Sampling Parfum d’Empire

Uncategorized May 14, 2009 Comments: 2

My arms are finally better so today I decided to try the samples I ordered from Aus Liebe zum Duft. At the moment I can’t really remember how I decided to order Parfum d’Empire (I must have read something somewhere, but I can no longer remember what or where). What I tried today are Cuir ottoman and Fougere bengale.

I’ll start with Cuir because although I find it nice and wearable, it’s not as fabulous as some others out there (primarily Cuir de Lancome which I love). It’s just, you know, cuir-ish. It starts a bit sweet, nothing too much with a slight burnt aroma (all this being burnt styrax which I found on Aus Liebe zum Duft site) and at some point it gets really interesting, having this middle phase where you actually get hints of “Benjoin resine that massage the musky skin of languid bodies” by Aus Liebe zum Duft again, and I honestly thought, ok, this is it, it’s perfect, and unfortunately, then all that went away and I was left with a light vanillish cuir. It is just, well, too soft for me.

Cuir ottoman notes: jasmine, leather, iris, benzoin, balsams, resins, incense
Now, Fougere bengale is another thing. And for someone who learns French for far too long, I am ashamed but I admit, I had to go and look up the meaning of fougere. That explained a lot! 🙂 Sometimes I get to feel stupid at the most strangest of times. Anyway, it seems fougere is THE combination for me beacuse I just love the lavender oakmoss pairing.
The thing is, at the beginning this one roars fougere while in the drydown it simply says fougere (and since it tells the story of Bengalese tiger hunts, I find it completely appropriate). Thank God it doesn’t whisper fougere. You get from it all the things all the sites list, lavender, gingerbread, oakmoss, the sweet, green, herbalish aspect given by lavender and oakmoss and my discovery today (= fougere). I kept thinking the drydown reminded me of something else, and after my discovery of what fougere means, I remembered, like Ilaun by Burren perfumery.

Fougere bengale notes:Lavender, tarragon, patchouli, geranium, tobacco, tonka beans, vanilla
P.S. For all those who, like me, don’t know what’s tarragon (or dragon’s wort), it is a perennial plant that looks strangely a lot like rosemary and is used in cuisine.

Cloudy musings

Uncategorized May 13, 2009 Comments: 2

After several days of almost summer heat, today it is cold and very cloudy and although I don’t want to be influenced by that, it seems I cannot help it (much). I am finally getting better (physically) because on Monday morning I woke up to find my arms covered in rash and I was very upset. Because the day before I put on a self-bronzer nad I thought that was the reason. It turns out that the places that it appeared signified it had something to do with something I ate, not something I applied all over my body. Huh, that was a relief! 🙂 The thing is I cannot use solariums any more, my dermatologist almost had a heart attack when she heard I went ocasionally because I am pretty pale and have a light skin tone (hence the wish to go) and I am prone to birthmarks (I even had to have some removed). Imagine then my fear that I will not be able to use self-bronzer just when I finally found a good one (by Decleor), I know that it’s good because I already used it twice before so I did think it strange that suddenly it caused an allergic reaction.

Well, it turns out it’s not that, although I don’t know what is it that I ate that might have caused it. And I am still a bit upset because I’m waiting for my arms to clear completely and I’m not putting any perfume on to try, so I feel a bit depressed.

The other thing is, each morning I look at my perfume shelf and cannot choose anything with the feeling, this is IT. I am looking for a perfect spring scent and I don’t have one. All of those on the shelf are great but none of them strikes me as the ONE. I was giving it some serious thought and what I came up with as what I would like it to smell is that it has to be warm and not in a summer or winter way, but in a spring way. I enjoyed the spring this year so much, smelling all those budding flowers and trees and that it the kind of smell I’d like. Warm like a spring day, sweet smelling of growing flowers and slightly wet grass, with just a hint of dust and traffic in the background… Am I looking for too much? Or, more likely, is it somewhere out there but I just don’t know its name and where to look for it? Any ideas would be very welcome.

Today I’m wearing Belle en Rykiel EdT and thinking where did it go? It’s one of the things I bought while smelling it on a strip and on me, it sort of disappears. OK, so I’m exaggerating a bit, it does not disappear but it is too close to the skin, and that’s not what I like at the moment.

I promise I’ll be more optimistic in my next post. 🙂

Your blog is F*ck!ng Fabulous Award

Uncategorized May 12, 2009 Comments: 4

Well, I have to say reading new posts on perfume blogs has been a surprise today. 🙂 Lovely Divina from Fragrance bouquet has awarded me a F*ck!ng Fabulous award and caught me completely by surprise (a very nice surprise I must admit). Now, all I have to do is explain the procedure, add 5 of my addictions and name 5 fabulous blogs.

Rules and instructions:

1. You have to pass it (the award) on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.
Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then “add image” it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the “picture” widget. Also, don’t forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

My addictions (huh, this might get embarassing):

1. Books. Ok, so not all books but the fact that I like to read a lot means I have a lot of books (and a serious lack of space) and I am not happy about the fact that 10 years from now it will be much more difficult to buy them as paper copies instead of just downloading them to my Kindle or whatever else might come along. And honestly, I am seriously addicted to Harry Potter and Kresley cole’s IAD series.

2. Body and hair products. I simply have to try all the body lotions/creams/butters I can get my hands on (I have dry skin and use them up pretty fast) and even when I find something great, I just have to try something new. The same goes for hair – for someone with such short hair, I spend more time thinking about it and loving it than anyone I know (personally). 🙂 Favorites at the moment: body – Korres, hair – Tigi.

3. Perfume. You knew that one was going to be on this list. 🙂 This might sound superficial to someone not sharing this addiction but I honestly feel like the world has opened its doors and shown me new vistas that bring so much joy and learning into my life.

4. I’m trying to curb this addiction – underwear and bathing suits. Don’t know where this came from but I simply love underwear and I mean all kinds: sporty, elegant, sexy, casual, whatever catches my attention. The same goes for bathing suits (and I blame VS site for that one). I have way too many for the amount of time I spend actually at the sea side.

5. And I’m up to five and don’t know which one to put here. So, I’ll simply list something I enjoy very much – whisky and wine. I love the taste of whisky (favorites being Johnny Walker Black, Jameson and Chivas) and enjoy very much a glass (or two) of good wine. 🙂

Ok, onto the fabulous blogs out there:

1. First and foremost, Divina’s Fragrance bouquet. I simply love the poetic way she has of describing perfumes. I feel like I’m following a scented story when reading her reviews. Wonderful!

2. I smell therefore I am by Abigail and Brian. They bring simplicity (by that I mean they are easy to follow and understand) and love of perfume to their reviews and are great to read.

3. The initial blog that put me on my way Now smell this – for a beginner that one is a well of information on just about anything a beginner perfumista needs to know and also keep track of new houses, perfumes and shopping hints. 🙂

4. And following straight behind that one and also deserving for spiking my perfume interest is Perfume posse. The way they write about perfume shows how it becomes one’s way of life (in a good sense) and gives you glimpses into their lives as well.

5. And last but not least, and a relatively recent find, WAFT by Carol – I love her short and to the point reviews that are often making me laugh. It feels to me that she brings so much joy into her reviews.

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

Random thoughts after weekend and pictures

Uncategorized May 5, 2009 Comments: 4

I was trying out what kind of pictures one can take with a digital camera so I’ll post some here. Some of them are of a rosemary bush that will hopefully survive its accident (the wind turned it over and now we have to see whether the stem will heal itself).

You can’t see the stem, this is just a picture of the bush.

After smelling rosemary over the weekend, it seems to me now that the essential oil does not smell exactly like the bush. But then again it is a bit more concentrated than the smell wafting through the air. Anyway, both my boyfriend and I love the smell, so I do hope the bush survives.
There is also a laurel tree which is just fine. 🙂 And quite useful for its gastronomic purposes.

This last one I have no idea what it is, but it grows in the garden as well, so I took a photo of it. If anyone knows, feel free to enlighten me (I don’t really recognize many plants, or flowers for that matter).

And the last one is of a blackbird which seems to have taken permament residence in the garden because all day long he/she just wandered around looking for food and making rustling noises (making me wonder who is walking around the garden). Hope he stays.

One other thought that came to me yesterday while I was smelling Amouage Lyric woman (and how great is that one – wonderful!) is how I’ve been reading about brands trying to sell their fragrances by making customers fall in love with the top notes and going home with something that might not prove so great later. What has been happening to me lately is that I came across many fragrances that didn’t smell so great at the first sniff but then later became absolutely wonderful. Which is pure luck because I don’t usually give it much thought if it doesn’t smell interesting from the beginning (shame on me, I know). 🙂 And that brings me to Bulgari Omnia Green Jade which I still need to try again and see if that was one of those days when everything smelled great or do I truly like it?

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. 🙂

A bit of everything before I leave

Uncategorized April 30, 2009 Comments: 2

First of all, I am happy to say I’ll be sending The Six scents decants to Divina. 🙂 I hope you find them as interesting as I do.

Tomorrow is Labour day and that being holiday, I’m supposed to leave today for a long weekend at the sea side but the problem is, it is raining terribly now in Zagreb and the same is true for the rest of Croatia. 😦 The only good thing is it is supposed to get better tomorrow and even sunnier and warmer for the weekend. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

While there, I’ll have my hands busy with trying my new set of ordered samples from Aus Liebe zum Duft and I don’t whether to hope or not, finding some new loves. Lately it seems I have days when whatever I smell, I simply love. I should have some set of standards, don’t you think? For example, yesterday I had 5 minutes before meeting a friend and I went to Mueller to see if they have anything new, and they did. They have Givenchy 2008 harvest. I hope this means that the flowers were harvested in 2008, not that it was the year when the line launched (beacuse that would mean we are more than a little late over here – which actually wouldn’t surprise me all that much). Anyway, what I wanted to say is that I sniffed all 4 of them but only Amarige Ylang-Ylang from Madagascar and Organza Orange blossom from Morocco smelled interesting enough to spritz them on my arm. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m happy with myself for doing that, beacuse I like them both very much. I didn’t have much time yesterday to sniff them properly, but they definitely deserve another trip to the store to make sure they are as good as I found them yesterday. At some point I thought I detected a hint of banana in Ylang-Ylang but I think that might not be right. Hmmm, I just read the notes and it seems there is the green banana note there. 🙂 Since I am a beginner here, discovering a note makes me very happy.

What doesn’t make me happy is the fact that 50ml EdP costs 90E and I like both of them. I’ll re-try and see if I can make one of them smell less nice. 🙂

That’s all from me before I leave for the weekend to enjoy some sea breeze and sun (I’m quite optimistic the weather will turn in the right direction). Hopefully, I’ll have some pictures when I return.

Christian Lacroix Absynthe Avon

Uncategorized April 28, 2009 Leave a comment

It seems I’ve been buying more bottles as the recession keeps getting stronger. 🙂 I have a strange way of reacting to it. Gaia, the non-blonde had a nice post on the subject of lipstick effect of recession.

Anyway, to get to my review of the day, one of those bottles was Absynthe. This is not the first Avon perfume I bought, but of the last 5 purchases of Avon perfumes, this is the one I’ll keep (I gave the others away).

Official notes are: top-anise, absynthe extract, freesia, middle – orchid, floral notes, narcissus absolut, saffron, base – woodsy notes, myrhh, musk, amber, antique wood and ebony wood.

I have never tried or smelled absynthe but from what I read about it, I can definitely say that you can imagine its smell from the first sniff of the Absynthe. It seems people describe the smell of absynthe as anisic, herbal/medicinal with a slight lemon balm hint. Well, the initial blast of Absynthe brings you anise and the sweet, slightly herbal whiff of it combined with a liquorish scent of what would be absynthe extract and all of it balanced with freesia. The smell feels full without actually being heavy on the senses. It is defined as aromatic, but I can’t honestly say that I would term it so because it balances somewhere between sweet, aromatic and floral. 🙂 That is really not a helpful statement. The thing is I really don’t like sweet scents and although there is sweetness here it is not too much for me because it is underscored with herbal tones.

The package and the bottle are green and aptly so, seeing the smell feels green as well. I can’t tell that the middle tones take the front at some point in time, the initial blast of sweet, herbal anise and absynte extract is somewhat dissipated but it remains there until the drydow. I was wondering actually what does orchid smell like in perfume? Because the orchids I tried smelling here do not give off any kind of smell. Anyway, to get back to Absynthe, getting to drydown, first I get a slight resinous smell which is then combined with all those woody notes. I love the drydown, it smells a lot like Feminite du Bois by Shiseido, sensuous resinuous-woody smell I like very much.

I am happy now that I bought this one even after all those unsuccessful tries before. There was a note in all of them that was so shrill to my nose that I just lost everything else that was in their perfumes and the note stayed in my nose for too long. I have the same problem with some of Estee Lauder’s scents but I haven’t figured out what exactly it is yet.

Image by: www.punmiris.com (image might be copyrighted)

Notes by: www.fragrantica.com

Two of the Six scents and a draw

Uncategorized April 24, 2009 Comments: 4

I decided to review two of the Six scents I own and don’t wear. 🙂 It feels wrong wearing something that was only made in sets of 2000 bottles and won’t be around when I finish my bottles. But, I’ll be definitely wearing Urban Tropicalia (no 1) when the summer comes. So, I’ll start with that one.

That one starts with a right fruit blast. I mean that in a good way because, first I love all kinds of fruit but one of my favorites is definitely green apple, so you can imagine I adore the first sniff of this one that smells like green apple and the cassis is a nice balancing touch. It makes me positively salivate and feel hungry when I smell it. It just feels happy and sunny and in my opinion is going to be great for summer because it has this sour, citrusy hint that makes it in my opinion bring freshness and breeziness to a summer day. This fruity smell lasts quite long and in the drydown it lessens somewhat (although hints of apple can still be traced) and smells soft, white and floral.

Official notes: Erogenous Cedar wood – Amber Fond, Lemon, Cassis De Bourgeons, Lime, Green, Apple, Apricot, Jasmine, Tagete, Freesia, Cinnamon, Musk

The other one I have is No. 4 – Diagonal. Well, that one is certainly difficult to decipher. It feels like quicksilver, you just start to form an opinion and it changes. My thoughts about it change as well, but honestly even if I’m not sure I will be able to wear it, it is so strange that I can’t help but be fascinated by it. I love the fact that I smell pepper in this grey combination (that’s how it feels in my head) and you can feel hints of pepper for quite long. Smelling pepper and black tea, I start thinking it might get heavy on the senses but it successfully skirts that and never gets there. I start liking what I smell because underneath that pepper something airy surfaces and then a minute later I’m no longer sure because suddenly it disturbs my stomach. 🙂 Strange, interesting scent. I’ll be sniffing it more in days to come to see if I can decipher more of it. The drydown is not difficult on the stomach anymore and since I don’t know how either amyris or palissander smell like, all I can say is there is a hint of some floral sweetness but really, just a hint. I would definitely recommend this one just sniffing for impressions.

Notes listed: Dill, Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Palissander, Black Tea, Amyris, White Amber, Musk

Since I own bottles of both and to celebrate the fact that I have already written my third real review and passed the number of 10 posts, I’m giving 5 ml decants of the two and if you would like to participate, just leave a comment. The winner will be announced on April 30.

Notes by: http://www.six-scents.com/
Images: stylecrave.com, hypebeast.com

Reading in the rain

Uncategorized April 21, 2009 Comments: 4

It seems I won’t be smelling much these days, after all the sunny, wonderful days of last week, this week is cold, rainy and on top of it all I have a cold.

All I managed to sniff of the Le Labo samples are Vetiver 46, Ambrette 9 and Iris 39. First two didn’t impress, they are ok. I mean they smell nice and forgettabel. Iris 39 is definitely not something I would wear but I honestly sniffed it a lot because I found it interesting. It smelled green and bitter and strict and I imagined it would be a perfect smell for a strict, middle-aged professor. 🙂 Hence, not for me.

What I did manage to do last few days is read two of Mary Balogh’s romance novels – at the moment, she’s the author whose novels I’m going through (after having those phases with Stephanie Laurens, Nora Roberts, Keri Arthur, etc.). When I come across an author I like, I just start reading everything I can get my hands on from that author. What I like about Balogh’s novels is the fact that from all the romance novels I’ve read so far (and believe me, the number is quite high), her characters and plot seem most real. Not in the sense that those are likely realistic stories but in a way that romance and love and passion can be found in everyday relationships. I have no idea why is that the idea I got from her stories because all those ‘historical’ romance novels are, well, pretty much similar. 🙂 But I guess every author I keep reading puts her stamp on those stories to make them jump out of the crowd for me. So, Mary Balogh just joined my list. And reading is what gets me through these rainy days and how I fight my cold.