Annick Goutal - Eau de Charlotte

When I tell people about my perfume interest they often wonder if I don´t get tired of it. And if I really need that many perfumes? Of course I don´t NEED that many perfumes, but that I would get tired of my perfume interest is as likely that I would get tired of reading or listening to music.


I am and have always been (since I´ve learn to read anyway) a bookworm. In our family´s bookshelfs you can find anything between Swedish female mystery writers as well as classic masterpieces of Russian, Greek and English writers. Modern litterature, poetry, non-fiction about art, animals, history and sience. Fantasy, sci-fi, love stories and adventures. Well, not only me but my husband as well has a hunger for all kinds of books.


I´ve got plenty of time to wondering about a lot of things. I do think a lot about perfumes, but as often I think about books that I´ve read. So one day I start thinking about if perfumes/perfume houses where books, what kind of books would they be?


Of course Serge Lutens perfumes would be rich stories filled with life, fortune and adventourus scenes. Serge Lutens scents are as memorable and packed as Gabriel Garcia Marques novel One hundred years of solitude.


Frederic Malle´s scents are a little more intellectual and European, not as straight forward. Maybe a little like Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir rather than too cherful and noisy.


L'Artisan often manages to capture scents from all over the world, colourful, beautful and also modern. Crossover. Maybe our Swedish novelist Jonas Hassein Khemiri would suit the, he is good in mixing different cultures.


With Annick Goutal´s scents it´s that way that I was prepared to meet a novel filled with adventure and didn´t realised that it was a delicate love poem or a sparse japanese haiku. For some reason this is a very attractive thought for me. That I imagine that Annick Goutal scents rather being short, well expressed poems than several hundred pages of reading. This is a parable that works well for me, even though others might find it strange.


On me, there is only a few Annick Goutal scents that last for a long time or make a bold impression, actually Songes is the only this far. Eau de Charlotte is as all the others, ethereal, light, soft and transparent. Still, I really love it during that short moment when it smells the most and the goodest on me. This moment is about 1-1½ hour on me, but with Eau de Charlotte it´s a really nice hour.


The opening is shy and quite, warm berries together with something powdery that remind me of lipstick, even though lipstick in a really sheer and discrete color, which makes your lip looks nude. There is also some weak green notes, but hidden under the others and I can´t really tell what it is.


In the heart of the scent I can find powdery flowers, smelling mostly like lilies. And there is also a soft note of cacao, that together with vanilla makes a nice gourmand base. The berry notes are returning once in a while and I discover something that smells like biscuits or even, milk in Eau de Charlotte. Whatever it is, I love the smell. Not long time after tha, Eau de Charlotte starts to become so sheer and discrete that I almost forgot about it, and the next time I try to locate it on my wrist, it´s gone.


Yes, it´s sad that many of Annick Goutal´s scents has so short lasting power on me, but still Eau de Charlotte (and others) smells really, really good while they last. The short, but impressive moment while Annick goutal scents last are more memorable than many much more long lasting scents manage to receive.


Are you more lucka than me with the lasting power of Annick Goutal scents? My middle daughter loves almost anything from Annick Goutal, but then they also last as least twice as long on her...




Pic: levasomkarin

Krigler - Pleasure Gardenia 79

Thanks to a swap I´ve got some Krigler samples. An old fashionable perfume house that has been resting for quite a few years, but have been brought back to life just recently. Now, Krigler is a New York-based company and they have re-create several of their scents. You can learn more about Krigler, their history, their perfumes and such here: http://krigler.com/index.html


I´ll probably return to other Krigler scents later, but among the samples I´ve got one immediatly captured my interest; Pleasure Gardenia 79. The number behind the names indicates when the scent was released, 79 means 1979 not as early as 1879, and this makes Pleasure Gardenia to Kriglers youngest scent.


Pleasure Gardenia 79 starts of really loud, it´s like the scents jumps off my skin when I dab it on. It seem like all the different notes are trying really hard to be the first one reaching my sense of smell. But it end´s up all of them at once, flowery, fruity, sweet, strong, vanilla, some tobacco, coconut, chewing gum and a lot of different impressions are all over me. My first tought "Oh my, I´m usually not that found of tropical scents" the second "Hmmm... but... oooh... yeah" the third "Well, I may as well surrender".


This extremly skittish opening don´t last that long, maybe cause I´m not spraying it, but what comes afterwords aren´t worse, just slightly more peaceful.


Pleasure Gardenia 79 is a very multi-faced scents. It´s at once peaceful, relaxing and comfy, but also exotic, constantly changing and exciting. It is much of a tropcial blast, with creamy and coconutty nuances, but also plenty of elegance, sensual and erotic. Pretty fast I realise that Pleasure Gardenia 79 is among those really erotic floral scents. And it really manage to make it´s namesake the flower Gardenia justice. I do belive the flower gardenia has something deeply sensual, fleshy and voluptous in it´s apperance. It is among the most sensual and erotic flowers I think. And my middle daughter confuses Pleasure Gardenia 79 with Sls Muscs Koublai Khan, and that is something to add to Pleasure Gardenia 79 sexual aura.


Pleasure gardenia 79 happens to be much more than a blast of erotic pleasures, it is also from time to time clean, clear and almost soapy. Still with that voluptous, radiant and nude colored scent in the background. It is at once truly innocent, pure and white but also very in your face, barely dressed and seductive. To be honest I´ve got some kind of "Lolita-feelings" from it, but this could sound so wrong, becasue I don´t mean it in any tacky or depraved way. And it isn´t girly or childish at all, it has more in common with florals like FMs Carnal Flwoer and as I mentioned Muscs Koublai Khan. Still, Pleasure Gardenia 79 is kind of a cougar dressed in lamb clothes, without it being something strange, wrong or awkward about it. This is really hard to explain, I guess best way to find out is to try this scent by your self!


Besides from sleeky and dirty it also has some fruity sweetness (I can smell pear) and sweet, smoth and even though I think of it as quite discrete it has this wonderful lingering sillage that returns now and then. It is partly tropical, but more like visiting a top class tropical spa in a city somewhere than palm trees, fruit punch and sandy beaches. It has good lonvity about 7-8 hours and the base note is soft, comfy and extremly sexy. Pleasure Gardenia 79 isn´t much of a gender bender, it is utterly feminine.


You really, really, really have to try this if you´re at all interested in a charming, sexy, ambigous and thriving floral scent. You can order samples through Krigler home page, but I´m not sure about shipping to Europe. If you show up on the perfume meeting in Stockholm I might bring my sample with me.


Today I´ve got some nice samples from Luckyscent, the two newest from Parfumerie Generale and some other cool scents (two gardenias among others), more about them soon. Do you have any gardenia fav scent?





Pic: Omnia, flickr

Eau d'Italie - Bois d'Ombrie

Just as with Sienne l'Hiver you´re transported to another place with Bois d'Ombrie.


Bois d'Ombrie takes me to a forest, maybe somewhere in Italy, but I think it smells wonderfully foresty like in a forest anywhere. Bois d'Ombrie has a lot in common with Sienne l'Hiver, but they are taking place in totally different surroundings. Also, Bois d'Ombrie takes you for a slow walk, rather than on adventure. The scents of Bois d'Ombrie is much more complex than just "woods", but it is a wordly wood I visit, I don´t expect to meet elfs, trolls or any other kind of fairytale creatures in this forest. Probably I´ll meet some kind of huskies like lumberjacks, hunters or charcoal kiln watchers...


Bois d'Ombrie is also an unisex, but leaning toward the masculin side. Despite that, I think of Bois d'Ombrie as a little easier to wear, but maybe Sienne l'Hiver is just a little more interesting and unique.


Bois d'Ombrie is softer, more friendly and also a little sweeter than Sienne l'Hiver. In the top note Bois d'Ombrie is strong and compact, I can smell some volatile notes of something boozy, but shortly after it is all about rustic leather and something that makes me think about the smells of the forest floor, you know like soil, resin, mossy and very aromatic. On my skin, this is the notes that dominates for a good while, but I can also smell some vetiver, iris and soemthing that to my nose smells almost like weak cinnamon.


The start of Bois d'Ombrie is heavy and strong, but manage to capture me very well. All the time I´m curious about what comes next. I become really happy when I discover small traces of something smoky, you see there is after all a charcoal kiln somewhere in the forest! When I detect the smoky note, the scent is going for a softer phase, I discover a nice, dry note of tobacco, it becomes sweeter, softer and really comfy. Very, very nice!


Bois d'Ombrie might have alittle more lasting power then Sienne l'Hiver, but the sillage is at the same leavel. On me, Bois d'Ombrie becomes a genuin woody, leather scent, but on my husband -this one also- becomes slightly better and more interesting. His skin chemistry seems to scrub of sharp corners of this kinds of scents. On me, Bois d'Ombris isn´t sensual or sexy, but on my husband it is... I wouldn´t mind watching the charcoal kiln together with him...


Like with Sienne l'Hiver I recommend Bois d'Ombrie to everyone that is interesting in well made and unique kind of scents, especially to men. It is really nice and exciting.


Why I´m keep nagging about charcoal kilns is that my grand father used to make charcoal kilns when I was small, it is long time ago (70'ies), but even then they where very uncommon. I think the art of making charcoal kilns (in Sweden) died with my grand fathers generation (even though it´s probably possible to take a course in charcoal kiln making, but it isn´t really the same). Therefore it is no wonder I like a scent where I can imagine I sense the smoke from a charcoal kiln...





Pic: Tre nycklar

Eau d'Italie - Sienne l'Hiver

Eau d'Italie is an Italian line of perfumes that has been inspired by a wonderful hotel in Positano, Le Sirenuse. Look at the pictures and admit that I´m not the only one that would love to go there:

http://www.sirenuse.it/Intro.asp



Eau d'Italie offers six different scents, Eau d'Italie, Paestum Rose, Sienne l'Hiver,Bois d'Ombrie, Magnolia Romana and Baum du Doge, or really seven, but I´ve not tried their newest, Au Lac. You can read more about Eau d'Italie´s products here:
http://eauditalie.com/index.html


Eau d'Italie and Magnolia Romana didn´t impressed me. But, I am anosmic to all of the heart not in Magnolia Romana and cousln´t smell almsot anything for several hours except of a little aquatic note, I´m sure Magnolia Romana is a great perfume on people that can smell it. But, it´s impossible to like everything just as much.


However, I have been enchanted by Sienne l'Hiver, a scent that one of my blog readers made me curious about. Sienne l'Hiver means "Winter in Siena" and I can sign for that. Not that I´ve visited Siena neither in winter or any other time, but Sienne l'Hiver seem both wintery and Italian to me.


Some scents that takes me on olfactory trips are filled with adventure, imagination and almost a little wearying, but Sienne l'Hiver isn´t at all like that. It´s sober, slow and very unique. It takes me on a walk through a wintery Siena. I imagine I follow a little boy around that like to show me the town.


We´re starting in the boys grandmothers and grandfathers Italian deli store. Here it´s cozy and homey. The air is filled with scents, pickled olives, truffle, some smoke, soft vinegar and hints of leather. This sin´t like any other scent I´ve tried. In this phase Sienne l'Hiver is a gourmand, but a very different one. I can´t help wondering if I really wants to smell like an Italian deli, but no matter what I think about that, still this smells really good, genuine and also odd in a pleasant way. Sienne l'Hiver is a subdued scent, but not discrete, you don´t have to hunt it down, it takes an obvious, self-consious and masculine place at once.


Just when I´m getting used to sitting in the cozy deli, it´s time to go out in the streets of Siena. The alleys of Siena is narrow and winding, and now Sienne l'Hiver become a little colder and more like an outdoorsy scent. I can smell a very prominent scent of moist bricks (tiling), just like I´m walking in the shadow of old houses. The scent of bricks are really unique and I find it interesting and nice. The scent of smoke and wood also becomes more noticable now. Below this barren and somewhat inhospitavble scents I can also sense the scents of soft flowers and/or something sweet. But only when I sniff up close. Sienne l'Hiver is pretty much a very unsweet scent.


Sienne l'Hiver is an unique and refreshingly different scent. It´s filled with imagination, happiness and creativity. On me it becomes a little hard to wear as a perfume, but my husband wears it from start to end without any problem. I´ll surely return to Sienne l'Hiver but more because the feelings and moods it manage to wake within me, than to wear it as an ordinary perfume. Even though Sienne l'Hiver is different on the border to odd, it isn´t as odd as some scents that become impossible to wear at all.


The lasting power of Sienne l'Hiver is good, but not amazing, around 6 hours. The sillage is obvious, especially from start. The basenote is a little softer than the rest with nice notes of warm wood, smoke and very, very soft sweetness (maybe from chestnut?). Sienne l'Hiver is an unisex, but towards masculine. There is probably women that can wear this without problem, but on me it becomes alittle to "large". I recommend it to anyone that feels like testing anything very different and no perfume interested man should miss this one!


Sienne l'Hiver isn´t the only interesting scent from Eau d'Italie, but to me it´s the most unique if not the easiest to wear. Do you have any favorite fragrance that smells unique and different, but that you don´t really want to go around and smell like?


Pic: Above from flickr, and below from Panoramio

My favorite perfume

Swedish site Parfymguiden has annonsed a blog contest. You can read more about it here: http://www.parfymguiden.se/


The task is to write about "My favorite perfume", which seem easy enough maybe, but not for me. I have wondering about it a lot, but then an evening... why is that you always have inspiration, ideas and insightw when you´re about to sleep? Anyway, it was that evenigt I got the answer.


And the answer was in my heart, not in my sense of smell or in the memory bank in my brain where I have stored hundreds of masterpiece perfumes. Now, when I sit here and had put on some of my favorite perfume I can feel in my stomach that I´ve made the right choise.


To put on my favorite perfume is like meeting an old dear friend after a long time. To wear it is like reading that old favorite book for the tenth time and recognise every formulation, intrigue and mood in it. To smell my loved perfume lingering around my body, is like listening to old songs with Beatles or Patti Smith instead of something with Lady Gaga or Black Eyed Peas that are played constantly on the radio. To me, wearing it is like coming home...


There is no other perfume I´ve bought that many bottles of. Now I´ve soon finished my forth bottle of it, and I know I´ll start looking for the fifth bottle. My favorite perfume came to me when i was adult, I was stuying at the university and it was a good time in my life. But since then, I´ve been trough both good and hard times. But, my dear perfume is a mood lifter, I always feel a little bit more happy, more relaxed, more good looking and more adventurous when I wear it. It is one of a kind.


My dear old perfumes is the only one that I still use, like and appreciate among the perfumes that I used to wear before I become a perfume nerd. It has been with me through thick and thin and i hope it´ll hang around for many more years. Maybe my favorite perfume isn´t the most complex or interesting one, but I still love it.


It houses warm, sunriped, exotic, spicy scents as from an Indian market a hot day and still it manages to convey an adventourus, dark and sensual mystique as from a grand party in the palace of a wealthy maharadja. With it´s richness of juicy fruits, exciting and unexpected spices, among others also note of licorice, tropical almost stunning flowers and extremly rich, sensual and saturated base note of vanilla, amber and patchouli you might belive this scent is for winter wear only. But, I like to wear my favorite perfume at warm summer evenings as well. It fits me like a match made in heaven.


My darling scent ahs been with me since 1996. It was created by the talented Dominique Ropion (that also have created several other favorites such as Alien, Carnal Flower and Anglomania). My favorite perfume is Kenzo´s Jungle L'Elephant. Which is your favorite perfume?




Pic: Wikimedia

What´s up?

Have had a nice, but slightly cold, weekend with my family. We watched some movies, Hachiko, Sin Nombre and Inglorious Basterds and they where all good. Otherwise me and the whole family goes around waiting for the little grand children to come, it´s only 3 days to go now, but babies comes when they wan´t to so we have to wait and see. I´m so looking forward to meet my grandkid for the first time soon.


My order (that i placed more than a month ago) at BPAL is finally on it´s way, so I hope it´ll arrive soon. And I´m testing some Italian perfumes, but it will take some time.


This morning I visited my middle daughters folk collage and talekd about perfumes with her class and teachers, it was so much fun and they where all (maybe except of a young man with a cold) so nice, curious and interested. It would be fun to do such things a little more often.


And I will probably participate in a blogg-contest for the very first time, I´m kind of excited about that.


And the perfume meeting in Stockholm seem to be on the 29 of May, around 12 will suit me good.




Pic: fine art america

Hors La Monde - Lady Shiloh

I do prefer Shiloh before Lady Shiloh if I have to chose, but that doesn´t mean that Lady shiloh is a weaker scent. Just like with Shiloh, you can tell Lady Shiloh is made with high quality ingrediences, serious perfume skills and interest of composition. And, just as Shiloh, Lady Shiloh is a "keyscent" for me. With keyscent I mean a kind of scent that manage to deepen my feeling for and knowledge about a certain (or many) note. A scent that helps me appreciate and like a note that I have had troble liking earlier. A scent that I´ll recommend to others for understanding a kind of note often a little hard to be familiar and comfy with.


And what is the key note in Lady Shiloh? Well, it has a musk note I recognize from V.Westwood´s Boudoir and Miller Harris L'Air de Rien. That certain musk smells like body odour and unfortunatly in both Boudoir and L'Air de Rien it smells like dirty kind of body odour. Some people love Boudoir and L'Air de Rien thanks to that note, but on me it turns nothing but bad... But, this is so strange... the same note in Lady Shiloh suits me quite well .


Most of all, Lady Shiloh is a fine tuned, powdery and soft floral, even though I can smell the musk at once, it is very dirscrete and light. Since I recognised it, I start waiting for it to grew on me, I belive that I´ll have to go and wash it of. But, however, Lady Shiloh never reaches that point. The flowers in Lady Shiloh manage to keep ground all the time, even though I think it´s amazing that flowers so soft and gentle can dominate anything at all. Jasmine and violet are the elegant, beautiful and ladylike parts in Lady Shiloh. Yes, it is a very elegant scent, suitable for any arketypical lady, but Lady Shiloh is so much more than a well behaved lady... I guess Lady Shiloh is a lady in the same way as the lady in Lady Chatterley´s Lover... Lady at the outside and thanks to good training, but also a creature filled with both sensual and erotic spirit if only someone wake it up.


In both Boudoir and L'Air de Rien the musk note (on me) become overwhelming, dominant and dirty. Lady Shiloh won´t go that far, the erotic qualities are all the time on the right side of a thin, delicate line it is sensual, erotic and full bodied without ever being raw, dirty or animalic. And thanks to that lady Shiloh become the most erotic of them all, since it leaves a lot to me and my imagination. This is a really exciting and very well made scent. The name itself contribute to the overall impression in a most intelligent way.


As with Shiloh, I do recommend Lady Shiloh to everybody that appreciate a good and interesting scent. But mostly to the one´s that love Boudoir or/and L'Air de Rien, Lady Shiloh would suit well, even though lighter and more discrete. And for those of you that not really manage to like Boudoir or L'Air de rien, Lady Shiloh is an excellent starting point for this kind of musk scents.


Lady Shiloh is in the skin scent category (at least with a dab on sample) and have good longvity, about 7-8 hours.




Pic: Lladro porcelain