Parfums Grès - Cabaret and thoughts on perfumista twins

What good is sitting alone in your room?

Grès Cabaret was released in 2002 and was inspired by a French cabaret with it's gorgeous women, beautiful costumes, and sexy-decadent atmosphere.

I find it very sexy. Cabaret is a sheer-woody rose and I'm a sucker for this style of perfume. It's very dry and has a huge hit of musks in the base that lift it and give it excellent sillage.

Unlike most of the perfumes I've been falling for lately, Cabaret is widely available and at very reasonable prices, although in Toronto you may have to order it online as I haven't seen it on counters.

I got my adorable mini bottle in a swap with a perfume pal, which brings me to my next topic: Perfumista Twins.

A Perfumista Twin is what I call another perfume fan who shares your tastes. The best thing about writing this blog has been meeting (in person and virtually) other perfume people around the world. It's given me the opportunity to chat about perfume (join us for #fumechat on Thursdays), do joint blogging projects like the We Three Kings posts last Christmas, and, most importantly for my wallet, swap samples and decants with other collectors. There are just too many perfumes to keep up with; thousands of new releases every year and thousands of excellent vintage perfumes I've never tried. Having Perfumista pals send me samples helps tremendously.@JoannElaine from Redolent of Spices was my first fumie friend. We share a love of vintage, dry-as-bone chypres and I always know I'm going to love her samples even before I open them.

But maybe even better than a Perfumista Twin is a Perfumista EVIL Twin (PET). A PET is one who has exactly the opposite tastes as you. Why is this great? Because a PET will trade with you for decants of things s/he doesn't like, but that you love! Ines from All I am - a redhead may be a PET. She sent me decant of Lorenzo Villoresi Sandalo that she didn't like but that I fell in love with.

Now I may have found a new PET, Bryna, who traded with me this adorable mini bottle of Cabaret, as well as a healthy decant of Fleur de Narcisse that I had been lusting after. They may not have tickled her fancy, but I adore them. I hope this is the beginning a a beautiful friendship.

House: Grès
Nose: Michael Almairac
Notes: Top: rose, lily-of-the-valley and peony; Middle: violet, blue orchid and incense; Base: patchouli, oleander, Indian sandalwood, amber and musk