Fragrance writer and perfume collector!
Hi, everyone! I’m back with my weekly round-up of my scents of the day for this past week.
What did you all wear this week?
Notes: cantaloupe, jasmine, osmanthus absolute, suede, iris root, sandalwood, musk complex, and ambergris.
I recently did a write-up here about my first experience sampling Hans Hendley’s line, Hendley Perfumes. I mentioned that Blond was my favorite of the bunch, and I finally went ahead and ordered myself a 9ml travel bottle! On the website, Hans uses a few short phrases to communicate what Blond is about: “Panoramic Nostalgia. Disappearing Horizon. Velveteen Drift.” I’m quoting the description here because it’s more accurate than I even realized at first!
Blond opens for me with an intense and nostalgic iris. The iris note by-passes a carroty iris reference and goes right to pencil shaving territory for me. It’s like emptying a pencil sharpener. It reminds me of Meg Ryan’s line in You’ve Got Mail about the beginning of Fall being like “a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.” I describe the iris in Blond as nostalgic because the pencil shaving association makes me think of art class in school. I think of a sheaf of loose leaf paper and manual pencil sharpeners. Plus, You’ve Got Mail is one of my favorite movies and it makes me feel nostalgic in general.
The iris note remains present throughout wear time, but the composition begins to develop on the skin pretty quickly after the immediate opening. The suede note comes in and it reminds me of the Hermès leather note in Galop, in that it’s both soft and refined, but also contains quite a bit of depth. The iris is central to Blond, but the suede is what carries the composition for me. It’s the anchor.
After a couple hours of wear, I feel like I’m really in the heart of Blond. I actually sense the cantaloupe note here! It’s a fresh melon note, but it has the cantaloupe-like density of texture. This texture melds together with the soft osmanthus and suede. My nose can’t pick out the jasmine note individually. I do, however, sense the sandalwood kind of peeking out underneath the suede.
I love Blond because it comes across as very pretty and refined at first sniff, but there are so many layers to uncover. I didn’t make the Hermès comparison lightly. Blond is elegant like the best of classic designer scents, but there’s also a lot going on beneath the surface, in true niche fashion. It’s so enjoyable to wear a scent and pick up on different layers and nuances as you wear it.
I want to purchase the full 50 ml Blond flacon at some point, but I’d like to finish one or two in my collection before adding another full bottle. I’m planning a couple of short trips for spring and this 9 ml size will be perfect to bring with me, so I think this was the right choice at the moment. I still have some Hendley scents to explore for myself, but Blond is the stand-out for me.
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I purchased my bottle directly from Hendley Perfumes. The list of notes is also via Hendley.
The photo of my 9 ml bottle was taken by me.
Hi everyone! I am back with my weekly round-up of what I wore this past week! Lots of Chanel and Jo Malone this week, which are perennial favorites for me. I’ll have to see if I can mix in a little more variety next week.
Today I’ll be testing some samples from January Scent Project, which I am really excited about!
What did you all wear this past week?
19-69 is a Swedish brand founded by Johan Bergelin. The line was first launched at the beauty cult favorite pharmacy, Colette, in Paris in 2017. This house has been on my radar for about six months, as I’ve seen various people on social media posting about these fragrances.
Then, I noticed that a few of the fragrances are now available online at Nordstrom. A sign that the brand might be breaking into the mainstream US beauty scene? Of course, the problem is that you can’t sample online from Nordstrom. Luckily, Twisted Lily also carries 19-69 so I ordered a couple of samples to test.
Capri
This one is going to be an absolute stunner in the high summer months. It opens with a mouth watering orange citrus note. I was all set to compare Capri to Atelier’s Orange Sanguine, but Capri really develops and comes into its own on the skin. There’s a yellow floral anchoring the heart. And there is definitely a hint of green galbanum that I am simply crazy about! It dries down to a very pleasant cloud-like musk base. I don’t see it being too heavy or overbearing for summer wear, and I’m really enjoying it in these cold mid-winter months, too! There are currently no comments about this one on fragrantica, and I expect that to change soon.
Rainbow Bar
I liked the sound of the woody, vétiver, and cypress notes listed for this one, so I also picked this up as a sample. If you’re at all into a cedar wood note, you’ll love Rainbow Bar. It feels like a base note-driven fragrance to me, in that I sense the cedar and vétiver right away, with the other notes weaving in and out. I also get some nice wear time here: about 7 hours with just my little splash sample. I’m sure you’ll get nice projection and longevity with a couple of spritzes from the full bottle. Rainbow Bar is meant to evoke the West Coast. Indeed, it reminds me of Woody Mood from Olfactive Studio, which also evokes the forests of California. I’m not considering a full bottle of Rainbow Bar for myself because Woody Mood currently fills this spot in my collection. However, it’s a quality composition and well worth sniffing, particularly for any cedar lovers!
*As of this morning, I received an email from Luckyscent announcing that 19-69 is now available there as well! So there are plenty of options for sampling this house now.
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I ordered both of my 19-69 samples from Twisted Lily. I took the labels off because I spilled from both sample vials (another reason I prefer spray samples) and the label ink started smearing. These scents are different enough from each other that I can easily identify them even without the labels!
The photo of my samples was taken by me.
Notes: honey, bergamot, patchouli, rose, oud, amber, labdanum, musk, and vanilla.
I have to confess that I’ve been growing tired of oud as a trendy note in fragrance for several years now. There are some great oud scents (I love Diptyque’s Oud Palao) but Western fragrance houses acting as though oud is some sort of new raw material — when it has been used for centuries in various different Eastern cultures — is problematic and tedious. I begin my write-up this way because it needs to be addressed, and also to say that I was not at all prepared to fall for Honey Oud.
Honey is truly the star of the show here. The honey is distinctive, pretty, and smooth. It’s edible but does not cross over into gourmand territory for me, not even with the vanilla present here. I have not smelled a honey note quite like this before: so true to honey and yet so pretty to wear. I don’t want to eat this honey but I do want to wear it as much as possible.
The oud is really a supporting player here. It supports the rose in the heart notes. The patchouli is more present to my nose. It’s dry and spiced, giving the rose a spiced edge. The honey lends the rose a smooth, almost velvety texture. I can picture drops of honey on a rose petal here, it’s so artfully done.
The dry down is mainly vanilla to my nose. It’s a smooth vanilla, with a little bolstering from the musk and amber. Again, I can’t pick out much oud by itself here. This may be a con of this fragrance to some people. If you’re really mad about oud, you may find yourself seeking more of it in this composition.
Honey Oud is definitely full bottle worthy, although perhaps not at full price. I would purchase a decant or a full bottle of this at a discount, if I could track it down reliably on ebay or fragrancenet. I find the name very “trendy” but the actual fragrance less so. Honey and vanilla? It doesn’t sound terribly exciting and, yet, the resulting composition is just plain delectable.
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I ordered my sample of Honey Oud from Indigo along with my Sylvaine Delacourte and Jardins d’Ecrivains samples.
The info on notes is via fragrantica.
The photo of my sample is mine.
I’m back with my weekly scent round-up here! This week was a bit all over the place, in terms of my activities, the weather, and my scent choices! And I couldn’t quite decide how to photograph this round-up. It’s not my favorite photo, but I do enjoy all of these perfumes.
As usual, I’m at yoga this morning and I plan to test-wear some samples later today.
What did you all wear this week?
I was going through my fragrance collection recently and pulled all of my Serge Lutens bottles together for a little round-up. I thought I’d write about the four I currently own and what my thoughts are.
Rousse
This is the one that really inspired this post because Rousse is one of my all-time favorite scents and I just don’t wear it or talk about it often enough. It always reminds me of February and Valentine’s Day because of the cinnamon note. It’s such a realistic cinnamon red hot candy note. It instantly reminds me of making Valentine’s boxes in grade school and eating Valentine’s Day candy. I want to both wear Rousse all the time and save my bottle forever like a hoarder. I just love it.
Bas de Soie
I believe Bas de Soie is really supposed to be a hyacinth composition, but it’s more iris and galbanum to me. The thing is, I sampled this before making a purchase, so I knew I liked this one. And, while I really enjoy Bas de Soie, when I’m in this kind of mood, I will usually pick Chanel over this. I will wear either No. 19 for the galbanum or Misia for the elegant powdery vibe. I feel like this is a scent in my collection that I need to make more of an effort to wear.
La Religieuse
This is my fool-proof pleasant work wear scent. It’s a very pretty jasmine. It smells like a hotel spa: very calm and like nothing bad could ever happen to you if you surround yourself with this scent. It’s fairly linear on me, but it lasts almost an 8 hour workday. I remember when this was released and it was pretty much panned by everyone because it’s not one of the more interesting SLs. But it definitely has a place in my collection and I get a lot of every day wear out of it. Plus, I love the name. I love anything that’s named after a pastry and Catholic nuns. The name just seems to fit Monsieur Lutens’ humor.
Fille en Aiguilles
I’ve written about Fille en Aiguilles quite a bit over the years. It’s just one of the most lovely scents for the holiday season. The pine needle and incense accord is done in such a unique way. It smells like Christmas, and yet, it’s also elegant. And I’ve been able to wear it in January and February winter weather without feeling like I’m burning a leftover Christmas candle or something like that. It still feels in season because of the refined, contemplative nature of this scent.
The Serge Lutens I’ve finished up is Five O’Clock au Gingembre. I love it and I’ve thought about repurchasing it. The problem is that it fulfills a similar role in my collection as Fille en Aiguilles: a perfect holiday scent. So, it would be a bit redundant in my collection right now.
The other SL I would consider purchasing is Baptême du Feu. It’s a newer release from the house, but it really made an impression on me. I wouldn’t even mind owning it in the new packaging with the new labels! (Which I think are ugly and clunky compared to the older packaging!)
What scents do you guys like from Serge Lutens? Does anyone own any of the bell jars?
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I have purchased my Serge Lutens bottles over the years from Barney’s and from Luckyscent.
I took this photo of my bottles all together myself. I love Rousse for the old Palais Royal logo on the label!
I’m back with my weekly scent of the day round-up! It was very warm at the beginning of last week and then the temperature plummeted again, so I tried to adjust my SOTD accordingly.
This will post will be going up while I’m at yoga class. The yoga studio I go to has this white tea and ginger aromatherapy oil that smells amazing, so hopefully that will be my scent of the morning! Other than that, I will be test wearing some samples this afternoon.
What have you all been wearing this week?
I recently ordered a couple of Parfums MDCI samples from Luckyscent. I had tested Invasion Barbare from this brand ages ago and LOVED it. The price point has kept me away, but I admire Parfum MDCI’s aesthetic, particularly the flacons with the replica bust toppers. I wanted to revisit this house and, hey, there is no harm in sampling, right?
Vêpres Siciliennes
This opens with a yummy candied fruit note that almost reminds me of a Serge Lutens. Some heady white floral notes join in, and we’re off. This is a glorious floral composition that is not for the faint of heart. I always thought that my skin chemistry doesn’t get along with big florals, but I’m glad I tried this because it proves me wrong! This is a glorious jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom, and a touch of rose to deepen the floral heart. It’s sumptuous, decadent, and a little over the top. I like the fact that the composition feels balanced though. The citrus fruit notes add a hint of sour zest, which is unexpected, but works well. And there’s a textured musk in the base. Vêpres Siciliennes feels like a fruity/floral the way it should be done.
Pêche Cardinal
The name is a play on words, as it translates to Cardinal Sin, but pêche also means peach. And peach is undoubtedly the star note here. I find this composition very pretty and refined for something named Cardinal Sin. I would expect something a little more wild with a name like that. However, it makes sense when you think of this as a peach fragrance. There is also a milky coconut that melds perfectly with the creamy tuberose heart. There is a plum note to bolster the fruitiness, but peach remains the stand-out. This reminds me of Kilian’s Liaisons Dangereuses, also with a gorgeous peach note. I found that scent more sensual and truly carnal than Pêche Cardinal, which is interesting. Of course, it could just be my nose and my body chemistry. It’s all so subjective!
Turns out, there is some harm in sampling because it’s safe to say that I am head over heels for both of these scents! My tiny splash samples from Luckyscent are rapidly disappearing. I’m adding both to my full bottle want list. I will need to make room — both financially and physically in my collection — and finish a full bottle of something else first.
Both of these scents are well worth sniffing. They both come across as balanced and high quality compositions. They are very “I feel pretty” type of scents for when you’re in that kind of mood.
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I ordered both of my Parfums MDCI samples from Luckyscent.
The photo of my samples was taken by me.
Notes: neroli, bergamot, heliotrope, coffee, tobacco, Peru balsam, musk, and myrrh.
George by Jardins d’Ecrivains is named for George Sand, or Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. She published her first novel, Indiana, in 1832 under her nom de plume, George Sand. In addition to writing, she was also famous for wearing men’s clothing and smoking tobacco, both of which were forbidden for women at the time. How to go about making a fragrance that would encapsulate this whirlwind of a woman? Where to even begin?
The perfumer, Anais Biguine, figured that a good place to start would be with George’s famous tobacco. The scent actually opens for me with neroli and tobacco. It’s kind of a sharp, stinging opening. I honestly didn’t like it at first sniff. However, it settles into my skin nicely after a few moments. I get just a hint of coffee blended with the tobacco. Coffee is one of my favorite smells and notes, so I really wish there was more to it here. If you’re not a coffee fan, you’ll be able to wear this scent because it’s blended so well.
The heart of the composition is actually where I detect some lovely heliotrope. A couple hours into wear time, the tobacco backs off and makes room for a delicate heliotrope note. George is very pretty at this stage. It really surprised me after the challenging opening. But it’s fitting that this composition would feature so much transformation and development, as George herself did.
The dry down is mainly musk on my skin. I can’t make out any resinous notes of myrrh, but that’s fine. The interesting part is that the dry down is not sweet. There’s no vanilla or creamy sandalwood soften the composition or make it more likeable. The musk here is definitely a substantial animalic note. It’s not trying to play nice. And yet, there is still a touch of delicacy left from the heliotrope.
The only let-down is the longevity. By hour 5, George is gone from my skin. I hear that this is a reoccurring theme with the Jardins d’Ecrivains line, so it’s something to take into consideration when sampling or purchasing this line. George is well worth smelling and owning. It’s an intriguing, challenging, and thought-provoking composition. It’s not on my full bottle list right now simply because of practicality. I need to better organize my collection before purchasing new full bottles!
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I ordered my sample of George from Indigo along with my Sylvaine Delacourte samples.
The info on notes is from Fragrantica.
I took the photo of my sample with the painting “An Elegant Tea Party in the Artist’s Studio” by Madeleine Jeanne Lemaire. I like to imagine George Sand making her way through this refined party, the scent of tobacco trailing behind her.
This Side of Perfume 