Last Week In Perfume Land – Weekend Link Love

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Olfactoria

Summer has come this past week, and with a vengeance. It was very hot and sticky and sweaty and sunny. Can you tell I am not majorly into summer? I would love to have normal temperature for once, going from Trenchcoat to bathing suit in the course of a day, is not my ideal way of being.

But at least my summer scents get to go into heavy rotation now. 🙂

Suzanne’s Perfume Journal has a post about my beloved Frapin 1697, and Suz totally gets what I get. Read her beautiful post!

Ines of All I Am – A Redhead does a great job describing her latest Tauer experience – Zeta!

Carrie of Eyeliner On A Cat is on a roll these last few weeks, her review of three Liz Zorn perfumes have us Europeans foaming at the mouth, as she herself put it, since shipping is so expensive. But Carrie knows just what to do… 🙂

Victoria of EauMG reviews Grossmith’s newest offering – Betrothal. I like it, despite the fact that I know I probably won’t like it. Do you know what I mean?

Tarleisio of Scentless Sensibilities is at it again, brewing the Scent of the devil. Read Part four, things are taking shape.

Dee did a lovely thing for B.A., a perfume merchant from Yemen, suffering under an international embargo. Read her interview with him on Beauty on the Outside.

Enjoy your Sunday, hot or not!

Image Source: vintageadbrowser.com
Posted in Weekend Link Love | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Olfactoria On Perfume Smellin’ Things

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Olfactoria

I am on PST again today, talking about Duchaufour – again. 🙂

I hope to see you over there!

Posted in Ramblings | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Magic Cloak – Review: Chanel N°19

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Olfactoria

One of the timeless classics in my perfume closet is N°19.

Sadly, it is neglected in favor of many, many others that shout for attention . Annemarie’s story of the importance of N°19 throughout her life on Beauty on the Outside, reminded me to get it out again and wear it, and promptly it took me in again with its cool charm.

The number 19 refers to the birthday of Coco Chanel, August 19. The perfume was launched in 1971 when Coco Chanel was 87 years old, a year before she died. It was created by Henri Robert, a perfumer who created many other perfumes for the Chanel house.

-excerpted from Fragrantica

N°19 includes notes of galbanum, neroli, bergamot, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, iris, vetiver, sandalwood, leather and musk.

N°19 is extremely elegant and even more typically Chanel than even N°5 in my opinion. The juxtaposition of the sharp, green, cool opening of galbanum paired with citrus notes and the unexpected heart of soft and warm florals, encompasses everything I perceive as elegant and refined. It is like a warm-hearted woman who laughs easily and is well loved wherever she goes. She is always immaculately dressed, wearing gloves and a hat and therefore is perceived upon first look as cool and aloof, staying at a distance, always commanding respect, but that impression dissolves with the first peals of her laughter. Everybody is smitten with her from then on.

After the initial galbanum boost recedes, an incredibly warm and softly powdery iris emerges, decorated by rose and jasmine and ylang. Eventually it dries down to a woody leather-musk that is soft and unassuming, but still captivating.

When wearing Chanel N°19 I feel elegant, regal almost and transported to a time when such attributes where sought and coveted. I walk a little more upright, no matter that I am in jeans and a t-shirt, Chanel N°19 gives me an invisible (but undoubtedly green) magic cloak or rather a cape and matching gloves, transforming me into a woman who manages to exude an inherent grace, while laughing in the face of adversity, laughing with the sheer pleasure of living.

This review is about the Eau de Toilette, I smelled the other available concentrations, Extrait de Parfum and Eau de Parfum only at the store, so I cannot really say much about the differences. Let me refer you to Victoria of Bois de Jasmin, who wrote an excellent review with many details regarding different concentrations, formulation and background.

Image source: chanel.com, vintagevogue.com
Posted in Chanel, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Green, Iris, Leather | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 62 Comments

Wooden, But Elegant – Review: Parfumerie Générale Cadjmeré

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Olfactoria

For the longest time I owned only one PG perfume, Felanilla, and was perfectly happy with that status. But all of a sudden – that is how it is with us Perfumistas -I got a craving for all things PG (the man as well the line, although I have more success getting my hands on the perfumes 😉 ) and samples were sought out like crazy. Thankfully my sample box yielded many treasures, a lot due to the lovely Dee, a fan of the line, but also many from swaps or shops.

The testing fest began…as a result there are going to be quite a bit of PG reviews on this blog in the next months, since I found many a scent I fell for and hardly one I didn’t at least like.

To start we took a look at the two newest releases Tonkamande and Praliné de Santal recently, and for the sake of full disclosure I will admit that in a birthday related buying frenzy, both of these are finding a home at my house now. Yes, I am weak and yes, I did as I forbade myself to do, but I stand behind it. Sometimes only perfume shopping will do. 🙂

But this is a review about Cadjmeré, so let’s quickly move on to that:

Created in 2007 by Pierre Guillaume, Cadjmeré is part of the numbered collection, N°18 to be exact. It includes notes of myrtle branch, sap, red tangerine, rosewood, Kenyan cypress resin, coconut milk, sandalwood bark, ambrette seed and vanilla.

Cadjmeré is one of those fragrances where reading the notes list makes me salivate already, which is usually a recipe for disaster as I set myself up for disappointment. Luckily not in this case.

Cadjmer̩ starts fresh and herbal, but almost immediately the star of the show Рwood, soft wood Рpeeks through. The heart of sandalwood (what does PG do with Sandalwood? He is the master of this material!) and rosewood is smooth, soft, malleable and deeply, deeply elegant. Imagine a very old piece of carved wood, smoothed over by thousands of hands, touched and caressed into something infinitely softer than you would imagine wood ever capable of being. That is how Cadjmer̩ smells. Its drydown is softly musky and sweet, but not too much. Maybe it is the coconut milk in combination with the woods that make Cadjmer̩ at once distinctive and strangely familiar.

Full bottle worthy? But of course! On the list it goes.

Image source: mimifroufrou.com, carved wooden door courtesy of Photo8.com
Posted in Fragrance Reviews, Gourmand, Musk, Parfumerie Generale, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Changeling – Review: Ormonde Jayne Tiare

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Olfactoria

Tiare is the last of the Ormonde Jayne florals up for review. I needed a long time and many wearings to get my bearings with Tiare – for it surprised me.

Tiare flower, the Tahitian Gardenia, is a tropical flower and that is how it is presented most often in a perfume. Ormonde Jayne does something entirely different with it. I was expecting hula-dancing and palms, coconuts and beaches, but Tiare gives me cool, green, thoroughly European class.

That is not a bad thing, on the contrary, I love it, but it immensely confused me. Do you know that feeling? You have a fixed idea what to expect, what to get from a perfume and it is just not that?

Tiare hails from 2009 and its notes include mandarin, orange flower and sicilian lime, tiare, freesia, water lilies, jasmine, orris, ylang ylang, cedar, vetiver, sandalwood, patchouli, moss and musk.

“Like precious jewels resting on dark green foliage, the unsurpassed beauty of the Tiare flower is hand picked whilst still unopened and laid in oil for 15 days to extract the fragrance. Like the woman who wears Tiare, this is a perfume that totally ignores seasons and the time of day, a perfume so artfully blended and infinitely refined… but with a dash of scintillating appeal.”

-from the Ormonde Jayne website

That “dash of scintillating appeal” Linda Pilkington speaks of, that is exactly the hook tiare has me hanging on. Tiare smells shimmery, sparkly, bubbling like champagne, courtesy to the brilliant flower boutquet in the heart assisted by the exuberant citrus notes in the top, but it is grounded by a soft, velvety moss drydown, that never drifts off into swampy as many moss based scents tend to do on me (like Estée Lauder Jasmine White Moss or Chanel Cristalle).

It is not helpful to me at all that this is one more excellently made perfume by Ormonde Jayne, since it does not make my wishlist from this brand any shorter. I now own Frangipani and Ta’if (as well as Tolu), but one day Osmanthus, Champaca AND now Tiare are going to be mine as well.  What an extraordinarily well-edited line!

Image source: maisqueparfum.com, vinatageabrowser.com
Posted in Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Ormonde Jayne | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

My Kingdom For This Horse! – Review: Parfum d’Empire Equistrius

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Olfactoria

I wish I had tried Equistrius sooner. Like when I had my major iris phase, but on the other hand, I would have missed many good irises then, because Equistrius would have stopped me in my tracks, I would have been declaring “I have found it!” and would have sat back, just huffing my wrist contentedly, an enigmatic smile of my satisfied face.

Which is what I am doing right now. And now and then, between deep breaths and beatific smiles, I write a sentence. This could be a very short review, à la “I love it. Go buy it.” or “Best iris in existence. Go buy it.”, but I am usually a bit more verbose than this and Equistrius deserves a proper accolade. But if you are in a hurry, this is all you need to know: Great iris, go buy it!

Equistrius was created by the founder of Parfum d’Empire, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato in 2007, notes include orris, violet, rice powder, chocolate, ambrette, sandalwood, vetiver and grey amber. Like the others in the line, Equistrius represents an empire, in this case the roman empire. Equistrius is allegedly the name of a horse belonging to the creator. We already took a look at Tsarist Russia (Ambre Russe) and China (Osmanthus Inderdite).

Equistrius can be described shortly as an iris amber, quick thinkers already know why I cannot but love this. In Equistrius the hefty dose of orris is combined with a little violet and gourmand notes of rice powder and chocolate, the whole things sits on a delightful base of ambergris, ambrette and sandalwood.

That sounds mighty sweet, even to me when I read this, but it is not sweet at all. Another iris gourmand comes to mind of course – Guerlain Iris Ganache – but there is no real comparison, Iris Ganache is about three thousand times sweeter and more “edible” than Equistrius. The rice and chocolate here work only to make the iris rounder and softer, to smooth out the rootiness. There is a curious spiciness to Equistrius that I cannot place, that keeps me guessing and that keeps the perfume interesting.

Apart from a little more violet at the start, and a little more orris in the heart, Equistrius is mostly linear and fades out, I am sorry to say, all too soon. I would be the happiest person in the world if I could say it lasts for 8 hours. It does not, but I get about two to three, then I re-apply (with gusto, I might add, so it is not so bad).

The drydown is simply stunning, a totally addictive blend of musk, amber and iris. It is deep, but not heavy, comforting, but still interesting, gorgeous, but sadly fleeting.

Now for the bottom line: Would I buy it? YES. Will I buy it? YES. Should you buy it? YES. If you love iris, if you love amber, this is perfection.

Al Pacino as Richard III in one of my favorite movies "Looking for Richard"

I would certainly give my Kingdom for this particular horse.

Image source: luckyscent.com, alpacinomovies.com
Posted in Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Parfum d'Empire | Tagged , , , , , | 55 Comments

Out Of The Box – Mainstream Sample Sniffathon Part 1

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Olfactoria

The other day I was lucky enough to have the morning to myself, totally child free, thanks to my Mother in law. That was a perfect moment to go through my mainstream sample box for once. This box is a separate entity from my big tea box that holds niche and classic samples. These are the mostly disregarded and quickly forgotten samples I get at the department store, those samples the SA’s part with out of their own free will (an indicator in itself that there may be something wrong with them, the least of which is that they are heavily marketed and pushed since they are the newest of the new).

That box held 42 samples, not counting duplicates. Here is a quick sniff and impression of the first ten. I must say there were quite a few surprises in there, both good and bad…

Estée Lauder Sensuous: Wow! Who would have thought? (Well, those who can read, would have thought, since Sensuous has very positive reviews all over Perfumeland, but it somehow never crossed my path.) Instant love! Estée Lauder does very good perfumes, so this shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, but still. Sensuous, a warm, creamy and woody fragrance is full-bottle worthy for me. This is a so-called “duty-free in waiting”! 😉

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle: this one is familiar, I have worn Coco Mademoiselle along with everybody and their Grandmother in my twenties, I remember getting many compliments for it too, but I didn’t remember how it smelled. It is way bolder and in your face than I remembered it, a combination of masculine and gourmand that is well made, but holds no more attraction for me. Intimidating sillage!

Issey Miyake A Scent: no doubt something called A Scent is minimalistic, the name and the bottle do not exactly suggest opulence of any kind and neither does the aesthetic of a Japanese creator, but A Scent is really just that. A good smell, a vaguely woody, sexless affair that leaves me with the need for a Lutens to counteract the feeling of “not enough” that A Scent invokes. It smells fine, and it is even quite tenacious for its kind, mind you, but it is just a scent after all, best for people who do not like perfume. But to be fair it does not pretend to be anything else.

Dolce & Gabbana Rose The One: sharp, harsh opening, faint heart, thin drydown. No need to bother with a rose this close to utter cheapness.

Oscar De La Renta: the Eau de Toilette. I don’t know how I came to be in possession of this one. It is a rather heavy floral-aldehydic blend. It is not on the Oscar de la Renta website anymore, and I think that is no great loss. I’d like to try the new Esprit d’Oscar though…

Donna Karan Cashmere Mist: I was glad to find this. It is such an iconic fragrance, especially in the US. In Europe, especially the German speaking countries, this took a while to be accepted because of its name. Mist means garbage in German, nothing you want associatd with perfume unless you are Etat Libre d’Orange. Cashmere Mist is a woody oriental with a little bouquet of lily of the valley thrown in for good measure. Despite heavy notes, it is transparent and does right by its name.

Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Luxe Edition: this flanker of the above amps the floral part up with jasmine and orange blossom, it still retains its light, gauzy “mist” character though.

Chanel Chance Eau Tendre: Where have I smelled this before? Answer: everywhere! The quintessential Eau de Generic, a fruity-floral for the ages, no doubt. 😉

Narciso Rodriguez Essence: I love Narciso Rodriguez For Her and have worn it for years, my husband has been known to walk into perfume stores asking for Felipe Hernandez and still coming out with the right perfume. But Essence is somehow lacking. Lacking in substance, lacking in style, lacking in concept. It seems too close to the essence of cleaning liquids for comfort.

Flower By Kenzo: no flower smells like that, I believe (although I am no botanist, so feel free to correct me). It is a powdery, cuddly totally artificial scent, not bad, and much warmer and less happy go lucky than I imagined, but ultimately not for me. Reminds me a bit of Villoresi Teint de Neige, which is much richer though.

Dior Miss Dior Chèrie: aside from the cute bottle I have a hard time finding anything good about this perfume. It takes its name from something entirely different and it is not deserving of that grand name. A fruity-floral with a vengeance, it clamors the be the loudest of them all and may even win.

Jean-Paul Gaultier MaDame: is a -wait for it – fresh floral and it smells like everything and nothing. A very synthetic mélange of floral and musk. Do I like it? *shrugs* Is it good? *shrugs* As hard as I try, I cannot form an opinion about it, whatever that means…in any case this is more of a non-review than a mini-review. Sorry.

Stay tuned for the next three parts of this series over the next weeks.

What are your department store surprises?

Image source: businessweek.com
Posted in Aldehydic, Amber, Chypre, Citrus, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Fruity, Gourmand, Green, Musk, Oriental, Powdery, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Last Week In Perfume Land – Weekend Link Love

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Olfactoria

We went to a wedding yesterday. It probably was one of the last we will go to (at least in our generation) since most of our friends are married already. When exactly did this happen? We’ve just come out of school, haven’t we?

Last week in Perfumeland saw the following fine pieces of writing:

Tarleisio of Scentless Sensibilities is on an ELdO roll, this week we get her impression of my personal favorite by the house – Like This. (Here is my take.)

Dee hates again – a wonderfully nice installment of the popular Things I Hate category, Beauty on the Outside takes a closer look at Robert Piguet’s Visa. From the number of comments this has hit a nerve. To quote T – Has this Visa expired?

Carrie loves again – Santal 33 by La Labo is Eyeliner on a Cat‘s new obsession.

Suzanne of Eiderdown Press Perfume Journal writes about her memories of Lancome Magie Noire and her mom. Wonderful post!

Victoria of EauMG takes a look at a wonderful perfume, Ormonde Jayne’s Frangipani. (Here is my take on it.)

Persolaise has posted an article about Frederic Malle Candles by a surprise guest author. 😉

Have a great Sunday!

Posted in Weekend Link Love | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Waxing Poetic – Review: Eau d’Italie Jardin Du Poète

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Olfactoria

It is no secret how I feel about Bertrand Duchaufour. He created my favorite perfume ever, quite a feat considering the size of my collection (and no, I am not getting tired mentioning it any time soon, Frapin 1697, there you are.) So when he comes out with something new, which is not exactly a rare occurrence – but there is nothing wrong with being prolific (something I get accused of regularly as well) – I want to try it.

Eau d’Italie is a line composed entirely of Duchaufour perfumes, so there is a lot to do here for me. The latest – the eighth – offering is Jardin du Poète, a perfume inspired by Sicily, and it is a great starting point to work my way through this line starting with the newest.

Eau d’Italie was originally a perfume designed exclusively for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of one hotel, the beautiful Le Sirenuse in Positano, Italy. Eau d’Italie – the fragrance, was the first of the line released in 2004. Seven more perfumes have followed since, along with body care products for Eau d’Italie.

Jardin du Poète was created By Bertrand Duchaufour over the last two years, according to press materials, and released this spring. It features notes of orange, grapefruit, basil, angelica, immortelle, pink pepper, cypress, vetiver and musk.

Jardin du Poète starts with a lovely, bracing citrus and herbal accord. The basil and grapefruit reminds me initially of Sisley Eau de Campagne (by JCE), but the resemblance is only short lived. Jardin du Poète moves on into more floral territory soon. At least the immortelle in the heart smells very fresh and floral to me. Immortelle can be very dusty and dry, very sweet and honeyed, not here though. The cypress and a little peppery kick keep it light and airy and – I can’t say anything else – fresh, to the point of almost watery. It last very well for such a light fragrance, which pleases me no end.

Jardin du Poète brings to mind early morning walks through dew-drenched grass along a lake, slowly being warmed by the rising sun, taking a nap in the shade of an age-old tree, watching the sun coming up over gently rolling hills and feeling carefree and happy.

And do you want to know the best part? My husband fully approves of Jardin du Poète. From someone who usually runs the other way when he is asked to smell something, and whose highest praise amounts to “It is okay, I guess, not so bad like the others”, getting a a positively poetic “Oh, that smells good, what is it?”, is unheard of and only ever experienced here.

So what else can I say, than I highly recommend Jardin du Poète as a wonderfully light, but tenacious, beautifully done and interesting summer scent?
Exactly.

Image Source: parfumerie-brueckner.com, Hotel Casa Talia, Sicily via long-travel.co.uk
Posted in Citrus, Eau d'Italie, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Green, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Darkness – Review: Histoires de Parfums 1740 Marquis de Sade

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Olfactoria

Everybody who reads this blog now and then probably knows by now that I am a bit (okay, a lot) infatuated with Frapin 1697. This perfume features davana, a herb that is not often used in perfumes, but when I find it, I get week at the knees. Davana is my personal Nirvana. (Sorry, that was really lame…)

The lovely Suzanne once mentioned Histoires de Parfums 1740 Marquis de Sade contained davana, so, of course, I had to acquire a sample.

Here we are now, taking a closer look at a perfume named after a year, like the Frapin, but not only that, it is also named after a person. And not just any person…

The Marquis de Sade is known, I assume, by all, for his predilections, documented in mind-numbing detail in his extensive writings. Has anyone ever seen the movie “Quills”? De Sade is portrayed by the wonderful Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix is a priest unsuccessfully trying to reform de Sade and their mutual love interest is played by Kate Winslet. It was the single most impressive movie I have seen in my entire adult life. If you get the chance, watch it! I won’t write more about de Sade, but instead concentrate on the perfume at hand.

1740 was created in 2008 by Gerald Ghislain and includes notes of bergamot, davana sensualis, patchouli, coriander, cardamom, cedar, elemi, leather, labdanum, and coumarin.

1740 opens dark and dusty, treacly sweet and leathery, labdanum, leather and patchouli – and not just a little – being present from the get go.

It is an intriguing and darkly beautiful scent. It is darkest brown leather, dusty with age, cracked only at the edges, smooth from thousands of human touches. It is also something fruity, darkly fruity though, dried and aged, like dried prunes or marmite (or how I imagine marmite, it is so long since I last actually tasted it).

1740 develops slowly, but not a lot. What you get at the start stays mostly with you for at least six to eight hours. The dry-down is less fruity and more dry leather that looses a little of its deep complexity along the way. Nonetheless it is impressive. I would not wear it in the heat of summer, but I cannot wait to spray with abandon in the cold. A good reason to love the change of seasons.

I have to get back to the Marquis de Sade once more though – I am very, very glad this does not smell as much like it could, bearing that name. If Gerald Ghislain would have been really courageous, this would have been the perfume to really go to town with the animalics, the heavy leather, the dirty hair and God knows what else, even an ink note would fit the theme perfectly. It is not that scent though, and for that I am personally grateful, but if you choose to give that name to a perfume, it would have been only fitting to pursue the association to the end.

Image source: movieclub.blog.gogo.mn
Posted in Amber, Fragrance Reviews, Histoires de Parfums, Leather, Musk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 39 Comments