Five Fragrances for the Holidays

These are the perfumes I’m thinking of wearing this holiday season. I stay away from anything floral because I think big florals compete with the natural aroma of holiday festivities. Also, I prefer to wear scents which have sparkling & effervescent qualities.

Without further adieux, here are the five fragrances I’ll (most likely if I don’t change my mind) be wearing this year:

1. Let’s get this one over with. Angel Innocent. If you ever thought I had any taste in perfume your mind has changed now. But, here me out - Angel Innocent is a beautiful scent. Angel Innocent is similar to Angel but lighter, both in sillage and notes. Where Angel is dense and patchouli-heavy, Innocent is airy and just dances about you. Innocent has a decidedly sparkling, spicy and effervescent quality that reminds me of Christmas and holiday entertaining.

2. Chanel No. 22 seems perfect for any formal affair but especially around the holidays. It’s elegant, sophisticated and also quite sparkling.

3. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir is a scent I love to wear in December and January. The slightly tangy pomegranate note blended with spices, woods, and, again, an effervescent & sparkling quality makes this perfect for nearly everything holiday related. Pomegranate Noir is wonderfully dry and one of the most tenacious in the Jo Malone line.

4. Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque – need I say more? Lounging by the fire, cooking and hanging out with family – Fumerie Turque is perfect this time of year.

5. Sonoma Scent Studio Champagne de Bois, is, as the name suggests another sparkling and effervescent scent. Champagne de Bois is a gorgeous woods & spice scent that is relatively neutral (won’t bother others and easily worn around food) while still being a scent that will have your nose glued to your wrist.

Anyone else care to share their favorite holiday fragrances?

Two Reviews: Sonoma Scent Studio's Champagne de Bois and Laila by Geir Ness

Today I wore one perfume during the day and switched to another this evening for the purpose of reviewing them both. One was very good and the other was "not very good", in my opinion.

I’ll start with the good review. It’s Sonoma Scent Studio’s Champagne de Bois. Champagne de Bois is a nice little number. To categorize it, it strikes me as a woodsy musk with some effervescence and spice. This is what I wore during the day and I was sniffing my wrists frequently and enjoying the aroma wafting around me. Champagne de Bois is subtle, although I think there’s a soft sillage due to the slightly aldehydic effervescence. My husband actually told me I smelled good today and this is big news! Champagne de Bois is so easy to wear, it has a very natural/organic aroma, and there’s nothing overtly synthetic or “perfumey” about it. I find the spice, musk, woods combo calming and well done. To me, it smells like a well-blended amber, musk, sandalwood, clove once dried down. There’s a slight sweetness, very slight, perhaps stemming from jasmine which is listed among the notes. To compare it to something mainstream, it reminds me a little bit of Givenchy Organza Indecence, which is one of my favorites, but Sonoma Scent Studio has created a more organic and natural woodsy aroma. (By the way, I’m not saying Champagne de Bois IS organic or natural per se, just that it smells that way).

Champagne de Bois is aptly named since the aldehydes make it start off with a bubbly blast. For the first 5-10 minutes it’s effervescent and citrusy. I think Champagne de Bois is an absolute gem of a woodsy perfume. CdB is delightfully smoooooth, I could wear this very often. The lasting power is excellent, on me I could still detect it after 5 hours.

Sonoma Scent Studio, Champagne de Bois’ listed notes: aldehydic top notes, clove, jasmine, sandalwood, amber, labdanum, vetiver and musk.

Now for the bad. This evening I removed Champagne de Bois and applied Laila eau de parfum by Geir Ness. I was looking forward to Laila since I’ve begun to like “fresh/watery” fragrances this summer for the first time in my life. There’s something about Laila hailing from Norway that made it seem like it would be particularly clean, sparkling and fresh. I imagined clear spring water trickling down the sides of snow capped mountains and beautiful fields covered in wildflowers. I thought Laila would smell like my stereotypically beautiful vision of Norway. To my nose, Laila is none of these things. It’s very synthetic, sweet and brings generic air freshener to mind. It is strong, I’ll give it that, and it has good lasting power, because I could only wear it for 2.5 hours before I tried to scrub it off, and it took 3 washings, the final one with dishwashing liquid to remove it entirely. Laila is not fresh but very sweet and fruity.

Laila’s listed notes: Norwegian lilies, watermelon and Norwegian snowflower.

(I should have known since watermelon is listed in the notes…)