Yohji Yamamoto - Yohji

Could you describe the picture above without knowing what it is? I find it hard to describe it even tough I know it´s a nebula. Some nebulas are the nursery of stars, it is in nebulas new stars are born or created.

Usually I prefer not to rate perfumes on my blog or when I review them, but I can rate them to my self from 1-5. Most of the perfumes I try will be between 2-4. Sometimes I come across a perfume messing with the rating, it´s impossible to rate it between 1-5, some are so repulsive they end up below zero. Like Etat Libre d'Orange Rien, and I´ve heard (not tried) that their Secretions Magnifique is even worse. But maybe it isn´t that hard to make something smell really, really bad?

And sometimes I try perfumes, that are so much better than 1-5. Perfumes that smells of unearthly goodness. Frederic Malle´s Dans Tes Bras is such a perfume. At least the top notes make me stunned. The rest of the perfume is like a good 4, but it´s the topnotes that lifts it to a strong 10!

Finally I´ve found another such perfume. Yohji Yamamoto´s Yohji must have been created in a nebula. The top notes in Yohji is so stunningly beautiful I having troubble describing them. It´s so amazing it make me think of stardust, angels, the rainbow, dew drops, diamonds, dancing elfs and song of sirens. In one way Yohji is totally unique but still it reminds of many of my favourite perfumes as well. Some drops of Donna Karan´s Chaos, as well as Parfumerie Generales Cadjmere and Guerlains Insolence, swirl by and after only seconds they´re gone again. Other familiar notes passes quickly, without I being capable to grip them. I guess it´s quote chaotic in a nebula when a star is about to get born. On my skin the notes swirls in a constantly changing mood. It is sweet and acrid. Light and dark. Spicy and fresh. Varm and cold. Filled with contradictions and opposits. I am strongly fascinated by this kind of perfumes, others will only get frustrated with Yohji´s constant changes.

The top notes in Yohji goes on for a long time, or are blenden seamlessly with the heartnotes in a dance going on for about one and a half hour. And what a one and a half hour that is. Enchanting, adorable and magic. And what comes next? Well, Yohji develops to a comfortable oriental dream with notes of berries, vanilla, sandalwood and musk. It is also here Yohji stops being a strong 10 to me, the basonotes don´t bare to carry the weight of the magical opening. Even tough it´s still a very, very nice perfume.

Unfortunatly Yohji isn´t possible to find cheap, it´s hard to find at all. You might find it at ebay for a really high price, since it´s not in production any more. Ooooh, why? Didn´t they understand what a magic perfume they´ve got? Maybe because of bad marketing? I wouldn´t have heard of Yohji if it wasn´t for a dear perfume friend in Lithuania.

This perfume must be experienced, my words can´t possible make it justice. This is for me the best perfume experience this year so far.

To store perfume samples.

How to store perfume samples can be a problem. At the beginning when you´re having about 10-20 samples it´s ok to just keep them all together in a box or a glass. But when you´re once hooked on perfumes the samples become more and more and more...

I am lucky enough to have a husband working at a hospital, he brings home test tube racks to me. And I can´t thnik of any better way to store perfume samples on. It fits perfectly, some bigger samples may be to big, but I´ve got mostly 1-2 ml samples and they´re just fine in there.

If lacking test tube racks, I think it would be good to store the samples in small shot glasses or other small glasses.

How to then organise the samples is a matter of personal taste, but I´ve chose to order mine alphabetical, with the name of the perfume house. Others may prefer to order according to fragrance family or the name of the perfume. The only thing important is that your order suit you.

So tell me, how have you arranged your samples? Or maybe you´re happy having them lying around all over? Or even having your entire perfume collection in a special fridge with precise temperature and humidity?

I have to confess that I store most of my perfumes in an usual room, without boxes. That is because I enjoy watching my perfumes. I guess when I having a bigger collection I will store away perfumes according to season and depending on how much I use them.

Thierry Mugler - Eau de Star

Usually I don´t care much for aquatic perfumes, but there is always exceptions. Thierry Mugler´s Eau de Star is such an exception. And I think it´s really nice to find a favourite in an unexpected olfactory group.

Last summer Eau de Star was almost my signature scent, partly beacuse I didn´t had as much samples as now to test and partly because Eau de Star is really suitable for summer. Summer and perfumes can be a difficult combination. The summer sure isn´t here yet, but in southern Europe there is already, at least swedish, summer temperatures. With temperatures around 40 degreec celsius and air humidity like a rainforrest I understand there will be difficulties wearing perfumes. Well, there is reasons to be happy for our relativitly cool summers in Sweden after all.

You may wonder, why buy Eau de Star when ther´s Angel? I like to put it the other way around, why buy Angel when ther´s Eau de Star? To be honest I have never had, even a sample, of Angel. I´ve only tested it from time to time when stumble upon it in shops. Maybe I would like it better if I tested it more carefully at home? And usually I really like oriental, sweet, gourmand and unusual kind of fragrance, but still I have never fallen for Angel. I find it to be a little to much and like being all over the place. Allt that that Eau de Star isn´t.

Eau de Star is cooling; like a waterfall after a hike in the rainforrest, Eau de Star is refreshing; like a glass of cold beer with a slice of lemon after a day in the sun, and most of all, Eau de Star is beautiful; like stardust against a dark night sky.

Even tough Eau de Star is light, refreshing and cool, it is also different, oriental and sweet. And it´s really, really longlasting. Eau de Star is like a grown-up version of Angel, but also a much more bubbly, full of life, joy and easy to like/love.

Angel is said to be to usual, not in Sweden tough, the only perfumes I discover use to be teenagers that sprayed all over with some of the latest celebrity scents. But if you find Angel to common, why not try Eau de Star? You may get a new favourite, at least if you like Angel, and if you don´t the chanses are still good that you will like Eau de star. At least give it a try!

Eau de Star is the smell of honey water, the softest patchouli there is, the smell of the wrapper around the toffee and the smell of the shadow under a tree close to the sea...

Eau de Star can be found for good price on the net. I´ve got mine for around 5 euro at Tradera, but partly because the seller didn´t write the name of the perfume nor that it was a Thierry Mugler perfumes, so I guess I was a little lucky. And you know what, there are few perfumes I´ve get as many compliments as with Eau de Star!

Me, and a lot of other perfume bloggers, write a lot about different niche- and other hard to find- perfumes, but there are a lot of really great designer perfumes also. Usually I appreciate Thierry Mugler´s perfumes, Alien is great and so are both A* and B*Men too.

Otherwise it´s the time of year when my perfume interest get beaten a little by one of my other big interests, namely gardening. Yesterday I´ve planted some different flowers, but I still haven´t found any patchouli plant. And oh, our pup has got a really bad stomach after eating a frog cadaver. :(

Serge Lutens - Musc Koublai Khan

Kublai Khan was the grandson of Djengis Khan and the last of the mongolian great khans. Only the British Empire has ruled over bigger land areas, but the mongols ruled over the biggest sustained areas. There isn´t anyone with more living off-springs than Djengis Khan, so even tough it´s been 800 years since the Mongol´s was on top of power, his descendants are today spread all over the world. Djengis Khan should be contempt, since one of his goals was to conquer the whole world.

Kublai Khan walked in his grandfathers fotstpes, and during his rule (1259-94) the Mongol Empire was on it´s peak. Of course it would be cool to have a drop or two of mongolian blood, but I doubt it, so I guess I have to be satisfied with smelling like a monglian warrior.

If that is what I actually smells like when wearing Serge Luten´s Musc Koublai Khan? It isn´t that easy to write about Musc Koublai Khan, since this is the musc perfume with capital M. Perfume lovers all over the world has a love-hate relationship to it. Many find it to strong, with smell of manure, public toilet, dirty body and sweaty animals. Yes, I´ve read about Musc Koublai Khan before, it´s really hard to avoid.

And how do I find it? Well, the smell of manure is there and also the smell of horses, worned out leather and warm human body. And it is so beautiful! Not everybody thinks the smell in the saddle chamber in the stable is nice, but I do. I was never a hardcore horse girl, but I spend some years taking riding leassons and hanging in the stable. And after that I have friends with their own horses so I spend time in the stable and with horses anyway. That makes the smell of stable to something comforting, warm, cozy and safe for me. But Musc Koublai Khan is so much more than cozy and safe. It is raw, sexual and animalic. You have to forgive me, but I think of something like sitting in the saddle behind a mongolian warrior in heavy leather armour in the hot sunshine in the middle of a field of red roses. Well, there is roses in Musc Koublai Khan, a lot of them, and they thrive in manure, so it works out fine.

Back to the mongolian warrior, I belive there are a lot fo people that want´s to be almost any place accept of on a horse with a crazy and sweaty mongolian warrior, that´s fine with me. I haven´t got anything agianst keeping them for myself. I happen to like the smell of natural sweat. When my kids was smaller I love how it smelled when I take their wintercap of and burried my nose in their hair... and the smell of my husbands body in the sunshine at the sea... But sparesly personal hygiene and dirty armpits at the person before me in the checker, no thanks.

Musc Koubali Khan isn´t that loud anyway, when I tried it for the first time I was surprised, because I was expecting something heavier. It´s like all this potentional disturbing odoures has been mixed in the exactly right amount to become such a pleasure. And the animalic notes has definitly the main part in Musc Koublai Khan, not hidden like in many other animalic muscs. The roses define rather than hide the animalic scent. Actually it´s like the roses are a part of the animalic notes. Very elegant.

Musc Koublai Khan is among Serge Luten´s non-export line, http://www.salons-shiseido.com/ wich means it´s only shipped within Europe and sold in the famous bell jars. And that makes it quite expensive.

Ava Luxe´s Rasa is said to be a budget version of Musc Koublai Khan, I don´t know, since it´s no longer available on Ava Luxe´s site http://www.ava-luxe.com/2008/index.html appearently because of lack of raw materials. But I have tried Ava Luxe´s Kama, also an animalic perfume. I like it as a base, but find it a little to thin to wear on it´s own. So, if you dream of a mongolian warrior with horse, I´ve guess you have to go for Musc Koublai Khan.

Le Labo - Labdanum 18

I have writed about some perfumes from Le Labo that I like, Oud 27 and Patchouli 24, but non of them as much as I am prepared to pay more than 50 dollar for 15 ml. But maybe I would do that for Labdanum 18. Anyway this is the one I like best among the one´s I´ve tried from Le Labo (everyone except of the city exclusives).

Labdanum 18 is interesting in an elusive way, it´s hard to decide what it smells like, more than that I like the smell of it.

Now and then it is similar to Shalimar, but without the oriental heaviness. But then I think it rather smells like some kind of salve, no idea wich salve, but some... It´s also powdery, warm and sensual, but also cool, clean and with some medical note that both lure and disturb.

I cant really smell andy top-or heartnotes, it´s like a chain of notes keep repeating all over, a little like Shalimar, some salve, some powder, some freshness and a few drops of some medical poition... and over and over again. This elusive development goes on for quite a while, it amuses me, but after some hour the perfumes settle down to my skin with a warm and slightly acrid powdery comfort. Some animalic notes, subdued smokiness and soft vanilla lingering on my skin. Oh yes, this is such a nice perfume.

Except of Shalimar is remind a little fo Parfumerie Generale´s Intrigant Patchouli, because it´s disturbing but in a good way. And it takes a while figuring out that I do like it.

And well, it doesn´t come as a surprise when I discover that it´s Maurice Roucel that is the nose behind Labdanum 18! I don´t have that much grip on what perfumer/nose that is behind each perfume I try, because when I try a perfume I prefer to don´t know too much. And if I like the perfume I search for information about it later on. And well, there we got Maurice again. Hallo Maurice, can you explain how it come that you have the key to my olfactory sense and skinchemistry? And oh, doesn´t Labdanum 18 reminds a little about Iris Silver Mist, but wearable? Sorry, Maurice, but I haven´t yet become friend with that particular one.

Do you have a favourite from Le Labo? Do you really find any of them worthy of the high price, I do like Labdanum 18, but there are a lot of other perfumes I like more and that are a lot cheaper.

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful - Superworldunknown

When I tried Superworldunknown for the first time I get a little disapointed, after the first notes of citrus I discovered a similarity to Aqualina´s Pink Sugar and that is a perfume that doesn´t match me at all!

Well, Superworldunknown smelled a little like that, but lighter and not as sweet, so I didn´t washed it off. Ten minutes past and I didn´t care much about it... but then, the magic happened!

A hint of Pink Sugar still remaining, but now it was also bursting with other scents. Smoth vanilla fudge, warm cotton candy and fizzy lemonade, but easy and light, like the most gorgeus smell of candies but from a distant. And as a undercurrent the smell of fresh seabreze, forrest and best of all... a scent of warm, oily metal. Fantastic! Like arriving to one´s favourite beach at the sea and discover that someone set up a amusement park with a little circus next to it. And of course, free entrence...

Without the notes of sea breze (and a very fine, but discrete juniper berry note) and the oily metal note (how is it possible?) Superworldunknown could be a perfume for teens that usually spray on huge amounts of Pink Sugar or the sweetest Britney Spears perfumes (is there any one sweeter than Midnight Fantasy?), but that make a big different, easing it up and also deepening it. And the different heart notes are enchanting, once again I´ve come across a perfume that changes on my skin from one time to the next. I used the caleidoscope to describe Guerlain´s Insolence, but I can use it all over again for Superworldunknown.

I do like sweet perfumes and Superworldunknown is a sweet perfume, but considering the notes and the theme (running away with the circus) it still isn´t that sweet (besides of the first chocking minutes). If you want to know what you got, maybe you wouldn´t care for Superworldunknown, because this is constant changing, sweet gourmand and then a short while later a fresh, breezy and serious. I know a lot of perfume lovers don´t like a perfume that cant decide in what direction to go, but I love it. Perfume that play a little hide and seek with my olfactory sense is so much fun. I can sniff my wrist for hours (well, half an hour maybe) just to catch a note I think I once smelled. Superworldunknown plays hide and seek all the time, test it and try to discover the old lady´s rose garden close to the sea. It is there, I have found it occationaly and it is really nice to sit down on a bench surrounded with roses close to the sea after being at an amusement park for hours.

Superworldunknown is youthful, without being childish. It is a complex, adventorous and mystic. But it is also sweet, moodlifting and sunny. If you´re 14 you will love Superworldunknown and think of it as Pink Sugar running away with the circus leaving the most heavy sweetness behind and if you´re older (no matter if you´re 67 or 45) you will apriciate it for it´s complexity and smile a little when Pink Sugar enter the manege for a very short act in the start of the show...

I do recommend Superworldunknown to everybody that likes sweet, funny and unpredicteble perfumes. Karin Park (apparently a swedish singer I never heard of) is the inspiration for this perfume, and I think she can be really proud.

Interview with Simon Constantine on Fragrantica.

And something more about B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful, namely a interview with Simon Constantine, their head perfumer/nose. http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Interview-with-Simon-Constantine-head-perfumer-of-B-Never-Too-Busy-To-Be-Beautiful-784.html

Otherwise I dream about some spring warmth and wondering if you have any tips on oriental perfumes suitable for warmer weather?

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful - B Scent

There is something special with France, isn´t it? I don´t think only about perfumes now, there is the food, the language, the clothes and the various french landskapes from the alps to the green fields and forrests, from the meditterean to the atlantic ocean and of course there is... the french movies. One of my big favourites are Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, well maybe not so original, but it´s really a movie that manage to be moodlifting, beautiful, happy, touching and very, very french. And with Audrey Tautou, the worlds cutest frenchwoman, it could get much better.

Do you also like Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain? Would you like to be reminded of the feeling in the movie? Have you ever thought about a appropriate perfume for Amelie? Maybe you can stop looking. B Scent from B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful may be the answer. I am truly happy to got the chanse to try their perfumes, they are something quite stunning. With eleven tried I really, really like seven or eight or even nine, and that is quite an achivement from the same place.

And B Scent is one of my absolute favourites, it is refreshing, cute, absolutly charming, happy moodlifting and zesty. B Scent is the perfume that make my steps a little more hippety-hoppety, my dimples deeper and the glimpse in my eyes to become even more glimpsier. B Scent is filled with youth, but also timeless, you can wear B Scent no matter how old you are, without feeling like you borrowed your daughters (or younger sisters) perfume. B Scent has notes of citrus, wich make it fresh and bubbly (but forget sporty!) but there is also something warm, fluffy and powdery in it from rose and other flowers, and there it is also the oooomph, it can´t be described, it has to be experienced. That kind of oooomph you can find in almost all of B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful´s perfumes, and it is worth the cost of the perfumes many times around. There is something deep, musky and even dirty in many of their perfumes, also in B Scent. Well, B Scent is something all together special and unique, most certainly having in mind it´s a daytime fragrance. B Scent manage to play all over the place, and do it with honour, almost like Audrey Tautou if you get it?

And who doesn´t want to feel like her for a day?

Longlasting, but not forever, really good sillage. Dont miss it! Overall B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful´s perfumes deserve attention. What is not so good about them? Well, the name maybe, it´s kind of long, but on the other hand very english. They are kind of hard to get outside UK, but you can order trough their homepage, even tough I´ve heard the shipping to US is really expensive, I don´t know how it is within Europe. But you sure gets a lot of perfume for the money.

Annick Goutal - Songes

When it comes to describing a perfume with words there is a lot of different thing that can help, to compare a perfume to a colour, a song, a person or a memory are some. The perfumes I´ve tried before from Annick Goutal is all something that I like to compare with watercolours. Light, transparent and, sorry enough, on me kind of bland and watery. The little I´ve smell has been nice and pleasant, but my skin chemistry or if it is my sense of smell, demand something stronger. And that was it, for a long time, until I´ve got a little sample of Songes in a swap. Honestly I didn´t tried it immediatly, but after a while I decide to give it a try. And wow, am I glad I did? Oh yes! Songes isn´t like anything else I´ve tried from Annick Goutal, but still it has a feeling of transparence and ease. Songes do sing on my skin, and it is a seductive song.

Songes make me think of the petite, fragile and yet strong and magnetic french singer Edith Piaf. Songes seduces me, once again I am almost hypnotised by a perfume. Songes has an almost magnetic attraction to me, I forget about other perfumes and all I can think of is Songes. Of course I´ve checked out how to get more of it. Because I will definitly need more!

Songes is the most deliciously scented flowers in a garden a dark, cool summer night. Jasmine so exquisit that it is vibrant, and the other flowers (ylang-ylang, tiare and frangipani) are caressing, powdery and soft. The vanilla adds sweetness and warmt but the icing on the cake is the wonderful and lingering note of light incense. All this together make a sensual, sofisticated, elegant and very, very beautiful perfume. I find Songes wonderful, but it is really perfume for special occations. Wear Songes on a romantic and intimiate evening with your darling.

Songes is amazingly longlasting and with good sillage. Compared to others (I´ve tried) from Annick Goutal it is heavy, but still manage to keep the feeling of thin lightness.

I am so grateful I´ve got the chanse to try Songes. But it maked me want to try all the others from Annick Goutal, it may be some other hidden gems among them. Do you have some Annick Goutal favourites? If I like Songes, who among the others could be right up my alley?

Le Labo - Patchouli 24

Valborg´s Mass Eve isn´t far away now. Valborg´s is celebrated all over Sweden and what we celebrate is the return of spring, and we celebrate it with large bonfires, firecrackers and school kids getting drunk (some adults to of course). I manage very well without the firecrackers and the drunk kids, but the bonfire flames reaching up against the darkening sky is really beautiful.

Le Labo´s Patchouli 24 gives me the bonfire, but without firecrackers and drunk kids. Patchouli 24 is a sodt, warm, woody and a little earthy smoke fragrance. This I like... at least for the first four-five hours. A lot of perfumes with notes of smoke are a bit harsch on me, I like them, but not fully. It is like they render the smell of smoke from damp logs burning, and you know it´s a bit scratchy compared to the smoke from perfectly dried logs. But in Patchouli 24 there´s no doubt about it´s being prime firewoods.

Patchouli 24 is a soft, sensual and alluring perfume. If you´re not going to a Valborg´s bonfire it may be a good replacement. While wearing it I feel slightly hedonic, mystic and still it manage to smell good, not only interesting.

But, there is a problem, because this is longlasting wich not all from Le Labo is, so after some hours it tend to be samey. The first hours are really cozy, there is more in it than smoke, but the base is nothing else then smoke, and some more smoke, and it last and last... Oh, if it was something else in there to, or maybe it´s my skinchemistry?

So after about four hours Patchouli 24 manage to ruin what it has accomplished. You end up sitting there with the feeling that you´ve been sitting in front of a bonfire for a whole evening. I promise that if I wear it 1:st of May, everyone will think that no one have celebrate Valborg´s more toroughly than me.

Patchouli 24 is cozy, longlasting (the smell of smoke stay with me the whole day!) and exciting the first hours. But then I get tired of it and start wondering about ease it up a little with some vanilla or fruity or maybe even floral perfume. Is there someone that have some nice layering tips for Patchouli 24?

Le Labo - Oud 27

Before ordering Luckyscent´s Le Labo sample pack I hadn´t tried any Le Labo perfume. Now when going trough most of the samples I think I´ve got a grip on their perfume making style. When I see that a samll 15 ml bottle costs over 50 dollar on their homepage, I cant help thinking that you got very little perfume for that money.

Despite that they have some interesting perfumes, Oud 27 the newest one for example. I starts off with a obvious note of rubber, but in an enjoyable way, but there isn´t only rubber, there is some manour as well. Like standing on the edge of a big, newly manoured field with a bunch of tires burning on a distant. The first minutes Oud 27 is a strange mix between Comme des Garcons Tar and L'Artisan´s Dzing! Pleasant enough, but a little difficult. The top notes wears off quite fast, even tough they remain in the background. A zesty and somewhat cold note of vetiver comes along and something warm and soft, I guess it´s the oud, a wood commonly used in arabic perfumes. Oud can smell in different ways, and the strange top notes may be one variety of oud as well as the warmer and softer may be another. Still, Oud 27 is still a tense kind of perfume, there is a elusive lingering sweetness, but a very soft one. Now, Oud 27 rather remind me of L'Artisan´s Timbuktu and Bvlgari Black.

Yes, Oud 27 is interesting, but it rather makes me think about what perfumes I could blend and layering to reciew the same result, more than make me want to buy my own bottle. Together with the other Le Labo perfumes I´ve tried I notice they have a common clean kind of note, even when their perfumes are muskier or dirtier. In Oud 27 there is a clearness and hight that feels kind of nice considering the perfume is so smoky.

Oud 27 isn´t that longlasting on me, and the sillage is ok, but the basenotes is comfy and soft. Warm, dry wood, some lingering incense and something smelling like perfumed paper is what remains after some hours. Worth trying tough, even if it dosn´t impressed me so much.

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful

Another article of mine published at Fragrantica: http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Be-Never-Too-Busy-To-Be-Beautiful-774.html

It has been so much fun to test the perfumes from B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful. Several of them are really, really good and they´ve got some out of the ordinary qualities. Luca Turin isn´t the only one impressed I have to admit... If you haven´t yet tried any of their perfumes, I think it´s about time you do. And what is it to expect? Well, they are bright, kind of high tuned perfumes, but many of them also have musky, smoky and a little dirty notes as well. Oh la la! Only to think about them, make me smile.

Otherwise I have tested trough my Le Labo samples during easter. And that was a pleasure too. Of course I´ve got me some favourites and also some that only make med yawn. Wich one´s are the favourites? Well I will sonn write some reviews here, maybe I start tomorrow.

And how does a goth smell?

I was talking to my youngest daughter and asked her what the opposit to a pinup-girl could be. After a while my daughter suggested that it should be a goth-girl. And yes, I have to agree with her about that. Whan I say goth I think about the classic goth-style with long, straight and black hair, long skirts and shirts with long sleaves and of course the white make-up with almost no colours except from black. From the classic goth-style there has evolved a lot of other goth-inspired styles, gothic and gothic lolitas, styles with japanese origin. Gothic-and lolita styles has shorter shirts, more ruffles, laces and definitly more colours than black. A little happier, easier and sexier.

But, this is about the classic goth-style, buttoned up, hard to get and kind of stiff. Well, as far away from the pinup-girls sunny smiles as it is possible to get. And as you might guess, my heart beats for the goth-style as well and all the pretty lolitas make me smile and think about my middle daughter. The lolitas may borrow the perfume from the pinups, as long as it is some pink kind of perfume. But, the goths need something totally different.

Dark, elusive and with some mystic around them.

First of all I think of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/welcome.html a goldmine fpr everyone with some alternative style, not only goths. Winter of our Discontent and Schwarzer Mond would fit perfectly for a goth and I am sure there is hundred of oils that would match the goth style perfect.

Another worth trying I think could be Nasomatto´s China White, I know I can´t stand it, but with the right chemistry I think it could be quite cool. What goth wouldn´t go around smelling like poisonous flowers?

Some patchouli´s would work fine, Le Labo´s Patchouli 24, Memoire Liquide´s Terre Noir Patchouli (it´s so dark it smell like something thick) and do try Histoire de parfums Noir Patchouli.

Serge Luten´s is also a goldmine, for goths with money; Serge Noire, Borneo 1834, Musc Koublai Khan, Ambre Sultan and even Iris Silver Mist would do it.

Comme des Garcons has several that would work, the whole incense-line especially Avignon and Zagorsk I think, but also Tar from the synthetic-serie, it´s is hard to wear for sure.

Check out Tauer´s interesting Lonestar Memories as well.

Perfumes for a pin-up girl.

I like the classic pin-up pictures. Among pin-up girls Bettie Page (that died recently) is the most famous, or maybe even Marilyn Monroe, but she become so much more than a pin-up girl eventually. And Bettie Page posed for some more daring photos as well, containing bondage and spanking, wich lead to legeal action.

In my opinion pin-up pics aren´t supposed to be so daring. I prefer an image of the pretty, sweet and healthy girl-next-door kind of girl, only with slightly less clothes. The pin-up girls doesn´t have much in common whit todays pornostars, no they have more in common with todays cute pop celebrities. They share looks and style of clothing. Now and then some popstar happens to show a bit of a breast, and that happened even to the most innocent pin-up as well.

It´s not so strange todays celebrity perfumes often are so sweet, floral and fruity to it´s character. I happen to think most of them are much to sweet, but that aside, there is something youthful, sweet and girlie in most celebrity scents.

Just the kind of perfume that would suit a pin-up girl.

But there must be alternatives that isn´t that sticky sweet? Definitly! If you feel like being a sunny, happy and innocent pin-up girl for a day, there are a lot to chose from, besides Britney Spears', Jennifer Lopez' and Christina Aguilera´s toth aching blends.

I´ve got the pleasure to try a lot of different and very nice perfume oils from http://www.opusoils.com/ thanks to the article I wrote for Fragrantica. Here is much to fin if you´re looking for fragrances with a obvious retro sense, sex appeal and also a big dose of bubbly joy. Yes, most perfume oils from Opus Oils make me smile, they are soft, cuddly and sensual. Especially Jitterbug Perfume, inspired by the book with same name by Tom Robbins, unfortunatly I haven´t yet read it, but I sure will. Jitterbug manage to create a youthful feeling, without being girlie och childish, it is clean, white and and a fragarnce for someone that has nothing against being in center.

Tramp is another favourite from Opus Oils, but this one is much shyer. It is sweet, creamy and warm. With notes of patchouli, wood and tobacco it´s easy to belive this is a strong oil, but it isn´t, it is easy to wear and very comforting. Shy and subdued, Tramp don´t mind being in the shadow of Jitterbug.

Moxie Beauty also have a lot of really good alternatives for the modern pin-up. http://www.moxiebeauty.co.uk/ Some new releases has taking place in the Burlesque-collection, and oh don´t they look nice? Moxie also offers a little sample pack for 15 pund. Nice, happy and sweet fragrances. I just have to think about Puppie Love to become in a much better mood.

And if we skip perfume oils and focus on usually perfumes. What is it to chose among if yoy want to be pin-up girl for a day?

The first that comes in my mind is Frederic Malle´s Lipstick Rose. A superior mood lifter. Sexy, happy and unique. Red lips and red shoes are a must when you wear this gorgeus perfume.

B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful https://www.bnevertoobusytobebeautiful.com/ has got an amazingly good review (from Luca Turin) for it´s perfume Breath of God, and it´s worth it, but there are other goodies among their perfumes. Keep it Fluffy would fit perfectly here, it is... fluffy, soft and cuddly like a soft pink angora jumper. A very comfy perfume, but under the flyffy surface there is warm, nice and just the slightest dirty musk hiding. Adorable. Pyjama party, bunny slippers and the shiniest lipgloss match this perfume perfect. If you don´t feel like wearing pyjama you can also wear a pink satin jacket and a high ponytail.

Dianne Brill EdP is also a happy, entusiastic and cuddly perfume. This is perfume with charm and a lot of warmth and joy. Dianne Brill´s perfume remind me of Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant, but like a blonde version. A little easier, happier and more easy to approach. Borrow a big flannel shirt or a sweeter (from your husband, boyfriend or father maybe?) brew a cup of good tea and finish it off with some drops of Dianne Brill. Perfect.

Vive Maria´s Almost Innocent is almost innocent. Yes really, this is a white, light and comforting perfume, it could be boring if it wasn´t for that almost... Under the comfortable white flowers there is some warm, creamy and fine musk that manage to make it interesting and sexy. Almost Innocent is as made for white clothes, why not a typical Marilyn Monroe-dress? Feminin, powdery and almost... innocent?

The fragrances above is all quite sweet, but not as sweet as ordinary celebrity perfumes use to be. They are feminin, flirty and a little girly. One thing they all got in commin is that they don´t seem to take them selfs so serious, and, once in a while we´ll need that kind of fragrances also, I think.

Do you have any suggestions for sweet, warm at heart and pinup-like perfumes?

Comme des Garcons - Avignon

The picture above shows the Popes´Palace in Avignon. Doesn´t look that cozy if you ask me, I guess hoem decorating wasn´t that big in the 14th century. But I´m sure the Popes´Palace have a lot of interesting rooms.

Space, greatness and a ceratin atmosphere you might find in churches. The biggest church I´ve visit is St Pauls cathedral in London, it´s quite a time ago, but the space under the big dome is impressing. A small countryside church doesn´t have the same space, but there is something special about the atmosphere in chuches even if the church isn´t so big. It would surprise me if that kind of atmosphere wouldn´t to be found in other holy buildings like temples, synagogues and mosques.

Comme des Garcon´s Insence-serie is probably CdG´s most popular line. It consists of five different perfumes; Kyoto, Jaisalmer, Zagorsk, Ouarzazate and Avignon, each of them representing one of the big world religions. Kyoto: buddhism and shintoism, Jaisalmer: hinduism, Zagorsk: christian orthodoxy, Ouarzazate, islam and Avignon: catholicism. The protestantism isn´t among them, because incense isn´t used in the protestantic rituals.

Avignon is said to smell like a catholic church, and I have nothing to say about that. But, what I really think it´s succeed with, is that it manage to smell like the space in a catholic church, or the space in any big, stone building. Avignon manage to be a perfume filled with both emptiness, space and atmosphere. The space in Avignon is filled with that kind of atmosphere created by thousands of candles being burned in that space trough the years. An atmosphere of golden carvings, mural painting with flake off medeival paint and wooden benches so weared down by all the butts sitting on them during the years. An atmosphere of cold and thick stonewalls that has experienced the seasons changing for hundreds of years. A scented atmosphere of a space where incense has trough it´s fragrance in to the smallest corner, where the wooden benches would smell of it for a long time if they where carried out in the sunshine. An atmosphere filled with prayers and holy singing. An atmosphere of holyness.

Yes, i find a greatness in Avignon that´s discouraging. Why should an agnostic like me go around and smell of magnificent holyness? I find myself to easy, on the border to profane something I don´t belive in. A beliving catholic maybe find comfort and ease in Avignon? I don´t really being comfortable with going around smelling like a magnificent and holy building either.

Well yes, I have an odd drawing towards Avignon. In almost the same way as I, raised in a not very religious home in a secular protestantic country still can feel an attraction to catholicism as a religion. The great and beautiful you doesn´t really encounter in protestantic churches and far less if you don´t even visit them. The secret chanting on latin. The saints. The greatness of Virgin Mary. The confession, oh, to be forgiven. But there is also doubble moral standards and hypocritic beliefs, questionable priests and modern people with one foot still left in medeival mysticism.

Well, you realise that people that think that perfume is only a scented experience, doesn´t smell the same way as I do. To me a perfume can be as throwing a stone i a calm lake, making rings on the surface. Of course, not all perfumes has that ability, but CdG´s Avignon sure has it.

Comme des Garcons 2

You know that kind of ink blots used within psychiatry? It´s called rorchachstest and consists of symmetric ink blots that one´s supposed to look at and then say what you think they look like. A lot of people see puppies playing with balls, or strange flowers or exotic birds other see a coupple of perverted siamese twins or a maneating vagina. I think the last examples isn´t that good, so if you see something like that in the ink blots above, maybe you should really consider go talking to someone. What I see? Well, honestly I think most of the blots above looks like strange, messed up butterflies, wxcept for one... eh, let´s skip that, shall we?

Comme des Garcons perfumes will always have a special place for me, since they was the first perfumes that makes me realise there was a whole niche world out there. At this point I have some CdG favourites, but also some I don´t care about at all. But there are also a lot of them still to be tested.

When it comes to CdG 2 I have been quite slow. Noty because I don´t find it interesting, but others has come in my way. But finally I´ve got me a sample of it, and what about it? Oh, it is really fine!

I wish I have encountered it earlier. I´ve only tried it a coupple of times, but it allready become a favourite among the first CdG perfumes. CdG Parfum is a little to much on me, and CdG 3 is one of my sublime favourites, but honestly it is too sublime from time to time. CdG 2 is somewhere in between.

It is the smell of wet black ink, shadows of incense, silhouttes, strenght, soft caressing petals, elusive and straight forward at the same time. It has one thing in common with CdG 3, it is hard to get. And it don´t want to get catched. Leave this fragrance alone, because if you start hunting it with your nose and come to close, it will only end up like a messy blur. Like a rorchachs blot, if you look on it for to long and start thinking about what you see, it´s only become a messy blot of ink.

When having CdG 2 on a little distant, it start´s singing on my skin, changes, develops and become more and more intriguing. Trying to savor it, only a strange muddle is left.

CdG 2 has the strenght in common with CdG Parfum, I imagine by testing CdG 2 I come a little closer to understanding of CdG Parfum. CdG 2 is the bridge between the overdosed spicy CdG Parfum and the elusive, green floral CdG 3. I imagine a relation that makes the whole serie much more interesting, a sum bigger then the parts in it. So CdG 2 was an aha-experience for me. (I´m sure hundreds of perfume lovers has discovered this before me, but for it´s new)

Memoire Liquide - Opale Noire

Aren´t opals fascinating? And no, I have never collect opals or I don´t think I ever will. Australia and especially Lightning Ridge and Coober Pedy are knowned for their opals. Occasionalt people visiting the small societies suddenly are strucked with opalfever and decide to stay there and become opal diggers for good. Well, I have to admit I have some understandning even for that kind of obsession.

Some time ago I´ve ordered five Memoire Liquide-samples, but non of them, except of Opale Noire, made any impression. On the other hand Opale Noire make quite an impression, here we got an interesting fragrance that kind of sneak up on you.

First off there is pineapple, citrus and creamy vanilla, and I wonder what that kind of notes has to do with the name of the perfume? Just be calm, soon the darker one´s come to play, and they are very pleasant dark notes of soft wood and tender smokiness. The perfume is really strong and, not much is needed to make me wonder around in my own little cloud of smoke. But there isn´t any heavy kind of smoke, no easy and fresh if smoke can be fresh? The smell reminds of a fire outside with the finest woods, what a vaste, and it sure smells good. Even tough the note of smoke is dominant, there still is some fruity notes left, and they shine trough now and then, almost like the colours shifting in a black opal, and I guess that´s the whole point with the name.

The fruits make this a very interesting and unique fragrance, these fruits I dare to recommend to everyone that´s normally don´t like fruity perfumes. This is a rare way to use fruit notes, almost likes smoked pineapple, can that be good? Well, it smells good at least.

Some of my disliked perfumes.

I am quite entusiasthic as a person, especially when it comes to perfumes. Readers of my blog can easily belive that I really looooooove everything that I encounter, but that is of course not true. Among ten tried perfumes, maybe I swoon about 1 or 2 at most. Sometimes, even if it is rare, I come across an entire line that I really like, as Odori. The usual is that among ten perfume I find about 6-7 ok, nice but not at all good enough to make me go ooooooh. From time to time I even come across perfumes I don´t manage to wear at all, all I want is to run and scrub myself.

Today it´s time to write about the perfumes I´ve come across during the winter and that I don´t like at all. I know I´ve write very positive about some of the oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, but I´ve also experienced oils from BPAL that is horrible. Do you feel like smelling like poison mushroom, slowly rottening and molding in a damp cave? Well, then I think you should try Destroying Angel from BPAL. Honestly, I didn´t think it was really a scrubber, but my husband tought it smell like a relative when he has a hangover, so my husband beg me to wash it away, so of course I did. Another from BPAL I have to scrub off was Oya. It smell like something acrid, sedating and headache inducing, the closest I can think of is some kind of narcotic tranquiliser. Not good! Both Oya and Destroying Angel make me shrud when I think about them. The picture above is of Destroying Angel, I find it quite beautiful, but it is one of the poison mushrooms killing most people in US what I can find out. Obviuosly among the one´s that eats mushrooms, I guess more people die of heart diseases and cancer, but you get it.

Another disapointment was Hermes Eau de Merveilles, not a scrubber, but so boring. I try to like it, many do, but on me it smells like something old and stale. Rue de Cambon from Chanel is also a bad one on me, something in it make me think of wet diapers and something moldy. Thanks, but no thanks.

And, Amouage, oh really. For 195 euro/bottle I do expect something more than a nice and strong floral! I have only tried Gold and Lyric, but they don´t manage to make me curious about the others.

And also, CdGs Stephen Jones, that I loiked so much when I´ve got the sample a coupple of months ago. I tried it again some days ago, and no, it didn´t do anything for me no more. It was so artificial and cold, all I could think of was that it would stop smelling.

Well, one good thing is that I´ve order Luckyscent´s samplepack with Le Labo perfumes. I am looking forward to try them finally, it was about time, wasn´t it?

New article at Fragrantica and something else.

Today my second article get published at Fragrantica: http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Traveling-through-time-with-Opus-Oils-752.html

And there is more to come. I think it´s so nice. :)

Yesterday the little bottles with FM Musc Ravegeur and Iris Poudre arrived. Thanks a lot Clivia! Iris Poudre is totally wonderful and Musc Ravegeur is magnificent on the husband, yes Musc ravegeur is for him. Our puppie reacted very strong on Musc Ravegeur, she smelled my husband and barked and growl, then she hide her nose under her blanket still growling. She become like a little wolf. Is there anyone that has experience their pets to react very strong on some certain perfume?

Once again I the staff at the loval store amaze me. Everyone of them must have skipped geography class during school. Today, one of them suggested that both UK and Switzerland is situated outside Europe. No, I said, both UK and Switzerland is within Europe. I know you´re supposed to be nice on blogs these days, but I think I am that almost all the time. And honestly, their lack of common knowledge amaze me so much. I wonder if they having troubble finding home after finnishing work?