Author: Caitlin

Fragrance writer and perfume collector!

Vaporocindro by January Scent Project

June 19, 2019

Notes: lilac, green leaves, green apple, turmeric, black pepper, narcissus, mahogany, agarwood, black currant, cumin, coffee, sandalwood, and ambergris.

Vaporocindro was the first scent I sniffed out of the January Scent Project discovery set and it’s the one I personally connect with the most. I’ve waited to write about it because I want to do right by this scent. The word “vapor” is in the title and this scent is fittingly airy and fleeting. It can smell a bit amorphous at times, hard to pin down. Other times, the notes come through stark and clear: green leaves and black pepper. Like the other JSP compositions from John Biebel, Vaporocindro is a bit of an oddity, but lovely in its uniqueness.

Vaporocindro opens with a crisp and stark green leaf note. This opening reminds me of two compositions by Olivia Giacobetti: the green fig leaves of Philosykos and the herbaceous green of En Passant. I don’t get a fruity fig from Vaporocindro, but there is a tart fruity note. I wouldn’t have identified it specifically as green apple without looking at the notes, but it’s a pleasant tart accord that rounds out the vibrant green opening.

Then the lilac comes in and brings with it both a heady floral aspect and a black pepper spiced facet. I have not smelled a floral accord done quite like this one. It’s substantial — you can clearly sense it. And yet, it’s fleeting, hard to catch hold of, and hard to define. The sillage at this point is a pleasant cloud, and it seems to reinforce Vaporocindro’s airy-fairy nature.

The base notes soon become apparent to help anchor the composition. The ambergris is subdued on my skin, but it does its job as a fixative to keep the composition going. I sense the mahogany note as a deep woody note, close to cedar. I also get incense-like wisps of a black pepper-spiced smoke. I wish I got the coffee note, but I can’t sense it anywhere on my skin. The sandalwood is truly the dry down and the final traces of Vaporocindro on my skin.

If this is all sounding quite floral and girly, it’s really not. I think Vaporocindro would smell very compelling on a man. (And, remember, fragrance has no gender!) However, there is something fairy tale-esque about it. Maybe it’s the “cindro” in the name that makes me think of Cinderella. And the overall airy quality makes the composition feel quite dreamy. I love to wear Vaporocindro in the evenings, when I’m winding down from the day, and I have the free time to sit down with a book and use my imagination.

Thus far, Vaporocindro is the fragrance from January Scent Project where I can see myself springing for a full bottle. (Although I am on my full bottle low buy!) It’s the one I can see myself wearing often and truly being in the mood for it every single wearing.

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I ordered the JSP discovery kit directly from the brand’s website. Nothing in this post was gifted or sponsored.

The list of notes is via Fragrantica.

The photo of my sample and mini Vaporocindro retro artwork was taken by me.

What I Wore This Week

June 16, 2019

Hi, everyone! Here is my weekly round-up of my scents of the day. The weather continues to unpredictable, but some cooler days have given me the chance to wear old favorites like Wood Sage & Sea Salt, which I don’t normally wear during the hot summer months.

  • Monday: Bas de Soie by Serge Lutens
  • Tuesday: Chanel No. 5 L’Eau
  • Wednesday: Wood Sage & Sea Salt by Jo Malone
  • Thursday: Bluer Skies (Whenever You’re Around) by Chris Rusak
  • Friday: Carven Le Parfum
  • Saturday: Figue Amère by Miller Harris

The Chris Rusak sample is very intriguing! I’ll have a full post up soon about my discovery set from the brand. For now, I need to figure out what to wear today!

What have you all been wearing?

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The photo was taken by me.

Les Eaux de Chanel (Deauville and more)

June 12, 2019

Chanel initially launched their Les Eaux collection a year ago in May/June of 2018. I thought I’d finally get around to writing about it now that they’ve launched a new addition to the collection: Paris — Riviera. I like the element of travel that is built-in to this collection. Perfume should be transporting. So, the idea of taking the train from Paris to Deauville or the Riviera elevates that idea even further. It’s also perfect for summer, when everyone is dreaming about vacation.

Deauville is my favorite and it was my first Les Eaux purchase. With my love of No. 19 and Cristalle Eau Verte, I know that I can pretty much count on a Chanel green to work for me. Deauville does not let me down. Each time I spray it, it’s always an addictive and gorgeous bust of citrus: lemon, lime, and a touch of bitter petitgrain. The aromatic basil note is really the star for me. It sort of arcs across the entire composition. It’s present through the opening, the heart, and even the base for me.

It has to be said that Les Eaux are eau de toilettes and, for me anyway, they really function like eau de cologne concentrations. They last on my skin about the same length of time as an average Jo Malone. I apply Deauville *very* liberally and I’m usually an under-sprayer! You simply can’t hold back with these compositions though. I say all of this to explain how the basil note functionally lasts the entirety of wear time. It’s because wear time just isn’t that long! I do get some shimmering jasmine in the heart notes of Deauville and an interesting spiced patchouli dry down, but it’s really all about that aromatic opening.

I ended up purchasing a bottle of Venise last Fall. It’s also a lovely composition and has a bit more staying power than Deauville because of its tonka base. I have not yet added Biarritz to my collection. I’ve just seen that Chanel has released the original three Les Eaux in 50 ml bottles. I think I’ll eventually purchase Biarritz in that size because I simply don’t see myself using it often enough to justify the 125 ml bottle.

Overall, I enjoy Chanel’s efforts with Les Eaux, and I think there’s a place for this sort of light and more easy-going collection within Chanel’s fragrance universe. It makes sense, especially since Chanel chose to switch all of the Exclusifs to EdP concentrations across the board. And I have to wonder if that decision was motivated in part by Les Eaux already being in development?

What do you all think of Les Eaux? I’ll have to give Riviera a try when I can. Please leave a comment if you’ve been lucky enough to sniff it already! I’ll likely have to wait until my next visit to New York.

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The photo was taken by me. I purchased my bottle of Deauville at the Chanel boutique on 57th Street in Manhattan. Nothing in this post is gifted or sponsored.

What I Wore This Week

June 9, 2019

Hi, everyone! I’m back with another round-up of my scents of the day. The weather here continues to be all over the place: sometimes sunny and beautiful, other times cool and rainy. Often all in the same day! I think I got some good fragrances in this week though.

  • Monday: Chanel Les Eaux Paris — Deauville
  • Tuesday: Carven Le Parfum
  • Wednesday: YSL Cinéma
  • Thursday: L’Eau Chic by Parfums de Nicolai
  • Friday: French Grey by Elizabeth & James
  • Saturday: Honeysuckle & Davana by Jo Malone

What did you all wear this past week?

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The photo was taken by me.

Nothing in this post is gifted or sponsored.

Secret Garden by Aftelier Perfumes

June 5, 2019

This afternoon, I picked up a bouquet of peonies for my apartment from Trader Joe’s, but that’s about as far as I go in terms of taking care of flowers or plants. I’ve never been into gardening. However, I loved the book The Secret Garden as a child, and the story has stuck with me. The 1993 film with Maggie Smith as Mrs. Medlock is also a gem. You don’t need to have a green thumb to appreciate Aftelier’s Secret Garden. You don’t need to have read the book either, but I’m a literature student at heart. I’ll never pass up the opportunity to make a connection to a book!

The first thing I smell when applying Secret Garden is damp soil. I do not smell lively greens or blooming florals. For me, the opening is earth and just a touch of damp green moss. It makes sense, if you think of the story, Mary and Dickon begin by clearing out the garden and nurturing it back to life (they do the same with Colin, nurturing him into being a healthy child). Damp soil is one of the first things you need for new life to grow.

The florals come in during the heart notes for me. I can sense rose, jasmine, and even a hint of carnation. The floral accords are full-bodied, but not in your face. Everything is very carefully balanced here. We’re at the stage where the garden is being carefully tended and maintained. The jasmine is most prominent to my nose and it’s a jasmine with depth: creamy, spicy and rich. I believe the touch of spice is what’s making me think of carnation. I don’t think it’s actually an intended note here, but, when I close my eyes and smell my wrist, I picture carnation blooming in my mind’s eye.

Secret Garden has great staying power for a natural because the base is so dense. The earthiness persists, less damp but more rich. It has been enriched now by the spice and the blooming florals. There’s a bit of a civet animalic presence, and I also get a touch of minerality. The mineral aspect makes me think of the key to the garden, which Mary finds buried in the earth. Secret Garden begins to fade away for me around the 5 hour mark. After 6 hours, I have to re-apply or perhaps move on to another scent.

I really appreciate the sense of realism I get from Secret Garden. Gardening is hard work! It’s sweaty and dirty. It’s dirt, it’s mud, it’s dampness, and manure. You get a sense of all of that here. However, don’t be fooled! Secret Garden is a grounded and earthy scent, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dreamy. It’s a Romantic composition. The jasmine really adds a sensuality and the unexpected touch of spice adds so much depth. I highly recommend trying Secret Garden, especially if you don’t typically like florals. This one might surprise you! There is nothing typical about it.

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I purchased a sample of Secret Garden from Aftelier online. I originally wrote about my first impressions here. Nothing in this post was gifted or sponsored.

The photo was taken by me. The background picture is a detail of a painting by Claude Monet, Villas à Bordighera. I own the Monet book by Taschen.

Of Travel (and travel sprays)

May 31, 2019

I’m taking a quick family trip to Boston this weekend, so I won’t have my usual What I Wore post up on Sunday morning. I thought I’d post this quick update instead and list my trusty travel sprays.

Do Son EDT by Diptyque

I took this one to Miami earlier in the spring. It’s a perfect pretty tuberose scent to wear in warm weather. The EDT is an inoffensive tuberose.

Graanmarkt13

This one is an interesting lavender, rosemary, and patchouli composition. The patchouli is very earthy here. I love to wear this one in the evenings/at night.

Blond by Hendley

Of course I dedicated an entire post to Blond. I love it and am happy to take it with me, no matter where I’m going.

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I purchased all three of these travel sprays myself, none were gifted. If you’re curious about the Graanmarkt scent, it’s available via Barney’s in the US.

The photo was taken by me.

May 2019: Collection Update

May 29, 2019

I’ve recently added a couple of bottles to my collection, so I thought now would be the perfect time to do another collection update post!

Fig Tea is a scent from Parfums de Nicolai that I’ve liked for several years. I first wrote about it here. I wanted to mention this scent in particular because I bought the 30 ml size for $52 from Luckyscent. I think it’s a great value for a 30 ml EdT that lasts around 5-6 hours on my skin. Compare that with $68 for Jo Malone’s 30 ml bottles! (And it’s $72 for the limited edition spring collection bottles.) I adore Jo Malone and I don’t mind the shorter wear time because I frequently re-apply. But that price point just doesn’t seem like a good value to me for an EdC concentration.

I bring all of this up just to say that, if you haven’t tried Parfums de Nicolai, I highly recommend this house! The EdT concentrations are comparable to Jo Malone (some last slightly longer than Jo Malone, some don’t. It will depend on your skin chemistry, of course.) And the Parfums de Nicolai price point is fantastic.

My other recent purchase is Tocca’s Simone, which is an effortless and easy-going kind of perfume. Can you believe that this is actually my first full bottle from Tocca? I recently learned that they discontinued my other Tocca favorite, Margaux. So I figured I should snap up Simone while I still can! I love the Tocca bottles and the ornate caps (which I removed for the photo. The cap was so heavy, it kept tipping the bottle over!)

Simone isn’t a fragrance that I would usually go for. It’s a fruit-forward scent (green apple and watermelon). The pink juice is clearly intended to appeal to a younger demographic. I normally roll my eyes at scents with such obvious marketing tactics like this. However, on the skin, Simone is simply so pretty, I can’t resist it. There is a woody undercurrent that keeps the composition anchored and gives it some staying power. What can I say? I’m not immune to pretty pink scents! I’m excited to wear this one for the summer.

Looking forward, I only see myself purchasing a 75 ml bottle of Chanel’s 1957 over the summer. I don’t have any other full bottles on my list right now. (Or, rather, I have so many full bottles that I would love, but I have to narrow it down!) I want to leave myself some leeway to purchase a bottle or two during the Fall and leading up to the holiday season. We shall see how my full bottle Low Buy continues through the second half of 2019!

Have any of you purchased new full bottles lately?

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I purchased Fig Tea from Luckyscent and Simone from Nordstrom.

The photo was taken by me.

What I Wore This Week

May 26, 2019

Hi, everyone! Happy Sunday! As usual, I’m back with my weekly round-up.

  • Monday: Figue Amère by Miller Harris
  • Tuesday: Honeysuckle & Davana by Jo Malone
  • Wednesday: Magnolia Nobile by Acqua di Parma
  • Thursday: La Religieuse by Serge Lutens
  • Friday: Simone by Tocca
  • Saturday: Simone by Tocca

Tocca’s Simone is a new purchase, and I’ll write more about it in my next post about my low buy for 2019.

A programming note: I did not have a weekly post up this week. I’ve been adjusting to some new iron supplements prescribed by my doctor and they are tough. I’m going through a period of feeling more run down before I feel better. Thank you for bearing with me!

What did you all wear this past week?

What I Wore This Week

May 19, 2019

Hi, everyone! I’m back with my regular weekly round-up post. This week was a little different because it was a travel week, so I don’t have as many scents pictured as usual. I still managed to wear some goodies though!

  • Monday: I was wear-testing Chanel 1957
  • Tuesday: Travel day so I wasn’t wearing any fragrance
  • Wednesday: Chanel No. 5 L’Eau
  • Thursday: Clementine California by Atelier Cologne
  • Friday: Magnolia Nobile by Acqua di Parma
  • Saturday: Geranium & Verbena by Jo Malone

I’m not sure yet what I’ll wear today. We’ll see how the weather turns out!

What did you all wear this past week?

Sniffing Adventures in New York

May 18, 2019

My trip to New York was a lot of fun, although it was slightly hampered by the weather. It was unseasonably cold for May (temperatures in the 40s) and it rained non-stop for two days! I’d forgotten just how tough the city can be when the weather is miserable. I didn’t get around to doing as much sniffing as I had planned, simply because I spent more time indoors and at the hotel than I had planned.

However, I did still get the chance to sample a couple of designer releases that I was really curious about!

Holy Peony by Maison Christian Dior: I love a pretty peony scent, especially for spring. Acqua di Parma’s Peonia Nobile doesn’t quite work for me. There is something in the base that doesn’t quite agree with my skin. Holy Peony does work for me, and, I have to say, it’s very pretty. It’s not a photo-realistic peony. It actually comes across more like a pink rose blended with a fresh green accord, and sitting on a base of soft musk. I’d love to buy this one, but I don’t truly need it in my collection. I already have Belle de Jour, which I love. Holy Peony would have to be seriously special to out-perform Belle de Jour for me. Still, it’s very pretty and worth sniffing. I’m sure this will be a successful release for Dior.

I have to give a shout-out to the Dior Sales Associate at Saks. She guided my friend Sarah and I through the entire Maison Christian Dior collection (the new Dior Privee) at length! She made samples for us and let us take our time sniffing everything. She was extremely knowledgeable, and it really speaks to the training and education program at Dior. Even when I worked at Sephora, our Dior rep was by far one of the most knowledgeable brand reps we had. I may not love each and every Dior fragrance, but they are taking the time to educate their staff, which reflects well on the brand as a whole.

1957 Chanel Les Exclusifs: I did not expect to like 1957 at all. None of the marketing copy put out by Chanel appealed to me. Still, it’s an Exclusif. I have to at least test it, right? My sister & I had lunch at Bergdorf’s to get out of the rain. We weren’t in a rush to go back outside, so we took a stroll around the Bergdorf’s beauty level. Lo and behold, the Chanel counter had 1957 and I spritzed it right on the skin. My first reaction was: Just as I thought, it’s not for me. But then, I couldn’t stop sniffing my wrist. And I noticed the fragrance persisted. It lasted all afternoon and well into the evening. I could smell traces of it even after taking a shower. I went back to Bergdorf’s the next day to test it again!

I have to admit, I love 1957. It starts as a burst of citrus (A zesty lime to my nose, although I don’t know the official note.) It moves into an orange blossom, soapy but pretty and not astringently clean. It then moves into an orris, with the earthy aspect of orris root just barely held in check by a gauzy musk. It’s like a cloud but, at the same, feels very grounded and rooted because of the orris. It’s surprisingly lovely. It lasts for ages on my skin, easily over 8 hours. If I’m still thinking about 1957 come June, I may spring for a bottle as a birthday gift to myself. However, if I’ve moved on to other shiny fragrance releases, then I know it’s not a need in my collection. I really urge everyone to test 1957 though. The performance and longevity are fabulous.

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The photos in the post were all taken by me.