Shall we start Sunday by picking a winner? Yes, I think we shall. In fact, I think we shall go one better. As the response to last week’s Amouage sample draw was more enthusiastic than expected – and as I’m still in a munificent start-of-the-year mood – I think I’ll ask Random.org to pull one more number out of its virtual hat. So here we go. The two lucky recipients of a vial of Opus IV are:
Congratulations to both of you. Please send your postal details to persolaise at gmail dot com and I’ll get the sample to you as soon as possible. Thanks again to everyone who entered and also to Amouage for providing the prizes. If all goes according to plan, I should be able to hold another give-away on Tuesday, so please come back then.
Changing the subject, some of you will be aware that on Friday night I posted a Tweet stating that I’d just been interviewed for an upcoming BBC TV documentary about perfume. With director Ian Denyer‘s permission, I am now able to reveal that his three hour-long films will (almost certainly) be broadcast on BBC 4 at some point between April and the autumn. Although Mr Denyer hasn’t yet completed the editing process – he’s currently wading through over 200 hours’ worth of footage – he informed me that the final cut will cover a wide-range of perfume-related topics – from the celebrity-driven approach of the American market to predictions for the future of the industry – as well as featuring insights into the work of some of the world’s most famous perfumers. It all sounded utterly fascinating and I’ve asked him to let me know as soon as he’s told when it’s going to be broadcast, so that we can all generate some hype for it on the Blogosphere.
At this point, I’m sure you’re all wondering why he wanted to interview me. Well, his current plan is to intersperse some of the documentary footage with shots of a few ‘normal’ people talking about one particular perfume which carries great personal significance for them. I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of his mini-interview subjects, so on Friday evening, at Maison Persolaise, he trained his camera on me and asked me to rattle off what I’m sure turned out to be a load of incoherent nonsense about the fragrance I’d selected. I’m well aware that my ramblings may end up on the cutting room floor, but the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable, not least because it allowed me to spend some time in the delightful company of a fellow perfume lover.
I’ll leave you to the rest of your weekend with a little guessing game: which perfume do you think I talked about? No prizes for getting the answer, this is just for fun! Submit your guesses as comments on this post and I’ll leave a series of clues every now and then to make things easier for you. Here are your first two clues: the perfume is very well known and it’s less than 30 years old.
Good luck!
Persolaise.
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Fascinating stuff – look forward to the documentary coming to our screens. Do tip us the wink when the times comes so we can set Sky Plus accordingly! Would be interested to know how you learnt about the making of the programme to apply to be featured in the first place?
Will wait for more clues to appear before attempting to second guess your perfume choice!
That's fantastic and I can't wait to see the documentary – no doubt the rambling will be edited to make you sound incredibly knowledgeable 😉
As for the fragrance you spoke of… I'd say, something from Guerlain?
Vanessa, I can't actually remember how I found out about the doc, except that it was through the Net. I'm pretty sure a call for 'volunteers' popped up on Twitter one evening, several months ago.
Liam J, I'll try to have faith in the editor's skills!
As for your guess, first of all, thanks for getting the ball rolling.
No, it's not a Guerlain. But it is French.
I was going to guess a Guerlain as well…
Since you visited the "Serge shrine" in your recent travels, is it one of those?
Alice, that's another good guess, but no. This perfume is more famous – in the eyes of the general public – than anything made by Lutens.
I have a strange feeling it's Antaeus…? Or perhaps a Tauer? I'm so looking forward to this documentary – there's definitely a current need for something like it. Sounds brilliant.
Oooh, that's a very good guess Jaacq. I absolutely love Antaeus, but no, that wasn't the one I spoke about. However: you're in the right decade!
And yes, I can't wait to see the documentary.
First off thanks for the draw and congratulations to the winners!
The documentary I hope it will be possible to be seen here in Spain? would not like to lose this opportunity. My Dear what a lovely experience. And about your favorite perfume. I have no idea 😀 but I will try my guess saying Paris. Coco… Paris by YSL.
Wow, I never thought you'd get so close so quickly. Vintage Lady, no, it's not Paris, but that's a brilliant guess, because the pefume in question is (partly) a HUGE floral. Keep guessing, folks.
Will the doc be broadcast in Spain? I don't know, although I think there's a way for EU residents to watch BBC programmes on the iPlayer for a small fee. I'll try to find out for you when the broadcast dates are announced.
A documentary about perfumes, I can't wait !
I would like to keep guessing. I am going to say Poison, because I have it in oil spray for the body and it's very floral:-)
Oooh, yes! Poison would be my second guess, too…
BINGO! Vintage Lady and Jaacq, you're spot on: it was Dior's Poison. I've never worn it, but it means a lot to me, for all sorts of reasons.
Thanks for playing 🙂
And Angela, yes, the documentary sounds as though it'll be wonderful.
That was great. I also have the Poison bottle, very beautiful. How many years? I don't know. But I like keeping it and it is still having more than half inside.
Hugs!
Ah, good 'ole Poison. I'd never be able to pull it off, but I admire it. I'm a huge fan of tuberose (I received a very generous sample recently of By Kilian's Beyond Love – a gorgeous soliflore.)
I look forward to hearing you wax about Poison, Persolaise! And congratulations to the competition winners!
How weird! I thought "Poison" when I saw your guessing game at the end of your post, and couldn't for the life of me think why, other than that's what struck me when you wrote "less than 30 years old". It was a relief to see in the Comments that I was not alone in that initial thought.
The mysteries of the human thought processes … spooky!
Looking forward to the documentary: good old BBC. I knew I paid the licence fee for a reason:-)
cheerio, Anna in Edinburgh
Vintage Lady, I've got an old bottle too. I've never worn the perfume, but it always evokes very special memories for me.
Jaacq, I hope what I said in my interview made sense. I had to close my eyes, smell the perfume and just rattle off the first thoughts that came into my head…
Anna, I know what you mean: sometimes people's thoughts converge in the most mysterious ways. And yes, I'm looking forward to the doc too. It should be really good.