Category Archives: World of Perfume

Wow: Keri Arthur, Riley Jenson series

World of Perfume November 28, 2009 Leave a comment

Whew! I’m reallyy glad the latest book from the series Bound to Shadows is behind me. I made a mistake of reading Keri Arthur’s site where she said that some people are not happy with the way things turned out. Since I already had some questions regarding ends of Riley’s novels when the series started, I though, Oh shit, what happens now?! I mean I kept thinking (and reading) in the novels that Fate has it in for Riley. And she really does. I do hope Keri Arthur plans to make it up to her (Riley) at some point.

Btw, I wonder how come Riley has two different surnames? Up to now I wasn’t sure I remembered it correctly each time as Jenson or Jensen (and now, every book listed by Amazon has it as Jensen even though the book cover they have is the same as mine ) but on my copy of the book it’s Riley Jenson and on Arthur’s site it is Jenson everywhere. Strange…

Anyway, on to the book. Riley is a Guardian which means she works for an organization that keeps order among non-human populations (she herself is a dhampire – half werewolf half vampire). And she is one hot dhampire. 🙂 She’s been having problems of different kind all through the novels, one of which is her love life which seemed relatively fine (finally) until this book came along. I don’t want to give any spoilers to people who haven’t read and might give it a try, but the love of Riley’s life is a vampire (he has her heart), but as she is half werewolf as well, it means she is bound to have a soulmate as well. Which is a problem if your heart wants one guy and your soul yearns for someone else. While chasing bad guys around. 🙂

After reading the book, I can say I’m not one of those who is unhappy with the way things turned out. I was totally scared it might end differently in a way that I wouldn’t like. For me, it’s exactly as it should be, I for one can’t imagine it ending differently. I’m not sure how many books are there going to be in the series but I for one am voting to give Riley some slack. 🙂 Please?

My DSH package

World of Perfume November 21, 2009 Comments: 8

has arrived the other day. I didn’t order much but what came in it made me very happy. Then I started smelling what was in it and I was no longer that happy, I was quite distressed. I know I ordered sampled according to notes I usually like, but I didn’t expect them to smell so nice that I decide I need those in larger amounts, and I only tried 2. There are 3 more left!

Notes for Nourouz:

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone but once you smell that, you’ll recognize pomegranate anywhere. I love it here! It smells like the real deal, so juicy. It made my mouth water. The other thing I realized except for that top note, I get lost in the wonderful smell of the DSH perfume. Don’t ask me if I got the other notes, I just smelled my wrist and wondered how much more money was I going to spend on DSH site. 🙂

Notes for Cimabue:

For those of you who might not have realized it yet, I’m a total clove fan. I grew up smelling it each winter when my parents made hot wine and lated, tasting that same wine and smelling those wonderful aromas. Actually, while at university, I tried the Swedish variant (glög) and that’s where I learned I liked the smell of cardamom as well.

But on to Cimabue. I smelled it before reading the notes (you can get lost in them, there are really many) and straight away I got the nice sweet smell of clove. Then I went to see if I was imagining it these days and saw the list of noted. It is not listed in the top notes but I guess all those citrusy fruits are the ones that made me not think of clove in terms of hot wine. I tried my best and only managed to catch whiffs of cinnamon, the rest was again lost in the wonderful smell that emanated from my wrist. In the end, I got some vanillic undertone to my clove but I’m sorry to say, my nose wasn’t able to distinguish much else.

The good thing about my new infatuation with DSH is the fact that they are going to have a holiday sale! And it will be starting this weekend! Yeey!

20% means I’ll be able to squeeze something more in the package for the same amount of money. 🙂

It really does smell that nice

World of Perfume October 23, 2009 Comments: 4

I have no better title for today’s post than this. Before I get on to what I want to say, I have to admit I have a serious credit card problem. It seems I order with abandon because yesterday I got a little package from Juliet Stewart which I completely forgot I ordered. 🙂

And this is where the title of this post comes into play. I’ve been reading around how wonderful her scent Juliet is. Hence, the title. It really is that nice. I don’t even know how to describe it.

Here are the notes: Amalfi lemons, basil, bergamot, Sicilian orange, mediterranean herbs, Italian jasmine, vanilla, amber, precious woods.

I wish I could do it justice. It starts sweetly floral with hints of fruit and green freshness and you can barely trace hints of something herbal but it is not really a citrusy smell (all those citrusy notes made me think in that direction). And then, you get the jasmine but not like any I’ve tried yet (ok, my experience is not actually extensive, but still). A sweetish, fresh, lightly citrusy jasmine. Absolutely wonderful. The combination is at the same time fresh and floral, utterly feminine and energetic. My idea of it is a vanilla jasmine rendered light by the citruses. And at the end, the smell I was left with in my mind was the picture of amber.

Btw, I think my co-workers think I’m strange. I sniff my wrists all day long. 🙂 Ok, maybe not since we’re really a good bunch so we respect each others idiosyncrasies.

What I had on my other wrist was 5 o’clock au gingembre by Serge Lutens.
Notes: bergamot, candied ginger, honey, pepper, dark cocoa, soft cookies?!, gingerbread, patchouli, vetiver.

I believe I saw somewhere that this is a masculine scent? Anyway, I’d never have said that from the start of this but in the end I could understand why would one make it lean toward that category.

I smelled it before I had the notes. Honestly, if I read the notes before, I’d have thought it was some kind of a tooth-aching sweet cookie monster. 🙂 It’s not that. It’s wonderful but, is it possible that the SL/Sheldrake combo has such a strong signature? I mean, it is recognizable as theirs if you smelled more than one of their scents. But never mind that – I like almost all of them. 🙂

For me the start is sweet and woody. I didn’t get any of the notes listed at the beginning but thought it was a blend of Feminite du bois and Santal blanc or some of those boozy woody fragrances. I loved it! 🙂

Once it got into drydown I found lovely patchouli-vetiver mixed with a citrusy note (that could only be bergamot) that I could understand would be termed more masculine. But I liked it. I know I have a tendency toward “masculine” scents.

P.S. I was wearing Love By Kilian today. No review, but I only wish Love was so sweet…

WoW: Laurell K. Hamilton

World of Perfume October 22, 2009 Leave a comment

If you’re a fan of kick-ass heroines from vampire/werewolf stories, Anita Blake series is definitely not to be missed. It’s how I got started and hooked. 🙂 The series has progressed to some 17 books or something (I don’t really bother remembering the number, I just check periodically to see if something new is coming out).

As you can probably guess that many books usually mean the quality might be questionable at some point. Well, that guess would be true. The good thing though is that it seems with this last book, Mrs Hamilton is on her way to what we came to expect from Anita Blake. The last book in the series “Skin trade” is finally back on track with some serious problems and typical Anita. Strong in her convictions, constantly questioning the rightness of her choices (which are usually one of lesser evils) and standing firm in the face of danger. But, there are many heroines which come with a sense of humor, if that’s what you are looking for, forget it. Anita is not a light, humorous being. She’s dark (on the outside as well) and ironic as hell. She is also constantly conflicted, due to her strong convictions and Catholic upbringing.

It’s actually interesting to follow the books from the beginning and see how they progresses. If I got it right, Mrs Hamilton wasn’t married at the time she started writing and several books in the beginning have no sex in them. Just some physical attraction, and that’s it. At some point though, sex started appearing in all manner of situations and it almost went into porn category (the quantity and explicitness). It just deteriorated with each following book. Now, there’s still sex but the book is much more story oriented. Thank God. 🙂 And I got the feeling that the original Anita is back. With all her lovers. 😉

It’s funny, there’s one more series written by LKH, the Merry Gentry which revolves around Fae. And again you have there the heroine who without any wish or inclination ends up having a whole bunch of lovers. 🙂

Oh, I almost forgot to say, Anita is not a simple human. She’s a federal marshal hunting vampires, called the Executioner by the vampires, and the strongest Necromancer in the last couple of centuries. 🙂 I’ll keep the rest of what she is to myself, if it sounds interesting give it a try. You’re bound to be frustrated and angry at several points but it’s still dark and interesting.

P.S. It’s evident from what I wrote that I have all the books from both series, right? 🙂

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

Oranges blossoming around me

World of Perfume May 7, 2009 Comments: 2
I never thought I was a flower girl. By that I mean I never thought I might like floral perfumes that much. But then again, 2 years ago I wasn’t aware there was a perfume world beyond the doors of my local stores into which once you enter, you never leave. 🙂

Anyway, it seems to me that this spring/summer (I believe we are seeing the last days of spring here), I’m into orange blossoms. Today I’m wearing SL Fleurs d’Oranger which I got from a lovely MUA swap. And even though I know that orange blossom does not smell like the fruit, the first thought this morning in my head was – wow, where did this flower bomb come from? 🙂 Kinda stupid when the name itself declares that it is about flowers. 🙂 The initial flowers didn’t last that long and now I’m enjoying myself feeling the softness of all those white flowers in it. It seems we hit it off perfectly today, because I don’t think I’ll be able to wear this when the real summer hits. Today it makes a fresh spring day warmer, but I don’t think I’d want that in the middle of summer.

That’s why there is Fleur d’Oranger 27 by Le Labo. That one seems to be the fresh orange blossom that is going to bring some fresh air into the summer heat of Zagreb. I have a fondness for grapefruit both in perfume and in my diet, so getting a whiff of that citrus bitter smell is perfect although kind of hard to detect around bergamot. But that’s ok, I like bergamot as well. 🙂 So, I’m preparing to battle summer heat with this fresh, summery-green orange blossom.

And on to my third orange blossom scent. I have to admit, in the end I did buy the Givenchy’s 2008 harvest Organza Fleurs d’Oranger. 🙂 But I am proud I limited myself to only that, didn’t buy the Amarige Ylang-Ylang. In the end, Fleurs d’oranger spoke to me much stronger and convincingly, so it came home with me. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to smell it properly and with concentration, so no more information about that one today, but it falls somewhere in the middle of the first two.

SL Fleurs d’Oranger notes by Luckyscent: Orange blossom, white jasmine, Indian tuberose, white rose, citrus peel, hibiscus seeds, cumin, nutmeg

Fleur d’Oranger 27 Le Labo notes by Luckyscent: bergamot, petitgrain, grapefruit, amber, musk and vetiver

Organza 2008 Orange Blossom notes by Harrods: neroli, honeysuckle, petitgrain, orange blossom, soft spices, vanilla

Books and the sun

World of Perfume May 4, 2009 Comments: 4

After spending Labour day not working, it’s back to the work routine this week. Which I don’t find so bad because I managed to truly rest body and soul, body by laying in the sun and mind by reading. Last week I was starting to get worried because I no longer felt the need to read anything (that is a terribly worrisome state for me because it signifies sth is very wrong since I read to relax and I do it all the time). And from all the things I can choose from (having quite a lot of books in my room) nothing seemed interesting. So, I was saved when I got a call from Algoritam last week that some of my ordered books have arrived and having a long weekend to read them. 🙂

I finally got my hands on Deadly desire by Keri Arthur (Riley Jensen series, book 7) and I liked the fact that Riley’s love life got complicated (again) but in this book she managed to keep the one relationship (I’m keeping my fingers crossed to survive the next books), living. We’ll see what happens in the next Riley installment that should be out sometime in October I believe.

I also got my hands on another of Mary Balogh’s historical romance, Simply perfect. The moral of the story is you’re not too old to find love when you’re 35 and a spinster school teacher. lol 🙂 And good clothes and hats, a positive outlook on life, some strength of character and a good hair-dressing maid are what is needed to transform a non-descript woman into someone of beauty. Sounds familiar?

The third book I’m only halfway through is First king of Shannara by Terry Brooks. Usually I’m scared of starting to read fantasy series because when they are good I can’t stop and I do have everyday obligations that cannot be put aside just because I can’t stop reading. 🙂 You wouldn’t believe how often I am faced with that problem… I first came into contact with TB when reading his Genesis of Shannara trilogy and I loved it. He writes somewhat differently from most of other fantasy writers I read (similar to Raymond Feist) in the manner that the story proceeds fast and you do not follow every day occurences through the book (that sometimes makes me lose interest which almost happened with Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series). Anyway, this is just a prequel, so what follows is another good trilogy for which I will somehow have to pace myself and read it as I usually read.

Regarding sniffing during the weekend, I didn’t do much of that – sun cream being the reason (smells too strong to get a good feeling what something else might smell like). I did try Cococabana by PdN after reading Abigail’s post on it. I thought I’d get more coconut from it but I don’t think that detracts anything from the loveliness of this. I was trying to figure out which note is the one that smells similar to sth in Eau Turquoise which displays it more prominently and which is why I cannot bear to wear it, but I was unsuccessful. Smells aquatically-sweet and it’s an understatement when I say aquatic is not my thing. 🙂

I did finally get my hands on some of Andy Tauer samples and I look forward to smelling them more conscientiously. I kept smelling Reverie en jardin and thinking something here smells so familiar but unfortunately, couldn’t figure it out. Like I said, they deserve more of my time. 🙂

Weekend reading

World of Perfume April 7, 2009 Leave a comment


Yesterday I was celebrating the start of spring with some perfumes. Today I’ll talk about the books I’ve read over the weekend. I finished the White witch, Black curse by Kim Harrison and read also the Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward.
The way Kim’s White witch ended, I’d say we are going to be seeing more of Rachel in the future. 🙂 Good to know. It was good as usual, but it got me thinking. I cannot get into characters’ heads and I can’t predict what they are going to say or how they are going to act or why they do what they do. By that I don’t mean to imply that Harrison is doing it badly, but quite contrary. Those are witches, vampires and pixies and the bottom line is that they are different from humans. So, I actually think she did a good job making it hard for me as a human to get their motivations completely. Well, that is my explanation anyway. 🙂
REgarding, JR Ward, her Black Dagger brotherhood has already reached its 7. installment (to come out later this month) and it is in my opinion in the same category as Keri Arthur, L. Hamilton and Kresley Cole but in a way darker. More violence, more deaths and more tragedy. Although I read only to relax (that is my anti-stress therapy) I like her books because they feel more real in a way (OK, I know we’re talking about vampires, but still). The thing is, real life is unfortunately full of tragedy and she somehow makes it more real than the rest. For her books, I have to be in a right state of mind while for the others, I simply take them and read them. Both scenarios are fine with me. 🙂
And to end this with a sketch from my morning life which proves I do not function in the morning. One of my favorite shops Martimex, has a special Easter promotion, you buy 2 perfumes and you get them 50% off (of course, this is only valid for a part of their offer, but that didn’t stop me from finding something). 🙂 anyway, they gave me samples, and instead of using one of those I bought, I decided to spritz on the sample of Guerlain Insolence, thinking I might not have been right when I remembered it as definitely not for me amd reading the notes on the card. Which just proves that I cannot think early in the morning. I was right that first time and I’m never repeating this experience with any new sample I get even if it seems fine after reading thenotes. One good thing though, I was instantly awake. 🙂 Beats me, but I have no idea where those read berries are in this because all I get is some powdery awful thing that I detest (guess it could be iris)…

Photo: spring across the street (mine)