Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Lostmarch Lann-Ael Eau de Toilette
zeynepd 1/23/2011 9:13:00 AM
Lann-Ael, you almost made me cry. First because of the miraculous beauty of your soft apple, fluffy vanilla, light hay and cozy cereal and then because of your weak weak weak lasting power and boring Nesquik drydown.
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Fragrances -Acqua di Parma - Blu Mediterraneo Mandorlo Di Sicilia
zeynepd 1/23/2011 9:05:00 AM
I'm so on the fence about this one and it's a sad sad fence because I thought I would really love this. I have a soft spot for sweet, comfy fragrances and especially almond notes - though they sometimes tend to turn too plasticky on me and Hypnotic Poison is bane to my existence. Mandorlo di Sicilia presents none of these problems. It's a lovely almond that has a lovely airiness that comes from the star anise. This is not a very strong note after the opening blast and does not dominate the fragrance's almondy character. The only thing that makes me think twice is the sugared milk sweetness that tends to grow and grow on my skin, turning this fragrance into a vanilla musk with just a tad of almond. If this balance was the other way around, this could be HG for me but I think I don't want to buy a vanilla musk right now. Medium sillage and very good lasting power on my skin.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -LUSH - Tuca Tuca
zeynepd 1/23/2011 8:42:00 AM
Another fragrance from Lush that seems to divide audiences. I quite like it because it is surprisingly edgy - especially in a Lush shop - and at the same time wearable as long as femininity is not the main criteria. I can sniff some lipstick-like violet and salty mimosa in it, together with vetyver, but in the end of the day, this is a fragrance that I perceive holistically and makes me want to sniff and sniff. It makes me think of some really dry, probably cracked red desert soil together with a salty breeze from a distance. There is something very earthy and grounding in it. This would make a good fragrance at a good price for fall, and I think I would wear it with a leather coat, and earthy colours combined with a turquoise or pastel blue scarf. It projects really well and the lasting power is very good. Unfortunately, the texture is too oily for my liking and I'm pretyy afraid of its dark, rusty colour on my skin.
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Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - La Haie Fleurie
zeynepd 1/20/2011 6:52:00 AM
I received a small decant of this from a friend who thought she would manage to convert me into florals with this one - hmm, nope thanks. This is a pleasant floral with equal parts of jasmine and honeysuckle on my skin. Both are clean and innocent but I can't see its charm as a perfume. And the scent itself is so big - in terms of presence- that despite its simplicity it smells too frilly to my nose. I get very conscious of myself each time I wear it, as if I were wearing a crown made of flowers on my head. Surprisingly good sillage and lasting power.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - biehl parfumkunstwerke - al01
zeynepd 1/20/2011 6:41:00 AM
With lots of delicious fruit listed in the notes and a chypre structure (according to Luckyscent) I had high hopes for this but it's not working. It may be incompatible with my body chemistry but many things go wrong when I put this on. The first time I wore it, it was so sweet and flat that I almost gagged. I am now tolerating it better but too many things happen too quickly with sparkling top notes of bergamot, galbanum, basil and pineapple clashing with peach and what not on my skin. Moves down to the heart and base notes so fast that I cannot notice anything until I end up with something like hairspray or flat lemonade that has lost all its fizz. There is a chypre tonality and at times almost a sadness like that of Mitsouko on my skin but it smells somehow incomplete to my nose. I don't feel like I'm wearing a chypre at all. I hope this is just an issue with me and we are actually presented with a good chypre, but unfortunately my experience has not been along those lines. Notes per Luckyscent: Galbanum, pineapple, black currant, peach, raspberry, bergamot, basil, Freesia, violet, narcissus, orange flower, ylang, lily of the valley, jasmine, gardenia, heliotrope, orchid, Iris, vetiver, sandalwood, oakmoss, white musk, ambergris
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Fragrances -Van Cleef & Arpels - Orchidée Vanille
zeynepd 1/19/2011 12:53:00 PM
Chic vanilla. I love most things vanilla and I quite like this one although I'm not in love. On my skin, it leans toward the polished Van Cleef & Arpels chic with a sheer vanilla sensation rather than offering a cuddly vanilla - which has been done many times already. There is a bit of a metallic feeling in it, like this was a platinum accessory with a vanilla smell. Other times, I get just a tad of greenness and some powder. It doesn't have a big sillage like the other members of the series and lasts for around 4 hours on me. If I had an office job, I would buy this and wear it to the office but as it is, I don't feel like I need a FB. A strong 3.5.
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Fragrances -Estee Lauder - Pure White Linen- Light Breeze
zeynepd 1/17/2011 3:00:00 PM
A very reliable, light and clean fragrance that makes me want to own a sailboat. I find it airier than Pure White Linen which has a pronounced and calming linden note on me. Also, the drydown of Light Breeze is slightly more powdery on my skin. Light Breeze is almost like a lighter Gucci Envy and although I find Gucci Envy screechy and aggressive, this one is very easy to wear all year round. My favourite in this genre is L'Occitane's White Tea but Light Breeze is very charming,too. If only it had more lasting power and perhaps a bit more sillage. 3.5
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Maison Francis Kurkdjian Aqua Universalis
zeynepd 1/17/2011 2:40:00 PM
I usually like Francis Kurkdjian fragrances but sadly this one evokes no emotions or associations in me. It is a clean, light, airy fragrance that has an uncanny resemblance to your ordinary 4711 when it's wet, and some clean LOTV shows up its serene face during the heart notes. It has good lasting power, and also a slight rubbery accord that all Maison Francis Kurkdjian fragrances produce on my skin - must be a body chemistry thing. 2.5
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Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Nuit de Tubereuse
zeynepd 1/17/2011 2:28:00 PM
An inward but intriguing fragrance that has a small but sunny smile on its serious face. Nuit de Tubereuse mesmerizes me for a good couple of hours when I use it, but strangely I don't miss it much on other days. Its tuberose has a very very sheer tone, like some essence thinned and polished until it reached a beautiful level of transparency and a darkish glow. This makes me think of a tuberose plant rather than a big fat coconutty flower. On my skin, Nuit de Tubereuse bows to aesthetics of an organic nature with its vegetal, slightly mushroomy - but never musty- and miraculously clear character. On top of it, it is decorated with a sunny lemon and mango. These show their fruitiness especially right after the shower, when my body heat is higher. Multiple spritzes give me a brighter lemon and an industrial pine note but even that does not suffocate the semi-darkness of the floral body. I love this fruity, candy air about it and enjoy small whiffs of it until the drydown when the fragrance becomes considerably darker, drier and even slightly bitter. There is something in it that makes me think of two other Duchaufour fragrances: Dzongkha, which does similar things in a different order on my skin and is considerably more demure with the incense, and Penghalion's Verveine which possesses a similar candy note in the midst of aromatic greenness. Altogether this is the second Tubereuse I have fallen for in my life, but I don't love it enough to call it a staple in my collection. EDIT: the more I wear it the more it sparkles, maybe because it's the winter and I'm in warm clothes all the time. love
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Fragrances -Andy Tauer - Le Maroc pour elle edp
zeynepd 1/14/2011 2:33:00 PM
A perfectly woody oriental that causes cravings in me but I find it a bit too intense - especially on a practical basis - until the drydown. Then it becomes heavenly. The first time I tried it, the intensity of top notes almost made me gag with a Tang or baby aspirin-like note - actually an accord that I quite like. I also thought of melting plastic or warm henna. Luckily this fades in around around ten minutes on my skin to reveal an uplifting lavender juxtaposed with some candied orient. It is sweet, sultry and delicious but perhaps a bit too intense or carnal on those days when I'm not in the right mood. It doesn't give me a headache but it makes me fear that I may get one. The drydown is beautiful, soft but bright like a melting sun in the horizon, and the extreme drydown is one of the most beautiful citruses I have smellt. Unfortunately, I'm not very pleased with the tenacious and rather flat smell it leaves on my scarves and sweaters. Le Maroc pour Elle makes me think of Dior's Dune, it is like the Dune of the decade with a fuller, sultrier, more mature and niche attitude. Still, I think I prefer Dune, for which I'm always in the right mood nowadays. I wouldn't say no to a decant though.
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Fragrances -Paco Rabanne - XS elle
zeynepd 1/14/2011 12:35:00 PM
This is one of the very few fragrances that I wore at high school in the mid-90s and would not be ashamed of wearing today. Actually, I even miss it from time to time. It is a light, clean floral with a bit of freshness, some light-handed sweetness, and a touch of spice for anchoring. Both inoffensive and sporty chic in a way that makes it suitable both for the office and weekends. If I had a bottle, I would definitely use it again.
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Fragrances -Guerlain - Insolence
zeynepd 1/14/2011 8:46:00 AM
This was the first ever fragrance that made my husband comment on his own will: "Hmm, violet sweets" and to this day, it is still the only one that made him try to eat my arm - and I am a card carrying gourmand lover. Unfortunately, whenever I use it, all I can smell is powder on myself. If you like velvety and powdery sweet violets, this is the queen with tenacious lasting power.
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Fragrances -Houbigant - Chantilly
zeynepd 1/11/2011 3:34:00 PM
Houbigant's Chantilly, beautiful and magical like a kaleidoscope. To me, Chantilly comes very very close to timeless charm. Its many facets offers me many beautiful things from shameless candied fruits that must have been so courageous when the fragrance was first made to full-bodied citrus, some ambery powder and even some light moss. It smells somehow too powdery from the bottle, but once it's on my skin, it is some glittery powder that sparkles youthfully, while maintaining something mature. I associate its sweetness with fruity Turkish delight - not the almondy, rosy sort. This is cut with fresh lemons and bergamot. Delicious. Its amber gives it a retro feel, yes but it can be worn with many things if you don't like dotty dresses. Sometimes, Chantilly smells just a tad flat on my skin, but this phase is very short. Altogether a lovely trail. This fragrance makes me think of courageous women the twentieth century who dared to express themselves in previously untraveled paths of art and career. Like, you look at some sepia photographs of old times and some people's personal aura just shines - like those family friends or aunties who seemed to have more exciting lives than everyone else around them. I now imagine that those women wore Chantilly.
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Fragrances -Guerlain - Idylle EDT
zeynepd 1/11/2011 9:48:00 AM
This is like the olfactory equivalent of a soft candlelight glow - maybe on a content person's complexion. I have never tried the EDP but Guerlain Idylle is a well-rounded, soft-spoken, clean floral with a soft, slightly musky base. It doesn't have an agressive, in-your face cleanliness, and its musk is very smooth as well. It's one of those fragrances that I perceive as seamless and cannot distinguish the particular flowers, but they are based around a soft rose, adding it a bit of freshness and spark. Lasting power is around 4 hours and it doesn't have powerhouse projection. I think it's kind of easy to dismiss these kinds of scents as "nothing special" when one is continuously sampling new things, but Idylle is very pleasant, superbly balanced and easy-going on my skin. I love the waft that's around me when I wear it. (For some reason, this is what I had imagined Tresor in Love would smell like but...)Unfortunately, Guerlain fragrances are very expensive where I live due to cruelly heavy taxes so I don't want to buy it at full price. However, I can see myself buying and wearing this if I can find a more reasonably priced bottle.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Penhaligon's - Violetta
zeynepd 1/11/2011 9:27:00 AM
This is a very English violet that performs almost like two different scents on my skin. With a modest spritz, Violetta is a sheer, non-candied violet with darker, green undertones and the coolness of gray, melancholic English weather on my skin. It has an austere ambivalence, hinting at both the English countryside and an urban lifestyle with a chich trench coat and an umbrella. More application reveals Violetta the Vile, a daringly natural violet dirty with fertile soil, the root and the stem. It is earthy, not so powdery, ugly but daring and attractive in an uncanny way. I like both versions, but not enough to call it FBW. Medium sillage, good lasting power. The bottle is sweet.
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