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Normally I do not publish on a schedule.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.
Undina's Looking Glass 
Agreed with you on Neil…he has such a way with words and a unique way of looking at life!
thanks for the heads up on Jan 24th…will make sure to tune in:) !
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Most of us, bloggers,are very serious in what we do so whenever I find a good chuckle I want to share with my blogo-friends.
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I wouldn’t mind giving those Decennial scents a sniff although they aren’t quite a lemmIng for me yet.
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They didn’t sound too interesting to me either before I read Judith’s reviews. But I’m not running off to buy them.
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Another amazing set of laugh, lemmings and loves Undina! Now you and Vanessa made me curious about Rima XI
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Thank you, Lucas.
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My pleasure. Can’t wait to see what are you publishing on Thursday (I’m publishing on Thursday too!)
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There is something about the Decennial line that leaves me cold. The bottles are uninspired and for some reason, strike me as being a generic version of a product since they are from Luckyscent. It’s like instead of Cheerios, they’re the store brand Toasty Os. The juice might be lovely, but I’m in no hurry to test them out. Boy I sound cranky this morning :)
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I agree! In general, I don’t like the idea of perfume shops having their own perfumes – partially for that same reason: I do not view them as a supreme brand but rather something generic.
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That Clinique Happy for Men post by Neil was a corker – thanks for the heads up. Funnily enough, I was somewhat overpowered by a woman wearing Happy for Women at a funeral once. The widow of the deceased, no less!
Bronze Goddess is a scent I keep forgetting to sniff, when it is so easy to access in my local Boots. It would be an interesting counterpoint to this weather too, so must redress that!
And thanks for the shoutout of my Carner review in your Lemmings category. I thought I was in a moderately jaded phase – but this shows I can still be jolted out of it – and how!
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If your local store still has Bronze Goddess in stock you should go and try it (it’s long gone here)!
Wearing Happy during a funeral… That’s a statement!
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Oh, but in retail land, summer flankers and limited editions are prepping to ship! I would expect Bronze Goddess on shelves before too long! I wish I could remember in more detail. I used to work at the Macy’s fragrance counter. :)
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I think I remember it as early as in March. We’ll see.
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This is just great – more blogs to add to my reader! (OK, being somewhat sarcastic here but I do enjoy the heads up on pieces that caught your attention)
As to the Decennial Quartet, I’m with The Scented Hound that they just seem so uninspired. When I placed my previous order at LuckyScent, I asked for any one or more of the line as my freebie sample and I got 3 of the 4 – which ones I don’t know because I have not opened or peeked into the little bag except to know that I got 3 vials. I was kind of miffed and they lost their chance of showcasing the entire line to a regular customer. I probably could have bought the spray sampler but meh
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If it’s of any consolation, some of the blogs post nowadays less than they used to.
Any B&M store losses a lot on testers and, mostly, from a not paying customers. So you’d think that supplying paying customers with all the samples of their own brand might be a good idea: it’s not like you can try their free samples and then go and buy it cheaper at a discounter website.
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Yes, even if In the Garden of Good and Evil frags are well composed, they are too thin and fleeting.Wish they had much more body as the fruity beauty Bombay Bling.
The Rima XI is very relaxing to wear, must dig up my sample and retry soon.
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I completely undersatand you not liking the trio but I’m surprised you keep complaining about their “substance”: Amouage they are not but on my skin they aren’t worse than other By Kilian’s offerings (if not to count Arabian Nights, those have a better staying power for me).
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Oh, how I love Bronze Goddess. Funny, I do wear some summery perfumes in the winter, but hardly ever that one: it’s exclusively summer for me for some reason.
I tried the Andy Tauer Decenniel since I try all his perfumes, I found it nice but it did not surpass some of his others in my estimation.
I need to spend more time with the Garden of Evil Kilians soon.
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I also wear Bronze Goddess only in summer.
I will try Andy Tauer’s perfume eventually – exactly for the same reason you did.
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This week as I was catching up on blog reading, there were many lemmings, but most of them were older or “reminder” lemmings. :) It seems we are in a sliiiight lull in terms of new releases, doesn’t it?
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Yep. But probably it’s not that bad: money not spent on new samples might be spent on FB/decants of something we’ve tried and liked before.
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Thanks for introducing me to Neil, Undina, I really enjoy his writing.
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Any time! :)
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Those Decennials are calling to me too. Especially Santal Sacre, which sounds like the kind of fragrance I’d spray all over a blanket then throw it over my head so I can sit in a corner surrounded with the scent for hours.
Lovely photo of Bronze Goddess too! I love Dragonfruit and the bottle looks perfectly at home on a tropical vacation.
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Thank you, Kay! It was exactly how I felt: normally I do not bring full bottles to my vacations – tropical or others. But this one was just demanding to be brought there!
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