Drunk on perfume

Perfume thoughts September 14, 2010 Comments: 4

I finally realized what happens to me when I’m in a niche perfume store. I get drunk. And I mean seriously tipsy by all the fumes wafting around while I’m trying perfumes even when I temper it with coffee (like in real life, coffee helps a bit when you’re drunk).

I couldn’t resist anymore so I went to Victor Koncept for some serious perfume sniffa-tour. And that’s exactly what I did. So, of course I overdoses and got extremely giddy and forgot some of the things they told me so I asked twice. Like for example, when is the rest of PG line coming (end of this week) which is bad. Really bad. Because I tried their tuberose and patchouli and I seriously like them (and they weren’t even on the top of my PG list to try! So, I’m thinking, tuberose is not for this time of year, and I have enough patchoulis so I can test the rest next week without problems. Because I have high hopes for some other stuff coming in. But their patchouli is so great. It’s a dark chocolate patchouli, deep and warm and if not black, then very close to it.

I also managed to try Byredo Palermo – a must try more before next summer. It’s a different take on summer cologne/citrusy stuff and that is what I like (bitter orange or something like that got me). Baudelaire is also one I’ll try again. I like the Tulipe but it’s not for me.
After reading some nice things about Penhaligon’s Bluebell, I finally tried it. 🙂 I can see what might make people like it – it’s bottled sprimg meadow. I’ll see in the spring if we are going to it hit it off.

This time around, I took enough time and didn’t have to rush so I got some samples to try as well. Yeey! That is also how I got drunk on perfume. 🙂 But I don’t mind.
I mean, I was a bit light-headed when going home and couldn’t stop smiling due to giddiness but I really deserved a trip there. It’s been six months since my last time. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be that much until my next visit.

Do you want to know what I bought?

After discovering just last week I love amber, L’Eau d’Ambre by L’Artisan came home with me.
Along with – Molecule 02. Yes, I’m very susceptible – I’m sure everyone saw the Luckyscent 5 sexiest perfume choices clip. And, honestly, I tried it before and just couldn’t understand (again!) what the fuss is about. It turns out that the tester is not what’s in the bottle and the stuff only works correctly when sprayed on skin and not on paper strip. So, I bought it unsniffed basically but I’m checking the effect as soon as tomorrow. 🙂

P.S. I was surprised at how many people were at Viktor Koncept, usually when I go, I’m the only one. Also, I really had the time of my life and didn’t want to leave, everyone was very friendly and we discussed so many things (they again let me try something they only received to try and still don’t have at the perfumery).

Danielle Steel: Matters of the Heart

World of Books September 12, 2010 Leave a comment

It’s been years since I read something by Danielle Steel (high school I think) so I was interested to read something again when the chance appeared in the form of a Summer reading challenge.

Well, I can certainly say the book was a surprise. I seem to remember her books having a happy end even though the characters usually face some kind of adversity. It’s not that this book has a sad ending but it’s not the traditional happy one. I’d say the book is not really a traditional Steel novel. I mean, when did she start writing scary stories?

Ok, so it’s not really a scary story but it got me a bit scared at one point.
I just wish there wasn’t a quote at the beginning of what a sociopath is – that kind of gave the story away and made me re-think if I want to read it because I was expecting a love story. And it is a love story but a scary one and one every woman should read (especially if wealthy and/or alone) because it warns of some human aspects we should all avoid.

At the beginning, I couldn’t see where the sociopath could appear from and then some situations started happening and I got worried a bit because almost all guys I know have a tendency to display some jealousy at the beginning of a realtionship and I was thinking to myself that it really can’t be described as a symptom of sociopathy but then things started getting a bit troublesome.

I think everyone should warn young girls/women about falling in love and going with everything their partner wants from them. You should always stick with your character and what you feel is right for yourself but I see how often women disregard that in the name of love. But love is/should be reciprocal and your partner should never ask of you something that you obviously don’t want to do. Or women making all the excuses for male behaviour. I don’t feel men try to understand women so much as we do them, but that’s another story.
Anyway, Hope (an extremely strong woman) goes through many difficult situations in life, only to culminate with the most dangerous one for her.

I’m sure if you cannot guess the end, it wouldn’t require much to get you on the right path so I’ll say it. Of course she deals with the situation in the end and I’m happy to say shows how it’s done for many people who might read this book. The greatest things in life are based on very simple ideas. And spiritual healing is something we should all learn how to do for ourselves – it probably will require some outside help (by that I mean talking to someone, even if that someone is imagined) and I did feel a bit inspired in the end of the book to face life with my head held high and with hope that being true to yourself will always bring the necessary outcome for one to grow and heal.

P.S. I feel like this review is completely scattered but I can’t re-write it. It just came out like that. 🙂

The scent of a ballerina?

World of Perfume September 9, 2010 Leave a comment

I always get surprised by how many different information I acquire while in my pursuit of new scents and their histories.
It seems the one I want to talk about today was done in the memory of balet heroine Giselle (of course, here is where my knowledge is lacking so I had to google it). Anyway it seems that’s a really demanding role and therefore highly sought after.
I kept thinking (before I googled it) that if this is a scent in memory of a ballerina that they might have missed their mark. Because it is very soft and feminine and ballerina’s don’t really evoke soft and feminine with their graceful bodies with absolutely no fat deposits. But, Giselle is another story.

I seem to be still channeling all the summer notes because I sniffed this and what came out of my pen was – warm, flowery and vanillic with exotic fruit hints. Like coconut and pineapple with tuberose.

Here are the notes: ylang-ylang, cinammon, freesia, jasmine, tuberose, vanilla, coconut, caramel, honey and musk.

I can’t say I smelled cinammon, my guess is it is what’s keeping all the sweetness at bay. Or at least tampered, it’s not exactly at bay. 🙂 But I still like it very much. It’s like the epitome of femininity without anything sticking out of the composition. I kept wondering what would a guy smelling this on a girl think? I will try it out on my boyfriend.

Some 2 hours later, some of that musk peeks out and disappears thank god, because it’s the kind of musk that goes shrill on me.
And then it’s sweet caramel drydown. You know, I would never have guessed it reminded me of caramel, even though it strongly reminded me of something and I know why. I would say that if it’s caramel like it falls into the gourmand category but that’s not how I read it. It falls into the warm, soft, pastel-colored cashmere sweater category. Something to wear when you feel mellow and loving towards the world.
I guess we could all feel like that more often.

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

Perfume thoughts

Perfume thoughts September 9, 2010 Comments: 2

I have a really good excuse for not writing more often since I got back from my vacation. It’s not that I don’t sniff perfumes every single day and write notes, it’s the fact that my home laptop is broken so once I get home, the chances of me writing a post are practically non-existent.
Hopefully, that will be remedied very soon so I’ll try and write more often.

In the meantime, I’m in the throes of a terrible shopping madness and want to wander around doing just that all the time. Of course, that means that after work, I head straight home, especially taking care to not go near any perfume stores. And I cannot tell you how much I want to go into one and sniff all the new niche things they acquired in the last few months.

If you know me (from reading my posts this last year and a half), you can probably guess I won’t be able to hold out much longer. And I’m preparing a list of things I want to try – some in Viktor Koncept and some in Institute Parfumeur Flores.

The problem is (yes, I am a shoppingholic) I can’t walk out empty handed. First, chances of trying several scents that I know are on the list because I read good reviews and not liking any of those enough to want it are again practically nil, and then finding something I really like and not buying it?! Impossible.

Have I recently mentioned how I’m trying to save money (or not spend so much)? I’m just very lousy at it so maybe I should stick with stuff I am good at – like spending money. 🙂

Anyway, I seem to be going through a period where almost all the things I try I like very much so I have several scents I am going to talk about soon.
I noticed how once I loose my momentum (or things fall out of schedule), it is terribly hard for me to get it back. It goes for everything, writing, pilates, my eating schedule. So, I’m trying to learn some self-control.

While I’m doing that, I’ll try and write more often to get more practice.

Sherrilyn Kenyon: Chronicles of Nick, Infinity

World of Books September 6, 2010 Leave a comment
Well, I can certainly count on Sherrilyn Kenyon for some good paranormal action. This one is YA but once you get hooked on an author, it doesn’t matter what type of book comes out if it’s on the level with previous ones. Ok, so I don’t love all of her books but I did enjoy many of the Dark Hunters books to keep on buying them and enjoying them.
And that brings me to Nick Gautier. I saw some reviews before I got my hands on my copy and most of the problems reviewers had with this book was lack of knowledge about the world where all this is happening. It is very true. While reading, I kept thinking how I know all the characters already Kyrian, Acheron, Simi, Nick’s mother, all the different paranormal factions, who squires are, etc.
I can see how it might detract from a complete reading experience.
Before you continue reading, some spoilers are ahead.

The Dark Hunter books are set in real time (I mean when they come out, that’s approximately the time they are happening). We get to know Nick as a grown man (not very grown, but no longer a teenager). And stuff happens to him in those books.

Here, we follow Nick when he is 14. I for one, couldn’t have guessed what Mrs Kenyon was going to do with the fact that it’s Nick’s childhood and I’m a bit scared where she’s going with it.
Because, you see, Nick is reaching through his adult persona (who is terribly powerful and can tip the balance of the world) to his teenage self in the hope of changing his own future. I love the premise because I know why would he want to do that and it will make his teenage life that much more interesting, but what happens to the world where Nick’s childhood is changed and all the Dark Hunter stories are already written and have happened. You change the life of one person and inevitably, everyone that person is connected to has to feel the backlash. So, that is what I’m scared of but I’m keeping my hopes up. So far I was never disappointed by Ms Kenyon (I could do with her characters not having to suffer so much but those are her stories to tell after all).

Now I’m off to check when is the  next Nick installment coming out. 🙂

I do love coconuts

World of Perfume September 2, 2010 Comments: 8

As I live in a country where coconuts don’t grow, it’s actually, now I think of it, a wonder how I seem to know forever now what it smells like. Probably since the first time I was taken for a beach summer vacation by my parents. The coconut note was quite dominant  in sunscreens then (well, it still can be found everywhere today as well). It was definitely the first tropical note embedded in my mind forever.

Unfortunately as I grew older and wanted to try and discover all kinds of cosmetics, I stumbled upon several different products pairing the coconut with vanilla and ending up with seriously upset stomach. That smell is also embedded in my mind as an example of how two things that smell so nice by themselves and sometimes together as well, can be made into an obnoxiously artificial and nauseating thing.

Ok, now that I put that off my chest, I can get to the subject of the post. Honor̩ des Pr̩s. Or more precisely, Olivia Giacobetti. Or to be completely clear here РLove Coco.

After being lucky enough (and fast enough) to win a sample of Vamp a NY (and fall in love with it) from Grain de Musc and reading a really good review by Nathan Branch, I knew I had to get my hands on the coconut thingy. And I was right. 🙂 I just love it when I buy something unsniffed and it turns out a complete success.

It is difficult to describe a coconut perfume since, well, the most true thing you can say is that it smells coconuty (you surely didn’t know that?). 🙂
Luckily for me, even though the notes mention vanilla, my teenage nauseating experience was firmly forgotten with the first sniff of this joyful elixir.

I don’t know how many of you had the chance to use or smell coconut butter (which has some seriously good hydrating properties) but that is the closest smell Love Coco gets to. It’s not too sweet, it’s exactly like that coconut butter, like there is some bark mixed in with that milky-nutty lushness.

I feel a bit stupid saying this, but adding that coriander leaf into this mix was a stroke of brilliance. I mean Ms Giacobetti obviously knows what she’s doing. I would never guess that coconut smell can get this wonderful herbal sharpishness and spiciness. Makes me want to breathe it in more and more. And even though I forswore wearing coconut scents during my teenage years, I obviously found one that made me change my mind.

The good thing is, I cannot see myself wearing this outside summer, beach ambient so my bottle is going to last a while. That is, I’m hoping it will because I keep spraying my arms so I can inhale it during the day.

Notes: coconut, coriander leaf, vanilla.

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

Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

World of Books September 1, 2010 Leave a comment
I have to admit, I kept postponing reading this book because I thought it wasn’t going to be that interesting (I kinda got that idea after finishing book 4). I was wrong. It was exactly the opposite of what happened with Keri Arthur in my previous post.

The action started right from the beginning, and Percy is 16 now (I think) so the tone is not light-hearted and people start getting killed from the get-go.
The story revolves around the prophecy that on his 16 birthday, a hero (child of an olympian god and mortal) will have to make a choice that will either destroy the Olympian gods or not. I won’t give details what else was missing from the prophecy in the previous books.
Anyway, I couldn’t guess where the story was going to go and especially how it was going to end. Ok, I could have guessed they were going to defeat the Titan Kronos but that is what everyone knew.

What I found interesting was that the end came with the possibility of some other important quests in the future. Now that I read this last installment, I’m actually happy with that possibility.

I hate it when I have an idea about what the book is going to be like and it’s obviously wrong. How many other books have I missed out on like that?

Keri Arthur: Moon Sworn

World of Books September 1, 2010 Leave a comment

I feel a bit bad that all I do lately is talk about books when I started my blog because of perfumes but I need to get these books off my chest and in the mean time, I am smelling many different things and will talk about them soon, I promise.

I was a fan of Keri Arthur even before her Riley series kicked off. This is the last book in the series (for a change, it seems most series these days go on indefinitely).

At the beginning of the book, I got a bit scared that this might veer in the wrong direction than what I anticipated from Riley books. The last one ended when Riley had to kill her soul mate (which is really bad for a werewolf since you only get one per life). Even though she is half vampire, half werewolf, it almost killed her and we get into Moon Sworn reading a lot about how she is questioning everything about her life and should be grateful for Quinn but her soul is shattered and so on and on. You see why I got a bit scared?

Anyway, the plot suddenly gets transported into action and that’s when things start to get interesting.
Even though the book kept my interest, I got the feeling it lacked more meat concerning the story itself. It was kind of flat. It feels like previous Riley books weren’t so easily predicted as this one.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t live up to my expectations which Keri Arthur raised herself. I saw a lot of reviews saying how great this book was and if you enjoyed the rest of the series, this one will fit nicely. I just wonder is it me or did anyone else feel like this?

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

Tess Gerritsen: Ice Cold

World of Books August 31, 2010 Leave a comment

It seems this is the US title (British one is Killing Place).  I really don’t understand why they do that except that it makes me think I missed a book.

I don’t think I ever wrote about Tess Gerritsen. A serious oversight. I enjoy the Isles & Rizzoli series immensely. It’s like an improved version of Kay Scarpetta novels. This now sounds awful but I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that here except for the forensic pathologist Maura Isles (like Kay Scarpetta), we also have a female police detective Jane Rizzoli (and there’s Pete Marino in Scarpetta novels but he’s a guy). There are many similiraties between the series and both are quite gruesome. But I sort of feel more faith in human nature coming through T. Gerritsen’s books than in Scarpetta. And they both deal with some seriously scary stuff.

For example, this one (Mephisto Club as well) reads almost like a horror story, the way it’s written. It definitely has all the characteristics of a horror movie. Incredible really. And then the story unfolds and even though it’s unfortunately very possible and believable (as in it could happen for real after some bad circumstances piling up on each other but that’s the way bad stuff usually happens), it ends on a relatively optimistic note for humanity. It also displays the fact that most of us are cowards in our daily lives which does not become visible until we are faced with adversity.

I would recommend this series to everyone who enjoyed Kay Scarpetta novels and likes some scariness mixed with the criminal story. I can’t wait to see what comes up next.
And btw, if you are going to read it, start from the beginning.

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

I’m back!

Uncategorized August 29, 2010 Comments: 3

And the vacation is officially over. It’s been over 24 hours that I’m in Zagreb and I still cannot believe how soon one returns to the usual routine life most of us probably lead.
I actually feel quite rested and I no longer have bags under my eyes (although probably not for long). 🙂 It’s time to get back to my usual non-vacation life and I feel ready for all of it (blogging especially).
And like I promised, some pictures from my vacation. Most were taken on our brief visit to the wonderful beach on the island of Krk.

This one is of a garden in Smokvica – it looks very artfully done.

This is what a sunset on the path from Smokvica to the next village of Klenovica looks like:

View from the boat of our side of the island of Krk (you would never guess there was that little beautiful beach hidden somewhere in all these rocks):
View from the beach:
More beach:
This is me getting ready to swim (this was after two weeks in the sun and you can see I don’t really tan, or at all when compared to everyone else around me):
View toward the island, very unhospitable for everyone except goats:
The beach is really a little recess among all the rocks: