My First Perfume Review: Puredistance Antonia

When it was the Second Night, said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, “O my sister, finish for us that story of the Merchant and the Jinni;” and she answered “With joy and goodly gree, if the King permit me.” Then quoth the King, “Tell thy tale;” and Shahrazad began in these words: It hath reached me, O auspicious King…”
The Thousand and One Nights

Less than a month ago I saw a tweet from Puredistance with an invitation to participate in the Scented Stories competition. I followed the link to their Facebook page and read:

Tell us your own Puredistance story! We invite you to participate in our Scented Stories competition.

Write us about your stories and special moments while wearing Puredistance. Illustrate your feelings, thoughts and sensations blended with your favorite Puredistance scent. If you express better with a image, send us a photo-mood of you wearing Puredistance. […]

The author of the most beautiful story or photo will have the opportunity to choose its favorite Puredistance fragrance! 17.5ml of either Puredistance I, ANTONIA or M.

We will announce the lucky winner on Wednesday, the 2nd of November.

I submitted my story about Puredistance Antonia perfume. And I won. Yesterday I got my prize and decided to share my story.

 

I’ve changed only formatting for publishing it here and inserted links but other than that I haven’t changed a word because it is a true story; I didn’t create it specifically for the draw.

A story of my first perfume review

I am a perfume blogger. When I thought about starting my blog I realized I wasn’t ready to do actual reviews: first of all, I didn’t have enough perfume knowledge (and I still don’t) and also because I live in an English-speaking country, most of my perfume-related communications with my Perfumeland’s friends are in English but English isn’t my native language. And I loved perfumes too much to try fitting them into the Procrustean bed of my language limitations. So my solution was to write not actual reviews but stories, memories, associations related to perfumes. The tagline for my blog reads “Perfumed Reflections of Life”.

I was writing my stories – several per month, just whenever I would remember something worth telling. I didn’t plan still to do any reviews. But then an owner of a friendly blog offered several of her samples for the draw  to those readers who would promise to write at least a three sentence review of the sample they would win. I entered the draw and won Puredistance Antonia.

I struggled with my review (it’s one thing to right to your baby-blog visited then, half a year ago, by a smallest group of fellow-bloggers and it’s much scarier to do something you’re not good at for a much wider audience, including the blog owner who happens to be a writer!). But I promised to write it so I did the best I could: luckily I liked the perfume (though sometimes it’s easier to write a snarky comment when you dislike something – but then I wouldn’t be able to submit the story for this draw).

Here’s my short review for Puredistance Antonia perfume:

When I smelled Puredistance Antonia on my wrist for the first time the adjective that flashed in my mind was “bewitching”. The scent was so unusual, so unexpected… It doesn’t remind me of any other scent I wore up till now. Now I got used to it, I anticipate our next encounter so I’m not shocked but still a little amazed. Every time.

It is very potent: several touches of the vial’s applicator give enough sillage and a staying power is just amazing. Not sure I could stand it sprayed: it might be too much. But from a dab vial it is just enough. A couple of times I felt almost tired of it but it never crossed this line. What is interesting about Antonia, on my skin for the first two hours it smells exactly the same, without changing or developing: sharp green scent with a hint of … rubber? Then it mellows down a little, becomes creamier and sweeter – and stays like that for hours. I tried Antonia four times on my wrist and once even wore it (meaning, I applied it as I would any other perfume if I was using it, not just testing). I couldn’t stop sniffing my wrist on all five occasions. I enjoy wearing this perfume and I will be wearing it again. A full bottle worth? I don’t know yet. It might be.

All of the stories on my blog are true stories – First Love: Perfume, My First Scrubber, My First Decant, etc. Probably one day this one will become a part of the story My First Perfume Review.

I’m wearing puredistance Antonia today, sprayed, and it feels great. At 25% concentration Antonia’s tenacity on my skin is just amazing so I don’t think I’ll use a nice handmade leather case that came with the perfume to carry it with me in my purse. But it should be great for traveling. And I think I’ll take it with me on my next trip to…

“And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say…”

Since it was very hard for me to write that first review, back in May I intentionally stayed away from reading any reviews for Antonia. But now nothing keeps me from reading them and, just in case you missed them earlier, read this inspiring review by Birgit at Olfactoria’s Travels or click through Dee’s post on her Antonia’s winning to her wonderful description of this perfume which is used by Luckyscent on its website. Here’s one more link to the extremely interesting post by Vanessa at Bonkers about Perfumes about her visit to the Puredistance offices.

Images: my own

WTD, Episode 4.2: In the Search for the Perfect Violet

If I look back and think about it, I always had two distinct associations for violets. They co-existed in my mind as if they belonged to the completely different subjects, not affecting each other.  A violet is a completely boring, slightly wilted small flower in the pot on a window sill. A violet is a tender flower somehow related to romantic love, Paris (street flower girls), Toulouse (violettes de Toulouse) and all such things that seem romantic when you’re young. But somehow neither of these two associations ever included a smell. I never thought of violets as of flowers that have a scent. Most likely, because the only variety I’ve ever been close to didn’t have any. So in this quest for the perfect violet perfume I’m not searching for the most realistic rendition of a violet since I still have no idea how that flower smells. I’m looking for the best implementation of the idea of a violet. Based on a commonality in all the violet perfumes I tested I reconstructed this note for myself.

As I did it before for lilac and linden I combine this episode of the Weeklong Test Drive (it features two Tom Ford’s violet-centered perfumes) with my periodic Single Note Exploration for the violet note in perfumes.

Blanc Violette by Histoires de Parfums – notes include violet, bergamot, iris, ylang-ylang, star anise, sandalwood, vanilla, musk and rice powder. It smells very clean and slightly powdery. There is some musk that feels too much from time to time but I do not smell it every time. Blanc Violette is an uncomplicated nice scent with medium sillage and tenacity (it stays on my skin for 3-4 hours). I can see a small bottle of this perfume in my collection after I’m done with the sample. I have to applaud Histoires de Parfumes for releasing small bottles (14 ml) for a reasonable price. For a real review of Blanc Violette read Eiderdown Press

Verte Violette by L’Artisan Parfumeur  – created in 2000 by Anne Flipo, notes include violet leaves, raspberry leaves, rose, heliotrope, cedar, iris, white musk. It’s fresh, very light, bright and happy fragrance with a nice violet note that starts a little dirty but then clears up and stays as a nice skin scent. Verte Violette is the easiest and lightest scent out of all I tried. Like many other L’Artisan’s perfumes it’s fleeting: I can barely smell it after an hour. I like Verte Violette but I think it’s too expensive to bathe in it. So, unless a bottle falls from the sky… For a real review read Now Smell This.

Violet Blonde by Tom Ford  – created in 2011, notes include violet leaf, Italian mandarin, pink pepper,  Tuscan iris absolute, Tuscan orris butter, Sambac jasmine, sampaquita, musk, suede, cedar, vetiver and benzoin. There is no personal story between me and Violet Blonde, everything happened very fast: I knew about the upcoming release, I went to the store, tried Violet Blond, liked it and jumped on a split as soon as I saw one. I enjoy wearing it. Violet Blond has a very good longevity – more than 8 hours on my skin. Had the juice (or at least a bottle) been purple, it would have been an immediate full bottle purchase. Now I plan to go through my small decant and if I still like it I’ll buy a bottle of Violet Blond for my collection. All the great reviews for Violet Blond that I read, I read after I made up my mind about this perfume (and I feel a little proud of myself because of that) but since they all are so recent I’ll skip even my “not-a-review” impressions part and just provide links to the reviews on friendly blogs: Olfactoria’s Travels, The Candy Perfume Boy, Bonkers About Perfumes.

Wood Violet by Sonoma Scent Studio – created in 2008 by Laurie Erickson, notes include violet, plum, cedar, cinnamon, clove, sandalwood, violet leaf and musk. I tried Wood Violet for the first time in winter (our Northern California winter, but still). I liked what I identified for myself as a “violet” component of the perfume in the opening and then in the dry down phases but in the middle something smelled too… dirty (?) and unpleasant. I put the sample aside for a while. One sunny warm day I decided to give Wood Violet another try; and this time the earthy smell felt right in place: it was a scent of spring. For a very short time in the beginning I smell some sweetness but then it goes away and the scent stays on my skin green and woodsy for the next 3-4 hours. Wood Violet is quiet and powerful at the same time. I do not need a full bottle of this perfume but a nice purse spray one day will find its way into my collection.

Violet Angel by Thierry Mugler – created in 2005 by Francoise Caron, notes include violet leaves, crystallized sugar, violet, woody note, patchouli and vanilla. Violet Angel smells as if original Angel ate a whole garden of violets. Wait… If I remember it correctly, it did eat the whole garden of different flowers – roses, peonies, violets and lilies. But let’s look just at this act of gluttony. Violet Angel is slightly less sweet than the original perfume, it has some woodsy note and, if you concentrate very hard or have another violet perfume for the reference on, let’s say, another wrist, you can smell some violets, sugared violets. But Angel’s signature caramel (in case of Angel Violet it’s called crystallized sugar – which is the same thing)-patchouli-vanilla is too prominent and too recognizable. I haven’t tried other flowers yet but, in my mind, violets are the least suited to be an Angel modifier. It isn’t different or special enough for either Angel fans or Angel haters. I’ll stick to my beloved Angel EdP.

 

Black Violet by Tom Ford – created in 2007 as a part of the original Private Blend collection, notes include bergamot, citruses, fruity notes, violet, oakmoss and woodsy notes. It opens a citrus scent blended into sweet fruity notes, then almost immediately citrus goes away leaving slightly dryer but still sweet enough floral scent with a nice wood note. For me Black Violet is not a transparent scent, it has substance. I think “dark” part suits it well (though I remember reading the opposite opinion from other reviewers). I like Black Violet it the most 2-3 hours into wearing. It lasts for 12+ hours on the skin. In the final phase (and only there) it smells similar to Violet Blonde.  I want to add Black Violet to my collection but, the same as Ines from All I am – a redhead, who recently reviewed Black Violet, I’m not ready to pay the price of a 50 ml bottle (and I do not need a bigger bottle – which would make price per ml much more tolerable). So if anybody comes across a friendly split of this perfume, please let me know.

Do you have a favorite violet perfume? If you’ve reviewed it on your blog, please share a link.

 

See all episodes:
Weeklong Test Drives, Season 4: Tom Ford
WTD, Episode 4.1: Neroli Portofino and Jasmine Rouge by Tom Ford
WTD, Episode 4.3: Noir de Noir, Oud Wood and Arabian Wood by Tom Ford

 

The Eye of the Green

Where does a perfumista who lives in Northern California go to find an artisan brand from Southern California? Of course to Hawaii! (yes, this is the promised addendum to my vacation post)

Since I can’t stand sun for too long usually in the morning we would have a short sortie to the beach, swim or snorkel, then quickly retreat to the living quarters for a shower, then drive somewhere for a hike, sightseeing or shopping (trying not to stay under the sun more than necessary or covering ourselves thoroughly) and then return to the beach a couple of hours before a sunset for more swimming.

One such afternoon we drove to the neighboring resort (Four Seasons), just to check it out. It was smaller than I expected and much less interesting than I wanted. We walked the grounds, figured out there was nothing to see and were almost leaving when I spotted a shop.

I love visiting small shops in tourist destinations. I always have a childish hope there would be some miracles and wonders. There never are any. Which isn’t bad since it allows me not to spend money and not to clutter my dwelling. But I like those minutes of anticipation and hope; so every time I venture into the next new shop as if there weren’t several hundred previous failures.

An expensive resort, which Four Seasons is, requires an expensive and better than average shop, which Seaside Luxe boutique is. I was browsing their offerings enjoying just the right temperature inside (more than once I had to cut my visit to a store short because of AC set to a freezer temperature) when my vSO shared with me his observation that it looked like Missoni boutique (I was sniffing some ambiance fragrances and didn’t make to the rest of the store yet) and offered to guess a price for a very neat Missoni candle made in the form of ball of yarn. Thinking of Amouage candles and having added four-seasons-hawaiian-luxury surcharge I braved $200. Yeah… Now you try to guess. To get an answer look at the price of this Gomitolo wax candle and subtract $80 since the one in the store was smaller.

As I reached a sales counter I noticed something I was secretly hoping to find in the store but wasn’t really counting on – a couple of bottles with perfumes. A couple of completely unfamiliar bottles of perfume. Yessss!!! Well, technically there were four bottles – two with fragrance essence (oil-based perfumes) and two with the misting oil – but they contained just two different scents. I smelled both first and then tried them on the skin. Names were displayed prominently – KOA and UME – but I couldn’t read the brand on the label.

And then a small miracle happened. I met Mauri – a very friendly and enthusiastic sales person who seemed genuinely fond of these perfumes. She told me that they were hand-made for their boutique by a perfumer Haley Alexander van Oosten (brand L’Oeil du Vert – “the eye of the green”) from Los Angeles. Then she brought paper inserts for both perfumes. I asked if she had an extra set of those pamphlets for me to take with and explained that I might write about the perfume in my blog so I would need some information. I didn’t even ask for samples because I figured out that with L’Oeil du Vert being a small artisan brand and Seaside Luxe not specializing in perfumes they wouldn’t have any samples and I left my vials (which I had with me on the trip – just in case!) in the hotel. Not only Mauri gave me those inserts but she also offered me to take one of the testers (with probably 30% of a misting oil left in it) since she had an extra tester of that one. And she expressed regret she couldn’t give me the second tester since it was the last one.

The tester I got was for the perfume UME. “Ume means plum blossom in Japanese – the first flower to blossom in spring, it offers renewal and vitality.” (Haley Alexander van Oosten)

From the insert:

Ume is created in reverence with custom distilled oils of Japanese delicacies – organic jasmine Green Tea extract, purifying Yuzu citron, fresh Seaweed, Hinoki cypress for strength, Siso leaves, Lime blossom, sacred Agarwood, and other botanical rarities from Asia.

On my skin the Ume smells very dry, herbal and almost bitter but not medicinal. I do not smell any floral notes in it. It’s definitely a unisex perfume. As with most all-natural perfumes Ume takes some time to warm up to it but the more I use it the more I like it. The tenacity of the misting oil is regular for natural oil perfumes – 1.5-2 hours. For me it makes Ume a perfect sleep scent: it lasts long enough to smell it while I’m falling asleep. I don’t know if the fragrance essence version has a better longevity and I didn’t ask how much it cost but a 30 ml (I think, I can’t find the size on a tester bottle) misting oil costs $144, which, in my opinion, is too expensive for what it is – unless you fall in love with the scent and do not mind re-applying it often. I like Ume but do not love it. Though I think it might be addictive. We’ll see how I feel once I’m done with the oil remaining in that tester.

I wish I had at least a small vial for the second perfume KOA. First – because it’s sweeter and has more floral components that I can smell (and I do prefer floral perfumes) and second because it was inspired by the native Hawaiian tree (“Live like the Koa Tree – brave, bold and fearless”) and made of all local materials (from the insert): 

sustainably harvested koa wood, naturally dyed kappa barkcloth, … Ili’ahi sandalwood, awapuhi ‘ai ginger root, hala flowers, plumeria blossoms, and vanilla orchid.

I think that out of these two I liked Koa better. How cool would it be to bring back from Hawaii something you can’t find anywhere else?! But it seems the SA was right – L’Oeil du Vert did make Koa for that store and even though I liked it, after testing it just once it didn’t feel like an immediate “must buy” and now I can’t find it anywhere to try again.

What I like about both Ume and Koa is the attention to details – a nice wooden cover for bottles, fabric bags and beautiful inserts with information about perfumes. On the other hand, at the price level L’Oeil du Vert tries to fit in (see a small article I found in the LA Times) I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Have you ever heard about L’Oeil du Vert? Have you tried Ume, Koa or any other of their perfumes?

Images: Missoni candle – net-a-porter.com; perfumes – my own.

Baiser Volé by Cartier

On my recent visit to Nordstrom the friendly SA slipped into my shopping bag two samples of the new perfume by Cartier – Baiser Volé.

First – Cartier isn’t one of the houses that I have any sentimental connection to, I’ve never owned or even liked any of their perfumes. Second – I usually do not test mass market perfumes right away: I get them, stash away, try the perfume during my next trip to a store on a blotter and then, if I liked it enough, maybe, at some point I might test it on my skin. I don’t know what happened this time. I blame Dee with her mainstream scents testing (this and this). And the SA who was so enthusiastic about getting this perfume and being able to give me a sample (she was telling me about it a month ago and waited for it to arrive). So last weekend I mentally mapped my escape route to the sink with a hot water and sprayed Baiser Volé on my wrist.

Created in 2011 by Mathilde Laurent, Baiser Volé is all about lily. It starts with a strong burst of a lily scent. It smells like those lilies in a bouquet which you’re not supposed to leave in the room where you sleep (has anyone tried it ever? I haven’t but I remember that rule from when I was a kid). The smell is so intense that it’s impossible to say if it’s natural or artificial. In 10 minutes it calms down to … more lily accompanied by some synthetic peppery note.  And then (in 2-3 hours) it dries down to … yep, even more lily. Somewhere in all that there is a powdery aspect but I can’t remember exactly on which stage I smelled it and I’m not testing it for the third time.

I wore Baiser Volé on its own first and then side by side with Pur Desir de Lys by Yves Rocher. They are very different in the first 10 minutes when Cartier’s creation is much more intense and loud but after that, without knowing which wrist was sprayed with which perfume, I would have had a really hard time telling them apart. Unfortunately, Yves Rocher discontinued its lily perfume and though it still can be found on eBay, its price isn’t that much more attractive than the price of a new perfume from Cartier. And the latter has a better designed bottle.

So, if you really like lily and want to wear a soliflore based on this flower, Baiser Volé might be not a bad choice. For me it’s too simple and… too much. I didn’t get a headache but I was bored. And, in addition to that, the name annoys me. Why a Stolen Kiss? What does a loud, blaring scent of a lily have to do with a daring but still tender moment which I imagine when thinking of a stolen kiss? I have no idea. If this perfume were to symbolize a behavior I would say it calls for a restraining order.

Image: my own

My First Unsniffed Purchase: Chanel №19 Poudré

It started completely innocently: less than two months ago another perfume blog (APB) published a brief article about the upcoming launch of Chanel №19 Poudré. It was a big surprise for me. Not because of the launch itself but because this was the first time I heard about it and the information was coming not from my “regular sources”, big and well-known sites and journals (I read a lot of perfume-related noise) but from a fellow-blogger. First I thought I’d somehow missed it so I went and searched all my usual suspects. Nothing. Then I searched Google, Facebook, Twitter. With similar results: all I found was a couple of vague tweets from random users and trademark registration information. Of course, within a week the picture changed, there were articles appearing here and there, but I still think that APB pioneered with that information in our perfume-related part of the blogosphere and I felt strangely intertwined with it.

When I read that Chanel №19 Poudré was going to be available for preview at Selfridges in London starting June 1^st and no specific date for the U.S. launch, I felt I couldn’t wait. I wanted it. NOW. Luckily (?) for me a friend of mine was on a long business trip to the U.K. and he agreed to buy this new Chanel’s flanker and hand deliver it to me. And he did.

Chanel №19 Poudré – created in 2011 by Jacques Polge, notes include neroli, galbanum, jasmine, iris, white musk, vetiver and tonka bean. It comes in the eau de parfum (EdP) concentration.

I’ve been testing it for the last two weeks in different environments and combinations – in the office, during the weekend and on a vacation; in sunny weather and under the rain; alone and alongside with Chanel №19 in all possible concentrations – EdT, EdP and Parfum. Here are my thoughts.

Chanel №19 Poudré opens very nicely with a strong iris note which I like more and more with every next wear. While anxiously waiting for my bottle to arrive I read so many discussions and speculations about the perfume that now I’m not sure if it actually was just a speculation, but I want to state that I do not think it’s a powdery scent at all. The iris in №19 Poudré doesn’t smell powdery, or cold, or earthy, or dirty as in many other perfumes that I like. Iris in this perfume is very well-behaved and appropriate, it’s soft and creamy. And just a little daring – like a single hair lock carefully places to look like it spontaneously broke out from the elegant updo hairstyle. This is the most interesting stage of this perfume’s life cycle and it will probably sell it well to those shoppers who make their decision at the perfume counter. In ten-fifteen minutes iris subsides almost completely and №19 Poudré becomes a softer, “rounder” and, in my mind, less interesting version of the original №19 EdP. I only have a manufacturer’s vial of Chanel №19 EdP of an unknown vintage, so I do not know how the current version smells but assuming it’s not too far from the one I tested, №19 Poudré EdP has much less character than the original №19 EdP though it strongly reminds of it.

Unless you’re one of those people whose body constantly produces heat I should warn you that an air-conditioned environment (and maybe cold weather but I haven’t tested under that condition) kills this perfume for me: I could hardly smell it on my skin after a generous application in two hours in the cool office. On the other hand, on a warm and humid day six hours into wearing I can still smell it without pressing my nose to the skin.

If your favorite Chanel №19 concentration is eau de toilette (EdT) №19 Poudré might be not a bad idea since it’s even farther from №19 EdT then any “native” variations. But if you love №19 EdP or Parfum I do not think №19 Poudré will work for you: it’s not different enough to justify the changes.

My cat Rusty who favors Chanel Beige when offered two wrists – one with Chanel №19 Poudré EdP and the other one with vintage №19 EdP sniffed the latter for much longer and much more attentively. I think he prefers the classic one.

Do I regret my unsniffed purchase? I’m not sure. Yes and no. I will be using it from time to time, I do not dislike it. But I think should I have tested it in the store I would have bought Chanel №19 EdT instead. But it’s definitely not the worst outcome.

Do you remember your first unsniffed purchase? Was it a hit or miss for you?

As always, feel free to post a link to your blog’s post(s) related to the topic.

Read also another perfume blog’s review.

Image: my own