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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 37

 

We’re slowly getting towards real autumn: it’s cooler though still warm; I get home when it’s dark already and there are dozens of birds in the pond I see from my office window.

I haven’t finished reading all articles on my reading list since I’m extremely busy at work now but since there were many articles that created perfumed lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes that I love I decided to post the episode.

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves - 37

Lemmings

Victoria (Bois de Jasmin): Epice Marine is in equal part a tribute to Brittany and to Roellinger’s spices. It’s a bright, juicy citrus wrapped around a piece of driftwood, an interplay between sparkling, fresh notes and smoky, toasty ones.

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Tara (Olfactoria’s Travels) makes all three perfumes in her post sound interesting but I’m attracted the most by one of them: The opening of Iris Prima is a pleasant coupling of raspy iris and happy-go-lucky bergamot, followed by a dusting of powder and clean jasmine.

 

Laughs

Ari (Scents of Self): Apparently the Greek goddess Aphrodite wanted to destroy everything that might possibly compete with her beauty, so she razed every flower on Cyprus. (It only sounds bad until you remember all the weird shit Zeus used to do.)

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Sigrun (Riktig Parfym): Naiviris smells like tearing up an IKEA package, containing wooden furniture, and the thing I’m laughing about is: well, here I am, I’ve got lot loads of perfume decants, bottles and samples of all typos, and what do I actually smell like? An IKEA Malm dresser, complete with factory dust and the cardboard package it came in! (and, in case it’s not clear from the quote, it’s a positive review)

 

Loves

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press): Prada Infusion d’Iris Absolue, as its name implies, is an iris soliflore—a modern and uncluttered perfume that starts off fresh, with some cologne-like neroli and orange blossom that impart subtle sweetness to the cool, mineral and root-like smell of iris in its early stage of development. I think most of you have read my Infusion d’Iris (original) love story but if you didn’t – here you go: Alien wears Prada Infusion d’Iris

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Portia (Australian Perfume Junkies): Bois des Iles will forever remind me of Paris, Jin and my journey there earlier in 2013, our friends Aaran & Gerard hosted us while we were there and in their home was a beautiful stained glass double door panel by a very famous glass artist, sadly he sold it recently, and the wonderful art deco/industrial piece is what I was most astonished by in his home while wearing Bois des Iles.

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The Perfumed Dandy (The Perfumed Dandy): Cuir de Russie, even in its current, tamed, “dressage” form is an epic among the cuir class of scents.
Smoky, spicy, dirty, animal, burnt, hurt, floral, haunting.

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When was the last time you read a classical fairy tale? I can’t really remember. Susie (Epiphany) has created a great illustration for the genre to go together with her review for Rubj by Vero.Profumo.

 

Leftovers

Laurie (Perfume in Progress), a nose behind Sonoma Scent Studio brand, has published a great post Learning Perfumery: Classes and Schools. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a perfumer but didn’t know where to start looking for the information on where to start, this is a good article to read or bookmark for future reference.

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Entertaining Statistics: September 2013

 

After a cool summer September arrived warm and very pleasant. And to make it even better I spent the last week of it in Hawaii.

I was so looking forward to that vacation that soon after I booked our flight and rented a house I started playing that choosing game in my mind: what perfume should I take with me? I ended up taking with me 12 (twelve) perfumes. And even though some of them were samples I didn’t take any unknown perfumes just for testing: all of them were to wear.

Black Vetyver Café by Jo Malone I chose as our shared travel perfume for this trip. Partially it was because I suddenly got tired of the scent that we used on many previous trips (Voyage d’Hermes) but mostly because after reading about it being discontinued I wanted to figure out if I should buy a bottle of it before it completely disappears. I do not love it but I like it enough not to let go just yet.

My travel companions from the previous Hawaii vacation – Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess, Ormonde Jayne Tiare and Frangipani had joined me again. So after recently relegated Voyage d’Hermes these three are the best-traveled perfumes in my collection. I still enjoyed Bronze Goddess whereas my reaction to Frangipani and Tiare switched places: I enjoyed the former very much and was surprised that the latter felt somehow off.

Perfumes for a Tropical Vacation

Other perfumes that kept me company on that humid tropical island were: L’Artisan Parfumeur Traversee du Bosphore, Byredo Pulp (I need to get a decant of this one), Yosh Ginger Ciao (Birgit, thank you for the idea), Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia, Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling!, By Kilian Forbidden Games, Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine and M.Micallef Royal Vintage. The last two were for my vSO but the others nine were all for me. Good thing about hot humid weather and swimming was that I could easily wear 3-4 perfumes in one day.

All the perfumes I brought were just perfect for the vacation though, completely unexpectedly, Bombay Bling! wasn’t a fan of that climate: it would disappear from my skin within an hour after the application. It has never happened before in cooler Californian weather. It made me curious how it would behave in, let’s say, Bombay. Any upcoming trips? Anybody?

Since my vacation was filled with fruits – both in perfumes and in my diet, I got curious which fruits my readers like the most. Here’re the results:

Nineteen (19) people answered my questions naming seventeen (17) of their favorite fruits to eat (13) and to smell (8) in a perfume form. I decided to be strict and if more than one fruit was mentioned I took just the first answer.

September 2013 Statistics

Mango was an absolute favorite with eleven (11) votes (six (6) for eating it and five (5) for smelling). Black currant took the second place with five (5) votes and fig got four (4) votes but both were named only as perfume notes. Mangosteen, peach and cherry got two (2) votes each (one in each category). And raspberry got two (2) votes but both in food designation. All other fruits – durian, loquat, olallieberries, papaya, mandarin, grapefruit, banana, pomeo, plum and grapes – were mentioned just once.

Even though I had so many perfumes with me after I came back I kept thinking: “I wish I thought of taking <…> as well” about different perfumes. If you were to recommend one more perfume for me to take on a tropical vacation which one would it be?

 

Images: my own

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As Wild as It Gets (for me): My Hawaiian Vacations

 

Reality almost never lives up to great expectations or formed mental impressions.

A decade ago when I came to Hawaii for the first time I was slightly disappointed: it was nothing like I imagined a tropical island would be. Waikiki Beach where we stayed looked like Las Vegas Strip but with an ocean one block away. As much as I like big cities in general and Las Vegas in particular, that felt wrong. But I should have known better when I decided to start my trip from Honolulu, the state capital with one million people population.

 

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In three days we moved to a much more tropical (and fitting my imagination) island – Kauai – where we got to appreciate the only good thing about Waikiki Beach that we left – the beach itself where you could easily walk into water and swim.

Being a well-known favorite place for windsurfing, most of Kauai’s beaches are too rough for swimming and corals and rocks of the ocean floor make it an injury-prone activity. We got enough nature from those four days on the island where we were moving from one place to another trying in vain to find a beach where we could swim. I didn’t like Kauai much.

 

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Whereas it’s hard to repeat a perfect experience it’s much easier to improve something that wasn’t ideal the first time around.

Ten years and several visits to other islands later, this year we decided to go to Kauai again.

We rented a house on the North shore on Anini Beach that is one of the calmest beaches in Kauai since it’s protected by a large reef. From the bedroom window I could see the ocean and during the day we heard coconuts falling down from palms. There even was an owners’ cat – Money – who visited us making sure I’d get my daily “orange cat fix” – that’s what I call “service”! I’ve experienced the first in my life real tropical rain. It was exactly like it’s usually described in books or shown in movies: a wall of rain falling vertically down and soaking everything within seconds. It was wonderful! And the wildest part of my vacation was a very spotty … WiFi connection, ceiling fans instead of an A/C and a mean wild hen who tried chasing me off the beach park a couple of times. I was scared first but stood up to her in the end and won.

 

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It was one of the most relaxed vacations I had in a long time: since during the first visit we couldn’t swim we visited most places recommended to tourists; so this time we spent all our time swimming, reading, talking to friends who were there with us and eating tropical fruits and local fish.

Tropical Fruits

Pitaya/Dragonfruit, carambola/starfruit, papaya, mango, longan, canistel/eggfruit, pouteria caimito/abiu and avocado

Speaking of fruits, what is your most favorite fruit (including berries) to eat and as a perfume note?

My answers: mangos I ate in Hawaii (on all islands, not just during this trip) were probably the tastiest fruits I’ve ever eaten. Black currant is currently my favorite berry in perfumery.

Give me two fruits, not necessarily tropical, that you like the most (one as food and one as a note or one if it’s the same for both questions) and I’ll use your answers in belated September statistics post where I tell you which eleven perfumes I took with me on this eight-days tropical vacation.

 

Images: my own

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 36

 

It was long time since I had Internet connection that bad so it’s a miracle I was able to both read those posts that made me laugh, brought up some lemmings or reviewed perfumes I love and make this post. But I was persistent. By the end of the week I’ll be back to civilization and will tell you more about my time without a high-speed Internet.

Bad Internet Connection

Lemmings

Juraj (BL’eauOG) makes a new perfume Monsieur by Huitieme Art Parfums sound like something I might like: It’s a gentle perfume that opens with the dry woody notes and prickling patchouly. It has the “boozy” atmosphere like from some alcohol. Vetiver, cedar and patchouly are most dominant in the beginning but later on, it transforms into the warm and gentle scents of sandalwood, papyrus and oakmoss. After the dry, woody start, it has the feeling of a small river through the wood.

 

Laughs

I wasn’t sure where to put Natalie’s (Another Perfume Blog) review of my favorite Black Vetiver Café by Jo Malone. If you haven’t read it, spend a minute (it’s a very short one) – it’ll give you a smile if not laugh. (UPD: APB is closed)

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Simone (+ Q Perfume Blog) published a funny and light hearted post on perfumes for dogs: I wonder if Marc Jacobs would also sue Harris if he made his dog version of DOT…it would be cool to see a Dalmatian advertising the doggy version DOT!

 

Loves

Sigrun (Riktig Parfym) reviews Angélique Noire by Guerlain. It’s not her cup of tea but you might be interested to read her take on it – weather both if you know and like this perfume or have never tried it: After about half an hour most of the initial pear and citrus has morphed into a huge honey note, all thick, sweet and drizzled over a massive custard-y vanilla base. As my father in law is a beekeeper, I’m thinking they really should do a vanilla spiked honey. Just imagining it over yogurt makes me all happy dreamy. My decant, which I enjoy immensely, came from Kafka who, even though acknowledging this perfume’s quality, just couldn’t stand it.

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The Perfumed Dandy (The Perfumed Dandy) reviews Bottega Veneta by Bottega Veneta: An irresistibly, undeniably pretty perfume just on the cusp of being truly beautiful.
One can imagine Audrey Hepburn wearing it between breaking through as “Gigi” on Broadway and Hollywood stardom dressed by Hubert de Givenchy.

 

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My First Bell Jar: De Profundis – Celebrating Life

 

Reading adventure or historical fiction books as a child I couldn’t comprehend the significance of death. Characters being threatened with death would betray their allies or help enemies – and that was very strange to me: it wasn’t a torture or a threat towards their loved ones, it was just death, what to be scared of? It was definitely not a good enough reason for treachery.

I read a lot of books. And still remember having all those thoughts. And I remember that finally the realization of the value of life came to me. I was ten or eleven. I don’t remember what happened and what caused that change but I remember that it was an epiphany.

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When I came across information about De Profundis by Serge Lutens for the first time the idea seemed appalling: I’d just experienced a couple of losses and the thought of a perfume somehow linked to death felt wrong. The only reason I wasn’t completely offended by it was Serge Lutens’ age: I told myself that it was probably fine for the man, who was statistically closer to the final destination than I or people I love, to toy with death. But, as I said in the comment on Asali’s review of De Profundis (All I am – a redhead), I didn’t plan to test it because of the connotation.

Soon after that I won a decant of another perfume on the same blog and Ines was kind enough to send me a sample of De Profundis also. I’m grateful to her because knowing how stubborn I might be I think I would have avoided trying it otherwise. I loved De Profundis from the first application. It smells so unusual. I adore the green bitterness of chrysanthemums even though I never really liked the flower itself. When I was choosing a bell jar of which perfume I wanted to add to my collection De Profundis was the only one I considered.

Rusty and Serge Lutend De Profundis

Where I grew up chrysanthemums weren’t associated exclusively with funerals though it was one of the common uses for the flower. For me a much stronger association is September 1st – the all-national first school day of the year. On that day all students would bring bouquets for their teachers. Chrysanthemums were popular flowers on that day.

September 1st

September 1st would start with students from all ten grades (there was no elementary/middle/high school separation) gathering in the school yard, in dress uniforms. After some official greeting words from the school director and other stuff members, a boy from a graduating class would pick up a tiny girl from the first grade and would carry her around the yard as she would be ringing a bell to symbolize the First Bell in a school year – the beginning of a new life, school life, for all first graders.

I didn’t get to ring that First Bell (or the Last one in the end of the year) though I secretly wished I had been chosen. But now I got my personal (and personalized!) bell [jar]. And I choose to see De Profundis as homage to life.

Rusty and Serge Lutens De Profundis

For a real (and very detailed review) see Kafka’s Perfume Review- Serge Lutens De Profundis: Purple Twilight

 

Images: De Profundis – my own (can you find Rusty on the first one?); September 1st – from my school’s classmates group, author is unknown.

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 35

 

Summer is over: yesterday we had our first rain. It was great! Everything got washed and watered. My lemmings started waking up after summer hibernation. So I decided to resume my weekly round-up posts. How are your lemmings doing this Fall?

For new readers: in this series I feature posts that made me smile, conjured some perfume lemmings or reviewed perfumes that I love.

Lemmings Laughs Loves

Lemmings

Steven (The Scented Hound) has just created a 4.5 star bones rated lemming: Sideris is a fragrance that I feel like I just can’t give enough justice to… It’s all too beautiful and sometimes words are just too hard to convey.

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Lanier (scents memory) tells the story that makes you want to try Vesper by MIKMOI. I don’t want to quote any part: just start reading it and see if it captures you the same way it captured me.

 

Laughs

Not a perfume-related but a smile-worth story from Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): Milk for tea was an alien concept. Tea itself was an alien concept.  I spent one night on a camp bed in his living room, having declined his invitation to ‘walk a portion of the way’ with him, which I took to be code for a cosier sleeping arrangement.

 

Loves

Parfumista (Parfumistans blog) compares two versions of the perfume that I like (especially in the extrait concentration): I find the Mohur Extrait deeper and darker than the Mohur Edp. […] The Extrait gives me the image of heavy silk velvet in the color of dark purple with golden stiches and loads of roses in the same color, all surrounded by a smooth almost creamy saffron and other delicate spiced stored in smooth leather pouches.

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Katherine (Mad Perfumista) writes about three first perfumes from Neela Vermeire Creations: If Mohur is a solemn tribute to one of the most powerful women in Indian history, and if Trayee is a homage to the spiritual doors opened by Vedic religion and philosophy, Bombay Bling! is a stiletto-heeled, Kelly-bag toting, Gucci-clad member of India’s new fast-living middle class, living high on the economic boom of contemporary times. Have I mentioned before my take on these three perfumes? I have? Well, maybe for the new readers, one more time: here

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Mario (guest writer at The Perfume Chronicles) reviews one of my favorite Serge Lutens‘ perfumes – Ambre Sultan.

 

Leftovers

Tauer Perfumes did something we repeat saying perfume companies should do: they released Explorer Set – three 15 ml bottles of your choice, shipping included in the price. Until September 24th they offer 10% off. Nine perfumes from the line are currently offered. I want one or two – and even those I’d hate not taking advantage of the discount I just can’t find the third one. But I love the idea! Go Andy!

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A Postcard from Undina: More Love From Sonoma

Cat & Dog Wine Tasting

The weekend was great: warm, sunny and just perfect for a quick visit to Sonoma. The hardest part was not to wear any perfume: I had a hankering for vanilla perfumes recently, which were completely inappropriate for a wine tasting. But now I’m back and waft happily Spiritueuse Double Vanille (I need to get a decant of it!). My internal batteries and our wine cabinet got recharged but I’m hopelessly behind my blogs reading. But if you’re reading this I want to let you know: I’ll get to all of your posts.

Have a productive and fragrant week!

 

Undina

 

Image: a picture I took at one of the wineries. I think this is her site though I couldn’t find this picture anywhere online.

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In the Search for the Perfect Blackberry: P.S.

 

As it often happens, while working on my blackberry Single Note Exploration post, I had blackberries on my mind. I went through my database to find all the perfumes featuring that note; tested perfumes I had; sniffed, purchased and ate berries at the Farmers Market, abandoned my current phone for the BlackBerry Q10… Ok, this last one I was kidding. But you’ve got the picture.

So when in the ad that came from Ulta I saw that lipstick I just knew I had to have it!

Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor

Not only it was of a wonderfully weird color but also it had a funny fitting shade name – Hello Sailor. I do not usually shop at Ulta but I wanted that lipstick. After the completely blank stare from the first SA, I found another one who heard about the Lipstick Queen brand but told me that only selected stores carried it.

So now I had not only to buy a lipstick untested but also paid for shipping it to me. I don’t make impulsive purchases, I didn’t know the brand and I don’t like Ulta. But I liked the color. And the name. So I decided to bite the bullet… only to find out that it was out of stock both at Ulta and brand’s sites and sold on eBay almost twice the price.

I would have probably paid that ridiculous price eventually but my procrastination helped: it came back to several online stores and I got it from Barney’s (with a free shipping!)

I don’t want you to think that I’m getting ready for this year’s Halloween: since it’s a lip stain the only place you see that dramatic color is in a tube. I have a fair skin so on my lips Hello Sailor looks like a slightly shimmering berry tint. It’s a nice lighter alternative to my favorite Black Orchid stick gloss from Laura Mercier.

Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor Swatches

For those who uses lipsticks (sorry to the rest): What was the strangest color or the most interesting lipstick name you came across or used?

 

Images: my own

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In the Search for the Perfect Berry: Blackberry

 

I was in my late 20s when I tried blackberries for the first time. Before than I knew of them but where I lived they weren’t grown commercially so I wasn’t even sure how blackberry looked or smelled.

Blackberries

I still do not know how blackberries smell. I checked just yesterday: at least those that I buy have almost no detectable scent. Are there any other varieties that actually have a smell?

So it’s fair to say that I wasn’t really looking for a perfect blackberry scent. What I was (and actually still am) looking for was a limited edition bottle of L’Artisan Mure et Musc Extreme that looked like a blackberry.

I wanted this bottle. I found a special bottle of Premier Figuier Extreme but for the last year I’ve been stalking eBay for that blueberry bottle without much success. But to be ready to jump on a bidding game if a bottle is offered for sale I wanted to try the perfume: at least to know what to expect.

Mure et Musc Extreme by L’Artisan Parfumeur, created by Karine Dubreuil in 1993, includes notes of … all sources agree on blackberries and musk, and some type of citrus. But then I saw “red berries”, “black currant”, “hint of raspberries”, etc. I don’t smell any of those. I can smell some citrus in the opening; I can smell something that I classify as musk. If you want, I can say it has a blackberry note – but only to the extent of it’s not smelling of anything distinctive, same as those blackberries I buy to eat. Mure et Musc Extreme isn’t unpleasant but I do not see any reason to buy and wear it. Not unless I find that cute bottle.

Mure Et Musc

I still wasn’t looking for a blackberry perfume when an SA at Nordstrom almost forced a Trish McEvoy No 9 Blackberry & Vanilla Musk sample on me. Created in 2000, Blackberry & Vanilla Musk includes notes of blackberry, vanilla, rose, musk and Cashmeran. I can’t believe how much I disliked that perfume! Of course, I rarely test mainstream offerings nowadays so I lost my immunity towards that type of perfumes so I should have expected that could happen. But I didn’t. And I wanted to test different perfumes for this post. Blackberry & Vanilla Musk is sickly sweet on my skin. Once I applied it I did not want to smell any nuances or trace changing notes. All I wanted was for it to go away. Right… You know how persistent those synthetic musks are. Never again.

Still not looking for a blackberry-centric perfume I unexpectedly got one. It was a gift from a friend who got persuaded by an SA at Heathrow airport that this perfume wasn’t available in the U.S. It wasn’t true: by that time I’ve already tested and liked Blackberry & Bay by Jo Malone. But I don’t complain: it was a great gift.

Jo Malone Blueberry & Bay

Blackberry & Bay by Jo Malone, created by Fabrice Pellegrin in 2012, includes notes of blackberry, grapefruit, bay leaf, floral accord, vetiver and cedar wood. Fruity perfumes are not widely represented in my collection but Blackberry & Bay is one of a few that I truly enjoy. I like the sweet and tart mixture of this perfume on my skin. It’s fruity, bright and dark, deep and playful at the same time.

 

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Images: my own (all but L’Artisan blueberry bottle)

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Entertaining Statistics: August 2013

 

August was just perfect: there were several warm days to get some summer feeling but it was never really hot to be unpleasant.

You, my readers, helped me with this month’s statistics. I asked you about your perfume application habits and here’s the quick compilation of the answers to two questions I posed:

1) Do you apply perfume symmetrically (e.g. both wrists or décolletage – it’s still symmetrical even though it’s just one spot) or asymmetrically (e.g. just one wrist, one side of the neck or one ankle)? A single asymmetrical point makes the entire application asymmetrical.

Out of 23 people who took part in the survey 19 (83%) applied perfumes symmetrically and only 4 (17%) admitted to using perfumes asymmetrically (but all for a good reason!).

Stats August 20132) What is the spot that usually gets the first spray?

No matter how carefully I try to pose the question I can never get a straight answer from the respondents. So after all the efforts I had to combine answers for left/right sides since I couldn’t get several people to confirm their choices.

Stats August 2013The most popular first spot is a wrist – 11 people (50%) start applying perfumes there (7 to the left wrist, 1 to the right and 3 undecided). 5 people (23%) apply perfumes to the side of their neck first – 2 to the right, 2 to the left and 1 undefined. 4 (18%) start with chest/décolletage. One person (5%) starts with the back of her neck and one (5%) steps into the sprayed mist making her hair the spot #1. It makes it up to 22 people and one, Lanier of the Scents Memory left it at “I always apply perfume where I want to be kissed.” I’ve decided better not to guess.

 

Image: my own