Tag Archives: L’Artisan Parfumeur

Almost strangled by tuberose: L’Artisan Tubereuse

World of Perfume February 5, 2010 Comments: 18

The title might sound as if I didn’t like what I smelled and that would be very wrong. But it isn’t that simple.

I wonder what tuberose fans think of this one? I only dabbed it on my wrist and I got hit by a tuberose wall (for a lack of better description).

Notes: tuberose, ylang-ylang, coconut milk.

As you can see, there aren’t really that many notes to decipher but I still didn’t smell coconut milk. πŸ™‚ It’s camouflaged in all the tuberose.

Anyway, my nose was almost glued to my wrist after putting it on – it actually smelled narcotic to me. And I think this is the first time that my mind instantly associated tuberose with smelling tropical. The smell is actually so strong and saturated that I could feel the imagined tuberose jungle lianas winding around me while I stand there dazed and keep smelling it.

And although I really enjoyed smelling it, I’m not sure I would be able to wear it. I just can’t imagine smelling like that (not that that might not happen, who knows what will be my favourite note year from now?).

I guess I did smell ylang-ylang because I got the feeling of tropical lushness. This is the first scent for which I can say that it grabs you by the neck and doesn’t let go with its intensity. I’m sure if you’re not careful with applying, you are definitely going to give yourself a headache. But you will probably be drugged by the smell, so you might not care. πŸ™‚

L’Artisan Parfumeur: Vanilia

Uncategorized January 20, 2010 Comments: 6

I think the time has come to give this a proper review. After all, I do have a bottle now and I’ve been wearing it for some time. And it never ceases to amaze me.
I tend to skip it when I’m deciding what to wear in the morning, it’s just that I always think of it as a warm, comforting scent that kind of makes you blend in. Like wearing something that makes you look like just one more face in the crowd.
Today I concluded that I’m both right and wrong. It does smell warm and comfortable but I don’t see (smell) many people around me who actually smell this addictive. πŸ™‚ And that is what it smells like to me – addictive.
When I first spray it on, I get a large dose of wet and lush tropical-smelling vanilla. And I realized that I would definitely term this as a gourmand smell but without any foody connotations. It never reminds me of anything edible. Anyway, I was thinking how there must be a lush smelling (probably tropical) plant in this together with vanilla and while enjoying the ride, I started getting hints of warm spices. As I was considering the fact that I seem to smell clove everywhere these days and that I shouldn’t jump to clove as soon as I smell spice, I went in search for notes.
I don’t know how many of you were looking for Vanilia notes, but they tend to differ. πŸ™‚
So first I got: ylang-ylang, vanilla bean, amber and sandalwood. Aha! There WAS some tropical lushness in this.
So I looked some more thinking how come there is no spice listed and I found another list: ylang-ylang, vanilla and vanilla flower, nutmeg, clove and sandalwood. No amber in this. And then one more list without ylang-ylang in it and listing only spices.
I’m not sure about the amber but everything else seems to be there. Of course, I don’t really know what vanilla flower smells like but my guess is really harmoniously with ylang-ylang. After I read nutmeg, I got that as well.
I was reading some of my older notes on Vanilia and saw that I wrote about a salty undertone. I would have missed it this time, I was preoccupied with lush-tropical vanilla but it’s there. It is the exact thing to make this adhere to non-foody road of development. Where does it come from – I’m not sure but my guess is that ylang-ylang brings it out from vanilla.

Now, that I’ve re-read my post I’m not sure you got the idea of what it smells like. πŸ™‚ I realize I sometime have a problem with expressing coherently my thoughts on things. πŸ˜‰
Picture by: expat21.wordpress.com

Perfume shopping in Zagreb – Viktor Koncept

Perfume shopping November 11, 2009 1 Comment
My hometown might not be Paris, London or New York but we do have our share of niche perfumeries. πŸ™‚ Thank God for that.

I don’t how many people will visit Zagreb and decide to to go niche perfume shopping, but in case some get the urge, I decided to do a series of posts after visiting each of the stores. Those visits might prove a bit hard on my credit card account but will certainly make me happy, like the one yesterday to Viktor Koncept proved to be.
All the shops I plan to visit are located in the centre of the city but since that is a relatively large area, I am attaching a map to the address, Kralja DrΕΎislava 10.

Viktor Koncept is not only a niche perfumery but as the name might indicate, also a concept store. I wasn’t interested yesterday in perusing the rest of the store that contains clothes, shoes and accesories for men and women, and some cute house accesories as well (I checked those the last time I was there).
I have to admit, I wasn’t there for quite a while, so I got terribly upset with myself after entering and discovering that they have significantly improved their offer with new lines. I mean, I know why I didn’t go (trying not to spend money) but I still should have. At least there is still time to change that and try everything I find interesting, or the SA finds interesting. I didn’t achieve a rapport with the lady there but she was still nice and at some point in time, seeing my obvious interest, presented some of the Comme des Garcons fragrances I might find interesting (I was mostly focused on them yesterday).

My most pressing concern in going there yesterday was trying the L’Artisan’s Vanillas since I know Viktor holds the line. They still didn’t have the Havana Vanille on offer but had one bottle left of Vanilia. So I tried the Vanilia and while I was discussing my wish to compare it to Havana, another SA came and said that they just got yesterday the sample and if I wanted, they could spray it for me to try. I mean, what they had was a 10 ml decant bottle, not the actual sample bottle. Not only Havana Vanille, but they also had a small bottle of Al Oudh as well. πŸ™‚ And of course I tried that one as well. What can I say – I’ve learned to appreciate and respect ouds but I still have a problem wearing them. I had no more space on my wrists so I only tried a strip of this one, but that was enough. I not only find it wearable, I find it sexy of all things (I’m not sure if that was the intended idea). It’s obviously an oud fragrance but it is so much more (it takes you to faraway places that speak to your soul and seduce you).
This oud is going to find it’s way to me sooner than later. πŸ™‚

Actually, this was not the point I was trying to make, I got sidetracked by oud.
After spraying Havana Vanille on a strip and smelling it, it was obvious straight away that this was not the vanilla I was going to take home. I got hit by sweet vanilla, rum and dried fruit and had to remove it from my nose straight away. I am planning to give it space on my wrist in the future but I’m not holding my hopes up for it. I do understand now why people are upset that Vanilia is going out of production. But my bottle is safe now. πŸ™‚

This is turning into a long post. πŸ™‚ So, to get to the point. If you are interested in tracking down the following lines in Zagreb, Viktor Koncept is where you can find them:
– I already mentioned L’Artisan and CdG

– Parfums de Nicolai (including home fragrances and lovely bottles for holding them)

– Etat Libre d’Orange (no Fat Electrician yet)

– Penhaligon’s

– Byredo (and candles)

– Villoresi

– Carthusia

– Juliette has a gun

– Escentric Molecules

– Boudicca

– Parfum D’Empire

– Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier (can’t wait to try them)

– Parfumerie Generale
– Parfum d’Orsay

– and lastly, they have Cire Trudon candles.
My appetite for discovery is only whetted now. I plan to visit in a month or so (just before Christmas) since that’s around the time they are expecting some new additions (like CdG Daphne, Penhaligon’s Amaranthine and I have high hopes I might find Al Oudh then as well).
Come back next week and see what else can be found in Zagreb.

Pictures by: Viktor Koncept facebook page.

Wearing Timbuktu

Uncategorized October 14, 2009 Comments: 2

I was finally wearing Timbuktu today, after sort of going around it for months. Now, one would wonder why would someone buy a bottle of a scent and do one’s best to avoid it as long as possible? Well… What I had in my mind of Timbuktu was both true and imagined. I remembered it as a dry incense thingy that just, you know, is, well, only ok. How wrong I was! It is incensey and dryish but there’s so much more to this scent!

My untrained nose gets this smokey incense that slightly burns my nose, a bit later mixed with dry fruit (that’s how I feel it) and some patchouli. This is an EdT but it lasts all day on me and is just wonderfully strange. πŸ™‚ I lack better words to describe it.

Notes by Luckyscent: green mango, pink pepper berries, karo-karounde flower, cardamom, smokey incense, myrrh, vetiver and patchouli.

What I actually found fascinating today is that this is a scent you have to be able to wear. It is without a doubt a masterpiece but not exactly in the perfume terms per se.

I’ve been really stressed out lately and frustrated and felt like my back was slowly lowering toward the ground under all the accumulated hardship. On top of it all, I have a cold. And this morning, I decided it was time to take Timbuktu out again. As soon as I sprayed it on, I felt I was breathing easier. Which is really strange because having a cold sort of limits the enjoyment of a perfume – usually the first spray makes me sneeze. What I mean is it didn’t clear my nose, but it cleared my head. I felt like someone took the burden off my back and I was finally breathing easier after quite a while. And the result was that I knew what my path from now on should be. That is some good work for an edt if you ask me. πŸ™‚

I believe there will always be a bottle of Timbuktu in my perfume closet/drawer/room (ok, hopefully it won’t be that bad that I’ll need a room). We all sometimes need someone or something to reconnects us with our unconscious self which might know the way forward but is unable to communicate it to our conscious self and now, I have a solution. For myself of course. But I suggest you give it a try. You never know what your unconsciousness might tell you…

And beware, it might not be easy or expected or something you like. But it still might be necessary.

Perfume thoughts

Perfume thoughts July 14, 2009 Comments: 8

Unfortunately, lately I sense a definite lack of time in my daily routine. Have no idea why suddenly there are so many things requiring my attention, but the only thing is to go with it, it also will pass. If not sooner, when I leave for my (well-deserved if I say so myself) vacation.

So, experiencing a serious time problem, the only thing I have time to write about are sentence or two about scents I’ve tried recently.

Foremost in my head is the fact that I’m heading down the new bottle road after reading a review of Chanel Cristalle edt by Vetivresse (July 9) – I tried it yesterday, and it hit all my buttons. One of the loveliest green scents I tried in a long time. And I so wanted to try and save my money… Or at least not spend so much.

I finally got my hands on Tea for two by l’Artisan and although I loved the opening (I’m very much into tea in any manner it can be experienced), the drydown was too sweet for my taste. It’s not actually that sweet, but I’m more of a salt person, so too sweet for me is probably normally sweet for everyone else.

I keep saying how much I love Lucky scent’s sample packs, and I’ll keep saying it. πŸ™‚ They are great. My last one contained samples of Amouage Reflection masculine and feminine. I really liked Masculine version, it smells like a male version of Amouage Lyric. Which is good because I love Lyric (not so much the price though). The feminine Reflection is some aquatic, light thingy that left me completely cold and not impressed.

Yesterday I was contemplating how much my nose has changed during the last year. I’m nowhere near having even an average knowledge of perfume but I seem to enjoy more different scents than before, and appreciate notes I don’t find wearable but that seem to be well incorporated into a scent. I know I tried L’Artisan Ete en douce last year and dismissed it straight away (I’m not going to say what I though of it then), yesterday I tried it again and found it lovely. I’m still not sure I’ll be wearing it anytime soon, but it seems I’m on my way.

Picture of what I wait to see in person in 2 1/2 weeks. πŸ™‚

Two short reviews (rainy garden and vanilla)

Uncategorized July 7, 2009 Leave a comment

Yes, I finally got my hands dirty with some new fragrances. Today I testes L’Artisan’s Vanilia and AG Un matin d’orage. I’ve read a lot about Un matin d’orage so I knew I wanted to try it, but Vanilia sort of flew under my radar, being a vanilla scent. I have a strong dislike of vanilla, after smelling a whole lot of vanilla car smells that keep making me sick.

Vanilia notes:vanilla flower, ylang-ylang, vanilla bean, amber, sandal.

Well, it certainly does not fit my vanilla image but that’s good. That’s actually more than good because I think a bottle of this might be coming my way. πŸ™‚ It starts like sweet, white flowers with a light green-fresh undertone. I read a review at Now smell this and Robin mentioned the slight smokiness. After I read that, I did smell it but I don’t think I’d get it on my own. I like smokiness in my scents but those tend to be unmistakeable. πŸ™‚ After a while, it settled onto a salty, white vanilic flower with a hint of smokiness and bark. Absolutely wonderful. Such a comfort smell. And I keep wondering where did the saltiness come from?
Un matin d’orage notes: gardenia, magnolia, lemon, perilla leaves, ginger, jasmin sambac, champaca, sandalwood.
Although I’m a city girl, my grandmother had a garden and I spent many wonderful days playing there with my sister and cousins (coming home dirty and going straight into the bathtub). πŸ™‚ But I do remember the smell after a downpour. This does it complete justice. I get the whole aquatic-ozonic opening (more ozonic than aquatic if you ask me) and it smells of wet flowers, greenery and earth, and that ozonic layer making it seem you’re standing there just afterwards. I find it fascinating when perfumers manage to catch that one moment and give it form. I’m not going to break it down into notes, I love the wholeness of it and the fact that the ozonic hint does not disappear after the initial appearance. Now, after all this, I don’t think I want to smell like it but I’ll be using the little sample I have to smell it again and again.