Tag Archives: perfume thoughts

Comfort zone – tuberose and vanilla

Perfume review, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume June 17, 2014 Comments: 11

Or, to give it a name Watch by M. Micallef. Or, Time for Love.

Although it seems tuberose might be a figment of my imagination as it’s not listed in the notes but I see people on Fragrantica thought they smell it too. Ylang-ylang as well,  but I’d say what I think of as tuberose could also be jasmine + ylang-ylang (sometimes I mix the two). But ylang-ylang isn’t listed either. 🙂

I had more fun smelling this while not looking at the listed notes. 😀watch

I cannot say it’s a breathtakingly novel perfume. Or that it will be loved by the masses (although you never really know but as it came out in 2002. and costs and arm and a leg, that’s a safe bet). 😉

What I can say is that it offers me comfort all day long as when you have tuberose and vanilla in a perfume, you can be pretty sure the longevity will work in its favor. 🙂 I’m guessing amber and musk help too and luckily the musk used here is one I am fine with (I don’t think they used too much).

Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the fruit and the peony except the fruit obviously works well with the sweet notes, and peony works well with the white notes. I also can’t help but wonder if there is some opoponax in there as well, as it has that special smell I always associate with my childhood play-doh equivalent.

No wonder I find it a comforting perfume…

Top notes: jasmine, vanilla and mandarin.                                                                      Heart: fruit and Chinese peony                                                                                        Base: amber and musk.

 

P.S. I knew I’d forget something. 🙂 This lovely perfume came to my through Asali who knows my perfume tastes better than I do at times.

The Vogue connection

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume May 1, 2014 Comments: 8

Turns out I get most of my perfume news out of the French Vogue. I wonder what that says about my perfumista proclivities… love rose

But, I must say that the new Reminiscence perfumes, White Tubereuse and Love Rose sound rather appealing.

Well, in my case, whenever I hear the word tuberose, it sounds appealing. 😉

Notes for Love Rose: start of citrus fruits, a refined heart of fusing rose, iris and jasmine absolutes, over an enticing musk base.That musk base doesn’t sound that promising, I have to say.w tubereuse

Notes for White Tubereuse: tuberose, ylang-ylang, cinnamon These notes, on the other hand, sound very promising. 🙂

 

One other perfume that sounds appealing as well (if only by name) – Extatic by Balmain.

extaticNotes: nashi pear, rose, osmanthus, orris, sharry baby orchid, woody-leathered trail (that was the best I could get out of the Balmain site).

Since I really like Ambre Gris by Balmain, I tend to think this might be good as well.

 

 

The French Vogue says Reminiscences are going to be 78 Euros per 50ml.

And Balmain site says Extatic is 42 Euros for a 40ml bottle.

Iris Nobile by Acqua di Parma, or

Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume April 7, 2014 Comments: 10
How I thought I didn’t care about iris perfumes

A long time ago, when I was a fletchling perfumista, I thought iris perfumes just weren’t for me. I don’t remember what it was I tried first, but somewhere at the beginning a decant of Iris Nobile found its way to me and I still remember how I was a bit underwhelmed.

I wonder to this day what exactly was I thinking. 🙂

Except for the fact that I love it, I think of it as a warm, mellow floral. Irisy, but also lightly sharp, a bit green and so very, very lovely.irisn3

Right from the start I get that warm, soft floral feel of iris underscored with warm notes. I can say they are the warm base notes (vanilla) as the whole thing reminds me a bit of an irisy dessert.

My mind thinks I smell jasmine and gardenia in it (as well as something menthol-like which seems to be anise) but once you look at the notes, it seems my nose is mixing up orange blossom for jasmine (wouldn’t be the first time).

Notes: iris petals, star anise, mandarin, bergamot, cedar flower, orange blossom, iris roots, vanilla and amber crystals.

I also discovered a strange thing while looking for the notes. I saw the citruses listed as the top notes and kept wondering how in the world I missed them while smelling and wearing this?! I mean, even though you expect them most of the times, I still thought I wouldn’t just fail to register them.

So I sprayed the perfume on a strip. Imagine my surprise when they all appeared there?! And lasted. It seems my skin kills off (eats) the citrusy notes in this perfume. And in my opinion, it is for the best. I love the way it smells on me.

Unfortunately though, I loved it a bit too much so now I have none.

Which wouldn’t be so bad if my search for notes hadn’t revealed the fact that what I had was probably the edt and not the edp now being sold (no chypre, patchouli notes in mine).

Does anyone know if the edt version of Iris Nobile still exists? The site doesn’t say so…

Open letter from Luc Gabriel (TDC) – Save the independent perfumery

Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume March 25, 2014 Comments: 6

I received this a couple of days ago and thought it needed to be shared as many times as possible.

Even if only one new person sees and reads this, the message will slowly spread.

 

Save the independant perfumery

March 19th 2014 – We are perfumers, perfumeries, brand owners. We drive our energy towards creating olfactory beauty and each of us is a key part of this amazing process that turns components into olfactory emotions, futile for some, of the essence for us and our clients.

The recent proposals made by the European Commission, if they become law, threaten to destroy fine perfumery as we know it, an art slowly built for centuries by creators and craftsmen and part of our cultural common good.

This destruction will end up in modifying formulas of mythical perfumes, in restraining the freedom of using key ingredients that are absolutely necessary for a creative high end perfumery (some of these components being used for centuries in our fragrances), in losing a unique know-how and in destroying thousands of jobs.

Our goal is to have our line of work recognized by the institutions and the general public as it is and always have been: a collective cultural good, a pillar of our history, an art which contributes to the beauty of the world.

We want to have the concept of Freedom recognized along the concept of Safety and Precautions and have perfumers free to create, brands free to develop and customers free to choose, our profession being already widely regulated.

Eventually, we intend to inform the general public and the institutions on the reality of our business and our products and communicate as widely and transparently as possible so that they make their choices fully aware and informed.

If you share our values and wish to contribute to saving a perfumery in danger, thank you for signing this manifest. We will inform you on a regular basis about the actions taken and we might also ask you to contribute to the ”think-tank” and our actions.

Truly yours.

Luc GABRIEL/The Different Company infoatthedc.fr – François HENIN/JOVOY

A lingering collection

Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume February 14, 2014 Comments: 20

That is what I have. 
My collection has been growing for years but unfortunately my perfume review output hasn’t. And I can’t get rid of anything I haven’t actually reviewed (unless it’s so bad I never want to smell it again). Or anything I grew out of in my smelling journey. The irony in all this is the fact that for what seems most of my life I’ve been lecturing my mom on clearing her life of stuff she no longer uses, only to end up in pretty much the same mess.
According to my limited knowledge of Feng-shui (very limited actually), the stuff you don’t use but only accumulate weighs down your life energy. As my life energy feels pretty much down most of the time, I’m guessing I did it to myself (well, it’s not really guessing if I’m sure of it). 😉

image

So basically, if I don’t want to weigh myself down I have two choices. Start writing even short reviews if I don’t have much to say so I can decide what to let go, or just have a quick smell and let go of at least half of the stuff I have (I’m talking mostly decants now).
Then again, I keep thinking what if there is something of what I let go I later decide I would like to revisit and I no longer have it?

Has anyone faced a similar problem? How do you let go of accumulated perfume which lingers because you never got the time to get to know it?
Should I let it go or still try to get to know it?

I must say, I don’t have such problems with clothes. At least my wardrobe is clear of lingering clothes… 😉

Behind times

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume February 4, 2014 Comments: 15

It’s not really surprising I’m behind perfume news considering how much free time for it I have (basically none). It’s a busy time at work and after it there really isn’t that much time (or energy) left for anything but bed.

But I don’t want to bore you all with the fact I have no free time, I was more shocked with the fact that pleasantly surprised as I was with what I thought were news about the new Dior Collection Privée Elixirs Précieux (Rose, Ambre, Oud and Musc) – a short Google search showed it was only news to me. 🙂

Even though it is only news to me, I got very excited after reading the French Vogue article where they said they were meant for layering. I must say I have high hopes of them smelling good by themselves and together.

Seeing though that they cost 280 €, I might have to decide they don’t really smell that great… 😉

Featured today at Olfactoria’s

World of Perfume October 30, 2013 Comments: 10

As part of her People in Perfumeland series!

I feel honored to have been asked. 🙂 So head on over there to read my answers.

The Scent of the Ballet – Penhaligon’s Iris Prima

Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume August 27, 2013 Comments: 20

Recently another company released a perfume based on the ballet story which unfortunately did not live up to the idea I had when reading about it.

If you watch the movie done in collaboration with the English National Ballet, all I can add is – this perfume might (live up to the idea of ballet).

“Iris Prima is a work of olfactory choreography, with Iris Absolute in the role of the prima ballerina. In a unique partnership with English National Ballet, Penhaligon’s has set about capturing the very essence of the ballet, turning to master perfumer Alberto Morillas as choreographer.  Iris Prima will launch on the 9th of September…”

I got goose-bumps watching it. 🙂

 

P.S. My favourite part: ” Hard work and Deep Heat.”  (it’s what I use on my aching muscles too)

A new parfum by the famous French shoemaker Repetto

World of Perfume July 1, 2013 Comments: 9

repettoBy perfumer Olivier Polge :

“It is a refined formula which seeks for perfection through authenticity. It is an alliance of emotions: a satin veil which brushes the skin, a body which twirls and arches itself in an infinite grace. It is a musky powdery rose, where the rose is tutu by its dress, quintessence of femininity by its smell, mesmerizing by its beauty  and purity by its authenticity.”

By Repetto:

“A satin rose that the trail twirls to wrap you like an infinite satin ribbon. A graceful and carnal fragrance.”

Top notes: Pear & Cherry blossom

Heart notes: Rose & Orange blossom

Base notes: Vanilla & Amber wood

 

I love their ballerina flats, I wonder how much will I love this fruity rose…

All info and pic by Repetto.

Coming full circle

I've been thinking, Perfume thoughts, World of Perfume June 2, 2013 Comments: 15

After several years of, well not actually scorning but not wearing for sure, fruity-florals, I am now back where I started from.

Well, not exactly where I started from but back where I actually enjoy the smell of such perfumes and enjoy wearing them.cvivoć

It was the fact that all perfumes started smelling typical how I accidentally stumbled upon the perfume community. I don’t remember how it happened, I just remember it happening and after discovering this new perfume world, the fruity-florals lay forgotten by me in my pre-perfumista days.

I got a hint that things might be changing after discovering Aqua Fiorentina by Creed but I dismissed that as just a really good example of perfumes I no longer consider good.

As it happens, my scorn went and bit me in the, well, you know where.

it doesn’t mean I will be wearing solely fruity-florals from now on, it is just that I can  enjoy wearing them again, along with the rest of the wonderful perfumes out there.