Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Bois Farine
auntgooey 1/6/2004 8:53:00 PM
This is a new limited edition from L'Artisan. However, since Passage d'Enfer also started out as limited edition, I'm hoping it will prove popular and be around for awhile. Here's what the accompanying pamphlet written by perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena (Cologne Bigarade, Angeliques Sous la Pluie) reads. "I fell in love with the Reunion Islands, this unique spot in the Tropics...The greatest unexpected discovery was Ruizia cordata. This tree, which is specific to Reunion Island, is a rare and nowadays protected species. Its flowers release a surprising, flour-like odor, which is rather strange for a flower! Nevertheless, there is a sensual element in this perfume, reminiscent of the smell of fingers that knead and spread dough. I was captivated by the caress of a fragrance essense combining the odors of wood that was dry and milky at the same time. The magic spell worked. I desired no more than to recreate the illusion and produce this perfume, which I have called Bois Farine (Flour Wood.)" It is composed of iris blanc, bois de cedre, benjoin, graines de fenouil, bois de santal, graines d'ambrette and bois de gaiac. I grew up in a home where my mother did a lot of baking. This perfume reminds me so much of the biscuits and shortbread cookies she made, but with none of the vanilla or almond or buttery background that's so common now. I would call it dry unsweet gourmand. It's just pure unadulterated dough ----- and I love it! It reminds me a little of Hiris from Hermes, where the iris note is supposed to remind one of crisp linen. Here the iris combined with woods is extremely extremely dry. No sweetness of ANY degree to break it up (thankfully so, in my opinion. I don't really care for sweet fragrances.) I also get a nice warm woodsy drydown. It lasts about 3-4 hours on me which is good for a L'Artisan. I expect this is a love/hate fragrance. It's along the line of Dzing! in its uniqueness. And my perception may have been altered by knowing the history of the perfume. I had my 78 year-old mother and 9 year-old nephew smell it. They both loved it, but neither one could get a "flour" scent. They both said they got a dry floral scent out of it. Me --- no floral at all. The iris becomes King Arthur flour to me. Anyway, I really love this one. It's now in my top three. I first bought a decant on ebay and promptly used it up. I now own a 1.7 oz. and 3.4 oz. as a stockpile since I already know it's probably not going to be around long. The only places I've seen it are ebay and first-in-fragrance.com.
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Fragrances -Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - Winter White
auntgooey 12/9/2003 6:28:00 PM
Top note of raspberry. Heart notes of sandalwood and white rose. Base notes of white chocolate, musk and heliotrope. Powdery and warm. Very reminiscent of Teint de Neige (color of snow) by Villoresi, but less overpowering. The oil has good staying power, but the EDT was a little too light for my taste.
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Fragrances -Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - Halloween
auntgooey 6/8/2003 9:59:00 PM
October in a bottle. I am a fan of Dawn's Firefly, but sometimes the smoked applewood in it is too much for me, so I added Halloween to my collection. It's the same type of earthiness, crushed leaves, mossy forest floor scent, but without the smokiness. The smokiness is replaced by notes of pumpkin, bergamot and spices. Wonderful and long-lasting.
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Fragrances -Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - Winter
auntgooey 6/8/2003 9:47:00 PM
Chypre fragrance with tuberose, bergamot, oakmoss, sandalwood and musk. I love tuberose, but usually it comes across as too overpowering. It's toned down just enough for me here. The chypre approach makes the tuberose so different from the floral and incense Michael or floral Fracas. It's so mellow and feminine and smooooooth. The bergamot gives a "frosty" feel to it, so the name Winter really seems to fit. Plus it's not sweet at all, a bonus for me since I really dislike sweet fragrances. I find this to be an elegant fragrance that works for both the office and an evening out.
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Fragrances -Grandiflorum Fragrances - Wild Vetiver
auntgooey 5/7/2003 7:54:00 PM
Not awful, but too much spearmint for me!
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Fragrances -Grandiflorum Fragrances - Angelica
auntgooey 5/7/2003 7:51:00 PM
I like it. Smells like autumn -- crumpled leaves crunching under your feet, oakmoss in the woods. It's October in a bottle. There are absolutely no floral or fruit notes that come out in this at all so stay away if you need flowers, fruits or sweetness in your scents. There are floral notes listed as being in here, but you'd never know it. This reminds me of DSH Firefly without the smoked applewood note or a lesser quality Mitsouko.
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Fragrances -Guerlain - Parure EDT
auntgooey 4/29/2003 11:05:00 PM
Top notes of bergamot, clary sage oil, galbanum, thyme and aldehydes. Heart notes of lilac, plum, rose, jasmin, lily of the valley, narcissus, jonquil and orris. Base notes of amber, leather, moss, peru balsam, styrax and vetiver. Created in 1975, this is a chypre floral-animalic. This is my favorite Guerlain. It is most similar to Mitsouko, but with an underlying dry lilac and plum that makes it more complex and interesting to me. My favorite description of what Guerlain fragrances remind me of comes from the book "The Emperor of Scent" so I'm just going to repeat that description here : "Some choice floral notes (the armloads the florist had just dropped off at the servants' entrance, the caterers hurrying to arrange them before the guests arrived) and some woody notes (the floors had been freshly waxed that morning), and from the little Guerlain bottles came the smell of a well-to-do bourgeois interior at evening through which wafted the portents of an excellent dinner party." Parure is elegant, classy and complex. Unfortunately it is now only sold in the 100 ml EDT bee bottle. Any parfum or EDP will have to be found on ebay. This wonderful fragrance doesn't deserve to disappear. I've stockpiled quite a bit and hope Guerlain will bring out limited editions every once in awhile to keep me happy.
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Fragrances -Crabtree & Evelyn - Wisteria
auntgooey 4/3/2003 6:44:00 PM
Here's the description : "Top notes of violet and green clover entwine with the subtle fragrance of wisteria blossoms, fresh lilac and honeysuckle--warmed with white sandalwood and musk." I love lilac and wisteria, but can't wear them as single note fragrances. They just don't wear well on me. However, this C&E combo does work on me. Smells "warmer" than I expected, perhaps due to the sandalwood base. I like this fragrance much more than the Chantecaille Wisteria I got rid of on ebay awhile back. I'm keeping this one and plan on wearing it a lot this spring.
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Fragrances -Diptyque - L Ombre Dans L Eau
auntgooey 3/31/2003 7:17:00 PM
Black currant leaves and Bulgarian roses. The leaves are so astringent that I swear I'm smelling fresh cut grass. The roses are there under the grass. Fresh and green. I like to use it right out of the shower. The only negative for me is that it's a linear fragrance with no middle notes or base notes materializing in the drydown. Usually I like more complexity in my fragrances, but I find myself coming back to this one just about every day now. This one just might be my elusive "signature" scent.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - mat; by Masaki Matsushima
auntgooey 3/31/2003 7:07:00 PM
Wonderful light green floral. Very clean and fresh. I won't repeat the notes since they are listed in an earlier review. It's a little aquatic, but not much. I can't stand most of the aquatic scents, like Cool Water, so rest assured it's nothing like that those. Reminds me a little of Body by Victoria with added green notes. This one is great for the warm weather. My one quibble is the lack of staying power. I like my scents to hang around and this one had to be re-applied fairly frequently. But I guess in hot weather I'd rather re-apply than be overwhelming people with my scent. This one is moving into my top ten.
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Fragrances -Victoria's Secret - Body by Victoria
auntgooey 3/21/2003 7:04:00 PM
I just found my summer and office scent. Top notes of crushed leaves, freesia and mandarin. Middle notes of water hyacinth, stephanotis and cucumber. Base notes of white musk and sandalwood. It smells clean and light, not "perfumy" at all. Smells like it's part of me, not like I sprayed fragrance to mask something. The EDP has good staying power too. Not sweet, not cloying, not cucumbery, not musky, just clean, fresh and wonderful.
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Fragrances -Lorenzo Villoresi - Teint de Neige
auntgooey 3/6/2003 6:50:00 PM
This is a heavenly fragrance. It's soft, feminine and powdery with some sweetness, but not enough sweetness to be cloying. It's a very comforting and clean scent, not a sexy bombshell scent. I don't really detect the florals in it even though I know they are in there. Even though the name (Color of Snow) implies it's a winter scent, I would definitely be able to wear this year round. I don't foresee any problem in the summer heat with this fragrance. I also like to spray my bed linens with the fragrance. It reminds me a little bit of Caleche, but with powder and sweetness. And the drydown is still incredible hours and hours later!
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Fragrances -Houbigant - Demi Jour
auntgooey 2/10/2003 7:13:00 PM
Fresh green floral, drying to a soft, slightly powdery, woody finish. Top notes of violet, greens, aldehydes and bergamot. Heart notes of rose, orris, lily of the valley, jasmine, ylang-ylang and heliotrope. Base notes of cedarwood, sandalwood, musk and moss. I HATE sweet perfumes, but this one is exactly right. Not cloying at all. Very elegant and classy floral with very good staying power. Retails for $150, but I've found it as low as $19.90 on the internet. Also the bottle is an elegant old-fashioned globe of cut glass and topped with a silver-toned cap with an ornate "H" carved into it. Beatiful to smell and beautiful to look at.
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Fragrances -Vivienne Westwood - Boudoir
auntgooey 2/9/2003 7:15:00 PM
I hated this when I first sprayed it on, yet there was this one note in there that kept me sniffing my arm. There was something drawing me to it. I've worn it several times since then and this perfume is just not me. It's super powdery and super sexy and a little stinky, yet I find myself using it just for myself at least a few times a month. I just can't figure out what's drawing me to it. Top notes of viburnum and marigold. Heart notes of rose, orris, orange blossom, cardamom and cilantro. Base notes of sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla and tobacco flower. It's a floral-oriental. One of these notes won't let me get rid of my bottle of Boudoir, but the other notes keep me from wearing it to work or on a date. I'm just not confident in other people's reactions since my own is so mixed. (Again, that's because it's just so not me, not because it's an awful fragrance.)
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Fragrances -Houbigant - Quelques Roses
auntgooey 2/7/2003 7:15:00 PM
Very nice for us rose lovers. Not a heavy straight rose fragance, but a fragrance where rose is blended with other florals but definitely the headliner. Pretty much Quelques Fleurs with a very pronounced rose note. But strangely enough, I'm not a fan of Quelques Fleurs. Here's the advertising I found : "Quelques Roses is a contemporary rose fragrance. This masterful blend of different varieties of roses from all over the world, each with its own unique rose note, is combined with a bouquet of different flowers and is finished with just a hint of fruitiness. A true modern classic." I really like this one and think it would go easily from the office to an evening out. I myself don't smell a hint of fruitiness, which to me is a good thing. (Hate fruity fragrances.)
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