Pushups on Water (Round 2)
scent of the day: Aziyade, by Parfum d’Empire
fruity-funky-fresh-fizzy, soap-cumin-prune—Aziyade I have long described as my favorite Parfum d’Empire. My nose might be burnt a bit from yesterdays Prin (Prin—unlike Ensar—can wallop your nose, one of the down sides). It deserves its praise: novel and yet classic. And it could definitely be a top fifty even in my stacked collection if only its cumin BO were a bit more aggressive. Has Bel Ami cola insinuations but with sawlaj funk and bit of Ambiloux in here too. Aziyade, largely because of the upbeat pomegranate, is a brighter Arabie by Serge Lutens.
I do see Aziyade more now as a feminine scent than I once did—that plummy-BO musk of Jubilation 25 and Rochas Femme, although nothing as captivating as the carnal crotch of Salome (which continues to rise in my implicit ranking). It makes sense that Aziyade, for all its souk fruits and spices, would be belong to the feminine-boudoir category. Aziyadé, after all, is the female main character of the 1879 novel “Aziyadé” that recounts the author’s illicit love affair with a teenaged harem girl by that very name.
Pushups on Water
Since so many today swear Bruce Lee could do a layaway one-inch poke where you die
a thousand steps later or midair dash too fast for film (or, still absurd, even just tap out
Royce Gracie), what immaculate conceptions might halo him after millennia of lore?
