Roja Dove Scandal: Enters my top 10

Anything described by Luca Turin as “preposterously intense” and “enormously rude” is going straight to the top of my must-try list. If that weren’t enough, anything considered heavily tuberose, indolic and slightly animalic is a siren call loud enough to keep me awake at night.

I started with a good sized decant of Scandal. I’m nearing the end of my decant and now a full bottle is on the way.

Here’s the thing, Scandal isn’t particularly intense nor is she rude. To me, Scandal is sublime with a capital S. Scandal is intoxicating, warm, and engaging, but she does have an attitude. Get this: Scandal is now firmly on my top 10 list of all time. Don’t ask me to list my top 10 – those that are *always* on this list (at least lately) are: Teo Cabanel Alahine, Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche, Amarige Harvest Edition 2006, No. 22 and now Scandal. Naming the remaining 5 will give me fits. Oh, heck, listing this much has given me a panicky sensation.

The fragrance which reminds me the most of Scandal is Fracas. Do Fracas and Scandal actually smell alike? Not really. But they are second cousins. I find Fracas more in your face than Scandal. Fracas is a straight up Diva while Scandal basks in the shadows with inky, smoky eyes. Fracas is platinum blond, Scandal is brunette. I sort of hate these appearance and personality comparisons but sometimes they just make sense. I wore Fracas a great deal back in the 90’s. I also wore Fleurissimo which is another big white floral. As much as I love the idea of both of these perfumes, they wore me out. I need to admit: I can’t wear Fracas, it’s too much and makes me a bit headache-y. I also feel like an imposter wearing Fracas and Fleurissimo, like I have a sign over my head which reads: “Alert! Alert! This woman is trying to enter our club but she is NOT one of us.”

Are Fracas and Fleurissimo cold white florals? Is that it? Scandal feels warm and easy. Scandal melts into my skin and I feel completely comfortable wearing it. Scandal has been described as a classic 1950’s type of big white floral; it most definitely reads classic to me but not particularly retro. Scandal smells like equal parts tuberose, jasmine and freesia with touches of lily of the valley to make it gentle. The start is strongly orange blossom and this is where Scandal reminds me of Fracas, the opening is a big tilt-o-the-hat to cousin Fracas. The jasmine adds a green touch and the tuberose is very warm and animalic. The whole composition is loud yet cozy warm and the softly woody spices and musk in the base are nothing short of perfection.

Most of the time, my very favorite fragrances are one’s which are a scent of their own, not an accumulation of notes. Take Alahine for instance; maybe you could pick out the notes if you tried, but overall, Alahine is Alahine, it’s own scent entity, it exists as a whole, not a group of notes sticking together in the same vicinity. Same for No. 22, No. 5 and many others. Scandal, while a beautiful rendering of the sum of it’s notes, is also one of these scents; it is simply the smell of Scandal. The notes are dense are difficult to smell apart whereas some fragrances leave space between the notes, like Hermes Vanille Galante, were I can smell the spaces in between the notes. Scandal, like Fracas, Divine and Songes is a big white floral with an existence and attitude all it’s own.

According to basenotes:
Top: bergamot, muguet, orange blossom
Middle: freesia, rose, jasmine from Grasse, tuberose
Base: sandalwood, orris, balsams, musk

TWRT 2.14.10 and Free Giveaway!!

So I tried teaching myself to knit this week. I couldn’t even do a double cast on. I had yarn wrapped up all over my hands. A complete disaster. I called the local yarn shop (sounding dismayed) and she told me to stop in anytime (kind person). I’m thinking it’s odd that no one in my family ever knitted (or sewed or made anything crafty). Not a single grandmother, aunt, great-aunt Sugar, not one. Come to think of it, it’s also rather extraordinary that so few in my family wore perfume as well. I’m making up for these perfume-starved relatives big-time.

I received Heure Exquise in edp this week. It’s fairly different. Not sure I like it better than the edt but I do love it. It’s got a play-doh note where the edt doesn’t.

I wonder why two of the Hermessence perfumes are missing from the Hermes website? Rose Ikebana and Osmanthus Yunnan are not there.

Who was it that recommended I try Roja Dove Scandal? C’mon step forward. One of you out there is the enabling culprit. I LOVE it. I didn’t realize it was so expensive though. Even with one kind soul offering to split it with me I’m considering whether I want to spend that much for 25 ml. It’s over $500 for a 50 ml bottle. I do love it though… (you know I’ll cave sooner or later).

I haven’t reviewed it and I’m not sure I will but I also love Ormonde Jayne Tiare. I need to confess that I don’t like Ormonde Jayne. I’ve tried nearly every single one and they all dry down to a cheap synthetic musk. But Tiare is different. Tiare is old school fruity chypre yet modern. Definitely worth trying this one.

American Idol: I think Ellen is going to work out well. I supply nicknames to all my favorites, so far I like “Peacock earrings”, “the girl with brown teeth” (surely said teeth will be whitened if she makes it to the final 12?) “the waitress,” “son of ganstas” and “bluesy hot guy” the best. I think it will be a girl this season.

Parks & Recreation: Even though I’m the only person watching this show I just need to say it’s so great (I’ve said this before and if I keep it up maybe more will tune in).

I admit that I bought a bottle of Alexander McQueen Kingdom this week. I figured I ought to get it over with before the prices are sky high. I have a bottle but it’s for The Posh Peasant so it isn’t mine – this will be mine.

Dinner of the week: I made goat cheese raviolis (not from scratch, but still). The sauce was deeeelish - mostly a white wine sauce but I added pesto, lemon and roasted garlic to make it scrumptious. And some early spring peas and asparagus tips.

Brian and I agree: Maison Francis Kurkdjian fragrances aren’t rocking our worlds. I like APOM Pour Femme but I expected to be overwhelmed to the point of needing to lay down. This didn’t happen. I wanted to love them, but this might be a case of reading too much advance praise.

Why is Guerlain’s Mayotte (formerly known as the symbol Mahora) so unloved? I haven’t worn it enough times for a review but it seems very pretty to me.

The Office: It’s strange that the company is Sabre and not Dunder Mifflin. But how funny is Kathy Bates as CEO? As good as The Office still is, it’s not hitting those highs from back when Pam & Jim were crushing on each other. The new receptionist, Erin, is truly an enjoyable quirkfest.

Free Giveaway: Crazylibellule and the poppies sent me four solid perfumes. I’m keeping one, the one I tried, but I’m giving away the other three. One is Musc & Patchouli; the second is from the Divines Alcoves Collection called “tot mon prince” which means “you my lord” in English and the third is Vanille Lemon Pie. Depending on how many comments we receive I’ll decide whether I’ll send to three different people or whether one person will receive all three.

Please leave a comment and I’ll draw the winner(s) on Wednesday, 17 February. You must have commented at least once before...

Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all!