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Month of Irises: Week 2 (Feb 8th – Feb 14th)

This post will be updated continuously during the next 7 days. For more details see here, but in short – come back every day to read something new I added for the day, see what perfume I chose to wear and share your SOTD. I know that there are some “lurkers” who follow the project but do not comment, so if you’re reading this, I invite you to join the conversation.

Week 1 of the Month of Irises went by quickly. I was glad to see all of you – with daily updates on your SOTD and just because. I urge all of my loyal readers and friends to participate in the topic even if you are not wearing iris perfumes – this month or in general: irises are just an excuse to do this daily exercise with updates but the main goal is to see all of you more often (but Rusty clearly votes for more irises).

Rusty and Iris

Thursday, February 8, 2018

SOTD

One of the silent (on this blog) participants has mentioned that Ormonde Jayne Orris Noir reminded her of Ormonde Woman. I intended to wear Orris Noir this month anyway but now I’m very curious to check also if I notice the same resemblance (beyond Iso E-Super that Geza Schoen and Linda Pilkington seem not to be able to get enough – not that I complain about that when it comes to their main line).

GIF OF THE DAY

Rusty tries to figure out what exactly I’m talking about when I mention the smell of iris…

Rusty Playing with Iris

Friday, February 9, 2018

SOTD

Orris Noir that I wore yesterday was nice and warm. As I was wafting it throughout the day, I thought that, while not the most complicated compared to many other niche perfumes that I’ve tried since I first liked and bought Orris Noir, it was not like anything else that I knew… And then I got home and remembered to try Ormonde Woman. They do not smell completely similar to my nose, but you can definitely tell that they are related.

Today I plan to wear Prada Infusion d’Iris Absolue with the goal, again, to fit both projects: Month of Irises and NST’s “wear a fragrance you initially thought was too [insert adjective] for you to wear.” When I tried it for the first couple of times, I thought it was too similar to my favorite original Infusion d’Iris EdP and didn’t think I would need or wear it – as long as I had the original. But as my decant is nearing the end, I find myself  browsing perfume sites for a small bottle of it…

RIDDLE

It’s not a riddle in the strict sense of the word since there is no real right answer but there’s an answer that I want you to find. So do not get discouraged if you do not “see” it.
Does this picture remind you of anything related to this month’s theme?

Riddle 3

Saturday, February 10, 2018

So, not really riddles fans? Oh, well… I’ll try to post an additional “clue” during the day but if still no, I’ll stick to pictures of Rusty.

SOTD 2/10/18

Ramon Monegal Impossible Iris – I’m curious to check how it smells on me in this weather: I don’t remember ever getting the rooty-ness that hajusuuri reported yesterday. Though, I have never had a chance to wear it in a cold weather.

Most of my today’s readers were here already for this post, but for several new comers I’ll post the link (there’s a nice music clip in there – in case you’re up for some music and film references) – Mission: Impossible Iris.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

I didn’t have time to play with my picture to substitute colors and post an additional clue for the riddle, so here’s an answer:

Vincent van Gogh Irises

Last year I took that picture with one red flower amongst white ones because it looked surreal. My friends and I discussed for a while how it could have happened. There were multiple theories, some very elaborate about how these flowers have that strange mutation when one of them comes out in another color… 2-3 weeks later, once the white bloom was over, the bush that grew next to it burst out with… all red flowers. And I realized that there was no genetic mutation or some other unexplained phenomenon: that single red flower just came out “before his time” – and that’s why it was so noticeable and misunderstood.

When I recently looked at my picture, it reminded me of this Vincent van Gogh painting with a single white iris surrounded by a more traditionally colored irises.

SOTD 2/11/18

I plan to wear Iris Poudre by Frederic Malle. I wonder: will I experience déjà vu all over again?

Monday, February 12, 2018

SOTD 2/12/18

For my birthday I’m wearing Armani Privé La Femme Bleue.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

SOTD

HdP Opera Collection 1904. Asali (The Sounds of Scent) posted a wonderful review for this perfume.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

On the last day of the Week 2 the SOTD thread is hosted by Tara on her wonderful blog (as if it requires any introduction) A Bottled Rose. Please visit her most recent A Month of Irises post, read her musings on some wonderful iric-centric perfume and comment there on your SOTD, whether you wear an iris perfume today or not.

Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrates!

.

What are you wearing today?

Images: My own

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Month of Irises: Week 1 (Feb 1st – Feb 7th)

Welcome to our Month of Irises project!

This post will be updated continuously during the next 7 days. For more details see here, but in short – come back every day to read something new I added for the day, see what perfume I chose to wear and share your SOTD.

February 1, 2018

DID YOU KNOW?

As I discovered (and more or less confirmed beyond just reading Wikipedia), it is not a coincidence that iris plant has the same name as Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow: there is an opinion that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species of irises. How many? 260–300, according to the Wikipedia article in English. I’m mentioning the language because, as I noticed by browsing pages in several different languages, the number of species varies significantly from language to language (e.g., it mentions 100 in Greek, 210 in French and 800 in Russian) but only English version has citations for the numbers – so it seems the most trustworthy.

 

 

SOTD 2/1/18

I decided that it would be fitting to start this month with the perfume that serendipitously had all of the notes in my perfumista-style rainbow mnemonic:

Rose, Oakmoss, Ylang Ylang, Galbanum, Bergamot, Iris, Vetiver…

As several of you correctly guessed, it is Chanel No 19 EdT. And since it’s one of those perfumes that does not require an introduction, I’ll just leave it at that.

February 2, 2018

SOTD

In how many projects can one person participate with the same perfume on the same day? My goal for today was to fit both this project and NST’s Groundhog Day community project, for which each of us is supposed to randomly choose between “winter” and “spring” perfumes, predicting that way what to expect from this winter.

Since my Winter and Spring iris perfumes come in bottles, it would have been hard to “randomize” them. Instead, I decided to trick Rusty into making that choice for me. Two balls made from tissue paper were to represent Winter (blue) and Spring (green). After careful consideration, Rusty ran away with the green ball (all pictures are from the same sequence, I didn’t touch the paper balls between shots – hover over each picture to see the steps description).

 

4. Think about it
1. Sniff the Winter ball
2. Sniff the Spring ball
6. Run with it!
5. Make the decision
3. Rearrange fo the better view

 

So, according to Rusty, there will be an early spring – and I’ll be wearing my “alien” Spring perfume Prada Infusion d’Iris EdP. Now let’s wait and see whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow.

FUN FACT

Angela Zito, a co-director of the Center for Religion and Media at New York University, screens the film for students in her Buddhism class. She said that ”Groundhog Day” perfectly illustrates the Buddhist notion of samsara, the continuing cycle of rebirth that Buddhists regard as suffering that humans must try to escape (a belief, Dr. Zito noted, that was missed by executives at Guerlain, who, searching for an exotic name, introduced a perfume called Samsara in the 1980’s, overlooking the negative connotations).

Groundhog Day is one of my all-time favorite movies. I own it on a DVD, watched it many times and plan to watch again today to celebrate this day. I expect Rusty to particularly enjoy it too since the only place I can watch it is sitting on the sofa, and he’ll get to spend the whole evening sleeping on my lap.

February 3, 2018

SOTD

Infusion d’Iris that I wore yesterday was great, and I could still smell it through the whole movie we watched but I hope not to be stuck in the same day wearing it…

I know that 6 more weeks of winter was predicted, so to everyone who suffers from cold weather, I’ll cite beautiful lines from Coleridge’s “Work Without Hope” that I noticed today for the first time in the “Groundhog Day”:

And WINTER, slumbering in the open air,
Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

By the way, I was right: Rusty must think that this film is the best thing… OK, not ever but since Die Hard, which we watched for Christmas.

Today I plan to wear Chanel 28 La Pausa: since it’s a weekend, I plan to try “hajusuuri’s approach” – 8 sprays (or as many as I have left in my sample) to see if it sticks around (and I still can’t stop giggling at Lucas’s comment:“At least it doesn’t need 28 sprays!”).

RIDDLE 1

Saturdays are usually lazy, so I’ll leave you with a short riddle:

What do Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain and Louisiana have in common?

February 4, 2018

RIDDLE 2

I’m not sure whether nobody saw the riddle (post updates do not trigger e-mail or other notifications, so I don’t know how many readers remember about my “rolling” post), or just wasn’t interested, or didn’t know the answer – so I’ll give the second clue, and tomorrow provide the answer.

Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain and Louisiana have in common the same thing as Bamboo, Blood, Blue flag and White cemetery. What Is that?

SOTD 2/4/18

While 28 La Pausa was very nice and, applied with a heavy hand, stayed longer than I remembered, I’m glad to report that I do not regret not buying a bottle of EdT while I could. But still – very nice.

I plan to wear Guerlain Iris Ganache hoping that my decant is still fine – I haven’t touched it in a couple of years, which probably means that it was a good idea to buy just a small portion instead of going for a bottle. But I’ll report back.

February 5, 2018

The answer to the riddle: “What do Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain, Louisiana, Bamboo, Blood, Blue flag and White cemetery have in common?” – these all are common names for irises.

DID YOU KNOW?

Speaking of names, did you know that there is an iris cultivar called Perfume Counter?

 

Iris

 

SOTD 2/5/18

I plan to wear Atelier Cologne Silver Iris – one more decant that I’ve been neglecting. Iris Ganache (older version, not the one re-released last year) was very pleasant but I was right: I don’t need more than I have since there are so many perfumes that I enjoy more.

February 6, 2018

LINKS, LINKS, LINKS

Silver Iris that I wore yesterday was very pleasant but … too office-friendly: not being too strong to start with (just enough oomph for me to find it interesting), it sets down to almost nothing within a couple of hours. But it seems that it behaves differently both for Lucas (Chemist in the Bottle) who likes it very much and Angela (NST) who didn’t love it herself but thought it was good perfume to test for those who were “starting out on […] iris quest.”

And this is Victoria’s (Bois de Jasmin) review for Mugler’s Oriental Express – perfume that a couple of readers wore yesterday, even though it doesn’t list iris as an official note. I can confirm that from my own impression it does smell like iris.

SOTD 2/6/18

Since I have a couple of meeting during the day in a small conference room, I need something quiet – so I decided to go with Hermès Iris Ukiyoé.

February 7, 2018

The last, seventh, day of the first week of the Month of Irises. It is probably a good enough reason to have a celebratory drink…

DID YOU KNOW?

Orris root is among the most common botanicals in gin. It is used, mostly, not for its own taste profile but rather as an aromatic fixative that helps to preserve other aromas in gin.

 

Gin

SOTD 2/7/18

Iris Ukiyoé, which I wore yesterday, is probably the most floral of my iris perfumes (as tiffanie perfectly described it in her comment below – “not-iris iris perfume”). And it’s extremely quiet. So today I want something “louder.” I should probably go with Le Labo Iris 39, one of my most favorite iris perfumes.

 

What are you wearing today?

 

Images: from Wiki Commons red iris – KENPEI, orange iris – Kor!An, “green” iris – Simone; the rest – my own.

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A Month of Irises

In my recent anniversary post (the link is for those last two readers who missed it somehow) I’ve shared with most of you  the idea to designate February as a Month of Irises and invited you all to join me.

This is just a short post to explain how I propose to do it.

I plan to wear a different iris-centric perfume every day in February, some of them from samples since I do not have 28 iris perfumes (yet?) in my wardrobe. I’d like all of you to join me – for as many days during the month as you want. Unlike both Lucas and I did it last year for A Month of Roses, there will not be a calendar – whenever you feel like that, choose any iris perfume you fancy, wear it and share with us what you wore.

Since my blog has tiny audience, I won’t even try to run daily separate SOTD posts. Instead, I decided to do something different: once a week (on February 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd) I’ll start a post for that day, and then every day will keep updating it with an additional entry. Each day, in addition to sharing with you what perfume I chose to wear, I’ll try to add something entertaining (iris- or perfume-related) – some statistics one day, “did you know?” or “know-how” bits another, puzzles, links or pictures of Rusty, etc. I hope you’ll to come back during the week to see what other silly thing I came up with, tell us what [iris] perfumes you wore or just because.

For those of my friends and readers who have their own blogs: if you like the format and would like to host a day or two for any week on your blog, contact me via e-mail, and we’ll work out the details.

 

Rusty and Iris Perfumes

 

Ready, steady (set – for my European readers), … see you on February 1st!

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My Blog’s Rainbow Anniversary

Rose, Oakmoss, Ylang Ylang, Galbanum, Bergamot, Iris, Vetiver…

How do you like it for a rainbow colors mnemonic perfumista-style?

 

Rainbow Perfumes

 

I came up with it while thinking about my blog’s 7th anniversary and the significance of this number in our culture: there are many things counted in 7 – seven rainbow colors, seven notes to the diatonic scale, seven days of the week, seven letters in the Roman numeral system, Big Dipper/Plough consists of seven bright stars and so on.

So, is the seventh anniversary special in any way for my blog? I thought about it, and I can’t say it is. I mean, it is as special as any other anniversary, but it doesn’t feel any different from the previous one.

I still like this blog. I still enjoy telling my stories to you and every time look forward to seeing your “likes” and comments (and I miss some of you when I do not see you around for a while). I still love perfumes and get thrilled by new perfumes I try (thank you to all of you who participates in friendly swaps). And I still manage to find new perfumes to love and to add to my perfume wardrobe.

 

Speaking of my perfume wardrobe…

In the recent couple of weeks there were discussions in Perfumeland about [not] using or even remembering perfumes from our own collections because there were too many of them. So I got curious: how good/bad am I?

I got a blank piece of paper… I mean, opened a new spreadsheet on my computer and wrote down all the full bottles (including travel sizes) that I could remember. It is a strange exercise provided I have a database with all the perfumes – but how else would I check it?

When I couldn’t think of any more perfumes, I compared results to the list from my database. I won’t divulge any incriminating numbers (as the quarterly spending poll on NST blog says: it’s between me and my credit card) but I’m happy to report that I couldn’t remember less than 5% of perfumes in my collection. The biggest surprise was that I forgot my Vacation in a Bottle perfume – Yosh Ginger Ciao, for which I just got a back-up bottle.

 

Rusty and Yosh Ginger Ciao

 

I decided it was a fluke. But, based on my experiment, at least I can say that I do not just buy perfumes and forget.

 

Speaking of not forgetting…

Without scrolling up, how many notes from those that I used in my perfumista-style rainbow mnemonics can you remember? “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information,” one of the most highly cited (according to Wikipedia) papers in psychology, “is often interpreted to argue that the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is 7 ± 2” dependent on the type of the object and the age of the respondent (follow the link above for the more complex explanation).

 

Rose, Oakmoss, Ylang Ylang, Galbanum, Bergamot, Iris, Vetiver.

Serendipitously, one of the perfumes I used in the rainbow illustration above has all of these notes (I didn’t realize that when I was choosing perfumes for that picture). Would you guess which one?

 

Rainbow and Bird of Paradise

 

Speaking of rainbows…

Did you know that in Greek mythology Iris is the Goddess of the Rainbow and a messenger of the Olympian Gods? To celebrate my blog’s seventh anniversary, I’m going to designate February as a Month of Irises. I realize that irises are not as popular as roses for that month’s big holiday but – following Lucas’s lead – I did a Month of Roses last year already. Besides, I love irises – and not only in perfume form, so I think it will fit perfectly. Will you join me for a couple of days in February?

 

Rusty and Iris Necklace

 

And just not to publish an anniversary post without mentioning the most important perfume in my life, I want to state that today I wore Climat by Lancome – and loved it, as always.

 

Images: my own

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Second Sunday Samples: All that Glitters is not Gold

Two samples that I’ve chosen for this SSS post were on my mind for the last couple of months. Originally I planned to write about them in December but then plans changed, and I moved these to January.

The reason I thought these two were suited for December is that both perfumes come with festive golden flakes in flacons, so Christmas or New Year celebrations naturally come to mind.

 

Atelier des Ors Iris Fauve

Three Sea Stars

I really looked forward to trying Atelier des Ors Iris Fauve after reading Lucas’s review: our perfume tastes are very similar, and he liked it enough to go for a bottle, a sample from which he graciously shared with me.

I was supposed to like this perfume: I like iris, I like vetiver, I like myrrh, and all other declared notes (bergamot, cinnamon, patchouli, cypriol, musk, labdanum and liatris) are among those that I do not mind in my perfumes. I wanted to like this perfume, and I kept trying it again and again after reading each next positive review (Portia liked it , Steve liked it, Gaia liked it, and even Kafka didn’t hate it).

I must be anosmic to some ingredients in Iris Fauve: while it is not unpleasant on my skin, I can barely smell anything. Some kind of iris is there in the opening but it’s not any of its facets that I usually enjoy in perfumes. Half an hour into the development I can smell cinnamon (as always, I’m amazed when I can actually recognize one of the notes). Woodiness I smell probably comes from vetiver – though it’s also less pronounced than in several vetiver perfumes that I like.

There are many perfumes that others like and I don’t, but usually with those I understand what others smell but just do not share the love. With Iris Fauve I just don’t see (smell) what one can love (or even dislike) in this perfume: it is kind of there but not really. For my nose it is quiet, inoffensive and not memorable. And it comes only in that stupid 100 ml bottle. Though maybe if one bathes in it, it is more pronounced?

 

Molvizar and Atelier des Ors Samples

 

Ramon Molvizar Musk Oriental Goldskin

Four Sea Stars

Ramon Molvizar Musk Oriental Goldskin was one of two contenders for my Barcelona trip perfume trophy. I liked it when I first smelled it, and I spent an hour sniffing it trying to decide if I wanted to get it.

As I keep repeating, I’m not good with discerning notes in perfumes. But I have good “perfume memory”: I recognize similarities in perfumes I’m trying and those that I smelled before. So sniffing Musk Oriental Goldskin, I immediately told myself that it reminded me of something I already knew. I wasn’t completely sure but because of those doubts in the end I went with another perfume from the same brand – Sol/Sun. But I brought back with me a sample of Musk Oriental Goldskin.

 

Ramon Molvizar Sol/Sun

 

At home I confirmed my initial impression: Musk Oriental Goldskin (2007) had a lot in common with Jo Malone’s limited edition from 2008 Lotus Blossom & Water Lily. As we know, notes lists do not mean much but still I couldn’t help noticing the intersection.

Lotus Blossom & Water Lily notes: mandarin, grapefruit, bergamot, honeysuckle, freesia, jasmine, water lily, lotus, sandalwood, amber, musk, guaiac wood and incense.

Musk Oriental Goldskin notes: bergamot, ginger, green notes, floral notes, jasmine, lotus, water lily and musk.

Musk Oriental Goldskin is a light floral oriental perfume – warm enough for winter wear but sheer enough not to be overwhelming in hot weather as well. Despite the completely unnecessary golden flakes, this perfume smells luxurious and elegant. It is not phenomenal, and nobody should run and test it, but if you come across it, give it a try: it might pleasantly surprise you.

When asking for that sample at the store, I hoped that I would be able to prove to myself that I didn’t need Musk Oriental Goldskin. Well, I do not need it (I don’t need any more perfumes in general) but since, unfortunately, my Lotus Blossom & Water Lily bottle turned (I bought it used so I don’t know how it was stored before coming to me), I’m thinking about getting a bottle of Musk Oriental Goldskin from Ramon Molvizar’s “pocket line” if I can figure out how not to pay the enormous delivery fee on a reasonably priced 30 ml bottle.

 

Rusty and Molvizar and Atelier des Ors Samples

 

Images: my own

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Entertaining Statistics: 2017 Year Round-up

Strictly from the personal prospective, 2017 wasn’t a bad year: it had its share of unpleasantness and hardships but nothing to be really unhappy – so I won’t complain or even mention that. Instead, I would rather remember that year by good things that happened – short and long trips, wonderful time spent with my friends, successful projects at work and wonderful perfumes I got to test and wear in 2017.

As I usually do it in the beginning of the new year, I’m looking back to my perfume records and sharing with you my insights.

 

How I do it

Years ago I created a personal database (using MS Access) to hold information on all the perfumes I own or test. Whenever I get a new sample, I add it to the database – below I give an example of the entry form I use. I do not always get all the information but I add what I can find. Perfume name, launch year and notes are free-text entry; designer (brand), perfumers, notes and some other data points are coming from the pre-defined lists, so there can be no discrepancies.

 

Sample DB Record

 

Whenever I wear or test perfumes, I record it in the Perfume Diary. In the form below, “Purpose” is one of the choices for when/why I wore or tested that perfume, e.g., “office wear” or “weekend day” or “Work from home.” Type of use is either “wore” or “tested”; “Response” is a formalized evaluation of how I reacted to that perfume on that day – e.g., “Enjoyed it a lot” or “Mixed feelings” or “I hated it,” etc. And finally “My notes” contain a short free-form comment, whatever I want to write about that time I wore or tested perfume.

 

DB Diary Entry

 

For those readers who haven’t been around when I was doing this series regularly, I want to explain what I mean when I say “tested” or “wore”: for testing I apply perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time. I do most of my testing in the evenings or while working from home. When I wear perfume, I apply it to at least three-four points, and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off. After wearing a less tenacious perfume in the morning I might wear another one later. I wear perfumes mostly from bottles and decants; I wear perfumes from samples only when I consider buying a bottle or decant.

So, now when I explained how I collect data, let’s take a look at my 2017 in numbers.

 

178 Perfumes Worn

This year I wore more different perfumes than the year before – 178 (vs. 164 in 2016) from more brands – 72 (vs. 61) but did it less often – on 314 occasions (vs. 333).

Second year in a row Jo Malone was a brand I wore the most. I think it’s because these are my most “office friendly” perfumes. Neela Vermeire Creations made its way back into the Top 10 chart (last time it was here in 2014); while Le Labo fell completely off. The rest of the group just moved around but stayed on the chart, which isn’t surprising since I do not either update or expand my collection significantly any longer and keep wearing my favorites.

 

My Stats Year 2017 Brands

 

I tend to rotate perfumes I wear daily so I usually do not wear the same perfume even twice the same months – that’s how I go through that many different perfumes in a year. But I still managed to wear 67 perfumes more than once during 2017. Five perfumes I wore the most – Chanel No 19 (EdT, EdP and extrait), Lancôme Climat, Ormonde Jayne Ta’if, Krigler Lieber Gustav 14 and Armani La Femme Bleue.

 

Testing: Recording 300 and “carrying over” 1,000

This year was remarkable in regards to testing: in addition to the cursory testing of about 1,000 perfumes during my London – Barcelona – Stockholm trip (those didn’t go into my database – unless I scored a sample to bring back with me), I recorded testing at home 300 perfumes (vs. 275 last year) from 103 (vs. 100) brands. 134 of them were completely new to me (the rest I had tested before). I really liked/loved 24 of them, liked 20, thought that 56 were just not interesting and disliked 34.

Out if the 134 new for me perfumes that I tested, only 45 were released in 2017. Two of the 45 I liked enough to buy – Ineke Idyllwild and Sonoma Scent Studio Bee’s Bliss.

 

Rusty and Ineke Idyllwild

 

Has any of the 2017 releases joined your collection?

 

Images: my own

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Results of Two Draws

From hajusuuri:

Woop woop! I saw the perfume unicorn! I finished my first Chanel No. 19 EDP bottle on December 27. I predicted I would finish before the end of the year and I did, wearing it exclusively in the past week and a half.

Empty Bottle Chanel No 19

tiffanie guessed the date correctly; however, since she has her own miniature L’Air du Desert Marocain, she chose to not be included in the contest. This means that everyone who guessed a date and did not opt out was included in a random drawing.

And the winner is …

LDDM Draw

Old Herbaceous!
Congratulations, Old Herbaceous. You have until 11:59PM PST on January 2, 2018 to get in touch with hajusuuri with your mailing address or the next person will win the prize.

From Undina:

I couldn’t find the right lighting to take a picture of Rusty with my newly arrived Bee’s Bliss travel bottle, so I’ll just go with the functional picture of the draw while admiring hajusuuri’s empty bottle of Chanel: it’s not something that I see often.

Bee's Bliss Draw

The winner of the Bee’s Bliss sample is Richard Goller. Please contact me with your shipping address.

This year I’m not doing “Best of 2017” post but if you haven’t seen it yet, I invite you to take a look at the list that Lucas (Chemist in the Bottle) has posted: out of the 20 he’s chosen, I’ve tried 9 and liked all of them, so taking into the consideration that fact as well as our known “triplets” tendencies (Lucas, hajusuuri and I have a lot of perfume favorites in common), I can wholeheartedly endorse his list.

I’ll be back early next year with my yearly statistics post.

 

Happy New Year to all my friends and readers!

Rusty: Happy New Year 2018

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Merry Christmas!

Rusty and Christmas 2017

 

Best wishes to all my friends and readers who celebrate Christmas. I hope your holidays are filled with joy and love. And good food (Rusty can relate to that last part).

 

Please join me in wishing many healthy and nutritious years to Rusty who turns 9 today. He is a wonderful cat who brightens our life and brings a lot of positive emotions to many other people.

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They had me at “Hello” – and now “Goodbye”

How was that for an attention grabbing headline? But if you think about it, you’ll appreciate me not using just the last part (I was tempted a little but then I thought of all that wolves business and decided not even to joke about such serious matters).

But back to the topic. It is true: Lipstick Queen had won me over when I saw online the first (for me) lipstick from the brand – Hello Sailor. I liked everything – the color in the tube, the name, a pin-up-girl-style packaging and, as I confirmed later, the tint on my lips. I’m on my third lipstick now; and once it’s finished, I plan to get the next one.

 

Lipstick Qeen Hello Sailor

 

In four years since I said “Hello” to the first sailor, I found several more colors that I liked and adopted (see Black Lace in Tropics and Frog Prince(ss)’s Kiss). Both of them enchanted me with the name and the color in tube but after that I tried them first and then bought.

Recently one more lipstick from this brand caught my eye. Since now we have a Lipstick Queen counter in one of the close-by department stores, I went from testing and liking the color to appreciating its name: Goodbye.

 

Lipstick Queen Goodbye

 

Describing a lipstick’s color is probably an undertaking comparable to describing perfume’s scent. Though I’m not good with either, I’ll try. Goodbye is darker than my other Lipstick Queen favorites, with more pigment – so it covers lips better than more sheer colors – but it has a lot more shimmer than my other darker gloss sticks (such as Laura Mercier’s Black Orchid), so it is more forgiving, and it gives a more even coverage. The color on the lips is dark berry or plum with brownish undertone and bluish sparkle. One coat gives enough hue to the lips; and then with each additional swipe you can build it up to a darker color.

Either a tube or swatches’ pictures do not do the lipstick justice. But I showed you the former, so now I’ll show you the latter as well (in comparison to two other lipsticks I mentioned in the post).

 

Lipstick Queen Goodbye swatch

 

Other than with perfumes, do you pay attention to products’ names before you buy and use them?

 

Images: My own

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SSS: SSS B’sB and More

When I started my Second Sunday Samples series, I thought of referring to it as SSS Series but since in Perfumeland that abbreviation is usually used for Sonoma Scent Studio, I dropped the idea.

While writing about Sonoma Scent Studio’s samples for this month’s episode, I thought those abbreviations would look fabulous together – hence the title.

* * *

I grew up in a large city. Horses were either an attribute of a rural life, about which most of us, city kids, had little knowledge, or something from “other times,” about which we read books or watched films. So horses were almost mythical creatures, if you think about it.

The closest I’ve ever got to a horse riding was, probably, favoring Tal-y-Tara Tea & Polo Shoppe in San Francisco. While drinking tea with cute sandwiches and scones, we would look around trying to figure out the use for different unusual things on the shelves around us.

 

 

Probably because of all that Sonoma Scent Studio’s Equestrian did not attract my attention when it was launched last year, despite several very favorable reviews and year-end lists. But recently when I was placing an order for a couple of perfumes that I wanted to replenish, I decided to catch up on the newest Sonoma Scent Studio’s releases and bought samples.

If it weren’t for the name and Laurie Erikson’s Comments, I would have never guessed that this scent has anything to do with horses. The list of notes wouldn’t give it away either (at least to me): apple accord, grassy notes, hay absolute, leather accord, jasmine sambac absolute, violet, labdanum absolute, Virginia cedar, natural oakmoss absolute, patchouli, New Caledonia sandalwood and benzoin.

The first time I tried Equestrian, it reminded me Serge Lutens’ Jeux de Peau. I know that these two have almost no notes in common, and since then I’ve done them in parallel and proved to myself that they are very different. And still, every time I put on just Equestrian, I immediately think: Jeux de Peau. I wonder if I make some subconscious connection Equestrian –> Tal-y-Tara Tea & Polo Shoppe –> scones –> palmiers (which were my association for the SL’s perfume)?

But back to Equestrian. My nose didn’t identify “apple” initially but once I read it in the notes, I agreed that whatever I smelled might be interpreted as such. That accord and benzoin give perfume just enough sweetness to put Equestrian on the border of gourmand territory (another nod to JdP) or maybe even slightly into it but not overwhelmingly so. The leather is smooth and subtle. And the rest of ingredients together paint a harmonious picture.

The more I test Equestrian, the more I like it. I’m not sure yet If it gets to four sea stars but it is close to that, so I’ll be spending more time with the sample.

Three and Half Sea Stars

* * *

My impressions from the second sample from that recent order, Bee’s Bliss, were completely congruous with both the name and perfumer’s comments. You do not even need to read the notes list to conjure the late spring – early summer day with all the blossoms that would be considered a paradise by any self-respecting bee. But just in case you haven’t seen the list yet, here it is: bergamot, apricot and peach, orange blossom, jasmine, mimosa, lilac, heliotrope, beeswax, honey, iris, vetiver, green leaves, benzoin, amber, oakmoss, patchouli and musk.

Bee’s Bliss is a beautiful and joyful floral perfume. What is interesting about it: if you’re familiar with other Sonoma Scent Studio’s floral compositions, you’ll be surprised how light and airy this perfume is. Bee’s Bliss doesn’t have the darker woodsy and resinous base that one has come to expect from Ms. Erikson’s creations. At the same time, it has enough substance to feel like a traditional perfume rather than summery cologne.

 

 

I liked Bee’s Bliss from the first application so I decided not to wait and ordered a purse spray.

Four Sea Stars

SSS’s shopping cart will be up until December 19th, so those of my U.S. readers who were thinking about trying this perfume or ordering something else from the brand still have time to do that.

I realize that it is harder for readers from other parts of the World to obtain samples from SSS, so I want to offer my sample in a draw for those who are NOT in the U.S. To be entered, you do not need to do anything other than say in what country you live. The draw is open until 23:59 PST on December 17th. The winner will be selected randomly.

SSS does ship to at least some countries but the official shipping is prohibitively expensive. So if the winner of the sample, after trying it, decides to buy a travel spray or a bottle (you can do it over e-mail even after the cart is taken down), I can offer to receive the package and send it your way through the regular mail, which should be cheaper than to do it through the international UPS.

A reminder: hajusuuri’s guessing game and giveaway is still open.

 

Images: my own