Monthly Archives: May 2010

SOTD: Eau d’Italie, Paestum Rose

Sample of the day, World of Perfume May 31, 2010 Comments: 6

OK, I realized today I will have to give Havana Vanille another go. Because it’s obvious to me that whatever Mr. Duchafour creates, I’m going to love it. 🙂 There must have been a mistake in my nose when smelling HV because it just can’t be. 🙂

As you probably know by now, I’m not a huge florals fan, rose especially, but there are always exceptions, and this is one of them. Oh, I really like this one (I think that the boozy opening helps). 🙂

Notes: davana, cinammon,, black pepper, pink pepper, black pepper, coriander, black currant buds, Turkish rose, peony, incense, osmanthus, elemi, tea, papyrus, benzoin, myrhh, opopponax, vetiver, patchouli, cedar, wenge wood, amber, white musk.

As you can see, there is a wealth of notes which I do not plan on getting entangled in. I love the beginning and I didn’t miss the rose this time (probably because it’s there in the title). It smells boozy (having this rum, thick quality to it) and slightly sweet. Of the notes in the beginning, I can smell the particular juiciness of black currants and the pink pepper – which I believe I am smelling due to the process of elimination. I’ve been finding this around a lot and learned to recognize the particular scent it brings with itself so I think I know it now (it gives the rose in Very Irresistible the same type of freshness). Anyway, I get a healthy dose of tea (I tend to lean toward black but that may be caused by black currant buds).

It smells like an idea of a wet rose, not aquatic but more like a rose inundated in fresh water. Quite lovely really. And totally wearable for me (I’ll try and locate a decant on MUA).

I lose the black currant and most of the rose in the drydown but I’m left with a drydown that is quite nice but doesn’t come close to the opening. I mean, it’s easy on the nose and smells warm and dry (all that wood, incense and benzoin which I love) but is only a drydown.
Pic and notes by: www.luckyscent.com

SOTD: The Six Scents, series 2, No. 2 Ende/Anfang

Short perfume review May 29, 2010 Comments: 4

I’m not sure if it’s the strenth of this or something is wrong with my nose but after two hours on my arm, I can barely trace it. Maybe applying it a bit lavishly might help (although it seemed weak from the start, so I re-applied it after some 15 minutes).

Btw, the name means End/Beginning if you are not familiar with German (have no idea why they named in in German…).

Notes: purple ginger extract, vetiver oil, cedarwood, guaiacwood, cardamom, coriander seed, birch tar, sandalwood, beeswax absolute, patchouli, myrrh.

It started great, spicy and I thought incensey but that turned out wrong, as you can see by the notes, but myrrh could have turned me that way.

I smelled it first without reading the notes (as I always do) and since I doubt my nose all the time, I thought I was projecting sandalwood and cardamom under the influence of yesterday’s sample, so I wrote down only cedarwood. But still felt good after reading the notes. 🙂

What can I say, I enjoy the opening and I like the broody masculine dusty woods later but I wish they were stronger in sillage and longevity.
I will be hoisting this off to my boyfriend, I know I will enjoy smelling it on him.

Pic by: http://www.amazon.com/

Katie MacAlister: Playing with Fire

World of Books May 29, 2010 Leave a comment

I’ve read several reviews regarding Katie MacAlister’s books from the dragon series so I decided to give them a go myself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t start from the beginning because it’s currently unavailable at my bookshop, but they had the first in the Silver Dragons series, Playing with Fire.

I blame the fact that the description of the world this is set in (it’s our world) is not complete for me on not reading from the beginning of the dragon series because it feels much of this information is implied. But that didn’t stop from enjoying a completely new type of story. I did have some problems with getting completely into it, but I think it again goes with what I just said about the world and characters that appeared in previous books and are obviously familiar to the reader.

Anyway, you have wyverns, demons, naiads, doppelgangers and I probably skipped some. I like the bantering the characters engage in and the steamy sex (and no foreplay for our wyvern hero because he is still too hot for his mate) – and while on the subject, I’d be grateful if writers would refrain a bit from writing hot sex scenes that are not realizable in real life. I wouldn’t mind some but I don’t think it exists in such a way. 🙂

The bad part is that the book ended with a cliffhanger and I don’t have the second one (I do have the third, I bought it so as not to have to go looking for it after I get the second and finish it, only to realize the third was sold in the meantime).

It’s an easy read that I’m sure feels more complete if you started from the beginning. But that won’t stop me from finishing the Silver Dragons series before starting from the beginning – I just cannot stop now.

SOTD: Mark Buxton Nameless

Sample of the day, Short perfume review May 28, 2010 Comments: 6

Only now do I have time to write about my sample and there’s not going to be very much to say about it. It is a very nice masculine scent which I could steal if my boyfriend had a bottle but that doesn’t move me like Juste un Reve did yesterday.

Notes: orange blossom, lavender, mandarin orange, cardamom, cinammon, coffee, clove, jasmine, amber, labdanum, woodsy notes, guiac wood, patchouli, cedar, benzoin.

It starts lavendery fresh with spice notes coming at the heels. I really enjoyed the opening, it reads as masculine but is thoroughly enjoyable if you are into spices as I am. Or even less than I am.

I hate saying this again but it reminded me of something else I smelled and liked but can’t remember what (that seems to happen a lot to me).

It is a terribly nice scent, and I’m sure makes for a great present for a guy who is not very perfume savvy. It’s fresh and spicy and enjoyable. I think most guys would like it.
I might be reading this wrong, because I don’t smell that many masculines and can’t really say if one is good or not, only how much I like it or not.

And after a while, this one had me wondering if each time I get a salty note from a perfume it’s me, or is it a perfume (since it happened 2 days in a row). Luckily for me, my other arm was scent free and didn’t smell salty, so it wasn’t me.

SOTD: Juste un Reve by PdN

Sample of the day, World of Perfume May 27, 2010 Comments: 7

It’s been a pleasurable day smelling this on my arm. 🙂

But, it’s been a bit problematic getting the notes.

Notes by PdN: coconut, apricot, jasmine, tuberose, sandalwood, vanilla

Notes by Luckyscent: jasmine, rose, iris, hyacinth, monoi

As you can see, not much overlap (what an understatement). For me, it’s a mix of both, even though I didn’t locate rose and jasmine but hey, nothing new there.

I saw this mentioned as a perfect summer scent – for me it’s more than just a summer scent. Yes, you cannot skip the summer with coconut and monoi but the florals are quite a bit important as well. At one point, they are all you get.

For me it started fresh, irisy and floral, slightly grassy-sweet and happy – it brought a smile to my face. Imagine my dismay when reading notes by PdN and seeing no iris. But Luckyscent helped with that.

This one gives you a feel like you are smelling your skin warmed in the sun – you smell the perfume of flowers and tropical stuff, and you are smelling it warmed in the sun (even though I’m in the office all day).

I kept looking for the apricot but in the end I decided it combined itself with sandalwood perhaps to give this an aura of apricot suede powderiness (this sounds wrong).

Anyway, this all gives way to some flowers and I cannot claim I smelled hyacinths but I did smell flowers of a particular type I recognize. It could be that the real life hyacinth and the perfume one differ sligthly…

But the end is just as great as the rest, sweet monoi and salty iris turning into coconuty and salty smell of sandalwood. It’s at the same time simple and brilliant. Not simple as an easy, straight-forward thing, but easy as in, it gives off a feeling of being easily wearable and enjoyed.

SOTD: Fig & Vetiver by Anthousa

Sample of the day, Short perfume review May 26, 2010 Comments: 8

I’m starting my sample of the day with a sample that’s been standing on my shelf for quite some time since after smelling it for the first time (a long time ago), I decided it was great and wanted to use it but save it at the same time.

I either mistaked liking it so much with the other Anthousa sample I have (Citrus Sorbet) or the other fig scents I smelled in the meantime have made me more picky.

Notes: green fig, bergamot, mandarin, cyclamen, fresh berry, peach, osmanthus, rosewood, black amber and vetiver.

There’s no way you can miss the fig. And for me that’s the best part – the green, fresh, light and summer feeling.

Of all those fruits listed, I am now wondering how come I got only slightly citruses and then after that flowers and that’s it. The flowers get a bit shrill on me and I really don’t like it when that happens (although I know some people do).

So, no, I can’t say I will be wearing this fig (I might have smelled some vetiver at one point but can’t be sure). The opening is a lot like Philosykos but the rest doesn’t even come near. It’s not bad but it’s just not that great either.
This was quite painless, I think I’ll be able to stick to my samples of the day posts in between real posts. I do have to do something about all those samples…

Matthew Reilly: The Six Sacred Stones

World of Books May 25, 2010 Comments: 2

This is the second book in the Jack West Jr. series (James Bond go hide somewhere and never come back). 🙂

Intelligence, physique, morals, and a lot of luck – Jack West has it all (ok, he’s missing a part of his arm, but he’s got an artificial one that works better for him than a real one would).

Anyway, in this book we are again following the characters we got to know so well in the previous Jack West book, where they saved the world. Now they have to do it again because that was just the beginning (and you cannot start reading from here, you have to start at the beginning).

The pace of the book is typical Matthew Reilly, fast and furious and unstoppable. I forgot to say this in my last review but the pictures of the places they visit really come in handy (and not just that, they are actually necessary for better understanding who is going where and doing what).

I still wish though that at the end of the book there would be some information on what in the book are actual facts. Because I am sure there are many that would surprise the reader. But ok.

I know people who are absolutely unable to read fiction. I know, what is wrong with them?! 🙂

I was reading today a really good post from Desert Book Chick on How to write a killer book review and she talked about characters and characterisation so that got me thinking (and hence the fiction non-afficionados). I don’t have a problem with characters in Mr. Reilly’s work but I’m sure some people might. Especially since in this book we meet Jack’s father and some other family members of other characters. Most of which all are not just bad but evil in the manner that they think their way of thinking and doing things is the best and only way. Which combined with non-existing morals leads to evil things. And some very troubled thoughts on my part as to what kind of people are leading this world (some good quotes on that appear in the book).

And I’m going to end on a note regarding my favourite books of all time (which might be Mr. Reilly’s as well).

The main (good) group of characters uses code (of course) to contact each other when apart. And what books and characters they use? Those from The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Just that would be enough to make Matthew Reilly one of my favourite writers. The action plot helps too.

I’ve been thinking…

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, Sample of the day May 25, 2010 Comments: 5

It seems that’s all I do lately when it comes to perfumes. I think of them, ocassionally dig up a sample and sniff and write about it even less. I think it’s all connected to my perfume samples scare from the other day (which is when I realized it, I think it lasted a bit longer).

I love reading what other perfume bloggers are sniffing and thinking about possibilites of me trying so many different things, but it lately all remains in my head. Which is not a good thing when one is writing a blog. Kind of defeats the purpose. 🙂

So today, first I decided to go in search of some summer decants I have accumulated and put everywhere (we are having summer temperatures these days, which are going back to spring for the weekend). And while I was locating them and just sniffing the openings, I got an idea.

Well, it’s more like defiance against all my samples. And it will force me to write more regularly and to learn more effectively.

I’ve seen many SOTD posts, and even though in my case they will get called the same, they will actually be sample of the day. That way I will go through most of them in some kind of an organized manner, even if all I write is a sentence. Or two words. Ok, that has never happened before but you never know.

We’ll see how it goes. Being constant in my obligations is not something I am known for. 🙂

Charlaine Harris: Dead in the Family

World of Books May 23, 2010 Comments: 2

Finally! I got my copy late Friday afternoon and wasn’t able to start reading it until Saturday (and had no pressing stuff so I finished it yesterday evening). I feel like someone lifted a little burden I was carrying since the book came out and I didn’t have it. 🙂

This is not going to be only about the book – I was thinking a lot about the series I was able to watch in between the last book two books in the series. I wasn’t particulary thrilled with the choice of Sookie (Anna Paquin) but now, I think they got it absolutely right. And I’ll tell you why.

When I started reading the series, I thought of Sookie as this really nice blonde girl who just happens to have a problem (she can hear other people’s thoughts) and that makes everyone think she’s a bit crazy (only her friends consider her normal). Anyway, she sounded stereotypically blonde in most ways. And it hit me with this book. I mean I changed my opinion of her character before (she is terribly nice but goes through a lot of bad things) and then I was thinking about the series and who could have starred as Sookie instead of A. Paquin. The problem with blonde actresses is that they all seem nice and gentle and in need of protection, without that inner core of steel which Sookie obviously has and Anna is portraying wonderfully.

So, I’m also looking forward to the new season of True Blood. 🙂 It actually took for me watching the series to realize how dark and bloody these stories really are. It’s never that dark in my head.

On to the book. Since I love the series, I enjoyed it very much – I love the fact that Sookie and Eric are in love (even as complicated as he is). And I loved the Bill surprise in the book (definitely didn’t see that one coming).

The rest was a less bloody Sookie story than I keep remembering from previous books. Maybe that’s because it’s been a while since I finished the last. I mean, there is some bad stuff happening but after the ending of the previous one (where there is the Fae war), this one was a walk in the garden for Sookie. So, the ending was a bit anti-climactic for me even though it ended with a serious fight. Well, it’s Mrs. Harris who has put the bar so high with the previous one.

This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it – quite the contrary. I will be awaiting the next one with the same anticipation as this one. Can’t help it – I love the Sookie world. 🙂

P.S. The previous books I read weren’t mine, a colleague lent them to me. In order for me to explain how much I enjoy them, I plan on buying the whole series to be able to enjoy them again at my own leisure.

Pic by: www.charlaineharris.com/

Discovering attars

Perfume thoughts May 20, 2010 Comments: 4

I might have been a bit wrong on the Al Mas by Amouage and Sedra by Haramain being the same. Similar, but not the same. And now I don’t know how to proceed. Attars are a completely new area for me and I seem to have ideas regarding attars that are wrong. 🙂 Well, they were right for the first 3 I tried, and then I tried Attar Mubakhar and it turned into this soapy, sea-like thing (which I seriously don’t like and enjoy) but after a while it really wasn’t that bad (as in smelling too much of soapy sea) and I can start with that.

It turns out (at least for me), attars are shapeshifters. Usually with perfumes you can guess where they might evolve and what you might expect. But all the attars surprised me (pleasantly I must say), including the sea one. That was a real surprise.

Anyway, I thought that attars were all dark and had this desert-like base, dry but at the same time full-bodies, arid and spicy. Strange actually. I really need (and want) to experience the desert.

So, I decided to try Sedra and Al Mas at the same time to compare them and see if my initial thought were correct. Of course, it would be extremely inconvenient to have these 2 smelling the same for such a wide money difference. Honestly, I lean toward Al Mas. 🙂 But that’s probably because Sedra displays more rose than Al Mas and I’m still not a fan of rose.

First off, let me say that most of attars I tried (less than 10 so far) are these oudish, rose, dark thingies. So, no wonder I thought smelling them apart that Sedra and Al Mas were the same. The truth is, smelling them side by side, Sedra starts more bitter (as in rose) and oudish than Al Mas. I would never thought I’d say after my first try of Al Mas that it was mellow, but it was more mellow than Sedra. I thought it had some cedre hints but I was wrong – one of the notes is sandal (that is the most similar I could find). I couldn’t find any notes for Sedra, all I found was that it was oriental and spicy.

When first smelling Al Mas, I thought the rose was prominent enoght but when compared to Sedra, it really does not make any kind of important appearance. This rose in Sedra also makes it more feminine than Al Mas, which seems very unisex and more oudish than Sedra. Also. it seems more competently blended. This sounds wrong now – what I wanted to say is that Al Mas is so round and complete, nothing peeks out strongly while in Sedra I can smell the rose quite well.

And then it started. First, I got this camphor/minty? note in Sedra which I have no idea where it appeared from some 2 hours into application. And then also some fruitiness peeking out. Al Mas remained a warm background on my other arm at that time. And then it hit me for both. They seemed to have blended with me (or more precisely my skin). It was like I rubbed them in, which I didn’t and anyway, that would be obvious from the start if I had done it. My guess is, my skin absorbed it and it just became part of me. I loved that part because I almost never feel the perfume becoming one with me, it is always a part that is with me not me.
I am really glad I have some more attars to try. I don’t think they would make a good choice for
everyday (work) wear but they are something.