Category Archives: World of Perfume

My lovely leather heaven – Cuirelle by Ramon Monegal

World of Perfume October 10, 2013 Comments: 40

I might not talk about leather perfumes much but I do love them. I just might not wear them as often as I might like as I don’t think my colleagues would approve as much as I do.

That said, I think Cuirelle by Ramon Monegal would never solicit any negative comments. Or at least it shouldn’t. It has become my go-to leather scent and I simply adore it.

Unfortunately for me, my decant ran out and the brand is not available in Croatia. But if I’m nothing if not persistent when it comes to something I love, so eventually a bottle will find its way into my collection.

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So how does it smell? Heavenly.

😉

Notes: Somali Incense, Indonesian Patchouli, Bourbon Vetiver, Virginian Cedarwood, Cinnamon and Beehive Absolute.

I find it an incredible achievement that this perfume is well made that I, an incense-phobic never actually registered any incense-y problem in my nose.
Even smelling it now, knowing there is incense in there, I cannot smell it in its usual form. I can tease the buttery soft leather (the feeling of it, no buttery smell to it) and vetiver and cedar but incense is luckily missing from my perception.

Trying to tease the notes apart is a bit difficult, I thought there might have been some iris in here due to the most incredibly soft, leathery beginning of this perfume. It is just so seductive to my nose, it’s like a leather coat lined with incredibly soft fur, you just want to burrow your nose (well, all of yourself not just your nose) in it and never let go.

The fur lining the leather coat

The notes cannot describe the loveliness you smell. I thought there was a slight rum note in the beginning. Even though you can smell the incredible combination of woody notes smelling leathery, the only spiciness I detect is the one I attributed to rum. I’m sure cinnamon plays a huge role in that but I cannot smell it by itself. And I’m sure the beehive absolute is responsible for the amazing softness radiating from this perfume.

I would call this a perfect cashmere sweater perfume, along with some seductive leather on any part of your persona for a perfect fit.

That said, I’m not the person who wears clothes like that but I still find Cuirelle a perfect fit.  It makes me feel like I’m wearing clothes like that feeling completely at ease in them.

Leisurely seductive, in a sneaky way. 🙂 You’re enjoying your time with Cuirelle and suddenly you’re snared and you cannot live without it. perfect fit.  It makes me feel like I’m wearing clothes like that feeling completely at ease in them.

I warned you – that’s what happened to me. Proceed at your own peril.

The winner of Electra by Sigili

World of Perfume October 3, 2013 Leave a comment

is Edith! 🙂

 

Please contact me with your shipping address so I can send the decant your way.

The Roman holiday (part II)

Perfume shopping, World of Perfume September 29, 2013 Comments: 23

Where I talk about perfumeries and put in a little give-away. 😉

Even though Paris might sound like the city for a perfumista, Rome definitely has perfume merits of its own. Personally, I am generally not one for Italian perfumery but among all the available choices, even I found an Italian perfume to like. More on that later.

Our perfume wanderings started with the Alé parfum perfumery which we discovered by accident as it was just down the road from where we were staying.ale

It’s a small shop full of wonders. 🙂 I find it incredible how many different perfume brands were there. The perfumes that stand the most in my memory are Iris Nazarena I finally was able to try and the new Jovoy perfumes which I would need to smell better at leisure. I did like Iris Nazarena just not that much to warrant the price tag.

The next shop on our perfumista quest was HB Profumeria. It is a rather large shop with many cosmetic and perfume brands and here is where we spent the bulk of our perfume money. 🙂

Of all the Italian perfumes I smelled there, I decided to take home Electra by Sigilli which is a really strange perfume with metallic/ozonic vibes and radioactive longevity. It really requires you to spray it sparingly. 🙂 It’s labeled as an amber which it is but only after being so much more.

One of the main reasons to visit this perfumery became obvious after Asali’s talk with the SA after she spied an old version of L’Heure Bleu. 🙂 It seems the owner of HB Profumeria goes out of his way to procure the old Guerlains. So, who knows, if you’re lucky in Rome you might come across one for you.

The last perfumery we visited has several stores in Rome and after visiting the first, smaller one, we were told to go and visit their main store where they have more lines and which they use for perfume events (F. Kurkdjian’s event was this past week which unfortunately we missed).

If you’re going to visit just one Campomarzio 70 store, my advice is to go to the flagship store at Via Vittoria 52 and hope the beautiful blonde, blue-eyed SA is there. Unfortunately, I don’t know her name and didn’t think to ask at that point but it is very rarely you come across such a great SA. After learning a bit about our general taste in perfume, she proceeded to offer perfumes to try that would fit with what we had said. And she was guessing unbelievably well. As luck would have it, they ship all over Europe so if I decide I need a bottle of Isabey’s L’Ambre de Carthage, I’m getting it from there. She was also kind

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enough to help me on that way by giving me a sample. 😉

She also gave us Giulietta Capuleti perfume to try which you get on a cloth tissue. It has 20 different rose essences in it (and the price shows it, over 400 Euros for 100ml) but smells wonderful (if you like rose perfumes).

This ends our Rome perfume journey and as it was such a good one, I would like to share a 10ml decant of Electra with one lucky winner. Just state your interest in the comments. 🙂

Pics for Ale Parfum and Giulietta taken from their respective sites.

The Roman holiday (part I)

World of Perfume September 26, 2013 Comments: 13

Where I talk about Rome (the perfume will be part II).

I never expected to like Rome so much, I always thought Paris was my city. Now it seems I have two cities where I wouldn’t mind living if it weren’t in Zagreb.
It’s so very easy to fall in love with Rome and its smiling citizens, hordes of tourists, local wine, great food, even better desserts, and don’t let me start on the coffee…
Did I mention the weather?! The summer one, with temperatures reaching 32 degrees Celsius?

Not to mention it’s probably heaven if you have an archeological streak, or a Catholic one as each street either has a ruin or a church, or both.
I also finally understood there is a political background to everything anyone with any power does. Walking around St. Peter’s basilica is a testimony to that – making you feel small and insignificant in front of such a monumental shrine to a god you should worship. I could actually feel my religious sentiments waking, luckily it didn’t last long. 😉

Walking around Rome is like walking on a movie set. At least for me. I suppose I saw it in the movies so many times now I walked through it, I couldn’t help but feel like I was a part of one.
One where I spent my days having fun with fellow perfumista. Basically, the best kind of a movie, friends, in a lovely city, smelling many perfumes, enjoying good food and each other’s company. Who wouldn’t want to star in a movie like that?

Ok, no more talk, here are some of the photos.

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Amfiteatro Flavio – better known as the Colosseum

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Pictures don’t do it justice

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The Roman forum

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Colosseum

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The Roman forum

Detail from Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo

Detail from Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo

The Trevi fountain

The Trevi fountain

The Pantheon - incredible is all I can say

The Pantheon – incredible is all I can say

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St. Peter’s Basilica

Inside the basilica

Inside the basilica

One more inside the basilica

One more inside the basilica

View from the park above Spanish steps

View from the park above Spanish steps

Suzanne and Mark in the park

Suzanne and Mark in the park

When the Carabinieri pose, you take a photo ;)

When the Carabinieri pose, you take a photo 😉

There is no photo of the Sistine chapel as you are  not allowed to take one (which I didn’t see so I got shouted at for trying to take one). And there is also no photo of the leather goods you can buy in Rome (like gloves and a jacket…). 😉

I’m a perfume snob

Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume August 31, 2013 Comments: 21

A small one. 🙂

I’ve been wondering about that for some time now, but it became clear today. I cannot deny smelling other people’s perfume and thinking they might consider improving their perfume taste.

Honestly (it seems this is going to be a rant), I can understand companies forbidding perfumes because if my colleagues wore stuff like that, I wouldn’t mind the ban.

I don’t know if I was specially sensitive to it today or it’s the fact that everyone is back from vacation but the times today I inwardly cringed (at least I hope it was inwardly) at the marine and synthetic perfumeCloudmusk notes in the air is still making me wonder how much money do those perfumes actually bring to their companies.

They are actually the ones guilty for the companies being allowed to ban perfumes from their midsts. I mean those perfumes are radioactive – they take over the space of 5 square metres and once there, they are relentless in their need to occupy it forever. I shudder just thinking about it.

I don’t think other person’s perfume should clobber you over the nose and then keep you there without any help. Because that’s what they do, they take over your space if you closer than 2-3 metres from it.

Sillage is all good but if I can smell so much of it in the middle of a city, well, I’d say that is way too much of it.

Now I’ve said all this, I generally don’t judge people by the perfume they wear. Personal taste is just that, personal. But when your personal taste takes over my space and won’t let me be, well, I do have a problem with it. And I do believe it’s a modern perfume problem, sillage used to go with you in times before and lessened after an hour or so, this seems to hang there in the air for what feels like forever.

Is it just me? Is there anyone else who slightly judges people by the perfume they wear? And is it just me or are the synthetic long-lasting musks going on other people’s nerves as well?

 

pic taken from:http://www.makeupfiles.com

The Scent of the Ballet – Penhaligon’s Iris Prima

Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume August 27, 2013 Comments: 20

Recently another company released a perfume based on the ballet story which unfortunately did not live up to the idea I had when reading about it.

If you watch the movie done in collaboration with the English National Ballet, all I can add is – this perfume might (live up to the idea of ballet).

“Iris Prima is a work of olfactory choreography, with Iris Absolute in the role of the prima ballerina. In a unique partnership with English National Ballet, Penhaligon’s has set about capturing the very essence of the ballet, turning to master perfumer Alberto Morillas as choreographer.  Iris Prima will launch on the 9th of September…”

I got goose-bumps watching it. 🙂

 

P.S. My favourite part: ” Hard work and Deep Heat.”  (it’s what I use on my aching muscles too)

The sun, the sea and Bronze Goddess

I've been thinking, World of Perfume August 22, 2013 Comments: 25

That last will never be applied to me. Not only do I not think of myself in divine terms, but bronze is also a word that people would never apply while looking at me.  I actually got asked (this year again) if I even went to a vacation, considering the amount of tan I got.

I do get tanned but compared to most people here, I’m still fair skinned.

So this where Bronze Goddess comes into play. It is my go-to vacation scent.  I should also remember that for next year’s packing as there is no need to bring a whole bunch of decants when all I’ll be wearing is BG.

But I don’t recommend wearing it to work which is what I did one day when the weather was extremely hot and I was wishfully thinking of the vacation to come – a colleague was sniffing around our room asking who’s wearing sunscreen? 🙂

You’ve been warned.

Now the vacation is over, Bronze Goddess is back to its place to be forgotten until the next summer vacation.

And if you are ready for some wistfulness with me, here are two photos to help you with that:

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Meeting Nat of Another Perfume Blog

World of Perfume August 7, 2013 Comments: 21

Honestly, I really didn’t think I would actually get a chance to meet a perfume blogger in my home city. 🙂

I mean people don’t usually choose to visit Zagreb when deciding on what European city/country to visit but luckily for me, Nat and her husband decided to spend some of their vacation at the beautiful Croatian seaside so Zagreb found itself on their itinerary as well.zagreb

I got to meet with Natalie, twice, first when she arrived and then again when she was leaving which was great, as the first time I got to know her and answer her questions about Croatia and the second time around, I got to hear of what it was like for them spending a vacation here.

What can I say, I certainly hope they share their thoughts on Croatia to as large a group as possible. 😉

Those of you who met Natalie probably already know what a lovely, beautiful person she is. We certainly didn’t lack subjects when we met and I was so very happy that when we visited Top perfumery, our host Borut provided us with some yet unreleased perfumes to smell (he is just a great perfumista himself with a large knowledge of perfumes).

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So that’s a place you need to visit once in Zagreb.

I was very happy to learn on our second meeting that I installed a bit of a curiosity in Nat and her husband when it came to Croatian drinks and I also realized that in their commitment to try them all (or as many as possible), they landed upon one of my favourites called Pelinkovac (meaning done from the plant mugworth/wormwood – I needed a dictionary for that one).

I know you all know what an incredibly lovely experience it is meeting perfumistas in real life but I still need to say it.

It was great fun meeting Natalie and I certainly hope we get to see each other again.

But you know, I cannot but help thinking that recently that trend has been on the rise so I have feeling we all might be meeting each other more and more often in the future.

And that is just such a happy thought for me. (I could probably do a Patronus on it!)  😉

 

P.S. If you’re wondering where did the Patronus part come from, I am, again, re-reading Harry Potter. 😀

 

Channeling Tilda Swinton

World of Perfume August 5, 2013 Comments: 12

And not by smelling like her.

As you can tell by the photo of me and Asali/Jasia having fun at the fishermen’ party in Klenovica yesterday, I’m not wearing any make-up.
It’s my vacation after all.
I do have to admit that even though I’m channeling Tilda, I do not feel as comfortable looking like I have no eyelashes the way she does.

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Jasia looking great without make-up and me with no lashes

It’s been forever since I wrote and I’m hoping the sitting on the terrace having coffee with Jasia or lying on the beach in the sun (as seen on the photo evidence provided) will do much to restore my writing mojo.
The sniffing sessions with Jasia are also helping although you’d think we’d be able to have more of those since we are on vacation…
But we’re busy doing other things:

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Busy around barbecue

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Busy on the beach

When not smelling of our samples and decants, we pretty much smell like the salty air and sunscreen and in the evening of Off mosquito spray which smells wonderful (you’d be surprised how good it smells). Jasia says carnation but to me it’s simply a great scent for such a product.

You could possibly catch as wafting a bit of smokiness (from being close to the burning wood for the barbecue)… B-)

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Smell you soon!

Sunny love from Smokvica from both of us

The odd woman out

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume July 18, 2013 Comments: 10

Would be me actually. :-S

It seems that I, in my blogging efforts, have completely missed the fact that there is a lively perfumista scene here in Croatia, thriving through different fora, mostly the ‘local’ version of Fragrantica (punmiris.com).

And if it weren’t for my decision to sell some of the perfumes from my (unfortunately still growing) collection, I would still be unaware of this fact.

I met another of those lovely perfumistas today and realized she actually knows all the other people I meet through these sites rather well. It is only I who is meeting everyone just now (or in the last year).
Well better now than never. 😉

And I’m loving it!

(I hope that didn’t sound like the McDonald’s commercial…)