For years, whenever I would pass through Singapore
or Hong Kong or even Bangkok, it was certain that I would have at least one
Guerlain fragrance in my duty free shopping bag. Now, with a fully-appointed
Guerlain counter in Rustan’s Shangri-la Plaza (carrying Issima skincare, the
Guerlain makeup line including the new KissKiss lipsticks, and an altar of
perfumes), I can go bankrupt right here at
home.
or Hong Kong or even Bangkok, it was certain that I would have at least one
Guerlain fragrance in my duty free shopping bag. Now, with a fully-appointed
Guerlain counter in Rustan’s Shangri-la Plaza (carrying Issima skincare, the
Guerlain makeup line including the new KissKiss lipsticks, and an altar of
perfumes), I can go bankrupt right here at
home.
My first purchase was a bottle of
Apres l’Ondee
EDT.
(from the Guerlain
site)
Filipinos have no olfactory
history of violets, cassia or carnation. At lunch, the creative guys said, “Oh
no, not another grandmother smell.”
My
grandmother smelled of rice and boiled fish and Safeguard. Apres l’Ondee smells
like walking through Dangwa at three in the morning – streets lined
with gladiola and asters, and chrysantemums from Malaysia and yes, carnations,
thousands of stalks in pails of water, and the unexpectedly fresh cold air in
between bursts of exhaust from trucks
Divisoria-bound.
Next stop,
Jicky.