In The Arms Of the Angel – Review: Mona di Orio Oiro

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Olfactoria

The following post was already written back in September, but I held it back for reasons, I’m not entirely clear about anymore. The tragic event of the perfumer Mona di Orio’s death yesterday, made me revisit it and I thought it might be a fitting tribute to Mona and her incredible talent. Mona’s perfumes are works of art and we will be able to enjoy them, even if we must go on without her. My heart goes out to her family and friends, her business partner Jeroen Oude Songtoen and everybody who grieves for her.

The best perfumes are the ones that move me, that make me hear music, that make me see colors, that make the tears as well as the laughter come easily.

Mona di Orio’s Oiro – golden – is one such perfume. Taking me by surprise, overwhelming me with a beauty I did not know was hiding in that tiny vial from Les Senteurs, making the music start up in my head… Please listen to this while reading on.

Oiro, meaning gold in Portuguese, includes notes of green mandarin, sweet pea, spices, jasmine absolute, olibanum, heliotrope, vetiver, ylang-ylang, immortelle absolute, cedarwood, musk and amber.

Oiro is a jasmine perfume. But that would be an understatement. Mona takes jasmine and makes it shine, until it illuminates everything around it. Tart citrus notes and spices lift it up, sweet ylang-ylang and amber cushion it from below.

Oiro is not a perfume I wear full on, rather I dab just a little bit and can almost watch it rise from my skin in smoky, golden tendrils. I don’t want to dominate a room with it (which you easily could, this is potent stuff!), but I want to enjoy it for myself. I surreptitiously sneak a smell as often as I can and find myself smiling.

Oiro is incredibly sensual, inviting, smiling, all with a deepness, a darkness attached, in the manner of “Where there is light, there must be shadow”.

Oiro is a perfume that induces a longing in me, a desire for something I can not exactly name. A yearning, an enveloping emotion that makes me as happy as it makes me sad at the same time. I long for something I don’t have, and never will have, but of which I got a taste once. Oiro reminds me of the joy of that moment, a golden moment encapsulated in time, like a fly in amber. Frozen forever in my mind and my heart, only sometimes feeling a bit heavy and tugging at my heartstrings then.

But smelling Oiro, I know to be happy, as this golden nugget is more than many ever will have. And therefore I cherish it, and am grateful for a powerful reminder that I found in Oiro.

Sadly Oiro is part of the now discontinued signature line, I hope that now with the Les Nombres d’Or collection looking to be a success, Mona will be able to re-introduce the old collection eventually. Maybe people have not been ready, hopefully they are now.

Image source: luckyscent.com, cjfossils.com
Posted in Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Jasmine, Mona di Orio, Oriental | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

Last Two Days Of The BeautyBloggers.org Auction! – Bid And Help Doctors Without Borders

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Olfactoria

The second annual BeautyBloggers.org charity auction was off to an epic start — we actually exceeded the total amount raised in last year’s auction in the first day. Way to go, beauty lovers!

Not to worry: plenty of items are still going for far less than retail. There are some great bargains to be had — and some sweet second chances to buy those hot items you regret missing out on. The cost of shipping is our donation to you, and best of all, every dime you spend goes to Doctors Without Borders.  So bid!  Tell your friends!  Tell strangers in the grocery store!

The auction will be over on December 12, 5pm. So use those last days to get your dream beauty product or perfume!

You’ll do something good and win something great! It’s a win-win situation! 🙂

Posted in Fragrance Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mona Di Orio Died

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Olfactoria

I just saw the unbelievable news that the great perfumer Mona di Orio has suddenly passed away today.
I am deeply shocked and the right words fail me at the moment.
Still, I feel the need to talk about this incredible tragedy, and share my grief and shock with you, my readers and fellow fans of her work.

Mona’s perfumes have impressed me immensely this year and I feel honored that Mona reacted so favorably to my reviews and we exchanged several emails, where she impressed me as a genuinely lovely person, who is highly talented, educated and intelligent.

Apart from the personal loss of all those who knew her, her all to too early death leaves an incredible hole in Perfumeland, that cannot be closed ever again.

Mona leaves a fragrant legacy that will console us all, her olfactory imprint on our souls is thankfully indelible.

Posted in Mona di Orio, Ramblings | Tagged , , | 55 Comments

You Have Chosen! – Answers To The Monday Question: Guerlain Or Chanel?

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Olfactoria

The last Monday Question had quite an echo, many of you joined me in the ficitional imperative to choose only one of the two most esteemed houses – Chanel or Guerlain.

So how did you choose?

Since I am a bit slow when it comes to actually using computer programs other than Word or blogging software, I asked a pro, the lovely Undina of Undina’s Looking Glass, who is famous for her aptitude (and love) for numbers, to help me out. Thankfully Undina said yes, and proceeded to make wonderful graphs out of the raw data I gave her.

Without further ado, here I present: The outcome of the last Monday Question in pictures.

There have been 34 valid comments, 3 men, 31 women on the blog, and 22 votes on Facebook, 3 men and 19 women.

35 said Guerlain, 21 said Chanel.

The men were equally impressed by both houses: 3 votes for Chanel and 3 for Guerlain, while the women favored Guerlain by far: 32 votes for Guerlain, 18 for Chanel.

Furthermore, Undina registered every mention of Chanel perfumes made and converted that into this impressive image. Apparently N°19 is the most beloved Chanel perfume, mentioned 11 times, followed by Bois des Iles (10 mentions) and 31 Rue Cambon and Eau Premiere tie on the third place (9 mentions each).

The same here for Guerlain: unsurprisingly Shalimar was mentioned most often (12 times), followed by Vol de Nuit (11 mentions) and Mitsouko (10 mentions).

Thank you all for your input.

Guerlain is the clear winner, but many of us feel that Chanel is taking better care of its heritage. While Guerlain is loved and admired, we all fear for the house’s future. It is in the hopefully capable hands of Thierry Wasser to navigate this enormous legacy safely through the vagaries of IFRA and EU regulations and the LVMH patronage, and try to achieve the best possible quality of his perfumes, old and new.

A big thank you to Undina for her help!

Image source: Undina
Posted in Chanel, Guerlain, Monday Question | Tagged , , , , | 36 Comments

Two In One – Review: Xerjoff Shooting Stars Esquel

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Olfactoria

Esquel is a town in Patagonia, Argentinia, in 1951 a meteorite was discovered there, which brings Esquel into the fold of the Shooting Stars Collection, by our favorite bottle beauty contest losers, Xerjoff.

Esquel includes notes of Lavender, bergamot, iris, orange flowers, pink pepper, rose absolute, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, opoponax and tonka bean.

Esquel is an interesting perfume. It opens like a classic cologne, fresh, bracing. Bergamot and lavender give their best to act like a wake up call and a soft iris in concert with a barely there peppery rose, enforce the idea, you get at first, that this is indeed a cologne style scent. And just as you expect it to vanish into nothing but a memory as so many colognes are wont to do, it transforms into a rich and warm woody perfume, you never thought was in there. This striking base is longlasting and simply beautiful.

Like a second, different fragrance, Esquel – the Drydown, is what I really like.

The woody base really reminds me of something Pierre Guillaume could have created, an almost gourmand vanilla-sandalwood creaminess, with patchouli accents, this is quite up my alley. I am reminded of Cadjmeré and Cedre Sandaraque, as well as a stronger, more emphatic version of Estée Lauder Sensuous.

The herbal whiff of high quality lavender stays for some time, even after the bracing Esquel – Part 1 has long since faded, but eventually it goes away too, leaving the smooth, really smooth and creamy wooden base. Color me impressed.

So is this bottle going to grace my unmatchingly bland bathroom? No, but not because I don’t like it, but for the simple reason that, surprise two in one package aside, more economic variants of woody gourmand already have their place in my collection.

That said – a great perfume indeed.

And all without going to the trouble of Versace-ing my home.

(In case you wonder what the bathroom-bottle-Versace story is about: A regular reader once suggested that a Xerjoff bottle should only be placed in surroundings matching the bottle in all its glory, a golden bathroom in head-to-toe Versace design was agreed upon, as the most fitting environment. Sadly lacking the bathroom as well as that particular taste, I make do with samples and decants. 🙂 )
Image Source: luckyscent.com, gardenofeden.blogspot.com
Posted in Chypre, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Oriental, Xerjoff | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

The Gleam In A Mother’s Eye – Review: Aftelier Secret Garden Eau de Parfum

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Olfactoria

Usually wearing an Aftelier creation, is quite a ride. When I apply Tango or Cepes&Tuberose, many feelings are stirred up, emotions abound and I am preoccupied and enthralled, as well as challenged and moved.

It is not that Secret Garden is not moving me, it is, a lot, but in a wholly different way, than I have learned to expect from Mandy’s inspired work. Secret Garden is no less emotional for me though…

Let us take a look at the technicalities first:

Secret Garden was developed in 2011, during a collaborative dialogue with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz published on Nathan Branch’s blog. This review is of the Eau de Parfum, there is also an extrait version available.

Notes include bergamot, bois de rose, Geraniol, blood orange, jasmine sambac, raspberry (compounded isolate), Turkish rose, blue lotus, civet, castoreum, vanilla, deer tongue, benzoin and aged patchouli.

My very first thought upon spraying my sample of EdP on my hand was: This is Mandy’s most accessible perfume. That does not mean that it is simpler or in any way less than her other creations, but it is easy to like, quick to find a way to your heart, without compromising on depth or complexity at all.

A floral with fruity accents, Secret Garden lives and thrumms underneath the lovely surface though. The animalic base is there, from first trill of sunny bergamot, to the heartbreakingly beautiful song of indolic jasmine in the heart.

A purring, a warmth, a quality of something alive and breathing, warm and tactile, soft and yielding.

Secret Garden feels like coming home. It welcomes me in its warm embrace, it takes me in its (dare I say it?) maternal arms and I can lie back and relax, unwind, exhale, just be.

Secret Garden makes no demands on me, it wants nothing, it lets me be, it takes me as I am, with all my faults and shortcomings and it makes me feel like I am forever safe, precious and loveable.

I imagine eyes shining with pride when their gaze falls upon me, when I wear Secret Garden. “The gleam in the Mother’s eye”¹, that we are all looking for all our life, so important for the forming of our sense of self, can also – emotionally at least – be found in an olfactory experience, as I discovered upon wearing Secret Garden.

I know that Secret Garden was intended as a very sensual perfume, but that sensuality has nothing sexual for me. I merely feel the human touch, a caress of a loving mother, father, child, friend. It is warm and familiar, tender, close and full of love.

Nothing can replace the real thing of course, but at times, when we need the unadulterated love only a mother can give, it is good to know that something a little bit like it, can be found in one of Mandy Aftel’s beautiful bottles.

I think she bottled a bit of herself – her generosity of spirit and big-hearted warmth – in there.

¹Heinz Kohut Self Psychology
Image source: aftelier.com, paintinghere.com
Posted in Aftelier, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Fruity, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Rose, Tuberose | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Not Every Amber Is For Me – Review: Dior La Collection Privée Ambre Nuit

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Olfactoria

Ambre Nuit was the fourth issue of the line of men’s colognes by Dior. All four of those have since been integrated in the recent La Collection Privée. Although intended as a men’s cologne initially, this is a comfortably genderless woody oriental.

 Ambre Nuit was released in 2009 and created by Francois Demachy, it includes notes of bergamot, pink pepper, spices, Turkish rose, ambergris, gaiac wood, cedar wood and patchouli.

A start of bergamot and pepper is quickly followed by a lovely rose surrounded by spicy accents and bedded on a woody accord, amber and patchouli swirling around it in a softly smoky, decidedly oriental manner. Lasting power is very good for the concentration, Ambre Nuit stays for about 5 hours on me.

Although I think Ambre Nuit would be best for the colder months, I have worn it several times in the heat of summer and when applied with restraint it is not overwhelming. What slightly bothers me about Ambre Nuit though, is its (for my tastes) slightly too hefty sillage. There is a lot of wafting going on here. Ambre Nuit is a lot more diffusive that you would expect and than I would like.

Compared to Mitzah, the other amber in the Dior collection, I clearly prefer the latter. Ambre Nuit is more of an oriental rose than a classic amber scent, and while that is fine as it is, I know a few oriental roses that impress me more.

And as much as I search for a better descriptor, what comes to mind over and over again is…

All in all, I am sure Ambre Nuit has its fans, and deservedly so. I am just not one of them.

Image source: eloisehairmakeup.blogspot.com, sodahead.com
Posted in Amber, Dior, Dior La Collection Privée, Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Rose, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Monday Question – Guerlain Or Chanel? You Must Choose!

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Olfactoria

I am in the mood for a quite sadistic question today…

You have to choose between the houses of Guerlain and Chanel for the rest of your life, you can only have one houses’ perfumes. If you cannot choose, you will get neither.

*evil laughter*

Who do you pick?

Which house wins and why?

What would you miss the most?

My Answer:

I was childishly happy about the perfidity of this question until I realized, I’d have to answer it myself (somehow I manage to ignore that basic fact when thinking about questions, or I would never be able to come up with anything!).

So, which house is it for me?

Chanel – I love Coromandel, 28 La Pausa, 31 Rue Cambon, Bel Respiro, N°19 …

Guerlain – I love Shalimar, Jicky, L’Heure Bleue, Vol de Nuit, Sous le Vent, Iris Ganache…

Argh, what an impossible question, and surely one I’d answer differently every day.

But for what it is worth, I choose Chanel for the one reason that I think their perfumes are in safer hands. Chanel reformulations are not as devastating as many Guerlain ones have been.

And while I was disappointed with recent releases like Bleu, N°19 Poudre and Jersey, I still feel the Les Exclusifs line is one of the best out there. The exclusive Guerlains have highlights among them, but are not as comprehensive as a whole. And the Guerlain mainstream releases are mostly duds for me, sorry.

The day to day wearability point goes to Chanel as well. I just find more occasion to wear 31 RC or N°19 than Shalimar or L’Heure Bleue.

I am a Guerlain girl at heart, so it pains me to say this, but today I choose Chanel.

What about you?


Posted in Monday Question | Tagged , , | 104 Comments

My New York City Sniffing Tour – Part II

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Olfactoria

Joey and I also visited Bergdorf’s Edward Bess counter, of course. I love Edward Bess Cosmetics, I think it is the most elegant and refined line available right now. In Europe the brand is only available online through zuneta.com, who have excellent customer service, but it is something else to actually be able to see and touch the items. I went there hoping for the new palettes, and I bought them too, but they will be shipped, since they were sold out.

The beige one is for me, the berry colors for my friend S, the eternal lurker. 🙂

After Bergdorf’s, Joey and I went on to Saks Fifth Avenue. The first stop was the Cartier counter. We both knew Baiser Volè already (A lovely, quiet lily.), but were happy to smell the newest Mathilde Laurent creation in the Les Heures line, Cartier’s exclusive line similar the Chanel’s Les Exclusifs or Dior’s La Collection Privée.

L’Heure Convoitée (The Coveted Hour) is a powdery carnation scent, that is at once spicy and soft, a bit like lipstick and plastic, but in a good way. I really liked Grain de Musc’s review here.

Next was the Chanel counter and with it Jersey, the latest release in the Les Exclusifs range. What can I say other than: Oh dear! I read many not exactly favorable reviews, but I needed to smell for myself, and lavender and vanilla didn’t sound so bad to me. But it is bad, people, really bad. The opening is harsh, the middle quite indistinct and the drydown, an abysmal white musk laundry detergent smell-alike. The whole story is over in under ten minutes, which is a good thing, in a way…

After Saks, Joey and I went to the Dior boutique, since a bottle of New Look 1947 was on my shopping list. Happily clutching it to my chest, we left and I had to part company with Joey. I can highly recommend her as a tour guide, should you ever come to New York (she said she loves to do that too!).

That afternoon, I went to Sephora on Times Square, despite being warned, but I had to see for myself how perfume in the US mainstream is treated.

What struck me was the power of Sephora. Apparently they got almost each and every company to make small roller ball sizes of their scents, a great thing in my opinion, if only there was a perfume to be had, that I, snob that I am, would be interested in.

But I did smell a few things, what remains on my mind is Boyfriend, the perfume launched by Kate Walsh. Maybe it is me, but isn’t it awfully similar to Prada Candy? It is quite nice and a refreshing change to the ubiquity of pink out there.

On Sunday I went to Saks once more, to take a closer look at several cosmetics lines, I don’t have access to here in Vienna – Dolce&Gabbana and Burberry. I came away with foundation from the first and lipsticks from the latter. I had to, didn’t I? I’d never get another chance! 😉

FAO Schwarz was next on my agenda, I have two kids after all. (Truth be told I go there every time I’m in New York, long before I ever thought about kids of my own, I guess I am one still.) And look what I found:

Apparently perfume is everywhere. 🙂

I was lucky enough to stay at the W Hotel this time, and that is home to Bliss Spa. And while I didn’t go in for a treatment, I made good use of the Bliss Boutique located on the ground floor of the hotel.

Bliss Spa products accounted for a good portion of the weight we lugged home.

My husband and I are great fans of the show Seinfeld, so my husband went on the Kramer Tour, where Kenny Kramer, real life model for the character Cosmo Kramer, leads fans through the neighborhood, where the show took place. Mr O had fun!

We had some great food too, this time, the best was a Chinese restaurant in Midtown called Shun Lee Palace, I can highly recommend it. The food was delicious and the service impeccable.

All to soon it was time to go home again.

We’ll be back next year!

Posted in Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Shopping | Tagged , , , | 38 Comments

Little House On The Prairie – Review: Sonoma Scent Studio Sienna Musc

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Olfactoria

Laurie Erickson makes an extraordinary number of perfumes to feel at home in. Cuddly, soft, cozy and warm. Evoking crackling fires, cashmere shawls, downy beds and sleep-ins. Conjuring brisk walks in the woods, endless fields of grass or late afternoon sunshine.

Sienna Musc is a prime example for what I mean – a perfume to relax into with a sigh, to feel cared for, pampered and simply good in. A woody and spicy musk that welcomes you into its caring arms, the minute you apply it.

Sienna Musc includes notes of musk, sandalwood, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, clove, mandarin, cedar and cypress. Released September 2008.

Opening with a warm bouquet of spices and a bit of sweet citrus, the wooden body of the perfume saunters in, relaxed, a smile on his lips. Cypress gives a fresh twist, cedar the necessary dryness and sandalwood adds a smooth creaminess that is further enhanced by musk, the star of the show that welds this perfume to your skin. On my skin cypress is very prominent and turns together with the spices into an almost pine-y note. It dares you not to breathe in deeply.

When we spend the weekend in “Our Little House on the Prairie” on a cold autumn weekend, this is how I smell. The freshness of the forest near the house, the dry wood we use for stoking the fire, fingers sticky with resins from handling the logs.

Replica of the Little House on the Prairie, Kansas

For a while now, SSS perfumes are, what I bring for the weekend. They fit in perfectly with my life in the countryside, making me happy, enhancing nature.

Other SSS reviews: To Dream :: Bois de Champagne :: Tabac Aurea 

Image source: sonomascentstudio.com, Little house via flickr.com Sheila Scarborough
Posted in Fragrance Reviews, Musk, Sonoma Scent Studio, Spicy, Woods | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments