Fragrances -Frederic Malle - L'Eau d'Hiver
rbrewer 9/20/2005 11:28:00 PM
What a wonderfully strange, snake-y fragrance. It opens with a fresh blast of cold green grass, then - and I know none of the notes suggest this, but I swear it's what I smell - dry, smoky incense. About two minutes later the smoke drifts aways and reveals soft cool powder, and then I get another greenish note - cucumber? Something fresh and watery. It starts to warm and get very slightly musky, a beautifully understated skin scent, and then it almost disappears, and then, bam - starts all over again in random order. It's unpredictable and ethereally beautiful, and I think it could be worn any time of year.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Dorissima Goldmund
rbrewer 9/19/2005 6:10:00 PM
The powdery-floral opening of this scent reminds me a little of Teint de Neige, but there is an odd salty note that I finally identified as butter. Yes, rich, salty butter, perhaps a cube that's been sitting out on the counter a tad too long in a warm kitchen. The musk and sandalwood notes are nice and soft, but overall, this simply isn't doing it for me.
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Fragrances -Caron - Farnesiana
rbrewer 9/19/2005 12:58:00 PM
The sharp spicy/powdery opening of this felt like a slap in the face, so I almost wrote it off from the get-go. I'm glad I didn't succumb to the urge to scrub, though, because the drydown that occurs an hour or two later is simply heavenly. Carmelized almonds with a touch of ambery spice - delicious without actually seeming gourmand. It's cozy and comforting, but still grown up.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Bois de Violette
rbrewer 9/18/2005 9:56:00 PM
I dabbed a little of this on before taking a walk in the woods with my DH and son, and lordy, what a great choice. The fragrance was right at home in the great outdoors, if a bit off-season (it's chilly fall now, when no real violets would dare show their delicate little faces). But I was struck intensely by the authenticity of the notes, in a way I might not have been had I tested it indoors. The violet smells like actual flowers, not a bunch of synthetic notes trying to imitate a flower, and the woods are sublime - after a while I had a hard time discerning between my fragrance and the scent of the pungent, resiny woods I was walking through. This is gorgeous, feminine, and just sweet enough to satisfy. Sadly, it flitted away far too soon, and I'm still thinking about it hours later.
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Fragrances -Des Filles à la Vanille - Garçon Manqué
rbrewer 9/16/2005 5:48:00 PM
I received an unexpected sample of this and was intrigued when I translated the name. A scent called "tomboy" - especially encased in such a girly-looking packaging - had to be interesting. Notes are rose, white musk, cedar, peach, and vanilla. Although I suppose the cedar is meant to represent the boyish side of this fragrance, the creamy-juicy blend of peach and vanilla makes it undeniably feminine. I was surprised at how much I like the fresh-cut woods and peach together - and the extra drop of vanilla sealed the deal for me. I don't get much rose or musk.
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Fragrances -L'Aromarine - Mure Musc
rbrewer 9/16/2005 3:45:00 PM
I picked up the half-ounce Mure Musc perfume extract on a whim - for $5, I figured what the heck. It comes in a cute little bottle with a fun vintage-looking label, so it gets a point for the packaging, but as for the fragrance itself ... meh. The blackberry sits, tart and candy-ish, on my skin for too long, and the underlying musc is clammy and pale - barely detectable. There is a slight soapy note that I actually think I'd like if it had a stronger presence, but it gets drowned out by the fake berry stuff. Overall, this scent has very little movement or character, and I feel silly wearing it, like an adult trying to squeeze into kids' dress-up clothes.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Laura Tonatto - Amir
rbrewer 9/14/2005 11:34:00 PM
This is, quite literally, mouth-watering. I found the spices a bit harsh upon application, but within minutes it developed into a creamy, scrumptious brew of spicy darkness. This is not sweet and respectable amber, but the dirty, nasty, irresistable kind. And it lasts and lasts. Perfect.
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Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Mechant Loup
rbrewer 9/13/2005 12:41:00 AM
I need to go buy a bag of hazelnuts and sniff them, because this has got me thinking maybe I don't know what they smell like. I certainly don't smell anything vaguely nutty in this fragrance, anyway. Nor do I get sweet hay, anise, spice, or any of the other divine-sounding notes that others detect. What I do get is lots of honey-drenched sandalwood. And - I almost hate to mention this - a peculiar nose-wrinkling note that is suspiciously reminiscent of urine. This fragrance becomes somewhat more refined and tolerable as it dries down, and I added a point for the lovely, true honey scent - but that one nasty note persists, and I just can't do it.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - LT Piver - Heliotrope Blanc
rbrewer 9/13/2005 12:26:00 AM
This is a fresh and lovely scent. It's clear and bright on my skin, not too sweet, a little powdery - but not cloyingly so - and uplifting. The floral notes become more pronounced as they warm on my skin, and I find myself longing for a bit more of the freshness of the opening. The drydown is soft, fine baby powder tinged with vanilla. It's not a top ten scent, but that's rather a relief, given that this appears to be near-impossible to obtain. Still, I'll happily finish my decant and might even seek out another when it's gone.
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Fragrances -Etro - Heliotrope
rbrewer 9/13/2005 12:19:00 AM
Oh, my. This is SO not what I expected. When I think "heliotrope" I think soft, sweet, and powdery, with hints of almond and cherry. Feminine and somewhat prim. But this - this is a sexed-up, wrap-you-up-in-a-huge-bear-hug kind of heliotrope. It's deeply smoky on my skin, and at the same time succulently sweet with just a whisper of cherry and plenty of smooth, nougat-y goodness. It smells very much like SL's Rahat Loukhoum on me, and even seems to last longer.
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Fragrances -E. Coudray - Musc et Mure
rbrewer 9/11/2005 10:46:00 PM
Call me crazy, but I get nearly nothing but *tea* from this. Thin, watery black tea. And maybe a blackberry was in the kitchen at the time of brewing, but that's debatable. There's no musk, either, only a hint of soapy talc. It's not unpleasant, it's just not what it claims to be, and it disappears almost immediately.
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Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Voleur de Roses
rbrewer 9/11/2005 10:32:00 PM
Spicy true rose and sweet patchouli, with a glittering thread of late-summer fruit running through it. Very pretty, and exceedingly feminine. The drydown is fruity patchouli on me, no more rose, and the whole shebang disappears shortly thereafter, but it's lovely while it lasts.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Tubéreuse Criminelle
rbrewer 9/11/2005 11:36:00 AM
What a bizarre fragrance. Opens with a burst of musty, heady tuberose, as if I've come upon a recently hidden bouquet in an ancient, dusty closet. Then there's about a minute of pure, fresh, tuberose, and then ... a floral version of Vick's VapoRub ... and then straight, light, pretty tuberose again, still with a minty edge. Tuberose is, unfortunately, a scent that makes me uncomfortable - I always feel as though I'm on the verge of a headache when I smell it - and although the menthol isn't particularly offensive in and of itself, I find it an odd pairing and I don't like it on my skin. It gets points for originality and complexity, but I cannot see myself wearing it again.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - rahat loukoum
rbrewer 9/10/2005 10:37:00 PM
I love the burst of fresh cherry I get upon applying this, and am charmed by the sweet, woody smoke that follows (woodsmoke is one of my very favorite smells, ever). These top notes wind together beautifully on my skin, while almond and vanilla remain warm, gentle undertones. It does fade fairly quickly, and what's left stays close to my skin, but this is a comfort fragrance that I'll wear just for me, so that's okay. I've yet to try a SL that disappoints, and do feel lucky that so far they work very well on me, but it's a double-edged sword, of course, since the ones I like best are, naturally, from the non-export line. UPDATE: Next day, hubby returns from trip. I stick my wrist under his nose. His impressions: "Mmmm ... fruit." Me: "Yes - cherry. What else?" Him, immediately: "Amaretto! And talc." Me: "Yeah! Anything else?" Him: "Nope." Me: "No woodsmoke? I get a ton of woodsmoke!" Him: "Not in the least." Hrmph.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Ginestet Le Boise
rbrewer 9/9/2005 4:32:00 PM
Like dreamstorm, I immediately thought of CdG Kyoto upon sniffing this. The opening is very masculine, and I detect nothing more complex than cedar layered with sandalwood. It fades to a faint, warm, woodiness on my skin within 10 minutes.
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