Tag Archives: Cuirelle

Easing into spring with Impossible Iris by Ramon Monegal

World of Perfume March 11, 2014 Comments: 14

We had a really strange winter this year (more like no winter at all) so it started feeling like spring in the middle of February. But the spring is basically here this week. even though it seemed to have been hesitating for a while.

Like me when it comes to perfume. I’m not really sure what to wear these days, something still for the cold days or something spring-like?

So, at the moment I’m exploring the flowers with some warm undertones. Which is how I came to try and like Impossible Iris with its fruity warmth and cool iris.

Notes: Italian Iris Concrete, Cassie d’Egypte Absolute, Raspberry, Comoran Ylang-Ylang, Egyptian Jasmine Absolute and Virginian Cedarwood.

I saw that many reviews center themselves around the raspberry note. It makes sense, as that fruitiness cannot be missed and lasts for quite a while. But for the life of me, when I first smelled it, I couldn’t come up with raspberry as the fruit I smelled. I thought it was more in line with forest berries with some orange (possibly peaches) thrown in. Turns out I was very wrong.impossile

The thing is, I have a hard time putting into words exactly what I smell.

I love the fact that it feels like a cousin of Cuirelle, due to a similar grey feel (I wonder if that’s cedarwood). I haven’t explored many of the Monegal perfumes so I can’t say if there is a signature to it.

For me, Impossible Iris starts with a light cleaner-like smell, slightly citrus-y with a hint of evergreen. Hmm, looking at my notes and the official notes, I wonder what in the world do I think I’m smelling?! 😉

Anyway, the fruitiness is there from the start basically and at some point it actually overpowers the flowers. But not for long. The perfume also veers on the edge of white muskiness (or whatever kind of musks is in everything these days) but I say veer, as the musk never bothers me like it usually does, instead it feels more like a facet of the iris than anything else.

The general feel of this perfume is like the raspberry iris is resting on a warm mattress of hidden white flowers. With some cedar chips thrown in to make it more elegant. With such a beautiful aura.

That is one thing I cannot help but think about when I think of this perfume – the beautiful warm iris-y aura you waft around yourself when you wear it. Definitely helped by the raspberry note. 🙂

My sample came courtesy of the Monegal company.

2013. The year that was

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume December 31, 2013 Comments: 24

I have no better words to describe it. It was, it’s over now.

I look back on it and all I can think is, thankfully, it’s over. Nothing bad happened to me but it still felt like a bad year, full of bad news (both domestic and international), lethargy, indifference, deaths – generally, a year that didn’t display human kind at its best (an understatement) and did display it at some of its worst.

I always feel guilty for thinking like this, I feel I am being ungrateful. Compared to most of the world, I lead a life of plenty. And realistically speaking, it’s true. I lack for nothing, quite the contrary, I have a great family, a nice job, a good education, great circle of friends. I live in a beautiful country. I travel. I can buy perfumes and books. I am also healthy and hopefully will remain so.

So why feel like my year was one I just went through? Because it was. It mostly feels like a year where I went through all the motions of my everyday life when actually it felt more like hibernation with some small sparks of life.

But I want to focus on all the positive things this year brought me (because it feels like the hibernation period might be over) and one should always bring in the new year on a positive note. 🙂

 

PERFUME

This year has brought me some true treasures. 🙂black smoke

I discovered Cuirelle by a lucky chance and fell in love completely.

Suzanne opened my eyes to what incredibly happy perfume 24, Faubourg is.

I listened to Maurice Roucel give a talk on perfumes and met some new perfume friends.

And then the new Puredistance Black came out. And speaking of black, it really has become my favorite color to wear.

 

 

BOOKS

I discovered I am hooked to post-apocalyptic novels of any and every caliber – YA, horror, zombie, romance – you name it, I’ll probably enjoy it. I do wonder about what that says about me because I’m scared of the actual possibility (some of them sound too realistic). Am I preparing for the possibility?!passage

I haven’t read World War Z but I did see the movie and loved it. I’m guessing the book is better. When someone asks me what I want for birthday, that will be on my list (although I can already see the eye-rolling accompanying my wish for more books). 😀

I also think I will never reach my annual goal of 100 books. Last year I came closest, but this year, I think it’s the worst so far. Maybe I should sign up for the 50 books a year challenge, I would be able to finish that one. 😉

 

THE REST

The highlights of my year have been the trips to Vienna and Rome. In Vienna I finally got to meet the lovely Birgit and her boys, with an additional surprise of meeting Sandra and her son as well.

Rome was a trip we planned while in Paris in 2012. I cannot say how happy I am that I got to meet with Suzanne, Mark and Asali in Rome again. I thought there wasn’t a city in the world that could remove Paris from the top of my list of places I would love to live, but there’s Rome. I love that city and I hope to visit it again soon.

View from the park above Spanish steps

View from the park above Spanish steps

It might seem like I had a very active year, what with finishing 4 half-marathons in 3 different countries, but that was an uphill fight all the time, as all I wanted to do was stay home and read, and not go out and run. Still, you can’t tell that from the races, so at least it looked good on the outside. 😉

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See how tired I was?!

But I took time off for the last two months as I needed to replenish my physical and psychological energy levels. I actually feel better now.

So, without further ado,

Wishing you all a successful, fulfilling New Year full of happiness, laughter and joy!

*off to toast to that with a glass of champagne*

Champagne_glass_flower_stem_shape

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.

cuirelle
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.

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