Archive for September, 2006
Jalaine (formerly Bagutta Life) is a line of perfume oils created by Jalaine Sommers, a New York perfumer. “Combining impeccable oils found throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Jalaine Sommers has developed a line of fragrances that are alcohol-free, allowing the full potency of each scent to be experienced for hours.” (Jalainefragrances.com). Can’t add much more to this – high quality oils that last for hours. I’ve tried every single one of them, and these are my favorite perfume oils besides Yosh oils. For those of you not familiar with the line or simply curious to hear more about it, here’s a brief overview of the scents (in no particular order) and an opportunity to win a sample pack (of all the ones reviewed below) – the usual way, please mention in your comments if you’d like to be included in the drawing.
Citrus Dream – orange, grapefruit, musk. A cheerful and uplifting blend of what mostly smells like orange peel and musk and just a hint of grapefruit juiciness. There’s a bit too much musk here for my taste but if you don’t mind it and enjoy citrus scents, it’s a must try.
Vanilla – one of my favorite vanillas. Smells like creamy vanilla ice-cream with musky undertones. It’s never cloying or boring, and it lasts and lasts. But don’t be fooled – while it is a gourmand vanilla, it’s not the type that makes you think you’ve just spread vanilla frosting all over yourself.
Ocean – lily of the valley and musks. What I like about this one is that it’s free from any typical ozonic/aquatic notes, in spite of the name. It just smells clean and refreshing like ocean air. At the same time, it could very well be my favorite lily of the valley scent – it possesses a certain purity and gentleness without being too much. I can see this as a perfect office scent – inoffensive and mild.
Patchouli – Tunisian patchouli, musks, hints of vanilla. An absolute masterpiece! If you’re not a fan of patchouli, you should give this a try. It’s so earthy and dirt-like, yet smooth and balanced, almost balsamic and resinous. If you’re a fan of patchouli, your collection will never be complete without this one. I adore it to pieces.
Gardenia – gardenia, white and Egyptian musks. The floral ignoramus that I am, I have no idea what real gardenia smells like but comparing it to other popular gardenia scents, i.e., Marc Jacobs or Chanel Gardenia, this scent seems to render it as a green and creamy flower. It possesses a slight decay note that makes it even more appealing.
Silk – white amber, vanilla, marine notes. This is one of my favorite your skin but better scents. There’s just enough amber, vanilla, and marine notes to make it very soft-spoken and polished without being ample or weighty that’s usually the case with these notes. It also has amazing sillage – probably the best sillage of all Jalaine oils.
Green Tea – extracts of two different varieties of Chinese green tea. Juicy and sparkly at first, almost like a carbonated lemon-green tea soda drink. Verdant and smooth as it dries down. A sophisticated green tea scent, no doubt. Very pleasant and very elegant.
Vetiver – I’ve already raved about Vetiver here. I’ll just add that there’s nothing like it out there. It’s absolutely mesmerizing!
Amber – Moroccan amber and hints of three different white musks. It starts out smelling a bit animalic and boozy and dries down to spicy and slightly soapy amber. It’s not powdery-sweet and resinous as most amber fragrances tend to be but its spicy soapiness makes it quite sultry and seductive.
Other Jalaine fragrances include Lotus, Honeysuckle, Cucumber, and Rainforest.
Jalaine oils are available at Aedes, Luckyscent, Your Cosmetics as well as directly from Jalaine Fragrances online. In Europe, they can be purchased at Aus Liebe zum Duft. Yes, they’re pricey but keep in mind you’re paying for high quality ingredients and excellent staying power (a couple drops last me a whole day).
Note: the drawing for the sample pack is now closed. I’ll announce the winner shortly.
Image source: www.jalainefragrances.com
September 17th, 2006
L’Artisan Parfumeur is a niche French perfume house that’s been around since 1976. It “proposes an individual approach to fragrances for those who are looking for their personal perfume, regardless of trends” and the “fragrances are inspired by nature and familiar scents found in the sweetest corners of the memory” (Lartisanparfumeur.com). I first became familiar with the line about 3 years ago and was immediately fascinated by their one of a kind creations. Today I’d like to tell you you about an exciting L’Artisan Parfumeur event I attended last night. It took place at the Ruby Room salon-spa in Chicago that will be carrying the line from now on. I went there with a friend from Makeupalley, Lauren, who I have to thank publicly for bringing it to my attention. Since I’m quite fond of L’Artisan perfumes, it’s always exciting to see them available at different shops. This time, however, it wasn’t just that. It was also the fact that I got the opportunity to meet an owner and the U.S. president of L’Artisan, Francois Duquesne (you can see him in the picture holding a Dzongkha bottle).
As I write this post, I find it quite challenging to bring my thoughts in order simply because I’m still all aflutter over the experience. Not only did I get a chance to sniff some of the perfumes but also heard Monsieur Duquesne talk about the L’Artisan approach to perfumery – the “moment of life” concept which means capturing various olfactory moments. For instance, the famous La Chasse aux Papillons was inspired by a picture of running through the flower meadow chasing butterflies. In contrast, Mechant Loup represents the image of the Big Bad Wolf from the Little Red Riding Hood, with the notes of cedar, liquorice, hazelnut, and honey – a woodsy, smoky blend that’s quite mischievous in character (and my new favorite). Their perfumes are created in the tradition of artisanship, with much thought and dedication as well as excellent quality ingredients. I find this particularly appealing, and in spite of having my personal L’Artisan favorites, keep discovering more and more – Fleur de Narcisse being the most recent one. I got a brief chance to smell it last night, and I can just tell you, it’s out of this world gorgeous. It’s being released this November, as a limited edition of 3,000 bottles worldwide. I’ll wait to write a proper review once I get a chance to have some in my hands. Meanwhile, you can read Marina’s impressions here.
Now on to some important bits of information regarding the line. Contrary to the recent rumor regarding discontinuation of Dzing! – I personally asked Monsieur Dequesne, it is not true. Big sigh of relief! L’Artisan also plans to open their signature shop in Chicago next year – very excited about that! Dzongkha, that’s to be released in October, is now available for pre-orders at Ruby Room as well as Barney’s.
In conclusion, I’d like to share with you some of my L’Artisan favorites: Dzing!, Bois Farine, Safran Troublant, Orchidee Blanche, Oeillet Sauvage, Tea For Two, Mechant Loup, L’Eau du Navigateur. I also immensely enjoy their candles – Pour des Prunes, The et Pain d’Epices, L’Ambre (awesome for colder months!), Trefles a Quatre Fleurs. They have a superb throw and are well worth the price.
L’Artisan perfumes are available at such online shops as Aedes, Luckyscent, Beautycafe, Lusciouscargo as well as numerous shops nationwide (for more info, please check the Retailers page on the L’Artisan site).
September 15th, 2006
It’s been on my mind to talk about 10 Corso Como for a couple of weeks now. The perfume’s been neglected, sitting in its box in a drawer, way in the back, where all the empty perfume boxes are, sort of giving me major guilt trips that it didn’t really belong there. So out of the dresser it came, yesterday, and was immediately placed on the coffee table in the living room where it sat for another 24 hours or so – a sight for sore eyes, so to speak. I wasn’t able to ignore it any longer, and chose to wear it last night before going out and was immediately overjoyed by how perfect it fit – the mood, the weather, the outfit, the colors. You know, how that happens every once in a while when your scent is just so perfectly becoming and so impeccably fitting that you can say in all honesty and utter devotion you will never, ever need another perfume again. Right. That would be nice. But since it’s highly improbable and just plain silly to think such a thing will ever happen (at least not for us, perfume maniacs), I’ll just focus on the scent itself and its appeal.
10 Corso Como is created by an Italian designer Carla Sozzani who “went on a mission to create a flagship scent that brought together other-worldliness and travel to far-flung places” (Luckyscent.com). It’s named after a popular Milan shopping area. The notes of sandalwood and frankincense certainly speak of other-worldliness to me. What makes the scent close to home, however, is the geranium. I’m not sure what geranium in particular was used here but it reminds me so much of the geranium we used to have as a home plant. I used to hate it with a passion. That stinker could never be far enough from me. It especially made me vicious when I happened to accidentally touch it (I would never touch it on purpose!) So, when I first saw geranium listed as a note in 10 Corso Como, I could hardly take it in. Not because of the olfactory memories as much, moreso due to the fact of how masterfully it was blended with sandalwood and other notes (musk, rose, vetiver, oud wood oil). I just love how it starts out as crisp sandalwood and light incense and grows into a creamy, slightly smoky, woodsy potion. It’s extremely wearable and very much modern in character, very upbeat and trendy. Okay, perhaps calling it trendy is a stretch considering the amount of strawberry syrups and the like that get widely produced these days. Nevertheless, if it was up to me, this is the type of scent that would be trendy and sought after to the point of making people stand in long lines a la Soviet style. Alas! For the time being, however, you can purchase it at Beautyhabit and Luckyscent in the U.S., and HQhair in the U.K. as well as other European perfume shops.
Image source: www.luckyscent.com
September 13th, 2006
As I was rummaging through my perfume samples and decants in hopes to find an inspiration for another review, I stumbled upon my purse since I often carry various perfume samples with me. I was hoping to find something in there I’d either neglected or forgotten I had. As I unzipped the inside pocket, I saw a shocking picture: the amount of samples was unreal. So, instead of writing a review, I figured why not just tell you folks what I found in my purse? Wouldn’t you want to know? I think women in particular love talking about their purse contents (I’m yet to see a guy who’d be as enthusiastic). Why is that? It’s like our purses are like our little domains where we keep only the things we like, and nobody else has a say what goes in there. So, anyways, here goes (as a side note, what I’m about to list will happen as I procure it):
Citta di Kyoto by Santa Maria Novella, sample – light, herbal incense.
Biche dans l’Absinthe by Victoria Gobin Daude, sample – shaking my fist as I hold this at them discontinuing the line!
Incense by Norma Kamali, sample – killer incense, like no other.
Heure Exquise by Annick Goutal (eau de parfum), decant – ah yes, swooned over it here.
Fidji by Guy Laroche parfum (vintage), sample – gorgeous in parfum!
Unidentified Sample #1 – hmm, some sort of a vintage scent. Perhaps, Cuir de Russie parfum by Chanel?
Santal de Mysore by Serge Lutens, sample – superb spicy and milky sandalwood. I need more of this.
Pierre de Lune by Armani Prive, decant – oh, how I love thee.
Message from Orchids by Shiseido, sample – this one has Marina’s writing, so check her blog for more info.
Eau Noire by Christian Dior (cologne), decant – ah, there you are!
Tolu by Ormonde Jayne spray, sample – thanks for reminding me to wear you.
Zenadora perfume, sample – talked about it here.
Cuir de Russie by Chanel parfum, sample – oops, scratch that Unidentified Sample above. Hmm, maybe it was a Guerlain.
Derby by Guerlain, sample – goes on my Further Testing list.
KenzoAmour by Kenzo, sample – MEH.
L’Origan by Coty (vintage), sample – another one I need to test further.
Passage d’Enfer by L’Artisan, sample – soapy incense.
Discontented Sample 2 – from Patty’s Blind Testing (see the link for more info).
What the heck is this? Another Unidentified Sample. Something vintagey.
Rose Barbare by Guerlain, sample – ah, I knew you were here somewhere.
West Broadway by Bond No 9, sample – way too soapy.
Black Oud by Montale, sample – awesome.
Discontented Sample 3 – see above.
Chinatown by Bond No 9, sample – must you smell like gasoline?
Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae, sample – unconditional love.
Green Tea by Jalaine, sample – I plan to review Jalaine oils soon.
Phenomenon by Yosh, sample.
Oh, I know what that Unidentified Sample #1 is – Chant d’Aromes by Guerlain, vintage parfum sample. Gorgeous!
Sorry if this has bored you to tears. If it hasn’t, please share the perfume contents of your purses in your comments! If you don’t have perfume contents in your purse, I hereby command you promptly remedy such an oversight.
September 12th, 2006
Needless to say, vanilla is a very widely used note in perfume, and it’s especially prevalent in recent trends (and rather excessively so). I tend to categorize vanilla into gourmand, fruity-floral, and complex. Gourmand, obviously, pertaining to perfumes that have a foody, edible effect (Comptoir Sud Pacifique line, for instance). Fruity-floral vanilla is pretty much everything that gets released these days, heavy on fruits and often cloyingly sweet. Complex vanilla is where it’s used strictly as a supplementary ingredient, usually polishing the composition or adding a certain lushness to it. This complex vanilla gets my vote, most of the time. Sure, I find some gourmand vanillas quite nice and wearable (L’Aromarine Vanille comes to mind). Likewise, some fruity-floral ones can be unique or well-blended in spite of such commonly used ingredients (Badgley Mischka is one of them). Complex vanilla scents, however, do not usually have vanilla written all over them. It’s often so masterfully blended with other notes that you can barely tell it’s even there. I especially like vanilla blended with amber, sandalwood, incense, tobacco, opoponax, patchouli, frankincense. I plan to write about these different vanillas in the future, and for today my pick is Vanilla Lust by Jill Stuart.
Vanilla Lust is borderline complex vanilla in my perception. Borderline because it’s not quite gourmand, and not quite complex. It features the notes of Madagascar vanilla, coconut milk, neroli, caramel, tiare, and sandalwood. Caramel and coconut milk give it a slightly gourmand quality. However, that only happens in top notes, when the scent is quite cream soda-like in effect (milky and creamy). As it develops, the tiare flower gives it a certain tropical lushness that’s rather subdued. The sandalwood plays an important part in the drydown. It makes me think of fresh wood shavings soaked in coconut milk and sprinkled with vanilla (and this is why it’s not quite gourmand). What doesn’t quite qualify it as a complex vanilla is the fact that it is a predominantly vanilla scent. It is a very wearable and sort of mature vanilla, however. I’m still on the fence about whether I need a bottle – I feel like it’d be ideal for the upcoming cold weather when you don’t want to smell quite like a cupcake, yet need some comfort and warmth in your perfume.
Vanilla Lust is created by a fashion designer, Jill Stuart. It’s available at Nordstrom and Beautyhabit as well as directly from Jill Stuart Beauty.
Image source: www.nordstrom.com
September 11th, 2006
Agraria is a San Francisco based luxury home fragrance line. I first became familiar with it after smelling their Bitter Orange cologne a couple of years ago. It didn’t do much for me back then, so I didn’t even notice there were other scents as well. Happy was my oblivion until Marina from Perfume-Smellin’ Things once again inspired an uncontrollable desire to commit the Unsniffed Purchase crime (she’s rather infamous for that). The object was Balsam cologne. All she had to say was that it would be her staple this fall, and how she couldn’t believe nobody had told her about Balsam before. In the following half hour or so I was on Beautyhabit placing my order. I’m normally not rash to such shameful extent but $36 for 100 ml didn’t help the matters either.
Balsam is “a refreshing and luscious marriage combining the essence of sweet balsam, California Redwood, a hint of French sage & the bouquet of white flowers” (Agrariahome.com). There’s not much else I can add other than it smells like fresh pine needles, smoke, and wood. It dries down to a soft, slightly powdery, balsamic scent with just a whisper of flowers and overall mellow sweetness. It has an extremely comforting effect on me. Since I got it last week, I’ve been faithfully wearing it to bed every night as well as vigorously spraying the rooms, causing Mr. Aromascope to choke and sputter profusely.
The cologne can be used as a home spray as well. It has an average lasting power, so frequent reapplying will be necessary if you want it to last through the day. Balsam is also available in other products (I’m seriously desiring the candle now).
Image source: www.your-cosmetics.com
September 10th, 2006
Rich Hippie, the natural and organice perfume line, will be doing a 25% off promotion starting September 18 through September 25 on all orders. Use the code “RICHHIPPIE” at checkout.
September 10th, 2006
So I’ve been unemployed for a couple of weeks now. You’d think I’d have all the time in the world to be writing perfume reviews to keep this blog up, etc. Right. Not only have I slacked in review writing, but also have developed some sort of a smell aversion. By that I mean I have not felt like wearing perfume, and I’ve barely worn any. Not exactly sure why. Must be the hormones – I always blame everything on the hormones. Everything I’ve put on has been either way too sweet (even the universally skanky Muscs Koublai Khan!) or just too much of whatever. This is beyond devastating! But life is not fair, so instead of sulking and turning into a drama queen, I decided to challenge myself with one of the richest perfumes I’ve encountered – Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier in parfum concentration.
I’d like to emphasize this short review will refer solely to the parfum version (the strongest concentration available). The eau de parfum version of JPG Classique as well as the numerous other limited editions and whatnots have been familiar to my nose for a while, and, unfortunately, have not earned its favor. I was alerted, however, by a couple fellow perfume fanatics to try the parfum which I did promptly. This stuff could be easily called Eau de Posh – I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything this opulent. I immediately visualize a Russian woman casually getting out of a black limousine – she’s wearing a long real fur coat (and a skimpy mini dress underneath), black glossy high-heeled, pointy-toed boots, her hair pulled all the way back into a fancy bun, her extra-thick eyelashes heavily mascaraed, and a scarlet-red lipstick burning on her lips. OK, maybe I’ve gone a bit too far but I swear that’s what Classique parfum conjures up in my fragrant brain. It’s all things posh, luxurious, deluxe. It smells of money – in the sense when it’s being squandered on endless and excessive self-pampering. Even though I truly enjoy Classique, I’m not sure I have what it takes to pull it off. Perhaps I just need to be liberated from the above images. But I honestly think if there was ever a strictly occasion-specific perfume, this would be it. I can only see myself wearing it when going out and only in cold weather. It will otherwise smother everybody around me including myself.
Classique features the notes of orange flower, mandarin, star anise, orchid, iris, ylang-ylang, ginger, vanilla, amber. All of these notes are on major steroids producing a lush, full-bodied floral oriental on a heavy vanilla base. The parfum can be purchased at Imagination Perfumery as well as Ebay.
P.S. The drydown of Classique parfum is where it utterly and unconditionally wins me over.
Image source: www.imaginationperfumery.com
September 7th, 2006
Phenomenon sample winners are: Amy (comment #28), Margaret (comment #9), and CindyN (comment #15). Please send me your addresses to aromascope at gmail dot com. Thank you!
September 7th, 2006
I smelled two new releases yesterday – Perles by Lalique and Midnight Rain by La Prairie. First of all, it’s taking me some physical effort to not just get to the gist of it, and tell you exactly how I feel about these two (I love giving out the punch line in anything, and have ruined many a stories by doing so). So, for that reason and for the sake of blog decency, I will refrain and lay out a more detailed analysis instead. After all, tastes differ, and I’m sure there’ll be quite a few followers of Perles and Midnight Rain and their numerous predecessors and descendants. But I must stop now and go directly to the scents before I get too far.
Perles is described as a modern chypre. It features the notes of bergamot, Bulgarian rose, iris, pepper, patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver, cashmere woods. It starts out with a sour, slightly tart (think tart apples) note of Bulgarian rose, then iris becomes apparent, then the whole thing turns into a vanilla-patchouli based mix, rather gourmand in character. It sort of reminds me of Agent Provocateur – a gourmand Agent Provocateur. I can’t even call this a chypre. If this was a cake, chypre would be that very thin layer of whatever your favorite filling is, with a heavy sugared vanilla frosting (the kind they put on most American cakes that gives you instant cavities just by looking at it – sorry, not a lover here). The drydown is quite pleasant, with just a hint of oakmoss, but it’s way too close to skin and lacking oomph. It’s almost like it’s scared to be a chypre. It’s like we’re supposed to recognize it as a chypre, yet it will barely come half way to help us here. It’s a chypre wannabe that doesn’t have the guts to be one.
Now on to Midnight Rain. I was actually rather shocked to find that many notes for something that smells so one-dimensional. The notes are guava, mandarin, pomegranate, freesia, white lily, vanilla orchid, plum flower, amber flower, patchouli, vetiver, cashmere woods, musk. Notice: both scents have cashmere woods – a pure coincidence? It starts out tart, fruity, and juicy (surprise!) a la Burberry Brit Red. The drydown is smoother, with unspeakable amounts of sugared frosting, once again. This would make a good surrealist painting where instead of rain drops, you’ll see heavily frosted cupcakes falling from the midnight sky. If this was a drink, it’d most definitely be a soda that contains 41 grams of sugar per can, and the ingredients consist of not just sugar but also high fructose corn syrup and regular corn syrup (as if sugar is not enough already!) It’s like whoever created this was paranoid the world would run out of sugar, so they decided to pack as much as possible into Midnight Rain.
Boy, does it feel good to finally get it all off my chest!
Image source: www.neimanmarcus.com, www.marionnaud.fr
September 6th, 2006
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