Huitième Art - Manguier Metisse

Have had some nice and relaxing days with my family. My husband has been at home all week, but works today. Of course, why work on weekdays when you can work on New Years Eve? Yet, he´s home at 8 o´clock and we´ll have some really good food to eat.

The middle daughter returned to Markaryd on wednesday and on monday our youngest son turned 18 (18!!!!).

When it comes to perfumes December is quite a mess, it´s hard to find time to evaluate and analyse a scent for real in the middle of Christmas preparations. But during a big part of December I´ve been constantly attracted to a certain fragrance...

Pierre Guillaume (the creator of Parfumerie Generale) has recently launched a serie of 8 different fragrance that he calls Huitieme Art (the eight art). 2010 seem to be a year where perfume creation has taken a step closer to art, now different kinds of olfactory art is available, created by not only by different actors within perfume/beautyindustry, but by artist and/or perfumers in collaboration with artists. To even have to state that perfume IS art can seem to be a little needles for those of us allready in love with perfumes, but for the mayority of people perfumes are synonyme with mass market realeses and celebrity scents, and that kind od scents aren´t really art or are they?

But, if different actors within niche and indie perfumes takes there fragrances and says "This IS art" what happens? Regulations that forbids use of some key notes within perfumes as they are looked upon as commercial products would surely be treated in another way if they where art? I find it very interesting to think about art and perfumes even though I´m not fully have the right tools to make a "real" analysis.

Huitieme Art offers eight different fragrances; Ciel D'Airain, Ambre Ceruleen, Fareb, Aube Pashmina, Naiviris, Sucre D'Ebene, Vohina and the one I´m going to write about today, Manguier Metisse.

Usually I´m not a big fan of tropical fragrances, tropical fruits and sweet flowers can easily become too sweet and big on my skin. Because of that it´s always extra fun when I find a tropical scent that I like and Manguier Metisse is definitly one of those. If I had tried a month earlier it has probably become one of the 2010 top scents.

Manguier Metisse opens with the most juciy, fresh, natural sweet mango you can imagine. I have never before encountered such a genuin mango note in perfume. The scent is orange golden, bursting with fruit juice, that soft but still aromatic and spicy smell that ripe mango got and also the smallest elements of tartness and freshness. The mango note is very dominant at first, but after a few minutes I discover a soft, but still obvious floral note. Mango and flower is voven together, mixes, takes one´s turn, one part of golden ripe mango and one part fully flowering tropical flower. It´s like a really beautiful lei. Like sitting on the beach at the most beautiful tropcícal island with a ring of flowers around your neck and eating mango so good that it has to be grown in paradise.

Manguier Metisse smells like if I suddenly become a model in a Gaugain painting. This is the Tropics, golden skin, sunwarm sand, a jungle so lush it almost become a caricature, flowers so beautiful, so big and over the top that they´re almost surreal.

December has been a extremly cold and snowy month here in Nyköping, can you imagine any better scent tgo wrap yourself up with then Manguier Metisse? No, me neither.

After a while (30 min+) Manguier Metisse becomes a little less lush, rich and juicy. The mango dries in, leaving a scent like mango powder, even though it could be a bit hard to iamgine, it smells so gorgeous. The flowers become alittle papery, but at the same time also a little more mysterious, wild and intoxicating, I can almost smell something reminding of menthol or eucalyptus. This is softer, but also kind of sexy.

I can´t think of any big tropical scent that I like as much as Manguier Metisse. It´s a bliss to wear in cold winter, but still not so big it couldn´t be really good during summer as well. Longlasting and with nice, but not huge, sillage, Manguier Metisse is a must try for everyone caring for big florals, tropical scents, grown up fruity scents, but also if you still haven´t got any tropical fave, this might be it!

There isn´t anything wrong with the other seven scents in the line, even though I haven´t fallen for any of them as bad as for Manguier Metisse. Fareb could be the most interesting, but also the most demanding among them (at least to me). Aube Pashima is a must try for every lover of green scents (Pierre Guillaume is really gifted when it comes to green scents, he manage to make them sexy). Sucre D'Ebene is something to try for gourmand lovers. Yet, Ambra Ceruleen didn´t impressed me that mush, it become very buttery on me, too buttery if to be honest. Anyway, I´m sure everyone can find at least one favorite among the 8 fragrances. You can read more about Huitieme Art and also order a nice sample set here:

http://www.huitiemeartparfums.com/

Pic: bestindoortropicals

2010 Toplist

I´ve had an incredible nice and cozy Christmas holiday and I sure hope you had that too. It isn´t that original to write a toplist today (all the perfume blogs seem to have it today!), but great minds think alike or something like that.

I also realised that my last post was a bit wrong, of coure it was a wishlist for 2011 and nothing else. I´m always a bit confused when the new year is coming and write the old year for a month at least. But this toplist is of course for perfume that I´ve tested during 2010.

I´ve tried a lot of fragarnces, but probably not really as many as during 2009. It seem my perfume interest has entered a new phase. I still gets a lot of samples, but I´ve been moving on to decants, split bottles and full bottles even more. I´ve also noticed that the more I´ve tried the more it takes to impresse me.

Fragrances that I´ve tried during 2010 and that really manage to capture my interest and that I want more of (or allready have more of):

January 2010: Histoires de Parfums - Tubereuse Animale. Wonderful, warm, full bodied, animalic, leathery, spicy with some tuberose elements. A demanding scent, but also so unique that it doesn´t remind of anything else. This I have a decant of, but wouldn´t mind more.

February: Parfums D'Orsay - Tilleul. I fell in love with this green, soft, sweet, complex linden blossom fragarnces and could hardly think about anything else for a month. To me this is a spot on late winter/early spring kind of scent so I didn´t wanted it as bad later during the year, but I suspect I´ll have cravings for it soon.

Agonist - The Infidels. Warm complex, animalic, strong, retro and all together wonderful fragrance from the Swedish brand Agonist that co-operate with glass artist Åsa Jungnelius frpm Costa Boda. Amazing multi dimensional scent that is hard to forget about, hopefully I´ll have more of it soon. :)))

March: Farmacia Annunziata - Ambra Nera. The most wonderful amber scent I´ve ever tried. I would easily go for a full bottle of this if I didn´t happened to stumble upon those Egyptian perfume oils. A MUST TRY for amber lovers.

April: Simone Cosac - Trama. Could be the best rose scent ever. The opening of this svent is among the best openings ever (also!!!) and it´s gorgeous. 100% realistic scent of how it´s smell when you unwrap a rose bouquet. I liked Perle di Biance, but Trama is even better on my skin. I´ve got some remainings in a tiny sample, but probably will need more of it. Also a absolute must try for anyone that wopuld like to be impressed by a rose scent.

Hors La Monde - Shiloh. Tart citrus, creamy flowers and oakmoss. Wonderful, and classic, strong, longlasting and modd lifting. This years birthday fragrance. This I recommend to everyone looking for modern scents with classical elements.

May: Was dominated by the super exclusive Xerjoff line. And even though I melted as snow in sunshine for several of the scents, I seem to be not really as impressed any longer. Partly thanks to the price tag as I realise I´ll probably never could afford a bottle of any of them. Despite that, I do think every perfume lover should give at least some of the scents a try. They are really worth trying.

July: La Collina Toscana - Girasole del Poggio. Sunshine in bottle, full bodied, nutty, creamy and very different flowery scent. Still got my sample, but when that is gone I´ll probably get more of it since it don´t remind of anything else. Very quirky.

September: Andrea Maack - Craft and Sharp. Interesting, personal, cold and Nordic scents fromicelandic artist Andrea Maack. I´ve got a bottle of Craft and wouldn´t mind splitting a bottle of Sharp. Really good pricepoint also.

Serge Lutens - Bas de Soie. Aquatic, strange floral with slimy elements. I haven´t yet figured out why I like it, but I do! Have some remainings in a bottle, probably will get more. It´s like a likeable version of Secretions Magnifique.

L'Artisan Parfumeur - Nuit de Tuberesue. First I liked it, then I didn´t. Now I´m back to lking it again. I´ve used my little spray sample much more the I belived I would do. It´s a winner in the long run and I wouldn´t mind splitting a bottle of it eventually. Different and cool version of tuberose. Works well on men too.

October: Amouage - Memoir Woman. Gothic, sad and a little melancholic. My big fave from Amouage. The question is if I ever could afford it?

My bargain of Egyptian perfume oils was a big and wonderful surprise also during october. Four out of five oils smells fantastic.

And not to be forgotten about: Etat Libre d'Orange´s Like This. It was SO close to be this years Christmas perfume (present), but the I found a bottle of Cuir Beluga for a really good price. I don´t regret buying Cuir Beluga, but I do wonders a lot about how to get me a big bottle of Like This as soon as possible. This is a MUST TRY!

Also two scents that I´ve used a lot:

Guerlains Cuir Beluga. I don´t think I have use one scent as much and as often as Cuir Beluga since the time when I use to have one signature scent at the time. According to me Cuir Beluga fits on all occations. Totally fabulous.

And Costume National´s 21, discovered at NK in may and re-discovered during autumn. Such a comfy scent with great personality. Have a decant of it and will buy more when it ends.

One thing that strikes me when I´m looking on my top list scents is that they are really different from each other. From soft, aquatic florals to bold animalic leathers and sweet gourmands and spicy orientals. I have a varied taste in perfumes and during 2010 I´ve learn to like oakmoss as well and also some vintage scents.

Of course I haven´t enjoyed all that ve tried. For instant the line of Boadicea the Victorious failed to impresse me, to many and to un-interesting.

Honore des Pres made a nice thing and gave away samples of Vamp a NY and I got one of them. Unfortunatly the scent wasn´t my style at all even though a lot of people seem to like it.

I also tried all scents from Czech & Speake and only one, Dark Rose was worth mentioning. Nice, but boring.

Annick Goutal´s Ninfeo Mio with an opening so beautiful and and dry down so hideous. Big dissapointment.

What has captured your interest during 2010? Some dissapointments? Some big fave or several? Have you tried some fragarnce that you haven´t reed about here but that you suggest me to try? What are you looking forward to try in the beginning of 2011?

I´m very curious about the new Serge Lutens that is said to smell like toast. And L'Artisan´s Traversee du Bosphore which sound interesting as well. And I have just found out about a very special scent that I really must try.

Happy New Year to all my lovely readers!

Pic: tacomadowntown

2010 Wishlist

Just a few days before Christmas. I think time never runs as fast as the weeks before Christmas. I have a lot to things left to do, but at least I´ve rolled the meatballs, baked the gingerbreads and boiled the Christmas candy "knäck". I´ve also manage to buy at least 2 Christmas presents if not 3...

A coupple of days ago I´ve got this years probably finest perfume, Guerlain´s gorgeus Cuir Beluga, and if not the finest at least the most expensive not only this year, but for all the perfume I´ve ever bought. Just a few days after that I´ve got a possibility to buy another fave scent and gosh, I realised I´ve really bought a lot of perfumes during 2010. Yesterday I composed a list of all the perfume bottles I´ve bought, and they´re quite many I have to admit.

But at the same time I´ve sold a lot of samples and decants, so I´m not totally broken. And the perfumes have a great varietyt in price, from about 1-2 € and up. Actually most of them closer to 2 € then to 100€. And also some of the most affordable have proven to be some of the most gorgeous one´s (like the Egyptian perfume oils).

Some toher day I´ll write more about favorites from 2010, surprises, dissapointments and which fragarnces I´ve actually used the most. But today it´s time for some wishes from my readers. A wishlist for 2010 we can call it.

Is it anything you miss here and would love to read more about? Is there any perfume house that you´re curious about, but that I haven´t wrote anything about? Do you feel you would love to contribute as a guest blogger, please let me know and we work something out. Of course I acn´t fulfill all wishes, some scents can be really hard to get samples of and other fragrances I might not be interested to write about (if you would love to read an analytic review of all Naomi Campless scents, this isn´t the right place), I also lack of knowledge in some areas as perfume chemistry and how all that is working. But if I can make someone happy in a simple way I will try my best.

Oh, buy the way, I´ve allready got questions about the next perfume meeting. That´s a thing I love to be asked about. It´s so much fun to meet my readers and spend some time with other perfume lovers. Don´t hesitate to contact me if you have any suggestions about a perfume meeting, probably in Stockholm.

I have pretty much to do the days before Christmas, but I promise there will be some fragrances all the way from Africa here shortly, and perfumes as art, a top list and something really new also.

1000 Flowers - Reglisse Noire

I am both a chocolate and licorice lover. Usually I´m also a sucker for gourmand fragrances. But, it has shown to be not the easiest to find gourmand scents with notes of chocolate and/or licorice that works on my skin. Licorice usually dissapears on my skin in a few minutes and a lot of chocolate scents ends up being to sticky and kind of soapy. Despite this I still would love to find a perfume with notes of licorice and chocolate, and it looks like I might have found it now...

1000 Flowers is a new indie perfume house started by the Canadian perfumer Jessica September Buchanan. Jessica has a history in aromatherapy, but have also studied at Institute of Perfumery in Grasse, France. You can read more about her, her work and of course about Reglisse Noire here:

http://www.1000flowers.ca/

With notes of mint, white pepper, star anise, licorice, cocoa and vanilla it´s easy to belive that Reglisse Noire is an overly sweet, foody and heavy kind of gourmand, but that sin´t at all the case. From the first seconds, Reglisse Noire manage to capture my interest. It´s soft and airy like a cozy cloud of licorice. In the opening the note of licorice is dominating, still it is as light as licorice steam. I belive the notes of ozon, mint and maybe also white pepper contribute to this nice opening.

Reglisse Noire continues to be a light kind of smell, but after about 20 minutes some stronger notes occurs. The licorice is still present, but now becomes more aromatic, woody and herbal. About now I´m also starting to feel the smell of chocolate, or actually cocoa. This is not that strong, overwhelming and sticky kind of chocolate note, no this is soft, airy and with some discrete bitter elements. The vanilla adds some sweetness and body.

Shortly speaking, I become impressed by Reglisse Noire, I can´t think of any other fragarnces where so heavy notes as chocolate, licorice and vanilla has been used with such delicasy and still without being lost. And, there isn´t any flowers listed among the notes, still there is something in Reglisse Noire giving it a kind of floral base.

Reglisse Noire is a complex scent, and during the heart phase of the scent I can smell to different layers. One is soft, slightly powdery and almost floral, the other layer is deeper and develops from soft notes of cocoa and licorice to more and more woody, dark and mysterious. Now, Reglisse Noire feels like being in a dark and adventurous forrest with licorice trees with chocolate leafs and the ground filled with little white flowers. I belive Reglisse Noire could totally chram most people and at the same time it´s among the most mystic among gourmand scents that I ever tried. (I can´t honestly recall any other mystic gourmand!) It´s also so much more than a gourmand, it is both woody and oriental too.

During basenote the patchouli is quite dominant on me, even though I can sense a papery note also, which is thanks to vetiver I guess. But, also the licorice is still there hanging on from start to end. It´s actually during base this scent really fulfills it name Reglisse Noire (Black Licorice). It´s now it´s really become mystic, dark and exciting, but also warm, sweet and cozy.

Reglisse Noire can be worn by both men and women and everyone fancy a fine gouramnd should give it a try. But, also if you´re not usually in to gourmand scents this could suit you, since it has a nice woody and oriental ffel to it as well. The sillage is discrete without being a skinscent and lasting power could have been a little better in my opinion. To me this is the only letdown of Reglisse Noire, I wish it to last longer and being a little more prominent. But at the same time I think it´s thanks to the softness of those strong notes it´s also so easy to wear and like. And since it ebing an eau de toilette I suspect it´s become a little stronger if sprayed instead of dabbed on.

Do you have any favorite perfumes with notes of chocolate/cocoa or licorice?

Pic: Basset´s licorice all sorts

Korres - Paeonia Vanilla Amber Pear

I´ve got a slightly doubtful relation to pears. Pears can taste wonderful, but usually I encounter pears that have the same juicyness and fruity as old winter carotts, or pears so hard that they are like wood or with that strange granular texture, and with hardly no taste what so ever. Maybe you have to grow your own pears for a pleasant taste experience?

My grandparents had a little cottage outside Malmö and sometimes we visited them during early autumn when all my grand fathers fruit trees where filled with ripe apples, plums and pears. Those pears was so good, juicy, sweet and almost melting in my mouth. Once when I lived in Umeå I bought some rare kind of bright red pears. They where probably twice as expensive then the ordinary one´s, but they where soooo worth it. Until this day those where the best pears I´ve eaten.

It´s that kind of pears I find in one of Korres new scents; Paeonia Vanilla Amber Pear, at least the scent of them. I wrote about another of Korres scents last year:

http://perfumenerd.blogspot.com/search/label/Korres

Jasmine Pepper Gaiacwood Passionfruit become a favorite for me and I´ve used it a lot. Even though I think Paeonia Vanilla Amber Pear is a really good scent, it´s not really manage to reach the height of Jasmine Pepper Gaiacwood Passionfruit on me. Not that Paeonia Vanilla Amber Pear doesn´t smell good, it does, but Jasmine Pepper Gaiacwood Passionfruit is a little bit more "me".

Paeonia Vanilla Amber Pear is one of the best scents with note of pear that I ever encountered. And just like Jasmine Pepper Gaiacwood Passionfruit it seem to have a built in charm, an exuberate personality that is hard to resist. This is a cherful and moodlifting fragrances with elements of euforia in it. The note of peony isn´t that strong, on me it´s more like an aromatic slightly rosy smelling backdrop, while the pear note is more forward. I haven´t tried that many scents with pear, but among the one´s I´ve tried the pear note usually are very soft and short lasting and sometimes even boring. That is not the case with Paeonia Vanilla Amber, as I said, this is equal to the best pears I´ve eaten. It´s juicy, sweet, fruity and very genuin. Do you have a weakspot for pears, this scent is a must try!

Despite notes of vanilla, amber and pear, this fragrances isn´t too sweet, it´s sweet, but more like a ripe fruity kind of sweetness then sugary, candy, cookie-like sweetness. It´s not heavy or sticky either, more like refreshing and cuddly, but a little to briks to be a spot on comfort-scent. Paeonia Vanilla Amber Pear make me feel alert, happy and filled with creativity, and that is so welcomed in dark december.

It has a medium sillage and lasting power is a little weaker then Jasmine Pepper Gaiacwood Passionfruit. i belive this scent would be liked by those of you allready liking Jasmine Pepper Gaiacwood Passionfruit, but also among those of you looking for a little more refreshing and light scent. And I must say it again, this is a MUST try if you´re a pear lover!

If you´re curious to find out more about Korres and their products, you can find it here:

http://www.korresscandinavia.com/

Pic: o-red-pears charles nowell

Vivienne Westwood - Let it Rock

I don´t write negative reviews so often. Partly because I like most fragrances that I test, not love, but most of them smells at least nice and pleasant. And that isn´t anything to write about. It´s also a matter of time, I have to keep up to manage to write about all the amazing scents out there, so where would I squeeze in the bad one´s?

Sometimes I do an exeption. Today is such a day.

Usually I like Vivienne Westwood´s fragrances, even though I have to admit that Anglomania, Boudoir and even Libertine kind of are perfumes from an earlier stage in my perfumania. Still I think they are interesting, obvious and very Brittish. Now Vivienne has launched a new scent, Naughty Alice, the bottle is almost hiddeous cute, but I don´t know about the scent, yet. Unfortunatly I do know everything about another Vivienne Westwood scent, Let it Rock...

When you don´t like a fragarnces there can be sevreal reasons. Some are headache inducing, still you can like the way they smell. Others makes you nauseaus, a little or way to much. Some don´t make your head ache or your stomach turn, but smells so disturbing, strong, cheap, screamy, synthetic or sweet that you can´t stand it. Let it Rock gives me headache and make my stomach turn and smells cheap, synthetic, sweet, vulgar and strong. It´s like a scent created by Jordan (above) rather then by Vivienne Westwood.

Actually Let it Rock is among the worst scents I´ve tried! Without suspecting anything I put on a few drops of Let it Rock from a sample. The very first minutes it was kind of OK and I almost belived that I would eventually like it. But then it starts to get stronger and stronger and stronger... It smells like if both patchouli and freesia was made of some strange plastic materials. Just plastic! Tranquilising fake flowers smushed with plastic and the worst kind patchouli that screams to you and makes your eyes watery.

Yes, Let it Rock becomes terrible on me. And I´ll never try to find out how it becomes on any other family member beacuse I don´t want it in my house. I would never want to encounter this scent ever again. Of course it´s a scrubber. And washing of just a little won´t help, you´d better get yourself in the bathtub with lots of lather.

As I said, it´s extremly rare that I react this strong to a scent, I think Etat Libre d'Orange´s Viergos et Toreros is one of few others.

I don+t recommend Let it Rock to anyone, because I don´t want to smell it on anyone. Fortunatly it seem to be very, very rare in Sweden.

Have you tried Let it Rock? Some people seem to actually like it, what do you think about it?

Pic: Katie Price aka Jordan

Annick Goutal - Eau de Charlotte

It has been a while since my last posting, about a week actually. I promise I´ll not go away for a while now. It was really fun to visit middle daughter and her boyfriend. I thought I was bohemian but... Well, let just say they give the word bohemian a new meaning. their apartment is filled with art but not so much furniture. It´s like stepping inside a strange art exhibit.

After coming home it feels like it´s time to start fokusing on the upcoming Christmas and all things about it. I´m not that much of a Christmas decorating type, but the more I like Christmas cooking, baking and candymaking. I think I´ll start with some Christmas baking this weekend.

What is your Christmas MUST, if any? How important are the Christmas fragrances to you? Which is your fave Christmas scent? I think mine are a cozy and homey mix between hyacinth (my fave Christmas flower), citrusfruits and cinnamon/gingerbread-spices.

One scent that´s smelling really cozy and nice, but not that Christmasy is Annick Goutal´s Eau de Charlotte. I´ve discovered that Eau de Charlotte is a chameleon like scent, that wears very different on different people.

usually it´s my middle daughter that seem to like Annick Goutal´s perfumes the best. But with Eau de Charlotte I actually think it´s smells the best on me. With notes of black currant, lily, lily-of-the-valley, mimosa, vanilla and cacao it isn´t really certain how a fragrance ends up.

On me, Eau de Charlotte, becomes soft floral with some tart berry notes (a little black currant but I also smell some more tart kind of berry like raspberry or red currant). This floral and tart scent gets accompanied by some milky vanilla and the chocolate never shows up on my skin, insetad I find something similar to tea with milk and honey. That sounds kind of good, doesn´t it? And yes it is, on me. It´s a cozy, caressing mix between floral and soft gourmand. A really comfort scent, like having breakfast at the veranda a summerday with the smell of the garden flowers surrounding you and blackberry jam, toasts and tea.

On my youngest daughter Eau de Charlotte gets a totally different character. The flowers are more noticeable on her and most of Eau de Charlotte ends up smelling like an expensive and creamy lipstick. There is a violet note coming through on my daughters skin that isn´t at all present on me. Both me and daughter also thinks that Eau de Charlotte wears much stronger on her then on me. But eventually it becomes more similar what it is on me.

On the middle daughter it explodes with notes of really tart and also sweet berries and a somewhat sharp and soapy chocolate note. I noticed that middle daughter didn´t liked this Annick Goutal as much as other scents from that brand. It´s like we´re wearing three different fragrances. I can´t think of any perfume that wear so different on the three of us. However it´s quite similar during basenote.

If you have tried Eau de Charlotte, how is it on you?

Well, after about an hour Eau de Charlotte develops to a soft, milky gourmand with some floral elements on the three of us. Lasting power is OK for a Goutal scent, about 3 hours on me. But the sillage was very different on me and the daughters, medium on me and youngest but quite strong and pushy on the middle daughter.

I think if you like Eau de Charlotte, you´ll also like Paul & Joe´s Blanc and other slightly soft and gourmand florals.

Pic: confiture and croissant 1watercolor by Carol Gillott

In my part of the pond...

Perfume blogging is usually a very peaceful occupation. That Swedish teen blogger like Kissy and Sissy get headlines and also making a lot of money on their blogs is totally un-beliveable for me.

My blog posting don´t attract any headlines and I don´t make any money on the blog either (OK, OK I actually have earned about 20 € this far this year, that´s the reason I cleaned away the commercials or stuffed it way down, If they´re not generating any money they don´t deserve to be in people´s faces).

Perfume lovers -and bloggers usually also are very peaceful, friendly and helpful people. Of course a person that has as his bigest interest to sit down peacefully and smell on different fragrances must be quite serene, nice and even a little withdrawn.

Perfume blogging isn´t that big, and in Sweden there are few other perfume blogs and non as I know of that update often and regularly. From a global point of view it´s of course bigger, but still only a small part in the total of all different blogs. Surely, there are room for new perfume blogs? Apperantly not, one of the old and established perfume bloggers feels that all the new blogs drains fokus in discussions which are supposed to be on that blog!

Some of the established perfume bloggers are hanging out with people in the perfume industry, that seem not to be a good thing either. I think it must be impossible to live for instant in Paris, write about perfume for years without learning to know a lot of different people in the perfume industry and among those surely there are a coupple that you happened to like so much that you eventually become friends. This of course make way to an insider look on perfumery that perhaps isn´t always good, but also hard to get pass.

Anyway, if I felt like having lunch or go to parties with Serge Lutens, Pierre Guillaume, Olivia Giacobetti and Kilian Henessy I so live in the wrong place! But on the other hand nothing stops me from having really good connection with some perfume folks, especially within the indiebrands, but also among large and established brands I´ve encountered so much friendly and helpful people when I´ve contacted them. It´s apart of my "job" to contact perfume people and perfumers.

Of course my blog is considered new if I compare with blogs that have been going for about ten years. But at least I´ve had it for more then 2 years and even more important, it´s regularly updated at least every single week for 2 years. If counting all my postings, I´ve got quite a few by now.

The thing is that newcomers has to find their own style. Style of writing is very personal and to review the same fragarnce can be done in so many different ways.

I can´t keep up with perfume bloggers that lives in paris and other big cities when it comes to having sneak pre-views. I don´t automatically get samples from the big brands when they release something new. And with a limited income (hehe, 20€ is a very limited income, right?), i can´t manage to order samples from every new release. So keeping up with news will not be my thing, that I realised a long time ago...

My thing is to find those small unknown indiebrands or perfume houses out for their first round. Maybe my blog will be the only one ever mentioning these scents? OR, they eventually become popular and then this little blog was the first one that you read about that brand on. As I am having a little reporter personality a scoop always feels good.

I also like to hunt down those un-familiar brands, which sometimes isn´t the easiest thing. A lot of mail that I send never get any answers, for instant, the Swedish niche company Byredo NEVER had answer any of my mails, I have no idea why, but I think it´s a bit sad...

I´ve also got so many boring answers, like this: I write a very polite mail presenting myself and my blog and pointing out that I have perfume interested readers all around the world and would like to write about the brand and evaluate their fragrances. "We dont give samples to customers, but we can tell you wear you can buy or perfumes" "Thank you, but I´m sure you don´t have a retailer in Sweden, I respond" "No, we don´t, the closest to you is in Paris" "OK, thank you, then I can´t write about your brand" Oh well, it´s not my problem if they haven´t figure out that to be mentioned on a blog (even though a somewhat small blog) is usually good and -almost- free marketing!

The perfume world (at least western perfumes with some arabic and japanese influences) is a small pond. All perfumistas knows about new releases from Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle and Guerlain in no time. But also smaller actors like Ava Luxe (you know the very moment Serena decide to re-launch Midnight Violet it will be sold out), Andy Tauer and Neil Morris is out on the street in no time, and much thanks to devoted perfumista followers. And when a perfumista has decided to get a certain fragrances nothing will stop her. It could take months to get it but eventually the sought after scent is arriving and the fealing when you opens that envelope... oh yeah!

This is something some in perfume industry knows a lot about, while some don´t.

Anyway, I´ll leaving town tomorrow, so you have to manage without me for a few days, during this time I suggest you read Brians post at I Smell Therefore I Am:

http://ismellthereforeiam.blogspot.com/2010/11/are-you-perfume-blogging-snob-take-this.html

Paul & Joe - Blanc

What a weather! Half a meter of snow and -15 C cold, and it´s not even december yet!

The change of seasons influences me, this time of year I´m usually a little more tired, a little more keen on candy (yes, I admit I have tried to swap for candy at Perfume Posse´s swapmania) and not as sparkling as I am in may or june. On the other hand the Christmas preparations are mood lifting and yesterday me and daughter made a gingerbread house, it was so much fun.

When autumn turning into late autumn and eventually winter my taste in perfumes also changes. The warm spicy, woody and often amber-based perfumes I love wearing during autumn slowly being replaced by scents with gourmand feautures. I was so close to make a sample order with only gourmand samples, but then an Ebay thing got in between, so I have to wait with those gourmand until after Christmas.

Paul & Joe Blanc isn´t really a gourmand scent, or it is, but it´s a different take on gourmand. I´ve been curious about it for some time without manage to get it. First I visited the only shop in Sweden that have it, but they didn´t have it right then. Then I was so close getting a used bottle of it at Ebay and when I was about to place the winning bid the seller had forgot to allow bidders from outside UK (I´ve asked for it beforehand). Now and then I manage to mess things up, even though I know it´s perfectly simple to order a sample of Blanc from The Perfumed Court. Whatever... Anyway, now I have a sample thanks to a perfume friend.

And I like! Not sure what I like, but Blanc smells a little like this: 60% common, not that bad but still, common floral. This isn´t the part of Blanc making it special it´s the other parts. Another part maybe 30% of Blanc smells similar to much more expensive L'Eau d'Hiver by Frederic Malle, soft, subtle, caressing, cold and a little milky floral. Wonderful and different. But maybe the best part -according to me- the little one remaining (about 10%) smells like my loved Bois Farine by L'Artisan. Or, add some tiny, tiny note of something skankydirty then you get it.

In fact, Bland is much more subtle, well made and complex then to expect for a scent at this price point. I could easily buy a bottle and have instead of much more pricey L'Eau d'Hiver. Floralgourmand-scents without any fruit (is nut a fruit?) and not much sweetness isn´t that common. So in my opinion Blanc manage to fill up an otherwise quite empty spot.

One problem with Blanc is that I´ve heard a lot of people that don´t get neither the nutty or the milky notes from it. This is quite subtle, and I wouldn´t at all think that Blanc was something special if I didn´t get the milky and nutty notes. If it´s because of skin chemistry or sense of smell is hard to say, maybe a combo? I suspect that Blanc smells a little different on me on different occations, but I haven´t tried it enough to be sure.

Without the more odd notes of milk and nut, Blanc is left with some soft floral notes of lily of the valley and jasmine, and some hints of lilac (I´m glad it´s only hints, usually I´m not a fan of lilac in perfume). Blanc is a soft but also somewhat cold floral, like flowers dipped in powdery snow. The nutty note is most obvious during the opening, but some traces of it lingers for a while. The milky note is more apparent in the drydown.

Unfortunatly, Blanc don´t have that great lasting power on me. After about 3 hours it becomes so subtle and close to skin that I tend to forget that I´m wearing it. However, I have just a small dab on sample, and longvity and sillage could be much better if sprayed on.

I do recommend Blanc to all of you looking for a floral scent with an odd, cold tvist. Or if you´re looking for a starnge, not so sweet gourmand or something in between. I hope to get me some small bottle of it myself or at least a larger decant.

Thursday I´ll go away agian. Heading south to my daughter in Markaryd and then to a funeral in Skåne. Back home again on saturday.

pic. flickr

Indult - Tihota

I´ve been home from Gamleby for some days now. The kids have a chanse to almost try borading school life for a weak. Apart from the school subjects they have a lot of evening activities such as movie, pool, bowling, disco and other fun stuff.

It was nice surroundings but bad and boring weather, I belive every small town is easier to like in summer sun then in november rain.

That any of the kids would have notice my discrete scents wasn´t anything that I had to worry about since I was surrounded by big clouds of Pink Sugar, Midnight Fantasy, Christina Augilera and loads of cheap male deo scents. I had Keiko Mecherié Loukhoum, L'Artisan´s Bois Farine, Pure Poison, ELOs Like This, Ormonde Woman and Ange ou Demon with me. Besides that some of the kids smelling really strong they where such nice and friendly atmosphere. I´m sure it had been more chaotic to spend a coupple of days with grown ups on a company kick off-trip...

Finally time to write again, even though I have to admit that todays scent isn´t that inspire me that much. Tihota from indult is one of the most expensive vanilla scents, and I´m only liking it so and so, even though I´m usually a vanilla fan.

But, I do think that Tihota smells reallyreallyreally good. It smells like pure, genuin, warm, creamy and expensive vanilla. The only problem is that in my opinion there are several other vanilla scents smelling as good but for a fraction of that price. I can´t smell anything but vanilla in Tihota and wouldn´t spend that much on such a linear and "simple" scent. Usually vanilla takes me to exotic island with dense greenery and lush flowers, but somehow Tihota don´t manage to do that, probably because I keep on thinking that I should get more for the price then what I get.

Well, I won´t need anymore of Tihota, personally, but the taste differs. My youngest daughter looooooves it! I let her try a small spray (Tihota is potent and longlasting) and the she sat with her nose attached to her vrist for a long time screaming it was the best scent she had smelled in her entire life! And since she´s my daughter she had tried more perfumes then the average 13 years old I belive. I have tried to stir her away from Tihota by letting her smell others not as expensive vanillas, but accroding to my daughter there isn´t anything coming even close. And the fact is that Tihota smells differently on her then on me, it´s more complex and smells kind of MORE on her.

So I´ll manage without Tihota, while my daughter won´t. I have promised to try to get a decant of it for her, 5 or 10 ml, so if anyone that reads this has a little to spare, please contact me.

Tihota is a thick, full bodied, sweet (but not THAT sweet), creamy, genuin and pure vanilla scent. I feel warm, comfy and sensual when I wear it as long as I don´t think about the price (about 160 € for 50 ml I belive). But as far as I´m concerned I can buy a small bottle of Vanillary at Lush and smell almost as good.

Anyway, Tihota is longlasting and if you invest in a big bottle of it you´d have enough vanilla to last you for years and years. Tihota smells as you expect a vanilla to smell and could best in class on that. If you´re not a big vanilla lover, Tihota won´t covert you since it´s a typical vanilla, not that kind of modern vanilla trying to get away from itself....

Oh, and I indulged in Perfume Posse´s hilarious "swapmania" the other day, such a fun event and now I´m looking ofrward to Neil Morris sample, a big bottle of Lorenzo Villoresi´s Musk (if you read my Villoresi-reviews you knwo that Musk become on of my faves from that line) and apart from perfume I´ll also get me some Ameriacn candy, hope they´ll arrive before Christmas!

pic: amamdeusvanillabeans.com

A little time off...

Tomorrow I´ll be leaving for Gamleby for a few days together with youngest daughter and her school. It´s going to be so much fun and really interesting to be a part of her school work during some days. But she have told me not to wear too much make-up and I have to brush my hair! She don´t seem to worry about that I´m going to say a lot of stupid things at least and it´s cool with her if I bring some perfumes.

I don´t really think that school environment are the best place to wear perfume, but since almost all of the girls in my daughters class douce them selves a lot with fragrances from Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Christina Augilera I don´t think anyone will mind if I dab on a few drops of something subtle from Annick Goutal or L'Artisan.

If it is Ok to wear perfume when spening time with (teen)kids, which perfumes would you bring? I plan to take some subtle, soft and warm skinscents. Even if the girls stinks of perfumes I belive they still have a better sense of smell then a lot of adults, so they can easily detect "strange" scent....

My daughter usually wears Jessica Simpson´s Fancy during school time, but when she comes home she can wear anything strange from my collction.

When i get home again there is a lot of interesting things to write about. Hopefully I´ll present some really far away fragrances, even though it still could take some weeks. Also I hope it´ll be a really good offer here, don´t miss it.

Four winners!

List Randomizer

There were 19 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Hanna
2. clivia
3. Susanne B
4. Bellatrix
5. Carina
6. womo531
7. Lilla My
8. Lisa BTB
9. waftbyCarol
10. Julia
11. kastehelmi
12. queen-cupcake
13. kjanicki
14. Lotta
15. Ulrika
16. Therese
17. Matilda
18. Maria G
19. Anna

Timestamp: 2010-11-19 07:40:00 UTC

Congrats to: Hanna, clivia, Susanne B and Bellatrix. Send your address to my mail and I´ll send the samples of Shahrzad Palace Perfumes to you. It may take a while since I have a busy time before me.

I wish better luck next time for the rest of you.

Etat Libre d'Orange - Like This

I´m not always that fast with perfume news here. There are a lot of new releases all the time and of course I´m not interested in all of them. And there is alot of thing that can come in between when I find something new that interests me, like some bargains at Ebay or Tradera... another "unknown" perfume brand I just have to write about or some really good samples in a swap... By the time I order the new scents, they´re not actually new to anyone... but me.

Etat libre d'Orange´s Like This is one of those scents. It was released a while ago and by now it feels like everyone have tried it. Anyway I was really curious about it, Tilda Swinton seem to be a very different kind of celbrity, both her look and what she chose to work with. And that she chosen to aks Etat libre d'Orange to make her scent is also really appropriate and cool. But this isn´t news anymore and I´ve decided to fokus on the scent itself.

Like This isn´t at all as I thought it would be. with notes of ginger, pumpkin, immortelle, vetiber and helioptrope I belived it would be really warm, sweet and autumnal and kind of strong-w

sweet. But it´s not, at least not on me.

On me Like This becomes spicy in a subtle way, pale in an interesting way, citrus sweet, soft, caressing, sensual, gourmand, lovely odd and different and a little, little hint of naughtyness. There is something hotspicy beneath the creamy, soft surface. Actually it´s really suitable for a pale redhead like Tilda Swinton. A scent for strawberry blond hair, pale frequels, soft clothes in creamy nuances, a comfy chair in front of a fireplace and a ginger colored housecat in the lap while reading an adventure novel...

Like This isn´t what I expected, it is at least as good as I hoped. I´ll use it a lot even though I´m not a pale redheaded beuty. At least I can pretend to be when I´m wearing it.

This is so interesting and each time I use it I discover new things about it. There isn´t much left in the little sample I ordered some weeks ago. Like This have manage to get a spot quite high on my wish list, maybe I´ll go for a decant at first, but eventually I want a big bottle of Like This.

Like This is great to wear this time of year, but since it´s quite subtle I think it could work all year round. Somehow it reminds me of Bois Farine, as uniqe and different, still soft but still longlasting. If you like Bois Farine I think you really have to try Like This! Lasting power is good and sillage is medium (from my dab on sample).

Maybe you allready have tried Like This? What´s your opinions about it? I suspect it can be that kind of fragrance you either like a lot or not care for at all...

Pic: Flaming June

A small give away of samples from Shahrzad Palace Perfumes

Since I´m quite alone with this scents from Shahrzad Palace Perfumes I´ve decided to have a small give away of 4 sample sets with all the five scents, Royal Ambar, Musk, Jasmin, Violet and Lotus Flower.

Just leave a comment below before friday 19/10 in the morning (CET) and I draw a total of 4 winners both here and at the Swedish blog.

And I am really curious about what you think about the different scents so prepare to tell me that if you´re one of the winners.

It could take a while before I can post the sample sets since I´m not sure if I have enough sample vials for now, but you will get your set eventually if you´re one of the winners.

Good luck!

Shahrzad Palace Perfumes - Jasmin

Just like the violet from Shahrzad Palace Perfumes, Jasmin is also a bright high tuned and clean scent. The top notes are almost piercingly vibrant and radiant. Despite that this is some kind of perfume oil, is reminds a little of Thierry Mugler´s Alien, but more natural.

Once again I´m strucked with the fact that something that had been tucked in in the bottom of a wardrobe for many years can smell so fresh, so good and so new! Shouldn´t oils been spoiled eventually!? Apperantly not these anyway. I really enjoy the top notes on this jasmine scent, they are like listening on some kind of opera in a strange but very beautful language.

The heart of this fragrance is a little more laidback, with sweet notes of juicy peach and some dry flower petals. As the violet scent, this isn´t the most complex jasmine to be found. Rather a jasmine svent for people prefering natural, clean and simple jasmine.

I become almost most impressed by the Jasmin of the five, since the top notes are so extremly high tuned and radiant, but depsite that I think I wont use Jasmin so oiften since I´ve got a bunch of other jasmine faves.

But among the five I´m least impressed with the Lotus Flower, not that it´s anything wrong with it. But, it´s just a weak aquatic scent and do nothing for me.

I do realise that these scents aren´t likely to be tried by so many of you. Even though I like to try rare scents, it´s kind of dull not to hear others opinions about them...

Pic. flowers.c-s

Shahrzad Palace Perfumes - Unlabeled (Violet)

One of the bottles from Shahrzad Palace perfumes was unlabeled. The seller belived it was some kind of citrus since the liquid was yellowish, but it wasn´t. It´s clearly a floral. Violet to be more precise.

Honestly, at first I had some troubble smelling it was violet, but when both my husband and daughter was totally sure it was, I become convinced. Now, when I sniff it I can´t understand why I couldn´t recognise violet at once... oh well.

Usually I like violet in scents, and this one is not an exception. It´s neither powdery or sweet or green, it´s just plain simple violet. A rather warm violet fragrance with elements of soap, even something vanilly and I can barely smell some little whiffs of dirt in there. Shortly speaking, it´s an easy to like and wear violet. Not as exiting and complex as Musk and Royal Ambar, but still something I´ll use if I´m feeling for violet.

This scents is probably very old, still it doesn´t smell old fashioned or old lady-like, it´s so simple and easy that it´s become timeless.

The floral scents from Shahrzad Palace Perfumes aren´t as longlasting as the Royal Ambar and Musk, but a good thing is that they´re not as sticky either. Still, they have good lasting power, about 6-8 hours. And what amaze me the most is the "height" of both violet and jasmine (I´ll come to that one shortly). The violet smells bright, clear and shiny and new, I can´t figure out how that´s possible?

The violet scent has rather good sillage but not too much. I would love to blend the violet with the musk and see what happens.

What kind of violet to you prefer in fragrances? Powdery, sweet or green or no violet at all?

Pic: outdoor.webshot.com

Shahrzad Palace Perfumes - Musk

I feel almost a little "perverted" when I put on a few drops of Shahrzad Palace Perfumes Musk. Today musk in a fragrance is often a synthetic scent or in some case vegetabilic musk like scents. I can´t tell how much genuin musk is used in modern, western perfumes, maybe some reader nows more about that then I do?

But in Shahrzad Palace Perfumes Musk there isn´t any doubt about that it´s all about geuin musk. That is a fragrance extracted from some kind of gonads at the adult male musk deer. Earlier a lot of musk deer was killed in traps and no one cared if they also killed female and young deers. This way of collecting musk isn´t alloved any more. Nowadays musk can be collected naturally since the adult male animal scrub the gonads off regulary. As you can realise, this method and the fact that musk deers are rare animals explains how and why genuin musk is both rare and expensive.

This background information as well as the fact that the Musk-oil is dark brown in color and at start smells really strange contribute to my mixed emotions about this fragrance.

But, when I don´t think about that so much, I have to admit that I like the smell of this Musk a lot, it smells so good and also both interesting and odd. At first the scent matches the look of the oil, the topnotes are strong and with some medical as well as abresive and aromatic smell. It´s more like I put on some ancient tincture for some obscure health problem then a perfuemed oil...

Still, I happens to like that ambivalent feeling, but I can totally understand if some readers feels a little skeptic towards Musk. But, take it easy, after a short while Musk develops and become a really harmonic, animalic (kind of fur-smelling sort off), saturated, soft and very complex scent experience. Musk smells really good, but also with brisk and strange aromatic notes, which in my opinion deepens the scent and makes it even better. Despite the animalic feeling, it´s more sensual, indolent and comfy then raw animalic and dirty erotic. It isn´t at all as skanky as many modern musk scents.

I can also find floral, powdery and something aromatic like hay in the scent. On me the powdery note becomes quite obvious after a while and quite feminine, but it´s much more animalic and sexy on my husband (all kinds of musk become so sexy on him!), so of coure men could wear it as well. I wonder if people anosmic to some of the synthetic musk fragrances can smell genuin musk? Anyone knows?

Shahrzad Palace Perfumes Musk is more of a skin scent then Royal Ambar, but the lasting power is at least as good, ie. last a really, really long time. Just like Royal Ambar, but even more, Musk is a sticky oil and the dark brown color is also dark on the skin and I wouldn´t wear it with light or sensitive clothes, I suspect it can damage them.

Pic: borealforest

Shahrzad Palace Perfumes - Royal Ambar

A reader commented that bargains could be the worst enemy of a perfumista. And I partly agree, I do have my share of bottles bought or swapped unsniffed that turned out to be not my cup of tea. But, I also got bottles I didn´t had any high expectations about that from nowhere suddenly manage to become a personal favorite.

Roayl Ambar from Shahrzad Palace Perfumes is such a scent. Unfortunatly this is the only of the five bottles that haven´t stand the test of time so good, the cap is broken and almost half of the liquid has evaporate (or been used?), but of course that makes the remainings even more dear.

Susprisingly, Royal Ambar is so similar to another favorite, Ambra Nera from Farmacia Annunziata. The same kind of complex, warm and animalic amber scent. As long as I have something left of Royal Ambar there´s no need for me to invest in abottle of Ambra Nera (whish is on my toplist). I don´t have much left of my sample of Ambra Nera so I havn´t compared tghe two side by side.

Royal Ambar is an erotic, warm, comfy and glowing oriental scent with elements of creamy coconut and sun salt skin, dark sweetness and sensual delight. A perfect comfort scent during the dark time of year.

Not so good is the fact that Royal Ambar has kind of a sticky oil base and also that I discover a weak note of something chalky when smeling it up close, but that note isn´t noticable from some distant. Besides that I have nothing but good things to say about it. Lasting power is amazing, at least 24 hours or even more, a little amount goes a long way and the two animalic scents in the colection is almost thick.

Pic: spermwhale, itsnature.org

Shahrzad Palace Perfumes

When my perfume interest started it was modern and almost provocative brands like Comme des Garcons, Etat Libre D'Orange and CB I Hate Perfumes that got most of my attention. A lot of things has happened since then, and those brands don´t even seem to be that modern and/or provocative any longer? And you find other and/or new brands leading the development now.

Of course my perfume interest also has changed during these years, I still aprreciate scents that are fore runners and edgy, but also scents that just smells very, very good and most perfumes in between.

Vintage scents are a relative new niche in my perfume interest. Suddenly, within a few months I happened to get togehter a small (very small) collection of vintage scents. It´s a small beginning, but as good as anything else...

One thing not changing that much is that is still searching for bargains at Tradera (Swedish ebay). But, Tradera itself has changed a bit. More and more odd scents are showing up, niche perfumes, fragrances not longer in production and some really nice vintages. But, also obviously more of both sellers and buyers seem to know a lot about perfumes. Today, it´s not likely that a Comme des Garcons perfume would be sold for about 8 €. But still, you can make some really great bargains on scents a little below the common perfumista radar. For instant I bought a vintage bottle of Caron Infini for a little over 10 €, not long ago. It was re-formulated in early 70'ies and now has been re-made again, but I belive my bottle is before 1970, I would guess late 50'ies. I´ll write more about Caron Infini some other time.

Today it´s going to be about my latest bargain, the small set on the pic above. It´s really a bargain, maybe one of the best I´ve ever made on Tradera (and I´ve made quite a few bargains there by now). Anyway, this kit was sold as Egyptian perfume essences, and guess what? I won it for 24 kr ( less than 2,5 €). For that price I think it´s fun just to have the bottles and the box, if the perfume smells like sh*t, so what... I´ve got them for free.

I´ve got my set and realised when I opened it that it was almost un-touched. I wouldn´t call them essences, it´s some kind of really thick oil, ready to be used, but I think you can blend them with each other or even other kinds of perfume oils. The different scents are: Musk, Royal Ambar (with broken cap and some if it has evaporated), Jasmine, Lotus Blossom and un-labeled, but it´s smells like violet. And all of the scents smells like if they where made yesterday!

I haven´t yet tried them all, but Royal Ambar (an ambergris scent) smells so incredible jummy I can´t hardly belive it and Jasmine is so pure, clear and high tuned that it´s amazing! In my opinion this oils must have been made out of the finest raw materials.

This kind of bargains make me so excited. And curious. I can´t find much information about Shahrzad Palace Perfumes on internet, the only other thing I find is another kit sold for 70 £ in a webshop. I wonder when my set is made? The box is covered with some kind of waxed paper, and it feels likeit´s along time ago that kind of paper was in use. The bottles are of pressed glass which almsot make them look like citrus fruits. About 1 dm of height. The caps are made of bakelit I think but inside there are stoppers of plastic, so maybe they´re made during the 50'ies?

Anyone else that are good in estimating this kind of sets? Or known of some similar set of perfume oils? If you have anything to contribute with about this set, please tell me, I´m so curious.

I´ll write about the different oils and how they smell. And I will hand out some sample sets so others can try them and share their opinions with me. Don´t miss that!

Pic: private

Amouage - Memoir Woman

Today I´m going to write about Amouage´s Memoir Woman, but before I do I just have to chatter a little.

First of all I´ve become an aunt again, to a sweet little baby girl, born on the other side of the world, in Chile. I´m so happy that everything went well and both mother and baby is feeling fine. Now I have to wait and see how long it´ll take before I´ll meet my newest little relative. Anyway, I have allready see pics of her, Facebook is great!

And, me and two of my daughters vistied Stockholm this Saturday and had so much fun. Times really fly when you have fun and we didn´t really manage to visit all the shops we had plan to visit. I almost didn´t test any perfumes at all! But, I had plenty of that on my latest trip to Stockholm anyway.

And, last but not least, I bought a set of "Egyptian perfume essences" on Tradera (Swedish Ebay), for about 2,50 €. For that amount of money I don´t really care if the scents are stale and old smelling and waisted, the bottles and the box are worth the money alone. But my little set arrived yesterday and I´m so excited about them that I can´t hardly think about anything else! They (all five of them) smell amazing! I´ll write more about them some other day and probably I´ll hand out some samples of these amazing "essences" (some kind of perfume oils in my opinion). Don´t miss it!!!

Oh well, Amouage... any returning reader knows that I haven´t fallen that hard for Amouage´s exclusive and rich charm. In fact, I have only really liked one scent from Amouage this far, and that is Reflection, which after all isn´t really my kind of scent, and even though I like it, I have never planned to buy more of it. The others I´ve tried are without doubt very rich smelling, well made and smelling really good, but not really my style. But now, I´ve found an Amouage suitable for me, Amouage Memoir Woman.

Memoir Woman is different from anything else I´ve tried from Amouage which have been huge florals with some kind of golden feeling to them. Memoir Woman is nothing like that at all...

With top notes of absinthe and citus folowed bu jasmine, rose, cinnamon, cardamom and clove, Memoir Woman is called a modern chypre, even though I don´t really agree with that.

On me it becomes strangely dreamy, floating, dusty (in a good way), spicy, aromatic and fairytale-like. A scent for a goth princesse, with pale powdered face elegant funerals and lingering mountain roads with dramatic cliffs. This scent is what you should wear if you where invited to a party at Count Draculas place. Oh no, Memoir Woman isn´t a happy, bubbly kind of scent, at least it doesn´t ewoke such emotions at me. No this is melancholy, yearning and a woman standing in the storm on an abandoned dock and waiting and waiting and waiting for that ship that never arrives. The sad queen wandering the empty hallways and rooms of the abandoned castle morning her dead king kind and all the dead little princes...

Amouage´s Memoir Woman triggers both imagination and sadness for me, this is a scent I would wear if I ever tried to write some horror novels, actually Memoir Woman inspires me to write that kind of litterature. A muse for horror writers is fairly accurate...

It´s suggestive and adorable in an un-expected way. On me the note of clove can be too dominating, either smelling to much of dust and smoke or to spicy and antiseptic, but in Memoir Woman it manage to stay away from that road. Insted it´s creating a caressing weil together with cinnamon and cardamom, both subtle, sensual and sad at the same time. Like a fragile and grey butterfly.

memoir Woman is a scent worth trying for anyone having some weak spot for darkness and melancholy, but also a must try if you haven´t really manage to find any fave among the other Amouage offerings. There is also a Memoir Man, but I haven´t tried it. Anyway, I belive Memoir Woman can be worn by man to, it isn´t that feminine. It last really good, almost all day and sillage is also good but not to much (at least not from my little dab on sample).

I´m having troubble to smell the musk, oakmoss and leather in the base, on me Memoir Woman is fairly linear but at the same time swirling.

Which is your favorite Amouage scent this far? Do you think they are over prices and not really worth that much money? I belived so before, but however, Memoir has changed my mind, even though I doubt I´ll ever have a big bottle of it, but a big decant would be nice.

Pic: whatthefuckiswater

Frederic Malle - Geranium Pour Monsieur

I belive that almost everyone that´s trying Frederic Malle´s Geranium Pour Monsieur for the first time says "Toothpaste!" when they first sniff it. And yes, you are greated by a onvious minty note when you first put it on. But, when the toothpaste note has settled you will discover other sides of this fragrance, at least I do.

The man behind this scent is Dominique Ropion and I think he has succed to create something both fresh, clean and modern in an amazing way. Geranium Pour Monsieur becomes much more complex and interesting on me then what I´m used to find in other clean and fresh scents. Honestly, I find Geranium Pour Monsieur almost as complex and interesting as the lovely Dans Tes Bras.

Geranium Pour Monsieur makes me think about a serene, deep and stunningly beautiful underwater world. A world in complete silence, but with viewer impressions so fascinating and strange you could as well be in outer space. In my imagination I can also smell this unique surroundings. The cold minty note would be the ocean itself, because it´s a very wet and big kind of mint. The geranium is aromatic with some warm elements and for me it´s the smell of gorgeous milky half see through jellyfish with sher veils and all different kinds of strange shapes like flowers, clouds and living popcorn. If jellyfishes was flowers maybe they would smell like Geranium Pour Monsieur?

There is also some woody and spicy notes in Geranium Pour Monsieur, showing up from time to time. On me the mint note is very longlasting, but on my husband it´s only last for a short while. I belive Geranium Pour Monsieur is quite different on each and everyone, just like the wonderful Dans Tes Bras.

Geranium Pour Monsieur is also suitable for women. It has good sillage and great lasting power. I appreciate it a lot becasue of it´s unique and complex character, but it´s really not my type og scent. It´s possible I´ll take a spray now and then when I want to visit the strange underwater world, but just like Dans Tes Bras it´s a demanding scent that need a lot of attention. Something I´m not always in the mood for.

It´s also nice with a scent where geranium is geranium and not only a cheaper substitute for rose. A lot of people not liking geranium note in rose scents will probably get a different view of geranium if they try this fragrance. Geranium Pour Monsieur is a must try for everyone looking for different, unique and well made scents.

pic: backgroundbandit.com

Escentric Molecules - Escentric 01

Quite often when I´m going to the local store or in to town I think about what if any stranger would ask me of what perfume I´m wearing. Since I use perfumes every day and also quite different kinds of scents, I guess there is a somewhat bigger possibility that someone would notice my perfume than for the average person. But however, it doesn´t seem to matter at all what perfume I´m wearing, no stranger ever ask me about my scents!

There are for sure a lot of different reason for people not asking about other peoples perfumes, I think Swedish people are a little shy and would feel uncomfartable and pushy if they asked, also I belive a lot of people never actaully smell my fragrance and also there´s a possibility that common people not at all think that my scents smells good.

Of course my family members, close relatives and friends ask me about my fragrances, but that isn´t really the same. As far as I can recall, it has happened one time that a stranger asked me about my perfume, and that was a long timer ago up in Umeå, and the scent I was wearing was Kenzo Jungle.

Anyway, I´ve got a decant of Escentric Molecules Escentric 01, and I have never read reviews of any scent that seem to give the people wearing it as many compliments and questions. Another cool thing about it is that people wearing it don´t seem to like it THAT much, but still wear it since they got so many compliments. Hmm.

Unfortunatly I suspect I have to bath in it to get that kind of compliments. On me, Escentric 01 wears very subtle and etereal. The opening is spritzy, peppery and kind of fun, but then it become very silent and shy. When I´m wearing it I think of it more like a kind of vague aura then like a fragrance. I think Escentric 01 would be really nice to layer with almost any other scent. It has a strangley nice scent, but at the same time faceless and easy to forget.

One interesting thing with Escentric 01 is that it during day comes and goes. Sometimes I can´t hardly smell it at all, and then shortly after I re-discover it. After the spritzy opening it develops to a subtle, clean woody scent with some very soft incense features. As a scent I think it´s easy to wear for people of all ages and sorts, but also not so easy to really like. Still it has a strong precense, but lack of warmth, heart and deepth. Maybe not so strange since it is all built around a synthetic note of ISO E Super.

To me, there isn´t anthing to dislike about Escentric 01, but not really anything to like either. But maybe, I would think different of it if someone asked what scent I´m wearing! :)

Weak, but vary sillage and the lasting power is good but also a bit un-even.

Do you get questions about your perfume all the time? Compliments? And now I mean from strangers or people you don´t know that well, as the woman working at the local store, not your hubbie, wife or sweet little mother. Which scent, if anyone, have get you the most attention?

Pic: Emelie Ohlsson

Some autumn favorites 2010

While the wind is amusing itself by blowing all the leaves from the trees and the rain is amusing itself by turning the same leaves to a brownish gunk I amuse myself by thinking about what fragarnces I´ve used most during this autumn (september-october that is).

Autumn is a perfect season for perfumes, maybe the only time of year when I don´t think about or longing for the perfumes I will wear next season. Then I don´t care about seasons and scents at all some days, it´s a question about mood.

It feels like a lot of things have happened since last autumn. I have "discovered" oakmoss and suddenly that note is in a lot of my favorite scents. Even scents with quite prominent oakmoss character! Safron, milky notes and a lot more perfumes with floral notes then last autumn is also among them.

Most of them all I think I´ve used Costume Nationals 21, I´ve got a big spray sample but it´s almost empty now and are waiting for a decant, which I hope arrive any day now! Anyway, I´ll need a big bottle of this eventually.

Super expensive and super wonderful Cuir Beluga has also been of much use, my little decant have not much left. Tonka Imperiale that I bought at the same time haven´t been used at all as much. I msut have more of Cuir Beluga, it´s worth every cent!

All different Poison-varietys have been used a lot (most maybe Pure Poison, but not so much Hypnotic Poison) My stash of Pure Poison was enhanced this week also!

And my vintage Zibeline, what a hit! This is pure comfort and also both elegant and classic, pure bliss.

I´ve also used La Sirena from Carthusia almost of the same reason as Zibeline, warm, comfy and very rich smelling.

My birtday present Shiloh has been of much use as well, not so much a comfort scent as a pick me up scent, perfect to use in the morning when it´s dark and gloomy outside. The basenote in this is to die for. I wonder if oakmoss is addictive?

24 Faubourg from Hermes is something I discovered just recently even though I have had it for a long while, now it has clicked.

Serge Lutens Un bois vanille and Muscs Koublai Khan I have used a lot also and as usual Frederic Malles Carnal Flower.

I´ve jts got a wished for sample of Paul & Joe´s Blanc and it seem promising. I also can´t stop using Andrea Maacks Sharp and now they are available at COW in Stockholm, I have to go there and watch them the next time I´m in Stockholm (which will be next weekend hopefully!).

I haven´t used L'Artisan´s Nuit de Tubereuse SO much, but I´ve thought about it a lot. Some L'Artisan scents seem to behave this way, I don´t think that I like them SO much, but still I can´t stop thinking about them. I know Nuit de Tubereuse becoming a little masculine on me, but hey, I don´t think I give a damn about it any more!

perfumes I used a lot last autumn, but not this: Borneo 1834, Le Labo Labdanum 18 and By Kilian´s Back to Black.

What have you been wearing this autumn? New faves? Old darlings? If you would recommend only one perfect autumn scent, which would it be?

Pic: Winter trees without leaves, layoutsparks.com

MCMC Fragrances - Hunter

Sometimes I "skip job". Yesterday I planned to write on the blog, but when I waked up I knew that I had to wear Ormonde Jayne´s Ormonde Woman. I couldn´t imagine wearing any other perfume right then. I don´t have any deadline when I blog, but I try to plan my work and have some control when to finnish it. But, from time to time I just have to wear the scents I like the most...

Otherwise I have the last days testing myself through MCMC Fragrances different scents, Noble, Maui, Maine, Hunter, Humanity and Garden. the last two are parts of charity project and a big part of the profit goes back to charity (50% and 100%). A part from that, MCMC Fragrances is a new indie perfume house, situated in Brooklyn, New York.

All the different scents are simple, bright and clean compositions. They manage to feel both old fashioned and eclectic modern at the same time. In comparision to more established perfume houses I find them a little similar to Annick Goutal and I´m sure they could attract about the sam audience.

Among the six scents I´ve tried, Hunter is my biggest fave. With notes of tobacco, vanilla and fir balsam that isn´t perhaps so surprising. When reading about it, it´s suggested to be worn with a flannel shirt and that is 100% true.

Hunter is that kind of soft comfort scent for indoor days in october or november. But it´s also a good companion on autumn forrest walks. Hunter, as the others, are a unisex-scent, and I think it´s really suitable for everyone looking for a not so complicated and cozy scent. With tobacco and vanilla, Hunter could be sweet, heavy and almost cloying, but it isn´t at all. Hunter gets a clear, almost transparent and vibrant pureness thanks to the fir. This feels lika quite an original blend, and in a very adorable way.

During it´s middle phase the tobacco become just a little smokey. The fir goes from fresh to slightly woody and resinious, but the development is very subtle and soft.

If some of Annick Goutal´s scents is like japanese haikus, MCMC Fragrances are more like love letters in the sand, they are evanescent, but honest and devout. In other words, they do have quite short longvity, with exception of Noble (The one least liked by me). Hunter remains on my skin after a few hours, but just suggested, the sillage wears of in some two hours.

To some this is not at all a good thing, while others are looking for discrete scents that are also unique and creative, if that is the case, I recommend all of MCMC Fragrances scents. Hunter is a must try, and Maine (with notes of rose, sage and seaweed) or Maui (ginger, star anise, frangipani and tuberose) are also original and pretty scents.

You can read more about MCMC Fragrances at theur home page

http://mcmcfragrances.com/Home.html

Pic: flickr.com

Acorelle - Wheat Almond and Amber Vanilla (Bio Cosmetics)

Like -probably- a lot of other women I´ve a somewhat complicated relation to clothes and shoes. When we get our dog I had about 15 or 20 pairs of not so practical but oh so beautiful high heeled shoes, but I didn´t had a single pair of sneakers. I had to borrow a pair that my son had outgrow. And when it was rainy I had to borrow my husbands big rubber boots.

Outer graments I had lots of, a bright red trenchcoat, leather and velvet jackets and even a wonderful red down jacket (that isn´t so much of use since the winters here are normally quite mild, with exception of last year). Other dog owners I met seem to have their wardrobe filled with comfy and practical outdoor clothes...

In my wardrobe there is a lot of clothes hagning that I´m hardly use, and that I´ve loose weight by running in and out with the dog makes the clothes not even fitting anymore.

So finally I have start to become a little more practical when it comes to clothes and shoes. Nowadays I´ve got not one pair of trousers in my wardrob e but 3 or 4 and I even got me two pairs of comfy sneakers for long walks. And I also have rubber boots my own size. I have cut two corsets into pieces and tried to make some necklaces of them and my red feather boa is hanging in a corner and looking lousy...

At 40+ I´ve realised that comfy and practical clothes are quite useful and yes... comfy. Oh well, middle age ta

kes us all eventually... Resistance IS futile and also a bit ridiculous I imagine.

A lot of different perfumes aren´t that fitting for casual wear, it´s in within the nature of perfumes to be somewhat luxurious and to spray on a lot of strong perfume becomes more and more controversial. Acorelle offers 100% natural products, among the products are some eau de parfums as well.

http://www.laboratoire-odysud.fr/

http://www.acorellebeauty.com/

Acorelle products are available both in Europe and USA.

Among their scents, two have captured me the most, Wheat Almond and Vanilla Amber, Wheat Almond is balancing and Vanilla Amber is dynamizing.

To me, Wheat Almond is most about comfort, it´s a scent to wrap yourself up in. Perfect this time of year, and a scent equivalent to a soft velour set. The scenst from Acorelle isn´t that complex, but they sure are refreshingly comfy and soft. Wheat Almond has a sweet, spritzy top note almost candylike, but that fades rather quick and leave a soft almond scent togheter with something that smells like floury wheat. And that is unbelivable nice and also quite unique. The texture of the scent reminds a little of Bois Farine even though they don´t smell alike. During heart and base there isn´t so much going on, it is soft, cuddly and with some soft woody notes and just a smallest dash of something fruity. The only negative about Wheat Almond is the somewhat poor lasting power, not over two hours on me.

Vanille Amber on the other hand has really nice lasting power for an all natural scent. Vanilla and amber has been made over and over again, but still Acorelle´s Vanille Amber seem to have found it´s own niche. I´m a lover of ambery scent, but still can I find them to be to sweet and almost cloying sometimes, or some amber scents has a dusty smell that thickles my throath. Vanilla Amber avoid all that, this is a vanilla amber scent that is soft, refreshing and light. If a lot of amber scents can feel like golden, thick and honeylike, Vanille Amber is like a glass of a sparkling golden refreshing drink. Really, this is kind of vanilla amber scent, for people not usually so found of vanilla and amber. Besides vanilla and amber, I can find some woody notes and a soft smokey scent also occur in the base. Vanilla Amber has better sillage then Wheat Almond, still this is a very discrete scent.

Both scents are intended for women, but I think they can be worn by men to. You may not turn to Acorelle scents if you´re looking for dramatic and splendid scents for evening wear, but if you´re looking for a snuggly comfort scent to spend the autumn/winter with I can recommend both Wheat Almond and Vanilla Amber.Wheat Almond is the more unique of them, but on me Vanilla Amber is the winner in the long run.

100% natural scents has become increasingly popular, what do you think about natural scents?

I have great respect for noses and perfume producers that chose to work with all natural ingridiences, but still I don´t have anything against some synthetics in my scents. Often this components make the scent last longer and there are so many new chemical notes with unique scent. At the same time there is to many bad put together 100% synthetic perfumes out there. If I had to chose between smelling like a syntetic strawberry soda mixed with hairspray or Wheat Almond or Vanilla Amber it´s really a very simple choise. :)

Pic: stefanpoon