July 19, 2012 by Undina

Twice into the same river?

I was a teenager; she was a beautiful young woman. I was staying at her house as a guest. I think she didn’t like me much (it’s complicated), and I admired her. One night, as we were dressing up for a birthday party, she kindly allowed me to use her makeup and even let me spray one of her French perfumes. All dressed up and smelling wonderfully, I felt myself all grown-up and irresistible.

Several years later, I found and bought Isa by Ulric de Varens. By that time I already owned several perfumes including my all-time favorite Climat by Lancôme (in the same post you’ll find the explanation of the “French perfume” term I used above), but Isa found its place in my fragrance wardrobe, and I wore it on and off for several years.

When a couple of years ago I remembered about Isa and tried to look for it online, I discovered that it wasn’t easily available. I read mentions of it here and there but nobody was selling it. Luckily for me, I didn’t know then the perfumer’s name (Jacques Saint Pres) or I could have ended up paying $180 for it. Eventually, I came across Ulric de Varens’ website and an online store. Too bad they weren’t shipping to anywhere outside France.

A year ago, I asked my friend who was going on a car trip through Europe to look for Isa if he happens to visit any of drugstores in France (I assumed it was that type of a brand). He took it even further: he actually drove to France to go into a couple of stores. Not speaking French, he managed to get help and find some perfumes from Ulric de Varens. No Isa though.

Two months ago, I asked Suzanne of Eiderdown Press who was going to Paris (see her account for this trip – Paris, je t’aime) to help me with my quest. She tried. She drove to the address she got from the website and walked back and forth along the street – no store, just the Consulate of Oman. The further investigation revealed that by mistake she got their corporate mailing address instead of a store one. But it was too late.

Recently, somebody in the Facebook Fragrance Friends group mentioned Suzan of Shop France, Inc. who, among other things like planning and organizing trips to Paris, does personal shopping there. She brings to the U.S. exclusive French perfumes that aren’t available here – Lutens, Guerlain, etc. And there was I asking for a $5 French drugstore brand… But two weeks later I got a package with a fragrant blast from the past (Thank you, Susan!).

Fragrantica for Isa by Ulric de Varens lists just floral notes, nutmeg and spices. That’s it. How does it smell? Unidentifiable floral notes. Unidentifiable spices. That’s it. Was it reformulated since I tried it last? I don’t know! It’s so synthetic that I’m sure no animal plant was harmed during its creation. But since packaging did change to worse (it’s a really cheap looking box, bottle and cap) I wouldn’t be surprised. On skin it doesn’t change much over the course of its life, its veeery long life (easily 12 hours and then some).

I’m glad I got it and I’m grateful to everybody who helped me to get this perfume that has a sentimental value to me. Will I wear it? I’m not sure. My vSO didn’t like it this time around; he thinks “it smells like soap”. I must have spoiled him with all those exclusive French perfumes…

Images: my own

July 15, 2012 by Undina

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 15

Last weekend was filled with events – a short trip to Carmel with my vSO to celebrate an anniversary on Saturday (a post is coming at some point, I think); the First Artisan Fragrance Salon on Sunday (my post and pictures are here). Since I didn’t have time for my weekly round-up post for the last week here’s a double portion of those posts that made me laugh, created lemmings or reviewed my favorite perfumes.

Lemmings

Thomas (Candy Perfume Boy): Since its release in 2005 Mugler has released a plethora of Alien Editions, each of which has seemed better than the last, and it would be fair to say that the very latest edition ‘Alien Essence Absolue’ is the best yet, and they know it too hailing Essence Absolue as “The Supreme Perfume”. And, if it wasn’t enough, here comes news about four more upcoming limited editions: Thierry Mugler is set to release four limited edition leather interpretations of their most popular scents.

Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) keeps creating Amouage-related lemmings: The many faces of Interlude Woman can seem chaotic at times, only to resolve themselves into recurring moments of perfect clarity again and again. The seemingly rivaling accords of almost masculine spices and woods and the tender, feminine florals dance a powerful choreography around a core that is imperturbable and stands like a rock in the midst of all that agitation. And once you think she’s done, here comes the second volley: Interlude Man feels like a strong man with a soft heart, someone to protect you, care for you, be there for you. Oh my, can it be that Interlude Man is my knight in shining armor?

Parfumista (Parfumistans Blogg) reviews a perfume with an interesting name from the brand about which I haven’t heard before: Impossible Iris is high quality stuff, very versatile, it’s the perfect officescent, a sort of first-class Prada Infusion d’Iris Edp replacement. Impossible Iris is also the perfect “lunch at some elegant restaurant fragrance” or something to wear at a day time reception… If you want to know more about this brand and when it’s coming to the US read Carrie’s (eyeliner on a cat) interview with the perfumer.

Laughs

Speaking of lemmings…
Dionne: … it was amazing how quickly they [lemmings] quieted down once I stepped away. Conversely, I swear I heard a couple of them yell “CANNONBALL!” the moment I opened up my Google Reader.
Mals: Your lemmings yell “Cannonball!”?? Mine rub their hands together and whisper evilly. Then they go have mad lemming sex and multiply.) More in comments.

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): What were the owners of the store trying to tell their customers, I wondered? Interestingly, no other ornaments were used on any other items of furniture to suggest possible usage. There were no fruit bowls on the dining tables, no hats on the hat stand, no monks on the monks bench, for example.

Loves

Steve (The Scented Hound): Bombay Bling is a hard fragrance for me to describe. It goes on sweet and fruity, but in a very subdued and subtle way. Maybe it’s because there’s a tinge of pepper that hides behind the top notes, or maybe it’s the base of warmth that keeps the sweetness under control. In any case, the opening stage of this fragrance is lovely and embracing. In fact the nice thing about this scent is that as it wears the opening doesn’t really disappear it just becomes a bit more subtle.

Madeline (AustralianPerfumeJunkies) reviews four perfumes from my favorite perfume house: AMOUAGE Awesome Foursome.

Natalie (Another Perfume Blog) writes a perfect “thank you for visiting” letter (UPD: APB is closed now) to my new perfume love – Cruel Gardenia (here’s my story of falling in love with this wonderful perfume).

Portia (AustralianPerfumeJunkies): On my skin I love the crackling, nearly burnt herbs and spices that fly and waft freely as soon as you spray Ambre Sultan, as if you’ve just thrown them on a very hot, dry pan over a campfire. It’s harsh, bitter, green, wood, vanilla and smoke all at the same time and it jumps up and assaults your nostrils, BAM!

Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels): Chypre Palatin is a very unique perfume. I don’t have anything like it in my collection and I love its total recognizability. This is a perfume you could immediately identify when you smelled it “in the wild”.

July 11, 2012 by Undina

First Artisan Fragrance Salon in San Francisco

Last Sunday, July 8th, I spent the day at the First Artisan Fragrance Salon in San Francisco. You’ve probably read something about it already so just to recap: twenty artisan perfume companies presented their perfumes at the Gallery 4N5. There were also wine and chocolate tasting as well as some talks and presentations.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll try to write more about some of my personal discoveries at this Salon but I want to share with you pictures of those stands that I managed to take before there were too many people. Keep in mind that pictures on walls were a part of the Gallery decor and participants weren’t allowed to change those. Notice how perfectly some of the stands and art came together. I’m not sure if there was any special thinking behind those designations or if they just happen to come together by chance but some of them really played out. Click on pictures to see more details.

Yosh

Both Yosh (above) and Sonoma Scent Studio (below) found an elegant solution to the over-perfuming the small space: pre-sprayed glass containers. I really like the idea because in addition to the benefit mentioned there are multiple others: you do not need to remember which paper strip you sprayed with each perfume (which is even harder if you were given a blotter sprayed by a perfumer); you can revisit scents multiple times without trying to juggle those multiple paper strips and, finally, if you didn’t like the scent you do not need to decide if it’s polite to discard it right there, in front of a perfumer/presenter, or if you have to take it with you.

Sonoma Scent Studio

Many people were disappointed that Laurie Erickson, the nose behind Sonoma Scent Studio, couldn’t attend the event. On the positive side, there was her newest addition to the line Forest Walk and the stand looked very elegant.

Artemisia Natural Perfume, perfumer Lisa Fong

For a while I was considering one of Artemisia‘s perfumes – Ondine because of the name (it means the same as Undina, just a different spelling) but I’m not too good with all-natural perfumes, usually they don’t work for me. I should have probably bought a sample (though now I cannot remember if this table offered any for sale) but I was so overwhelmed with everything that I wasn’t thinking straight.

Ineke, perfumer Ineke Rühland

Ineke had a very nice spot and they decorated it just perfectly. Do you see the stack of sample sets on the left? They were all sold out quickly. On the off-chance somebody doesn’t know that, this is one of the best discovery sets out there: for $25 including shipping you’re getting the cutest box with seven 2 ml individually wrapped samples and that price is redeemable for a purchase of a full bottle.

Probably half of all participants didn’t have any samples for sale and I think it’s a mistake. I understand that for a small company it might be prohibitively expensive to give away samples and I didn’t expect them to do that. But it’s also hard to expect that people who have never smelled this brand’s perfumes (and sometimes haven’t even heard about its existence) before will distinguish any of the perfumes out of literally hundreds, fall in love with it and decide to spend $40-$135 on the spot for a full bottle. Some brands at least offered purse sprays under $20 (Sonoma Scent Studio and Olympic Orchids) which is a much more reasonable option.

En Voyage Perfumes, perfumer Shelley Waddington

Shelley Waddington presented her newest The Cosmologie Collection. I liked A Study in Water on a blotter but I didn’t have a chance to test it on skin. I’ll need to revisit it one day.

Olympic Orchids

Ellen Covey, the perfumer, in addition to the main collection, also introduced her new collection created for the Devilscent Project. I found my favorite out of five – Dev 2.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume, perfumer Roxana Villa

The name 40 notes perfume seemed somehow familiar but I couldn’t remember where I read about it or what. I liked brand’s esthetics and thought that Miriam, the perfumer, was really charming. But I caught her later in the day, she was tired and wasn’t sure it was the best time to pose for a picture. I promised her not to use it, so here’s just a picture of the stand:

40 notes perfume

Those beautiful green and gold paper boxes are sample sets. Since perfumes are oils they are expensive. While I understand $5+ for 1 ml, there was just one perfume in the line to which I was immediately attracted so I just couldn’t justify paying $40 for the sample set. Maybe I should have… Well, I have time to think about it since those can be ordered from the website.

Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Perfumery

Leila Castle Botanical Fragrance

smell bent

Smells & Bells Organics

Rebel & Mercury Pure Botanical Perfumes

Sarah Horowitz Parfums

Persephenie

One more brand that decided to use glass as a medium for perfumes testing (though it bothered me a little that there was three glasses of one form and one of another). If I ever come across this line I’ll test it more: I was too tired by the time I got to them.

And, finally, there was one brand new brand that launched that day at the Fragrance Salon – Cognoscenti. There are just three perfumes in the line (that is how brands/lines should be launched!) and I liked one of them enough to put on the skin. I will test all three more and see if I have a story to tell.

COGNOSCENTI, perfumer Danniel Sergent

There were several more stands – Ayala Moriel Parfums, Divine Life Perfume and Parfums DelRae but my pictures of those tables are too blurry to share.

I enjoyed the event: friendly and warm atmosphere, beautifully decorated stands and an unimaginable variety of perfumes, perfumed oils, body products and other scent-related items.

On the negative side – music in some areas was too loud, it was hard talking to people; too many perfumes were sprayed in the area without a proper ventilation and just simply NOT ENOUGH TIME to try even brands about which I knew before – leave alone completely new ones. But I really tried.

I hope this will actually become an annual event because I want to go to the next one already.

Images: my own

July 7, 2012 by Undina

Entertaining Statistics: June, 2012

It feels almost wrong but I can’t stop telling everybody how great our summer is so far: sunny but cool and breathy. But I should mention that I sympathize a lot with those who suffer from the recent heat wave.

For those of my readers who might still remember that I had some… ambitious New Year Resolutions I want to report that as of the end of June I was still good. Unfortunately, that was probably the last month about which I’m able to say that. I’ve reached my self-imposed limits on both full bottles and decants.

Now I’m trying to decide what to do. I know that there is no way I can go through the rest of the year without adding any perfumes to my collection. So should I just accept that and hope I’ll be somewhat reasonable or is it better to set new quota and try to stay within it? I don’t know.

I’m testing less of new perfumes because I’m trying to spend more time with those samples that I previously tested and didn’t make up my mind. It means that my pile of untested perfumes isn’t getting any smaller. My dream: all companies in perfumes from which I’m interested decide to take a year-long hiatus in launching new perfumes… Yeah, right.

Quick June stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn¹: 26 (-1) from 19 (0) brands on 29 (-2) occasions;

* Favorite perfumes worn: 19 (-1) on 19 (-4) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested²: 38 (-7) from 23 (-5) brands on 45 (-11) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 9 (-20);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Dior;

* Perfume house I tested the most: Serge Lutens;

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear): top – (not counting bergamot) rose and neroli; middle – (not counting rose and jasmine) iris root and ylang ylang (the same as last year); base – musk, vanilla and sandalwood;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time and liked: Grand Bal by Dior, Chypre Palatin by Parfums MDCI and Vetiver Oriental by Serge Lutens.

If you had NY resolutions regarding perfumes are you still following them? Are you succeeding? Are you failing?

¹For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.

² When I wear a 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.

Image: my own

July 2, 2012 by Undina

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 14

Last Friday when my vSO showed me one of the temperature maps of the US (similar to the one below) my reaction was:” We do NOT pay enough for our real estate!” (For those who aren’t familiar with the subject, take a look here). It was such a beautiful week here, in San Francisco Bay Area! Warm but not hot, breathy, with just enough sun to feel summer-y.

Here are posts that created perfumes lemmings, made me laugh or reviewed perfumes that I love.

Lemmings

Even though I still haven’t tried the last two perfumes from Amouage – Opus VI and Beloved, I’m lemming already for the next one. I definitely have a thing for dark blue bottles!

Gaia (The Non-Blonde): People who dislike the popular pairing of coconut milk note with fig will rejoice at the Armani Privé interpretation. It also doesn’t have even a hint of creamy woods, or much wood at all. This is not the olfactory representation of the lush Mediterranean tree or the wonderful aroma of its leaves, green and sappy, giving much needed shade and relief on a hot summer day. Instead, Figuier Eden focuses on the ripeness of the fruit, sweet and juicy, paired with mandarin orange and what smells like peach tea. Once again I don’t understand why they stopped carrying Armani Privé line of perfumes in most places in the U.S.

Laughs

Sigrun (fragrantfanatic): Let’s start with the name, “1889 Moulin Rouge”, a legendary nightclub in Paris, mostly known for its can-can dancers. How might it have smelled in 1889? Like lots of warm bodies, probably. Some of them wearing the same skimpy scene costumes night after night at a time when hygiene standards probably did not include daily showers or dry cleaning. Is that something you’d want bottled? If you’re not some kind of Victorian bent pervert, sure, but most us would likely prefer living in ignorance on this one.

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): I am patiently waiting for the day when someone attempts to lick me wearing ANY fragrance. Or while not wearing any fragrance. I am ludicrously happy just to receive a compliment about my SOTD, as that is such a rare occurrence.

Loves

Angela (Now Smell This) reviews one of my favorite perfumes from one of my most favorite brands: This review is a cry for glamour and an entreaty to give Gold Woman a square sampling. Perhaps you’ve dared a spritz at a perfume boutique and were daunted by its Birgit Nilsson of a voice. Maybe you thought, sure I’ll wear Gold Woman — as soon as I get gold taps for my bathtub and a Persian cat. I get it. I can’t pull off Gold Woman most days. I suspect that most of my current readers have read four participans’ take on Amouage Gold Woman vs. Lancome Climat but if no – you might want to take a look, it was an interesting experiment.

Leftovers

I wasn’t sure if to put it in loves or laughs so it ended up in this section. You’ve probably heard already that Chandler Burr’s mystery S01E01 perfume was Prada’s Infusion d’Iris. I find it really ironic: a day before Mr. Burr unveiled his first offering I posted Alien wears Prada Infusion d’Iris in which I told the story of not being influenced by the brand, the bottle, the packaging and even the perfume itself but later falling for the picture from the ad campaign. As Katie Puckrik’s pen pal called it: “It’s the anti-Burr approach.”

Now, when you know what perfume it was, have you changed your original judgment of the project (whatever it was)?

Me? Whereas I can clearly see how Prada’s original bottle is more beautiful and attractive than CB’s “unmarked 50ml lab bottles”, I do not understand why

structure is virtually invisible; it is one of the most seamless pieces of scent work I know, almost unnervingly perfect. It has an astonishing olfactory texture, soft, cool, precise.

The beauty in this scent lies, in part, in the fact that it is designed to function while making virtually no noise at all. Wearing it makes you feel like you’ve walked away to a distant point and sat down in a cloud bank; it lends you the purity of purpose and the luxury of self-imposed isolation.

… is supposed to be considered less of “marketing techniques” than

was inspired by a quest for balance and harmony in a chaotic, contradictory world. […]

“A perfume is like a dream, a journey to Italy, an atmosphere, the clean fragrance of starched linen sheets against naked skin. It comprises familiar aromas, natural oils and priceless extracts. It imitates none of the current trends in perfumery. It does not follow in the footsteps of the established olfactory or descriptive stereotypes for perfumes for women, but is expressed in the contrast between extraordinary freshness, apparent lightness and a sort of delicate, yet sensual and strong veil that embraces the body and the clothing of the woman who wears it.”

Yesterday, while stopping at the local Nordstrom’s perfume counter to chat with a friendly SA, I sniffed the air and immediately asked if she was wearing Infusion d’Iris. She was. Infusion d’Iris Absolue, a sample of which I got from her to do a parallel test at home with the EdP version. So I was right not to play this game. I do not think I need that “blindfold” to appreciate perfumes: I like perfumes many other people completely dismiss; I cannot wear some perfumes from the brands I love and I stay completely cold towards many well-respected and highly acclaimed perfumes. I do not need Chandler Burr telling me Infusion d’Iris is a warm scent – for me it smells and always will smell cold and, I agree with Katie, standoffish.

June 27, 2012 by Undina

Will you go to the Ball?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “Ball”? For me it’s Cinderella and her Glass Slipper (though in the version from my childhood it was a Crystal Shoe, which sounded even more romantic), the first ball of Natasha Rostova from War and Peace and a strange game we would play as kids.

The host would start with a rhyme (loosely translated):

Lady of the Manor has sent you some money.
She has instructed: you buy what you want;
Don’t wear black or white during your jaunt;
“Yes/No”’re off-limit and even when funny
Don’t dare laugh or smile,
Don’t twitch at all!

Will you go to the Ball?

From this point participants will answer different questions about the imaginary ball, their attire, means of transportation and so on and so forth – until one of them slips the forbidden exclamation or adjective. You would think that this game is like Tic-tac-toe: once you know the algorithm it should end up in a tie every time. But no: kids’ minds are very inventive and persistent. “Are we there yet?”

With all that in the background, could I not be predisposed to like Grand Bal from Dior’s La Collection Privée?

Grand Bal by Dior – created in 2012 by Francois Demachy, notes include bergamot, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang-ylang, musk and sandalwood. I really-really-really wanted to try it. I contacted a friendly SA from a Dior’s boutique and he was kind enough to send me some samples of Grand Bal.

The first attempt wasn’t successful: the package had arrived with two completely smashed vials. Rusty had inspected the content of the envelope and found it interesting for playing with (I didn’t allow him to proceed with that) but useable only as a room freshener (I kept it for a couple of days in that role).

The second time was a charm and I got a chance to wear Grand Bal on the skin. It’s a lot of jasmine. When I tested Jasmin Rouge by Tom Ford I thought I didn’t like jasmine as a dominant note in perfumes. But unlike Jasmin Rouge and Sarrasins by Serge Lutens that both come out unclean on my skin Grand Bal smells very clean, uncomplicated and easy flowing. It reminds me of this Waltz of the Flowers scene from the animated film from my childhood:

I know that there are notes other than jasmine in Grand Bal but for my nose jasmine dominates the composition allowing all other components to play an entourage on its appearance at the ball. And only when I smell it in parallel with other jasmine-intense perfumes I detect orange blossom and realize how different all those jasmine perfumes are. It’s hardly an original thought but it hit me. Probably because on previous occasions of testing those perfumes I just thought habitually: “It’s a lot of jasmine…”

Will I go to the ball for a bottle? Yes No I don’t know yet. I will try wearing the remaining portion of my Grand Bal sample “for real” (sprayed multiple times and not only on my wrist) and then decide.

Image: my own

June 17, 2012 by Undina

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 13

Last Saturday was a very hot day the Bay Area (99F/37C) and I managed to miss it because of a short trip south (!). By the time we came back the heat wave was over. I’m overjoyed: during a very cold summer last year I realized that it was exactly how I liked my summers.

Because of that trip I haven’t had enough time to comment on all the posts I wanted to (but I still plan to, so it’s not an excuse – just an information), but I read (and now present to your attention) posts that covered perfumes I want to try, posts that made me laugh or described something I love.

Lemmings

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press), as she describes Chypre Palatin by Parfums MDCI, finds exactly the right words to appeal to my cat-loving soul: There is a gentle fruitiness to the floral heart of the perfume that is what reminds me of Jubilation 25 a bit, along with a creaminess that smells a touch oily and mink-like, like the scent of a good fur coat or a very well-groomed cat.

Steve (The Scented Hound) makes L’Ombre Fauve by Parfumerie Generale sound really appealing: It feels like it hugs the skin, but you find that it comes up to greet you as well… playing tricks on how it sits on your body. The amber is just so lightly sweet which makes this perfect for both men and women alike.

I have a soft spot for Tom Ford‘s perfumes (they work for me in more cases than not) so the upcoming Café Rose perfume release mentioned in this article produced a sizable clowder of cats lemmings.

Laughs

Meg (parfumieren): Wearing Jasmin et Cigarette is an olfactory ventriloquism act: it throws its voice, and the hearer perceives an entirely different entity than the one you might think you know. […] Oscillating between wood and smoke, flowers and ashes, vulnerability and toughness, Jasmin et Cigarette is a mercurial scent that switches its tactics constantly. What to make of it?
It all depends on which zone you’re standing in when you smell it: smoking or non-smoking.

Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels): That oud in there is giving its very best barnyard performance and there is civet in there and not just a dusting either. Leather Oud is positively growling on my skin in the drydown. I kept checking my sons diaper and giving my husband the evil eye, but both were innocent. The animal was me.

Loves

It’s not an ordinary selection for my Loves section since it’s not about perfumes (I can’t believe it but there was no coverage for any of my favorite perfumes this week!). But it’s still about something I love. I’m almost positive that everybody has seen the cutest post ever by Arielle (The Scents of Self) – The Difinitive Guide to the Perfume Bloggers’ Cats but if you missed it somehow you absolutely have to read it! Has she forgotten any cats?

Image: I can’t find the source.

June 14, 2012 by Undina

In the Search for the Perfect Linden, Take 2

I’m not much of a spontaneous person, if you haven’t noticed yet. I try to plan most things in my life. It gives me the feeling of comfort and control. But, as with many other things we crave because we do not have them – straight/curly hair, lighter/darker skin, etc., from time to time I wish I would do something on an impulse, without going through every detail in my head first.

My vSO is even less spur-of-the-moment man. So when a couple of weekends ago he told me: “Let’s go to Santa Cruz mountain wineries!” in less than an hour we were on our way there.

I just couldn’t pass by a small boutique named Scentsations^# – a tiny soap and cosmetics shop. An older gentleman, most likely an owner, peeked over the newspaper he was reading to greet me. A usual small shop small talk (as I keep sniffing different soaps):

– It’s a nice day. What are you doing today?
– Yeah, it is. We’re here for the wine tasting.
– Are you even old enough to drink?
– (I laugh: I know I’m old enough to have a kid of a drinking age but since he’s old enough to be my father I do not feel bad about his obvious flattery) Thank you, I appreciate it.
– Where are you from?
– (my habitual answer to such questions) I live in the Bay Area, my accent is from…
– I thought so. You should try this one…

He hands me a bar of soap. It is tender green and smells of linden. On the paper wrap it says “Tilleul” and “Made in France”. How could I not buy it?

In my last year post I told the story behind my affection towards linden blossom and reviewed briefly perfumes that I tried while looking for the perfect linden-centric perfume: French Lime Blossom by Jo Malone, Linden by Demeter, Tilleul by Provence Sante and Zeta by Tauer Perfumes. I didn’t find the perfect perfume then so I kept looking.

Waltz No. 14 by Tokyo Milk – notes include linden, honeyed rose, wisteria petals and white musk. To my nose it’s a bitter green scent. I can smell what is supposed to be a linden note (it’s not a bad representation of linden if smelled alone without comparing to other takes on the same scent). I do not smell rose in Waltz – honeyed or otherwise. It’s nice and crisp on my skin for the first 10-15 minutes but then gets a little soapy for a while. Like most Tokyo Milk’s perfumes that I tried it doesn’t stay for too long. The sample sent me by Victoria of EauMG (thank you!) will stay in my scents library. Read her real review for Waltz.

Tilleuls au Vent by L’Artisan Parfumeur isn’t really a perfume, it’s a room spray but it usually doesn’t stop a real perfumista in the search for a perfect scent (thank you to Vanessa of Bonkers about Perfume for sending me this sample). What can I say? It’s a room spray. Tilleuls au Vent is a very pleasant scent but it’s too single-dimensional and lacks depth.

La chasse aux Papillons by L’Artisan Parfumeur – created by Anne Flipo in 1999, notes include linden blossom, lemon tree blossom, orange blossom, jasmine and tuberose. I tested it for several times and even though I couldn’t smell too much linden in it, I enjoyed the scent. And then I read Victoria’s (EauMG) review for La chasse aux Papillons and now I cannot help smelling in it tuberose to which I didn’t pay attention before. I do not like tuberose and now it haunts me in this perfume. I’ll try to test it again in a while but for now a sample in my scent library is all I need.

Unter den Linden by April Aromatics – created by Tanja Bochnig in 2012, notes include linden blossom, mimosa, frangipani, honey extract, bergamot and gardenia. I haven’t heard about this brand until I read Asali’s (All I am – a redhead) beautiful review for Unter den Linden. Asali was very generous and sent me a sample. I’m very grateful to her but I’m not sure if I’m glad that I’ve got to try it. It’s a very pretty perfume and I take back my original impression that Unter den Linden smelled like a more lemon-y version on one of my favorites Jo Malone’s French Lime Blossom. Unter den Linden is lighter, more refined and blended more seamlessly than French Lime Blossom (I still like the latter though). What makes me unhappy is the price: however beautiful, this perfume isn’t unique enough or using really expensive and rare ingredients to justify to me $7/ml price for EdP. But if it weren’t for that I’d love to add a bottle of Unter den Linden to my collection. I still might.

Honey Blossom by Aftelier Perfumes – created by Mandy Aftel in 2010, notes include linden blossom, orange blossom, ambergris and benzoin. It is not a linden perfume. For my nose it’s a very sweet honeyed floral bouquet, warm and soothing scent. I like smelling it from my wrist but I do not want to wear it as a perfume. It makes a perfect sleep scent for me though. So once my small parfum sample that I’ve got from Mandy via Natalie (Another Perfume Blog) – thank you both – is gone I’ll probably buy the next one. For a real review read Victoria’s (Bois de Jasmin) Aftelier Honey Blossom : Natural Fragrance Review.

Ma Plus Belle Histoire d’Amour by DSH Perfumes – created by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz in 2012 for the YSL Retrospective Collection, notes include bergamot, lemon, ozone, Bulgarian rose absolute, Dossinia orchid, French linden blossom (accord), honeysuckle, linden blossom absolute, lily of the valley, sambac jasmine, wisteria, ylang ylang, Australian sandalwood, civet, East Indian patchouli, musk and vanilla. This perfume got me by surprise: it was the last perfume in the collection and I didn’t expect it to be a linden scent. I like it. Will Ma Plus Belle Histoire d’Amour become a full bottle in my collection once I’m done with the sample sent to me by Dawn (thank you!)? I don’t know yet.

I still can’t say that I found the perfect linden perfume but I will suspend my search until I get a chance to smell a real blossoming linden tree to re-acquaint myself with the aroma of my youth. On my recent trip to Baltimore I saw those pre-bloom linden trees and almost cried – two more weeks and I could have smelled something I hadn’t smelled in 15 years. Maybe next year…

If you are looking for a linden-centric perfume definitely give a try to Unter den Linden and Ma Plus Belle Histoire d’Amour and judge for yourself. You might just fall in love.

^# Address for Scentsations: 402 Ingalls Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, (831) 423-8900

Images: my own

June 10, 2012 by Undina

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 12

I don’t know either I felt less inclined to laugh or there actually wasn’t anything funny but this week I came across only some articles about move favorite perfumes and adopted a couple of small lemmings. If you read anything that you found amusing please share!

Lemmings

This week’s lemmings aren’t perfume-related. Well, not directly perfume-related. I read two reports about their Paris meet-up – by Suzanne (Eiderdown Press): The four of us stayed at the same hotel in the historic Marais neighborhood and spent the next several days sniffing perfumes to our hearts’ delight, eating enough foie gras and drinking enough kir royals to leave us in a state of purring contentment, and conversing on all manner of subject, from the general and specific craziness of family life to the physical requirements of opera singers… and by Ines (All I am – a redhead): Asali called it “nerding” about perfume and I admit, I kept waiting for someone to say, OK, enough of the perfume talk already, but that never happened. I want to visit Paris and I want to meet at least several of the blogo-friends I’ve got to know through our mutual passion. Not necessarily in this order or combination.

Loves

This was the only post last week that was supposed to make my LLL series so I moved it to this week: Christos (Memory of Scent) reviews one of my all-time favorites: Chanel No 19 is the perfect example of what leather is to fragrance. It is the illusion created by the artistry of the perfumer, Henri Robert in this case, using the ingredients to evoke memories of leather. It reminds me of those abstract pictures that are supposed to become three-dimensional images when you squint and look sideways. When you focus on what you look at the illusion is lost.

Blacknall Allen (aperfumeblog by Blacknall Allen) reviews “the year round floral”: Antonia is called a green floral, but this is only partly true. The top of the fragrance is green but of a very softly engineered sort. It reminds me of the smell of tulips and the pollen that you always smell in them. (and here’s my Shahrazad story about Antonia by Puredistance)

June 6, 2012 by Undina

Entertaining Statistics: May, 2012

I can’t believe it’s summer already. At least according to calendar. May was cool and I could still wear my ambers though I noticed a more floral and lighter tendencies in my perfume choices.

For many months I concentrated on being fair towards my favorite perfumes. And I succeeded: I wear one of them on most days. Then I’ve added another resolution/goal: not to buy any samples until I reduce the number of untested samples I already have. In the last five months I bought just five samples (it was a really good deal – $8 including shipping). And I managed to decrease the number of untested samples. But in pursue of these two goals at the same time I didn’t realize that it resulted in me not being fair to new perfumes I was testing. How?

I created a list of all perfumes I tested in May for the first time. Then I rated what I remembered was my reaction when I tried them: like, don’t like or indifferent. Then I compared that to my notes. Not only I remembered my reaction correctly in only 66% of the cases but also in 24% of the cases my recollections were worse than a reality. I got curious and pulled a similar set of data for the same period last year. Results were slightly worse (61% of guessing right and 28% of more negative memories) – see the chart below.

My thoughts: it doesn’t make much sense to test new perfumes if I can’t even remember if I liked those that I tested or not. So now I’m trying to decide how I should change my testing practices.

Quick May stats:

Numbers in parenthesis are comparison to the previous month’s numbers.

* Different perfumes worn¹: 27 (+1) from 19 (+1) brands on 31 (+1) occasions;

* Favorite perfumes worn: 20 (-1) on 23 (0) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested²: 45 (-5) from 28 (+1) brands on 56 (-1) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 29 (-3);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Chanel and Tom Ford;

* Perfume house I tested the most: DSH Perfumes;

* Most popular notes (only from perfumes I chose to wear) are almost the same as in March: top – (not counting bergamot) galbanum, pepper and mandarin; middle – (not counting rose and jasmine) iris root and ylang ylang (the same as last year); base – musk and sandalwood;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time and liked enough to put them on my wish list or bought already: Ambre Noir by Dior, Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens, Rose d’Amour by Les Parfums de Rosine and The Beat Look by DSH Perfumes.

How do you test perfumes to get the right impression of them and keep it?

Image: my own

Undina's Looking Glass

Perfumed Reflections of Life

Twice into the same river?

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 15

First Artisan Fragrance Salon in San Francisco

Entertaining Statistics: June, 2012

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 14

Will you go to the Ball?

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 13

In the Search for the Perfect Linden, Take 2

Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 12

Entertaining Statistics: May, 2012

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