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(Open)Sky is the limit?

 

Sometimes a small stupid thing rubs you the wrong way, you keep thinking about it and just can’t let it go. Usually I let it steep for a while and then just drop it. But sometimes I feel like I still want to say something. This is one of those cases.

Many popular perfume blogs published recently information about the upcoming Chandler Burr’s project, which he runs under the umbrella of a “social shopping” (whatever it means) site OpenSky.com. I won’t repeat PR information but if you somehow missed all the postings about this project I refer you to the post on Olfactoria’s Travels from which I learned about it first.

 Sky and palm

The idea

For anybody whose interests are in the perfume field the idea of a blind sniffing isn’t new. Basenotes monthly blind sniff threads come to mind (e.g. March Blind Sniff Orient Express – The Red Line). Earlier this year I read about Blind Sniff Roulette: pronti, via! Ready to go! project at La gardenia nell’occhiello blog (you can read also Christos’ story Pomegranate Noir: the joy of blind sniffing revisited about his participation and re-discovery of one of his favorite perfumes). I even ran my own blind comparison projects (Déjà vu, Episode 2: huge floral vs. abstract floral and Déjà vu, Episode 3: powdery fruit vs. peony oriental vs. sandalwood jasmine). And these are just off the top of my head. Why do we all it? Because we know that we’re susceptible to external factors (brand, packaging, LT&TC’s opinion, you name it) and are curious how we’ll feel about the scent if we remove any surrounding noise.

 

The implementation

“Definitely let me hear from you. Keep in mind, please: This isn’t about guessing what the fragrance is. The point is the experience of a work of olfactory art on your arm without a name or anything other than what the artist set, in its purest state, before you. So gives us that experience.”

Does anybody need a 50 ml bottle to experience “a work of art” on their arm? Let’s say it together: NO!

I usually complain about 50 ml of the perfumes that I know I like…Why on Earth would I want to pay $50 (+$3.75 S&H) for an unknown scent? To prove what? Chanel No 5 and Shalimar are extremely well made and beautiful perfumes – with or without the packaging and marketing hoopla. But I wouldn’t want to wear any one of them even if I got them for free – leave alone paid for an ugly decant bottle.

Just to make it even more real, would you want to pay $50 for a decant of Paris by YSL, Le De by Givenchy, Calyx by Prescriptives or Cologne by Thierry Mugler? I didn’t just come up with those perfumes – I got them from different Burr’s articles where he gave those very high ratings.

On Birgit’s blog the argument was made that Art can’t live without money. I completely agree that art requires investments! And I do not mind paying for going to a gallery or an exhibition. And I wouldn’t mind paying for a carefully curated blind sniffing art project: ten 3-5 ml unidentified sample bottles for $50-$60; plus an option to buy an actual manufacturer bottle of the perfume you liked for an offered price but still not knowing the name. I understand that a shopping site is supposed to generate an income to those who run it so actual names might not be revealed for some time (more than a month) to prevent people from going and finding them cheaper somewhere else. Something along these lines might have intrigued me enough to gamble.

 

“Don’t trust anybody. Trust me. “

I do not think Chandler Burr is in this project for money (we’re talking about $5,000/month revenue even if all 100 decants will be sold – it’s nothing). But it’s definitely not for the art. This probably is Art. OpenSky is commerce. And marketing. And publicity: see, we are talking about it.

So, buyers shouldn’t be influenced by brands’ ad copies, clips, packaging and names. They should doubt their own perception of a perfume because it’s distorted by “sensory noise”. But it’s OK to buy a 50 ml (sorry, I can’t get past it) bottle because Chandler Burr said that “it’s one of the few scents I know that smells like a state of grace” and that it is “almost unnervingly perfect. It has an astonishing olfactory texture, soft, cool, precise.” Because it’s not like he’s trying to sell them anything, right?

 

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Alien wears Prada Infusion d’Iris

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If I’m supposed to identify with those extremely beautiful women from different perfumes ads, dressed up either impeccably or with a calculated carelessness, I should say that it doesn’t work on me. I do not feel that any perfume might transform me into one of them – or even make me feel like I’m one of them: they are artificial; they are abstract and just an expected visual aid to the release de jour.

When Infusion d’Iris* by Prada was released, I immediately went to a store to try it. I didn’t like it. I think it was my first perfume with a prominent iris note (though I’m not sure I even knew then what it was). I didn’t expect to smell what I smelled – so I didn’t like it.

 

Prada Infusion d'Iris ad

 

I don’t remember how exactly it happened but I remember that one day I was looking at the ad above and thinking that I liked that image so much that I just had to have Infusion d’Iris. I don’t even like that model, I prefer them older and … more human. But the image is hauntingly weird and cool and elegant.

I tried Infusion d’Iris again, liked it that time and bought a bottle without even waiting for it to make its way to discounters online. For me it smells very elegant, cold and refined – exactly the way that alien in gloves looks on the picture. And unless they colonize the Earth tomorrow, I do not want to look like it or project that image. But five years later I still enjoy wearing Infusion d’Iris and probably won’t want to be without in – just in case, you know, extraterrestrial invasion and all that.

 

Alien

 

For a real review (and a very cool suggestion on layering) read Birgit’s (Olfactoria’s Travels) Wallflower? – Review: Prada Infusion d’Iris. Robin (NST) had also reviewed this perfume. If you reviewed Infusion d’Iris on your blog share a link please.

Update: one more review of Prada Infusion d’Iris at Scentandshinythings.

 

* Infusion d’Iris in this story refers to the EDP version.

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 11

 

The weather is still cool which I rather enjoy. We had two very windy days. As the house was making creaking and rattling sounds Rusty kept listening worriedly to what was going outside and even almost stopped shedding; though the last part should be probably attributed to the temperature, since cats are known to shed more when they are nervous.

I still hope to get more responses to the idea of multiple mirrors for the Perfume Shopping around the World page. So far Olfactoria’s Travels, All I am – a redhead, the unseen censer and Bonkers about Perfume decided to host a similar page. If anybody needs help with creating that page on either WordPress or Blogger I can guide you step by step.

I read most of the postings from blogs on My Reading List but somehow none of them created any lemmings; which is probably not a bad thing. My wallet is definitely better off with me laughing at my friends’ posts or reading about those perfumes that I already own and love.

SF Heart

 

Laughs

Ari (Scents of Self) analyzes 2012 Fifi Awards: I would have given this FiFi to Untitled, especially considering that Jasmin Rouge also won the Nouveau Niche Men category! Who do y’all think Tom Ford had to sleep with to pull that off? (Answer: everybody. Tom Ford slept with everybody. And not to win the FiFi. Just because.) There are also many funny comments: “Soon there will be a 7-11 perfume that will win,” “Victoria’s Secret Angel? Really? I couldn’t be more surprised if a Yankee Candle had won.”

 

Loves

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press) tells a beautiful story that weaves into her review of one of my new favorites: You won’t ever mistake Bombay Bling for an overly sweet cocktail, however—its emphasis is not only on mango, this is a scent with all of the complexity of a true perfume—but because it opens with such an uplifting combination of mango and cardamom, it’s hard not to smile when wearing it.

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Ron (Notable Scents) joins in with his commendations for the same perfume: Fruity floral fragrances are all over the place, but Bombay Bling stands out as one of the best ones that I have ever experienced. Not only is there a clear development, it feels incredibly rich and full without being too strong. He also reviews the other two perfumes of the trio and offers a draw for a sample set. Just in case you want even more, read my story Three Pieces of Neela Vermeire’s India Puzzle

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Michael (From Top to Bottom) praises the perfume that is my absolute favorite on my vSO: What makes Terre so good? I can think of a number of reasons, but one simple reason is that it smells like no other perfume on the market. As simple as that. It doesn’t smell generic, it doesn’t smell like it has been done before. For me, that is enough to state that it is one of the few modern mainstream men’s classics out there.

 

Image: my own

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Know-How: Perfume Shopping around the World

 

We, perfumistas, live around the world. We travel around the world. We publish our perfume shopping stories and share our first-hand knowledge and discoveries. A year later, while preparing to a new trip, some of us might even remember where we read that great guide for this tiny town in which we’ll have a stopover on our way to or from somewhere. Or maybe not that tiny but still.

SF Macys entrance

For a while I’ve been compiling links to those posts that I came across. Now I decided to create a page to hold links to those guides – Perfumes Shopping around the World. If you’ve written an article you want to include in this list (or exclude from it – I respect writers’ choice) or if you know about somebody else’s article send me an e-mail.

Also I think it might be useful to have multiple pages referring to these guides. So if you want to host a similar page on your site send me an e-mail and I’ll forward you the HTML file. I plan to update this page with new links three-four times a year and I will be sending updates to those who decide to host the page. You do not have to publish this page on your blog to have your links included and you can host the page even if you do not have any perfume shopping guides of your own (yet?).

I’m open to any suggestions. If you like the idea please spread the word. I have no commercial interest in this project I just think it might be useful for those who will be planning trips tomorrow. 

 

Image: my own.

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 10

 

Last week was busy for me. I’ve got promoted – which is, of course, great but now I feel that I need to concentrate on my work even harder. And I need to figure out if I want to buy a special celebratory bottle of perfume. In general, I always want to buy one perfume or the other but if it’s supposed to be special to commemorate the occasion it has to be special. And I’m not sure if I have that special bottle on my wish list now.

Speaking of a wish list. While answering Birgit’s Monday Question – What Is Your Number One Perfume? I tried to stay within the set criteria and choose just one perfume. Have you noticed how people almost never answer questions the way they were asked or follow the instructions? I’m not immune to that: earlier this week I tried to bake rugelach using my friend’s very clear recipe and I managed to miss an important ingredient (though I still liked the results). Mais revenons à nos moutons. When I chose The One perfume it felt as if I betrayed all my other favorites. The feeling was so intense that it compelled me to finish finally My Perfume Portrait. Immediately I felt better.

And now to the posts that made me laugh, created lemmings or reviewed perfumes that I love.

Lemmings Laughs Loves

Lemmings

Only a small and very weak lemming this week from NST – Blackberry & Bay by Jo Malone. Wild Bluebell and Plum Blossom weren’t that interesting but Garden Bloom collection didn’t disappoint. So I’m hopeful about Blackberry & Bay.

 

Laughs

I don’t know what I would have done without Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume) since most posts this week were too serious and composed: Orgasm did noticeably brighten up my cheeks whilst managing not to deposit an excess of age-inappropriate glitter, and in a trice Donna had called for the SA to “get me an Orgasm” – as in a pristine product from her drawer, of course.

 

Loves

Thomas (The Candy Perfume Boy) reviews one of my favorite Epic by Amouage: Epic Woman is no exception, it fits the Amouage feminine bill of being rich, floral, oriental, laden with spices and extraordinarily sensuous. Oh yeah, the Amouage Woman is a complex character.

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Michael (From Top to Bottom): It smells smooth and classy, no surprise coming from Hermes, who do understated luxury very well indeed. I think Rocabar is fantastic, and I’m so glad that I’ve finally tried it. Highly recommended wearing.

Leftovers

A couple of creative ideas for the scented strips and inserts from magazines brought to you by The Scented Hound. Please share your useful tips on the subject.

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Entertaining Statistics: April, 2012

 

I’m so late with April’s statistics that I almost forgot what the month was like. I think it was good though.

I’m still keeping up with my New Year Resolutions but I’m one bottle closer to the self-imposed limit. I just couldn’t resist! I liked Jo Malone’s White Lilac & Rhubarb and didn’t want this limited edition bottle to slip away as those limited editions have a habit of doing. I wish I could have all three bottles from this release in 30 ml bottles but for a reason unknown Jo Malone decided to have only 100 ml bottles for this collection. So if anybody wants a small decant of White Lilac & Rhubarb at cost send me an e-mail.

This month I decided to check if my reaction to perfumes I test depends on the application method. There is nothing scientific about the results since it wasn’t my choice to spray or to dab: I used whatever sample I had. But based on this anecdotal evidence the application method doesn’t affect whether I like the perfume or not (see the chart).

Stats April 2012

Quick April stats:

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

* Different perfumes worn1: 26 (-1) from 18 (+2) brands on 30 (+1) occasions;

* Favorite perfumes worn: 21 (0) on 23 (0) occasions;

* Different perfumes tested2: 50 (+2) from 27 (-6) brands on 57 (-1) occasions;

* Perfumes I tried for the first time: 32 (+7);

* Perfume house I wore most often: Dior;

* Perfume house I tested the most: Guerlain (third month in a row: it looks like once started I cannot stop);

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

* Perfumes I tried for the first time and liked a lot (went to my wish list): Indochine by Parfumerie Generale, La Femme Bleue by Giorgio Armani and Dzing! by L’Artisan Parfumeur.

 

Have you found any new favorites recently? 

 

1 For 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 (I wish I could draw!)

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 9

I was traveling last week so it’ll be a short post – whatever I collected before my trip started. Also, if anybody was wondering, I want to mention that my monthly stats post is still coming. I know it’s a little later than usually but I cannot do it on the road.

Lemmings, Laughs, Loves

Lemmings

Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) makes sure my lemmings for the latest release from Amouage keep swarming: Beloved is a big perfume, and despite the previous comments about its grandeur and drama, it is not hard to wear, actually I find Beloved particularly easy to wear, with a lovely, but not intrusive sillage and excellent lasting power (Do you know an Amouage that is gone in two hours? I don’t, and this one is no exception.)

Laughs

Vanessa (Bonkers about Perfume): Even the sales assistant apologised for the extreme woodiness of this scent, saying that it might appeal to men. Or extreme wood-loving women, obviously. An 8 out of 10 on the “trapped in a tea chest” / “planky” scale.

Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) about images invoked by L’Heure Convoitée: My doll Sonja: an unfortunate plastic child I practiced plastic surgery on. She never recovered and my dreams of becoming a surgeon where nipped in the bud (at least I married one, talk about projection!).

Loves

Susan (Fragrants) about my favorite Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal: Smelling this perfume makes me want to grab up my daughter and shower her with kisses while she is still small; smelling this perfume makes me want to be the best mother I can be and the best woman I can be. And it makes me acutely aware that the minutes, hours, days, are slipping quickly by. If you’re curious, here’s my take on this perfume.

Sigrun (fragrantfanatic) shares her experience while wearing one of my favorite perfumes from Amouage: Wearing Gold makes me reach for my most elegant skirts and dresses instead of jeans. It makes me take my time putting on make-up in the mornings, going for a full skin routine and red lips instead of the usual transparent gloss. It even affects the way I paint my toe nails. If you didn’t read it before you might find amusing this story about a blind sniffing test.

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In the Search for the Perfect Lily of the Valley

I grew up with May Day being an International Workers Day. Even though it was a holiday, it was an official holiday and people were required to participate in parades officially held in all major cities and translated by all TV stations. In my city, I remember, all traffic would be blocked for those demonstrations in the downtown area from early morning and until 2-3 p.m. My room’s window was facing one of the major streets and I would be woken up by music, megaphone announcements and other human noises. And then, for hours, non-stopping streams of people with flags, banners, balloons and artificial flowers would flow by my window toward the main city square. As a child I liked that holiday: it was a real beginning of the spring, we would get two days off school, kids weren’t a part of those demonstrations (unless their parents took them to their groups formed by places of work) but it was festive, different from regular weekends and there always was something interesting to do during or after the main event (like shooting balloons with a slingshot, for example).

Lily of the valley

I haven’t been not only celebrating but even acknowledging this holiday for many-many years and this year with everything going on under the sign of this day I’d be even less inclined to feel any nostalgia towards May Day if it weren’t for my hobby. Starting last year, when I read about it for the first time, I chose to associate this day with a beautiful French tradition of giving bouquets of lily of the valley.

I’m fascinated by this flower. I’ve always been. It looks fragile and lusty at the same time as if those tiny flowers were carved out of a very white ivory and carefully placed against a backdrop of flat wide leaves. And I love a very distinct lily of the valley aroma unmistakable with any other.

For a while I was collecting samples of perfumes built around this beautiful flower and testing them for this post in my Single Note Exploration series. Then I was struggling with a horde of lemmings born after I read an announcement about this year’s limited edition bottle of Muguet by Guerlein. How cool would it have been to make a picture of that gorgeous bottle for the post about lily of the valley note in perfumery?! It wasn’t easy but I won with the moral support from Victoria (Bois de Jasmine) and Natalie (Another Perfume Blog) despite Tara’s subversive actions! Instead I bought the last in the store pot with lily of the valley and took pictures of my very photogenic cat Rusty playing with it.

Rusty & lily of the valley

That was a hell of a preamble. But don’t worry: since I’m not doing real reviews I’ll try to be laconic. I’ll skip usual “created by” and notes lists since most of these are well-known perfumes.

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All perfumes I tested can be divided into three categories: Lily of the Valley I didn’t Like, Lily of the Valley I couldn’t Smell and Lily of the Valley I Loved.

Lily of the Valley I didn’t Like

Muguet Blanc by Van Cleef & Arpels – I smell an apple in it even though it’s not mention in notes. An artificial apple. It’s wrong. On paper I remember it being more lily-of-the-valley-y but on my skin it smells rather unpleasant in the first 45 minutes even though I think I recognize the scent of the flower. For my nose Muguet Blanc smells of a cheap synthetic lily of the valley air freshener brought in the room full of not just wilting but decaying in water floral bouquets. Then the freshener wins.  In 2 hours it’s a perfectly nice scent on my skin. I’m not sure I’ll ever finish my sample.

Le Muguet by Annick Goutal – in general, it’s nice, slightly more perfume-y than other believable lily of the valley renderings but still very recognizable. Le Muguet has some sweetness but it’s not overly sweet to my nose. Unfortunately, during one of three testing I got some plastic-y note. It might be my skin reaction but understanding that doesn’t make Le Muguet more wearable for me. I will give my sample another try but I do not see this perfume joining my collection in any form after that. You should try Le Muguet since it might behave differently on you (and if it does it smells really nice and natural).

Idylle by Guerlain – for the first couple of times when I tested it (a year ago) I was sure it was a rose scent. And then one day my nose picked out a prominent lily of the valley note. Since then I always think of Idylle as of a lily of the valley perfume. When tried in parallel with the other perfumes that are closer to being a soliflore Idylle feels more complex, more perfume-like and less lily-of-the-valley-centric creation than the rest perfumes I tested. I do not think Idylle is bad, it’s just not special enough for me to go beyond the sample I have (if even that).

Rusty & lily of the valley

Lily of the Valley I couldn’t Smell

When I read about Andy Tauer’s lily of the valley perfume I was very excited. There are just several Andy’s perfumes that work for me but I thought: how bad can it be if a talented perfumer creates a perfume with one of my favorite floral note in the middle of the composition? Well…

Carillon pour un ange by Tauer Perfumes – I smell pollen, a lot of sweetness and, I think, some mimosa. It has a great tenacity and I think it’s a very nice, very masterfully created perfume. But I couldn’t smell lily of the valley in it at all! I was so upset when I tried Carillon pour un ange for the first two times, I felt so cheated that I gave away my sample.

It wasn’t until several months later when, after trying DSH’s Muguet de Mai Perfume and Muguet Cologne, I realized that while I couldn’t smell lily of the valley in there either it seemed to me that both Andy and Dawn smelled (tried to re-create?) the same flower. Muguet de Mai starts very lemon-y plus some earth note. Muguet Cologne starts earthy and then turns into more floral composition… Both without much lily of the valley how I know it. I got another sample of Carillon pour un ange just to confirm my impression. And I can tell that though these three are completely different perfumes I smell more in common between them than between any one of them and lily of the valley. Compared to the real flower (I think I spent hours doing that for all perfumes I tested for this post) I kind of “see” the idea but all three don’t smell as lily of the valley to me. It should be my nose, right? Samples will stay in my scents reference library.

Diorissimo

Lily of the Valley I Loved

For the First of May this year I wore Diorissimo by Dior. I own a bottle of the current EdT and a vintage mini that has problems with top notes but then it’s fine. Diorissimo is so nice and spring-like!  I do not love it but I like it enough to enjoy wearing from time to time. Even though Diorissimo has a prominent lily of the valley accord I do not think of it as of a soliflore. When I wear it I wear a perfume. But only when I smelled Diorissimo together with the real flower I realized how close they were. I always knew that Diorissimo was an iconic lily of the valley perfume; I wore it knowing it smelled of lily of the valley but I’ve never realized how much it smelled like lily of the valley. Wow.

Muguet by Guerlain – is a fresh and very… clear scent – not in the sense “airy” but rather “without impurities” like a diamond or “not distorted” as in “clear sound”. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I fought off the urge to buy a full bottle of this perfume but I’m amazed at how much I liked it and how true it is to the real lily of the valley. I get everything – sweetness of the flowers, greenness of the leaves, general warmth of the scent. The only component that isn’t there is earthiness but I do not miss it, I’m fine with the pure floral part of the plant. I want a full bottle but will have to settle for a small decant of Muguet if I can find it. It’s so beautiful!

Lily of the Valley by Penhaligon’s – I like it a lot. It’s bright, warm and very realistic. I’m not too familiar with this brand, I’ve tested just a few of their perfumes and I haven’t formed any opinion about the house yet. It was the last perfume I tested for this episode and I think I didn’t expect it to be as good as it proved to be. I suspect that I like Muguet slightly better not even because it’s Guerlain but because I loved the bottle and all that “one day only” marketing BS (sorry, Guerlain, I start liking you more and more but this February Muguet 2011 was still available at the boutique). But I’m not sure if in a blind sniffing I would be able to tell them apart. I plan to add a mini bottle of Penhaligon’s Lily of the Valley to my collection.

I read a rumor some time ago that Frederic Malle had a plan to add a lily-of-the-valley-centric perfume into their line-up. If it happens I will definitely try it. Other than that I do not plan on actively seeking any more perfumes with that note being a dominant one.

Rusty & lily of the valley

How about you? Do you like lily of the valley – as a flower or a perfume note? Do you wear it? And, what I’m mostly interested in, if you tried perfumes from my Lily of the Valley I couldn’t Smell category, did you smell lily of the valley in them?

 

Images: my own (I hope there was enough of them to compensate for the long story)

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Laughs, Lemmings, Loves – Episode 8

It was a very stressful week: nothing too serious but a lot of small problems at work and some health issues. I’m feeling better now and ready to deal with everything I need to deal with in the office. But I had the most wonderful weekend including a perfumeeting with Natalie (Another Perfume Blog) that went too fast – as all good things usually do.

Lemmings, Laughs, Loves

Lemmings

It feels like I’m the last person in the Perfumeland who hasn’t tried yet two last most recent creations from Amouage. New surge of lemmings this week:

Suzanne (Eiderdown Press) about Opus VI: It’s a perfume that has intensity without a ballast, and while that may not sound like a strength, it is what makes Opus VI smell so compelling, because I think we are often drawn to those things we wish to complete.

Thomas (The Candy Perfume Boy) about Beloved: The base is quite similar to that of Amouage’s first fragrance Gold Woman, although it is decidedly less animalic and more refined, it has that golden, shimmering quality to it that softens the heavy musks, balsams and woods. It seems to find that perfect balance between rich and smooth.

Laughs

Thomas (The Candy Perfume Boy): YouTube frightens me slightly. Maybe I’m just a wimp but despite the wealth of content YouTube has more loons, weirdos (not the good kind) and trolls than any of the other ‘tubes’, including the London Underground, which indeed has its fair share.

Ari (Scent of Self): This book makes an Ikea instruction manual look riveting in comparison. Although if you think about it, Ikea instruction manuals are already sort of suspenseful. Will those suspiciously smiley stick figures be able to properly assemble that Förhöja Wall Cabinet???

Loves

Sigrun (fragrantfanatic) tells us about the affair she had while her husband was on a trip: I’d really hoped I’d dislike Angel, considering my husbands opinions on it, but no such luck. The sensation of then sitting in a commuter train and have that…thing…whafting up on me from under my clothes invoked a giggly, exhilarated feeling… Have you read my story Angel of Jealousy?

Leftovers

Since one of the draw winners hasn’t contacted me in a week I used random.org once again. A new winner is Suzanne. Please contact me with your shipping address.

Feel free to share any links – your lemmings, [new] loves or good laughs.

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Déjà vu, Episode 3: powdery fruit vs. peony oriental vs. sandalwood jasmine

When I was a child there was a sketch comedy TV show for kids – Yeralash. One of the episodes was titled Twins (it’s shorter than 2 minutes – start at 4:00 –  you can watch it for the idea, I didn’t find it with subtitles).

The plot: Two little boys (LBs) on a sled bump into an older boy (OB). He gets up to confront them when he notices that they look alike.

OB: Identical twins!
LBs (here and later they speak in unison): We are not identical twins!
OB: What do you mean “not twins”? Are you brothers?
LBs: Yes!
OB: Then you’re identical twins!
LBs: No, we told you, we are not identical twins!
OB:  Were you born the same day?
LBs: Yes!
OB: Then you are identical twins!
LBs: No, we are not!
OB: Why are you messing with me?! Let’s do it again. Were you born the same day? Are you brothers? Are you look-alike?
LBs: Yes! Yes! Yes!
OB: Then you are twins!
(the third little boy who looks exactly as the first two comes from behind and pushes OB away): Leave them alone! We are identical triplets!!! I went to pee!

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A year ago in one of the department stores I came across a stand with six or seven classic Guerlein fragrances. It was my first close encounter with those perfumes and since the only one I tried before – Shalimar – didn’t work for me I was reluctant to put anything on my skin. So I spent some time with all those bottles and paper strips. Have you ever tried keeping six unsigned blotters in order? I thought I was doing fine… Later, as I was going through those blotters in the car, the scent from one of them suddenly felt very familiar. A couple of minutes of intense sniffing later I conjured the answer: Estee Lauder’s Tuscany per Donna! The problem was that I didn’t know which perfume it was: blotters mixed in my hands and names did the same in my head.

I came home and went through the notes lists for those perfumes I suspected might be “it” – Mitsouko, Jicky, Jardins de Bagatelle and L’Heure Bleue. Each one of them had a potential but I couldn’t tell which one it was just from comparing notes. So the next week I went back to the store and sprayed those perfumes on new blotters (signed this time to avoid confusion). Nothing. None of them smelled like Tuscany per Donna. Since all that happen soon after I published the first episode in my o Déjà vu category I concluded that it was a wishful thinking on my part and thus wrapped up my experiments.

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During my Guerlain Quest in Las Vegas this February, following Suzanne’s recommendation, I tested Samsara in parfum concentration. I smelled it from a blotter that an SA handed to me and immediately thought of another perfume Samsara reminded me of. Actually, I thought of another two perfumes. But remembering reaction of the Specialist (I won’t repeat the link but you might want to look through the story from the Episode 1 linked above to understand what I’m referring to); I chose the “more niche” of two to mention to that SA. I told him that Samsara reminded me of Frederic Malle’s Iris Poudre. And that was where it was “déjà vu all over again”: his reaction was really similar to the one I got from Malle’s Specialist. I thought it was ironic.

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A month ago at a grocery store I thought I recognized a scent on a woman. I’m never shy to approach people about perfumes (or shoes) they are wearing:

 – Are you wearing Tuscany per Donna? – I asked.
 – No, it’s Samsara – she answered.

The circle has closed.

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Since this post is a follow-up to my older story I decided against a full-blown blind testing (which was, in my opinion, a complete success in my second Déjà vu episode) but I had a chance to solicit a quick blind sniffing participation from Susan (Fine Fragrants):

Based on my first tries of each of these perfumes, I agree that they are similar. Yet I can readily identify differences between each of them. Red (Iris Poudre) smells more “modern” to me than Blue (Tuscany per Donna) or Yellow (Samsara) – more like something that would be coming out on the market now. Yellow is quieter and closer to the skin than Red or Blue. Blue is the most assertive, classic, and sexiest, as well as the most animalic – it’s the one I’d want if I had to buy one of these perfumes. It’s the diva of the trio.

Triplets

Recently I tested all three perfumes – Tuscany per Donna, Iris Poudre and Samsara (both parfum and EdT) several times. Having five notes in common for all three (rose, carnation, jasmine, sandalwood and vanilla) and additional 2-3 between the most note-rich Iris Poudre and each of the other two, these three perfumes are distinct. I can definitely tell apart my favorite Iris Poudre: after more than a year of wearing it repeatedly I do not think any more that it’s identical to Tuscany per Donna. Testing Samsara and Tuscanny per Donna in parallel I can smell the difference. But all three have so much in common, especially on some stages of the development, that I’m not sure I won’t mix them up next time “in the wild” (©Dee, I think). Tuscany per Donna, Iris Poudre and Samsara  are not identical triplets but definitely fraternal ones.

By the way, Tania Sanchez gave this “sandalwood jasmine” ****

Read Suzanne’s (Eiderdown Press) real (and very beautiful) review of Samsara and Iris Poudre; Victoria’s (Bois de Jasmine) very informative article on new and vintage Samsara; Elisa’s not a review but an interesting layering idea for Tuscany per Donna and (thanks to Suzanne’s comment) Meg’s (parfumieren) review of Tuscuny per Donna.

Image: my own.