Bat: a new scent by Zoologist Perfumes has me flipping!

Those of you who know me well are aware of my affinity for bats. To the rest of you, that may come as a surprise. But I love those little (and some not-so-little!) pollinators.

When I heard about Zoologist Perfumes' new addition to their animal cruelty-free line shortly before they released it, I went-- well, a bit batty.  It was going to be called - it is called - Bat! 

Ok, there was dancing. Really. And lots of squealing and emojis. Ask Victor Wong, owner and creative director of the line. 

And when I found out the nose (perfumer) for the scent was Ellen Covey, the dancing and squealing and emojis started all over again. I swear I'm lucky Victor and I are still friends.*

*We are, right? Victor? Victor? 

Ahem. Let me sort that all out later. 

Anyway, I was ecstatic to receive my sample and immediately sprayed it on. There may have been more dancing, and squealing, and emojis, and an immediate Facebook post- but really, can you stop fixating on the dancing? You're embarrassing me. 

Let's talk perfume. Here's what happens when you wear it:

Immediately you're transported to the world of the fruit bat. Any one. Pick one. (There are 173 species of fruit bats)

Here's a leaf-nosed bat, like the one on the packaging.

Our Bat loves a little banana and some fig. There's also dense vegetal earth and rich plant life, and that sweet smell of fruit. A mineral tang from home -a cluster of rocks or a cave- cling to the air. 

Slowly... ever. so. slowly... the scent turns. Musky and furry smells unfold. We're smelling a watercolor version of the bat himself now. Not too strong or pungent, but decidedly animalistic. This scent is not dark, rather it is dusk toned. The bat's preferred launch time, their favorite hunting time. Leather notes sketch out the bat's soft wings...

Eventually, the night ends and the stronger base notes begin to fade. As the moon sets and the bats return to roost, we're left with a faint but beautiful sandalwood and tonka sunrise. 

I've never quite experienced a nuanced, two-step beauty of a base quite like this one! 

Projection: moderate-to-close depending on how heavy-handed you are; longevity: 6 hours-ish or more; Smells like a watercolor painting of fruit and earth, then musky leather with a sandalwood drydown. Price: good for niche; samples available. www.zoologistperfumes.com

Full-bottle-worthy.

Available December 31st, 2015!

Apologies: for the layout of this post due to computer problems. Usually my posts are a little more nicely laid-out. 

Disclaimer: Sample provided by Zoologist Perfumes

Euphorium Brooklyn has the answer for dark mysterious perfume: Pétales

Do you remember back when edgy, dark, shadowy makeup artistry line Illamasqua released their fragrance, Freak? The one in the dark tilted bottle with the snail on the side? 

Illamasqua Freak
Freakily disappointing 

That's about as dark as we got there. To say I was disappointed was a huge understatement. Nice perfume, but not worthy of the Illamasqua reputation. 

I envisioned something haunting, yet pretty. Something a little dangerous, but seductive. It was good but I wanted more. More darkness. More edge. More mystery. More staggering beauty. More... MORE. 

I found it.

Euphorium Brooklyn's Pétales fits the bill in spades. 

I swear it starts with an innocent olfactory feint that smells like, I know I'm nuts, but--- well, I get rootbeer for a second. The fizz of grapefruit and florals must be to blame, as they mix with the spicy sweetness of star anise and pepper, the bite of galbanum, and the smoothness of honey. 

But that's just a little game, because this flirtatious scent turns quickly into a much more mature scent.

Spray Pétales to wrap yourself in a slightly mysterious perfume with naughty indoles, an armful of blossoms, and a deeply sexy base. Then watch out! 

Pétales , Brooklyn Euphorium. Available at TwistedLily.com

Family: Floriental. Firmly unisex. Projection is moderate, though you could amp this mother with extra sprays - if you dare. Length of wear is "hours and hours." Cost is in the moderately-expensive range, but snatch up a sample for only $4 and see if you agree: it's worth it. I smell rose and lily and crisp greens snapping over sparkling citrus. A river of honeyed spice flows beneath, before ending in a musky animalic heaves.

Notes: Rose, Lavender, Orchid, Hyacinth, Linden Blossom, Lily, Iris, Orange Blossom, Violet, Orris, Jasmine, Geranium, Palmarosa, Pettigrain sur la Fleurs, Galbanum, Green Stem, Moss, Pink Grapefruit, Fig, Honey, Star Anise, Elemi, Black Pepper, Vetiver, Labdanum, Benzoin, Tolu Balsam, Ambergris, Indole, Tonka Musk

Mama mia, this Mother is good stuff! Mother by Opus Oils

We know I love a sandalwood perfume, right? Doesn't everyone? I mean... it's so versatile. So breathtaking. So traditional. So incredibly classic. And recently, so very rare and expensive. The woody goodness is often nearly foody, slightly skin-like, and always silken on the skin. A good long sniff of a good sandalwood is particularly soothing, don't you think?

I also adore the scrumptious, fleshy temptation of a well-made fig perfume. Luscious. Delicious. Tempting! Everyone loves fig, right? Duh.

Oh! What about boozy perfumes?! Oh, I love a perfume that smells like an after-dinner drink. How 'bout you? I mean... right?!

What about gourmands, since we're talking about figs and booze? Chocolate - there's nothing better, amiright? Oy vey, a good chocolate perfume sends me!

And then there are roses. I've just started to love rose perfumes. They're so varied, though, so traditionally Perfume. So feminine. So masculine. So unisex. They're whatever you want them to be, but you can always depend on them being sensual, beautiful, and symbolic of the big L*.

*Love, my dear.

Well, mama, I am here to point you in the direction of another fabulous sandalwood perfume! And another fabulous fig perfume. And another boozy perfume. And a chocolate one. And... wait: they're all in the same perfume. Dear Mother of All That is Good!

Mother. A perfume by Opus Oils. It contains all of the notes referenced about, all presented masterfully in a limited edition scent by Master Perfumer Kedra Hart for the Primordial Scents Project. It references "earth", an idea I think it accomplishes with aplomb! (Click the link to visit a lot of the background and references for the scent)

I am mad for this scent, as is everyone who has smelled it. It starts out boozy, like a promising evening. Figs flesh out the scent, lending a very sensual nuance. This phase is beautiful and fleshy and something I wish would never end. But all things must come to an end...

... luckily for us all, Mother only gets better, which is almost impossible to believe! While the rose isn't so prominent on my skin, the stunning this-is-the-good-stuff sandalwood surges forward, bringing with it the rich nuttiness of chocolate.

This is not by any means a gourmand scent, in my opinion. It's something different. It's something more. It becomes a warm, bready, skinscent with a chocolate tinge and occasional flash of booze. The sandalwood almost wafts a smoky facet that it truly intriguing.

If this scent brings anything to mind it's not actually "earth", it's more of the Adam and Eve myth. The beginning of humans on this earth, if the stories are to be taken literally. The tempting fruit (in this case it's fig). The warm skin of two young people. The romance of roses and chocolate -maybe the latter wasn't in the fabled Garden of Eden but it would have been had it been "invented" back then. And booze, another concept from another time that seems so appropriate for the Origins Tale. Surely it is believable that Eve and Adam sinned after a few drinks, no?

If I had to classify this scent, I suppose I'd call it "woody". But why put pressure on things by labeling them? This scent is so expansive and gorgeous, putting tags on it is just selling it short.

Slightly carnal, very sexy, and deliciously beautiful. Very typical of the Opus Oils "formula" which, to the best of my knowledge, has never failed to result in a stunning scent.

If you haven't tried it, you simply must. It is limited edition, after all!

Opus Oils on Etsy. 

Opus Oils website.

 Opus Oils on Facebook.

Mother: Sample (.5-1ml) $5.00; 1 Dram Parfum $40.00;1/2oz Parfum $75.00Mother 1oz Eau de Parfum $65.00Mother 1oz Ltd. Edition EDP (Adorned with Decorative Art Nouveau Medallion) $90.00Mother 2oz Eau de Parfum $115.00Mother 1.7oz Fancy Atomizer (Alcohol ONLY) $140.00Mother 3.3oz Bath & Body Oil $50.00Mother 6.7oz Body Lotion $46.00Mother 8.5oz Bath Salts $44.00Mother 8.5oz Body Butter $55.00Mother Gift Set (.5oz Parfum, 1oz EDP, B&B Oil, Body Lotion, Body Butter, Bath Salts) $250.00

Perfume Review: Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris (Guerlain)

I like heavy Oriental perfumes. Bring on the spice, deep flavors, and heavy moods!

The problem is, Spring is Springing... My preferred genre is Too Much in warmer weather.  I need lighter, brighter options or I need to move to Siberia. I'd rather not move.

green. very, very green.         via

I have been interested in perfumes with fig notes. I have tried a few, but none were what I wanted.

Maybe I don't like fig in perfumes. Maybe I don't "get" fig in perfumes. Seems to me everyone likes green fig notes that are representative of the fig tree. As in: tree, bark, sap, sticks, unripe figs.

Not me. I want ripe figs. Purple figs. Dessert.

Walking through my Sephora two weeks ago, I noticed the Guerlain Aqua Allegoria bottles. So pretty. The golden netting around the top, in a honeycomb pattern! The little bee on the button top! The graceful shape of the bottle itself...

I looked more closely... one of the packages had a fig on it. Out came a blotter. Spritz. A tentative sniff.

Interrrrrresting.... A ripe fig. A touch of citrus (just an eensy bit). Vanilla. (Of course. It is Guerlain, after all.) Verrry interrrrrresting...

I asked for a sample.

The Aqua Allegoria line was a concept deployed by Jean-Paul Guerlain, intended to create watercolor-style impressions of natural notes.

Figue-Iris, the bottle that caught my eye, was created by Jean-Paul Guerlain himself, and released in 2008. Notes, besides the fig and iris, include bergamot, grapefruit, violet, "milky notes", woods, vetiver and vanilla.

Let me jump to the end of the story, then backtrack: the sample was used. Emptied, in fact. I now own a full-sized bottle.




What sold me? The bright opening, lightly citrus-tinged with the promise of vanilla. The fig note, ripe and milky and sweet and luscious. The delicate floral blend of iris and violet, both subtle, that create a bridge from fig to base. The Guerlainade-Lite drydown, which sticks around for hours, a lightweight, pulsating, vanilla woods.

Figue-Iris is not green, does not have a strong or long-lasting heart, and is not very Iris-y. But it is light, comfortable, close-to-the-skin, and lovely. It is perfect. It is Spring.

Which perfumes do you like in the Spring? Are you a fan of figs? If so, the greener the better, or dessert-y like me? What do you think of the Aqua Allegoria line?




Fragrance: Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris
House: Guerlain
Perfumer: Jean-Paul Guerlain
Notes: Fig, iris, bergamot, grapefruit, violet, milku notes, woods, vetiver, vanilla
Released: 2008
Sample: requested at Sephora. Then I bought a bottle.

Final Word: Figgy and fresh, and a perfect Spring scent.

via

Other reviews of Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris (Guerlain):

Bois de Jasmin: Guerlain Laurier Reglisse and Figue Iris : Aqua Allegoria Perfume Review
EauMG: Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Figue-Iris
Now Smell This: Guerlain Figue Iris & Laurier Reglisse, the 2008 Aqua Allegorias ~ perfume review
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