Monday Question – Which Perfumes Do You Like To Wear On The Weekend?

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Olfactoria

By Tara

Do you own perfumes that seem to suit the weekends best?

Are there perfumes that you like to relax with?

Do you take time out on the weekends to go scentless or maybe test a new sample?

Or is your perfume choice not affected by whether it’s the weekend or not?

My Answer:

During my working week I tend to wear “statement perfumes” which are often deep roses or sophisticated leathers, so on the weekend I regularly go scent-free or sample something new.

Otherwise, I wear a fragrance which is mellow in mood or so light that it is unlikely to be intrusive or stay the day. Some of my favourites for these lazy days are Comme des Garcons Series 3 incense: Kyoto, Atelier Cologne’s Trefle Pur and L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Poivre Piquant.

Which perfumes do you reach for on the weekend?

Posted in Atelier Cologne, Comme des Garcons, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Monday Question | Tagged , , , , , | 50 Comments

Scent Of Horror – Review: Etat Libre d’Orange Secretions Magnifique

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Olfactoria

Inspired by The Candy Perfume Boy’s review, here is my take on this lovely perfume from the archives of Olfactoria’s Travels.

Today’s star in the horror scents series (click here for part 1) is the champion of horrible fragrances, the master of yeuch, the one that sends all, but the most hardcore perfume lovers for the shower in under two minutes is…..(drum roll, please!)

Etat Libre d’Orange Secretions Magnifiques

What else did you expect! (If you had something else in mind after that buildup, please let me know in the comments, so I can include it in this series).

This scent has a reputation preceeding it, that is almost as bad as the scent itself. If you don’t know it and think, how can she slag that poor perfume so much, then, well, you don’t know it. But the clou here is, it is not badly made. There are plenty of perfumes that aim to smell good and fail miserably, which is worse in my opinion. Most of these are easily found at the department store.

And then there is SM (see, even the abbreviation has a meaning totally fitting the theme). It is not made to please, not designed to smell good in the least (well, maybe for vampires, and they sure are an up and coming demographic!). What it is meant to do, is conquer through shock and awe.

Notes are iodine accord, adrenaline accord, blood accord, milk accord, iris, coconut, sandalwood and opoponax. Perfumer Antoine Lie created this gem in 2006.

Etat Libre d’Orange is known for its propensity to provoke and Secretions Magnifiques is the star pupil of this concept.

So what does it really smell like?

I wish I didn’t know. I wish I could unsmell it somehow…

It is the equivalent of your first horror movie, the one you are really to young to watch, but you sneak into the cinema anyway, you try to be brave, but you wish you were at home with Mommy. Some of the images stick with you for the rest of your life.

It is the equivalent of the screeching brake of a train, that desperately wants to stop but still crashes into a car on the tracks, just imagine that sound of the brake and the crash followed by silence…

It smells like the inside of a wastebin in an operating room after the operation.

It smells like a pale, sweaty, pimply youth the morning after his first major drinking binge.

It smells like misery and despair.

Now you know what I mean about wanting to unsmell it. I had a very strong reaction to it, although I went in with open eyes. How it would hit someone who is unsuspecting, I don’t know.

A scarily beautiful review of Secretions Magnifiques is to be found on Perfume Shrine, including one of those images one rather not see before breakfast.

You have to see the wonderful Katie Puckrik’s review Secretions Magnifiques for a visual input as well. Her reaction perfectly shows what SM does to people, but watching Katie’s sunny personality takes out the grimness.

The moral of the story: There are things I just don’t have to experience. When I was younger I had an almost masochistic need to expose myself to all kinds of scary or repulsive things, probably in an attempt to harden myself against the sometimes cruel world, to inoculate myself against pain. Now I know that is not the way to go, some things I can choose to stay away from, to stay sensitive to the things where my compassion is really needed.

Smelling Secretions Magnifiques was a relapse of sorts. I’m done now.

Image Source: metro.co.uk, fimormitchell.wordpress.com some rights reserved, thank you!
Posted in Etat Libre d'Orange, Fragrance Reviews | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

At The Palazzo – Review: Parfums MDCI Chypre Palatin

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Olfactoria

When Suzanne wrote and raved about Chypre Palatin and her Parisian adventure on her Perfume Journal, I envied the Paris part, but thought I would not miss much when I never smelled Chypre Palatin. Her review is beautiful and I knew this would be a good perfume, but I just thought it was not for me. As a sad, but definite Mitsouko failure, I am not ideally suited to chypres, they easily turn dank tomb on me.

But thankfully I’m not swayed from trying a new Duchaufour creation by my own misgivings (if I were, this blog would be a lot smaller). And boy, am I glad I did try it. Suzanne, sorry, you have been right – as always… and thank you for sending that decant!

Chypre Palatin was created by Bertrand Duchaufour and was released in 2012, it includes notes of hyacinth, clementine, aldehydes, cistus, galbanum, thyme, lavender, rose, jasmine, iris concrete, prune, gardenia, benzoin, styrax, leather, vanilla, tolu, castoreum, costus and oakmoss.

I have heard from a few sources (Suzanne among them) that Chypre Palatin reminds them of Amouage Jubilation 25. I have a sample, or several actually, of this perfume, but I couldn’t say what it smells like aside from cumin. Sadly, cumin is all I can smell in Jubilation 25. I know there must be more in there, but it is sadly lost on my cumin amplifying skin. It makes me happy that Chypre Palatin seems to be a version of a cumin-free Jubilation 25.

Intended for men (you get the masculine bust stopper should you choose to go for it, or rather should you have the money to spare, to go for it), Chypre Palatin strikes me as highly wearable for every gender. It has great sillage and extraordinary staying power.

Chypre Palatin is a very unique perfume. I don’t have anything like it in my collection and I  love its total recognizability. This is a perfume you could immediately identify when you smelled it “in the wild”.

So what does it smell like?

Chypre Palatin opens green, slightly herbal and with a tiny whiff of my dreaded dank tomb note, but this stage is fleeting, before a quick floral accented phase leads into the main show: a bombastic oriental full of woody creaminess, spicy leather, smoky resins and sweet vanilla served with a soupçon of oakmoss to keep the green alive in all this rich, oriental glory.

Sounds overwhelming, but isn’t. Sounds heavy, but isn’t. Sounds gorgeous, and is just that.

Parfums MDCI is not a bargain brand. It is a luxurious, high quality line with perfumes that hold what they are promising. I’m all for great packaging and if only I could I would let one of their beautiful perfumes be graced with its appropriately beautiful bust stopper, but since I can’t, I am very glad the line also offers a simpler presentation. You can also order a sample set directly from Paris through their website, the cost of which is deductible from a subsequent full bottle order. But the samples are 12ml each, so this is more of a discovery set and we are all in favor of that, aren’t we?

What do you think of the line? Have you tried any of their perfumes?

Image source: luckyscent.com, pamela-j-blogspot.com
Posted in Amber, Chypre, Fragrance Reviews, Leather, Oakmoss, Oriental, Parfums MDCI, Spicy, Vanilla, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Knight In Shining Armor – Review: Amouage Interlude Man

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Olfactoria

I’m a girly girl. I don’t particularly like that statement, but in the end, it is true. I like the colour pink, I wear make up, I can’t for the life of me play ball games, I have long hair, I am not what you would call a tomboy in the least. When it comes to perfume I’m more open, but in the end it just comes natural that I end up preferring the more feminine scents.

Of all the Amouage duos, I prefer the Woman’s fragrance without exception. But now, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have found the exception. Of Interlude, Amouage’s newest release, I prefer the men’s version. Interlude Woman is challenging and genius, but Interlude Man is love.

Interlude Man was created perfumer Pierre Negrin, notes include bergamot, oregano, allspice berries, amber, incense, cistus, opoponax, leather, oud, patchouli and sandalwood.

Opening with a blast of smokiness – herbs and spices in a cloud of wood smoke, Interlude Man proceeds to unfold into a leathery, oud-y, ambery, thoroughly masculine but in the end, soft and warm tapestry of scent that envelops you and cushions you from all the blows the cold, bad world has in store.

Powerful and longlasting, Interlude Man reminds me of Guerlain’s Songe d’un Bois d’Eté, as well as of Amouage’s own Opus VI.

Interlude Man feels like a strong man with a soft heart, someone to protect you, care for you, be there for you. Oh my, can it be that Interlude Man is my knight in shining armor? That Interlude Man is the one I have been waiting for since the fairy tales of my childhood started conjuring up such an image in my impressionable, young mind?

I wear Interlude Man and almost feel like get carried away to the castle on my knight’s steed. The wind in my hair, feeling free and without a care in the world, because I feel the warm body of my saviour in my back.

I realize that I might have brought wrath of the entire feminist movement down on me with this post, but before the mean emails start coming – this is just a fantasy. Just one part of me that is there, equal to the part where I am Trinity blasting my own way through the world. We can be what we want, weak or strong, independent or addicted. We take on roles everyday, and we can choose them as we need them. Perfume is a way to take us there a bit faster.

Interlude Man protects me, takes care of me. My knight in shining armor takes me to his castle, where we live happily ever after.

The End.

Image source: parfuma.com, La Belle Dame sans Merci (Sir Frank Dicksee, 1903)
Posted in Amber, Amouage, Benzoin, Fragrance Reviews, Leather | Tagged , , , , , , | 51 Comments

Monday Question – Who Should Launch A Celebrity Scent?

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Olfactoria

There is no shortage of celebrity perfumes these days, and no mater how famous (or not) you are, having a perfume with your name on it seems de rigeur. Celebrity perfumes are the Pefumista’s favorite topic to heap snark and rancour on, what would we do without Britney or Paris or Justin providing us with an outlet for all our pent up aggression when it comes to mainstream fragrances.

But is there a celebrity you’d love to see immortalized in a perfume?

Who should lend his name and image to a fragrance you’d love to wear?

Which existing celebrity perfumes do you like?

My Answer:

I do like Etat Libre D’Orange Like This, I think Madonna’s Truth or Dare is not so bad, likewise Dita von Teese’s creation.

I think I could live just fine without any celebrity scent though, I would not miss the genre. But for the sake of the question,  I would have liked to see a perfume by the late Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.

For some reason she is a person I would love to know more about and smelling a perfume inspired by her style and elegance is as good a start as any.

Image source: carolyn-carolynbessettekennedy.blogspot.com
Posted in Monday Question | Tagged , , | 95 Comments

And The Winner Is – Guerlain Giveaway Winner Announced

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Olfactoria

Thank you all for commenting, there was a lot of interest, well it is a Guerlain that is to be had after all…

But unfortunately I can’t send you all a decant, although I’d love to.

Random.org helped me choose a winner, and the unlikely number 1 was the lucky one, so the 5ml decant of Mon Precieux Nectar goes to

Jerome

Congratulations!

Please contact me with your details within a week, if not, I will draw another name.

The next Bottle of the Month and with it the next giveaway, are not far…

 

Posted in Giveaway, Guerlain | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Olfactoria And The Giant Peach – Review: Parfums MDCI Péché Cardinal

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Olfactoria

All the fragrances of Parfums MDCI that I have tried so far, I have liked a lot (Enlèvement au Serail, Promesse de L’Aube, La Belle Hélène), but not so much as to invest in a full bottle. Now that has changed. My bottle for August (July is over, at least perfumewise 😉 ) has been found and it is the most unlikely one…

Sticky peach, exotic coconut, a big tuberose: Péché Cardinal (Cardinal Sin, and a wordplay on Pêche, meaning peach) sounds like a BBW disaster, but turns out to be an addictive beauty.

Péché Cardinal was created by Amandine Marie and includes notes of davana, peach, coconut, blackcurrant, tuberose, prune, lily, cedar, sandalwood and musk.

Péché Cardinal opens with a gigantic sweet and juicy peach, dripping, sticky, fresh and succulent and absolutely real. No fake peach aroma, which I hate with a passion, in sight. Here the peach is just amazing, I can’t separate my nose from my arm at that stage. Soon coconut appears on the scene, taking away a bit of the sweetness, just in time before it might get too much.

The heart is dominated by a lovely tuberose, fresh and almost tame, not ever overwhelming, but ideally complimenting the peach note.

Sillage and longevity are above average, Péché Cardinale is a joy until the very drydown of soft woody musk eight hours after the initial peach wave renders you speechless.

Péché Cardinal is bright and alive, loves to laugh and enjoys herself, but she is no vapid, little, fruity thing, she has substance and character. She is a woman not a girl, she is captivating and ultimately addictive.

Cardinal sin or peachy delight? Péché Cardinal delivers both in one irresistible package.

Image source: luckyscent.com, kidsconfidential.co.uk
Posted in Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Fruity, Gourmand, Parfums MDCI, Tuberose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 54 Comments

Mona di Orio Discovery Box

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Olfactoria

Just a quick note to let you know that First in Fragrance offers a discovery box of Mona di Orio’s Les Nombres d’Or line, including the new Rose Etoile d’Hollande.

That is a great thing if I ever saw one!

Now this is what we want from a perfume brand isn’t it? 🙂

Here are my Mona di Orio reviews to whet your appetites…

 

Posted in Shopping | Tagged , , , , , | 25 Comments

The Dark Tower – Review: Amouage Interlude Woman

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Olfactoria

When I was in London in May, I had not only the good fortune to meet with Christopher Chong, the amazing creative director of Amouage, but I also got the chance to smell Interlude Woman and Man as the first person ever outside the company. Christopher swore me to secrecy and I complied of course, but thankfully the time of keeping the pleasure of smelling Interlude to myself is over. The new perfumes have launched in the middle east and are set to launch worldwide in July (September for some places).

So let’s talk about it…

Interlude Woman was created by Carine Vinchon Spehner and includes notes of bergamot, grapefruit, ginger, marigold, incense, rose absolute, orange blossom, helichrysum, jasmine, opoponax, vanilla, benzoin, amber, sandalwood, oud, oak moss, leather, tonka bean, animalic notes and musk.

To me Interlude Woman has many faces. It is a perfume that is hard to categorize, that keeps you guessing and just when you think you have it pinned down it shows you sides of itself (or maybe of yourself?) you least expect.

I like those perfumes.

What strikes me first when applying Interlude Woman is its harsher side. A strident, self-confident, spicy and woody floral heralds its unmistakable presence and commands attention and just when it gets that desired attention it draws back, lures you in, takes you with it into a calmer, softer heart, full of delicate floral curlicues and decorations.

In the end you come willingly, bewitched by the softness that came out of nowhere, you relent and give in to a tenderness you perceive somewhere in there, that you hope to find when the commanding, sharp nuances of the opening fully withdraw.

Only they never do. Interlude keeps you on your toes, doesn’t let you relax into the nebulous softness, there is a strength underneath it that can be dangerous, almost.

The many faces of Interlude Woman can seem chaotic at times, only to resolve themselves into recurring moments of perfect clarity again and again. The seemingly rivaling accords of almost masculine spices and woods and the tender, feminine florals dance a powerful choreography around a core that is imperturbable and stands like a rock in the midst of all that agitation.

This rock, this dark tower of balsams – myrrh and frankincense, which can’t be absent in any Amouage perfume – stands tall, anchors the composition, so it never fully descends into a chaos that is only hinted at after all.

Interlude Woman will not be an easy love for most people, I dare predict. But for us perfume-crazy folk, Interlude is a challenge to take on gladly. It will keep you on your toes, it will make you think and in the end it will make you smile and say to yourself – this is why I love perfume.

Samples provided for review by Amouage.
Image Source: parfuma.de, The Dark Tower by Armin Doww via
Posted in Amouage, Chypre, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Spicy | Tagged , , , , | 50 Comments

Monday Question – What Is Your Newest Fragrant Discovery?

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Olfactoria

What perfume did you recently find that you think should be in the limelight?

Is there a niche brand, old or new, that is practically unknown and wonderful?

Is there a new (or old) perfume we all should know about?

Did you discover something amazing and want to share your treasure?

My Answer:

I’m a perfume blogger, so you’d think I would be well informed about the world of perfume, but I must tell you, as much as I read about new releases, as much as I trail online perfume stores, as many newsletters and press releases as I receive, I’m always astounded at how much passes me by. Not that I need to know everything, not that I can smell it all, not even that I want to, but I’m astounded by the fact that one person is unable to keep up. And I’m not talking about smelling all new releases, which is well nigh impossible, but it is not even possible to stay abreast with all the new lines out there. There are entire perfume houses all with multiple scents being launched left and right that I never heard anything about and I really try to stay informed. Is it me or is it all a bit much?

Who will buy all those perfumes?

Have you all heard of Royal Crown who sells 100ml of EdP for 435€? I must say I’m glad that launch went by me. Do you know the house of Jalaine? Les Voiles Déplièes? Sigilli? Officine delle Essenze? No?

Well, to answer my own question: My latest fragrance discovery are Chanel Cristalle and Molinard Habanita, from 1974 and 1921 respectively. I prefer to look back to the classics right now, rather than try every new perfume out there. I want to wear perfumes that have stood the test of time, that have shown substance and quality over time, that are not immediately replaceable by the next big thing. There are great new perfumes from niche lines of course that are a must try for me (Mona di Orio’s Rose for example) and I’m really spending a lot of time with and loving Parfums MDCI lately, and I’m also perfectly willing and eager even to get to know a completely new line if it somehow touches a chord with me (like Ramon Monegal) but on the whole, I need a bit of a break from the latest and allegedly greatest.

I talked with a friend (dear Lady Jane Grey) the other day, about how little value is put on quality, the marketing spin is everything, be it in perfume, books or even education. Quality seems to be on the way out.

There are new lines who are notable exceptions, thankfully. Neela Vermeire’s India Trio is one of the best recent launches and not because the marketing is perfect. It is great because the perfumes are simply wonderful. Rich, nuanced, well thought-through, high quality ingredients, creative minds behind them, these perfumes will hopefully be with us for a long time. But I fear for them in a market that is after the next new thing, like Homer Simpson is after doughnuts.

What do you think about the state of things in Perfumeland?

Posted in Monday Question | Tagged , , | 76 Comments