Fragrances -Parfums M.Micallef - Vanille Cuir
zeynepd 5/9/2013 5:14:00 PM
Vanille Cuir is from M.Micallef’s vanilla line released in 2012. Notes per Luckyscent are: Mint Leaf, Bergamot, Lavender, Cinnamon, Cumin, Orange Blossom, Tonka Beans, Vanilla, Cedar, Sandalwood. If I had a niece interested in fragrance, this is what I would gift her for her 18th birthday because I think this would make a wonderful initiation into leather. It has a charming, non-foody vanilla that's sweet but not cloying - at least for me but I like sweet fragrances. This pleasing waft is lightly decorated with an easily wearable weather note that I want to sniff more and more. Leather and vanilla often translate into suede on my skin, but I can feel a truly leather undertone that I find a bit drier than suede. Only, it is subtle. For a fleeting moment, it hints at something very slightly animalic but then shies away from it. Although there are some other nuances, this is mainly what Vanille Cuir is about on my skin. I don't notice other notes singularly - maybe just a bit of orange blossom. Toward the end, I lose sight of the leather completely and it becomes a very slightly smoky, sweet vanilla with just a bit of tobacco in the deep drydown. Is this FBW? If I were looking for a non-foody vanilla with presence, this would be a probable buy - though the price would be a concern as I love a lot of cheaper vanillas, too. If I wanted the full sophistication, elegance or charisma of a leather fragrance, then no, I wouldn't buy it. If it had more of its beautiful leather, then it would be holy grail. Good sillage and lasting power on my skin. I'd give it a 4 as a vanilla fragrance but 3 as a leather.
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Fragrances -Tom Ford - Santal Blush
zeynepd 5/9/2013 11:43:00 AM
Boudoir Santal... it has that creamy, sweet and spicy exoticity that is associated with sexy fragrances. I find it heady and forceful. On my skin, it's slightly sweaty and foody-spicy at first. Then it becomes very balmy, creamy, figgy and a bit cloying. Actually, it immediately rings the bells for Vivienne Westwood's Boudoir which was heavy on me whereas it smellt angelic on some others. I get a similar rose,cardamom and sandalwood feeling here. Still, kudos to Tom Ford for creating something different. I'm sure it smells better on many other people and an extra point for that. Also, the bottle is really beautiful. Tenacious lasting power.
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Fragrances -Diptyque - Tam Dao
zeynepd 5/9/2013 11:24:00 AM
I love the smell of sandalwood but most sandalwood fragrances smell too figgy on me. Unfortunately Tam Dao is no exception. After a raw, robust and realistic start, it quickly mellows to a creamy figginess as if I layered it with Philosykos:) It's not too sweet or cloying but not exactly what I'm looking for in a sandalwood fragrance, either. Medium sillage and good lasting power of 6-7 hours on my skin.
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Fragrances -Hermes - Vetiver Tonka (Hermesessence series)
zeynepd 5/9/2013 11:15:00 AM
'With its caramel, praline and blonde tobacco notes, tonka bean draped vetiver in softness and gave its woody notes a mellow roundness," says Jean-Claude Ellena on the Hermes website. Given his fondness for transparency, I guess at least for some of us this is a delectable vetiver gourmand probably enjoying the sophistication of more than one genre. On my skin, however, it is a light, subtle and very wearable vetiver without hazelnut or other impressions. I like the fragrance but I'm kind of disappointed that I don't get any caramel or praline. If I spritz more, I can smell something akin to roast hazelnuts - though it reminds me of licorice, too. In either case, the scent dries and becomes a subtle vetiver again. I like it a lot but I don't love it enough to stray from beautiful Dzongkha, which is darker, deeper and more complex on my skin. I had a 4ml sample of Vetiver Tonka which I have gifted to a male colleague of mine and it reveals more notes on him - delectable really. Vetiver Tonka has very good lasting power on my skin.
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Fragrances -Parfumerie Generale - Cologne Grand Siecle
zeynepd 5/8/2013 3:31:00 PM
Big, robust lemons. Everything else is secondary on my skin.
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Fragrances -Jo Malone - Orange Blossom
zeynepd 5/8/2013 3:24:00 PM
Very very pleasant scent which smells like a light-hearted and floral sister to the sultrier and louder Fleurs d’Oranger. However, unlike Fleurs d'Oranger which turns soapy on my skin, JM's sheer Orange Blossom preserves its vitality throughout. When it dries on my skin, it reveals a light, watery and lush lilac. Although this note usually warms up too much on my skin, it never becomes heavy or cloying here. Soon jasmin emerges, with a slightly gassy tone adding just a bit of nature and realism to OB. It is slightly indolic - at a good dose for the faint hearted like myself. In fact it's one of the very few fragrances where I can tolerate indoles. All these add enough interest to OB, without making it too challenging. Jo Malone website suggests layering it with Black Vetyver Café but I think it's beautiful on its own, too.
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Fragrances -Creed - Love in White
zeynepd 5/8/2013 9:42:00 AM
Love in White is mostly iris and powder on my skin, and not a very impressive one (doesn't compare to the fluffiness of Iris Poudree or vast clean horizons of Rive Gauche). I was looking forward to the nutty steam of the rice, but unfortunately that was too short-lived on my skin like the rest of the fragrance. Pleasant for a brief moment but that's all. I'm taking a lippie off because of the very weak lasting power.
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Fragrances -Frederic Malle - Lys Mediterranee
zeynepd 5/7/2013 10:53:00 AM
How strange, how uncomfortable at first and how pleasant at the same time. Lys Mediterranee sits at an interesting crossroads where my established expectations and perspective don’t help me that much. For one thing, the opening is not what I would expect from ‘Mediterranean sea spray mingles with the spicy scent of ginger lilies’ (Frederic Malle website). I get the sultry scent of ginger lilies, my mother had dozens of them in her garden but I don’t get any ‘marine top note’ or a ‘fresh accent’. The initial scent almost scares me because it has the potential to turn too warm and itchy like Angéliques sous a la Pluie. However, the heat leaves itself to a honeyed, summery floral which soon becomes very much like a sweeter L’eau d’Hiver. All these share an angelica note and this note is as dominant as the lilies on my skin. Lys Mediterranee sits in the middle of the two in terms of transparency and as far as the honey goes, it is the most pleasing. Althogether, this is the pure bright heat of Mediterranean on me, somehow reminding me of a thousand forgotten scents from sweet, dry hay to stables even. Sultry but subtle, innocent and animalic. It's strangely pleasing to smell this, but I wouldn't need a full bottle. Good sillage and tenacious lasting power.
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Fragrances -Amouage - Reflection
zeynepd 5/7/2013 10:05:00 AM
From a sweet fruity opening to a sheer cucumber note and from there to some gassy sambac jasmin. And indeed it smells like a hair salon at one point so I agree with the reviewer below about its connotations. I also smell some sweet magnolia but the fragrance disappears almost completely from my skin before I can experience any kind of drydown. Still, there is this amazing freshness and beauty in the air around me, and this, on a very hot day. This time my nose is not glued to my wrist but I smell a sheer, fragile floralcy in wafts around me. It’s subtle, but it’s there – as if the air itself were some scented, fragrant water. Somehow fragile, and innocent. No, I don’t think this is the most unique fragrance but whatever it’s reminding me of –I can’t put my finger on it- is something like a distant but fond memory… like you’ve had a very good dream, woken up and you can’t remember the dream but there is a good feeling inside you. In my perfume journey, there have been only two florals from earlier times that have evoked similar feelings in me: Anais Anais and the old Kenzo d’Ete. Although reflection doesn’t fascinate met he way they did, it made me feel as young and innocent. Despite its cucumber, despite its hair spray. It’s kind of surprising to come across these notes in an Amouage offering signed by master perfumer Maurice Roucel. Is this because we are conditioned to expect something completely different from the Middle East or is Reflection truly a generic offering with not-so-classy notes? In either case, Roucel is going against the grain with this one and I can’t say that I’m complaining. 3.5
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Fragrances -Creed - Orange Spice
zeynepd 5/6/2013 9:22:00 AM
Here is a Creed that does what it says on the tin. This is orange and spice. The orange opens as a sheer but sweetish note like orange blossom water used in Moroccan cooking - albeit a bit stronger. Soon the spice joins in. I can't distinguish anything but it has a certain darkness and dryness, maybe like turmeric or cumin- and a bit of unwelcome sourness. To my nose, this is dirty but not attractive and dirty. Then it gets dirtier and I can sense some amber, too. It's like a more sheer and darker cousin to SL Fleurs D'Oranger but I think I prefer the latter.
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Fragrances -Annick Goutal - nuit etoilee
zeynepd 5/6/2013 8:54:00 AM
This is a scent inspired by solitude in nature if we are to believe the Annick Goutal site. However, given the name Starry Night, I can't stop thinking of the allusion to Van Gogh's blue painting which depicts a town at night - actually from the window of the sanitarium he was staying at the time. Anyway, this is a muted aromatic fragrance on my skin, with a dominant aniseed and maybe coriander. This may be refreshing to some noses, but I think it smells kind of flat on me. Soon a sweet mint appears and like the first reviewer, I start thinking of sweet shops of my childhood selling peppermint rock candy, here in Turkey.This sweetness continues throughout the muted performance of NE on my skin. I also get some pine and fir but they are mellow, too. I get a bit of fir cone in the immediate drydown and I think it's a very interesting note. I wish it was stronger. The deep drydown is my favourite part where there is a nice blend of balsam and floralcy- albeit very very muted. Altogether aniseed is too strong for me to like it and in my part of the Mediterranean, it makes me think of a garden with nice herbs and a wooden table, but also some half full ouzo glasses left from the day before. 2.5 The blue round bottle, however, is to die for.
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Fragrances -Giorgio Armani - Armani Prive Oranger Alhambra
zeynepd 5/5/2013 3:30:00 AM
Very balanced, elegant hesperidic fragrance combined with aromatic nuances. All very present, and at the same time subtle. I get radiant (but not over the top) lemons, and a very noticeable petitgrain note at the beginning as if I crushed some bitter orange leaves in my mother’s garden and scented my hands with them. Soon a beautiful rosemary and marjoram, evocative of much sought-after shadows in Mediterranean geographies emerge. They smell so beautiful that they make me think of Mediterranean macquis/shrublands where these grow naturally. I don’t know whether this is jasmin or orange blossom, but something adds just a bit of floralcy without making its presence very known – still the fragrance never turns into herb garden and I think this note helps that. I don’t get much patchouli and there is just a bit of oakmoss. Although I’m not a citrus lover per se, I truly like Oranger Alhambra because of the seamless blend and balance of everything here. I also like it for some things that it doesn’t do: Lemons (especially those with radiant beginnings) often become Pledge on my skin very quickly; Oranger Alhambra doesn’t. Orange Blossoms usually lose their vitality and become soapy; again, Oranger Alhambra doesn’t. Some expensive fragrances in this category fascinate me with their top notes but just become some ordinary cologne in a couple of hours; Oranger Alhambra preserves its full vitality from the beginning to the end. Altogether, a very sophisticated fragrance that I find sexless, ageless and timeless. I wouldn’t buy a full bottle because I don’t want a FB in this category at this moment in my life. Plus, the price is a concern. Good projection and lasting power on my skin.
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Fragrances -Serge Lutens - Santal Blanc
zeynepd 5/5/2013 2:42:00 AM
Eventually creamy sandalwood that starts with an argumentative tone and then decides to make peace with me. I don't like the top notes on my skin, some dark and not so deep spiciness accompanied with a strong and dusty fig and some coconut (creamy sandalwoods usually have this aspect on me). Within minutes though, spices mellow and I start sensing some delicious sandalwood with a woody, peppery edge. Luckily it doesn't turn into pencil shavings. Then some fluffy, very balmy but muted sandalwood starts purring on my skin. Definitely a comfort scent. However, from time to time, I sense something akin to B.O around me. (I've checked under the table and there isn't a dirty stranger hiding there, so it's definitely Santal Blanc). I'll pass on this because it's too much trouble for little satisfaction on my skin.
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Fragrances -By Kilian - A Taste of Heaven
zeynepd 5/4/2013 2:54:00 PM
This is a structured fragrance with smooth transitions between its phases. It opens with lavender together with just a bit of absinth and a bit of wormwood. Then for around half an hour it's a transparent, cool, herbacious fragrance on me. Soon my skin starts amping up the sweetness of vanilla and maybe some amber. I think this prevents me from sensing some other notes which are supposed to add some depth and complexity to this. I get whiffs of patch attempting to counter the sweetness but vanilla dominates giving A Taste of Heaven an oriental aspect. Altogether, it's pleasant, high quality but I'm not in love. Although not exactly in the same genre, my favourite vanilla-lavender combo is SL's Fourreau Noir with its edgy gunpowder opening.
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Fragrances -Les Parfums de Rosine - Ecume de Rose
zeynepd 5/3/2013 11:35:00 AM
I like the idea of a salty rose but unfortunately I'm not blessed with the right chemistry or the nose. In either case, no salt on me, but a metallic note. The heart is a powdery, vintage pink rose that makes me think of boxy, wall-papered, cutesy powder rooms rather than the ocean. The drydown is a pleasant, really well-done fresh rose, pink again. It's refreshing and uplifting. Still, without the salt note, this isn't particularly interesting to me.
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