Pumpkin Strumpet Alkemia Perfumes

Desirability: Full bottle

If smelling like a sweet spiced pumpkin pie is your thing and Etat Libre d'Orange's Like This was not enough to satisfy your dessert cravings, look no further than Alkemia's Pumpkin Strumpet. If you didn't already know, Alkemia is one of the first indie perfume oil stores on Etsy and is definitely my go-to for desserts in a bottle. Besides gourmand scents, Alkemia Perfumes has a multitude of other fragrances to fulfil many desires and if you can't decide on just one, the Etsy store offers a 3 for 30 Set - Any Three 5 ml Alkemia Fragrances for 30 Dollars USD. Since the perfume oils are highly concentrated, a little goes a very long way. 

Alkemia describes Pumpkin Strumpet as such: 

A decadent blend of rich pumpkin, caramelized sugar, Madagascar vanilla, precisely balanced with a swirl of cinnamon, ginger, & clove and a tiny drop of amber musk. In a famous study by the Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation, pumpkin pie was found to be the scent most arousing to men. We are not responsible for any indecencies caused by wearing this mouth-wateringly delicious temptation.

I don't totally agree on its seductive powers having tried and failed but then again the fault could lie with me but anyway, I fully agree that it is decadent and sets the salivary glands working and endorphins racing when sniffed. I don't smell the amber or musk per se but the scent gives off a warm and cuddly glow that is reminiscent of amber and musk fragrances. Pumpkin Strumpet is delicious if simple, very affordable and delivers on its promises. What are you waiting for? 

Source: www.theyummylife.com

Ispahan Black Sharif LaRoche

I'm in trouble. The more I sample from Agarscents Bazaar, the more I want and Ispahan Black is not proving otherwise. Etsy is a treasure trove for indie perfumers and Sharif LaRoche is one of the treasures. 

The Etsy store lists the notes for Ispahan Black as: Opium, Deer Musk, Rose Otto, Spices.

The rose of Ispahan,also known as Pompon des Princes or simply Ispahan, is an old world Damask rose that is light pink with a heady fragrance and which blooms only once but which lasts for about six weeks, one of the longest blooming periods among the old world roses.  Rose d'Ispahan has been seen growing wild on the hills between Shiraz and Isfahan, a city renowned for its gardens and roses and after which the rose is named.

Rose Absolute and Rose Otto, what's the difference? Rose Absolute is extracted through a solvent process and can contain chemicals whereas Rose Otto is considered an essential oil as it is extracted through steam distillation.

So back to Ispahan Black the perfume oil.

Rosy sweet, gorgeous, lush blooms that swell up from a tiny drop of the oil on my forearm. Used with a very light hand, the spices add to the intoxicating composition and do not detract from the roses. Likewise, the salty dark musk doesn't overshadow its rose companion but together they create such a passionate, vitalizing and stimulating scent.

True to its namesake, the rose keeps its bloom throughout the scent, never fading nor turning powdery, like some roses do. The musk despite being animalic, doesn't turn the lady into a tramp, but instead the fragility of the  pale pink rose petals is enhanced by the contrasting shadowy musk.

So seriously, do get a sample. And also a sample of his Ambergris Taifi, which I promise to properly review soon, once I can formulate actual sentences instead of nonsensical rapturous babble upon smelling it.

Turning 33- Part Deux (Ambergris Taifi, Sharif LaRoche, Agarscents Bazaar)

So a brown package came through the post today from Sharif LaRoche who owns Agarscents Bazaar (he has stores on both Etsy and Ebay). Postage took slightly under two weeks, shipping was very reasonable to Singapore and service/communication perfect and prompt.

Thanks to a very dear albeit virtual, fragrant friend of mine, I was introduced to this indie/niche house, whose website writes:

Enchanting French Arabian and Oriental perfumes, composed with Oudh, pure Musk, Ambergris oil, Bakhoor and rare Blossoms-Essences of Paradise. 

We specialize in the finest 100% pure, Dhen al Oudh, pure Sandalwood, genuine Ambergris oil, pure Deer Musk and fine Rose Otto (Wardh and Gulab).

I adore oud or at least what I've been introduced to, ambergris is a strong favourite, ditto musk and rose, sandalwood I get along with pretty well. So I definitely had to try this house. My first order was a 1ml of Ambergris Taifi (he sells his oils/attars in 3ml amber bottles but you can contact Sharif which I did through Etsy and he put up a listing for 1ml for me. From what my fragrant enabler told me, you can buy an even smaller fraction than 1ml and such is the potency of the oils, a drop is all that is needed).

Along with my 1ml order of Ambergris Taifi, such is his generosity, I was gifted a neatly wrapped incense stick of Kashimiri Kasthuri Ultimate which is scenting my work drawer as we speak of sweet and spicy musk, as well as samples of:

Ispahan Black which is described on the website as:

"Aro'mantically vivacious-

subtly sweet, slightly spicy, 

nuances-oil of agar and fine musk, an ambient elixir of art and sophistication

enveloping, intoxicating, masterfully composed composition, 

with mid notes of currants, opium and spice

- beans of tonka soften the approach-

which leads to a vanilic heart,

and a path to treasure. "

Misk Tahara is described as:

"the musk of purity, the scent of clean, fresh skin, lightly sweet and musky."

Civet Musk Mukhallat:

"a luxurious Oriental treasure... Sumptuous notes of Eastern splendor... rich, velvety musk draped in warm amber and exotic blossoms… sophisticated and elegant - evocative ."

As for all first time customers, I got a free gift in the form of a pretty 3ml glass flacon of Egyptian Musk Superior. This was a sweet and clean musk on my skin, sort of what Narciso Rodriguez musks have been like on me minus the lingering chemical note that keeps me at odds with the NR line. Soft florals round this musk off nicely into what I find is rather unisex despite the sweetness and florals. Sillage and longevity are awesome considering I basically just swiped the plastic stick on my skin once. This musk is very affordable if you are looking for an alternative to the NR range.

Now on to the real reason why I wrote this piece. Ambergris Taifi. OMG. OMG. This is amazing. No. It's AMAZING!!!!!!! I'm about to book myself more weekend work just to cover a purchase of a 3ml bottle of this in case it's discontinued or some other similar tragedy ensues.

Taif Roses.

I have a precious 15ml bottle of Tauer's Phi Une Rose de Kandahar, which is a gorgeous salty and musky rose on my skin. Amp up the salty and musky tones, some sweet animalic notes (not quite up to barnyard level), amp up the decibels on the rose, add a smidgen of vintage face powder and you have Ambergris Taifi. Part skank part rose and the salty sweetness just continues undulating and swirling about me for hours without abating. The salt is not so much sea-salt like in Merveilles but I find it more akin to the saltiness of sweat on skin. The sweetness(not talking about the rose here) is harder to describe without causing nausea amongst the more delicate palates. I will borrow from the agarscentsbazaar page to do it justice.

"...the subtle, sweet addictive aroma that beach combing dreams are made of."

I am far from being able to describe the distinctiveness of the Taifi rose note, except to say that I raided the rose section of my wardrobe from Malle's Une Rose to Caron's Rose, JHAG's entire line to the Rosines I have and came up with, it just smells different. Deeper, more intensely rose. On a fragrant friend of mine, it is more vintage powdery rose so perhaps chemistry plays a role again. I highly recommend trying Sharif LaRoche's Ambergris Taifi, for any and all rose lovers.