THE EMPTY VIAL ~ Don D’Amour by FL Parfums

“Did you hear about Tawny Sommers?” Autumn Gold said looking over the rim of her second martini glass in mid lunch at the Garden Court.

Desperate to shed a few pounds before the San Francisco Symphony Gala she was once again on a Martini and Salad diet.

“Yes I did!” Dodi Turner nearly dropped her fork loaded with Lobster Bisque. “She’s left John, and she is moving down from the ranch in Saint Helena to live all alone in that monstrosity on Broadway.”

Autumn waved to the waiter for a third martini.  “That House!” It sat there for decades empty like a moldering Florentine palazzo. Nobody would buy it. The only thing I can remember ever happening there was the decorator showcase a few years back. It must have cost a fortune to redecorate when John bought the house from the Mitchell family for Tawny . ”

‘Oh darling you are too young to remember,” Dodi said knowing full well that Autumn was old enough to remember The Flood. “But that’s the house Lori De Leo said her husband Marvin had the guy hold up in whom she claimed Mavin hired to have her murdered. It is right across the street from their old place. What an over the top messy circus that divorce was.  She is a Princess in some tiny Eastern European country now.” Dodi tossed a cool disapproving look at the complexly tattooed arm of the waiter as he delivered Autumn’s drink. “But back to Tawny and our divorce du jour, you can’t deny that old place has the best views of the Golden Gate.”

~   ~   ~ 

Tawny could smell the fresh flowers in the foyer as she climbed the stairs at 2901 Broadway. Echoing laughter floated up from the kitchen. The staff must be having lunch, she thought.  Other than her butler, maids and the cook she was completely alone in the house. She loved the place, as big and ridiculous as it was there was something very warm and safe about it. It was all she needed now. Now that her fifteen year marriage was finally and blessedly finished. What a relief to be alone.  Yes she had all she needed.

Sitting at her dressing table on the following morning of her return she applied the finishing touches to her staying in look. A little mascara and lipstick. That was all she needed. She thought about what to do next. Did she want to date right away or develop a mysterious reputation as the gorgeous ex-Mrs. Sommers who never left here mansion on the far end of Broadway at the top of Pacific Heights?  Did she want to do volunteer work at the de Young Museum or maybe at a hopsital?

What perfume to wear today? Her usual favorites sat before her their bottles glinting in the warm lamp light that gave a little sunshine glow to the foggy morning.

Yes what to do next…what to do? Should she go to New York on a shopping spree? Visit her parents in Rome? They always spent the spring in Rome.

She opened the curved and carved drawer of the Louis XV dressing table …the drawer where she keep her most precious things. And began to rummage though it…where was it? The one thing she needed today.

Maybe she wouldn’t travel just yet. Maybe too soon to see other men. Maybe she would redecorate the house. Ann Getty has a design business. No, too fussy. Maybe Cheryl Du Cote, she has fabulous taste. Where is that Perfume?

 

Fingers digging in the drawer she began to panic. Where is my Don D’Amour? Buried in the back under an old handkerchief of her grandmother’s she felt the tiny glass vial. Relief, safe, home. It was all she needed. That very special little sample bottle of perfume she had been sent by her friend Marjorie in New York. Tawny smiled and thought I really must get a full bottle. There is something about it that touched her same way Puccini’s music touched her. She pulled the vial from the drawer and found that it was empty.

She held the glass vial up to look at it…not a drop was left, it was bone dry. She opened it, hoping that there would be a glorious whisper of the fragrance still inside. Tawny put her nose to the lip of the vial and found the faintest memory was still there. She began to cry.

It was all she really needed

***

Don d’Amour is a fragrance created by Fabio Luisi for his line FL Parfums. Fabio is a most interesting person. By night he is a perfumer who creates with passion wonderful perfumes in his home overlooking Central Park in New York. And by day he is a Grammy Award winning conductor and musician. He is currently the principle conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. This man is always busy making beauty from the invisible, music and perfume.

Fabio sent me samples of his entire line of 24 perfumes to test and review. It has been a huge adventure and taken some time to explore them all. For now I am going to review the one that is most interesting to me. Don d’Amour.

This perfume is a woody chypre from his “private collection” series.  Consisting of only four notes it is masterful, classical within a modern theme and very lovely. My favorite of the entire line.

It opens rich and with a lush rose, full and vibrant and something of a dark rose as if it is blooming at midnight. This is complemented by an expensive smooth and velvety tobacco. An almost boozy tobacco that carries a fruity edge. There is added to this the hypnotic beauty of a really gorgeous amber that brings an elevated sophistication and elegance to this perfume. All is supported by layers and layers of crinkly yummy patchouli. Here is a blending of the feminine and the masculine, the rose and the tobacco that along with the other two notes make this wearable for both men and women.

The sillage is fine, not too in your face but rather an elegant invitation to follow the source of that marvelous perfume. Longevity on my skin clocked in at between six and seven hours. Here in this area it works beautifully in expressing just what you want and need in a fine perfume.

Don D’Amour is perhaps the most elevated, elegant and evocative of the perfumes in the FL house. To me it is at the pinnacle of olfactory beauty. Something rare and precious. It sings on my skin and opens my mind to the world of both dreams and imagination. There is something indeed musical in the notes and creation of Don D’Amour that I find stunning and at times moving.  Truly a wonderful experience in the realm of perfume created by a truly talented nose.

CBS Video about Fabio Luisi

LINK TO FL PARFUMS

Home

11 Comments

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI