Habanita Molinard

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica

Refined. Warm. Inviting.

Habanita is more my cup of leather/vanilla than the whisper-soft suede/vanilla that is Cuir Beluga from Guerlain's exclusive L 'Art et la Matière line. As much as I am a loyal fan of Guerlain and as much as I appreciate the quality and class of Cuir Beluga...it's a shade too sheer for my enjoyment, resembling the easygoing soft suede Cuir Ottoman, a scent I like but not love. 

Habanita is definitely not a light fragrance but neither is it as dark and dangerous as its bottle suggests and I can't recommend this as a "strictly" leather scent. Put it simply, both Cuir Beluga and Cuir Ottoman are blonde suedes and Habanita is a dark suede. When asked to recommend leather scents, what comes to mind are the likes of Cuir de Russie, Anubis and Cuir Mauresque to name a few. Habanita wears more like an Oriental vanilla scent, infused with a leather note that is more prominent at the beginning then fading away by the drydown. Never harsh but a smooth and thoroughly enjoyable polished leather smell that captures the luxuriousness of Habanita as it smoulders its way into an amber base- sweet vanilla with a generous amount of smoky resins thrown emanating a heart-warming glow for hours.

A wonderful creation with an average projection and very good longevity. I recently adopted a bottle of this beauty who keeps her softer and more feminine sibling Habanita L'Esprit company. By the way I know there is endless debate on whether Habanita L'Esprit deserves to be named as such and having spent time with both, I do agree that they share DNA. 

Misia Chanel

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest

Violet scents were what led me into the world of fragrances. I was obsessed with smelling everything with violet flowers and leaves from dewy life-like violets to dark, moody violets. As a result I don't just have a violet corner in my wardrobe but a full section with violets to suit my every need. Even then, I still keep adding new discoveries but at a much less feverish pace.

If like me, you adore the smell of Guerlain lipsticks with their waxy floral scent, you have to try Misia. Violets, roses, powdery iris and lots of buttery orris abound in Misia which shares some vintage make-up elements with Lipstick Rose but on me, Misia is more powdery and green (at the beginning) whereas Lipstick Rose is rather sensual and musky all the way. I don't find them similar at all actually.

It starts off with aldehydes and fresh flowers, the powder quickly presenting itself and at this stage Misia is very feminine and delicate. It gradually deepens and feels more tangible with the entrance of orris, resins and vanilla. The drydown is a heavenly affair between the flowers, powder and balmy base notes with most of the green-ness gone by now. Lipstick Rose feels more solidly reassuring whereas Misia seems more flighty- I mean I know Lipstick Rose is there all the way whereas the illusion of diaphaneity lets Misia play hide and seek with my olfactory nerve.

I'm very much in the camp of "wear what you like" but I find it hard to categorize Misia as anything but female. Or should I say feminine. Where Lipstick Rose reminded me of knockout cheesecake models, Misia brings images of Art Deco fashion to mind- simple outlines using gorgeous top quality materials. The scent has soft to average projection but stays on me for quite a number of hours.

Spending time with both Misia and Lipstick Rose put me in the mood for classics and I shall share this precious song that came to mind.

Jo Stafford. You Belong To Me

Rose Etoile de Hollande Mona di Orio

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest

I've been lucking out with peaches recently. Or rather peach/patchouli combinations. I love Lancome Tresor and of course Guerlain Mitsouko has long been a favourite but Gucci Rush smells horrible on me and I met the first Guerlain I've actively disliked during this past weekend- Chypre Fatal. 

I was given a bottle of Rose Etoile de Hollande during a tumultuous period in my life and didn't have the time or attention to lavish on her as deserved. So it was not until recently when I've been craving roses that I dug out this dazzling rose. 

Peaches are first to greet me and I'm very glad we get along here. Fleshy peaches are followed by lush blooms of red roses that have been gently dusted with powder and spices. The nectar in Rose Etoile de Hollande comes from both the rose and the peach but there are also fragrant spices and just the teeniest bit of tartness present. The rosy powder and brilliant aldehydes give it a classical air but I can't see anyone calling this a "grandma" scent as the spices and fresh piquancy keep it lively and modern. The drydown is a warm woody-amber base with a strong note of aromatic cloves and of course the fruity roses prevail to the very end. 

A truly luxuriant scent to indulge in any time you want to spoil yourself, actually it reminds me of Yves Saint Laurent Champagne/Yvresse with a healthy dose of roses and like Champagne, it's sparkling nature is suitable for all occasions and moods. Sillage is average and longevity is very good. 

Source: pinterest

Rosae Mundi is my Valentine!

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest.com

A living rose.

A decant of Rosae Mundi and some others from the Profumum Roma line came just in time for me to celebrate Valentine's day my way- perfumed, with a good book and Serge purring at my feet. 

Rosae Mundi. Rose of the world. For a detailed and interesting write-up on the history of this phrase, read here. 

I don't know if Rosae Mundi is the Rose of the world but it definitely smells like the Rose of the earth or rather Rose and the Earth for that is what I smell in equal parts. Roses and earth-dirt, plants, animals, basically all that lives and breathes. The roses are the first to be noticed, huge blooms of perfumed roses that are a little powdery, a little tartly green and a little sweet. Don't write off the perfume as just another rose soliflore, that's just the beginning. 

Rosae Mundi moves out from behind the white picket fences into the real world and gets gritty. Dry, dusty and the smell of the earth after the rain has passed and under the tropical sun, steam practically rises from the cooled ground. That smell. Not just one smell but a smell that is complex and made up of the scent of many others, the watered soil, the plants-their roots, leaves and flowers, the soaring trees above, maybe even the worms and caterpillars. The roses are still blooming but the earth and its living things take the centre stage in this later part of Rosae Mundi. The scent stays this way for the rest of its long lifetime, it is there until you scrub it off with a good amount of soap and arm power. 

Source: pinterest.com

THE ROSE OF THE WORLD

by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream?

For these red lips, with all their mournful pride,

Mournful that no new wonder may betide,

Troy passed away in one high funeral gleam,

And Usna's children died.

 

We and the labouring world are passing by:

Amid men's souls, that waver and give place

Like the pale waters in their wintry race,

Under the passing stars, foam of the sky,

Lives on this lonely face.

 

Bow down, archangels, in your dim abode:

Before you were, or any hearts to beat,

Weary and kind one lingered by His seat;

He made the world to be a grassy road

Before her wandering feet.

Source: mrt.com.mk

Opium Eau D'ete Summer Fragrance 2003 Yves Saint Laurent

Desirability: Sample

Source: Fragrantica

Opium on a diet for super hot and humid days when you don't want to asphyxiate those around you with the original. Most days I don't give a stuff whether people around me mind what I'm wearing but there are occasions where one must be toe the line or suffer horrid non TGIF consequences hence why I'm wearing this today. 

Sweet woody myrrh, refined and oriental-esque, lightened by the presence of sunny yellow-green citrus notes and luminous white flowers. Carnation makes known its presence with its distinct spicy-sweet floral powdered self and a minute amount of rich vanilla in the warm woody base. 

The DNA of Opium is still alive in this 2003 summer edition, a glamorous, well balanced ode to the art of perfumery with excellent longevity and OK projection. Those who found the original too much of a good thing may want to try this version, there are still bottles tinkering around on Ebay so grab while you can. Personally I prefer the original. 

Loukhoum Eau Poudree Keiko Mecheri

Source: beautyicon.pl

Powdery gourmand, lots and lots of powdery fluff guaranteed to make you sneeze. It smells like a handful of candied rose petals mixed with a handful of jordan almonds, all of this pulverized by some brilliant mind intent on snorting instead of ingesting the candy. 

Although it doesn't smell very sweet, one can't wear Loukhoum Eau Poudree and expect to be taken seriously, there's as much powder here as on a baby's bottom. From the pink bottle to its equally girly contents, this could be worn on Wednesdays in Mean Girls or claim a spot on Elle Woods' dresser top or on her ample décolletage in the bunny outfit. 

Excellent sillage and longevity and thanks to its more gentle demeanour despite having a loukoum DNA, this can be worn in humid tropical weather without suffocating yourself or those around you within a metre's radius. 

Habanita L'Esprit Molinard

Habanita L'Esprit starts off heavy but winds up soft after about an hour so I tend to carry my bottle around with me. I've never tried the original Habanita or the 2012 eau de parfum version so I regretfully can't compare them at this time. 

I have been weaning myself off the risky habit of blind buys but this one was a successful gamble as Habanita L'Esprit has all the notes I enjoy, being a well-orchestrated combination of an unclean musk, leather, resins and powder. I say unclean as it's more smutty than a clean musk like The Body Shop's White Musk but not enough to join the legion of dark musks like Kiehl's Original Musk. The leathery labdanum and musk stand out during the first hour but slink away thereafter so that in the drydown you get sweet warm resins and citrus-tinged vanilla powder. This part reminds me a little of Guerlain's Shalimar but with less vanilla than in Shalimar. Overall a nice and cosy scent that's worth its price. 

Fate for Women Amouage

Source: pinterest.com

Fate and Beloved are two oddly comforting perfumes for me. I say odd only because I tend to view Amouge perfumes as luxurious jewels and instruments of seduction not burrito blankets( I learnt a new slang today, thank you Bella).

Beloved I group together with another beloved Shalimar under "classy classics", I find Fate to be more extroverted and gregarious compared to them. Perfume is for anytime and any place of course, but I reach more often for Fate to chill out with in a hole-y tee and Beloved to look presentable for, even though both turn me into a contented, purring cat.

Fate starts a bit sharp and peppery but the sharpness doesn't last for more than it takes the spray to evaporate on my skin, before it turns into a smoky, spicy and woody balm for the soul, that envelops one in a blissful bubble, like sitting and watching firewood burning merrily on a cold weekend afternoon, a mug of something sinful in hand while one shuffles around at home still in pajamas at 4 pm. I get powdery florals as it further dries which gives Fate some vintage charm like Besame cosmetics. The floral powder, smoke, woods, resins and spices all blend smoothly into a complex and sublime scent that shares traits with other Amouage scents (Dia for floral powder, Epic and Beloved for warm spicy florals, Interlude and Memoir for smoky resins) before it but remains unique.

Source: community.sephora.com

I prefer wearing Fate when its cold i.e when the air-conditioning is on as the scent blooms beautifully whereas much of its performance is dampened in heat and curiously enough the sillage/longevity seems to be affected by temperature too. I get amped up sillage in heat but with poor longevity and in colder temperatures, the sillage is still good but the longevity is way better.

* Just to avoid confusion, I refer to the female versions of the scents mentioned above.

PG 15 Ilang Ivohibé Parfumerie Generale

Source: Fragrantica.

I haven't been the biggest fan of Parfumerie Generale, not for the want of trying or any fault of the scents I've tried, but we don't seem to mesh well. As Fate would have it, I had a better run of luck with this house of late and Ilang Ivohibé is the landmark first bottle I own, quickly followed by a volley of its siblings lol.

The Parfumerie Generale website lists the ingredients as such: 

"Born of a fairy-tale union of Madagascan ylang-ylang, Californian orange and Egyptian jasmine,

 the poetic fragrance of an imaginary flower releases its perfume against the exquisite sweetness of a forest of vanilla plants. 

Lavander, Vanilla, Ylang-ylang, Orris, Patchouli."

Strangely enough none of the online stores that carry the scent have the same list of ingredients, with most listing a variable combination of: ylang-ylang, citrus, jasmine, vanilla, woods and musk.

Ilang Ivohibé is not just another ylang ylang scent. Trust Pierre Guillaume to always jazz things up, wearable on me or not. In this case, it's a delightful floral woody vanilla that simultaneously hints at dense gourmand roots and yet channels a sprightly green vibe. A real shape-shifter, one moment I think of vanilla cake and the next it's all woods and nature. Add a dash of citrus and generous sprinkle of powder on top. 

Ylang ylang usually goes narcotic and smouldering on me but Ilang Ivohibé remains a young and joyful spirit throughout. It has good longevity but from the start it remains close to the skin without a trail so I keep thinking it's disappeared but no it's still there, just really subtle. That's about my only grumble about the scent and with a 100 ml bottle, the solution is spray and spray again ad infinitum. 

P.S: Am I the only one who isn't certain how to pronounce the name? I've been cautiously muttering " ee-lang ee-vo-hibe" and well the sales assistant handed me the right bottle.

Trivia: A quick Google search tells me that Ivohibe is a hilly rural town in central Madagascar. In the municipality is a nature reserve called Pic d'Ivohibe, you can read more here.

Nejma 4, Nejma

Nejma 4 introduces herself with a bright and zingy bergamot, geraniums adding a dash of spicy pepper to the otherwise piquant citrus top notes.

Settling down after the round of introductions which lasted about half an hour or so, she reveals a sweet-herbaceous, slightly powdery aspect of her character accompanied by florals that I am unable to differentiate as they are seamlessly blended together, however Nejma 4 is listed by Fragrantica to contain jasmine, rose, narcissus and ylang ylang.

The herbaceous aspect dissipates, the powder gradually becomes more obvious and the scent remains as a very floral powder till the end. An enjoyable powdery floral bouquet with a classic vibe, reminiscent of Yves Saint Laurent Paris EDP although Paris is more of a pink bouquet and Nejma 4 smells like a pale yellow arrangement.

Nejma 4 has a modest sillage and good longevity on me. 

Eau Eternelle S Poncet

I received a sample of this from a fragrant friend recently, thank you! S Poncet is owned by Sabine Poncet Hernandez, a perfumer from France who after having spent a decade working for other perfume houses, decided to showcase her own work.

Eau Eternelle is described as follows on S Poncet's Etsy store: 

The garden of Claude Monet in a stunning crystal bottle.

To transcribe Monet's Japanese garden, I picked the most exquisite pink lotus absolute, and grapefruit oil.

To share his Clos Normand, I choose lavender, rosemary, clove, jasmin, carnation, mandarin, and lemon oils.

The fragrance is completed with an exquisite wood base of guaiacwood, sandalwood, patchouli, and moss.

Eau Eternelle feels and smells like a lady of good breeding, young or old, who behaves with the proper decorum in every situation. She's like Scarlett O'Hara's mother after her marriage. There is nothing loud or brash here, nothing that calls for attention. 

The scent opens as a burst of bright citrus notes, I can clearly pick out the grapefruit here. To be honest I wasn't too keen on the opening, there was something about it that made me think of dryer sheets.

Eau Eternelle smells like a perfectly manicured garden, of aromatic shrubbery and subtly sweet flowers. There's a warm spiciness from the cloves and carnations, my introduction to carnation was a vintage sample of Caron's Bellodgia and I enjoy its spicy floral accent which lends a certain gravitas. I smell a white tea similar to jasmine tea and just the barest hint of a powdery musk underneath. The sillage is as pleasantly inoffensive as the dry down and the scent lasts a long time. 

There's no doubt that it's a nice scent for a lady of any age but I am otherwise unmoved by it. It's pleasant but unremarkable and I much rather be Scarlett.

Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle

This smells like Christmas in a bottle. Well parts of Christmas anyway, like logs blazing in the fireplace (the pyromaniac in me enjoyed watching wood burning on the grate), eggnog generously laced repeatedly by forgetful grandmothers and naughty teenagers and spiced christmas pudding with its dark sugar-glazed surface. 

Spiced Eggnog Cupcake

Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle is a delicious not quite dessert but a woody gourmand if that is feasible. The musk is present but not prominent like it is in Musc Ravageur, it's slightly powdery but the main players are the sweet spicy vanilla and the creamy sandalwood with a sweet earthy patchouli presenting itself in the drydown, all the ingredients making this not an unusual scent per se, but an interesting vanilla scent with a definite woody-oriental character.  

Eggnog Latte

Although I don't take seasons/weather into account(how could I when most of the year I spend it on this tropical city island where the weather is hot and humid or hot, humid and wet) when I choose a fragrance to wear, I would suggest that Dries Van Noten par Frederic Malle would be sublime in colder weather where the spices come out and play, rather than on a hot day where I fear the sweetness would be overdoing things and masking the scent's true character. It's perfect for cuddling on a sofa, it's as comforting as Linus' stinky blanket is to him, it's as soothing as the purring of my cat against my skin and totally disarming if wearing to work or play. 

It leaves a gossamer of a scent veil around me and( I don't usually get compliments on my scents not because I stink but well...I just don't. But I do not stink. This is however one of the scents that has garnered compliments) people ask what is that delightful/delectable/yummy smell? The sad part is that it does not last long, I don't get more than four hours each time I wear this and even then it's very much a skin scent. Still I couldn't resist this sumptuous fragrance and sprung for the 3x10ml travel sprays so that it's easier to lug around for touch ups. 

PG04 Musc Maori Parfumerie Generale

Scent of the night: Musc Maori, from a Luckyscent dab sample. My previous forays over a year ago into the PG line left me unmoved and I have been repeatedly urged to try more before dismissing this very popular niche house.

So here I am with the scent applied to both wrist and sleeve. My first thought, sour milk! Oh no what have I done, I just showered! I don't want to sleep with sour milk! Thankfully, the sourness disappeared and left the creamy milk behind (Fragrantica lists green notes in the pyramid for Musc Maori so perhaps that was the culprit, but whatever it is I'm glad it exited quickly).  I smell chocolate, bittersweet and powdery.  A brief image of Muller Corner with cocoa balls flashed through my mind and got my sweet tooth going. 

Just as Musc Maori and I started getting along just fine, something that smells like bergamot shows up? What?! I recheck the label on the sample and it says Musc Maori...where is this citrus zest coming from?-- I'm looking at you "green notes"! So now I have full cream milk+ bittersweet chocolate powder+ citrus rind. Interesting but it's neither a gourmand nor is it a cologne. Nor is it musky on me, no soap nor wild animal present here. It's more Chocolate Powder Maori than Musc Maori on me. Add a dash of citrus too.

Thankfully this has a lowish sillage on me and I can cover it with some powerhouse perfume instead of another shower before I go hunt down my bar of orange dark chocolate which I now smell like. Still not a fan of PG, but not discouraged. There has to be one that I'll fall in love with. Or at least like.