I love Los Angeles. I love its architecture, its landscape, its attitude. I won’t say more, because that’s another post. But I will share yesterday’s abbreviated shopping trip in my native city (although short, it will require two posts).

This is the only photo I took, from my phone, in the car of course. A lot of people hate driving in LA, but I love it. My dad taught me to drive, and I inherited his Angelean driving style (though not his skill) and his love of driving. But of course yesterday of all days, I managed to get lost while on my way to meet Kedra of Opus Oils.

Opus Oils is a line I have been interested in for quite a while. I love the aesthetic of the packaging and the names of the perfumes, and of course I’ve read great things about the juice. I can’t imagine a better way to experience a perfumer’s work than to be able to sit down with them and smell and talk, so I was fortunate that is exactly what I got to do. Opus Oils’ studio is available by appointment, and I encourage anyone in Los Angeles or traveling there to go for a visit. Kedra is so nice, knowledgeable, and easy to talk to that I left wishing I had asked her more about the perfumes and spent less time gabbing on about myself! But it was a great time.

Kedra took me through her Les Bohemes and her Burlesque lines, and also showed me her Absinthe fragrance and her new Eau Pear Tingle. (She also showed me a bit of raw ambergris, which was a thrill, as I’ve never seen it in its raw state. And she had a gorgeous vintage compact with an ambergris solid salve-balm type thing in it, which was pretty awesome.)

The Les Bohemes line is a collection of soliflores, some with the slightly vintage feel that I like in florals, as it makes them more interesting. There was not one in the bunch that I didn’t like, and there were several that I will revisit. Dapper (violet) and Flapper (datura) are very much “my speed.” Giggle Water is a unique and lovely take on orange blossom, a note I have ups and downs with. I could see Gold Digger (the narcissus) being the jackpot for women who love big, “voluptuous” (to borrow the descriptor from the Opus Oils website) florals.

The Burlesque line includes six fragrances, each inspired by a different kind of girl: Kitten, Starlet, Charm, Tramp, Siren, and Gypsy. Once again, I liked them all. But I came away with Charm, a scent Kedra told me reminds one of her customers of New Orleans. Its notes are coconut, blackberry sage tea, and vanilla with a twist of star anise. (via) What I love about it is the way it takes creamy and sweet notes and does them in a way that lets the tea and a little bit of herbal spiciness shine and sparkle on top. Kedra showed me several perfumes that had a tea note, and I was impressed with each of them. I love tea notes in general, and her pairings were a little more unexpected and less gourmand than is typical. I’m really looking forward to wearing Charm today. I also especially liked Tramp (vanilla and blonde tobacco!) and Gypsy (mandarin, passionflower, amber, ylang-ylang). The sample sets are so reasonable ($18 for the Burlesque and $30 for Les Bohemes) that it will make it easy to revisit.

I can’t close out this summary without mentioning Eau Pear Tingle. Michelle of Glass Petal Smoke has done a lot to raise my awareness of anosmia (and I’m sure she’s done the same for others). So when Kedra showed me Eau Pear Tingle, which is a multi-sensory perfume, I was really excited that someone has done the work to create a perfume that stimulates other senses so anosmics can experience the sensory aspects of wearing a perfume. Eau Pear Tingle, Kedra explained, stimulates the same nerve (the trigeminal nerve) that is stimulated when we smell mint or chop onions or do things like that. That “tingly” feeling, in other words! Fortunately for us non-anosmics, it also smells wonderful. It struck me as a fresh pear note that was more sweet than sour, coupled with those “tingle” notes. I was reminded a little of pop rocks candies, although the tingle is less intense. And, I love the bottle. Eau Pear Tingle launched today.

As always when I post a glowing note about something, I must reiterate that I’m never compensated for anything I write, and what I say is my honest opinion. And although my glowing note is about my whole Opus Oils experience, that is something anyone can do! Just make an appointment.

I’ll share about my Scent Bar experience (and proper thoughts on some of the Opus Oils scents) separately. Apologies if you leave a comment and it takes me a bit to respond. I’ll be home and back to a normal schedule on Sunday.