I had a breakfast meeting in the West End this morning and a lunch in the City, so of course rather than come back home in between I decided to embark upon a Sniffa.

As I started in Marylebone High Street (latest uber-trendy area of London where Madonna owns several houses and Sir Paul has been spotted in Aveda - though sadly not by moi) I went into the new l'Artisan Parfumeur. Their scents are displayed beautifully and in front of each is a little votive container with a scrunch of muslin which has been sprayed with the scent.

I didn't like any of the wispy florals or the summer eaux (the Ananas Fizz is VERY pineappley!) but I did sniff them all. Luca is absolutely correct, too - Dzing! smells precisely like cardboard! Unsurprisingly, I liked Vanilia, Eau d'Ambre, Ambre Intense and Passage d'Enfer, which intrigued me as much as anything (adore the name!); I have samples of these.

Next up, on a mission for a PoLer, was Parfums de Nicolai. I squeezed myself into the tiny shop and tried Cedrat Intense (does what it says on the box), then the gorgeous Maharanih, Number One and Vanille Tonka. I got samples of these. There was a sale on here, too.

I then cut across Walton Street to get to Harrods, stopping at Santa Maria Novella. The gorgeous Italian man in the shop informed me that the perfumes are increasing in price from £70 to £90 as of September 1 - a huge increase. No samples in this divine shop, though I tried Fieno (not for me), Frangipani, Melograno, Vanilla and Tuscan Tobacco (this was gorgeous). I nearly bought almost everything in the shop but desisted just in time.

Finally, to the Holy Grail which is Roja Dove's in Harrods. My friend Annette was there today and I had a lovely look around, sniffing Angelique Incens (very nice), Soavissima and Ambra by Profumum Romanum, a couple of MDI scents (sorry it's all merging into one now) but finally, the crowning glory, Roja Dove no 9 and no 10 which are his semi-bespoke scents and both are GORGEOUS. But oh, the price. No 9 is a classic aldehydic floral a la Chanel No 5/Le Dix and No 10 is an oriental. Swoon. I did buy something - Roja's new silver atomizer in a black leather case, for Mr F. I also got Roja's silk kerchief for wiping the stopper after applying perfume to avoid bits in the bottle........

So now I am surrounded by samples and paper touches and Roja's new catalogue, and I am happy!

First of all, love the OW quote--my sentiments exactly.

Second, I'm sad to hear Dzing! turned into a pile of cardboard for you. I just ordered a sample of this on a whim, so we'll see.

Does Roja have any masculine semi-bespoke fragrances? I think I might try to see if I can rangle a catalogue from him...

Fiordiligi, have you smelled the semi-bespoke one that's a Guerlain-Roudnitska style fruity chypre ? Kind of a hybrid between Diorama and Mitsouko? I think it was number 4... It's, in my olfactory memory, almost a dead ringer for MDCI L'Enlèvement au Sérail -- I wonder if some of the Roja Doves were composed by Kurkdjian... I'm glad you finally got to smell them. There was also one that was pretty close to l'Eau d'Hermès, N°1, I think... Some of them might no longer be available, as he only sells 50 bottles of each.

C'est Nichist, those frags are, I'm afraid, totally off the chart price-wise, something like 1500 pounds for 150 ml. A little out of our price range!

Fabulous sniffalogue my dear.

Annette is a darling. Si ordered me a bottle of Mouchoir de Monsieur from the Boutique for my birthday and it was delayed in arriving. He rang her on my birthday morning and she did a lot of ringing around, even contacting Marcel at home on his day off to make sure that he had processed the order and it arrived on the afternoon of my birthday.

benjamin let me sniff some of Roja's semis (oooh missis) and I loved them all. At the moment, I quite like his Enslaved.

To be honest, I have never really found a scent from L'Artisan that excites me.

Glad you had a good time.

Barry

Nichist, sorry for my density but what's "the OW quote?"

Fiordi, thank you for the virtual sniffa! You know exactly what to do with a well-placed lunch time!

Oscar Wilde, sorry about that. I tend to go a little abbreviation crazy when I post online.

And yes, Carmen, that would be slightly out of my price range. I am saving up to go to Paris, remember? And then I have to decide on how many bell jars to get while I'm there...

I hear Jan-Feb is a good time to book.

I love that name! A throwback to the great days of My Sin, Rumeur, and other similar names I've forgotten. They made perfume seem very sexy and powerful.

I popped in to Roja Dove on saturday, (on my way to the Urban Retreat to check out the price of haircuts). I have never been before and was dying to see what it was all about! Annette was there too (she has a bizarre English accent!) and we talked candles...they had just got in a new range of rench candles (very pricy at £45 a shot) and I fell in absolute love with Manon - which is the best take on fresh linen / laundry, I have ever encountered. I need to seek them out in paris, to see if they are cheaper. apparently this comnpany specialize in church candles and one should only burn the candle for 2 hours, then snuff it out, as after 2 hours of burning - no more fragrance emerges, unless you allow it to rest and set, then ignite again.
In terms of Artisan - I love and bought L'ete en douce recently (going through a 'clean fragrance phase'). I believe this is a renamed Artisan?? I think it used to be Extrait de songes?
I completely adore it, it's freshly mown grass flooded with Linden, utterly bursting with sunshine and blue skies. Love at first sniff!
MB

Yes, L'ete en douce is the extrait de songe that was withdrawn from the market after the legal battle with Annick Goutal over the name.

Loved reading about your day, wish I was you. Funny about the muslin though, I recently ran out of scent strips and used scrunched up strips of muslin instead. The scent stays for ages.

Happy for you, glad you had a great solo flight.

Oh, Fior, it sounds like you had a wonderful time! I get so jealous every time you post about Roja Dove and Harrod's. I haven't been to London in 10 years, and I wasn't anywhere near as obsessive about fragrance when I was there. I did buy a bottle of Moods by Krizia (I remember it like it was yesterday) from Harrod's on that trip. But, oh, the joys that that store would hold for me today!

I'm glad you had a good time and that you have things to sniff and pore over. That is a lot of fun, isn't it?

I noticed the Ananas Fizz in your post. I had a tiny sample and loved it. But I am a fruity kind of girl. I got citrus from it, too, which is a plus for me.

Fiordiligi

Thank you for sharing your outing! It sounds like a truly marvelous day.

I so wish we had a Parfums de Nicolai store here (or even a retailer that carried her scents). She has a good nose (very clearly evident in her Colognes). But I was disappointed by New York, so now I have to order samples and try them. Baladin may be my next buy - wonderful stuff!

Fabulous day!!!!!

Di Nicolai always have a brilliant discount sale twice a year. But only in the store, but they do mail order as I have order from them.

Thank you for your enthusiasm, everyone! I was speaking to Roja this morning and telling him how wonderful his semi-bespoke fragrances were.

Barry, I tend to agree that l'Artisan scents are not for me, either. The de Nicolai ones are charming though (another addiction) and yes, Donna, there is a sale on at present.

Wonderful report, Fior!

Another de Nicolai fan here - I love quite a few, including Balkis, Maharadjah and Vanille-Tonka.

Thanks for the enjoyable read!