We're So Back

I know my last very emo Middle Notes was about the anxiety I’ve been feeling about media and the freelance landscape at the moment. Frankly, if anything that anxiety has just got worse as the heat has and as emails go increasingly unanswered. It’s made me think about retooling this, so I’ve decided to turn Middle Notes into a musings about perfume and pop culture. I’ll still be doing a lot of perfume stuff but you’ll also get my insights (and likely rejected pitches) about my favorite things happening in pop culture and when the two merge. I’ll also do monthly media diets, perfume rewinds, and even some perfume and pop culture news roundups. This also means that I’ll likely be writing more often, so if you would kick in some money for my work I’d really appreciate it and I’ll start paywalling certain posts as well.

Welcome to this new version! 

What I’ve Been Wearing

Rolling In Love by Killian: I went to a really fun perfume swap hosted by Perfume Room Pod and friend of the newsletter Elizabeth Renstrom. I brought a couple bottles to swap, but it was a great environment to meet other perfume fans and try stuff I normally wouldn’t. That came in the form of Killian’s Rolling in Love. I’ve smelled Killian before including the infamous Rihanna signature scent, Love Don’t Be Shy, which I thought was too sweet on me. When I first sprayed this, I thought the same thing, it kinda smells like candy on me which didn’t feel like my vibe. But as it dried down, the almond milk (!?), iris, and musk smelt flower-y but not too much and airy. It’s a fragrance with an aura which I always like, so I took that bottle home. 

Layering fragrances: I’ve been wanting to figure out layering fragrances for a while now, so reading this Nylon article from beauty girlies about their tips for layering helped to push me to gingerly start. I bought DedCool’s layering fragrance in Milk because I’ve been super into milky and lactonic scents. I haven’t found the right mix just yet, but I’m hopeful. One surprise layering that I ended up loving is Snif’s Salty Stares with Christian Dior’s Jasmin Des Anges—Salty Stares has a mix of bell pepper, lily of the valley, bergamot, ginger, and oakmoss. Somehow it goes really well with the jasmine, apricot, and honey of the Dior and ends up being this salty jasmine scent. 

The Return of Emily in Paris

The latest fragrance on Emily in Paris. Photo Credit: Netflix

One of my favorite ridiculous television shows is back—Emily in Paris—although it’s doing my least favorite Netflix model which is releasing the season in two halves. I think it’s a release strategy that does no favors for a show in my opinion, either release all at once or episodically. The show is about Emily (Lily Collins), an American expat who works in marketing at a Paris based firm and tries to acclimate to French life. The show is a fever dream of why the French likely don’t like Americans and what Americans dream about living in Paris would be like complete with wild fashions and illicit love affairs with hot French chefs and British finance guys. 

Netflix breaking up the season for this one felt particularly silly since season 3 was released at the end of 2022 and I barely remembered what happened. The first two episodes feel like catch up about the drama with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and Cami’s (Camille Razat) broken wedding not not because of Emily but also Cami’s sapphic love affair. These first two episodes cycle through a lot of the dud storylines, and not like it wasn’t clear before but Emily is the villain of the show. I mean she doesn’t even pay for her drink when she meets Cami’s friends to figure out her whereabouts after she’s missing post wedding. Mindy’s (Ashley Park) storyline is also kinda snoozy, fighting for a relationship with her fashion nepo boyfriend when the hot busker musician that she sings a great rendition of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with is right there. Episodes 4 and 5 at least go into some new territory, exploring Cami’s complicated feelings for her new lady, Emily and Gabriel finally getting together, and the dramatic conclusion about Cami’s pregnancy. The only no notes I have is for Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) who has some compelling storylines about sexual harassment in the workplace but is also just generally the best character on the show. If Darren Star ever reads this, please make a young Sylvie spin-off of her traipsing about 70s Paris. 

Look how CHIC Sylvie is. Photo Credit: Netflix

Since it’s about marketing, Emily in Paris frequently mentions brands and this half of season four mentions a collaboration between Maison Lavaux, the fragrance brand led by Antoine Lambert (William Abadie who played Carrie’s Prada guy on SATC), and Baccarat, a French luxury house that specializes in crystal, but they also have home decor, jewelry, and fragrance. You’ve likely heard of Baccarat Rouge 540, a collaboration with Maison Francis Kurkdjian, a wood scent peppered with jasmine, saffron, and ambergris. People are very into it. 

On the show, Antoine introduces Sylvie, who he’s also had an on and off affair with for years, to his latest creation. A heart-shaped bottle that he wants to name Crystal Heart which she rightfully gives side eye. A fragrance inspired by his impending divorce, they end up naming it Heartbreak which has a frankly terrible commercial and then a fabulous masquerade party for its release which if you think about it too much doesn’t seem like it has a lot to do with heartbreak. It’s a smart storyline and marketing for both brands to have on the show. Baccarat even created a version of the Heartbreak perfume bottle if you have $490 to spare on Emily in Paris memorabilia. 

Of course, my first thought is what would a fragrance inspired by Antoine’s divorce smell like. I’m assuming my queen Sylvie knows that doing something gender neutral would be the smart way to go for something that’s as universal as heartbreak. My first instinct would be picking something that feels related to the theme of the fragrance, even if that might be a bit basic. I thought about rose—a flower that’s so associated with both romance and in its more tumultuous throes forgiveness. I’d use rose as the heart note and then I’d want ambergris in there along with some sort of marine, maybe seaweed, and a musk, so there’s some warmth and salt to balance it all out. Who knows if this would actually smell good as Maison Lavaux’s Heartbreak, but I’d like to think it’s not a terrible guess. If you are looking for gender neutral rose scents, St. Rose’s Vigilante and Le Labo’s Rose 31 are both good options. 

Perfume Ad of the Week

This 1991 Coco by Chanel ad starring Vanessa Paradis doesn’t feel too out of the realm of Emily in Paris. Paradis plays a bird (sure!) in a huge cage, swinging around while sloshing a bottle of Coco. It’s then revealed that a gorgeous creamy cat is watching her. It’s pretty weird.