White Musk Collection White Suede Tom Ford

Desirability: Sample

Source: Fragrantica

Hot on the heels of two successful blind buys from Tom Ford- Champaca Absolute and Black Violet, White Suede was my third blind buy which is definitely shaped from a different mould. 

Almost a non perfume, White Suede smells of freshly laundered sheets gently swaying in the breeze on the clothing line. If you go up close to the sheets you might still get a faint whiff of an elegant and discreet floral scent, one with lots of hyacinth, galbanum and lily of the valley. It smells more like a wild meadow than a cultivated garden. Then there is musk, a clean musk reminiscent of how one would smell after a shower with Nivea/Dove soap. 

White Suede does smell like how my Isabel Marant Dicker boots smelt when they first arrived. Add a garland of wild flowers. It's a variant of Noa that I can wear (there's something about Noa that made me uncomfortable) but I don't reach for my bottle of White Suede very often as it doesn't move me. On the other hand it did make me think of a scene in one of my favourite movies "I Capture the Castle" and since the character favoured Penhaligon's Bluebells which could pass for the scent clinging on to the sheets. 

Scene from I Capture the Castle. Source: pinterest

Moderate projection and very good longevity.

White Suede is like abstract art to me, I'm sure there is more going on but I'm not getting it.

Fiore d`Ulivo Xerjoff

Source: www.nobaharshop.com

A light floral citrus and the odd one out of the four scents in my Casamorati discovery box. The citrus isn't jarring but instead its pale yellow freshness gives a bit of a kick to the watery floral notes. The drydown is a "clean as fresh bed linen" floral musk and overall the scent feels like the pastel colours of candied Easter eggs without the sugar coating. Fiore d'Ulivo has the same style as Amouage Reflection for Women but Reflection despite being made up of "light" notes manages to keep itself heard the whole day whereas Fiore d'Ulivo becomes a skin scent by the third hour. 

Source: suchprettythings.typepad.com

It's nicely done, a refreshing floral citrus with an elegant demeanour and although it's too mild tempered for my tastes, I will enjoy my little bottle from the discovery set. 

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. 

Narciso Rodriguez for Her Musc Eau de Parfum Intense

The opening of "Intense" is what persuaded me to add this Narciso Rodriguez to my wardrobe even though clean floral musk isn't quite my thing. It is a sweet and minty herbal experience that is similar to diluted Tiger Balm and it lingers around for about an hour before a delicate honeyed floral musk emerges and stays around like a pillowy cloud of comfort for a few hours with a moderate projection throughout. 

I pick up ylang ylang with its unique spicy floral sweetness and a soapy orange blossom from the floral bouquet but can't quite identify anything else. The honey note is a clear white honey, not too dense and with no animalic overtone. Despite being labelled "intense" the overall effect is of warm scented skin without being obviously perfumed, soothing yet sensual. 

I would say try before buying as looking at the online reviews, there are quite a few that are repulsed by the opening of "Intense" but that is exactly what I enjoy about it. 

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. 

Vent de Folie Annick Goutal

Vent de Folie. Wave of madness. Do they mean impulsive? I don't find Vent de Folie either mad nor impulsive but she is a sunny character.

Most of the Annick Goutal scents that I've tried are on the lighter side of life, apart from standouts like the seductive Ce Soir Ou Jamais and the voluptuous Grand Amour, which are two of my favourites from this house. 

Vent de Folie is a carefree sprite, a fresh and pretty fruity-floral on a background of clean musk, with a soft scent trail but a very good longevity, I got over 12 hours but only on clothes, on skin it disappeared after about two hours wear.

Anyway back to what it smells like, which is very appealing especially if you are into sheer, joyful beauties. I smell a basket of freshly picked, sweet and tart berries with a bunch of long stemmed pink roses on the bed of berries. It stays this way for a while, a happy-go-lucky scent before the berries and rosiness are joined by notes of white musk and powder, giving the impression of fluffy white clouds in a clear blue sky above a huge rambling garden bursting with blooms. I wore Vent de Folie to sleep and woke up to a lovely rose and woody musk, the fruit having vanished in the night.

An enjoyable experience, Vent de Folie is all joie de vivre and cannot fail to rub some happy dust on her wearer.