Undina's Looking Glass

The hot weather we had in the beginning of May slightly cooled off, it is now a very pleasant period when very warm days turn into slightly chilly nights.

I’m extremely busy – both at work and in my everyday life but since I came across some posts that fell into one of the categories I try to cover I decided not to skip this week. So here are posts that made me want to try a new for me perfume, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes I love.

Lemmings

If you were to read just one story from my weekly round-up read Christos’s (Memory of Scent) post on the story of the perfume about which I haven’t heard before but towards which I feel warm now after getting to know it through Christos’s words.

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I didn’t think of testing this new L’Artisan‘s perfume because I disapprove mass marketization trend of their advertising (a naked model for the Caligna ad) but Lanier (scents memory) told the story in such a way that it made me want to try the perfume: Caligna to my nose is light and soft on my skin and the notes blended into a pure tingling effervescent pop of spring. Lovely and bright, luminous in fact, Caligna is really the perfect uni-sex perfume for springtime or even in the cold months to recall the joys of May in bloom in the south of France.

Laughs

Do you want to know a secret of immortality and look at a peach from a different prospective? Read Judith’s (the unseen censer) The story of sex and a peach  (but I warn you: a peach might never look the same to you).

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Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): Interlude Woman was sleeker and smaller (thank heavens), but still overpowered, still with that insane acceleration rate. Driving it was a revelation in centrifically challenging accelerations, hair pin curves, and how fast the crew could get you back on track (thirty seconds). I came away with a vague memory of iced tea and burning rubber, and that is all that I remember about that test run.

Loves

Kafka (Kafkaesque) reviews one of my favorite Serge Lutens‘ perfumes: De Profundis opens on my skin with a fragile, haunting and delicate bouquet of flowers. There is chrysanthemum with violets, green notes, white lilies and sweet, wet earth. I will tell you my Profundis story soon. I hope.

If you read any interesting posts that, in your opinion, didn’t get enough attention – please share.

With temperatures rising into high seventies and absolutely no rain it would have been hard to believe it was still spring if it hadn’t been for nature presenting an undoubted proof of it in form of all kinds of youngsters: only in the past several days I saw a couple of leverets in the bushes surrounding my office and goslings on the picture below became a usual sight from my office window.

I’m not sure if I should attribute it to the birds-do-it attitude but my lemmings recently started thronging again. Laughs and Loves are keeping them company.

Lemmings

I have this perfume and like it but if you need an extra lemming or two, you just have to read Sandra’s (Olfactorial’s Travels) review:  Stilettos on Lex smells just as good if not better than the image it conjures. It starts off with quite a bit of pear and plum on me and stays there for some time. I love it and keep burying my nose into my wrist wishing I could pull off the Blahniks with such ease and comfort.

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Do you know about Rouge Bunny Rouge brand? I’ve never seen any of their products in real life but read some posts on beauty blogs. Did I care about their perfumes? Not really, though I remember reading somewhere about their release. And then I read Sigrun’s (Riktig Parfym) review (I’m not giving out the best part of it – read all three mini-stories there): I especially remember one summer, all I got was lots and lots of parsley. I had no idea what to use the  parsley for but I went experimental, tried substituting it for spinach in soups or in crepes or just chopping it up and throw it into any dish imaginable. We became friends, parsley and I, and now I plant it every year and wouldn’t want to be without it.

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Tarleisio (The Alembicated Genie) keeps fattening this lemming (as if it needed any more nurturing!): No matter what quotidian, mundane life you lead and decisions you make, some days and some moments, you want to feel invincible, imperious, regal.
Wear Tsarina. Remember – for a moment, for an evening, for yourself, for posterity, for celebrating your own unique and unexpected majesty

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When I first saw the picture of those two new Hermes colognes’ bottles I knew I’d want to try them (and secretly hoped to like them) but Victoria’s (Bois de Jasmin) four stars review doesn’t make my waiting for Eau de Narcisse Bleu and Eau de Mandarine Ambree any easier.

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Suzanne (Eiderdown Press)with her review for Ramon Monegal‘s Cherry Musk managed to create lemmings even not for the perfume (I have a sample and currently testing it) but for the movie with which she had a parallel in her head for that perfume: That kind of flowering is rare—perhaps it only happens in films—but it is a beautiful thing to contemplate at a time of grief.

Laughs

Every time Kafka (Kafkaesque) does her parody trial I can’t help but smile. If you haven’t seen it yet, try: [The Bailiff]: “All rise! The Court is now in session, The Honorable Charles Highblossom presiding. On the docket, The People v. Xerjoff Zafar, Case # 13-276891XZ. The charge is olfactory assault and battery. State your name and business before the Court.”
[A small, goat-like, balding man rises]: “I am the District Attorney, Luke Sneering.”

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One more thing that made me smile wasn’t completely perfume-related but since it had some connection to my blog I decided to share it with you. Last week I got an e-mail from our office assistant – a very nice young man and an artist in spare from working for our company time:

I ran across this artist in a magazine (American Craft) at the library and it made me think you.
Check it out

I opened the link, read the caption… and laughed. He and I had recently discussed some glass work (jewelry, etc.) and he knows about my blog since he’s the one who brings in all the fragrant packages I get, sometimes addressed to Undina. In his early twenties, I’m sure he didn’t read much into the sculpture description. So I decided not to do it either. But I was curious enough to find a post by a woman who took a part in that project:

Everyone should step outside of their CZ [comfort zone] at least once a week.
It grows you.

Loves

Lorraine (Dear Scent Diary) reviews a perfume that I like wearing – Vetiver Oriental by Serge Lutens: … as it drys down, the gourmand sweetness pulls the rooty greenness into what I would consider feminine territory. It’s not for girls though. Women only.

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Kafka (Kafkaesque) reviews a perfume for which I do not own a full bottle yet only because I can’t decide what to buy first – an EdC or a parfum (and because I still have a partial decant generously gifted to me by Birgit): Sophisticated luxury under the most polite and elegant of veneers.[…] That is essence of Bois des Iles, a spectacular Chanel fragrance with a very feline heart that makes me just close my eyes in the deepest of admiration. Even if you’re not interested in the review at this time, go and take a look at pictures – those big cats!

Images: goslings – my own; mermaids – from Tim Tate’s site.

It was a warm and extremely windy week that I would have enjoyed if it weren’t for my back that acted up and was absorbing all my strength and time. And as soon as my back got slightly better my neck has decided it was a good time to become a prima donna.

I’m not done with my weekly reading (it’s very annoying but I can’t even read for too long since it hurts) but since I was collecting posts that created lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes I love, I decided to publish it while I still can. I might lie low for a while – to let my body heal. But when I can, I’ll catch up on the reading your posts.

Lemmings

Civava (Parfumista’s Diary) published the first review for the upcoming Neela Vermeire‘s new perfume Ashoka: My first impression was that this is strange and so different from all other perfumes in Neela’s collection. But very quickly fig milk and more flowery notes emerged. It is lactonic and with skin (at least mine) gets very nice. I wouldn’t say gourmand, because there is not enough sweetness and other spicy elements. I look forward to trying it when it comes out in autumn.1.

Laughs

Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): I remember vividly that Sister once caught me by breaking her routine and moving diagonally across the classroom to make a casual inquiry about a compound-complex sentence while I had a mouthful of the things. When her queries about the main verb went unanswered she swiped me upside the head and I spewed black spit all over the desk top.  I don’t believe either of us ever really lived it down.

Loves

Kafka (Kafkaesque): There is a certain chilly coolness to the elegance. While Puredistance’s founder, Jan Ewoud Vos, feels the perfume evokes his mother (whose name is Antonia), to me, it conjures up a beautiful, slightly haughty, aristocratic European socialite from the early part of the 20th century, languidly lounging in a stunning dress. Here’s my Shahrazad’s tale for this perfume.

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The Perfumed Dandy (The Perfumed Dandy) sees mybeloved Diorella as a Lady of the Knives. Earlier I told the story of my first love in which Diorella played an unexpected part.

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Kafka (Kafkaesque) also reviews my favorite Tom Ford‘s perfume – Arabian Wood: By the start of the second hour, the perfume is truly pretty. The sandalwood has joined the party on the forest floor. It’s beautifully creamy, and its richness feels very much like the real thing, not a synthetic version. Together with that velvety patchouli, it’s a strong backbone for much of the perfume’s remaining development.

Last week we finally got some rain – which was good. What was not so good, the absence of heating in the office. There was a gas leak in the building next to ours and the gas company shut off everything and is trying to repair the line. Sometimes it felt like outside was warmer than inside. I suggested we had a bet what would happen first: we’d get heat back or we wouldn’t need it any longer because of the weather. But my co-workers were so cold they didn’t want even to joke about it. We’ll see.

After a break I’m back with my weekly round-up post. For those who’ve started reading my blog recently: I’m bringing up those posts from my weekly reading that created some lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes that I love.

Lemmings

It doesn’t take much for me to get excited about a new Amouage release but Lucas (Chemist in the Bottle) did his part and so did Sheila (The Alembicated Genie). So of course now I want to try Beloved Man.

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Lanier (scents memory) reminded me of a perfume that I liked a while ago, planned to get a bottle of, never did and now I’m hesitant: will I still like Cinema by YSL after all the niche offerings I’ve been with since we last met? For now I’m fighting off these lemmings but I don’t know for how long.

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I do not really care for the new perfume from Boss (neither does Lorraine (Dear Scent Diary)) but I would love to have that sweater Gwyneth Paltrow wears on the picture for the article. But I won’t: even if I could get it I’m not ready to pay $500 for a sweater.

Laughs

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): My conventional-looking scone paled into insignificance beside Tara’s humungous chocolate croissant, while Nick’s millefeuille was so substantial that he had to abandon it somewhere around the “cinq cents” mark.

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Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): Actually, I worry so much that I never wear patchouli myself, on the theory that, like a bra strap, she may be showing even when you don’t want her to.  Some people even claim that they’ve been caught with their patchouli down while wearing Chanel’s Coromandel, which is about as high end as it gets.  Is anyone really up for this kind of exposure? Do you want to spend all day worrying if your patchouli is clean in case you get hit by a bus?

Loves

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press) reviews one of my favorite Guerlain‘s perfumes: Chamade couples the vibrant smell of Spring—of yellow daffodils and brilliant greens—with a base accord that is the very hallmark of what one expects of classical perfumes: a richly cosmetic scent that conveys a feeling of grandness and sophistication.  If I were going to paint a picture to describe the smell of Chamade, it would be of a dense cluster of daffodils bursting into bloom in a stately marble planter, as this perfume really seems to suggest that there is something excitingly new and sunny issuing forth from a classic antiquity.

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Bryan (From Pyrgos) reviews one of the perfumes that are very dear to me: the boys at Creed could use a tutorial from Annick Goutal on how to use pear in perfume. Petite Chérie is a successful composition that perfectly illustrates the unique youthfulness of peach and pear. I not-a-reviewed it as a part of my weeklong test drives – WTD, Episode 1.6: Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal

Leftovers

If you were waiting to try or to order a bottle of the new all-natural perfume Cocoa Sandalwood from Sonoma Scent Studio you’ll be pleased to hear that Laurie has put back a purchasing option. Now you can order all samples (1 ml and 3 ml) as well as any size bottle of Cocoa Sandalwood.

The week was very cold again but warm sunlight put some life back into my lemmings (though, as you can see below, some of them are rather grumpy).

Normally I do not publish on a schedule. Whenever something is published, you, my readers and my friends, come over during the next three-four days to read and sometimes comment. But since I know now that I will publish this Thursday, January 24 – please consider it an official invitation to stop by on that date (or three-four days later).

Lemmings

Judith (the unseen censer) makes Decennial Collection from Luckyscent sound so appealing that I almost want to buy those samples: I’m going to wear all four of the perfumes in the Decennial collection, and I particularly enjoy contemplating them together, because to me, together they are a string quartet of woods: sandalwood, cedar, green young wood like ash or vine, and mesquite. I like the scent of wood, from carved wooden bowls to antique rocking chairs, and I like how these talented perfumers have mixed those woods with everything from flowers to foods to make four beautiful perfumes. Almost but not quite: I know that Luckyscent is in this business for money but something bothers me with such a hefty mark-up on the samples for their own perfumes. I’ll wait for splits.

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Musette (Perfume Posse) reviews the upcoming release from one of my favorite brands Amouage Beloved Man. Even though I usually prefer their feminine (or at least unisex) offerings I look forward to trying this one.

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Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): Rima XI is a gauzy web of spices backlit by a soft, sheer glow. It is pale and interesting, with a warm hum from its amber and vanilla base. It should be worn by heroines of romantic novels draped languidly on chaises longues, though never in a dead faint.

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Jessica (Tinsel Creations) shares the picture of her new bracelet (and a link to the online store). It’s so not my style but I so want it…

Laughs

Neil (The Black Narcissus) made me laugh not once but twice this week: once on his own blog (I do not want to give away anything, just read the story and I hope you’ll smile) and once in his guest post on Olfactoria’s Travels (you just have to read at least the part with his review for 7 Billion Hearts if you haven’t read it yet!)

Loves

Kay (That Smell) reviews one of my most happy loves – Bronze Goddess by Estee Lauder: Bronze Goddess reminds me of clean, fresh linens, coconut, and a tropical holiday. It dries down with a more mellow coconut note and a classy white musk with sandalwood that keeps the fragrance away from “teenaged girl coconut” and more in the territory of “grown-ups coconut”… I didn’t review this perfume so I won’t suggest reading my story but (those of my readers who didn’t follow me in 2011) take a look at the picture of Bronze Goddess with Dragon< Fruit>s I took in Hawaii.

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Parfumista (Parfumistans blogg) reviews one of my new loves (though she likes it much less than I): In  the City of Sin starts with a sparkling clean bergamot-cardamom dominated accord. Then some natural smelling fruity nots follows, there are no harsh chemical notes, instead the fruity notes are round, soft, fresh and perfectly ripe. The fruits reminds me of a tamer version of the fruity notes of Bombay Bling from Neela Vermeire creations.

It has been a while since I did my weekly round-up post. It wasn’t because there was a lack of great posts falling into one of the categories I cover: Lemmings – posts that make me want to try (or to buy) a perfume they describe; Laughs – posts that made me laugh (or at least smile); Loves – posts about perfumes I love and wear. But a holiday season combined with the year-end work running-around made my blogs reading irregular and I was usually catching up days later.

Now I’m back and here’s the first post in the series for this year. It’s unusually cold in our area (0C/32F at night – I know, all of you in places with real winters laugh at that but for us it’s really cold) so I decided to blame the weather for the absence of any lemmings: they must have frozen somewhere half way to me.

If you were to name one perfume that recently conjured lemmings for you what would it be?

Laughs

Sigrun (Riktig Parfym): There are color nerds???? How did that company even come about? I’m picturing two nerds from the 60:ies, one of them very agitated, going: ”No, for the last time, beetroot and fushia ARE NOT THE SAME F***ING COLORS!!! Ok, now I’m gonna lock myself up in my room and map out every single color so we NEVER HAVE TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION AGAIN”.

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Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): So today for a laugh, I decided to speak the names of some iconic perfumes into Siri and see what it made of them…

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Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): These Aliens are no slouches at procreating, it seems, and I remain the only one alienated – a stranger, it would seem, in a strange, smelly land.

Loves

Blacknall (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen) writes not about a single perfume but about the House that I like: Which will be the next great perfume house? The house that will define early 21^st century tastes in scent?

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K. or S. (Kafkaesque): Soon, the sun will shine intensely upon the sandy dunes and the dry desert wind will pick up traces of the spices, mixing it with the dust and the scent of Morocco, filling the air with the riches of the ancient spice route and the mysteries of the desert. That is the promise of L’Air du Desert Morocain Eau de Toilette Intense, a unisex fragrance by Tauer Perfumes. And it is a promise that it delivers upon, lock, stock and ten roaring barrels.

It was a great week: warm and sunny weather (though for my vSO it’s a negative thing since he’s concerned about the drought), a lot of great food and wonderful time spent with my family and friends (including a perfumista friend – which was an extra treat).

I tried to catch up reading the blogs on my Reading List but I still have some posts to go through. I laughed a lot in the real life but didn’t find (or remember) anything for my Laughs section. Lemmings are still in a turkey coma so just a couple of lackadaisical ones are leisurely looking towards Spring 2013.

Lemmings

Since I’m a fan, I can’t help but get excited about this new Jo Malone Sugar & Spice collection though I’m annoyed that, again, it’ll be a limited edition and there will be 5 (five!) new scents. In a smaller bottles (30 ml) – which is good. A set of 9 ml bottles of the complete collection would have been even better.

Loves

Parfumista (Parfumistans blog) reviews wonderful Chypre Palatin by Parfums MDCI (and rates it 5): Chypre Palatin is a pleasant, versatile, elegant and very wearable fragrance that could be worn in daytime for office or formal events year around except during warm summer days. My precious decant came from Suzanne (Eiderdown Press). Every time I wear it I think of her with a gratitude. If you missed it, read her take on this perfume.

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Lanier (scents memory): Named for Christian Dior’s muse and friend Mitzah Bricard it is heady and hypnotic but never overwhelming. It is what I would call deep and
multi layered in its design, a real stunner for me that never shouts but rather insinuates and seduces the one who wears it. I love this perfume and it’ll join my collection once my decant is gone.

One holiday is done, more to go. And I’m looking forward to all of them.

It was a very sunny and warm week. It was almost wrong to feel that good about the weather when Nature was that cruel on the other side of the country. I really hope that lives of my family, friends and everybody else get back to normal as soon as possible.

Somehow not a single lemming showed up as I was reading this week’s posts. Probably they got scared by weather and Halloween. But there was a chuckle or two and a lot of love (I kept singing “All you need is love, love, love…” as I was collecting posts for this round-up).

Laughs

Sigrun (Riktig Parfym) offers an unexpected take on 1740 Marquis de Sade by Histoires de Parfums. I do not want to spoil a joke so I won’t quote anything here but I strongly recommend to go and read it.

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Blacknall Allen (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen): Well, same thing here. I do not want a brainy perfume. I want a beautiful one that is charming, and can make me smile.  So I wear the sole de Nicolai that does that, and ignore the rest.  They can go to my book club meeting for me. No doubt they’ve already read and discussed the book.

Loves

Portia (AustralianPerfumeJunkies) reviews one of my absolute loves – Chanel No 19: It is green, crisp and powdery to open and though it has a lovely bouquet of flowers that used in most fragrances would be flirty, lively and bold here they are pretty and fresh but they are restrained because of choice.

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Steve (The Scented Hound), while reviewing one of my favorite perfumes Ambre Fetiche by Annick Goutal, has created a new mythical creature - a bearlamb: It’s amber wrapped up in air that was let out of an old tire.  It’s strong and very heavy and plastic and more plastic on top of a spiced and smoked amber.  I can’t say the opening is pleasurable because a little goes a long way.  Just a couple of spritzes managed to clog my throat as it coated and choked me a bit.  It’s not until the drydown takes place that this really becomes special. In the end you’re left with a warm blanket of amber tinged with what to me is almost like hints of brown sugar topped with a light vanilla incense.

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Liam (Personal Odour) describes my favorite Vetiver Tonka by Hermes really close to how I feel about this perfume: What sets Vetiver Tonka apart from Ellena’s other creations is its almost sickly nature. Where the vetiver comes through as typically green (it’s not a smokey take on the Indian grass roots), it’s counterbalanced by the edible lusciousness of tonka, those seeds that are intensely sweet like vanilla, cinnamon and sugar.

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Suzanna (Bois de Jasmin) reviews Mohur by Neela Vermeire Creations: From the notes, Mohur sounded monumental, a veritable Taj Majal of showpiece ingredients, so its lived-in texture and subtle nuances surprised me.  I have tried attars that were unreachable in their fungal qualities, so strange to my Western nose but so common in the Arabian market. It has taken me a few years to appreciate oud and how wonderfully well the note can be used to anchor a composition. I linked to my own story about all three perfumes from the line so many times that I think everybody has read it (but if no, it isn’t hard to find – so no link).

Leftovers

Thierry Mugler celebrates the 20th anniversary of Angel: I shared my Angel memory (Angel of Jealousy) to win a trip (not that it ever happens but I have at least to buy a lottery ticket, right?) Vote for me!

Summer was back this week in Northern California and we’ve got to enjoy sunny weather after very welcomed rains. It also made it almost enjoyable to walk to the next building to use a restroom (plumbing in our new office is busted for the past two weeks and counting).

I think that I read all the posts on my Reading List but I was busier this week (in addition to the regular job we did some serious office decorating for Halloween) so I might have skipped commenting on some of those posts.

Here are some of the posts that created lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes I love. And also something I felt important to mention but didn’t want to do a separate post on (the Leftovers section in the end).

Lemmings

Christos (Memory of Scent) made me questioning myself, how come I haven’t tried Gris Clair yet? Gris Clair… is unique in many ways. It truly stands out from the rest of the Serge Lutens releases as it is as cold and dry as lavender can be. There are no sweet notes, no embellishments in this fragrance.  It is austere and ascetic.

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It’s official: Ormonde Jayne is finally launching a new perfume in November… Well, actually, a new collection – Four Courners of the Earth: Montabaco, Nawab of Oudh, Tsarina and Qi. Linda Pilkington, creator of Ormonde Jayne, takes inspiration from the East, Latin America, China and Russia and gives them a London twist. I have no idea when these become available in the U.S. (if ever) or online but a horde of lemmings are just swarming in my head. I even want to try the one with agarwood!

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Suzanne (Eidedown Press) describes new Arquiste‘s perfume in such a way that I want to run looking for it right now: Boutonniere no. 7 is a gardenia perfume that I feel confident in saying is the silkiest, easiest, most elegant gardenia perfume I’ve ever encountered. Forget that it’s marketed towards men—there is nothing that denotes this as being masculine: it is only a masculine scent by way of the things that it isn’t.  It’s gardenia without any of the femme-fatale associations that often go hand-in-hand with that floral material.

Laughs

Meg (parfumieren) sets an example of a proper way of expressing one’s feelings about an offending perfume. I don’t want to give away the best part so just go and read the post.

Loves

Michael (From Top to Bottom): I immediately detected that incense-like feeling Alahine evokes for me. Two thoughts crossed my mind – this smells delightful and no way is this a feminine perfume. I honestly find it to be perfectly wearable by a man and the resins on my skin, while sweetish, are dry enough to suit my tastes. I need to get my decant out and start wearing it: the weather will be fitting soon.

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Robin (Now Smell This) reviews my recent new favorite: Hothouse Flower is a pretty, eminently wearable middleweight fragrance that should work in any season. It’s a gardenia you could wear to the office, with enough elegance to carry you elsewhere as well; for many people, that is probably a welcome thing. Here’s my attempt on reviewing Hothouse Flower byIneke.

Leftovers

Michelyn Camen (Ca Fleure Bon) published Mr. Duchaufour’s response to questions regarding his involvement in the creation of
the perfume for the daughter of the dictator of Uzbekistan. I hope Mr. D. was aware that his response would be published (because it looks more like a personal letter than an interview) but it doesn’t sound too convincing for me: he hasn’t stated his position even now. Either he thinks there is nothing wrong with him working on the perfume for these people or he had realized after the fact that he shouldn’t have done that – but either way he has to either own up to his mistake or stand by his decision. Just “I didn’t know” isn’t a position now when he knows. Also, I just have to mention that Ms. Camen’s censorship to exclude “blog initials” from one of the comments is sad: I don’t know which blog the commenter mentioned but all four where the topic had been discussed were much more popular than that post on Ca Fleure Bon. In case you missed any of the posts, here they are: The Non-Blonde, Bois de Jasmin, Now Smell This and Olfactoria’s Travels.