Tag Archives: niche perfume

Sharing the perfume bug

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume March 6, 2014 Comments: 22

I can’t really say I shared the perfume love as what I chose requires more getting used to than what people generally smell in mainstream stores (god, that sounds so condescending). 🙂

Anyway, yesterday I shared my love and a little bit of my collection with my female colleagues. I already had several perfume-y coffees with one who then spread the word. So that is how yesterday I ended up giving them a crash course through what perfumery offers if you know where to look.

I admit to being ambitious and offering them 22 perfumes to try. 😀 That was mean of me. 😉 And they did!
I never expected them to find anything to love among them, my goal was to make them understand how many more notes and possibilities exist out there and that they should try and figure out if they possibly like something and might want to discover more.

What I learned surprised me. 🙂 It seems people  (women in this case) are fed up with sweet perfumes. That was what everyone kept saying, I don’t want anything sweet. And the general consensus on what they found good was also surprising (although it shouldn’t be as I love it as well).

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I made them cheat sheets with all the perfumes so they can take notes for themselves

That was Monegal’s Cuirelle. 🙂 Closely followed by Tom Ford’s Tuscan Leather. 

I shouldn’t get surprised anymore that Cuirelle is such a hit among people who smell it. Especially after reading Birgit’s interview with Ramon Monegal where he said his favorite perfume is “true leather”. It’s obvious he knows what to do with that. 😉

It was a boisterous gathering (all perfume gatherings somehow end up boisterous) and we laughed a lot. I heard some interesting adjectives being ascribed to perfumes:

– smells like toothpaste (for Vamp a NY)

– lemon peel! (Bigarade Concentree)

– Terrible! Smells like sweat. Just too much. (Tubereuse Criminelle – I had to bring that one for shock effect) 😉

– Toilet cleaner (Tuscan Leather) – actually have no idea how that came about…

We agreed to meet again with a selection geared more toward spring and summer in a couple of months.

I definitely hope to keep this up until their perfume vocabulary upgrades from: It’s interesting/ok/sweet/too much, to – Oh, I smell white flowers/amber/green stuff, etc..

That’s not asking too much, is it? 😉

 

Perfume shopping in Zagreb – TOP

Perfume shopping, World of Perfume May 14, 2013 Comments: 11

There is a new niche place to visit in Zagreb! 🙂 And, it’s one that is right on me routes around the town. The address being Tomiceva 4.

You can check their facebook site too.

It opened yesterday, when I learned about it from my Zagreb perfume crowd – so of course I went to check it out today.

The place is rather small and cosy (when compared to other niche destinations in Zagreb) and at the moment, you are greeted by Borut, the lovely SP who I first met at Viktor Koncept.

It might seem like there aren’t many lines there at the moment (the number will definitely grow once Croatia enters the EU) but I had to stop smelling at some point as my brain decided to process what I’ve smelled so far.

So, here are my reflections so far.

I am happy to say it seems L’Artisan’s Caligna will be available here (and I might get to try the tester even sooner, hopefully next week).

I finally got to test Blood Concept and even though I’m not sure I would wear any but my own group (A – strangely likeable) and realized again that I pretty much suck at rebus because I had to have the name +MA explained.

Also for the first time I tried A Lab on Fire perfumes – What We Do In Paris Is Secret is my favourite of the trio. The more I smell it, the more I fall in love. Well, I’m predisposed to it just by seeing the name. 😉 It is very romantic and seductive.

JHAG Mad Madame had the most intriguing opening and is the first JHAG perfume I liked from the start and the next time I’m there, I’ll give it some arm space (didn’t have any left today).

The more I smell Byredo line, the more I like them. I am not a fan of Inflorescense (or whatever is the name) but I quite like La Tulipe.

Of the LM Parfums I only tried O de Soupirs and I admit, it smelled much better on the blotter than on me.

A lovely surprise was Eight & Bob which I find a rather lovely concept and a perfume I will try at a later time when in passing.

So, from memory, here are the lines that can be found at TOP:

Juliette Has a Gun

Escentric Molecules

Parfum de Nicolai

Blood Concept

Naomi Goodsir

LM Parfums

Byredo

Eight & Bob

A Lab on Fire

LaDuree Beaute

L’Artisan Parfumeur

Puredistance I – my story

World of Perfume May 10, 2010 Comments: 19

And where to begin this story?
How about, here is what true niche house and exclusivity are. One perfume, not many places to buy it in the world but available to anyone with an internet connection. Well, available might be putting it a bit optimistic – you know, the cheapest bottle goes you can buy is 165 Euros. But there are always samples…
Ok, this doesn’t tell you much about what I think about it. I will try and do it justice but you know me, I sometimes (often) lack the words to describe things as accurately as they appear in my head, so I can only say I will do my best.
Honestly, the first sniff and my initial thought was, this is of the type of perfume I usually don’t wear (due to the fact that I haven’t actually smelled any of the classics I find wearable). And believe me, it won’t take you long to realize it’s a classic, even though not the classic as I seem to have understood it before Pure Distance I came along. You know, it’s hard writing about something which creates new associations each time you smell it. 🙂
I will follow Suzanne’s lovely example and skip the notes. They are really not that important, they can never describe the actual feeling. You might already be impatient to hear what that feeling is and now I’m going to say that the booklet I got with my bottle is completely correct and quote them:
“A lady stepping into a room crowded with people. Conversations stop. Everybody loooks at her. It is not here serene face.. there is the elegant, natural way she mover. And her simple, stylish white dress… So beautiful. Beautiful in a pure and natural way.”

“The name Puredistance originates from this dream. What makes the lady stand out from the crowd is her understated elegance. Which is the essence of Puredistance.”

I’ve been looking for the right words to describe this and then I read the booklet and there they were. But not only elegance. For me, Puredistance is exactly the way a woman seduces. It is a bit austere and cold at the beginning, with flowers hinting at femininity but not so much that you can be sure before she slightly smiles at you five minutes later. And still, you enjoy the company so much, the talk is gentle and intelligent, the atmosphere relatively relaxed but not really completely at ease. You can’t say she likes you yet, you are already falling a bit for her and she is standing there elegant, relaxed and with a little smile curving her lips. But after a while, you can see the signs telling there is warmth underneath that smile and the woman behind that elegance is the one you will never find tiresome.

That is what Puredistance I smells like to me. It’s there one minute, the next I’m wondering where did it go, only to find that it’s playing with me, seducing me with each new sniff I take.

And just so you know how strong a character I am, it took 3 tries for me to fall in love, while my boyfriend only smelled it from the bottle and asked me instantly: Are you going to wear this? For me? (with that knowing look). 🙂
I wish I could have given you more with my review. You can always go read Suzanne’s (she did it wonderfully).
I also had this serious doubt – you know, they were so kind to send me a bottle of this expensive perfume, what if I don’t like it? But I shouldn’t have had doubts. 🙂
And since people from Puredistance were so generous with me, I want to give you 2 samples from my bottle. Just comment and you will be entered. I can’t give more, I already promised my good friend a decant. 🙂
P.S. I remembered while getting to sleep I didn’t put the date until you can enter, until May 17 when I’ll randomly select the winners.
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