Hi there ULGers, Hope your fortnight has been a good one. If not then let’s talk perfume and forget the world for a moment. I have an admission to make. Electimuss as a brand has completely passed me by. From the Electimuss site: “Electimuss means “to choose the best” in Latin and that ethos is at the heart of our brand. Exquisite oils and resins in our fragrances are rare and precious and blended with meticulous attention paid to every note and detail… We care passionately about quality. All of our fragrances are 25% or 30% Pure Parfum / Extrait and our blends are unashamedly decadent and daring.” They are inspired by Ancient Rome.
Before we go any further I do not understand why brands are doing extraits and acting as if it’s a better deal. It’s bloody annoying. You could do 50% of cheap as shit ingredients and it is still an extrait. Also, I like the projection of an EdT. Should I wish a stronger % then I’d like to buy a 7.5ml extrait spray like the old Guerlain cigarette lighter case and wear them together. For that extra rich, burnished depth. In my books (clearly I’m a dinosaur) having the extrait should be a glamorous add on.
Sorry, rant over.
Trajan by Electimuss London 2020
Electimuss site gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, lemon, bergamot, blood orange
Heart: Lavender, sage, saffron
Base: Cedarwood, oak moss, ambergris
I’m unsure why I even bought this sample from Surrender To Chance. I was having a little retail therapy late at night. You know how it goes, right?
Trajan is named for a Roman emperor whose claim to fame was the expansion of Roman trade frontiers down the Silk Road. Expanding the empires access to sought after goods from Asia. So I was expecting a heavily spiced incense fragrance with all the dark trademarks of the travel. It was a surprise that citrus came from Southeast Asia, Lavender from mainland Eurasia, Sage is Mediterranean and Asia Minor, Saffron from Central Asia, Cedar is Mediterranean and Himalayas, Oakmoss the Balkans and Far East and Ambergris comes from beaches the world over but the Chinese called it Dragon Spit. After having an early interior sneer yet again I have been brought back to reality. Though these are not the notes I’d have most connected with the Silk Road there is definite relevance. Sorry Electimuss for my judgmental attitude.
How does it smell? The opening is like a slightly tweaked Baccarat Rouge 540. Much less headache inducing but very reminiscent. The lavender is a very nice touch and it appears magically in the second or third minute and stays for a while. As the initial fury subsides there is a fantastic Play Doh vibe underpinned by bakery or maybe cookie dough and Trajan becomes something much more interesting.
My nose is also telling me there are some flowers hiding within the construct but I can’t pin them down. You know that powdery smoothness of petals, the feeling of peony or crabapple petals without the fragrance of them.
The base smells similar to loads of other mass-tige offerings. Very nice ambery/woodsy/vanilla all smooshed together into that reliably comfortable and wearable melange.
OK, it’s 5.03pm tomorrow now. The base is BR450 and ETERNAL. It will not wash off.
The bottle looks gorgeous.
Sound good?
Portia xx
Undina's Looking Glass 
BR540 and I are not friends, so this would be a pass for me. With some extraits, I do find myself wishing they would open up more so I could smell the components better.
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If you don’t like BR540 then this will probably annoy you too Nose prose.
Yeah. For some reason the makers of perfume think we want extraits. Nope.
Portia xx
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I tried BR540 once and it was a no for me. So I could easily pass on this. Plus I can barely keep up with the houses that I know and love, I rarely try something completely new (unless the price point is “practically free”.)
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MMKinPA, then you will definitely want to steer clear here. It’s pretty much BR540 for 40 HOURS!
Portia xx
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I tried BR540 once and it was a no for me. So I could easily pass on this. Plus I can barely keep up with the houses that I know and love, I rarely try something completely new (unless the price point is “practically free”.)
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I was aware of Electimuss but the brand concept seemed rather gimmicky. I’ve never been tempted to try any of their fragrances. I agree on extraits. They are often much too much even if the scent is pleasant.
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Yeah, I agree on the gimmicky, and from the ONE perfume I’ve tried very derivative.
I dunno RR, maybe I’m getting a bit jaded but I really think for this kind ofd money they should do better.
Interestingly, I passed this decant on and the receiver LOVED it, now on the To Buy List. So it really could be grumpy me.
Portia xx
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Also, I totally relate re retail therapy. I went overboard on buying during my recent surgery, but I do love everything I bought, just not the total spent. Thank goodness for AFLAC again!
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Hey RR,
AFLAC? The insurance group?
Portia xx
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Yes. AFLAC They . provide additional funds for living expenses with different types of policies. I bought the cancer policy 15 years ago hoping I would never need it, but I did. They also have short term disability policies that a lot of employers make available.
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PHEW! Good forward thinking RR. Hope all going well?
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Yes, thank goodness! I’m visiting the grandchildren. Zara told me I was mean last night when I said I needed my cane to walk so she couldn’t continue to play with it. She definitely has some of my attitude issues! 😆 Women need lots of ‘attitude’ to survive in US these days. I’m glad she is comfortable expressing her feelings.
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Electimuss gave me the eye rolls & I haven’t explored them. Largely because of the eye rolls, but also the cost. Another concern was that the seemed to suddenly appear as a range with many scents all at once.
The extrait thing gives me the twitch too. Along with the large bottles & sprays of extraits.
Electimuss have been pushed by many “perfume experts” & Influencers. Another reason I’ve avoided them.
Grumpy biatch signing off now xxx
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Alityke,
We are definitely tribe.
Portia x
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Agree 100%!
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I was agreeing with alityke. I think Electimuss was started by some YouTube influencers like that Max guy.
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Was it?!? I’ll have to do a dive and find out.
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I’m not sure I will try this brand even if I come across it at a store… OK, who am I kidding? I will try it if I see it – I try almost anything new if I see it. But I’m not interested even in the least. (And no BR540 for me as well)
I in general do not like extraits in spray format: I always thought that those should come in in small bottles with dubbers.
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Oh yes Undina, I also love a dabber for the extracts but my favourite ever dispenser is the Guerlain cigarette case spray.
HA! Yeah, I do love to find things in the wild, no matter my interest levels too.
Portia xx
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