The Black Narcissus

d is on the midst of a fascinating programme at the moment : he, and a network of foreign writers based in Japan, are sending original postcard poems to each other, dashing off poetry on a limb (...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/27/poetry/

The Shiseido Lady is still shedding Stuff. ‘ne ne’ she said as I sidled by the shop on my bike ( practically every other day we come home with something – glassware, stationery, I took home...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/25/nishiki-1973-reve-damour-1979-by-shiseido/

( photo by dad, at the weekend )

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/22/mum-in-green/

It has been a very intense period for me, as it always is at the beginning of the new academic year. I hibernated so enjoyably for the much quieter winter and start of spring, concentrating on wr...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/20/the-enduring-fascination-of-guerlain-mitsouko-1919-my-experience-with-the-lart-et-matiere-les-extraits-tonka-sarrapia-rose-centifolia-jasmin-grandiflorum-iris-pallida-bergamote-fantas/

she wasn’t wearing it —- but I was

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/18/chanel-no-5-2/

I feel I have been here long enough to know what smells distinctly ‘Japanese’: and Tender Peach, a warm and inviting, fresh musky liquid body soap kind of scent that is immediately familiar t...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/08/for-the-mellow-on-a-cloud-cafe-tender-peach-by-j-scent-2023/

Gone are the days when I would avidly follow up on every new Serge Lutens release. In the early days we perfumisti lapped them all up as though he were God. The perfumes stood out as so different...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/06/pooper-scooper-the-lady-tamer-la-dompteuse-encagee-by-serge-lutens-2021/

It’s been a while since I travelled up to Shinjuku Isetan specifically to try and potentially actually buy a new perfume. But I have always loved Guerlain Vetiver and the idea of a ‘parfum’...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/05/vetiver-parfum-by-guerlain-2024/

I always liked cheap chip shop cherryade. So naturally I love this.

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/05/04/carmina-by-creed-2023/

N: You like and wear marine perfumes much more than I do.  D: Yes, especially in summer – in fact, almost exclusively so. N: On roiling hot Japanese August days I will sometimes wear some Kenz...

https://theblacknarcissus.com/2024/04/27/the-sea-the-sea-the-mariners-rhyme-by-francesca-bianchi-2024-pelagos-by-dusita-2024/