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| Today's fragrance of choice can be wine, such as the darling of summer wines, rose. [Photo/Agencies] |
Chanel? Chloe? Burberry?
Nope.
Today's fragrance of choice is wine; specifically, the darling of summer wines, rose. And unlike any of the other times I've found myself doused in wine－spills happen, after all－I'm wearing this on purpose.
Notes of Rose is the newest fragrance from Kelly Jones, who grew up in Rochester Hills, graduated from Michigan State University and decided to combine two of her favorite things: perfume and wine.
Jones, who is 43 and lives in New York now, had left the automotive industry and was running a fragrance store when a winemaker chastised her for wearing perfume during a wine tasting. The winemaker's reason: The perfume would obscure the fragrance of the wine.
Jones thought differently, however; she thought her perfume enhanced the fragrance of the wine.
And just like that, an idea was born: perfume made with the same scents found in wine.
Jones' New York-based company, Kelly + Jones, sells a variety of wine-related perfumes, including chardonnay and cabernet. But Notes of Rose is especially delicious. It's light and floral, and it contains notes of pink currant, osmanthus, herbes de Provence and white woods. Did it make drinking rose a better experience? I don't know. But people said I smelled great.
I talked with Jones about wearing wine. Here's a version of our conversation, edited for clarity and length.
On why wearing wine-inspired perfume isn't the same at bathing in chardonnay or merlot or rose: "The perfumes smell of the aromas that are so beautiful in wine that we sometimes miss. They smell like any fine fragrance. You wouldn't smell and say, 'That's a wine scent.' You would smell it and say, 'That's a really beautiful fragrance ... it's a fragrance that pairs with your wine.' ... It doesn't smell like the alcohol part of the wine. It smells like the notes of the wine."
On the benefit of this perfume: "What happens is when you're swirling the glass of wine, you're kind of sniffing one particular aroma. Then you're smelling the fragrance on your skin, which has matching notes which are in the wine. It just awakens your sensory nerves."
On similarities between wine and perfume: "Maybe both are a kind of a ritual. You get home, and you pour that glass of wine. You get ready to leave for work, and you put that perfume on. It's just something you do that makes you feel good."
On the popularity of rose: "I absolutely love rose. Rose is an acceptable price point. It's very summery."
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