L'Heure de Nuit Guerlain

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica

I've been chasing after the perfect heliotrope and the perfect iris. Although L'Heure de Nuit doesn't fulfill all cravings, it does have plenty of iris, heliotrope and orange blossom to keep this girl happy. Plus that bottle, that pale blue juice...even if I'm not a bottle collector, I do agree that Guerlain has the market cornered for pretty bottles. 

Despite the name, I don't find similarities between this pretty little thing and L'Heure Bleue, the undisputed queen of the night and melancholy. I love L'Heure Bleue, even if I've only briefly smelt the vintage and own the reformulation (yes even to this green nose they do smell worlds apart), it is a fragrance rich in history and L'Heure de Nuit by contrast is youthful and has not sunk her teeth in life as yet. The sunlit orange blossom brings gaiety and lifts up the moody iris and heliotrope, the result is an invitingly cool blue floral without glacial tones, like dipping into the pool on a hot day with the water temperature being just right. As the day evolves into night, L'Heure de Nuit unfolds its vanilla tinged muskiness as the hours progress, with lingering traces of the cool iris, powdery sweet heliotrope and sunny white flowers. 

Sillage is moderate and longevity good. A hug-worthy scent. Do not come with expectations of drama and sorcery. 

Divine EDP Divine

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica

I seriously believed I was over my white floral craze having smelt some of the not so great and some of the very best (too smug was I). That is until I met Divine which thoroughly deserves its name and even more. This house was a totally hidden gem for me but no longer. Not after having sampled this gorgeous one and  the siren L`etre Aime Femme (*fans herself), both scents having pushed the competition out of the way to reach the top two spots on my want list. 

Nose-tingling aldehydes make a sweeping entrance. Heady tuberose (the way it should be), milky sweet gardenia and citrus-tinged orange blossom run riot in Divine EDP. Not one flower outshines the others but together create a most glorious symphony. Rose and jasmine are noticeable but my attention was focussed on the white flowers I love best. However the indolic jasmine becomes far more obvious as the scent settles down and develops into a warm, spiced and musky floriental that's sophisticated and sunny. I literally have nothing but praise for Divine EDP. Even from a dab sample, the sillage is huge and longevity is very, very good. 

Bold, bright and beautiful. If you love white flowers, you must try this. MUST. 

L'Instant de Guerlain

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: www.osmoz.com

Milky sweet floral.

Despite the advertisement above, I don't find L'Instant to be seductive or wearing a little black dress. Instead L'Instant soothes me, it feels as relaxing as drinking a floral tea laced with milk and honey and smells like it too. Well if tea could be made out of a combination of the flowers ylang ylang, magnolia and jasmine. 

L'Instant is a strong scent but not suffocating, it's easy to wear even on the most humid days here thanks to its lightness. If it were a colour it would be the palest of pale honey and honey is definitely a major feature of L'Instant, proportional to the lush milky floral notes but despite all the flowers and honey the scent is not heavy on sugar, everything about L'Instant says delicate and feminine. In the drydown there is a wisp of clean musk that adds to the pillowy effect and L'Instant maintains its warm celestial glow until the very end many hours later.  

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. 

Paradise Lost Keiko Mecheri

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Luckyscent.com

Yes I've thought some of the Keiko Mercheri fragrances that I've tried so far are worth buying full bottles of, but I've never really been compelled to go after a full bottle of any until now. Strangely enough, judging by the reactions of fragrant friends, I'm in the minority when it comes to liking Paradise Lost. 

I've heard negative comments ranging from too candy like to too floral like and both bewilder me as I don't smell sweets and yes obviously there are floral notes but Paradise Lost is far from just a floral perfume, on me at least. It starts off very sunny and bright with citruses loaded with greens and life, white floral blooms and sweet sandalwood conveying an image of the first part of its name "Paradise". However the rest is a slightly different tale and makes me think of the consequences after Adam and Eve were too greedy with the apple and got banished from Paradise. Paradise Lost develops into an pungent aroma with a strong smell of musky nether regions or the smell of decay or both mixed together. The white floral notes are still identifiable but the petals have lost their vigour and have begun to wilt quickly. The drydown is like a sweaty animalic musk and the residual perfume left by the faded flowers. Very interesting ride and not something I had anticipated when I first did a quick survey of the listed notes before ordering a sample to try. Perhaps the "Lost" part of the name is represented by the earthiness of the latter part of this fragrance's evolution, after the abrupt departure from its celestial beginnings. That's how I imagine it anyway.  

The projection and longevity are nothing to write home about but I've made peace with that by spraying heavily and frequently i.e. bring bottle around with you all day. I'm actually quite happy that I'm in the minority championing Paradise Lost, means more for me and less chance of smelling it on someone else! 

Quercus Penhaligon`s

Source: www.penhaligons.com

I will confess that I blind bought Quercus after having a bout of infatuation with Jilly Cooper's books where Tabitha Campbell Black was purportedly using the cologne and driving all the men crazy. I was curious as to what was so alluring about it. Answer. Nothing. It's not sexy and I assume the men were probably lusting after Tabitha so much that anything associated with her was taken as arousing. 

I don't tend to gravitate towards clean/fresh/aquatic/aromatic/cologne types. However Quercus has been a staple in my closet since the first bottle along with its accompanying liquid soap and body lotion. Not very original, it reminds me of so many other cologne types ranging from department store CK One to niche brands but there's something about it that makes me choose to replenish instead of replacing it. Talking about CK One I disagree with the pooh-pooh reviews that Quercus is a dead ringer for CK One, in a side by side comparison the former is softer and elegant and the latter loud and brash. 

I am ambivalent about citrus as it can get screechy on me but in Quercus it smells like a basket with various citrus fruit, not just one type, fresh, green and sunny. A bouquet of delicate white flowers. There's a tiniest bit of spice and the usually gregarious galbanum is muted here. In the drydown there is a sheer musk and mossy wood notes. It's as if all the ingredients were thrown into water and diluted to soft impressions of their usual selves. Average sillage and longevity. Natural smelling and well constructed. Lovely. 

Happy New Year- Hello 2015!

Source: iledebeaute.ru

My friends and I headed to a beach club to ring in the new year last night. Of course that meant I had to pick a scent that would be suitable for a beach setting in tropical weather as well as being festive enough for New Year's Eve. Which isn't that easy as my picky mind has mentally separated "beach scents" as casual scents and "festive scents" as well festive, spices, rich resins and balms- totally unsuitable in this case. 

In the end I picked Terracotta Le Parfum, the limited release from Guerlain earlier in 2014 ( although if rumours are to be believed, a re-release that is possibly permanent too is due soon). 

"Allure of the sun in a bottle" 

It does smell like bottled warm glow. You get a burst of zingy citrus zest, a milky sweet coconut less creamy than in Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Vanille Coco but more creamy than Estee Lauder's Sensuous Nude then a jaw-dropping beautiful and lush bouquet of white florals, creamy and musky, heady frangipani and jasmine as well as ylang ylang with its mild spicy floral note. I notice too the orange blossom which is more subdued amongst the other flowers here. In the drydown the citrus laced vanilla and musk become stronger than the white floral notes but the coconut cream stays intact throughout. Not so much a beach scent that makes you think of the sea and sand but tropical island it surely is reminiscent of, of sun-kissed warm skin, frangipani trees releasing their fragrance in the gentle breeze that makes music of the leaves on the trees and long grass that tugs gently on your bohemian chic peasant dress as you hold hands with your lover, as picture perfect as a photo shoot for a glossy magazine.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a fan of tropical flowers done right and with Terracotta Le Parfum, Thierry Wasser has done it gorgeously. The true scent of the tropical flowers are captured in this rose gold liquid, heady and luscious but not cloying, in fact the sillage is rather discreet for a white floral perfume. 

After comparing it with Annick Goutal's Songes EDT and L'Erbolario's Tiare, I would say this wins over Tiare which has a artificial saccharine note that spoils it for me. I prefer this to Songes EDT which is a lovely concoction of white flowers but did not last at all on my skin. The longevity of Terracotta Le Parfum despite being an EDT is about 6-7 hours on me although faint by that time.  

Happy New Year everyone! 

Honour Woman Amouage

Source: www.gopixpic.com

Honour Woman isn't my most loved BFWF ( big fat white floral) nor is it my most loved Amouage but if you are into luscious white floral perfumes, you should add this to your sampling list. 

A gardenia/tuberose/jasmine delight that opens with a strong lily of the valley presence and some peppery green notes before the focus shifts to the main players, the white flowers. The flowers are lusher than in Estée Lauder's Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia which is an elegant white floral bouquet but too polite and thin for my taste. However the meatiest mixed white floral for me is the super buttery Isabey's Fleur Nocturne even though my darling tuberose is replaced with a creamy magnolia and juicy fruit notes. Honour Woman sits between Fleur Nocturne and Tuberose Gardenia in terms of boldness and the "fatness" of the floral notes (medically speaking the BMI of Fleur Nocturne would be over 30, Honour Woman would be about 25 and Tuberose Gardenia would be 20). In the drydown of Honour Woman there is a light sprinkling of the peppery notes from earlier on and a lovely warm smoky incense under the white floral notes. A beautiful rich white floral perfume with a mellower ending compared to its first hour that any tuberose/gardenia lover especially should try. 

Thanks to chronic rhinitis that has addled my snifter, I tend to gravitate towards powerhouse perfumes and I particularly love how Amouage perfumes announce one's presence before one is physically even in the room and how everyone knows you have been in that room for an hour after you have left. This isn't the case with Honour Woman which is moderate in both the scent trail and longevity departments as compared to Memoir Woman or Interlude Woman for example. 

Tuberosa Profumum Roma

Source: Luckyscent

Fracas: "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the loudest tuberose of all?"

Magic Mirror: " Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, a lusty maid I see. Alas, she is more bold than thee."

Source: obsessivesweets.com

Can there be a a white floral louder than Fracas? I thought not till I met Tuberosa. 

It starts with the smell of powdery lemon that reminds me of the face-numbing sour outer layer of Nobel Super Lemon hard candies and just like how the sourness of the candy gradually wears off and you can relax the rictus snarl, so do the citrus notes wander away leaving the headiest of heady tuberose-dominant white floral notes. Tuberosa sits between Fracas and Carnal Flower, the former being a buttery lush white floral and the latter being more green and fresh. 

Source: projectwedding.com

Like Fracas, Tuberosa is all about a gigantic bouquet of white flowers( Fragrantica lists both jasmine and gardenia as accomplices but I detect only the jasmine) with the tuberose staying front and center at all times. The opening is bright and fresh thanks to the citrus zest that clings on for a good amount of time keeping the potent narcotic floral notes from being nauseating, but the scent eventually shifts to a creamier and darker ending like flowers that have almost exhausted their bloom and are on the edge of wilting. Some perfume friends have described the drydown of Tuberosa as animalic and for me I interpret that as the faint smell of decay, as if the tips of the flowers were tinted brown.

I might be tempted to get a bottle of Tuberosa if I'm done with the 10 ml decant I'm using. I doubt I'll be through with the 10 ml any time soon though as is with most of the Profumum Roma scents that I've tried, a little goes a very very long way. The first time I over did it and my head was assaulted all day by blasts of it with every movement which made it quite a horrible experience despite being an avid tuberose fan. Since then I've been much more careful and I find that two sprays is more than enough to take me from morning to the following night. 

Nuit Noire Mona di Orio (re-release 2014)

Source: Fragrantica

I started my day with Frederic Malle's ultra feminine Lipstick Rose and am ending it with heated hormones to put it delicately, thanks to Mona di Orio's Nuit Noire, the re-released edition of 2014 that I've been waiting impatiently for since rumours first started in 2013, having heard such polarising opinions on the original version and looking at those notes, how could I not fall in lust?

In order not to waste your time I would advise that if you hate strong spices/musks/animal smells/have used the words 'urinal' or 'faecal' as derogatory terms to describe a perfume before, then don't bother with Nuit Noire unless you are into olfactory BDSM. For it is all the above and it's stunning. Yes skanky animalic perfumes have been done before and over and over again. Yes Nuit Noire is nothing ground-breaking but it's damn good and it does the job. Seduction in a bottle. You or your prey. 

Source: gifrific.com

The opening is jaw-dropping, intense and virile, a clash of the titans between an acerbic orange blossom, weirdly sweet burning tyres type leather and the sweaty-armpits variety of musk. After getting your full attention, Nuit Noire tones down on the leather ditching the tyre note but leaving the bad boy biker in full leather gear behind. The sharpness of the orange blossom relaxes and more of a heady white floral comes through after the sharp citrus note exits. 

The leather and animalic musk combination could be described as someone (male or female) wearing a dry spicy oriental scent, having an energetic session in the gym or other physical activity and then donning a leather jacket over it all. The creamy lush flowers and wood notes embellish Nuit Noire but the leather, musk and dry spices are what makes it Nuit Noire. In the drydown the leather seems spent and what is left is a dreamy and balmy woody amber base. 

Everyone in a 2 metre radius will be able to smell it on you and will likely follow you entranced all day and night since the longevity is excellent. This goes on my want list stat.

Gardez Moi Jovoy

Source: www.nobaharshop.com

Gardez Moi. Keep me.

The name was the first thing that appealed to my romantic sensibilities and since it was touted to be a big fat white floral (BFWF) of which I am a huge fan, I went for a blind buy. No regrets. 

Gardez Moi is indeed a BFWF, not as grandiose as Fracas and obviously without tuberose, not creamy and fruity sweet like my other BFWF love, the intoxicating Isabey's Fleur Nocturne and although a classy white floral of tuberose/jasmine/gardenia, Estee Lauder's Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia was too light and straightforward for me and got swapped away. 

Gardez Moi is an enormous bouquet of freshly cut white florals, as if they have been brought in from a dew-laden garden that's just waking up. The opening is all about outdoorsy, words like "crisp", "green", "watery" come to mind. The aldehydes that enter after the white floral notes enhance the brightness with their powdery green citrus smell, giving Gardez Moi a vintage air. 

The base is a delicately powdered balmy musk, smelling faintly as if just a memory of the young and boisterous white florals.   

Jour d`Hermes Absolu Hermes

Source: www.style.com

Jean-Claude Ellena said “I wanted to express the essence of femininity with flowers and nothing but flowers.”

Well if femininity is delicately classy florals from start to finish, JC Ellena got it down pat. I can't recall the previous versions well enough to comment on similarities or otherwise, but Absolu is like a glass of sparkling wine in the palest shade of gold. Wine of a good standard but nothing to gush over. From beginning to end about four hours later, it stays as a golden subtle glow about oneself, perfect when one wishes to remain unobtrusive.  Light, bright, sweet and dry white florals that would wear well for both the office and casual days, as well as being a safe choice for gifting, the luxurious flacon adding to its charm (as long as she enjoys the lighter scale of things and flowers). While I won't need a full bottle of this anytime soon, I am very pleased with my 15 ml, part of a set of four scents, my departing buy from JFK, along with Caleche, 24 Faubourg and L'Ambre des Merveilles. All in identical minimalist glass bottles, with their own cloth bags...Hermes really knows how to package their goods!

Seville a L'Aube L'Artisan Parfumeur

This is the first L'Artisan that has a monster sillage on me. Incredible. I enjoy the creative scents from this house very much but sadly their longevity and scent veils are very lacking on me. Until now that is. 

I had become a little tired of neroli/orange blossom scents and figured I had enough representation of that particular white floral in my wardrobe, from the master of orange blossoms Francis Kurkdjian represented in the entrancing Elie Saab's Le Parfum, his seraphic APOM Pour Femme, the ambergris laced Orange Star from Tauer, the indolic animal that is Serge Lutens' Fleurs d'Oranger and the candied orange blossom in Le Couvent des Minimes' Cologne of Love.

I stand corrected. This is one orange blossom that I might add to my closet after all, despite the self-imposed embargo on the flower. 

Seville a L'Aube leans towards being a rich gourmand rather than a citrus/white floral combination. I find it full-bodied and unreserved, like Titian's Venus, without veering into the smutty zone where Lutens' Fleurs d'Oranger reigns.

Venus Anadyomene, Titian 1520.

A waxy golden nectar that opens with just a tinge of citrus zest. The honeyed sweetness of the florals is tempered by balmy resins and the herbal lavender and although the orange blossom is given free reign, it's prevented from falling into cloying sweetness or soapiness. The scent stays remarkably true to a fresh cutting of the flower with some golden honey without drying down into a heavy cordial like Cologne of Love. 

As I mentioned earlier, the scent projects well and but the longevity could be better, it lasted about three hours on me.

Mon Precieux Nectar Guerlain- of Jordan almonds and honeyed white florals.

Desirability: Full bottle and a back up

Source: Fragrantica

Mon Precieux Nectar is all honeyed white flowers and dragées amandes on me. Make that the most luxurious and lush bouquet of white flowers and candied almonds that money can buy. Whilst staying within the realm of tasteful. 

There are many variations available on the honeyed white florals like Ginestat's Botrytis (super super thick almost cloying animalic honey on dried fruit and flowers), The Bodyshop's Honeymania (translucent white honey and wildflowers), Elie Saab's Le Parfum featuring Francis Kurkdjian's work with white honey and orange blossoms, Chanel's Beige (a lovely tender hearted tropical beauty of honey and tiare), La Chasse aux Papillons Extreme by L'Artisan (the most ethereal tuberose on a background of sweet white flowers) and many others I can't think of right now.

Whereas Guerlain's L'Instant is vanilla and white flowers, L'Instant Magic pushes it more to the gourmand side with the almond note. I love the smell of almonds in perfumes from bitter almonds like Mazzolari's Alessandro (bitter powdery almonds but alas it's so short-lived on me), my chilly bitter almond beauty Louve by Serge Lutens and two Jordan almond types that I'm longing to try, Confetto by Profumum Roma and Conaffetto by Hilde Soliani. Some of my fragrant friends put Dior's Hypnotic Poison under the jordan almond label but it's pure creamy almond milk on me with a irritatingly artificial vibe about it(my bottle was bought in the past two years so reformulated, I have not tried the vintage versions).

Loukhoum-wise I prefer L'Artisan's Traversee du Bosphore (smells like pomme d'amour and Turkish delight on me, really yummy) and Keiko Mercheri's Loukhoum Eau Poudree (like having a powder puff of sugary goodness right in the face). 

Mon Precieux Nectar has the ethereal white flowers of La Chasse aux Papillons, the tenderness of Chanel's Beige, more candied than bitter almonds like in L'Instant Magic and the touch of class all Guerlains possess from the indisputable majesties to the new breeds. She's part child part woman. It's a soft scent that plays hide and seek with you for the better part of the day, becoming bolder in the heat and withdrawing again in the cold. 

As ambrosial a nectar as Mon Precieux Nectar undoubtedly is, I am still hesitant to fork out the exorbitant amount of money required for the juice in the exquisite "bee bottle" it comes in(couldn't they sell a version in a less divine bottle for us people who don't mind so much about looks?). However I am very fortunate to have been gifted a bottle and this gorgeous flacon has a place of honor in my perfume closet. Tip: I misguidedly threw out the stopper that came with the flacon and kept the vintage sprayer attached. This however causes the perfume to evaporate (alarmingly) so I would advise to keep it stoppered when not in use.