Dolcelisir Acqua di Profumo by L'Erbolario

Nice little cheapie I got to sample thanks to a friend.

It's like a Frapin (think liquor!) and one of those Spadero's, Doux Amour I think it was, had a baby. 

A boozy, gourmand, floral, pretty thing. Almost too sweet for me, but only almost.

It projects decently, not screaming out, but not holding too tightly, either. The longevity is like a marathoner - it goes and goes. The drydown, arguably the best part, lasts hours.

The orange note at the top: perfection.

The drydown is sexy/snuggly.

Worth the money if you have an olfactory sweet tooth.

Top notes include bergamot, orange, caramel and rum. Heart is composed of jasmine, rose, immortal, lily of the valley, cinnamon, sugar cane and cocoa powder. Base features patchouli, vanilla, benzoin, tonka, amber and musk.

I want to lick your... perfume? Kerosene's Unknown Pleasures (perfume review)

I love the name of this perfume by The House of Kerosene. "Unknown Pleasures". What does it mean? Anything you want it to mean! That's the beauty of it. OK, technically it's the title of a Joy Division album. But really, isn't everything what you make of it? ;)

You're walking down a cold street in Manchester, listening to Joy Division, sipping on a warm cup of London Fog. This fragrance opens up with the smooth sweetness of honey with Earl Grey tea, with a zing of lemon. It dries down to a cozy vanilla, soft tonka bean and waffle cone base, sure to make any gourmand lover smile.
Notes: Earl Grey tea, lemon, bergamot, honeycomb, tonka bean, caramel, vanilla and waffle cone.

Unknown Pleasures is Kerosene's first gourmand, and it's a stunner. And that's coming from someone who rarely enjoys gourmands unless their nutty and bready! This one is not. It's a delightfully straight-forward tasty treat that springs up brightly with lemon and a splash of tea and honey, then rides that lemon-honey wave for a bit before folding into a vanilla-waffle cone base.

Straight-forward does not mean boring, and this scent is certainly not dull. The lemon is bracing and invigorating but never falls in to furniture polish territory. It's fresh-squeezed and sparkling. The tea is subtle, at least on my skin, adding a slightly herbal counterpoint to the acidic cheeriness of the lemon. The honey is also soft, never urinous or "iffy". And then there's that delicious base! I was discussing recently with some friends whether we enjoyed the top notes, the heart notes, or the base notes of scent best. I am a base notes kinda gal. This scent is almost all top notes and base notes. It's lemon-tea gelato scooped high on top of a waffle cone, a combination of two distinct experiences that are meant to be together. The base lasts for hours and gets more cuddly as it goes.

I love this on me. I love it on my kids. And it's 100% "unisex" - if my husband would let me spray things on him, he'd get doused with this. I will grab it frequently year-round, but I think a hot summer day will be extra-perfect for Unknown Pleasures. And rainy days. And snowy days. And sunny days... OK: all of them! Now, if you excuse me, I'm off to sniff my arm for awhile...

Disclaimer: I'm friends with the perfumer, John Pegg.
I'd like the perfume anyway, even if someone else made it. ;)
Sample via the perfumer

I recommend buying Unknown Pleasures via MiN New York. $140

Aftelier Week: Memento

Yesterday, I laboriously established the fact that I do not consider myself "a gourmand fragrance lover". I am here to eat my words again. Mandy Aftel has broken me. I looked in the mirror this morning and hardly recognized myself.

Memento

In college, clove cigarettes were all the rage. Does anyone smoke them these days? I used to love the smell of them. Not only did they seem exotic and pretentious sophisticated, they were a little odd and being a little odd has always appealed to me. I tried to smoke them a few times, but they were cruel to my asthma in ways my Marlboro Lights weren't*. Plus, there was a sickly feeling and a headache that came along with them that I didn't experience when standing near someone else smoking them.

*I see the irony. I also am not mystified as to why my asthma
 and chronic bronchitis virtually disappeared
 when I quit smoking 7 years ago.
But what can I say? It was college.  

Every New Year's, my parents have a party that usually includes some mulled cider. I love the smell of the spices swirling around in there: cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, a slice or two of orange... Delicious!

Being drawn to Aftelier Perfume's Memento was a bit of a no-brainer for me, anti-gourmand feelings aside.

Scent Family: Gourmand 

Warm winter spices featuring smoked cinnamon and antique clove built on a base of tonka beans and vanilla. The elegant floral heart features jasmine sambac and Turkish rose.

Featured Notes:
Top: antique clove, bergamot, blood orange.
Heart: cinnamon, rose, jasmine sambac, nutmeg.
Base: choya, tonka bean, vanilla.

When first applied - and a little goes a long way, mind you - Memento is that swirling pot of cider (minus the apple). Mandy's blood orange note** -which was present in Cacao in the most stellar and more prominent way-  is really, really gorgeous. It's here, lightly, wrapped in cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.

The jasmine sambac and rose heart are lovely, but again, the florals aren't as apparent as in Cacao, which is at once a gourmand and a beautiful floral. Here, in Memento, they support the spices without taking over. They lift them up beautifully, in fact, so the spices don't become too heavy and oppressive (no sickly feeling and headache here!).

I'm not sure how, but Memento is not spicy, either. Bear with me while I explain. Sure, there's spices - clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. But it's not hot-spicy. There's no burning tingle, no peppery heat. It's not really super-foody, either. It does not remind me of bread or cake or baked goods of any kind (<--your mileage may vary). In a way that sort of defies description (at least by the likes of me), this is a lovely blend of non-spicy spices. It's a snuffle of the spice rack without the burn. Memento is rich, layered, familiar, and exotic but not hot or fiery.

The way the the spicy-but-not-hot blend and florals fade is quite beautiful, courtesy of that mellow and pretty tonka + vanilla base. This scent lasts the shortest amount of time of the Aftelier Perfumes I've reviewed this week so far - maybe 3 or 4 hours. I really don't mind - it gives me a chance to reapply and experience it all over again.

PS: I bet this would layer beautifully with Cacao... must give that a go ASAP!

Am I now a gourmand perfumer lover? Who am I? What is happening?!

How many of you are paying attention? I will be offering up a little Aftelier giveaway this weekend, courtesy of the lovely Mandy Aftel. Stay tuned...

sample provided for consideration by the perfumer

my opinions are not influenced by that, but my appetite may be. 

photo credits: spoonful of cloves, mulled cider, Augustus Gloop

The photo of Memento clearly belongs to Aftelier Perfumes. Duh.

Aftelier Week: Haute Claire (a perfume review)

Hi, pumpkins. What a Fall it has been... I'm not one to wish time away, since I know we have so precious little of it, but I'm pretty ready to shoo 2011 into the past and greet 2012 with welcome arms!

I got some samples of scents from Aftelier Perfumes recently, from the lovely Mandy Aftel. I enjoyed putting them on and sniffing them and wearing them, and then, just as I was getting ready to write about them ---  BLAM! A cold.

Not a cold, really. Some kind of something like a cold but magnified into some uber-cold that has no name. I'm not the only one to catch it, of course. It's going around. But what I most resent from the darn thing was that I couldn't smell for two weeks! I literally sat next to the little tin of Aftelier samples during that whole time. A few times I opened the little round tin they came in and touched the pretty little vials, but since I couldn't have smelled an angry skunk sitting on my lap, I didn't bother opening those little friends.

But now? Now I can smell! And thus begins a week of reviewing my new little pals from Aftelier Perfumes, with many thanks to Mandy for a) providing me with the samples, b) being patient while I didn't review them, and c) saying nice things to me while I was sick. The only thing that's better than indie perfumes are the perfumers themselves!

So, without further yammering on my part, let's move onto...


Haute Claire

Perfumistas may have been following along on my imaginary BFF's blog* as Mandy Aftel and Liz Zorn corresponded about and sort-of collaborated on new perfumes**. This series is dead-fascinating if you're a fan of perfume or just interested in the creative process. It's really compelling, and to sniff the finished product is a real treat!

ANYWAY, this scent I'm discussing today is the result of that correspondence. The challenge set-up by Mandy and Liz was to use both galbanum and ylang-ylang in a scent. Why those two ingredients? Well, the women decided to work around two ingredients they usually prefer to ignore or avoid. You've gotta love that idea, don't you? Two artists, masters of their craft, challenging themselves and pushing past blocks to create something new. Fabulous.

Liz noted in their correspondence that she hadn't created a galbanum perfume in around 15 years. Mandy realized she never had made one she ended up putting in her line and referred to the ingredient as "impressive", yet possessing a "sharp and thorny greenness". She even called it "a green razorblade".  Liz called it " volatile and invasive".

via

Galbanum is green. Really green. It's also quite intense. I often sense it as high-pitched or sharp. It is also considered stand-offish by some, with scents that use it prominently to be thought of as cold or distant. You may have met it in any of these perfumes: Vent Vert (Balmain), No. 19 (Chanel), Chamade (Guerlain), among others.

Ylang ylang had been avoided by Liz for awhile, though she confessed to having liked it in the past. Mandy admitted its "creamy sweetness can be problematic". Zorn even admitted "It’s taking me some time to warm up to this Ylang Ylang. I wasn’t aware that my distaste for it had become so palpable."

via

Ylang is a white floral with quite interesting facets. Sometimes rubbery, at times super-sweet, even a little spicy, and once and awhile described as mentholated or having a wintergreen-like aspect. It can be heady. It can be fruity. Scents with prominent ylang ylang include: Private Collection Amber Ylang (Estee Lauder), Mahora (Guerlain), Joy (Patou), Black Orchid (Tom Ford), Songes (Annick Goutal) and countless others. Ylang Ylang is used in  the most famous of perfumes: Chanel No. 5. It's also found in many of my most beloved perfumes including one of my "Top 5" scents, Amaranthine (Penhaligons). There it is paired with banana leaf to amazing (and to some, dirty-skanky) degree.

To me, Mandy Aftel's perfume birthed of this experiment, Haute Claire, is not at all what I expected. Being a fan of both galbanum and ylang, I was expecting to enjoy the scent. I do. But not in the way I had anticipated...

Haute Claire is both crisp and soft, cool and warm. The fresh edgy greenness of galbanum is offset by the creamy floral of ylang ylang edged with honeysuckle. The green and floral notes harmonize in perfect pitch, with neither dominating the other. A warm base of vetiver and vanilla provides a soft finish of sweet grass. - Mandy Aftel

Featured NotesTop: galbanum, Mexican lime, wild sweet orange, ylang ylang co2.Heart: honeysuckle absolute, ylang ylang extra, clary sage.Base: vetiver, ethyl phenyl acetate***, vanilla absolute.

I expected Haute Claire to be sharply green. I often find galbanum piercing, but I do enjoy it. Beauty is pain/ Pain is beauty? I also figured I'd find a rich, buttery, thick ylang in this scent.

Cue the game show buzzer that signifies a wrong answer. Hit it a few times for good measure.

Instead, I revel in a rich, round green opening - tinged with a delightful lime. My skin has a tendency to rearrange notes, so the dry and arrid grassy vetiver blows through the opening of this perfume and is completely missing from the drydown.


Haute Claire becomes even rounder as it develops, which it does slowly - inch by inch. I never get much honeysuckle, though the clary sage wends its way through the first few hours of the perfume's development. I'm on the fence about that. The rich muskiness borders on objectionable for me (some people find it to smell like sweat socks, though I wouldn't go that far!).

I was expecting Haute Claire to be electric green. It isn't. Ylang balances the galbanum, creating a full-bodied mossy green experience, "mossy" here referring to the shade of green and not to actual moss as an ingredient. The clary sage keeps me on my toes, and I don't settle into this scent until, hours after application, the perfume itself settles down into a stunning and sexy ylang-vanilla that's nearly edible. Before that, though, I do not enjoy Haute Claire when I sniff my wrist. Oddly, I adore it when I turn into my own (minimal) sillage.

Did I mention the scent gets its name (as suggested by the aforementioned imaginary BFF, this perfume's "midwife") from a sword in "The Song of Roland", a 12th Century French poem? While I disagree with this scent's description as "high and light" (to me, it's low and beautifully shady), I completely understand the reference to the sword, which must have perfect balance to serve its handler well.

I enjoy a perfume that challenges me, just as Mandy Aftel seems to have enjoyed the challenges she and Liz Zorn set up for themselves when creating their scents for this project. Haute Claire is the best kind of challenge - it's not what I expected it to be. It's more. It's a really well-done blend of two ingredients that should fight against each other, and yet here they find balance and a kind of peace. The pull of the languid ylang provides the perfect counterpoint to the razor's edge of galbanum (to borrow Mandy's metaphor) just as the heft of a sword must be perfectly matched with its sharp edge and point.

Have you tried Haute Claire? Any other of Mandy's scents? If so, please share your thoughts in the comments! I'm interested to hear them.
And stay tuned: more Aftelier Perfume reviews are on their way. In fact, there will be one here tomorrow!

*If you aren't reading Nathan Branch, what are you doing with your free time?
**Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4

***According to what I read on Scent Hive, ethyl phenyl acetate is sometimes derived from petroleum, but the one used by Mandy is not. Hers comes from "is an isolate from fruit, wine or whiskey."

Perfume Review: Cafe Noir (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz - DSH - Parfums des Beaux Arts)

via

I've never been to Paris. It goes to follow that I've never been in a Parisian cafe, had a coffee in France, or people-watched along a cobblestone French street. Perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, fondly known as DSH by her millions of fans, created a perfume that almost makes me feel like I've have, though.

The first time I sampled Cafe Noir, part of DSH's line Parfums des Beaux Arts, I mostly picked up the coffee note. It's the note most often used to describe this perfume. I think that's selling this scent short!

Sure, there's a beautiful coffee note present, but that's not all! Let's talk about the coffee, though, for a minute. Where New Haarlem (Bond No.9)  was a bracing double-shot in a styrofoam cup, Cafe Noir is richer, softer coffee in a cup and saucer. The barista sprinkled some cinnamon in it, a spicy-sweet twist.

"A Paris night... Dark and sophisticated,
it evokes late concerts in smoke-filled rooms...
sipping coffee and listening to jazz."
-DSH

via

Once the nose acclimates to the steaming coffee and delicate spice, it's free to venture further. With the cinnamon coffee always present, a sexy floral blend wafts in. Jasmine and rose dance softly but distinctly, reminding me a bit of twin snakes of smoke and steam spiraling upwards from lit cigarettes and hot mugs.

Labdanum, a note I'm learning more about (and love), is probably what's responsible for the somewhat creamy, ambery facet to this perfume. It's the slightest bit like warm skin kissed by smoke.

Cafe Noir is not a perfume that follows the typical pyramid evolution (top-> heart-> base). On me, it's like those smoke tendrils, snaking and myserious, allowing brief glimpses of this and that. It's not a difficult scent, but it refuses to sit still and be defined simply.^[1]

via

I suppose this perfume falls under the gourmand umbrella, but to me Cafe Noir isn't a foody scent. As I said, I think limiting your view of this scent by focusing on the spiced coffee aspect is selling it short. To me, it's just as much about the florals and the amber.

In my opinion, Cafe Noir is unisex and nearly universally appropriate to wear, though it certainly would smolder at night! It draws you in for a whispered conversation and while some people consider it dark, I see it more as candlelit. But Cafe Noir is not just for night, in my opinion; it's my new favorite comfort scent.

Cafe Noir is cozy. It's romantic. It's sexy. It's most certainly beautiful... kind of like Paris (or so I understand).



House: Parfums des Beaux Arts (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz- DSH)
Perfume: Cafe Noir
Perfumer: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
Notes:  bergamot, black pepper, cinnamon bark, pimento berry, benzoin, Bulgarian rose otto, jasmine, labdanum, coffee absolute, tolu balsam, vanilla
Released: 1997

Sample: purchased from DSH

Final Word: Full bottle-worthy comfort scent.



Do you have a comfort scent?

[1] Although there's a tiny smoky hint to this perfume and I'm using smoke as imagery, I don't detect any toboacco or incense or cigarette-type note here.

Perfume Review: Jimmy Choo

Let's just start here, for lack of a better place: I do not own any Jimmy Choo products. Not shoes, not handbags, and definitely not the Uggs.

I'm aware of the legacy of Jimmy Choo, and I admire Tamara Mellon for being a savvy and successful business woman.

Mellon and Choo certainly have a great understanding of the luxury market! I clearly do not have a great understanding of the luxury market. I wear Skechers. I own numerous t-shirts, none of which cost more than $15. My "handbag" is from Target. Much of my jewelry is hand-crafted by artisans (I like craft shows), but doesn't really have a lot of value. Let's just say Lindsey won't bother stealing any of my stuff.

Tamara enjoys it...

The only luxury items I own are cosmetics and perfume. The former I know a lot about, and the latter I'm learning.

Mellon, who also poses in the ads, is apparently "into" perfumes. She's been wanting to create one for 15 years, the press releases assure.

Reviews of Jimmmy Choo's first perfume are mixed. It seems to be the kneejerk reaction to assume new, mass-merchandised scents are bad. Some are. Some aren't. But is this one...?



Let me describe it, first. The opening is a musky peachy citrus blend on my skin. Not sharp, plastic, or fake. We're off to a good start! It quickly adds a floral aspect that's a bit harsh (like the spike of a high heel?) at first, then slowly rounds out a bit. The lower notes of Jimmy Choo perfume are a gourmand-inflected patchouli. Not foody, but somewhat caramelized.

It wears well, with a presence. Sillage is moderate-to-strong; lasting power was medicore (fading on my skin in about 4 hours).


This is a people-pleaser scent, in a way, but also somewhat more complex than most of the recent launches I've smelled at Nordstrom and Saks. It's got the fruity bit that's so common popular right now (and I think it does it well). It's got that woody (not oud-y) bit that's so common popular right now (and I think it does it well). It also has that sugary bit all the kids like (and I think it does it well). It's a little of everything and as slippery to pin down as JELL-O. It's kind of like some of the Jimmy Choo shoes which, to me, appear to have a lot going on even when providing fairly minimal coverage.

I like Jimmy Choo perfume. I enjoyed the various phases. I also like that, thanks to the aldehydes present, this seems like a Perfume (Big 'P') rather than simply a perfume. Dressy. "Night-time". I'm a bit cavalier about wearing perfumes whenever the heck I want to, but many may consider this a scent to pair with A Big Girl Dress... and Jimmy Choo slingbacks, of course!

That said, I still don't own anything marked with the Jimmy Choo label. While I found this perfume interesting and pleasant (and will use the rest of the sample eventually) I prefer the floral-patchouli of Flowerbomb (Viktor & Rolf) and Chinatown (Bond No. 9) to the genre of "fruitchoulis" or neo-chypres or however one might label this perfume. Still, I wouldn't say no to a free bottle. Tamara?

House: Jimmy Choo
Fragrance: Jimmy Choo
Perfumer: Olivier Polge
Released: 2010
Notes: green notes, pear nectar, sweet orange from Italy, Tiger Orchid, caramel, Indonesian patchouli.
Sample: obtained at Saks; also liberally spritzed from tester.

Final Word: pretty.






Other reviews of Jimmy Choo: 

• 1000fragrances: Jimmy Choo eponymous perfume - new fragrance review
• Perfume Posse: Jimmy Choo perfume
• The Scented Salamander:  Jimmy Choo, The Perfume (2011): Mix and Match Like a Fashionable Cameleon {Fragrance Review}
• On Basenotes 
• On Fragrantica 
• On Makeup Alley

Perfume Review: New Haarlem (Bond No. 9)

I can't "do" mornings without my coffee. It's crucial. The aroma as it brews, the warmth and weight of my favorite mug, the ritual of making and drinking it... All of these things reassure me and make me feel like my day has officially begun on a good note.

via

I had no idea until recently that there was such a thing as a coffee note in perfumery. Sure, I've smelled coffee candles and such, but they didn't move me. I'd rather fire up a pot and experience the real deal.

To say I was skeptical about coffee in perfume is an understatement. What I didn't want: an artificial smell, plastic tones, randomness, and pandering. In other words, if you're going to put coffee in a perfume, it had better smell good and be artistic- it must make sense.

Enter Bond No. 9 and their popular New Haarlem.

Northbound with the A-train to cabaret-jazz club-central... a scent so brazen it was barely captured in a bottle. Molten, liquified swank with androgynous appeal, to wear after midnight in -and on- hot-spots.

I wasn't too sure what to expect from New Haarlem, but what I did know is that many folks raved! Detractors mostly seemed put off by the concept of smelling like food or drink, or by the price. ^[1]

I obtained a sample, spritzed, and waited...

via

...of course, I didn't have to wait long! This scent starts with an eye-opening blast of black coffee with a double-shot of espresso. It's sharp and it's bracing. And it's good!

Just as a piping hot cuppa cools, so does the opening intensity of New Haarlem. Bond No. 9 isn't done, though. Not by a long shot.

friggin' adorable. via

Next up is a shot of something green and a dose of a lovely lavender. The combination takes the coffee note to an almost licorice-like place that some people seem to read as "burnt" or "caramelized". The green and lavender aspects cut the sharpness and  freshen the scent.

The green notes fade after about ten minutes and a slightly vanilla tone replaces it. ^[2]

Smells like a coffee break with this guy.

It's at this point where I'm no longer sipping my first mugful of coffee in the morning. Now I'm sitting next to an older jazz musician on his break, chatting over takeout coffee in styrofoam containers. I can smell his cologne, a nice fougere with lavender, vanilla and a bit of patchouli. New Haarlem, by the way, is marketed as "unisex" and I would agree: it's neither feminine nor masculine... just good.

Just like the best jazz clubs, New Haarlem's music never stops. This perfume goes and goes and goes and goes, always with a distinct coffee note. I can get at least 24 hours out of one little spray, with significant throw and sillage. Great for me, because I adore this perfume, but if you don't like it it's bad news! ^[3]

In fact, if I had to complain about New Haarlem it would be about the longevity. I love this perfume, but it's so intense and persistent that it's there for the day - and I like to switch scents midday. Still, as complaints go, that's fairly minor.
 

 

Fragrance: New Haarlem
House: Bond No. 9
Perfumer: Maurice Roucel
Notes:  patchouli, lavender, vanilla, coffee, cedar and bergamot
Released: 2003

Sample: provided by Bond No. 9 PR

Final Word: It's like enjoying the perfect cup of coffee all day long!

via

Other Bond No. 9 New Haarlem reviews:

Bois de Jasmin: New Haarlem by Bond no. 9: Fragrance Review ::
Now Smell This: Bond no. 9 New Haarlem ~ fragrance review
One Thousand Scents: Big Money: Bond No. 9 Wall Street and New HaarlemEiderdownpress: Bond No. 9 New Haarlem
Basenotes reviews
Fragrantica: reviews

Makeupalley reviews 

 

[1] Bond No. 9 scents run for about $215 for 100ml; $150 for 50ml; and $45 for a 7ml "bon-bon".
[2] There are moments in New Haarlem's development where -and Perfumista's please don't shoot me for this!- I'm reminded of Jicky (Guerlain). It's the vanilla + lavender + patchouli blend.
[3] By the way, it's so tenacious it takes a good deal of scrubbing to remove. Try washing the skin with Tide (yes, really).