I’m only checking in quickly again today. I’m happily rediscovering my perfume collection, wafting copious amounts of musky fumes these days and sweltering in the heat.
Here are just a few pictures I took recently…
A Fountain in Vienna’s 9th District
A lotus flower on the pond in our garden
Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna
Water Rats
How are you doing? What perfume are you wearing when it is really, really hot outside?
Have a great week!
This week have have perfumer Kitty Shpirer. She is the founder and perfumer of niche brand Bissoumine. The line consists of eight perfumes, my favorite is the wonderful Les Fleurs de Nall, I only did short, first-impression-style mini-reviews of the first six releases.
Kitty is such a kind and nice person, her line is one where you can feel the personal touch. It is not a marketing driven business, but a labor of love.
Let us get to know Kitty a bit better.
A good day starts with… a cup of coffee and a quiet moment.
I’d never leave the house without… my iPhone.
I always feel good when… gardening and having my dog around.
My favorite thing in the world is… a beautiful kinetic model, made for me by my husband for my birthday, imitating bird’s flight while playing music from a music box. It is like a time tunnel, as if you are in a dream.
The next thing I want to buy is… a new car.
The place I always come back to is… Les Jardins du Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse. A pleasant and magical garden where plants used in perfumery are gathered from all over the world. One can smell, touch and dream.
My personal style is… casual for everyday and some 20’s inspiration when I am in the mood to play.
My favorite perfume… L’Heure Bleue de Guerlain and Chergui Serge Lutens by Christopher Sheldrake.
When I travel, I… am looking for inspiration and ideas.
To relax I need… to be in a peaceful garden with friends and have a good laugh.
I like to gift people with… things I personally made for them.
When I have a bad day, I… take a warm perfumed bath while listening to music.
I find my inspiration… in different forms of the arts, in interesting insights, in nature.
Something I would never want to miss… a good inspiring concert.
My last mistake was… reacting too fast.
In my fridge there is always… milk for coffee.
On my nightstand I keep… the iPad and the book I read.
The perfect weekend starts with… a great cup of coffee at our favorite bookshop with all the other “regular” week-end clients.
My role model is… in perfumery: the courage and determination of Gabrielle Chanel and the creative sensibility of Christopher Sheldrake.
Something I always want to be asked in questionnaires like this is… What’s next? Coming next is Bissoumine’s 9th perfume “aria sublime”, dedicated to renowned counter-tenor Andreas Scholl, whose voice inspires me for many years. He has composed a baroque piece dedicated to the perfume… a lot of excitement for me. 🙂
Kitty likes her coffee! 🙂 I can identify with many of her answers, I really envy the quiet and leisurely Saturday mornings in the book store.
As for the upcoming perfume, I received a sample of aria sublime and will report back once I’ve tested it thoroughly, my first impression is that this is a very unusual perfume, and having smelled a few in my time, that is not something I can say very often.
Do you know anything from Bissoumine? What do you think?
Do you like musk as a note?
What is your favorite perfume prominently featuring the note?
Do you like your musk clean or are going for the dirtier variety?
What is the most perfect musk scent for you on the market right now?
My Answer:
I have musk phases, like I have phases when I crave other notes. The one perfume that reliably hits the spot in such a phase is Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur, although our history is complicated, I have learned to adore it.
Serge Lutens has two famous musks, Muscs Kublai Khan and Clair de Musc. The latter is sophisticated and pretty, with touches of Chanel N°5 devolving to a cuddly and warm skin scent. The former is just too indecent for me to wear in real life, although I find it way less threatening than I used to.
Annick Goutal Musc Nomade is lovely, soft, cuddly and unthreatening, but still a far cry from clean musk. I used to have anosmic issues with this, interestingly enough that hasn’t happened for a while now. It is all there, all the time for me now.
Calamity J by Juliette Has A Gun is a great choice for everyday and my newest musk discovery Ramon Monegal’s Cotton Musk (formerly known as White Musk, but they had to rename it for copyright reasons. Hey there, The Body Shop!) works beautifully in warm weather.
Patricia de Nicolai makes a lovely rose-centric musk, Musc Intense I’m getting to know and love since last week. It’s my newest obsession.
I’m looking for more musks to love. What are your favorites?
Quick and to the point, here are my favorite things of the summer season.
Skin care: Paula’s Choice Resist line, La Roche-Posay Anthelios SPF 50 Melt-In Cream For Face.
Body: Kiehl’s Creme de Corps, Yves Rocher Noix de Coco body lotion.
Make-Up: Dolce&Gabbana The Cream Foundation SPF 15, Chanel Glossimer in Petillante and Sweet Beige.
Books: Bill Bryson (I’m re-reading him for the third time or so, so funny and so relatable, love! Amazon Kindle link) Gillian Flynn Gone Girl (a great thriller, very well written and a complete page-turner! Amazon Kindle link)
Food: anything containing Avocado, aged Camembert, sea-salt and licorice caramels from Daisy (via Sweetniks) and all the salads at Hidden Kitchen, a fantastic Vienna restaurant with a very London vibe (thanks to Lady Jane Grey for letting me in on the secret).
Perfume: Nicolai Juste un Reve, Musc Intense and Eau Soleil, Malle Musc Ravageur, Goutal Musc Nomade and MDCI Peche Cardinal.
What are your favorite things right now? Please share!
Editor’s Note: The following review was posted in November 2010. I came upon it recently – the review as well as the perfume (in my “shunned and ostracized samples” box) and I just cannot let it stand like that. It has a high number of hits still and therefore it is time to take a second, or third look. Read the old review first and meet me again afterwards to hear my newer impressions. See you in about 500 words!
My review of Louve should have been a post in the “What Makes Me Run For The Shower” series, but since I sat it out, without succumbing to the temptation to scrub it off (and I was rewarded too) I thought I’d include it in the Lutens week, to keep that from going in the direction of total hero worship.
…Cherry Garcia, red disaster, death by cherry, Lutens for Kindergarteners, Cherry, Cherry Hallelujah!, nuclear cool-aid, cherry bomb…
Above are a few of the associations I had upon sniffing Louve. I always start a review by consulting my notebook, re-smelling the scent and brainstorming to create such a list as you can see above. Usually, the list gets incorporated in the text or only serves as a reminder for me. Louve leaves me so stumped, I thought I might as well let you read my list of associations.
Louve, means She-Wolf in french. Am I the only one wondering how that name came about for a scent like this? May I suggest Un Bois de Cerise? Or Cerise Criminelle? Or better yet: Cerise Khublai Khan? At least one would know what is about to come.
Lacking a descriptive title, one turns to the notes: they include almond, rose petals, fruity notes, jasmine petals, amber, musk and vanilla powder.
Aah, sounds good, doesn’t it? But here it is hidden, in the middle of the notes line up, “fruity notes” it says. Well, yes, that is correct, though it should be written like this “FRUITY NOTES” (and make that bold print, too). I’m sorry, but there is soooo much cherry in there, it totally ruins the fragrance for me. It smells so artificial, so cheap, so much like artificial food flavoring, complete with sugar overload, artificial dark red coloring and accompanying stickiness.
But I sat it out, and after hours and hours of tenacious cherry (it is an Eau de Parfum Haute Concentration after all) there emerged a very beautiful, sweet and powdery, almondy drydown that I really enjoyed. But, sadly there is no way I can wade through six hours of dark red cherry mist to get there.
I am not happy about that review. I want to review only the winners, but now and again I need to tell about the other side too. I’m sure we all have (many) fragrances that don’t work for us. It is a wholly personal thing, and I’m sure there are many Louve – lovers out there, and I envy them. I would kill for that drydown alone, it is magnificent. But the cherry-plastered marathon until I’m there puts me off re-experiencing it forever.
But one should really think about a new name, maybe Sa Majesté La Cerise?
Any Lutens you can’t take? Tell me in the comments!
Editor’s Note 2: So, here we are again. Bad, huh? The cherry to end all cherries, one would think… As I said before, I re-tried my sample, with some trepidation as you can imagine, and I ended up pleasantly surprised. Not that I am about to run out for a bottle of Louve, but after the initial cherry blast which in truth lasts a few minutes, not several hours, I really like what I smell. Almond softness in greyish hues, dark-red fruit-tinged heliotrope, powdery vanilla dusting it all. Cosy actually. Cosy and soft, sweet and warm.
I still find the name somewhat unsatisfactory though – Jeux de Cerise? Un Cerise Noire? Feminité de Cerise? What do you say?
When I received my personal summer scent 2013, Juste un Reve, from Parfums Nicolai, I also received a sample of her newest creation, the official Nicolai summer scent 2013: Eau Soleil. A day of wearing this propelled me right into reviewing mood. So here we go again, let’s see if I still know how to do it…
“Homage to the essence of orange flower, called « Néroli ». Anne-Marie de la Tremoille, married to the Prince of Nérola in 1680, produced in her estate some essence of orange flower. Spreading this oil in many occasions, she was called the Princess of Néroli…”
Eau Soleil was created by Patricia de Nicolai in 2013 and includes notes of bergamot, lemon, neroli, ylang-ylang, jasmine and sagebrush.
Eau Soleil (Sun Water) is a breath of fresh air followed by a ray of sunshine on naked skin.
Oh please, you might say now, dial back the purple prose, Olfactoria!
Okay, let’s try to be a bit more level-headed and unemotional.
Eau Soleil smells mostly of pure neroli essence. Clean, simple and lovely. The opening, which you will be tempted to experience again and again – be warned – adds sprightly and fresh bergamot and lemon, but they disperse quickly leaving the stage to neroli. This is deepened, softened and enriched in the perfume’s heart with the soft fullness of ylang-ylang and a sprig of fresh jasmine. The whole perfume is softly underscored by a deep green note providing an unobtrusive but sturdy bed to the tender florals, eventually ending on a soft musky note.
Sillage and lasting power are excellent on me, especially for an Eau de Toilette.
Eau Soleil smells less like the fresh citrus you might expect from the name (only the opening is effervescent for a short time), and more like soft skin, wooden planks warmed and bleached by the sun and green meadows in the distance baking in the strong sun, scenting the languid, still air.
Photo by http://www.waginger-see.de
Eau Soleil is a breath of fresh air followed by a ray of sunshine on naked skin… um, I believe I said that already.
Today we welcome the woman who got me hooked on perfume reviews and was the one who drew me into Perfumeland. Through reading her blog, The Non-Blonde, I discovered the world of niche although I was only looking for beauty advice. Gaia covers both beauty, and perfume reviews, the occasional fashion event and now and again she can’t hide her love for royalty (no need to either, I love to read about them too!). She is an incredibly prolific and disciplined blogger, definitely one of my role models.
Thank you for letting us a take a closer look at the person behing the blogger today!
Gaia in Paris
A good day starts with… no hairballs on the floor.
I’d never leave the house without… my phone. The Kindle app has saved my sanity on several occasions.
I always feel good when… readers tell me I helped them discover something fabulous.
My favorite thing in the world is… kittens.
The next thing I want to buy is… a new laptop. My current one is about to self-destruct.
The place I always come back to is… Bergdorf Goodman. It’s the mother ship.
My personal style is… very feminine. You’ll always see me in a dress and usually some vintage jewelry or scarves.
My favorite perfume… is not for the faint of heart (or nose).
When I travel, I… want to be comfortable, which causes adventures in extreme packing.
To relax I need… an empty to-do list.
I like to gift people with… pretty things and little luxuries. Stuff I know they want but won’t buy for themselves.
When I have a bad day, I… usually get a headache.
I find my inspiration… everywhere. Walking in the city, reading, browsing old and new fashion photos and books.
Something I would never want to miss… witnessing the first woman elected to the White House.
My last mistake was… testing a face mask I already suspected was up to no good.
In my fridge there is always… cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.
On my nightstand I keep… a notebook, nail polish and a variety of perfume samples.
The perfect weekend starts with… the perfect cup of tea. Everything should start with good tea.
My role model is… Tim Gunn
Something I always want to be asked in questionnaires like this is… either about my scars (I have one from disassembling an Uzi) or to give a fun link so I can share a recipe I just came across.
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I love Gaias answers and I love her, but I truly envy her for one simple reason – the cats. I would love to be surrounded by cats all day.
Tim Gunn and a cup of tea, Bergdorf Goodman and a good book, Gaia and I would have a blast, should we meet one day.
Are you a Non-Blonde fan too?
Do you supplement your perfume with matching body products?
Do you like scented baths and lotions?
Or are you always going for unscented products as to not interfere with your scent of the day?
My Answer:
Normally I’m strictly for unscented products for the reason of non-interference with my perfume, but also for the reason of being gentle on my skin which can be sensitive.
Lately though I have enjoyed the benefits of scented products that prolong the weartime of my perfume or enhance the scent in some way.
I love Yves Rocher Noix de Coco lotion and body butter, a perfect base for my tropical summer scents. The body oil of Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess is equally nice.
I long to try the Frederic Malle body butters, especially Carnal Flower, but they are a bit outside of my budget. I’d rather spend that money on perfume in the end and stick with my Neutrogena Sensitive Skin Unscented Lotion.
A trick I learned from Jordan, is spraying a perfume into the hot water when taking a bath and enjoy the scent that way.
Do you have any scented tricks? What are your preferred body products?
By Tara
After the wettest summer on record in 2012, we are now in the midst of a heatwave here in the UK. On the day of the event, the temperature had topped 30 degrees for five days running. What better timing then for The Candy Perfume Boys’ Summer Special?
Thomas, The Candy Perfume Boy, has a fantastic perfume blog and is the fragrance expert for Escentual.com. I was very much looking forward to his talk because I knew Thomas would come up with some quirky perfume picks and he has such a talent for coming up with unique and entertaining descriptions. I thought it would be a lot of fun and it was.
Event organiser, Lila das Gupta, distributed paper scent strips as each perfume was discussed and I’ve approximated what went on below. So buckle your seat-belts and enjoy the ride!
![20130718_200027[1]](https://olfactoriastravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130718_2000271-e1374293792435.jpg)
Thomas Dunckley, The Candy Perfume Boy
London, United Kingdom
![20130718_201006[1]](https://olfactoriastravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130718_2010061.jpg)
Notes: Peat, oak, fir balsam, pine needles, birch tar, Marmite and bog myrtle
The first stop is London 2012. My last Summer Special was the day before the start of the Olympics. My friends and I spent the day in London and happened to see the torch on Oxford Street. The energy in the city that day was palpable. At that time I was testing the new Union fragrances and the most unique of the line was Celtic Fire. It’s very peaty, leathery and smoky. It also includes Marmite tincture. When I smell it I’m reminded of the opening ceremony of the Olympics, specifically the Industrial Revolution section with the massive towers rising up amidst the smoke. It brings back memories of a great summer and a really successful Olympics for the UK. Celtic Fire is novel but it’s not a novelty. It’s very strange, but wearable.
Paris, France
Paris, Yves Saint Laurent
Notes: Bergamot, geranium, hawthorn, mimosa, rose, violet, amber and musk
Paris is my favourite city in the world. This perfume captures the spirit of the people of Paris rather than the city itself. It brings to mind chic Parisians carrying big bunches of pale, blush roses. It’s a big, dewy, floral bouquet of roses, violets and mimosa. The fizzy aldehydes give it a lot of lift.
Lila: I wonder how this current version compares to when it was first released.
Audience member: It was a bit of a shagger in he 80s but now it’s settled down and got married. (Laughter)
Lila: It probably wouldn’t be as popular if it was released now.
Audience member: It’s had its shoulder pads taken out.
Thomas: My mother wore it when I was young so I have that association.
Bombay, India
Bombay Bling!, Neela Vermeire Creations
Notes: Mango, lychee, blackcurrant, cardamom, cumin, rose, cistus, jasmine, ylang-ylang, tuberose, frangipani, gardenia, patchouli, tobacco, white woods, cedar and vanilla
Bombay Bling! captures modern India. It reflects the vibrant colours of India but also its economic changes. Fruit perfumes have a bad name because mainstream offerings often use syrupy, strawberry notes. Bombay Bling! opens with a cocktail of fruit but it’s effervescent, fresh and tart. If it were a cocktail it would be dangerous to drink. It features mango, lychees and blackcurrant – it’s a fruity party.
Lila: It has the wet, earthy signature of Bertrand Duchaufour. Neela choose him as the perfumer because he has visited India a lot.
Thomas: It has white flowers as well as the fruit, but they are light and translucent. It’s quite loud with good lasting power. What I like about it is that it stays fresh all the way through.
Audience member: What are the other perfumes in the line like?
Thomas: Mohur is a sour, carroty rose and Trayee is like kulfi cardamom ice-cream.
Istanbul, Turkey
Traversee du Bosphore, L’Artisan Parfumeur
Notes: Apple, smoky notes, saffron, pistachio, rose, tulip, leather and musk
Thomas: I’ve been looking for a Turkish Delight perfume for ages. Serge Lutens has a couple but they smell like burnt cherries. This one opens just like Turkish Delight. It’s really interesting – there are so many different components. There’s rose, pistachio, tulips, apple and nice use of a suede-like iris.
Lila: Bertrand Duchaufour was stuck in Istanbul at the time of the Reykjavik dust cloud so he decided to compose a perfume!
Thomas: It’s a whole city in a bottle. I haven’t been to Istanbul, but it’s how I imagine it would smell.
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Oud Velvet Mood, Maison Francis Kurkdijan
Notes: Oud from Laos, cinnamon, saffron and copahu balm
Dubai is an interesting place because all these skyscrapers are in the midst of the desert. Oud Velvet Mood is the smell of the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world – with all that hot glass and metal as well as dust and warm sand. There is something spiky about it, like when you rub velvet the wrong way. It’s a bit unsettling, crackly and disjointed.
Lila: It’s more oud-y than his OUD.
Thomas: I prefer the original OUD but of the three Oud Moods, Velvet is my favourite.
Bangkok, Thailand
Ladyboy, Gorilla Perfumes
Notes: Banana, seaweed, violet, chamomile, labdanum and oakmoss
This was inspired by the ladyboys of Bangkok. It makes me think of the ladyboys caked in make-up and wearing heavy, sweet perfume. The opening smells strongly of foam banana sweets and violets but it is a changeling. Over time it shifts into a warm chypre with lots of labdanum and oakmoss.
Audience member: In the morning you wake up to someone with stubble. (Much laughter)
Lila: When was the last time you wore it?
Thomas: I haven’t worn it for a while because it takes a lot of commitment. It has the lasting power of enriched uranium. I think of it as an autumnal scent because it has a humid quality.
Positano, Italy
Aqua Decima, Eau d’ Italie
Notes: Lemon, mandarin, mint leaves, neroli, petitgrain, hedione, white wood and vetiver
Over the short space of time I’ve got to know this line I’ve fallen in love with a good few of them and Eau Lac is a serious lemming. The owners of the line have a luxury hotel in Positano on the Amalfi coast (Editor’s Quite Unrelated But Interesting Side Note: Hotel La Sirenuse in Positano is a place I long to go since I’ve seen the movie Only You with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. It is dreamy…sigh.)
Lila: I looked into staying at that hotel but it is so unbelievably expensive. It’s the kind of place where I imagine rock stars stay. We’ve looked at Paestum Rose from this line before.
Thomas: Aqua Decima is their tenth and latest fragrance, hence the name “10th water”. It aims to capture the spirit of Italy itself. Like the people, it is animated and lively. Fizzy and sparkling, it features Amalfi lemons and herbal mint with lots of leaves and stems. Unlike a lot of colognes it doesn’t fade after ten minutes. It’s very summery and perfect for this weather because it’s very refreshing, like a mojito.
Venus, Outer Space
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Narcotic Venus, Nasomatto
Apparently Nasomatto don’t “do” note lists.
This will be our furthest trip. We are leaving Earth for outer space to make a brief visit to Venus. Narcotic Venus is a nice, jungley tuberose. It’s not fresh like Carnal Flower, or a diva like Fracas or a murderer like Tubereuse Criminelle. I imagine pink skies and black flowers on Venus. It’s very fruity with lots of bubble-gum. I’m thinking of wearing it at my wedding next year because it says “I’m the bride, look at me!”
Lila: I was recommended this at Liberty and sprayed some on without thinking too much about it. I’m not a white floral lover, however after leaving the store, I had to turn back and buy a bottle. It was so good.
Mystery Perfume
Lila: Here’s a mystery perfume that I want you all to try and tell me what you think it smells of.
(Tara: The audience consensus was sherbet, plastic and sambuca.)
Lila: It’s actually called Arctic Jade by Agonist. I wanted you to try it because I don’t think it smells at all like its name. It’s warm and fuzzy, not arctic or jade-like. It’s my summer hit. What do you think would be a better name?
Audience member: Sherbet Dip.
The Candy Perfume Boy assumes the professional sniffing position.
Thanks to Lila and Thomas for a wonderful whirlwind trip around the globe and beyond.
Have you tried any of these perfumes? Do you have a favourite? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
I am not writing, and not even attempting to write for a week now and I miss it – and I don’t miss it. Clearly I haven’t made up my mind yet… 🙂
I definitely miss you, my dear readers!
My boys have been sick, so the summer fun has a bit of a dampener on it for now, but we try to entertain ourselves at home. I’ve been a lucky mother so far, none of my kids have been seriously sick in their lives, and the past week has been the first time my sons have had a high fever for more than a day. But they are slowly on the mend…
My perfumed life is surprisingly active, despite the blogging hiatus (or maybe because of it?) I’m rediscovering my collection, weeding out a bit, finding treasures I didn’t know I had. For example, I tried my old bottle of Jil Sunder Sun again and it is just as lovely as I remember it, bringing me right back to the summer of my high school graduation oh so long ago… 🙂
I’m also wearing Ramon Monegal Cotton Musk (which was renamed, it was launched under the name White Musk) a very untypical choice for me, but I find myself enjoying the very clean, almost laundry-style musk on a bed of roses and gardenia very appealing in the heat. I’m also guilty of buying not one but two new bottles of perfume for the summer that I intend to take on vacation to Italy when we go in August:
Nuxe Prodigieuse Le Parfum, an EdP modeled on the famous Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse, a bargain of a scent that is beachy and carefree. The second one is Nicolai Juste Un Rêve, I finally decided on my ideal lush coconut white floral. Montale Tiaré Intense was in the running for the longest time (I would have bought it years ago if it weren’t for the bottle, that is how shallow I am!), but it was overtaken by Juste un Rêve at the last minute. It seems lesh brash, more refined and sopisticated to me, than the louder, more uncouth Intense Tiaré.
As for the above mentioned shallowness… the new Nicolai bottles are really okay. 😉
How are you doing? How is the weather in your part of the world? What perfume are you crazy about these days? Are you working, on vacation?
I’d love to hear from you!
xoxo, B
Olfactoria's Travels 