Last Week In Perfume Land – Weekend Link Love

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Olfactoria

I’m permanently tired these days. I feel like I haven’t slept in years (which is kind of true, I did not sleep through the night often since I had my children).

Like a bear I would like to prepare for hibernation. Eat a lot, gather soft down pillows and duvets and only come back out of my cozy cave by springtime.

That not being an option, I console myself with the fact that I would miss wearing all my lovely winter scents while sleeping… 🙂

Before we all take a little Sunday nap, let’s make a roundtrip through Perfumeland and see what the past week had in store:

Tarleisio of Scentless Sensibilities finishes the Clarimonde project with another stunner of a story.

Carrie of Eyeliner on a Cat reviews the new Aroma M perfume – Amber Rouge.

Suzanne reviews Mona di Orio’s Oud on her Perfume Journal and finds similarities to a wonderful book. A must read review of an exceptional perfume. Here is my take.

Undina’s Great Expectations have been crushed…

Another Perfume Blog reviews Chanel Jersey, and is the first I have heard anyone say something positive about this new release, which makes me want to see or rather smell for myself.

Vanessa of Bonkers About Perfume sniffs her way through Zürich, I love her sniffing reports and the good coat.

Persolaise takes a sniff at Amouage’s magnificent home fragrance range. If only I were rich…

Jen of This Blog Really Stinks reviews some of my favorite DSH perfumes, the Italian Splendor Collection. Here is my take.

Joey loves the smell of Ormonde Jayne Man on her man, and who can blame her?

And for your beauty-fix this week check out reviews of the new Edward Bess palettes that, mildly put, have awoken my interest. Soon, soon, I will be able to see those lovelies in person… meanwhile take a look at Best Things in Beauty, The Non-Blonde and The Beauty Look Book.

What are you craving right now?  Naps, Palettes, perfumes? Have a lovely Sunday!

Posted in Weekend Link Love | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

“Style Never Goes Out Of Fashion” – Kilian Hennessy At Campomarzio In Rome

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Olfactoria

For your viewing pleasure, here is an interview with Kilian Hennessy of By Kilian. I admire his brand and the man himself – well, let’s say he is not hard on the eyes. But superficiality aside, I love what he does and how he does it, I like his brand’s aesthetic and his vision. And luxury has its price, or it wouldn’t be luxury, would it?

This weekend is all Kilian all the time for me, I took my sample set to the cottage and I feel like my every whim is covered and my every wish catered to. This is a line I would not want to miss.

In the mood for Kilian? Here are my reviews of the line so far (three more reviews are upcoming soon).

What do you think about By Kilian?

Posted in Fragrance Reviews | 14 Comments

Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness – Review: Ginestet Botrytis

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Olfactoria

By Tara 

I’m interested in alcohol notes in perfume and heard about Botrytis by Ginestet while sampling the Frapin line. Ginestet is a wine producer that has created three perfumes in collaboration with an unnamed Parisian perfumer. One of the three is Botrytis which is named after the “noble rot” – or fungus – that increases the sugar content of grapes. The fragrance is inspired by Ginestet’s dessert wine, Sauternes, and is primarily a honey scent laced with wine.

Honey can be a difficult note in perfume but the honey in Botrytis is smooth, dark and naturalistic, evoking a dripping honeycomb. The published notes are honey, candied fruits, quince, pain d’epice and white flowers but this is clearly not a complete list. The opening is all about the honey and wine, getting sweeter as the candied fruit comes to the fore (think apple, plum, pear). The sweetness is tempered by the alcohol and just a sprinkling of spice, while the heart deepens with what I recognize as a very pleasing tobacco accord. Botrytis dries down to a mildly boozy, vanillic amber.

The fragrance is mellow and golden, conjuring up that bucolic scene in the first stanza of John Keats’s famous poem “To Autumn”.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

It’s not the bonfires and dampness of on-coming winter but the harvest time of early autumn. I see an orchard with a beehive, where fallen fruit begins to ferment in the hazy sun.

Opinions seem to vary as to longevity and the level of sweetness but I find it pleasantly sweet with average longevity and minimal sillage. I haven’t seen the bottle “in person” but apparently the presentation is quite something. It comes in a hand-sewn velvet pouch and the lid is topped with ornamental vine leaves.

Botrytis is a grown-up gourmand. It would be the perfect accompaniment to a day out in the country while sporting a woolly scarf and rosy cheeks, or a cosy night in while sipping a nice glass of wine in front of a log fire.

My sample was purchased from Scent-and-Sensibility Perfume where the 100ml Eau De Toilette is currently £91.

Image source: fragrantica.com,  Autumn Beehive by Wojchiech Gorecki via touchofart.eu
Posted in By Tara, Gourmand, Reviews By Tara | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Six Pack – Review: Van Cleef&Arpels Collection Extraordinaire

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Olfactoria

Sitting before me on my desk is a pretty little pack of six scents that form the Van Cleef&Arpels Collection Extraordinaire.

Taking on an entire collection is a daunting task, and a time-consuming one. But after I started to make my way through these perfumes, I really had fun, I rediscovered how exhilarating it is to find beautiful perfumes. To find so many, so closely together, in this tiny package was interesting and somewhat unexpected.

Since mini-reviews are tops, to speak in the words of my best friend in perfume, the kind and wonderful Dee, here are all six perfumes of the Collection Extraordinaire.

Orchidée Vanille:

Created by Randa Hammami in 2009, it includes notes of Mandarin orange, litchi, bitter almond, dark chocolate, Bulgarian rose, violet, vanilla pod, cedar, tonka, and white musk.

Orchidée Vanille is a wonderfully smooth gourmand that goes back to the root of vanilla – the tropical flower. Orchidée Vanille reminds me of Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille in its boozy, languid and sensual sweetness that always safely stays on the far side of too much.

Gardènia Pètale:

Created by Natalie Feisthauer, Gardènia Pètale includes green notes, citrus notes, lily of the valley, jasmine, and gardenia.

An awe-inspiring gardenia rendition, although I am in no way an expert on gardenia perfumes, as I usually tend to avoid them for the simple reason that I have not like any before. Gardènia Pètale is deliciously creamy, ranging from green buds to mature blooms, it offers great sillage, but no headiness, a hypnotic pull, but no narcotic heaviness. The most feminine and beautiful floral perfume, perfect for a bride.

Bois d’Iris:

Created by Emilie Copperman, Bois d’Iris contains notes of iris, exotic wood and ambergris.

A simple, uncluttered iris. The star ingredient stands on the stage only accompanied by a pianist (woods and salty ambergris) and sings her grey-powdery heart out. Elegant and timeless. It occupies the middle ground of “irisness” between The Different Company Bois d’Iris and Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist.

Cologne Noire:

Created by Mark Buxton, Cologne Noire includes notes of bergamot, bitter orange, mandarin, ginger, cardamom, pepper and woody notes.

Fresh, bracingly so, spicy, very much so and woody, smoothly so. That is Mark Buxton’s entry in the Van Cleef&Arpels canon. A classic cologne, made interesting and modern by its flower-less spicy kick.

Lys Carmin:

Created by Natalie Cetto, Lys Carmin includes notes of lily, pink peppercorn, ylang ylang, vanilla and sandalwood.

Lily – soft, sweet, spicy, creamy and warm. A beautiful lily scent, Lys Carmin shows us a bouquet of lilies through rose tinted glasses, filtered of its heavier aspects, rendered mild and pretty. A de-weaponized lily, but very, very nice. I like this salty lily better though.

Muguet Blanc:

Created by Antoine Maisondieu, Muguet Blanc includes notes of lily of the valley, white peony, neroli, and white cedar.

This is the one I did not exactly run to try. I am not a huge fan of lily of the valley, although Diorissimo was my grandmothers signature scent. I associate it with her, but I don’t necessarily want to smell like it. Another huge lily of the valley (lotv) perfume, Andy Tauer’s Carillon pour un Ange cemented itself in my brain as the reference lotv, and it can be a bit overwhelming. Let’s just say, my lotv need is minimal. Maisondieus’s creation is subtle and minimalistic (at least when your comparison are the two perfumes mentioned above). It is very fresh and ozonic, a freshly cut stem of lotv still wet with morning dew, or even rain. The aquatic aspect is considerable. All in all, my least favorite of the lot.

A seventh perfume of the line is out now, which I have not smelled yet – Precious Oud. I guess a house does not feel complete these days without their very own oud rendition. There is a pretty damning review by Octavian Coifan about Precious Oud, I’d like to take a sniff eventually anyway.

Of the six I tried, I am content with my small samples of four of them, and will probably wear them from time to time. If I received a bottle of Orchidée Vanille, I would be very happy, but the one perfume I am considering getting more of, a decant, maybe even a bottle eventually, is Gardènia Pètale. The surprise winner for me, I never smelled such a likeable, beautiful and easily wearable and elegant gardenia. A must try.

The Collection Extraordinaire can be bought at First in Fragrance.

Image source: beauty-locator.de, ausliebezumduft.de
Posted in Fragrance Reviews, Van Cleef & Arpels | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

Paris, je t’aime – Review: Vero Profumo Kiki Extrait de Parfum

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Olfactoria

The third sister in Vero Kern’s amazing trio, is Kiki, the intellectual one.

Onda and Rubj are very introverted and very extroverted respectively, Kiki occupies the middle ground. She is the brain of the operations, she is level-headed, sensible, but also sensitive. She is intelligent, but not brooding, she laughs easily and knows how to let go and enjoy life.

Kiki includes notes of lavender, caramel, musk and fruits.

Kiki is a lavender perfume and how this difficult, masculine leaning and often harsh note is treated here, is amazing. It makes a lavender convert out of the most dubious perfume lover. Or rather, it makes a Vero Kern fan out of lavender skeptics.

Opening with highest quality lavender that is rich and soaring, like instantly being transported into the Provence, Kiki turns soft and warm by underlining the existent gourmand facet of lavender, making it sweet and almost edible with caramel and hints of fruitiness.

Underneath it all lurks an animal though. A wild side, a cleverly concealed raw undercurrent that turns what could sound almost innocent – lavender and caramel, what’s to fear? – into a more dangerous specimen.

What results, is a bright and exuberant but also cushiony, soft and infinitely cozy perfume, with a breath of the wild running through it, that is unique and interesting and lifts my spirits every time. Kiki is very potent, a dab will go a long way, sillage is above average and it lasts the day.

Kiki makes me think of summer days in Paris. A soft breeze, an elegant and desirable man by my side, a walk though the Tuilleries, soft music from some café in the distance. And a few thoughts not fit to print.

This is a fantasy, mind you. Sadly yours truly has yet to go to Paris. But in my dreams I have been there a thousand times, and every time it was fabulous.

Kiki makes it even easier to go there in an instant. I close my eyes, inhale deeply and hear her tinkling laugh.

Image source: suendhaft.com, celebrityengine.appspot.com
Posted in Fougère, Fragrance Reviews, Gourmand, Lavender, Vero Profumo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

A Walk In The Clouds – Review: Dior La Collection Privée New Look 1947

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Olfactoria

A very good friend told me that New Look 1947 smells the way I look. Something like that is lovely to hear, (Well, I wouldn’t want to be compared to Musc Kublai Khan, but an exclusive Dior? That is a compliment I gladly accept), and also very interesting. I always want to know how others perceive me and getting scented feedback is especially gratifying.

The only problem was – I didn’t particularly care for New Look 1947 at first.

But like in life, going through an awkward stage with oneself is fairly common (Hello, puberty!), but the older you get, the more mature (and wrinkled) you become, the more you accept yourself, the more you learn to live with yourself, take yourself the way you are, change what you can and accept what you can’t, and hopefully love yourself.

The same goes for perfume apparently…

New Look 1947 was created by Francois Démachy and includes notes of  peony, ylang-ylang, pink pepper, jasmine sambac, rose, tuberose, iris, benzoin, and vanilla.

This perfume is supposed to be a tuberose scent. And that might well be, but I sure don’t smell it. New Look 1947 for me is all about cream, powder, soap, a hazy veil of indistinct feminine smells, soft, pastel colored and see-through. There is a moment that makes me think “Ah, Tuberose!”, when in the beginning a soft mentholated whiff comes through the aldehydic sparkle, but that goes away soon and hides the presence of tuberose again underneath the many gauzy layers of fragrant tulle that is New Look 1947.

To me New Look 1947 is extremely feminine, all the associations with grooming products from face cream to lipstick, the tactile sensations of fabric, the low-key sparkle that stays through the first two thirds of the development of this perfume, say Woman, with a capital W, to me.

I always assumed I disliked aldehydes, but in fact I only dislike aldehydic florals. (Sorry, Chanel N°5 and Guerlain Vega, both of you are out for now.) When aldehydes come paired with woods (Le Labo Aldehyde 44), with gourmand notes (Parfumerie Generale Tonkamande) or spices (Sonoma Scent Studio Champagne de Bois), I really enjoy them. In New Look 1947, aldehydes sparkle on a base of powder and lift the entire perfume, shoot gas bubbles into the potentially dense composition and making it rise into the air.

Like a slowly revolving cloud of pale pastel powder, New Look 1947 hovers around me, at once obscuring and enhancing me, shielding and marking me.

Photo Credit: Kristian Schuller

I might know that synthesis of extremes, expressed in indistinct tones, not only from this perfume. My friend knows me well.

Image source: dior.com, Kristian Schuller
Posted in Dior, Dior La Collection Privée, Fragrance Reviews, Powdery | Tagged , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Olfactoria’s Sales and Swap Page Added

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Olfactoria

At the top you will find a new tab leading to my sales page.

There are quite a few bottles in my collection that I feel have no longer a place the, downsizing to what I am really wearing regularly is the goal.

Therefore, I listed the first batch of bottles seeking a better, more loving home than I can provide. 😉

Please feel free to ask questions, offers or swap suggestions are always considered! Just email me under olfactoria at gmail dot com

Posted in Ramblings, Shopping | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Monday Question: What Do You Do With Your Fragrant Regrets?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Olfactoria

Have you ever bought a perfume and later realized it was a mistake?

What did you do then?

Sold it on ebay or elsewhere online?

Swapped it?

Gave it to someone as a gift?

Pretended it didn’t exist and move on?

My Answers:

I’m currently at the ostrich stage, burying my head in the sand and pretending that there are not quite a few albatrosses, to stay with the zoological similes, in my cupboard.

In my early days of Perfumista-dom, I stupidly bought a few bottles, I shouldn’t have, I don’t like them anymore and basically I want to get rid of them, but I seem to be too lazy or to unwilling to face defeat like that, to do anything about it. Until now. So I’m harnessing the power of the wonderful perfume community, to hear what you all do with those unwanted and unloved and mostly unsused bottles.

Or am I the only one with a few bottles of shame?

Posted in Monday Question | Tagged , , | 68 Comments

Last Week In Perfume Land – Weekend Link Love

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Olfactoria

I went to a fourth birthday party this week, where my older son was invited to celebrate with his Kindergarten buddies.

An event with ten perma-screaming and madly hopping kindergartners is not something I would recommend to anyone who values life. Aside from my own (well, at least most of the time), I don’t really relish the presence of other people’s children. Surrounded by a horde of over-exited little brats darlings on a sugar-high, I long for peace and quiet, if need be, with the help of heavy drugs. Lacking those, perfume will do nicely.

Does that make me a bad person?

I should just give in to the chaos and join the fun. I could use a little hopping and screaming myself. 😉

Anyway, Perfumeland is a sea of calm and composure in comparison, so the perfect remedy to chaos, is sitting down with a cup of tea and reading a little of what the last week had to offer.

Tarleisio of Scentless Sensibilities works her special brand of magic once more and weaves a spell for us, leaving us wanting nothing more than trying Mandy Aftel’s Oud Luban solid perfume.

Who doesn’t need a little extra energy? I know I do (especially after that party), Ines of All I Am – A Redhead comes to the rescue with her recommendation.

Mals of Muse in Wooden Shoes reviews Tableau de Parfums Miriam by Andy Tauer. Beautiful review, interesting fragrance.

Vanessa of Bonkers about Perfume investigates the Manchester airport and has to go through the vagaries of life on the road again.

Dee of Beauty on the Outside sees naked men! Apparently that is possible with a little help of Bond N°9…

Suzanne’s Perfume Journal tells us about Something Stupid (and wonderful)…

The Candy Perfume Boy is dying a slow death by chocolate, but apparently enjoys it as the perfect way to go…

Victoria of EauMG writes about the newest Sonoma Scent Studio perfume – Fig Tree.

Persolaise is participating in Movember 2011 – what is that, you ask? It is for a very good cause and gives us the chance to take a peek at the mysterious M. P’s face (or at least half of it). Seriously though, take a look and consider contributing!

How was your week? Anything exiting?

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Image source: vintageadbrowser.com
Posted in Weekend Link Love | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Where Is The Freak? – Review: Illamasqua Freak

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Olfactoria

Illamasqua is a British cosmetics line, their motto is “Make up for the Alter Ego”.  The line was founded by Make up Artist extraordinaire Alex Box, and is devoted to high quality products in all (and I mean each and every) shade imaginable. Freak is their first fragrance release.

Illamasqua stands for tolerance, celebrates individuality and caters to the alternative culture.

There seems to be everything that is associated with Gothic, darkness and mystery in this perfume. The bottle is unique and nothing you have seen before, the detail of the snail crawling up the side of the flacon is well-made as well as adorable.

Notes include black davana, opium flower, belladonna, poison hemlock, datura, queen of the night, frankincense, oud and myrrh.

So this must be a unique fragrance, right? Something different, something dark and mysterious, something that is utterly non-mainstream, right?

Um, no.

If you are hoping for Freak to be different, you are in for a surprise. Freak is totally non-freaky. Freak is more the girl-next-door. The one with the pink shirt and the ponytail, the one wearing Narciso Rodriguez For Her, or Idylle or the always smiling Acqua di Parma Magnolia Nobile. I’m strongly reminded of all of these scents when smelling Freak. That is not what I expected… and that is a little freaky after all.

I’m majorly disappointed that Illamasqua did not stick with its image and philosophy here, but went with an extraordinary bottle only. The juice inside is as generically happy as they come. An unimaginative floral with a persistent cheer running through it that only subsides toward the very end of the four to five hour wear time.

If she is your definition of a Freak...

If there was a line that could have gone with something unusual it would have been Illamasqua. A brand that created its image solely around the fact of being different, of taking care of the alter ego, of belonging to the night, not the bright sunshiny day, to release a cheery floral that smells like hundreds of others on the market, is not only disappointing but also incomprehensible.

What do you think? Did you try Freak yet? What did you expect of he perfume, going from how it is presented and described?

Posted in Floral, Fragrance Reviews, Illamasqua | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments