Luxury | Paris Venise
Silk pillow cases, crisp sheets, a lover’s kiss.
Bathing has always been a ritual.
After a long day of answering calls, responding to crises, meeting with patients, talking to their families, filling out forms (oh, the forms!) — she longs for a bath.
She turns the taps and watches the water eagerly hit the base of the white porcelain tub. She dips her fingers into the water, adjusting the temperature at intervals.
Not too hot. Not too cold.
She likes it just right.
A candle is lit. The wick gives an initial crack before the scent of lemon, petitgrain and pink pepper fill the air. The steamy, dense, bathroom air soothes her lungs.
She strips off entirely. Her clothes — spoiled by the sweat, stress and drama of the day — fall with relief to the bathroom floor. She leaves them lying there on the cold tiles.
More comfortable now that she’s naked, she pulls up a stool to watch the bath fill.
Instinctively, she reaches for the body wash she saves for special occasions. Her ex-boyfriend brought it back from the Paris Ritz. He had the emotional intelligence of a sea clam, but she gladly accepted the gifts. The diamond, however, she turned down.
Squeezing lavish amounts of scented gel into the tub, her airways fill with the sweet aromas of iris, neroli, rose and geranium.
Admittedly, it is hard for her nose to tease apart the individual notes because all the smells are deliciously blended into an airy, hazy, lavish whole.
The bath near full, she lowers herself into the tub. In the warm water, she floats on a cloud.
Her breathing and thinking slow down. Every sore limb, every over-worked muscle, every tight joint, every bit of pain and tension previously stored in her body slips away. . .
An hour (or more?) goes by.
Her skin starts to prune.
Every so often, she uses her foot to tinker with the hot tap.
Enervated.
She dreams of zesty air, white towels, silk pillow cases, crisp cotton sheets, a lover’s kiss.
She lies there faintly floral, smooth as vanilla, feeling soapy and thoroughly clean.
Effortlessly elegant, sweet-powdery musky, she is exactly where she wants to be.
Perfumer: Olivier Polge
Top: Lemon, bergamot, orange, petitgrain, pink pepper
Middle: Iris, neroli, rose, ylang-ylang, geranium
Base: White musk, tonka bean, vanilla, violet, orris, benzoin