angelique sous la pluie

I’ve kind of been on a Fredric Malle Binge in the last few months.  Slowly, most of the line has been creeping into my possesion and growing on me.  I adore Iris Poudre, which is my favorite Iris.  So grown up and beautiful and purple smelling.  Carnal Flower is a tuberose creation that somehow mimics female natural aroma in it’s floral-ness.  Musc Raveguer swings between naughty girl and comfort skin smell, somewhat rivialing Jicky in my affections.  My appreciation for the line grows as I continue to sniff.

Today and Yesterday I’ve been test driving Angelique Sous la Pluie, a Jean Claude Ellena creation.  JCE and I are not always friends.  Most of his creations are too foody and minimal for me to love to wear.  I didn’t like most of his Hermessences, and Elixir des Merveilles does nothing for me either.  However Amber Narguil is big and beautiful and causing me to hurry autumn.  ASLP is an interesting work.  the pepper-gin accord mimics Eau des Merveilles, though more transparent.  the angelica-cedar gives a wateriness that is not over aquatic and does give one the sense of standing in the rain.  Cedar and musk radiate a warm skin scent–skin that is warm under the chilly rain.  Yes, skin warmed from vigourous walking in a field during a rainstorm.  The contrast between the warm and dark versus the cool, wet and transparent are certainly at play here.  Somewhere in there the Musk is reminds me of an Indian friend of mine whose natural skin scent intrigued me, possible the coriander in the composition that is a spice heavily used in Indian cooking? The tail end of the not so long lasting perfume is sort of Bulgari-ish, another JCE haunt.  I wonder if he is simpling using a signature or slicing and dicing old formulas to create a new compostion.

Light and inoffensive with out being conventional, one can wear this to the office as easily as one can wear it if you are outside all day–in fact that brings out the pepper-rain-musk goodness in a better concentration.  I might even venture to wear it on a date.  ASLP is almost energizing.  Currently I have it in a 1.5 ml sample spray.  What will happen when I run out, I do not know.  I suspect I will not go full bottle, as it does remind me quite a bit of Eau des Mervielles, which is already in my collection, well loved, often used and much less expensive.  (Though lately, I am prefering the more concentrated Parfum Des Merveilles and need to track some down) However I might replace my little vial with a slightly bigger decant as it seems just right for certain occasions–outdoors, small spaces and the need to wear something airy yet still slightly musky. 

Stay tuned for some sniff-lets of a batch of decants I recieved in the mail. 

notes: angelica, coriander, pink pepper, and cedar

photo credit http://flickr.com/photos/85356040@N00/510162092

The Bottle Split!

I have three people (including self) for both onda and kiki, so we would get 5 ml each. I will work up figures in the next day or two and email you guys personally with the pertinent information.  I’m so excited!!!!!

 

And I will be Onda my next post soon…. tee hee.  that was rather clever ScentSelf!

The evolution of the perfumista

I think we all begin the same way.  One day we are casually spraying our BBW or whatever we’ve been in the habit of wearing since high school.  Then the next day we wake up and we’re sick to death of it.  Maybe the bottle ran out and we don’t want the same thing.  Or possible we feel overloaded with the same scent and desire something new.  different.  not what you, or your friends (unless you are my friend!) has been wearing.  People fling suggestions of Curve or Angel or the new such and such and you sniff and thing “meh.” Suddenly you are on a mission to find your new signature scent.

That’s how it began for me and many others.  I would spend hours at Ulta and Sephora and the middle-department stores sniffing and dismissing.  Everything seemed so, for lack of better word, common.  Then you hear about some mystical perfume — for me it was Caron Tabac Blonde and Nuit de Noel– and you spend hours googling reviews, attempting to snipe ebay auctions (what???!!! 300 dollars for 1/4 ounce and it’s OLD?!?!?)  somehow, you get your hands on a sample (thanks Patty, the enabler) and think AHA it’s my Holy Grail!  I found it, Fait Accompli!! 

But, like that first hit of crack, it is never enough.  You wonder what is out there…what the other perfumes all the reviews keep talking about smell like.  You are CONVINCED getting a vintage bottle onr Balmain Vent Vert for an obscene amount on ebay will CHANGE your LIFE.  Hell, it might even make you skinnier–mostly because you won’t be able to afford to eat for two weeks after said purchase.  And…as you bought it unsniffed, it disappoints you.  So it joins the pile of other such purchases and sample vials that are taking over your bathroom cabinent.  the cabinent of shame…

But you grow–eventually, after smelling lots of things, you can distinguish various notes from one another and grow to see perfumes you once dismissed as divine as they are supposed to be.  You assume a certain rhythm to your madness.  Jicky for summer and lingerie, Amoureuse to feel sexy or to wear to the butterfly gardens with your pink floral ensemble.  Onda and Djedi for rain, Djedi for wallowing in despair. 

Which brings you to the next phase . It is increasingly harder to become impressed with your sniff vials.  SOmething really has to knock your socks off to get a fourth try and the coveted bottle spot on your shelf.  Infact, you feel the need to purge to about 20 bottles (per season) and a good 10 of them are the seasonless.  You streamline, re-bay and desire a wardrobe built on true love, less impulse.  At times it feels like the high in the perfume addicition has worn off, but you realize, it is coming into a certain deeper appreciation of the olfactory art.  You still want to sniff new things, however, one or two stellar reviews don’t send you into the deep debt end of ebay anymore.  And thank god, because ramen for dinner is getting kind of old…

I’ve been working on some reviews in my draft section.  But a bit lazily as I’ve been spending time with my “wardrobe” of things I’ve mentioned before or am still too awed to get up the gumption to write about.  One thing coming soon is an interview with someone’s work that I admire very much.  I’m almost a bit star-struck in a way.  This blog has a very small readership, and I write like a drunken moneky upholding e.e. cummings’ direguard for punctuation and capitals…. Though I am very excited nonetheless and look forward to interviewing.

Bottle Split! Onda and KiKi Vero Profumo

I’ve pretty much decided I NEED these.  But the cost is prohibitive —   $262.52 USD EACH plus whatever shipping is. 

So…leave a comment if you’d like to go in on a split, specfiying which one.  I’ll leave it open til Aug 15 and figure out if there is enough interest to make it workable — say five participants on each bottle.  If I get fewer than five, I’ll do the math and see if you guys are still interested.

Vero Profumo Rubj

    In theory, this should have been my absolute favorite of the line.  The notes are : Moroccan sweet orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, and musk.  On spray, I could smell something bitterly floral–the orange blossom I presume.  While it was bitter, dark and spicy, it was not at all unpleasant to my nose, though a bit unexpected.  Here and there I could smell the jasmine; a little salty sweet  indolic flower.  However, my favorite part was the musky drydown.  The drydown was delightfully animialic with leftover jasminey bits.  I could have glued my nose to my wrist and not care…

Why do I not turn backflips?  While it was pretty, it was unexceptional in the shadow of it’s siblings Onda and Kiki.  I would not call it unorginal, nor would I say it was a creative masterpiece either.  The spicy, mild floral quality seemed somehow familiar to me and the musk was musk.  Nothing to really write home about, unlike the other two perfumes in the line.   After two such interesting takes on perfumery, I was expecting something just as unusual and beautiful.  Alas…

Vero Profumo KiKi

Ages ago I tried Vero Profumo’s Onda, looking for a Djedi pacifier.  Intially I decided it was pretty good, but wanted the real thing.  However lately, with all the rain, Onda kept calling my name and I wore it three days straight, flinching a bit at the super dry leather but wanting to roll in the midnotes and drydown.  It was the perfect foil to the stormy days. 

Today, the weather cleared and I found myself looking at the other two samples for Vero Profumo wondering “what if”?  A random grab gave me KiKi’ the perfume I thought I would love least out of the three creations.  Why would I feel that way unsniffed? Caramel.  Not just Caramel, but POWDERY CARAMEL.  Sounds kind of nauseating, doesn’t it?  The other notes include lavender, musk and exotic fruits.  I expected a stomach churning smell that would only be appropriate on a dessert tray after many glasses of wine.  Maybe a lavender creme brulee served with kiwi and a side of coffee.  This perfume just had to be destined for teenagers or grown women who describe perfume with  “yuuuuummmmm.”  Certainly not for afficiandos.

However, I was pleasantly, estatically surprised.  Instead of sugar coma inducing dreck, I experienced a lacy, sniffable, warm lavender, remincecent of Guerlain’s Jicky. Though it follows the same lavender cut with something sweet to mask the dirty underneath, it is a warm blooded animal as opposed to Guerlain’s cooler creature.   

Kiki begins so oddly sweet, yet musky, yet lavender then sweet again.  I am drawn to the mysterious musky sex, but slightly repulsed by the almost sick sweet fruit mixed with the caramel.  Here and there the lavendar is mildy fecal, as is Jicky, but veers into more powder warmed by the sun.  KiKi brings to mind Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette — the powdered wigs, extravagant fashion, sex and desserts.  Remember the scene where she shops and eats cake?  Perfectly Kiki.   

Vero Profumo’s website describes Kiki as inspired by a burlesque, frivolous Paris.  Kiki is the smell of the boudoir of a 17th century successful courtesan.  Full of frills and intrigue, it transports the wearer to a place of decadence.  A place a someone responsible for all sorts of unsavory tasks day to day doesn’t often see.  For me, that place has been lingerie shopping at the uptown boutique with a starbucks and a short bread.  Not exactly the scene depicted in the picture chosen for the post, but as close as I get these days.  However, wearing Kiki makes it all the better.   Though it is sweetish and decadent, it can certainly be worn by a man. 

It’s quite possibly bottle worthy if I can justify the 105 Euros, which is unspeakable in USD.  Tommorrow I am determined to pull away the sample vial for Kiki and give Rubj a test.  If we were to go by note listings, it would be the favorite, though I seriously wonder if it can knock Kiki out of the neck and neck first place with Onda in my affections.  It is rare, not since DelRae infact, that I experience a line that I can appreciate all of thier offerings.  Vero Profumo is a talented artist, making each of her creations quite different for each other while maintaining quality of work.  More meditation on this thought in the upcoming Rubj post. 

Kiki notes: sex, candy and lavender.  ok fine.  powdery caramel, lavender, musk and exotic fruits.

photo credit:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/13/movies/13mari.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Sensuous? A Sniff for those in the boondocks.

So, meandering through Saks after another lingerie spree (they laced my lacies with crack.  I needed more!!) I spied a bottle of the much anticipated Estee Lauder Sensuous.  Could I resist?  Of course not! 

Unfortunately, the counter was unattended, so I could not engage an SA about it, but there was a tester both for the EDP and a lotion, I sprayed immediately!  And . . . well, it was nice.  There were definte warm woods, though more tepid than molten, and a good amount of the amber-sandalwood honey thing to give it a creamy undertone.  Definately some mandarine and a touch of florals to give it a slightly juicy tang.  It was light, quite wearable and rather pleasant.  Smelling it on my arm was like rubbing my cheek against a veil of summer weight cashmere.  Probably a bargain at the counter when compared with similar offerings.  Yes, similar. 

Lately, I’ve noticed alot of warm woody-creamy with a little fruit concotions in my sample bowl. (See a future review of Amouages and Fauve, not to mention Bois de Paradis) Frankly, Unless Estee Lauder intensified Sensuous or I decided whatever it’s cost was my spending limit, I don’t think I’d neccesarily spring for a bottle.  I’d rather save my pennies for something that really floors me, though I don’t doubt I’d definately give it a spray everytime I walk by the counter. Hopefully they will put out a parfum strength or a fall flanker to catapult the pleasant ghost into spectacular, warm and living creature.  Otherwise, it could become forgetable. 

notes with the ad-crap — lily accord, magnolia, jasmine petals, molten woods (come on now!), amber, sandalwood, black pepper(out of pink pepper?), juicy mandarine and honey. 

 

Happy Fourth of July, Y’all!  Thanks and thoughts to those who serve our country.