line. The Aroma Allegorias are beautiful scents, but difficult to find in the USA. Perfume is an excellent buy when you are traveling in Europe, so many rare and unusual finds at reasonable prices. The Aqua Allegoria line is easier to find in the states, even Sephora features one or two of them at a time. (I believe they are featuring a lilac scent and a Mandarin-Basil scent currently)
Here are a few of the blends:
Aqua Allegoria Ylang & Vanilla is a light scent ( Vanilla, Ylang-Ylang, Iris Butter, and a touch of Jasmine.)
Aqua Allegoria Rosa Magnifica is a spicy rose ( Warm Woods, Amber, Rose, Iris Butter, Pink Peppercorn.)
Aqua Allegoria Winter Delice is a woodsy oriental scent ( Ginger, Vanilla, Incense, Rock Rose, Woods and Leather.)
Aqua Allegoria Tutti Kiwi is a crisp refreshing scent (Lemon and Kiwi add zip to a simple floral in an Indian Sandalwood and bourbon vanilla base.)