CB I Hate Perfume's #305 Burning Leaves, from the CB Experience Series, is exactly what it sounds like. It is the smell of leaves, burning. CB's description states, "The smoke of burning maple leaves - pure & simple." Lucky Scent expands on this description, but the two significant notes remain smoke and maple. As it dries, the sugary maple note melds into the skin. What begins as a fire fades into a trace of smoke on sweet skin. But what strikes me, in the top notes and the fade down, is that smell of cold air- the negative space around this dramatic perfume. It's like you can smell the bite in the breeze that carries the smoke away.
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| #305 Burning Leaves, available in perfume absolute and water perfume |
It's so simple and so obvious that at first I questioned it. But wouldn't Laura wear something sexier?
The tragedy of Laura Palmer's sexuality is that from a young age, she is abused and objectified by almost ever single man she knows, including the adults most responsible for her. She is so many things to so many people- the daughter, the prom queen, the girlfriend, the playgirl, the sweetheart, the whore, the best friend, the victim- yet how many of these identities were hers alone? The mystery of Laura Palmer was an attempt, after the fact, to sift through the secrets, layers, and identities in search of the real one. Each facet is testified through the character who had projected that particular identity onto her, since she is no longer there to speak for herself. But even in life, was she ever there to speak for herself? Was she ever allowed to?
The other female characters on the show (save for maybe Nadine and the Log Lady) are very classic- curves, red lips, curled hair- conforming to a distinctive 50s via the 80s style that became Twin Peaks. Yet Laura Palmer's style is nondescript, girl next door, morphing to adjust to the situations she finds herself in- at home, with boyfriends, at the Roadhouse, in the woods. She doesn't have to manicure herself to be an object of desire, because objectification follows her no matter what she wears or does. It feels as though her sex appeal was something hoisted onto her, rather than her own invention.
Laura Palmer worked at a department store perfume counter, and there perhaps she'd don Obsession to push sales. At school maybe she'd wear Love's Baby Soft. At the Roadhouse I could see her choosing Charlie. A scent for each costume, each identity created by someone else for her to wear. Yet alone among the Douglas firs, what scent inspires her character?
CB's Burning Leaves is an ode to the memory of raking leaves with his father and the lost innocence of childhood. I don't think there could be a more perfect perfume to summarize Laura Palmer.
The tragedy of Laura Palmer's sexuality is that from a young age, she is abused and objectified by almost ever single man she knows, including the adults most responsible for her. She is so many things to so many people- the daughter, the prom queen, the girlfriend, the playgirl, the sweetheart, the whore, the best friend, the victim- yet how many of these identities were hers alone? The mystery of Laura Palmer was an attempt, after the fact, to sift through the secrets, layers, and identities in search of the real one. Each facet is testified through the character who had projected that particular identity onto her, since she is no longer there to speak for herself. But even in life, was she ever there to speak for herself? Was she ever allowed to?
The other female characters on the show (save for maybe Nadine and the Log Lady) are very classic- curves, red lips, curled hair- conforming to a distinctive 50s via the 80s style that became Twin Peaks. Yet Laura Palmer's style is nondescript, girl next door, morphing to adjust to the situations she finds herself in- at home, with boyfriends, at the Roadhouse, in the woods. She doesn't have to manicure herself to be an object of desire, because objectification follows her no matter what she wears or does. It feels as though her sex appeal was something hoisted onto her, rather than her own invention.
Laura Palmer worked at a department store perfume counter, and there perhaps she'd don Obsession to push sales. At school maybe she'd wear Love's Baby Soft. At the Roadhouse I could see her choosing Charlie. A scent for each costume, each identity created by someone else for her to wear. Yet alone among the Douglas firs, what scent inspires her character?
CB's Burning Leaves is an ode to the memory of raking leaves with his father and the lost innocence of childhood. I don't think there could be a more perfect perfume to summarize Laura Palmer.
Through the darkness of futures past
The magician longs to see
One chants out between two worlds
Fire walk with me
