Miss Dior and Wearing O’ the Green

Happy St Patrick’s Day to all of you out there.  Hopefully you’ve had your corned beef and cabbage and green beer, or managed to avoid it like I did this year. 

I’ve mentioned many a time my former distaste for green perfumes.  One Green chypre perfume that completely changed that attitude for me is Dior’s Miss Dior, vintage parfum.  This gem has received praise from many, including Luca Turin, as one of the most gloriously divine perfumes ever.  EVER.  And, as skeptical as I was after testing Diorissiomo (which is lovely, though I am not fond of LOTV) I must whole heartedly concur it is as ravishing as the lady I picture as it’s human embodiment, Maureen O’Hara.  Its perfectly lady like, but there is no mistaking it is a full bodied, warm blooded sensous being just waiting for the right moment to be unleashed. 

The first dab out of the beautiful crystal stopper (don’t make it like they used to) warms up some green herbally pleasantries.  Its “hello, how do you do, shall I play mother and pour you some tea? cook you dinner?” Very refined for a green without all the grassy leaves and clippings I have experienced in many other compositions.  After say 15 minutes or so, you begin to see glimpses of skin, a little clavical, a peek of leg and so forth as the gardenia and roses awaken under the blanket of green velvet. 

Then, the perfume really takes off.  Jasmine and other lush flowers release thier perfumes as it loosens it’s hair from the tight up do and takes off her shoes.  The flowers are in full womanly bloom and emit the slightest bit of indolic  skank, just enough to say that “yes, I look like the perfect lady, but I can show you things you’ve never dreamed of later as I am an experienced worldy woman. ”

 Furthermore, once the patch and leather come out to play, those who were convinced greens could only be innocent and elegant or oddly shocking find they were sorely mistaken.  This stage leaves my wrist affixed to my nose in a state of dreamy rapture.  Fading in to the drydown you get the last bits of green with hints of musk lingering on your skin.

Miss Dior could be worn anywhere.  It’s daytime, yet you wouldn’t feel underdone wearing it at night. Infact, it would take anyone close enough to breathe in it’s essence by surprise.  You are not a naive ingenue, but a woman to be reckoned with, though they would much perfer to invite you over for a scotch instead.  I long to wear a deep green clingy tactile (velvet?  satin?)dress with this perfume, something that shows off the figure motherhood has given me and something that shimmers and begs to be touched.  All curves, none of the gamine, it’s fertility and throaty laughs instead of nervous fumbling and giggles.  Real manly men go for the woman who makes this perfume hers.  They appreciate the woman who is a bit softer in all the right places, can cook a fantastic meal and join him for a scotch and cigar occasionally too.  They also know she expects impeccable table manners and all her doors to be opened for her.  Little boys obsessed with the latest pop tartlet can move along, Miss Dior is too much for him to handle and would make him feel as inadequate as he really is anyways.   Don’t even think of going dutch either.

Well deserving it’s praise Miss Dior has heavy rotation in my perfume wardrobe these springy days. Lasting power is great, at least 6-8 hours and the silliage is just about perfect — I smell it around me though I don’t think it is perceptible as a perfume smell to others until they are very, very close.  And I notice people seem to be closer to me today than usual.  Smell stalkers I was very fortunate to snag some practically pristine bottles of the vintage parfum on ebay and am always looking out for more to horde in my perfume cachet.  Though if you check the decant list you will find it for 13/ ml as I know it’s hard to find in as good a condition as I had the good fortune to find it and feel it’s my duty to share it with those who seek it.

Last words DIVINE, GORGEOUS perfection.  swoon…

notes: Sage, Gardenia, Galbanum, Rose, Neroli, Jasmine, Oakmoss, Patchouli, Cistus and Labdanum

Friday Candy Jar Day!

Today we will explore a few Neil Morris Perfumes, begining with Midnight Sea.   First, let me mention I sprayed myself with Midnight Sea last night and still smell the after effects.  What does NM put in this?  The lasting power is amazing! 

 Midnight Sea’s notes are Water Lily , Notes of Vanilla, Patchouli, Dark Musk, Oceanic and Ozone Notes.  Throughout most of the composition, i get a really lovely vanilla smell tempered with the musk and oceanics.  The oceanics, btw are not at all like Cool Water, but more of a salty, sandy feeling, like smelling the ocean on your skin after swimming.  The vanilla simulatiously warms the compostion for snuggle factor, and chills the perfume for a night-time starlit effect.  With the patchouli and musk weaving in and out, you get a glorious bit of skin scent, making this an intimate perfume.  Does this really remind me of the ocean?  No, it does not.  For some reason, the perfume triggers an olfactory memory of Christmas, circa 1997 or 1998.  It must smell like something I received as a gift or a combination of enviromental aromas those years.  This is kind of annoying actually.  It’s like being at a party and talking to someone for 20 minutes pretending you know thier name all the while cursing yourself for not remembering.  It is driving me crazy that I can’t quite place the smell.  Also, the ocean I have the most experience with is good old Galveston Bay, which I am quite confident Mr. Morris will NOT be modeling a perfume experience after, unless of course March of www.perfumeposse.com askes him to.  She tends to like things a little stanky and skanky.  (BTW for the maybe 4 of you who haven’t checked thier blog out at the posse, please stop reading here and take a gander.  They are great!)   However, the perfume is really beautiful and I have a deep appreciation for it.  If I can ever figure out what memory it is triggering, I am sure I will adore it.  As for being my favorite non ocean ocean scent…Hermes still has that one in the bag.  Midnight Sea is a different kind of experience for me. 

Midnight Tryst  notes clove bud, magnolia flower, rose, narcissus, gardenia, dark musk, benzoin, cinnamon, patch, amber, civet, castoreum,  and dark vanilla.     notes clove bud, magnolia flower, rose, narcissus, gardenia, dark musk, benzoin, cinnamon, patch, amber, civet, castoreum,  and dark vanilla.  This reminds me of incense, I definately get the spices up top first with what I swear is some almost-banana jasmine.  I imagine this must be the magnolia flower or rose coming on to play.  The spices are very rich smelling and sensous. Combined with the florals and the head shop patchouli, it is dark and sexy.  Mid wear the composition begins a creamy phase peppered with bits of spice and dirt. I feel as though I am in satin sheets rolling around a dark incensy room with a naughty man.  In the end, the dry down leaves a whisper of musk and man, much like any other sexual encounter.  Full bottle?  Not sure.  I have many more samples from the Neil Morris line to get through and am  holding out for somethig that really floors me.  While Midnight Tryst was great ride, all it meant to me was a tryst, not something long term. Stay tuned for more Neil Morris sample mini reviews and the contiuation of the Wearing O the Green. I’m terribly sorry this post was abrupt, it’s been a very trying day personally.

Wearing o’ The Green Quiz

Watch the following music video, consider the lyrics and imagery, musical accents etc and guess which green perfume it goes with.  I will give the answer later Saturday when I finish the post.  enjoy the sneak peek!

Correct answers will be awarded a prize.

OK, I am kind of dragging my heels a bit here.  It’s kind of a personal post, which means much more difficult to write.  Thanks for your patience and keep guessing.  There is a pretty good clue on the post.

Cristalle Continues Wearing O’ the Green

Cristalle.  The name suggests something youthful, sparkling and bright. Something you get a bit of color out of filtered sun, something that is not heavy and certainly not cloying or sweet.  This Chanel perfume fits the imagery very very well. 

Lauren Stover author of  The Bombshell Manual of Style says of Cristalle “exciting, electric green and alert, a Bombshell splashes on Cristalle when she doesn’t have time for coffee and simply smells her wrist when she needs a pick me up.  It elevates her spirits without making her jittery.”  Much like a cool breeze on a sunny spring day, this is a bit energizing, as the citrus is refreshing and the florals are quite lovely the drydown relaxing. 

With Cristalle EDT, you must use a heavy spray to get a longer lasting dose of the ‘fume. I feel my forehead relax as the juicy citrus and dry green herbs cut through the Houston heat and humidity, lasting a good 20 minutes or so until the top notes finally fly off my wrist and chest to release the heart of oak moss and florals. 

Let’s have a moment about oak moss, shall we?  First of all, many perfumes either do not include oak moss or reformulate the accord to simulate the oak moss smell in our beloved chypres.  This is a crying shame as it has rendered many modern perfumes paler shadows of their former glory.  Supposedly the stuff is an allergen that causes violent reactions in about maybe 5 people and a bunch of overdosed lab rats.  So, like many other materials; ambergris, civet, etc, oak moss is no longer PC to use.  How do I get down from the soap box?

     Anyhow, next we get some glorious greenness with oak moss, some lily and possibly honeysuckle/jonquil/rosewood.  I can detect jasmine and even the honeysuckle.  (I’ve seen a lot of variation on the note.  I took the listing at the bottom form theperfumedcourt.com)  Whatever it is they use, my nose swings from rapture in the floral elegance to horror when it melds into a melon/hairspray note to mild annoyance when I get what I like to call “the Mrs. Meyers accord.”  Pleasant florals occur when sniffed closest to my skin, the other two occurrences seem to be in my wafting aura, so I ponder what people around me smell.  While the thought of smelling like hair-sprayed melon scares me, the Mrs. Meyers accord is a less worse fate.  I bought the lemon-verbena cleaning products at the store a few weeks ago because they smelled so spring-like and energetic.  I thought it would encourage me to clean and remind me a bit of my vacation in Greece where I soaked in the smell of verbena all over the place.  So, it’s not exactly a bad thing, unless you are familiar with Mrs Meyers and could confuse my perfume with the scent of cleaning.  yikes. 

Cristalle  is very wet and green smelling in places and would be very lovely in the rain.  Drydown is very, very nice and comforting in a green way.  Like the piles of mowed grass cooling from a hot day in the cool of the evening. This must be the tail ends of the oak moss and vetiver which makes it ALMOST masculine-ish, which is just the way I like to smell after a girl perfume.  Reminds me of nature’s duality and makes an otherwise ingénue scent more interesting and slightly sexy.  Very clean linen sheets on a summer day in Greece. 

I can see it as “elegant” for a young woman, in a garden party sort of way.  However I wouldn’t wear this for a night out.  The blue hour of twilight would be the very latest and only if I was kissing a first date on the porch-swing, hoping my parents don’t flicker the lights at us to come in.  There is an air of innocence, if fleeting.  I don’t see men really commenting on this one.  It’s the one your girlfriends tell you is sexy, just like they tell you “you look really hot with short, dark hair and glasses.  If I were a lesbian I’d be all about you.”  Cristalle is semi cerebral, the kind of perfume a woman would wear to please only herself, never mind what her lover thinks of it. 

Overall, this perfume is kind of clean and fresh, in a perfumista friendly way.  I’d like to think of it as a palate cleanser, the ginger on the side of your sushi.  Great for days I’d like to smell less dirty and less interesting. It makes an excellent segway drug into the world of perfume for a young woman.  If only I could escape the hairsprayed melon aspect, I would definitely reach for this more often than I do, which is still more often than before.  After wearing off and on for a few weeks, my thoughts have gone from GACK swamp mess! To bleh, hairspray to oooh, refreshing citrus and floral greens, which is a long way.

One last mention. At some point, Cristalle was flanked with an EDP verion.  The EDP is completely different from the EDT.

 

Notes: lemon, fresh herbs, oakmoss, bergamot, jonquil, jasmine, honeysuckle, rosewood, hyacinth and vetiver

Late for the Party, or How I Met Sous le Vent by Guerlain by Carol

****attention readers!  For your reading pleasure, a submission by fellow reader and fellow perfumista, Carol.  She will be posting periodically, so leave a comment or three and give her a warm welcome to the castle.

Have you ever seen that commercial with the cats all cavorting around, six of them in the litter box, one with a lampshade on her head ?

When the people come home, every cat disappears except the one with the lampshade on her head, who says ” Where’d everybody go ? “

 Well we all feel like that sometimes, but when the vial of Guerlain Sous le Vent arrived at my door, we were perfect strangers. I had not sniffed it , ordered it intentionally, nor had I ever even heard of it. What kind of Guerlain whore am I ? So my nose really perked up at the sight of a new Guerlain to sniff. ( not new, new. New to me. )

 Eagerly I eased open the vial and dabbed on the back of my hand, within easy sniff.

  My mouth watered ! It did ! This was juicy and fresh and…what is that ? Mandarin oranges ? Uh oh, I think this is veering into dry territory a la Goutal eau de Sud or something but no. Now some green joins in and herbs are lovely, they sing over that juicy opening. I can detect the lavender there, but barely. It sweetens the chorus but never too much, and the tarragon drives me crazy here along with a slight licorice from basil.

 Is this a fougere ?

 On my skin, this opening lasts a very long time .

Refreshing symphony of salad.

 Slowly the herbs meld with my skin and the woods peek through, under there where they have selflessly supported the composition, now they come to the fore, warming and soothing, with just a touch of patchouli to make it sexy. Oakmoss is evident from the start, preventing the herbs from being too light-hearted. I never really detect carnation ( we don’t get along ) but it lends a spicy salad effect. The iris plays with the woods only after an hour of juicy frolicking…

Do you want the good news or the bad news ?

It was discontinued years ago.

Then they re-released it in 2006.

As a limited edition.

WHAAAA…T ?!?

I found out all these details that everybody else probably already knows ( where’d everybody go ? ).

GOD. HELP . ME.

I really adore this scent, and I own NOTHING LIKE IT.  I will not freak out because I have a decant from Fishbone and she says I can probably still buy this at Bergdorf’s. So if you are in  line ahead of me there, you had better get out of my way.

Thank you!

disclaimer: perfumequeen is not responsible for anything I say. We have not met yet.

In my world, I am known as the queen of caffeine, so when I saw a perfumequeen blog, well I KNEW we were sisters. QUEENS of anything, unite.

end of review.

Friday Candy, 2nd Runner up, Molinard Xmas Bells

Ok, I am still really REALLY bummed about my Habanita bottle fiasco.  I had read the notes and felt as though I had found a soulmate, but alas, like Lennie Smalls, I killed my pet with too much enthusiastic love. 

sigh

we will have a different style of review today.  In a few moments I will apply Molinard’s Xmas bells. Then through out the day I will update my thoughts, free form, no editing, stream of conciousness.  And what a bugger it may be as I can’t find listed notes anywhere. 

Application dab – - hmmm 

I detect a hint of clove, some powder and rose.  I am supposing whatever the usual citrus top notes have probably faded as the bottle is pretty ancient.  and a hint of playdoh.  Boy I hope I haven’t been duped with a fake….

update 1032 am  something familiar in here.  vaguely nuit de noel with out the depth and dark warmness fur coat feeling….

now this is unusual, I’m getting some leather. It’s the smell of skin warmed leather gloves or boots that have just come in from the cold.  not really animalic, just leathery.  very interesting. 

1100 Carnation timidly whispers to me that I maybe should have applied a bit heavier so I could smell it’s spiciness.  If the perfume was a literary christmas figure, I see one of Dicken’s ghosts of christmas.  A quiet, haunting perfuem, like the moments of stillness in scrooges room where you can feel the cold in the air, , the nubbiness of the velvet bed curtains and the electric charge of a ghost about to arrive.

I am feeling melancholy.  It’s the Christmas you spend alone or for the first time with out a particular loved one. Not a perfume for celebration of festivities, but one for introspection and maybe even atonement with some light mourning.  Which isn’t a bad thing in a perfume at all as we all have those moments we go through.  I know at some point this comig Christmas I will be thing of my departed grandfather and need some perfume company.  My nana collects Santa Clauses, and thus it is always Chrsitmas at her home.  This year will be very very lonely for her and his absence will affect us all.  Christmas Bells will certainly be the choice for those times, as they are not the Bells welcoming the joy of christmas and family, but the bells that toll for those we have lost and love. 

Rose makes an apperance.

an excerpt from Edgar Allen Poe’s Bells

“…Hear the tolling of the bells -
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people – ah, the people -
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone -
They are neither man nor woman -
They are neither brute nor human -
They are Ghouls: -
And their king it is who tolls: -
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells: -
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells: -
To the sobbing of the bells: -
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells -
To the tolling of the bells -
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells, -
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.”

1pm woods and something a bit creamy.  still some carnation and maybe the teenist bit of musk.

Verdict: rose, carnation, leather, woods, a little musk and some unidentifiables, a melancholy and haunting composition, with pretty decent lasting power.  WOuld have more silliage if applied more heavily.  For those of you who get slapped by Caron, this is like Caron light; definately more wearable, though not quite as snuggly.   
 

Tragedy

has befallen my bottle of Molinard Habanita Parfum.  The damn stopper broke off and I cannot get the other half out of the bottle, rendering a lovely 1991 edition completely useless to me.  I am off to fix a hot toddy to drown my deep sorrow over the juice.  Now I have to troll ebay for more after spending a shiny penny on the useless bottle.  WHY FATE?? WHY???

 Hopefully I can pull out of the disappointment to be able to write a post tommorrow.

Debut Wearing O’ the Green

Most of the time, the mere mention of “lily of the valley” in a perfume’s notes in enough to make me shake in my boots. Some perfumers do it with just the right touch, not too wet, not too dry, not too loud.  Others make it a stomach churning experience, like being trapped in a room full of hairspray.  Utterly Deadly. 

This lily of the valley phobia is one of the reasons I have avoided the green genre until a recent decision for self improvement in the perfume world.  Some perfumes have instantly amazed me, like Miss Dior and Bandit.  others reconfirmed my phobia, like Parfum de Therese, though that one is coming up for a re-sniff to see if I can now appreciate it.  Parfum DelRae’s Debut was at first in the lily in the valley of death category, though I think now I am starting to get it.

First and foremost, I must apply this one with a light hand, as the lily can certainly overwhelm me into stomach churning waves of nausea. However applied properly, it is graceful bliss.

I love the opening. Bergamot combined with what I think is underused in perfumery, lime, make the usual citrus burst more interesting.  It’s definitely greener, fresher, shall I even say zesty?  While that might not seem like something a perfumista wants, fresh and horrors, zesty, it is a terrific interpretation of a citrus top note, standing out against the usual lemon-bergamot suspects.  Eventually this fades into a pale yellow-green leaves and florals where the lily begins to sing. As I mentioned, over application makes the lily shriek, however a light hand renders a loud, beautiful song.  Sometimes I find this pleasant, other times it’s an obnoxious hairspray note. The lily never seems to dies off in the composition.  It partners with some linden, which I must think is the green leafish and slightly white floral notes I get, to a pretty effect.  In fact, uninterrupted by the lily, the florals are quite elegant, reminiscent of the first blooms in spring floating their delicate scent along a cool breeze.  Here and there, there is a hint of something indolic, something a teeny, tiny bit dark, like the gathering of a few dark clouds that can threaten heavy rain or even snow on the newborn spring.  Dry down is where I really appreciate the perfume.  The mix of green vetivier with a honeyed sandalwood and musk is a politely sexy finish.  The skin scent reminds me of spring’s fertility, the call to be fruitful and multiply.

The scent is quite young, and applicable for a young debutante with the freshness of the citrus and the elegant florals.  It reminds her to be proper and ladylike, hiding the  burgeoning beginnings of sexual maturity as the composition only hints at something mildly dirty. 

It reminds me of a time before sex was a more or less common place discussion topic. Girls were dressed in white, told how to behave and how to suppress their natural urges in order to be virginal and able to make a good marriage.  Only then would they be permitted to explore that side of womanhood.  Sadly some were unable to find it.  Others understood the innocence was a facade, much like the notes in the perfume hide the underlying indolic and musky notes.  Hoping for the right chemistry to release them.  I could see a young Grace Kelly being well suited for the perfume.  She was the icon of elegance, debutantes modeled themselves on her cool look.  The otherside of the coin are the allegations of her promiscuous behavior. Certain factions like to indicate she was a bit less than the refined, repressed image we see.  Who really knows for sure, and truly, who should really care what she did or did not do in private life.  I do not bring that up to tarnish her memory, only to point out that underneath the cool refined exterior was a flesh and blood creature, with natural tendencies.  Much like Delrae’s Debut.

I do not reach for Debut often, it took me a very long time of repeated wearings to correctly mitigate the dosage and appreciate it’s charm.  However I think it’s perfect for breezy spring days, particularly while wearing my most elegant ensemble of crisp while blouse, full white skirt cut to the knee, decorated with a black pattern, all cinched in with a black leather belt.  Nice black heeled sandals and matching bag.  No panties and enjoying the delicious breeze as it blows about the womanly parts.  Yes, Debut would be the perfect choice. 

Debut needs the chill of spring to keep the lily of the valley in line.  Otherwise the intense heat might let loose the animal underneath.  Current bottle is and EDP though I believe it was originally an EDT.  The EDT may have been lighter and better for warm weather wear or wear for someone afraid of lily of the valley.  I wish I could get my hands on that formulation.  However, the EDP is very lovely and makes a nice edition to my collection. Makes me long for end of April in Michigan when I could finally open the windows and let the breeze air out the house.  The swishing sound of the wind laden with the new green leaves and early blooms ushered in Spring. 

notes: bergamot, lime, ylang ylang, and fresh green leaves; middle notes of lily of the valley, linden blossom, and cyclamen; and base notes of vetiver, sandalwood and musk.

Update:  I just noticed the way my daughter smells after playing outside in the grass and plants this morning.  There is a similarity to the middle and ending of Debut. Could they have captured sun-warmed human in their sandalwood musk and greens?

PS  Jen, if you want something verdant and pretty, this one might be for you.

Choose Your Own Adventure, sort of

Today’s mail brought me 4 unsniffed purchases I bought based on reviews or whimsy.

So, cast your vote in the comments for which one I should cover on Candy Jar Friday

Molinard Habanita

Molinard Cloches de Noel

Versace Blonde

Dior Dolce Vita

If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, or so I am told!  Results tallied Thursday.

Bandit and the Wearing O’ the Green series

 

March supposedly comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, at least in folk sayings.  Texas weather-wise I suppose it’s true.  We’re due for a few storms and some high winds this weekend, setting a lion-esque tone for the start of our spring.  And it is definitely spring.  Temps have been in the 70’s lots of blues skies and green things coming up.  I got the gardening bug and spent Saturday buying herbs for a patio garden.  It is very satisfying to look out of my window as I write and see my little bit of the Mediterranean on my patio.  Comes in like a lion…that would certainly describe the aggressive, naughty nature of Robert Piguet’s famous green perfume, Bandit. About 1944 nose Germaine Cellier rocked the fragrance world with this galbanum concoction after inspiration from Piguet’s Pirate themed fashion show and supposedly nabbing a model’s pair of used undies to capture the essence.  Although the latter is really, really creepy, the perfume is fantastic genius.  Cellier is also the nez behind Fracas and Vent Vert as well as Jolie Madame, all interestingly different and very sexual works.

Bandit opens in a green forest on a sunny day.  The heat of the sun warms the canopy until you can smell the greenness of the leaves. Yet somewhere there is a slight indolic whiff of a little naughtiness, enough to make you want to get closer despite the No of the green.  Then, suddenly you are hit over the head with the smooth, elegant florals.  The sensuality of the jasmine and tuberose are tempered with the lady-like aloofness of orris and the rose.  And finally, an irresistible, dark, oak moss and musk ending…rich and dark and human.  Did I mention the trace of leather throughout the composition?  There is some fantastically dirty-girl leather in Bandit which says, “come hither” despite the green galbanum saying “hold it right there buster!”  This contradiction I must imagine is Cellier’s shock value in the piece; a perfume that is quite sexual, but yet keeps you at arm’s length. 

Who would wear this?  Perhaps Julie Newmar as Cat Woman.  Dangerous and deadly, drop dead gorgeous and clad in a leather suit.  Perhaps a film noir’s Vixen-Villain.  She’s brunette, deep voiced and dressed to kill literally.  She also orders a double scotch on the rocks. The woman who wears this is a force to be reckoned with, breaking hearts and well as busting balls. 

On a personal level, Bandit is one of the first green perfumes to interest me in the green category.  Before, I found greens to be too ladylike, too sporty or too young and fresh.  Or just simply abominable. Bandit, on the other hand is something floral, leathery and dirty smelled through a veil of green, peppery gauze. Utterly irresistible to my nose and other’s when it works for me, and just kind of there, hinging on old lady on days it doesn’t work for me. 

While it certainly wouldn’t be my signature perfume, as I am more of a Fracas girl, it is definitely a beloved addition to my collection I reach for when the film noir mood strikes, along with Tabac Blonde.

I hear the modern version of Bandit has undergone reformulations, ranging from a crime against the original art to great similarity to the original.  I have yet to test any of the new formulations, as I was lucky enough to get a little of the vintage parfum.  The Parfum is also supposed to be smooth and elegant wheras the EDT is more aggressive and shocking.  I suppose on my next trip to NM’s or Saks I will have to take a test drive, as it is increasingly more difficult to find the vintage. 

Thus, as it is a daring composition that changed my thoughts about the green category, it is my choice for the first installment for Wearing of the Green.

Interesting excerpt from my note on Bandit: “smells like damp ass.  In a good way.  As though a water nymph had been swimming and then laying out to dry in the forest post tryst.” 

notes: of Neroli, Orange Essence, Ylang-Ylang, Artemisia, Galbanum, and Bergamot.  Heart notes of Jasmine, Tuberose, Orris, Rose, Carnation, and Leather.  Base notes of Oak moss, Castoreum, Patchouli, Vetiver, Myrrh, and Musk