Archive for August, 2006
I’ve been so busy in the last couple days I haven’t given this blog enough time. If you’re wondering what I’ve been doing, I’ll tell you - I got hit by the organization bug. If you’re wondering what that means, I’ll tell you - it’s when everything in my life must be organized or I’m gonna lose it. I get hit by it every once in a while. Does it ever happen to you? Anyways, so far it’s affected pretty much every area of my life: work, finances, bills, closets, filing, and, of course, perfumes. Just tonight I managed to clean out my entire sample collection by categorizing them into vintage, department store, niche non-baggied, niche baggied, and castaways (that will go into swap packages as extras). That’s not all. I also did an inventory of my bottle collection. I mercilessly selected all the ones I don’t need any more for the very reason alone that I barely ever wear them and don’t feel a nagging need to keep them (something I’ll regret later, most likely, but whatever). I cleared out my bathroom shelf from the bottles that’d been sitting there for months and finally dusted (!) it. I then refurbished the shelf with my new picks for the season - I’d like to say randomly, but not really. There’re quite a few fall scents on there now. Wanna know which ones? Here’s a list: Lancome Mille & Une Roses, Annick Goutal Grand Amour, Idole de Lubin, Hermes Parfum des Merveilles, L’Artisan Safran Troublant, L’Artisan Tea For Two, L’Artisan Dzing!, Kolnisch Juchten, Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose, Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur, Chanel Coco parfum, Hermes Terre D’Hermes (for Mr. Aromascope), Caron Parfum Sacre. Anyways, so what else did I do? I also cleared out the top of my dresser that was a camping spot for numerous decants and samples I’d received in the last couple months. Golly, what’s next? I think I’ve pretty much covered all there is to cover when it comes to perfume organization. Must put on the brakes now before I go too far. So, no review today, again, but I have something cooking that should be ready for tomorrow and Friday. Meanwhile, please share, if you feel compelled, how you organize your perfume bottles/samples/decants?
Image source: www.corbis.com
August 16th, 2006
I’ve been tagged by Marina at Perfume-Smellin’ Things (who’s still bemoaning the fact she turned a certain age we do not speak of - please go comment on her blog to cheer her up). This whole tagging thing is kinda fun and brings me back to my teen years. I had a post almost ready but then we had company last night and ended up having too much fun, so no review today, just this.
4 Places I’ve Lived In
Aizkraukle, Latvia (go ahead, try saying it really fast!)
Basildon, UK
Inver Grove Heights, MN
Chicago, IL
4 Places I’d Rather Be Right Now
Riga, Latvia
Aizkraukle, Latvia
Paris - perfume shopping
London - perfume shopping
4 Websites That I Visit Daily
Makeupalley
Ebay
Blogs
Blogs again
4 TV Shows I Enjoy Watching
I don’t have a TV but I’ve seen a few shows on DVD that I loved: Monk, The Office (British in particular), Project Runway, and Seinfeld.
4 Favorite Songs
Always Look On The Bright Side (Monty Python)
Ulybka (a Russian kids’ song about how a smile can transform the world around you)
Southern Sun (Paul Oakenfold)
It Must Have Been Love (Roxette, adored it back in the early 90s)
4 Favorite Foods
Sushi
Blyni (Russian pancakes/crepes)
Dolmas
Pasta with lotsa butter and lotsa cheese
4 Places Where I Feel At Home
Anywhere in Latvia
Chicago
Cute little neighborhood coffee shops (NOT Starbucks!)
Russian grocery stores in Chicago
4 Favorite Perfume Notes of The Moment
Incense
Iris
Tobacco
Coriander
4 Favorite Perfumes Of The Moment
CB I Hate Perfume Pipe Tobacco
Vintage Chanel 22 parfum
Vintage L’Interdit parfum
Guerlain L’Heure Bleu parfum
4 Favorite Perfume Houses
Serge Lutens
Guerlain
Frederic Malle
Hermes
4 Things That I Wish For
A trip home this year
A child
A job I love
Health for my family
4 Favorite Books
The Idiot by Dostoyevsky
Fathers and Sons by Turgenev
Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
4 Favorite Quotations
Don’t really have any particular ones I love but after a google search, came up with these that appealed to me:
“Do what you can with what you’ve got wherever you are.” Theodore Roosevelt
“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” Thomas Moore
“Never confuse movement with action.” Ernest Hemingway
“The strongest of all warriors are these two - Time and Patience.” Leo Tolstoy
Image source: www.corbis.com (image is totally random, no logic here)
August 15th, 2006
Today Marina from Perfume-Smellin’ Things turns a certain age she’d rather not discuss. All the best wishes to her!!! Now she’s the same age as me. Yay!
August 15th, 2006
Nez a Nez is a niche perfume house in Paris that I just recently got acquainted with and am delighted to share with you my brief impressions of their 10 scents here.
Bouche Baie: a rich fruity floral with the notes of black currant, blackberry, Maracuja, orange blossom, jasmine, cherry, peach, coconut juice, vanilla, almond, and honey. Toothache-inducing sweet for my taste and too saturated with fruits but nicely done nonetheless.
Fôret de Bécharré: a slightly masculine in effect first but quickly transforms to a nice scent with the notes of grapefruit, licorice, hazelnut, cedar, cinnamon, amber, leather, vanilla. A soft citrusy licorice blend in top notes with a hazy-woody drydown and just a hint of leather. Quite wearable but lacking some “oomph”.
Marron Chic: a gourmand scent with the notes of citrus, kumquat, orange blossom, iris, Karo Karounde, violet, cocoa flower, benzoin, labdanum, vetiver, cocoa beans. Brown is my favorite color, and this is a very brown scent in character. I think this is my favorite of the line. It’s a soft, slightly powdery/dusty iris-cocoa blend that gets accentuated by vetiver and just a hint of incense in the drydown.
Bal Musqué: a skanky musk (March, this is for you!) Oh wait, it’s not even a predominantly musk scent! Huh. Bergamot, licorice, cinnamon, cherry kernel, magnolia, rose, benzoin, leather, Tolu balsam, vanilla, musk. Something went wrong here. I’m getting some kind of stinky musk-cherry-rose combo that gets more balsamic and leathery as it dries down but the stink doesn’t go away, and I’m finding it difficut to like.
Rosier Ardent: not a bad rose! I like my rose spicy or woody, and this is exactly it - cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, rose, patchouli, vetiver, cedar, resins. I’m getting mostly cumin and rose that’s not too heavy or offensive. Just a nice, sort of hazy rose.
Atelier D’Artiste: rum, cognac, black grape, cade, patchouli, vetiver, raspberry, tobacco, coffee, vanilla. Yum! The notes sound smack-your-lips delicious! This is my second favorite. I’m picking up on rum, vetiver, tobacco, and some patchouli wth coffee and vanilla in the drydown. It’s a dense quality scent that dries down almost smoky. I also smell some skank - some kind of a sweaty feet note? Or maybe it’s just deodorant-free armpits. I like it! A very appropriate name, too.
1001 Figues: almond, fig leaves, fig, coconut, tuberose, amber, Gelee royale, black vanilla. I’m getting something that smells like figs and cilantro. I know cilantro is not an official note here but I swear I smell it. Then it turns into a syrupy sweet coconut juice with lush tuberose and some other fruity note that makes it smell way too heavy, once again, for my taste. There’s a nice crispy green note here, though, that’s quite appealing but not prominent enough to qualify it as a fig scent, as in Philosykos by Diptyque or Premier Figuer by L’Artisan.
Figues & Garçons: another fig! And boys! An herbal, grassy fig, with the notes of fig leaves, fresh herbs, petit grain, fig, kiwi, cedar, sandalwood, musk. If it wasn’t for this juicy kiwi note, I’d like it more. I also get tons of sweetness here.
Vanithé: verbena, rosemary, Earl Grey tea, jasmine tea, cedar, Gaiac wood, vanilla absolute, benzoin, honey, tonka beans. First of all, I’m not friends with verbena, and rosemary is a casual acquaintance that I only see accompanied with others, so not too hopeful here at first but it’s actually a nice blend of herbs and Earl Grey and jasmine tea but sort of too sweet again. This sweet note must be the common note that’s used in all Nez a Nez creations. It could have been a nice tea scent, instead of a syrup. Sigh.
Ambre a Sade: whoa! If there was ever a fruity amber, this is it. Once again, syrupy sweet, with some skank (what is it?) - an overall milky quality (the caramel, no doubt). Smells so edible I want to lick my wrist! The notes are: blackberry, strawberry, caramel, raspberry, cedar, cinnamon, amber, tonka beans, black vanilla, patchouli, Russian leather. Wait a minute, there’s leather here? That must be what gives it a skanky quality, although it’s more animalic-stinky. As it dries down, it smells kind of odd and borderline unattractive but I still find myself drawn to this milky/fruity amber. I think this is another winner.
For other reviews, please check Helene’s impressions here. She’s also planning to post an interview with the shop’s owners soon. You can also find more information on the line at their online shop. They ship to the U.S., and there’s a sample program.
Image source: www.nezanez.net
August 13th, 2006
Marina and I decided to bring in some testosterone to our blogs, once again, for some hormonal balance. We recruited our dear husbands to undertake yet another project. This time - blind testing of 5 well known scents. They pretty much knew nothing about them - names, houses, notes. I must also add it took mine quite a bit of effort (which I publicly praise him for), and I got quite a few looks of utter despair and frustration but he made it! *Vigorous applause* Here you go, folks! I hereby present to you the olfactory ramblings of Mr. Aromascope.
Scent No 1. After this dies down a bit it smells distinctly like some sweaty old guy on the train who hasn’t washed in weeks. The kind whose fragrance has a significant and undeniable radius which prevents anyone from sitting nearby. I’m also picking up a hint of weak bladder. It doesn’t seem to improve and the old sweat smell lingers, leading me to wonder who would want to wear this other than people dressing up as bums for Halloween.
My comments: funny how he goes right to the drydown. Smart man. Um, I wear it, darling (and not for Halloween)! The scent in question is none other than the infamous Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens.
Scent No 2. My first impression of this was that it smelled like a shower, which drew a puzzled look from Ina, and understandably, because what does a shower smell like? Giving it more thought, it reminded me of those deodorants with names like Shower Fresh, Fresh Aire, or Spring Fresh that bear little resemblance to anything in nature. People who like Ivory Soap would probably love this. A second spray hit me with “baby wipes” at first, but after that it was back to post-shower products.
My comments: ahem. How shall I say this in order to make it least offensive (for Mr. Aromascope, you just undermined the entire foundation of perfumery). Forgive the poor man, folks. This is Chanel No 5 he’s talking about. Oy.
Scent No 3. This struck me as unpleasantly medicinal at first, then indistinctly stinky for a short time, and finally a settling into a burnt wood smell that I kind of like. At one point I thought it reminded me a little of a musty cellar, but that passed. The longer this one sits, the more I like it.
My comments: now we’re talking! I knew he’d fall for this one. After all, it’s “the dark balm for Marina’s Mongolian soul”. Caron Yatagan.
Scent No 4. This is some kind of fresh melon on steroids. I almost licked it to see what it tastes like, but thought better of it. There’s more to it, I’m sure, but my olfactory brain cells are still rather undeveloped. Is there a smelling course available for husbands of perfume fanatics?
My comments: he’s making progress! Melon it is not but delicious it is - Donna Karan Be Delicious for women. As a side note, pumpkin, do not lick perfume. Ever.
Scent No 5. Okay, I think I’m allergic to this one. Either that or I’m just smelled out. It made me sneeze and every time I breath it in, my head feels funny. To avoid a perfume-induced stroke I won’t spend much time on this one, but it smells something like baby powder and something else I can’t identify.
Okay, do I get my Metrosexual merit badge yet?
My comments: huh? Baby powder? Sneezing? Oh, so when I’ve worn it many times before, you never got such allergic reaction? If anybody is about to have a stroke that’d be me for my all time favorite perfume just got majorly bashed by my own husband. Hrmph. For the record, that “something else you can’t identify” is musk (animalic musk, to be precise) for the perfume is Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle. As for the Metrosexual merit badge, let the readers be the judge, honey.
Image source: www.corbis.com
August 11th, 2006
You might have noticed I often mention Aus Liebe Zum Duft (For The Love of Fragrance) as a place to buy the perfumes I review here. Even though the shop is located in Germany, it’s quite popular in the U.S. amongst niche perfume aficionados. They have a great online shop (as well as a brick & mortar shop) that features some of the best/rare lines. They also have a generous sample program (samples come in spray vials, usually with extras thrown in). Today I’d like to present to you a short interview with the shop’s owner, George Wuchsa.
1. First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you decide to open a perfume shop? What was your career before that?
Besides the perfume shop I own two jewelry stores which I took over from my parents. I have worked in this business all my life. But in my spare time I have always collected fragrances. I wanted to integrate this in my shop. Seven years ago I fulfilled my desire: … aus Liebe zum Duft ! Now we have an internet presentation and in one of my jewelry shops I also offer scents and cosmetics.
2. What are your best sellers currently?
Fragrances like Alamut by Lorenzo Villoresi, the collection of the Clean perfumes and Acqua di Parma are at the moment very popular scents.
In the cosmetic section Dr.Sebagh, StriVectin and Cellex-C are some of our bestseller brands.
3. What perfumes do you love (not necessarily the ones you carry - anything)?
Some of my favourite perfumes include Ambre Precieux by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, Patchouli by Mazzolari, Patchouli by Lorenzo Villoresi and Patchouli by Jalaine.
4. What are your hobbies? Do you collect anything?
Perfumes, Perfumes, Perfumes!
My private collection consists of 200-250 flacons from all over the world.
Besides that, I collect porcelain figurines from the German company Hutschenreuther.
5. Would you ever want to work with perfumers to create your own signature Aus Liebe Zum Duft fragrance?
YES. As soon as I have more time this will definitely be my next project which I have in mind.
6. What do you enjoy most about this business?
You are always searching for the Holy Grail. You always think you are in search of something new, and when you hold it in your hands, you already have something new in mind. You are always on the move. There is no standstill.
7. Your shop is quite popular amongst American perfume aficionados. What would you say is the main difference, if any, between the American and European markets/tastes?
The American people prefer sweet, floral scents. The European love a more lighter cologne, in the Italian style.
8. Please share a tip or two regarding perfume - anything that comes to mind!
It is very important to deal with the offered scents. It is very hard to understand the scents the first time you smell them. You first have to let the scents settle in your nose. It’s all about training your nose. That’s the best way to find “your” fragrance.
Shop address:
Wuchsa
Bahnhofstrasse 10
D-76646 Bruchsal
Tel.: 0049 (0) 7251 - 97 77 0
FAX.: 0049 (0) 7251 - 81 19 1
info@ausliebezumduft.de
August 9th, 2006
I’ve decided to give out samples of the first three Blind Sniffables to the first three drawing participants. So, the winners are: Tigs, Martika, and Twibbet! Please send me your addresses - aromascope at gmail dot com. Yippee!!!
August 9th, 2006
Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae is another one of those erroneously dismissed fragrances in my baby stage of olfactory development. I first discovered the line about 3 years ago and immediately gave preference to Bois des Paradis. The other two at the time, Amoureuse and Eau Illuminee, were promptly banished for their lack of immediate appeal (which was what I was mostly after back then), and various associations of indecent character. I was put to shame, once again, several months ago when a sample of Amoureuse came my way. I was so enraptured I felt like skipping through the streets exclaiming, “Amoureuse! Amoureuse! I’m enamored with the amorous Amoureuse!” But the reasonable part of my brain won, and instead I promised myself to wear it as often as possible and acquire a bottle, eventually.
Amoureuse is created by a San Francisco designer DelRae Roth in collaboration with the renowned French perfumer Michel Roudnitska. It features the notes of tangerine, cardamom, French tuberose, French jasmine, Tahitian ginger lily, cedar moss, sandalwood, honey. What’s shocking is that I don’t really smell any of these notes distinctly (I can detect some if I sniff it real close). Instead, what I smell is linden tree in blossom. I spent my childhood around linden trees pretty much everywhere I lived. The scent is engraved in my memory. That’s the overall impression. If I do examine its notes and their development, I detect a sumptuous mix of tangerine and cardamom, a hint of jasmine, and a zing of ginger that seems to give the scent some skank (March, you must love Amoureuse, right?) that’s not really that unpleasant. It’s almost the smell of rotting flowers (here I come with my rotting images again). However, as it develops, it’s nothing but a softly spicy, honeyed, nectareous floral that eventually turns into linden on my skin or linden/jasmine tea with honey. Utterly fascinating! It reminds me a little of Parfum de Therese (created by Edmond Roudnitska) minus the leather note. Amoureuse has been in my top 5 in the past couple weeks, and it didn’t even rival Bois de Paradis which I wore yesterday.
Amoureuse is available at Aedes and Beautyhabit. For more retailers, please check Parfums DelRae site.
Image source: www.aedes.com
August 8th, 2006
Does it ever happen to you? You own a scent, you wear it on occasion, you love it and all. Then you don’t wear it for a while, and when you finally do, it just hits you in the face with its beauty? As if saying, “Shame on you for forgetting how beautiful I am! So there, I’ll have you suffering over how perfect I work with your skin so you never feel tempted to go looking for another lover.” That’s what Chergui did to me yesterday.
Chergui refers to a hot, dry wind blowing across the desert. It was also my very first Serge Lutens and an immediate love. With the notes of sap, resins, tobacco leaf, hay sugar, musk, honey, incense, amber, iris, rose, sandalwood it smells like honeyed spicy goodness. It can be dry and smoky, and it can be soft and honeyed, completely randomly and without warning. In cold weather, it’s all bitter and spicy. In warm weather - it’s warm, intoxicatingly soft, resinous tobacco-honey elixir. I like it better in warm weather. In fact, I’ll be bold to suggest it’s meant to reveal its true beauty in warm air only, like the wind in the dessert.
Have there been any scents you’d been neglecting that you finally wore and were smitten by, all over again? Please share in your comments!
Image source: www.senteursdailleurs.com
August 7th, 2006
Several of us perfume bloggers have undertaken a fun project of Blind Scent Reviewing. Namely, we each had to send 3 samples to two other bloggers and wait for their impressions to post on our own blog along with revealing what the scents are. My lucky recipients happened to be none other than Marina from Perfume-Smellin’ Things (who has already posted her own reveal here) and March from Perfume Posse. I sent them 3 main scents and 2 extras for extra credit (which I’m not sure how I’m gonna reward yet - if you have any ideas, please comment). The samples were labeled quite simply - BS 1, BS 2, BS 3, Extra BS, and Extra Extra BS. Shame on you for thinking what you just thought for it’s actually Blind Sniffable. So, here’s the scoop:
Blind Sniffable No 1
Marina says: This was a torture. It smelled incredibly familiar. At first I thought it was Parfum des Merveilles, there was something salty-powdery-warmly-animalic in BS1 that reminded me of the parfum version of Merveilles. After side by side comparison I realized it wasn’t it. Then I thought that, because I smelled some rose and some citrus (bergamot?) in the beginning of BS1, as well as because there was a certain spiciness there, it might possibly be Rosine’s Rose de Feu, which I tried and reviewed at some point, but don’t actually remember all that well. And finally it hit me what it reminds of…Yves Saint Laurent’s Nu! The similarity between the two on my skin is astonishing. After testing them side by side, I could tell that Nu has a much more pronounced incense note and is a more intense scent overall…still, the scents are so alike on my skin, that BS1 could conceivably be a different formulation of Nu, for example, its Eau de Toilette. For various reasons, however, I believe that is not the case. My guess would be that this is one of Montale scents I haven’t tried or one of the Mazzolari’s. Perhaps Alessandro, although my nose is unable to detect any almond here. Whatever it is, I like it very much, but will never need a bottle, since I already have my Nu.
March says: I really like this. It’s not floral on me – more a fall comfort scent. I am getting … amber, vanilla, incense, a hint of feet? Which makes me think there’s woods in there, probably cedar? The feet aren’t bad – just a bit. And the color is gorgeous – that’s not something I usually notice about fragrance, but it’s rich and golden. As the fragrance develops it gets … odder. I smell something peppery, and the feet are more pronounced, but still (how sick am I?) in a good way. There’s some other weird note in here … leather, maybe? This smells unisexy, a man could definitely wear it. It also smells peculiar in a niche way. The lasting power is excellent. Thumbs up.
Marina, I immensely enjoyed torturing you with this one. March, you got pretty close there with your feet comment. The big reveal: Montale Sandalsliver (former Skin).
Blind Sniffable No 2
March says: This is driving me nuts. I get two completely different reads on it. First time: something sweet-sharp in the opening that makes my teeth hurt, I am guessing some sort of fruit, like melon with a little stink. Ack. But at more or less the moment I’d type the words “scrubber,” I become aware that the sillage is attractive. So now I’m in this Catch-22 situation: floating in the air around me, it’s an appealing floral, but whenever I try to sneak my nose in there and smell it, it growls at me. This reminds me vaguely of that wretched Missoni, sans the chocolate. Second time: An animalic floral (jasmine?), and it’s quite nice, although I’d like it a little heavier. Third time: I think what’s happening is the top is registering sometimes to me as stinky fruit (bad) and next time as stinky jasmine (good.) Also I’m getting a note of something slightly medicinal in the opening. Hmmmm. Overall it’s a bit sweet for me, I wish that fecal note were more pronounced. (Wow, that was fun to type! I hope nobody’s reading this at breakfast!) This one’s a head-scratcher, but I’m giving it the qualified thumbs up.
Marina says: Dry, not too sweet roses, that was my impression. I thought it was quite nice, understated and elegant, but rather pale and dull. I must say that most rose scents, if they are not woody, dark and brooding, bore me to tears. Ina likes rose scents more than I do, I think, so I apologize if I have been not respectful enough to one of her favorite rose scents. As to my guess of what this is…this could be anything. It could be one of Stella’s many versions or it could be an overpriced “niche” fragrance.
March, sorry the fecal note wasn’t pronounced enough. Marina, I’m not offended. The big reveal: The Pink Room UK!
Blind Sniffable No 3
Marina says: I liked this a lot, although it was very, very fleeting on my skin. The very first note made me think of anise, then in literally less than a second that pleasant gourmandness was gone and the scent moved on to becoming extremely pleasant woody-floral something with almost-leathery undertone…I can’t tell you exactly why, but something about it tells me it is either something vintage/classic or some very nice, non-macho “masculine” scent, or both. Despite the fact BS3 lasts all of 15 minutes on my skin, I need a bottle of this.
March says: Let’s call this one Anosmia. No, seriously. Finally I dumped on half that big vial, and it’s evanescent to the point of being very hard for me to smell. Other than the burst of alcohol at the opening, it smells vintage with a hint of powder and something green-ish, like basil, and that’s … all I can say. (Retest several days later) – what is wrong with me? Okay, it’s not super-strong, but it’s there. I get aldehydes and greens, grassy and sharp — it smells vintage, but in a light concentration – it’s still too light for me, frankly, but strikes me as something I might really like in an EDP or parfum. There’s a faint sour, mildewy note that I actually like.
Marina, you’ve already tried a scent you talked about wanting to try last week (and today on your blog!). March, right on! The big reveal: Balenciaga Prelude.
Extra Blind Sniffable
March says: Weird. Niche? Can’t imagine something mainstream smelling like this. Marine leather? Butch. I’m guessing a masculine. If this had a color it would look like sea glass. This is precisely the borderline-subversive smell that the Big Cheese hates. It’s got that salty note like in Ecume, and maybe some herbs. This is kinda fabulous, but I would wear it in winter, it’s too much right now. And I wouldn’t wear it around the Big Cheese (sigh). Excellent lasting power.
Marina says: Another incredibly familiar scent and I know I will be kicking myself when Ina reveals what this is. This is a lovely slightly-fruity floral fragrance with some vanilla that makes it rather smooth and a little sweet. This reminded me a little of Sira des Indes and of Lalique Le Parfum and even of Plus Que Jamais (another one of Ina’s favorites).
March, mainstream it is. Marina, I will not forgive you for the Plus Que Jamais comparison. The big reveal: Roberto Cavalli Oro.
Extra Extra Blind Sniffable
Marina says: An oil. Citrusy-green oil with some vanilla. A Jalaine (Citrus Dream?)? A Yosh? There is some “boozyness” in EEBS that reminds me of Rich Hippie’s scent with their always-boozy vanilla and I quite like this.
March says: an oil? Wow, that’s really interesting … I like oils, I have the right skin for it. There’s something Musc Ravegeur-ish about it, I feel like I need to go outside and let this open up on my skin more. It’s very sensual-smelling, some musk and spices, but also just a little aldehydic ping, which seems completely wrong in terms of an impression, but it smells great. There’s also a top (which I get when I first take the cap off the vial, and in small bursts on my skin) of a fruity sweetness, which is also usually not a favorite but is working quite nicely here … this is like MR with Cartier Delices parfum (the best parts – that luxuriant sweet-tartness) layered on top. I am very curious to find out what this is, because I want more!
Marina, you aimed too high. March, curious you should be. The big reveal: Millefiori Ilang.
Ladies, you’ve done an awesome job! I hereby officially pronounce you graduates of my BS school (even though neither of you really guessed anything but that doesn’t really matter). You will receive your prizes shortly. For the readers: if you’d like to try the first 3 BSs, please say so in your comment, and I’ll do a drawing. Yippee! This was fun!
Image source: www.corbis.com
August 6th, 2006
Next Posts
Previous Posts