Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 6

 

It was a good week: there were more reviews for my current favorites than those posts that created lemmings to find new favorites – yey! It was a busy week and I’m still catching up on my reading but it’s time for a round-up so I’ll finish later (and if I missed anything I’ll bring it up next week).

Lemmings

I’m definitely saying “Yes!” to Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels): Cuir Noir is better than I anticipated, because it doesn’t overwhelm you with leather, it is not harsh or strong. Cuir Noir is soft and elegant, and it surprises with a relatively prominent oud note, I was not expecting at all, but that I like a lot.

 

Laughs

If you haven’t read Birgit’s Fresh Baked Biker – Review: Armani Privé Cuir Noir on your own or following my lemmings link above, do it now for a good laugh (I don’t want to quote the best part of the joke not to spoil it).

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Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume) keeps entertaining us with her travel/sniffing stories: Then we had a bit of a snigger about Kokorico, with its strange, un-PC black head bottle in a Le Creuset casserole tin.

Loves

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press): Annick Goutal Encens Flamboyant smells like an ancient pine tree—like resinous evergreen sap—and it also smells like the dry, high-country lands of the West. It is quite simply a bone-dry frankincense scent enhanced by enough sage and herbaceous notes that it speaks of the outdoors, yet does so in a way that manages to stay one’s focus. I do not own (yet) Encens Flamboyant but I liked it a lot when tested (thanks to Victoria of EauMG) and want to add at least a decant to my collection soon.

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Christos (Memory of Scent) writes about two of my favorite Jo Malone colognes – Black Vetiver Café and Wild Fig and Cassis: I love BVC because it is dry, herbal and rustic and it becomes one with the skin. Sometimes it smells like I have spilled coffee on me and forgot to wash it off, which I find very charming and daring. Fortunately it has the right amount of vetiver to keep others from detecting it as such. I made an attempt on a review of Wild Fig and Cassis in my In the Search for the Perfect Fig post.

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After the successful move to the new web address Victoria (Bois de Jasmine) reviews one of my favorite Ormonde Jayne’s perfumes: Ormonde Jayne Frangipani Absolute smells like summer to me—peaches eaten on the beach, white stars of night-blooming jasmine tangled in my hair, a breeze leafing through the pages of a book forgotten on the patio.

 

Leftovers

If, like me, you were busy and distraught past week and missed Another Perfume Blog’s first year anniversary, I’m sure it’s not too late to stop by and wish Natalie all the best.

Bouquet to Art 2012: Craft Imitates Art

 

Every spring for the last 28 years San Francisco’s Fine Arts Museum de Young organizes a very popular event Bouquets to Art. More than a hundred floral designers from all over the Bay Area submit their choices and concepts to a panel of judges who decide on the final list of exhibitors and those chosen then create floral arrangements based on the art in de Young permanent collection.

I love flowers so I’m very surprised I didn’t know about this exhibition until this year. I will try not to miss future events: it was a great experience, both my vSO and I didn’t notice how two and half hours went by.

I’ve never seen so many people in this museum before! It was impressive. Since for this event photography without a flash was allowed sometimes it took up to five minutes to get in the position to take a picture without people blocking something.

Despite multiple flower arrangements in each room the museum didn’t smell like a flower shop. Mostly I could smell other visitors’ perfumes. I wore Chanel No 19 parfum: I wanted to smell nice but not to overpower any possible floral aroma with my perfume. It didn’t. The only room with a distinct floral fragrance in the air was the one with the composition made of thousands of gardenia petals.

The smell was so captivating that I didn’t even think of looking for the art piece which that composition was supposed to represent. All I wanted to do was to smell it closer. So did many other people. I couldn’t find a moment to take a shot without anybody in the picture.

The exhibition was uneven: there were very creative inspirational compositions as well as very literal recreations of the art pieces (including a bucolic scene with a toy size cow or the one with banal lampshades on a table). I won’t spend space demonstrating those that I didn’t like and will focus on those that I think are interesting.

It isn’t easy to choose just several pictures for this post out of dozens I took. I tried to catch both – the composition and the art behind it (literally and figuratively). I wish there were fewer people, better lighting and a tripod.

Chihuly’s glass is created to be reproduce in bouquets!

One of the compositions that impressed me the most was inspired by Willard Leroy Metcalf’s painting Winter’s Festival.

Although appearing nearly monochromatic at first glance, such images reveal Metcalf’s extraordinarily subtle yet inventive use of color. Among the vegetation, vibrant hints of aqua, pink, gold, and even burgundy invigorate the subdued palette and suggest the dormant vitality of the frozen flora. Blue-tinted shadows and underlying traces of violet and lavender remind us that snow, never purely white, admits to endless variation. (Hood Museum of Art)

That description perfectly fits both the painting and the installation.

As I was exiting one of the rooms I overheard a conversation from a group entering that room:

-          Look, an infinity symbol!
-          Nature, infinity – it’s clever…

From their angle of viewing they couldn’t see that Arthur Tress’ photograph of a donut was an archetype for that composition. When I told this story to a friend who also attended that exhibition, she suggested calling that composition An Infinite Donut.

 

Images: my own

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 5

 

This week I read almost everything on my reading list. There were many interesting posts and discussions. I feel that I need to introduce a (temporary?) additional category – Leftovers. I plan to use it for some newsworthy links that don’t feet into my regular categories.

 

Lemmings

Gaia (The Non-Blonde) on April 1^st published an article (I hope, it wasn’t a joke) about the upcoming release of the Amouage Beloved perfume exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman (I wouldn’t mind this part being a joke): Complexity is a key word here. Beloved is a somewhat powdery floral, but also wonderfully abstract. Yes, if we pay close attention, the rose and white flowers can be identified, but there’s a lot more to this Beloved than a vague idea about flowers.

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Tara (Olfactoria’s Travels) sent me browsing eBay listings: Just the other day, when I applied my vintage Vol de Nuit and slung on my Patti Smith-style leather jacket, something just clicked. I felt strong and self-possessed, just like that rock ‘n’ roll poet at her 1970s peak.

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In addition to announcing on their FB page that “700 ASIAN TALES samples have left our offices yesterday!!! We will deliver the most far countries first, then Europe and then France.” (can hardly wait to get it!) Kilian also posted: “My dear friends, I know I have been silent for the past few weeks…I am sorry. But me and my team needed to shut down from the world to finalize the Fall project. We can’t wait to show it to you! We think it is going to be a breakthrough in the world of perfume…we will call this collection: “in the garden of good & evil”…and you are the first one to know that in the world!!! Keep it a secret…. Love, k …”

 

Laughs

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): Hazel has just baked a batch of hot crossless buns, and we have been speculating as to a suitable alternative name for them: “Hot Contented Buns”? “Hot Atheist Buns”? Though as Hazel pointed out: “They’ll be jolly annoyed when we eat them!”

 

Loves

Krista (Scent of the Day): Byredo La Tulipe was created to reflect the soul of the tulip, not just it’s smell. It starts green and fresh – not sweet but slightly peppery.. Here is my own story about this perfume (though, probably, it should go into the Laughs category).

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Kathleen (No Disassemble Charlie No. 5): If I was going to put Une Rose Vermeille in a Rose Jam “category”, it would be Rose Jam goes on a date. She’s put on her red lipstick and she’s rocking some Louboutin’s; but that’s just the short “sound-bite” version.

 

Leftovers

In the last several days there were three unrelated reports on the blogs content poaching. Tarleisio (The Alembicated Genie) described first two in her passionately written post and Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume) shared the story of her own fight. Regardless of which engine you use for your blog WordPress has a useful resource Prevent Content Theft. In comments to Vanessa’s post I described step-by-step changing RSS settings for Blogger and here you can find how to change settings for WP-based blogs.

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In case you somehow missed it, Surrender to Chance , a new samples/decanting website created after The Perfumed Court split, is having a Grand Opening and offers 15% off every item in the store (code: honeybadgersaysopen expires on April 9, 2012). In addition, until April 14 all orders over $75 will ship free (no code necessary).

While reflecting upon that change and feeling a little sad (I don’t like changes) I suddenly realized that I went through with just a single order from TPC. After that every time I would put something into the cart, think about it and go away without purchasing.

How many times (approximately?) have you placed an order with TPC?

Entertaining Statistics: March, 2012

 

We had a great rainy March. Now everything is green and fresh and blooming. I enjoy wearing my favorite perfumes and try to do it almost every day. I decided for myself that it didn’t make any sense to keep testing new perfumes in the search for a new love if I do not use those that I love already.

I tried to be good with my New Year resolutions but I think I’m failing: I bought two bottles of perfume. And though one of them (Samsara EdT by Guerlain) was during the The smell good do good charity sale at Scents of Self and the second one probably doesn’t count since I’ve already split it (I still have 5 ml of Une Rose Vermeille by Tauer Perfumes to share at cost – send me an e-mail if you’re interested), I still feel I’ll have to increase my yearly FB quota.

Also, I realized that even though I wear perfume every day I do not get too many acknowledgements. I do not know if I’m constantly under-applying and nobody can smell it or if I choose perfumes that people do not like and they are being polite by keeping it to themselves but results are the same (or at least it feels like that). Starting this month I record when I get a reaction to the perfume I’m wearing (both positive and negative – see the chart below).

Wnen was the last time anybody complimented you on the perfume you were wearing? Do you remember the last complaint?

Quick March stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn: 27 (+8) from 16 (+4) brands on 29 (+7) occasions;

* Favorite perfumes worn: 21 (+7) on 23 (+6) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested: 48 (+6) from 33 (+8) brands on 58 (+14) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 25 (+1);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Chanel;

* Perfume house I tested the most: Guerlain (second month in a row – and this is after not owning/not testing a single perfume from this brand);

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear): top – (not counting bergamot) mandarin, lemon and pepper; middle – (not counting rose and jasmine) ylang ylang, iris root and lily of the valley; base – vanilla, musk and sandalwood;

 

Image: my own

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 4

 

I didn’t count (for a change) but I have a feeling that last week there were fewer posts in my main blog-roll (list on the right) and in all other RSS feeds. Spring? Esxence2012? I don’t know. But as I promised in the beginning I won’t force myself to mention anything just for the sake of posting. So this issue will be a short one.

Lemmings

It seems like the Blogosphere is divided into two groups: those who have already tried Amouage Opus VI and written enticing reviews and those who read all the reviews and try to control the population of lemmings resulting from that activity. Though I cannot blame Dee (beauty on the outside) solely for these lemmings (several lemming above are just trying to catch up with all the rest from the Episode 1 ) she contributed her part: Spraying Opus VI on skin for the first time is a little like seeing a Stormtrooper remove his helmet to reveal the long glossy hair and full lips… of a woman. There is a dissonance that can’t be reconciled, because, of course, Stormtroopers are men. Well, all but this one.

This isn’t coming from a blog but I’ll mention it here since my first reaction after reading about Chanel releasing a limited edition of Chanel N°19 Body Cream was “WANT!” But I don’t think I’ll ever warrant spending $80 on a body cream even for one of my most favorite perfumes. On the other hand, body lotion goes for “just” $50… Hmm…

 

Laughs

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume) reviews Denyse Beaulieu’s new book, “The Perfume Lover”: … despite stopping out till 2am every night in a fairly receptive frame of mind to any possibilities the night might bring, the only “something-on-skin action” I ended up with was a bad grass allergy from afternoons spent sunbathing in the Maria Luisa park…

 

Loves

Ines (All I am – a redhead) about my most favorite Neela Vermeire’s perfume Bombay Bling: The opening reminds me of a fizzy mango drink, as it were made with tonic, you know, lightly herbal (or green) and citrusy but mango is still the most prominent note.

 

Feel free to share any links – your lemmings, [new] loves or good laughs.

In the Search for the Perfect Mimosa, Take 2

 

“She was carrying repulsive, alarming yellow flowers in her hand. Devil knows what they’re called, but for some reason they’re the first to appear in Moscow. And these flowers stood out clearly against her black spring coat. She was carrying yellow flowers! Not a nice colour.”
M.Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

 

Last March I tested several perfumes with a dominant mimosa note in them. I tried Amarige Mimosa 2007 by Givenchy, Mimosa by Calypso Christiane Celle, Mimosa pour Moi by L’Artisan Parfumeur, Le Mimosa by Annick Goutal, Library Collection Opus III by Amouage. I didn’t find the perfect mimosa and stopped looking for a while.

Half a year later I got a vial of mimosa absolute as a part of Laurie Erikson’s (Sonoma Scent Studio) Nostalgie testing. That was when I started questioning my memory of the scent. Mimosa absolute didn’t smell the way I remembered real mimosa blooming branches did. To my nose mimosa absolute smelled flat, single-dimensional and dusty.

There are several mimosa trees not too far from where I live. I was driving by them all February long planning to stop one day and smell real flowers. Ten minutes drive plus two minutes walk and I could smell all the mimosa I wanted… Mid March I realized that I almost missed it. I drove there, walked to the tree, reached the branch, pulled it to my face, inhaled… and had to admit that I waited for too long. Flowers were still there, I could see and touch them but the scent was almost gone. Despite my vSO’s protests I snapped off a twig and pressed it against my nose.  There was a faintest scent of mimosa flowers mixed with the smell of greenery and a twig itself. I could barely smell mimosa itself but it helped me to figure out why both mimosa absolute and many perfumes with mimosa smelled “wrong” to me: mimosa from my childhood was a full tree experience, not just flowers on their own.

I tested several more perfumes with a prominent mimosa note. I think now I can appreciate better the more complex compositions that feature mimosa but go beyond being a soliflore.

Une Fleur de Cassie by Frederic Malle – created by Dominique Ropion in 2000, notes include mimosa absolute, jasmine absolute, cassie absolute, rose absolute, carnation, vanilla and sandalwood. I think I like it but it’s not an airy floral perfume: I smell something heavy, grounded and substantial. I’m half way through the official sample and still don’t know if I need a travel bottle of it in my collection. If you need information, read Victoria’s precise and very descriptive review. If you need an inspiration you just cannot miss Suzanne’s captivating piece.

Mimosa by DSH Perfumes – created by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, notes include acacia, broom, cassie, French linden blossom, mimosa, iris, sandalwood, tonka bean and vanilla. I can’t find it any longer on the DSH Perfumes’ site so I’m not sure if it’s still in production. I think it’s a pleasant but not distinct enough scent. One of those perfumes that you pick up on the spur of the moment from a boutique during your vacation in a small town by the sea, enjoy wearing it while it lasts and keep a warm memory of it once it’s gone.

Tiaré Mimosa by Guerlain – created in 2009, a part of Aqua Allegoria collection, notes include lemon, pink pepper, tiare, mimosa, musk and vanilla. Warum was kind to send me a sample of it when I was on my quest for a new Guerlain love. I liked the nice combination of citrus and flower notes and even contemplated skipping all the wish list’s lines for an affordable bottle of this perfume… but then I got to test the perfume I’ll describe next…  and I do not want Tiare Mimosa any more.

Champs Elysées Parfum by Guerlain – (re)created by Jacques Guerlain and Jean-Paul Guerlain in 1996, notes include peach, melon, violet, anise, mimosa, rose, peony, lily of the valley, vanilla, benzoin, cedarwood and sandalwood. I told the story of me falling in and then out of love with Champs Elysees. Recently I decided to try it again. I wore Champs Elysees in two concentrations – EdT and parfum. For my nose they are very similar but I like parfum a little more – it’s smoother and more blended. I think I might be falling back in love with this bright, loud and cheerful perfume. Victoria (EauMG) also likes Champs Elysees.

Next year I won’t miss it! Now I know that two different types of mimosa grow close-by.

If you previously reviewed any of these perfumes please share links.

Images: my own.

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 3

 

It feels a little strange to have just two weekly episodes in a row. I wrote a big post earlier this week but then decided not to publish it. Why? I decided not to fight the fight I initially intended to. It wasn’t that important after all. Instead I’ve updated the About Me page. Even though I had time to read other blogs, this week didn’t increase my lemmings population (which is a good news, I think) and didn’t bring any new reviews for my current favorites (which is neutral; maybe I should be doing those postings myself?). But there was no lack of laughs.

Do you ever prepare a post and not publish it?

Lemmings

For those who remember this game from … many years ago, here is something to smile nostalgically (it’s not the original game, of course, but close enough).

 

Laughs

*jen (This Blog Really Stinks. (A Perfume Blog)): I was finally noticed by Estee Lauder PR!! Sadly, it was to ask me to please clarify that “Jo Malone” is a person and she is no longer related to her former brand, which is “Jo Malone London”. Basically, we all know that, but I must clarify anyway, lest you become confused.

Gaia (The Non-Blonde): To the person who found my blog by searching for “Queen Elizabeth nude”: I don’t even want to know what you were thinking. Ever.

If you managed to miss somehow the discussion of the new Marc Jacob’s perfume Dot at the NST, you have to read it! “a ladybird gone genetically wrong”, “I like the bottle in that weird “I’m not sure what I’m looking at” kinda way”, “Reminds me of a molecule model, but with wings”, etc.

Natalie (Another Perfume Blog) shares her husband’s reactions to some of her favorite perfumes: “Am I getting wet dog in this?” I should note that after seeing the look of concern on my face, he said: “Clean wet dog.”

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 2

 

It was a busy week, so I’m slightly behind in my blogs reading. Out of those, which I managed to read, posts below made me laugh/smile, conjured some lemmings and reviewed my favorite  perfumes.

Lemmings

I love linden and I’m constantly In the Search for the Perfect Linden. Thanks to Asali’s touching review now I’m plotting how to get my hands on the sample of Unter den Linden perfume.

I have no reason to hope I would like, let alone love, new Annick Goutal’s perfume Nuit Etoilee since I haven’t liked at least the recent couple perfumes from this brand but I so want to: it’s such a cute blue bottle! I’ll keep my hopes up: Octavian praised Mon Parfum Chéri that I couldn’t stand and now he’s criticizing Nuit Etoilee… So maybe for my unrefined taste it will be fine?

Laughs

Myrrhiad is beautiful, like a swan gliding over still waters – a single swan, mind you! I happen to live near a lake where there are dozens, even hundreds of swans. That does slightly take away from appreciating their beauty. If you don’t know many swans, Myrrhiad might make you very happy. Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) not only made me smile but also inspired to show (see the image above) what I see from my window: those aren’t swans!

Bloody Frida: Don’t want to go into too much detail, other than she demanded to know how I ‘knew’ that Opium was reformulated, said that no one had told her that and she has been wearing it for 30 years. It was as if she took it all personally. Sigh. Next time I’m just going to say that I know because I work for IFRA.

Loves

Second week in a row Gaia (The Non-Blonde) has a review for one of my favorite perfumes: Bombay Bling abandons the fresh fruit theme in favor of a full on oriental, again, well-blended and precise. It’s ornamental and elaborately decorated but never juvenile

Since there were no other reviews for the perfumes I love, I’ll share with you headlines that I loved:

Raiders of the Lost Stash: Opium Fleur de Shanghai

Lord of the Perfumes: The Five Tauers

A Tale of Two SAs

Image: my own

My First Gender-Bending Perfume Fling: Givenchy Pi

 

In the nineties my perfume adventures were limited by what mass market ladies’ counters had to offer. But since there were much less new mainstream releases back then, usually after getting familiar with everything available for the appropriate gender I would entertain myself sniffing what was offered to gentlemen telling myself that my vSO might need one more bottle (as if he was running out of those four or five I’d previously persuaded him he would love).

One day while smelling new masculine releases I suddenly found myself drawn to one perfume.

π (Pi) by Givenchy – created in 1998 by Alberto Morillas, notes (according to Fragrantica) include basil, rosemary, tarragon, mandarin, neroli, geranium, lily of the valley, anise, vanilla, tonka, cedar, benzoin, almond and yellow sugar.

I liked it. Not for my vSO – for myself. I kept going back to the counter to try it again and again. It felt strange because, in my mind, there was supposed to be a strict distinction: feminine perfumes, masculine colognes and some new trendy creations called unisex (but those that I’d come across then were neither fish nor fowl). One day an SA struck a conversation with me and I admitted that I was thinking about buying it for myself. I don’t think she whispered but she definitely lowered her voice when she told me, in confidence, as if it was something about what people do not talk out loud, that many women like masculine perfumes. What was more important, she gave me a couple of samples of Pi.

When the samples were gone I bought a bottle. I think it was my way of breaking out of the habitual floral perfumes I used to favor (and probably still do). I wore Pi Eau de Toilette pour Homme reveling in my eccentricity and fearlessness. I think I liked not as much the perfume itself but that feeling of dare. And then we just grew apart. I didn’t suddenly start disliking Pi – I just didn’t feel like wearing it anymore.

Last year a friend of mine whose birthday is today, March 14^th (M., if you’re reading this – Happy Birthday!), told me about that day being known as a Pi-Day. I’ve never heard about it before: having grown up with the European date system I’ve never seen the connection between 14/03/YY and number Pi. It was too late to do anything last year but I told her that if I would still be blogging in a year I’d write a story about this perfume since I kept this bottle for the last ten years. And I would have missed it again if it weren’t for her reminding me.

So here’s my Pi-Day story about Pi – the first masculine perfume I bought for myself. Now it goes into the Retirement Box.

I haven’t found any real reviews. Either it was really that bad or at least it wasn’t good enough for anybody to contradict Luca Turin’s disparaging comment in the Guide.

Do you remember your first perfume that crossed the gender line?

Image: my own

And the winner is…

 

… Anna in Edinburgh

Anna will have a chance to see if it’s easier to figure out which perfume is which now when she knows what she’s getting. But to make things more interesting, in addition to the two samples made from the bottles on the last picture in the Déjà vu, Episode 2: huge floral vs. abstract floral post (the same as all the blind testers got), I’ll throw in a sample from the bottle in a blue box (it’s an older version, prior to Lancome’s re-issue for the La Collection).