Fragrances -Hermes - Caleche
weinhaled 6/1/2007 11:14:00 PM
what did luca turin say about this one--its the scent of 'a woman who neglects herself'? well. mrowr. well preferable to smelling like scented pantyliners, etc. the human body smells good. so you are reminded by the long-lasting sandalwood base. its a good choice for days you don't want to get busted perfuming yourself. mildly soap-tinged for an hour or two. a small amount will give that 'oh, my hot skin is so clean...don't you think' effect. good for outdoorsy sportive things. that resolve to indoorsy sportive things.
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Fragrances -Caron - Narcisse Noir
weinhaled 5/31/2007 10:59:00 PM
somebody please tell me--has this been reformulated since this was deemed a classic? was some vital component outlawed? aughpffft! i bought a new bottle of extrait--and it is two miles of bad road. i mean, literally, it smells like two miles of hot asphalt. hours of hot molten tar as this develops. when that leaves center stage, then there is an hour of warm berry syrup, which is a relief, but a small effing mercy. is it possible the website i bought from is selling 'factory seconds?'
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Caron - Bellodgia
weinhaled 5/31/2007 6:35:00 PM
number one, the scent of day old tiger lilies is sickmaking. and 'B', this perfume smells exactly like them. so what on earth is it doing to me that i craaave it? my experience with bellodgia was previously just a shot of edp at bergdorfs--hmph, didn't blow the skirt up. now i own a bottle of extrait, and it is hyp-mo-tizing. the first time with the extrait, i thought, 'how could this perfume have become so famous? this is just stinky tiger lilies.' after the second try and a 1/2 hr warming up, it is that warm spicy carnation--the same one that is driving the popularity of JAR's golconda and diamond water. yummy, heady, clovey...yet also icky and strange (eet eez 'jolie laide!'). i imagine sitting next to someone wearing this thinking, 'oh, so sad, they don't know they smell funny.' but then two hours later, i'm still looking for an excuse to stay sitting next to them... caron has captured that day-old tiger lily effect, which was always disturbingly intoxicating, but they have somehow removed the nausea. diamond water is certainly easier to love from first blush to drydown, but bellodgia is more challenging and interesting. if you're on the fence, give the extrait a second chance!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Caron - Alpona
weinhaled 5/30/2007 6:39:00 PM
caron's alpona extrait is currently the shelf's golden child--warm, evolutive, and masculine in that ms. earhart way (but not as angular as miss dior, for instance, its more honeyed). like most carons, its best characteristic is that it is compellllling. you want to know more, more, more, yet you never hit that wall that says 'cologne here', you just eventually meet with warm skin. if that makes sense. no stabs in the nose i mean. this would be a dream on a man as well. (note, i have a totally different experience with non-extrait carons. nuit de noel is a cinnabon, yatagan is cliche magie noir...puh...) i have been wearing alpona with 'flights' of parfum so i have foils. using three of a similar bent: vintage miss dior, the current alpona, and vintage replique by raphael. to summarize, miss dior is the woman who lives on her wits, alpona is the woman who lives on her looks, and replique is the woman who lives on capital... XD vintage raphael replique after a half hour is a very highbrow skin scent. it wears close and makes miss dior seem so strident and arriviste, and really points up the seducer in alpona. replique smells of warm honeyed fruit, amber, leather...and clean diapers? it smells of a very bien eleve young mother...
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - JAR - Diamond Waters
weinhaled 5/28/2007 4:07:00 PM
what a delicious and satisfying carnation clove perfume--i wish i were cleopatra so i could shave my head and let a concreta of this the size of a manhole cover melt over me all day...well, no, but you will come to know what i mean. with their marketing, i so wanted this to smell like huile de snake. uh, not so much. at the outset, you've turned the corner into a cold delicious raincloud of carnation. by the second hour you're the ne plus ultra dream icing of louis XIV's pastry chef. too beautiful to eat, and so, the wonderful ache.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - JAR Shadow
weinhaled 5/20/2007 4:31:00 PM
very l.a. hair rock drydown from this highly suspect line of overpriced sophomoric fragrances. sweet peppery gourmand that is heavy, heavy on the cloves. this will remind you that clove oil is quite sexy. it should also remind you that clove oil is quite affordable. i'd like to smell this on a musician hookup, but that guy would be too cheesy and passe to actually date. i feel that if i wore this daily, i would become known behind my back as 'clove girl.' you know her, she wears bad foundation and had an absentee dad, and if she can't take someone's boyfriend, she'll pitch some drama in the bathroom. 'oh, ghaa.' i can attest that this smells exactly like phil spector's scent, which should ruin it for you entirely, unless you are a remarkably independent thinker.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - JAR -- Bolt of Lightning
weinhaled 5/20/2007 4:16:00 PM
i call emperor's new clothes on this one. i was so excited en route to bergdorfs--green berry and thunderstorm ions? oh my! however. can you carry that chamois in the jar around all day? you cannot. and great perfume should be engineered to be worn. on my skin, this was lots of fun for the first five minutes, then it became an okay berry that bossed out the other notes. my friend was in full agreement. this review is not biased by the oversell of this undervirtuoso blend--i do appreciate a scent 'experience.' if caron could be tested out of the urn in a sensory deprivation chamber, i'd be a fool for love. but i cite this 800 dollar perfume for tawdry exploitation--it is the perfume equivalent of JAR's pave jewelry: uneducated, conceived for its ability to overprice, and as such, embarrassingly nouveau riche in smart company. try it because its fun to do so. just secure your credit card and let it dry down properly without getting twitterbated by the tailored dutchman.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Sage Machado - Amber
weinhaled 5/18/2007 8:34:00 PM
in the words of the boyfriend, 'oh my god. now that is the real deal.' in the words of my preppy sister who stoically refuses to wear perfume, 'when it wafts past, its very welcome and pleasing.' i hate sweet cloying fragrances, so i was happy to find this amber. the sweetness of the amber is cut, but with citrus, not harsh wood. and i love her stoppered crystal bottles. the roll-on seems convenient, but you don't need to reapply, and when that sticker rubs off and the gilt flakes, they are an abomination. its a sage perfume oil, so you're not going to mystify and fascinate any brainy noses, but if you like amber and want to smell warm and delicious...here you go.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Safran Troublant
weinhaled 5/18/2007 7:56:00 PM
this came in a set i bought from artisan, so best believe i gave it a sporting chance. niet. goes way beyond gourmand. stomps oafishly past cloying. its like a scratch n sniff breakfast--diet maple syrup, biscuits and gravy. so sloven and unsexy. i like pepper notes, but they can't rescue the tacky glamour-shot syrup here--if tresor/marc jacobs/most of the le labo line make you nauseous, you'll be similarly galled by this one. calls to mind a lazy woman i worked with who wore something called 'sand and sable,' which was pure genocide.
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Fragrances -Guerlain - Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune
weinhaled 5/18/2007 6:33:00 PM
feeling squalid and despondent? this unisex, impossibly fresh and brisk scent is instant therapy. when i'm wearing this i feel so clean, stoical, and self-superior that any woman coming within 10 feet of me wearing fendi or poison risks getting beaten to death with a handbag. fresh fruit dries quickly to razory grapefruit oil and wood. wear this with an inviolable white shirt to project the mirage of a rosy princeton sophomore. for the sportive woman who might have worn eau sauvage or white linen in the past, but wants something cleaner, quieter, and less predictable.
7 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -L'Artisan Fragrances - Ananas Fizz Summer 2004 Limited Edition
weinhaled 5/18/2007 4:49:00 PM
i miss this like the discarded phone number of someone too young for me. this is the ideal casual fragrance if you know you'll be dining out. one of those rare scents that is hard to overapply or get sick of--in part because it doesn't last long. full, nibble-on-me fruit without the low-rent syrup. subtle wood smirking underneath. the 'fizz' is descriptive--maybe a little white pepper does it...
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Ambra di Venezia
weinhaled 5/18/2007 4:30:00 PM
aedes had this placed with such distinction in the shop that i didn't give it time on my skin. beware, it smells very loveable in the bottle, but for an alleged amber, it has zero intrigue. the woman wearing this has no idea she's bad in bed (pardon my base note). flaccid, syrupy and nothing clever to say (and so help me god, it persists dumbly until you want to saw your arm off). chandler burr's positive review of this one has demoted him from siskel to ebert.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Kai - Kai
weinhaled 5/18/2007 2:28:00 AM
puh. pedestrian gummy gardenia, dries to a monotonous and unappetizing health food store oil. you can get too much of this in your face in about an attosecond, ergo, not a sexytime scent. (edit: being too cheap to throw this out, i have tried it again. if not over-applied, it is pleasant, like a nicely scented shampoo. you might reach for this on days your nose is tired of getting crazy with the chypres.)
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No