I like all kinds of holidays and celebrations. New Year and my birthday are two my favorite occasions and I always try to get the most of them.

For the New Year 2011 my friends and I had a party at our place. It wasn’t too big or loud but it was warm and joyful, with good food, great drinks and a pleasant (at least for me – can’t vouch for everybody else) gifts exchange. It was a wonderful night; I wore one of my favorite perfumes, was very happy and felt great.

Next morni afternoon I woke up really sick with flu. It was the worst sickness I had in many years. I felt awful and had no strength to get out of the bed for a couple of days. In my feverish mind there were two recurring thoughts to which I tried to hold on as if it was really important to keep thinking them. First – I was very glad and thankful to all the forces of the Universe that I hadn’t got sick 24 hours earlier: it would have been a complete disaster for our party and everybody involved. And second – I was happy that by the time I woke up my new perfumed love (Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if) was already gone: I was dreading to associate the scent I cherished with the misery of that day. So while feeling horrible I felt lucky.

When I finally forced myself to get up and start moving, I noticed a wonderful smell coming from my bathrobe’s collar. It wasn’t too strong or persistent, I would catch a whiff of it now and then, but it was so unexpectedly comforting and supporting that I almost cried. With all the testing I had been conducting at the time it took me a while to figure out what perfume it was. Tiare by Ormonde Jayne.

Three days before the New Year I tried it for the first time and found it pleasant but wasn’t too impressed by it. I think my expectations were too high based on my liking several other OJ’s perfumes and a list of notes for Tiare. My main complaint was that top citrus notes subsided too quickly but an overall tenacity was good and I planned to test it some more.

Wrapped in my soft robe and the remaining notes of this unexpectedly lasting perfume I was eternally grateful to my new friend. And this is not just a way of phrasing it now, afterwards. That was exactly how I felt that day.

I wore it again and again and even though I still wish a mandarin and lime would stick around for a little longer, I enjoy tiare and water lily from the heart notes enough to accept them as a main scent on me. There are other notes but since I think that everybody should experience the perfume themselves I won’t try to analyze what I can or cannot smell in it. I just want to mention that I consider it a younger perfume in Ormonde Jayne’s line and for me it does smell tropical. The next time I go on a tropical vacation my new friend is joining me on the trip.

Who are your perfumed friends?

Image: my own

For real reviews read: Bonkers about Perfume or Perfume Posse

Also, there was an interesting topic at NST – 5 Perfumes for: a Brief Illness . If you read it, look for the comment from Chanterais – a touching story about a perfume-friend.