The backstory is that the fragrance was created for perfume-hating Jane Birkin by reinterpreting the scents of her childhood (father's pipe, floor polish, empty drawers, whatnot) and turning them into a non-fragrance with a certain edgy je-ne-sais-quoi. But what's more fun are the hilarious reviews that have sprung up around it. Like this one from a certain Cillar, Recluse on luckyscent:
"All right, who put the old lady in the oven - heavily peppered and dusted with foot powder? Allow me to cyberslap you, Miller Harris. How dare you let loose such a fetid stench on this good green earth. How dare you, Sirs. What did Jane Birken [sic] ever do to you? Did she describe to you a geriatric hospice with the thermostat set at a steady 84 degrees, rife with the reek and fog of Shower to Shower and the hope that you would capture that, in her memory, to her honor, for all the world's horror? Beasts."Who then proceeded to give it five stars (maybe that was an accident).
And of course, Luca Turin's glib "If, having lived the late sixties to the full, you cannot remember a thing about them, this will jog your memory. It smells of boozy kisses, stale joss sticks, rising damp, and soiled underwear. I love it."
Anyway, this is a fun fragrance for days like today, and a sample costs three dollars, so why not.
Birkin & Gainsbourg |