Lalique Le Parfum: A Review

 

I’ve been wearing Lalique Le Parfum occasionally for several years.  It’s interesting the way I’m noticing different facets of familiar fragrances these days.  Initially I thought Lalique Le Parfum was a beautiful, sweet vanilla-oriental, but slightly boring.  I still think of Lalique Le Parfum as a beautiful sweet vanilla-oriental but now I find it to be an unusual vanilla fragrance.  It’s a sweet vanilla scent with a striking twist which sets it apart from most other vanilla-orientals.  

The notes list is fairly helpful with this one.  I’ll post the notes here and then discuss further below

Top notes: bay leaf, bergamot and pink peppercorn
Middle notes: jasmine and heliotrope
Base notes: sandalwood, tonka bean, patchouli and vanilla

Lalique Le Parfum begins with a minty-pepper quality positioned atop a boozy whipped vanilla base.  The vanilla is so frothy and fluffy it makes me think of a down-stuffed pillow, filled with the finest white feathers but also the softest and most powdery marshmallows.  The minty and peppery top notes are slightly green and herbaceous and a wonderful contrast with the sweet fluff found beneath.  What I’ve decided after many years is that Lalique Le Parfum is unusual because it showcases a beautiful tension between two seemingly contrasting accords, the minty-pepper top over the sweet, fluffy base.  For me, the top notes stick around throughout and never leave the vanilla all by itself.   There is a touch of patchouli in the base, which I don’t think of as especially noticeable, but I know it’s there because it tempers the sweetness of the frothy vanilla and almondy heliotropin.

I normally can’t wear vanilla-centric fragrances so you know if I love this there must be something different about it.  Lalique Le Parfum is not an edible gourmand.  Even though I’ve described it as smelling like fluffy vanilla and marshmallows it’s still an abstract oriental and not a foodie creation.  Lalique Le Parfum makes me think of candy canes and powdery snow.  There’s a chilly effect and I imagine myself peering through a frosty window from the outside as a wintry wind swirls snowflakes around me as I gaze into an elegant dining room decorated in white and gold with a centerpiece made of peppermint candies. 

Dominique Ropion is the nose behind this wonderful fragrance.  It was released in 2005.  When it was first released it was expensive, but now it can be found for a fraction of it's retail price.

Other reviews of Lalique Le Parufm:

Bois de Jasmin

Perfume Smellin' Things

Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant: Perfume Review

About four years ago, Brian sent me a decant of Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant with the idea that I’d fall head over heels in love.  I tried it and I was confused.  Jungle L’Elephant wasn’t awful, but I just couldn’t understand this fragrance in the least.  This doesn’t happen to me often.  In fact, I think this is the first time I ever experienced a fragrance in an entirely new way several years later.  The first several tries (and I definitely tried this stuff at least a half dozen times) on skin I found it to be oddly fuzzy, blurry, almost hazy and wiggly.  I remember it tickled my nose and made it feel twitchy.  Jungle L’Elephant seemed a little gamey and very, very murky.  I could never get past this furry murkiness to evaluate the fragrance.  Back then, I thought this strange sensation was the sum total of the fragrance and I just didn’t get it.  I never disliked it; I just found it to be an unusual olfactory experience.  So many reviews described Jungle L’Elephant as spicy, cozy and wonderful but I just felt left out of all the fun.

Fast forward almost 4 years to Monday of this week. Orders for The Posh Peasant were being filled by my part-time helper as I walked into the room.  The air was filled with this amazing smell. I stopped in my tracks.  Normally, I can identify what has been sprayed fairly accurately.  I’m familiar with almost every fragrance we have in stock.  But this…this amazing smell…was completely new to me.  It was spicy and warm but not foodie.  The aroma lingering in the air wasn’t dense but diffuse, it was clearly an oriental with gorgeous spice notes but not one I was familiar with.  At that moment, if I had to guess I would have suggested it was something like Amouage Epic…but without certainty.  I knew this totally new-to-me perfume was something spicy and slightly sweet but very unusual.  I considered maybe it was something new that I hadn't smelled yet.  Finally I just asked what it was that had just been sprayed and was told “Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant.”  I was shocked.

So now that I had smelled Jungle L’Elephant in the air, not concentrated on my skin, I was able to smell the spicy cinnamon-clove-fruity goodness that everyone else had been enjoying all these years.  It was as if I was only able to smell the table of contents in the past and never engage with the main story.   It was amazing.  This unknown scent lingering in the air was something I had been longing for, for quite some time.  I’ve always wanted an oriental gourmand which is spicy and cozy, potent yet not headache-inducing, gourmand but not edible/foodie and most of all, Abstract.  Jungle L’Elephant has recognizable spices like cinnamon, clove, cumin and cardamom with some unrecognizable fruity sweetness (if I had to guess I’d say the fruity quality smelled slightly of raisin) all set against this very furry cashmeran-type backdrop giving it an overall abstract style instead of smelling like any of these particular notes.   

Two similar fragrances are Serge Lutens Feminite de Bois and Dior Dolce Vita.  I’ve never been a fan of Feminite de Bois, it’s always registered as stewed fruits over too-much cedar on me.  I have enjoyed Dolce Vita in the past.  A former colleague of mine wore Dolce Vita in the late 90’s and it smelled stunning on her.  The difference is that Dolce Vita has a much stronger white floral quality while Jungle L’Elephant doesn’t have anything recognizably floral to me.

The perfumer behind this abstract spicy gem called Jungle L’Elephant is Dominique Ropion.  Ropion is one of my absolute favorite perfumers since he created some of my (nostalgic) 90’s favorites, Givenchy Amarige and Ysatis as well as my favorite tuberose, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower and a mid-2000’s favorite which nobody talks about these days, Lalique Le Parfum.  Now that I’m IN LOVE with Jungle L’Elephant I’m wondering if there’s also a chance for me to love Frederic Malle Une Fleur de Cassie.  Une Fleur de Cassie is another Ropion creation I’ve never understood.  Similar to Jungle L’Elephant, Une Fleur de Cassie also has a blurry/murky/furry/fuzzy quality I just can’t get past.  Perhaps I ought to have someone spray Une Fleur de Cassie in the air so I can smell its aroma, diffusely about the room?  Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady, another Ropion creation, also has a similar furry/blurry quality…hmmm…I’m seeing a pattern here.

In sum, it took 4 years but I am smitten with Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant.  It is gorgeous and I will never be without it. Others have found Jungle L’Elephant to be overly strong.  Maybe I have fume-eating-skin but I don’t find it to be terribly strong at all.  It’s potent for the first 30 minutes but after that it mellows and doesn’t have mega-watt sillage.  I only need 2 sprays, but it ain’t no Angel on me.

Top notes: Mandarin, Cardamom, Cumin, Clove
Middle notes: Ylang-Ylang, Licorice, Mango, Heliotrope
Base notes : Patchouli, Vanilla, Amber, Cashmeran

As far as it’s having been discontinued, I can still see it on the Kenzo USA website, so all is not lost (yet).

Other reviews (here are 5, but there are many more reviews of Jungle L’Elephant):

The Non-Blonde

Perfume Posse

Brian’s review here on ISTIA

Eiderdown Press

Sorcery of Scent

Vanilla perfumes for those who dislike gourmands

If you’ve read here before you probably know that I’m not a lover of gourmand fragrances.  I have two major issues with gourmands; 1. They make me hungry and 2. I’d rather not smell like actual desserts.   The few times I’m worn things like Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille, Guerlain Spirituese Double Vanille or Guerlain Tonka Imperiale I find myself stopping at Starbucks for a latte and 3-piece order of their petite vanilla scones or whipping up a spontaneous batch of cookies at home (no joke).  I can't even burn vanilla or foodie scented candles in my house as I've been known to burst into random baking episodes due to the yummy aroma.  Obviously, I don’t need any sort of encouragement when it comes to my sweet tooth so for the sake of my waist line can’t wear gourmands.   

Even so, I still have the desire to wear comforting vanilla scents once in a while.  After thinking I simply couldn’t wear vanilla prominent fragrances I found a category of vanilla scents that I can wear.  I’ve come to think of the first three in the below list as “cologne vanillas” because they incorporate a fresh citrus quality in their top notes and once dried down these fragrance never veer too foodie for my liking.  The fourth fragrance on my list isn’t fresh or citrusy but it’s a dry, herbal vanilla.

Jo Malone Vanille & Anise
The Non-Blonde reminded me of this underrated gem the other day when she reviewed it.   I don’t think Jo Malone’s Vanille & Anise was met with high praise precisely because it isn’t a sweet, foodie vanilla scent.  I would guess that most people wanting a vanilla fragrance would expect something with the name “Vanille & Anise” to be mostly vanilla extract, licorice and heavily influenced by candied desserts.  JM Vanille & Anise is a light, air-spun fragrance that begins with a fresh citrus character and ends with a slightly sweeter but dry anise-vanilla quality. For the first few moments JM Vanille & Anise does make me think of a dessert, but it’s lemon meringue, with its white meringue top impossibly high and air-filled.  Jo Malone Vanille & Anise loses most of the citrus notes once dried but never becomes dense, it remains gauzy and effortless.

Creed Sublime Vanille
I wrote about this back in 2010 and have continued to find it to be a wonderful ‘cologne vanilla.’  It’s essentially a classic eau de cologne over a fairly dry vanilla base.   It wears and smells so simply which is why I’d be a lot more excited about it if it didn’t cost as much.  For a seemingly simplistic fragrance the price might make you balk but I’ve come to terms with the cost and find Sublime Vanille to be a worthy addition to my (small) collection of wear-able vanilla perfumes.  Sublime Vanille has slight citrus tendencies at the start and dries down to a fresh, vanilla-cologne for any occasion and any season. 

Atelier Vanille Insensee
Like the two above, Vanille Insensee is a beautifully rendered vanilla lying beneath a fresh beginning of lime and citrus.  There is vetiver and moss in the base keeping the vanilla in check, never veering too foodie.  Vanille Insensee can be worn year-round.  Even though “fresh,” “clean,” and “sheer” often spell AVOID in my perfume vocabulary book, this fragrance is all three adjectives and yet it’s absolute love, bliss and vanilla-genius.

Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise
Vanille Exquise is not a cologne vanilla but instead an unusual herbal and dry vanilla.  There is a note at the start which bothers some people and I think this note is angelica.  It’s a jarring start, like a sharp, herbal knife to the nose.  In almost all other instances, I dislike angelica (Guerlain Angelique Noire and L’Instant) but in AG Vanille Exquise, I know this jarring quality subsides (well, somewhat, it never entirely disappears) so I enjoy the ride knowing it will become softer and gentler once dried down.  The edgy beginning coupled with soothing dry down makes me think of the saying about the month of March “... comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”  AG Vanille Exquise also has a beautiful gaiac wood note and is overall a perfectly sophisticated woody-herbal vanilla, actually, it's my favorite.

I’m not including vanilla-orientals in this list.  I have a number of orientals which are prominently vanilla that I also enjoy, but I mentally file these in a different category.  Some examples are Profumi del Forte Roma Imperiale, The Different Company Oriental Lounge, Love, Chloe Eau Intense, Parfumerie Generale Felanilla and L’Artisan Havana Vanille (renamed recently but I’m too lazy to look it up). 

If you're like me and can’t wear gourmands, what are some vanilla fragrances you've found yourself able to wear?

2012: Ringing It In

It's been a strange, eventful year.  I haven't always had time to write.  I haven't usually, I should say.  And in many ways my feelings about blogging have shifted; whether or not permanently, I don't know.  I started out with a real joy for blogging here, and a genuine enthusiasm for the things I was learning, not just on the shelf but from other bloggers.  The last two years, especially, brought quite a shift.  What seemed like a big happy family showed signs of strain and competitiveness I'd never noticed before, and after ranting about it for a while (some called it ranting, I called it satire, meaning I felt it was worth writing about, and poking fun seemed hopeful, indicating things could change) I went quiet.

I also got very busy.  Andy Tauer and I started working on the Tableau de Parfums line more than a year ago, but all of our behind the scenes efforts were made public in 2011, and that involved more work.  I enjoyed that work, and continue to, but it's given me less time to write and a very different perspective.  I was less interested in what was going on outside my workspace, because my desk was so full, and felt too that I Smell shouldn't simply be used as a broken record voice box for my pursuits and adventures or even setbacks with Tableau.

At the same time, several months ago, I started to worry that my enthusiasm for perfume in general was gone for good.  I'm happy to say that it's not.  At least I think not.  Yesterday, driving back from rural Mississippi, I spotted an independent, mom/pop drugstore I'd never seen before.  I got excited, knowing they'd probably have perfume, and that among their inventory might possibly be older bottles.  You won't necessarily be thrilled by what I walked out with - old version Cinnabar and Anais Anais, and a bottle of Bill Blass Hot - but here's the thing: I realized that we don't need to be excited by the same things.  Being excited at all, still having that capacity, is good enough for me.

It's an important distinction for me, because as I say, for whatever reason, I haven't been excited about mainstream or even niche perfumery in quite a while.  And I've been bummed out about that.  Walking into that drugstore and discovering those surprises reminds me that the fragrance industry, and even the fragrance community, however that's defined, aren't the reasons I'm into perfume, nor are they my sole outlets in pursuing this interest.

Most of my year was spent with my old favorites.  I found myself seeing them in new ways, enjoying them into different seasons, noticing how they changed in different climates or with a shift of personal perspective.  It's nothing thrilling, probably, to write yet again about Chanel Coco, when I've written about it before, particularly when the Chanel talking points are Beige and Jersey (if ever two words summed up the state of the industry...).  Yet I kept seeing Coco and so many other old favorites in new light.  They kept feeling new to me.

This year more than any other so far made me feel it was pointless to talk about even these old favorites, even were I to find something new about them, because reformulations are so frequently conducted at this point that to talk about one version only is some sort of mistruth.

The barometer is gone, or at least I have trouble figuring out how to find one in my conversation.  This was illuminated pretty baldly for me during a trip to Chicago several months ago.  Oh how they were stirring and shaking and spinning in the Lush department at Macy's.  Such a commotion.  You'd think perfume had been created a year ago.  It was scary but touching, somehow.  Yet beyond Lush, a ghost town.  I wandered the counters of Macy's without ever seeing a sales associate.  And why should they be there?  Smelling the perfumes only confirmed for me that there was nothing really to talk about anyway; certainly nothing to explain.

The Estee Lauder counter was represented, but all the juices in the tester bottles looked different.  Even Private Collection, usually rich gold in color, was pale, like somebody had refilled it with water.  The perfumes I love and recognize instantly smelled only generally like themselves.  Though I knew that Estee Lauder, like everyone else, practices reformulation as a matter of routine, I'd foolishly held them up as some basically unchanging entity in a sea of otherwise constantly shifting marketplace priorities.  The versions I smelled of Cinnabar, Beautiful, Azuree, and Youth Dew there at Macy's made it clear that Lauder has as much contempt for me as any other manufacturer.  Which is why this old bottle of Cinnabar in a forgotten drugstore was such a visceral thrill.

Another key factor in my relationship to perfume in 2011 had to do with watching perfumers work.  seeing Andy Tauer in action, how much care and concern and imagination he puts into what he does, set a high bar for me.  I felt the same about Olfacta, who sent me a wonderful fougere she'd been working on for a while.  These insights and experiences were so personal and meaningful that they inevitably spoiled me when it came to perfume packaged impersonally and without much imagination beyond their heartfelt labs.

What I wish for everyone in 2012 is probably perspective.  My trip yesterday to the drugstore reminded me how important it is, and how hard to come by.  People are still out there doing wonderful things, truly unique, meaningful things.  The ubiquitous reach of mass media and online outlets lead us to believe that we know every corner, deadening our perspectives.  I'm telling you: I believe these little proverbial drugstores of surprise are out there in the world, waiting for us to discover them when we least expect it.

The Year That Was 2011

I wasn’t going to write a Best of 2011 list this year because there weren’t many that moved me.  But then I decided to write something because I do enjoy ruminating upon the previous year through the perfume lens.

I encountered lots of mediocre to just plain good perfumes this year.  Several are receiving high praise and plenty of buzz in the blogosphere but I found them to be average and a little tiresome (I’m looking at you Bottega Veneta; which to me, is a colorless and subtle version of Gucci Rush with added suede).  I thought I was in love with Cartier Baiser Vole for a few days, truthfully the start IS a gorgeous lily, but I find the fragrance doesn’t hold up beyond an hour.  On me, Baiser Vole just falls apart into a bland musk after 60 minutes.  And Prada Candy is a pleasant and linear caramel-oriental, which is almost as if the perfumer created a gourmand base forgetting the rest of the fragrance. Candy is pleasantly delicious and I will not disagree with those who think this will be a big commercial success (seems a low hanging fruit to me, a wise business decision by Prada to jump on the gourmand bandwagon).  However, since I prefer abstract perfume over realistic candy/gourmands I instead would rather wear anything from Thierry Mugler A Taste of Fragrance collection; all of which are excellent.

Best niche: Parfum d’Empire Azemour Les Orangers
This starts with a beautiful orange blossom but quickly morphs into a major oakmoss adventure

Best department store: Love, Chloe Eau Intense
This isn’t an intense version of the original Love, Chloe.  Eau Intense is a soft, vanillic-oriental. Potency-wise it’s actually less intense than the original.

Department store honorable mention: Tom Ford Violet Blonde
This is a pretty floral I just wish had more violet 

Best packaging: Illamasqua Freak
Love the bottle but the juice inside may as well be dishwater, it’s that uninteresting.  But I love the bottle so much I had to have it nonetheless.

Most appreciated: Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Cherie par Camille
This, sadly, doesn’t work for me and I’m the biggest Annick Goutal fan.  But I am grateful for Camille Goutal’s boldness and respect for classic perfumery with this one.

Total embarrassment: Chanel Jersey.  I wasn’t as hard as others were on Chanel Beige.  But Jersey?  Pink Sugar is so much better than this.

Blasphemy: Dior changing Miss Dior Cherie simply to Miss Dior and relegating the real Miss Dior to “Miss Dior Classic”

Random find in my closet: Cacharel Loulou Blue.  Brian sent me a bottle of Loulou Blue probably 2 years ago.  I just pulled it out this fall and realized it’s quite good.  It reminds me of Guerlain L’Heure Bleue, in style, it’s a sweet, powdery floral-vanilla.  Truly a shame it’s discontinued.

Best “office friendly” fragrance I previously found ho-hum but lately am finding to be just right so often: Balenciaga Paris

Boring-by-perfumista-standards, but somehow these were hitting the spot perfectly many times this year: Donna Karan Cashmere Mist (coupled with the matching body crème) and Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude (also coupled with body crème).  I can’t explain this phenomena since I’m the first person to call these plain vanilla-musks useless, but I like these two.

Enough already: 
The seemingly trillion new niche lines and releases.  Enough is enough. 
Oud. I’ve been over oud from day 1 since I never liked the smell of rotting moldy tree gunk.
Celebrity fragrances.  I’m nervous that only Celebrity scents will exist 10 years from now. I am, however, hoping that Madonna’s fragrance is at least a cut above the rest.  And I will definitely try Lady Gaga’s fragrance.

Terrible ideas:
Blood concept
“Not Perfumes” (these ambroxan & invisible musk things that are mostly undetectable, such as Juliette Has a Gun’s Not a Perfume, Chanel No. 18, Molecule 02 by Escentric Molecules, Another 13 from Le Labo and so on…there are many others but I pay them no need)

Best cheap discount store finds:
Prada Intense (love this jammy, earthy number, and I realize it was quite a find to get this for under $40)
L de Lolita (chocolate floral oriental fix in what might be the ugliest bottle, ever, but for $17 I love this stuff)
Calvin Klein Truth, someone I just swapped with introduced me to this discontinued gem. I found it online for a reasonable price and I bet I’ll be wearing this when the weather warms up.

Older loves I’ve enjoyed immensely in 2011:

Etat Libre d’Orange: so many from this line are really great.  I feel like I’m in the minority who finds their cheeky marketing a riot (for those who find ELdO’s marketing annoying, you realize its satire, right? Almost all commercial perfume companies are serious about their ridiculously sexualized imagery while Etat is just poking fun).  I believe they have an upcoming fragrance called “Philippine Houseboy” which cracks me up.  The past few months I’ve been enjoying Vraie Blonde, Archives 69, Noel al Balcon, Putain des Palaces and Rossy de Palma. 

Parfumerie Generale Lounages: a soft, powdery floral, which is more complex that one might think.  But it is an old fashioned/vintage type scent, reminds me of Brosseau’s L’Ombre Bleue and maybe a little like Apres L’Ondee

I keep revisiting Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady and have liked it more and more every time

Cacharel Loulou continues to blow my mind

Atelier Vanille Insensee (was this a 2010 or 2011 release?) is within my top 3 favorite vanillas.  I don’t wear vanilla-centric perfumes often but when I’m hankering for a vanilla fix, I reach for either Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise or this.  Just fyi, this isn’t an “incense” vanilla, the name translates to something like “insanely vanilla” and not “vanille incense” as one might think.

Bond No. 9 New York Oud.  I don’t like oud so I guess this is an oud for those who don’t like oud. But I am sometimes transfixed by this.

Every year I rediscover just how much I love Yves Saint Laurent Yvresse and Guerlain Chamade.  Both are incredibly gorgeous.

Here’s wishing a wonderful 2012 to all our readers!  I hope each and every one of you out there has a healthy, happy, successful and contented new year.  

Amorvero: Back to My Roots

For months now, I've felt there's something wrong with me.  I was kept pretty thrilled by fragrances for a good four years, consistently surprised, enthused, and engaged.  It's been a real passion for me.  Every day I packed a perfume bag the way some would pack a lunch.  I'd sit at work sniffing one bottle after another.  I'd have four to five different things on, making comparisons.  I made my co-worker sneeze.

Suddenly, I wasn't so interested.  I went from buying samples and bottles on a regular basis, sniffing religiously, to a dry state of affairs where maybe every month or so I might make a single purchase, and I started visiting my perfume cabinet so infrequently it might have been a lost wing in a massive house.  It's been weird.

I couldn't imagine that the fragrance industry turned overwhelmingly boring overnight, so I thought it must be me.  Maybe I'd gone fickle.  Maybe I'm prone to boredom.  I know now that it isn't really me, because the fragrances that always surprised, enthused, and delighted me are still doing so.  And I guess I don't care too much to parse all the vagaries of the industry to determine what's happening on that end, when really the bottom line is that most of what comes out now feels uninspired or insulting.  Otherwise I think I'd be writing more - about my dissatisfaction, if nothing else.  The fact that I can't even be bothered to write about that is the biggest surprise, and disappointment, of all to me.  I feel the industry has finally turned a corner, where restrictions and cost-cutting have crystallized into banality and bottom line as standard practice.

I thought about doing posts during all this.  I thought, okay, so if I still love the same fragrances, what are they?  What would be my 25 desert island scents.  Granted, 25 makes for a pretty cushy island, but narrowing down to ten, while it makes for good type, has always been a struggle for me.  Even 25 seemed like a waste of time.  How often had I written about these fragrances, anyway?  How much more could I have to say?

I say all this mainly to give you some context for how even a simple, well made scent can seem like a revelation these days for me.  Back in October, for instance, I was in LA, and someone who didn't think much of it handed me a bottle of Amorvero.  I'm not sure what I might have thought about it two years ago, but in October I liked it instantly.  How much my liking it had to do with this dry spell I can't say, and I resisted writing about Amorvero until now because I didn't trust the pleasure it gave me.

After all, Amorvero isn't exactly anything new.  It's a throwback to the big picture vanillic florientals of the eighties, really - recalling things like Poison and Giorgio, among others.  But while many perfumistas look back to the pre-fifties fragrances as the benchmark for quality fragrances, the eighties are really my decade of choice in many ways.  Many of my top 25 scents came out of that era, and I would gladly trade some of the things I've bought from recent years for eighties fragrances I want but don't own.

Amorvero reminds me most of 24, Faubourg, a fragrance released in 1995 which feels more like an eighties scent itself.  Like Faubourg, Amorvero buttresses tuberose and jasmine with vanilla and amber on one end and citrus notes on the other.  Like Faubourg, it lasts all day.  A simple story, Amorvero, but the pleasures are pretty complex.  Each time I return to the scent I find new things to like in it.  The thing is an immediate mood lifter, and adds a level of drama to the dreariest frame of mind.

Amorvero was created for a hotel I've never heard of in Rome, the Hassler.  I believe it was in 2000.  The perfumer is Lorenzo Dante Ferro.  I can't see where one finds the stuff, other than a website I googled online.  It would be hard to track down and try. I'm sorry.  But I was glad to find it, and in comparison to most of the dreck currently being released, it's something of a Godsend for me.

There isn't much about it on perfume blogs, though I was happy to see, in the middle of writing this, that Cafeleurebon just wrote about it several days ago.  I like that it goes against current trends in perfumery, because those trends are really bringing me down.  And while I'm not yet sure it would enter my top 25, it has a lot in common with another fragrance favorite on that list, Miss Balmain.

TWRT 12.16.11

This Week's Random Thoughts ~

Note to perfume companies: I have an idea. Let’s not use the word chypre anymore since this category no longer exists. 

I have been wearing Kate Walsh Boyfriend off and on all week.  I like it.  But I desperately want to tweak it!  I want to amplify the patchouli-woods-chocolate to make it less of a vanilla fragrance.  It smells good, don’t get me wrong, but I just want to make it more than vanilla (which always makes me hungry).

So, after wearing Boyfriend, I went into an all-out frenzy over patchouli-vanilla-chocolate fragrances.  In the end, I realized I swoon every time for Serge Lutens Borneo 1834.  Chanel Coromandel does it for me, too, but Borneo is even more decadent.  What are your favorite sweet patchouli bombs (patch-vanilla-chocolate especially)? 

Just about the only thing I buy from Bath & Body Works are candles.  And I simply cannot wait for their Holiday sale every year when I buy their huge 14.5 oz candles for just $10!  Today I ordered so many candles, online no less (no schlepping heavy candles around the mall) with free shipping (DecShip50)!  How cool is this sale?

Almost everyone on American Horror Story is now a ghost.

I forced myself to finish We Need to Talk About Kevin because I enjoy Tilda Swinton but this was up there with Drive as one of the slowest, most draining movies I've ever seen.   And, no, I have not seen Tree of Life or Melancholia or Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene and at this point I’ll need some strong convincing to bother.  I thought We Need to Talk About Kevin would be fascinating, it’s about a woman destroyed by raising a child who is a sociopath.  Sadly, the film is incoherent and dreadfully slow.

I highly recommend The Sister’s Brothers by Patrick DeWitt.  The writing and characters are among the most memorable I’ve read all year. 

My book club’s assignment for February is 11/22/63 byStephen King.  This is going to be the book that breaks me and causes me to buy a Kindle!  It’s so heavy and huge (only in hardcover right now) and I’m now in the market for a Kindle so I don’t have to “heft” that book around.

I learned how to perfectly poach an egg this week and it’s my new favorite thing.  I don’t use any device just gently pour the egg into almost boiling water.   I dislike “runny” egg yolk, which I realize is perhaps the whole point of poached eggs, but nevertheless I cook mine an extra 2 minutes making sure the yolk is soft but not oozing (gags).  A poached egg on whole wheat toast with salt, pepper and paprika can be one of the most delectably simple meals.

Top perfumes for me this week: (in addition to above mentioned stuff) Love, Chloe Eau Intense, DSH Mahjoun, Sonoma Scent Studio Tabac Aurea, M. Micallef Gaiac and original Prada.

I haven’t seen The Muppet Movie yet but I want to.  I'll see The Muppet's along with Hugo and Tin Tin next week during family time (aka 'escape from family' time).

Dior Mitzah

The recent 10 additions to Dior’s exclusive range have been met with lukewarm reviews at best.  Each fragrance in Dior La Collection could easily be called “good” but what most perfume enthusiasts are reacting to is that fact that the exclusive range should, by definition, be a step above mainstream releases.

If Dior Mitzah was instead a new mainstream release from Dior, available at every Sephora worldwide, which is to say easy to find, and available in smaller less expensive bottles, I would think many perfume enthusiasts and bloggers would have sung its praises.   

I’m going to put aside expectations of what a fragrance in Dior’s exclusive range should smell like and instead evaluate Mitzah as ‘any old’ perfume released in 2010.  Here’s the thing: Dior Mitzah is a beautiful amber.  It isn’t particularly unique and I’d classify it as a functional fragrance, but it’s one helluvah gorgeous and wearable amber oriental.

I’ve noticed myself leaning towards functional fragrances over the past year.  In an effort to pare down my collection (somewhat) I’ve begun pinpointing those fragrances I love and readily wear from within each fragrance category.  I have a lot of amber orientals.  Over the years, amber orientals have been my truest love.  Recently, a great number of my favorite amber fragrances suddenly smelled too sweet, a little cloying and very, very, musty-dusty to me.  I can’t explain this change and believe me it was a pretty sad realization at first.  What I’ve come to find is that I now require a very specific sort of amber fragrance.  Ambers I love lately need to be fairly dry, slightly herbal, and not too heavy, with some spice and incense.  The ambers I’ve been happy with this fall are Alahine, Histoires de Parfums Ambre 114, Agent Provocateur Strip, Calvin Klein Obsession and maybe one or two others I’m forgetting.   

Dior Mitzah hits the spot perfectly.  While it doesn’t break especially new ground, what it does for me is fix every other amber out there that’s either “too sweet” or “too heavy” or “too musty-dusty” or “too-foodie” and instead nails the perfect balance of what I think an amber oriental should be.  Mitzah wears like a sheer veil instead of a blanket; it’s present yet light.  Mitzah has touches of sweetness but it never reaches foodie realm.  Mitzah avoids the musty-dusty aspect many ambers fall prey to (this might be due to “Ambre 83,” discussed more in two blogs listed below) .  Mitzah is not a spice-fest like Ambre Sultan or Arabie, it’s much much (much) smoother.  I’m telling you what it isn’t, but I should also tell that it is a velvety, dry, softly spicy herbaceous amber that is dreamy.  I wasn’t blown away by Mitzah the first time I tried it because it’s quite similar to so many other ambers out there.  Once you’ve smelled a few ambers, you pretty much get the idea, and everything that starts off like a typical amber seems a bit generic.  Annick Goutal Ambre Fetiche and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan might stick out from the pack because they are so bold.  Mitzah isn’t bold; it’s tame, functional and effortlessly wearable.   I think it's gorgeous.

Notes include:  coriander, cinnamon, amber, rose, patchouli, incense, vanilla, and honey

Other reviews

Bois de Jasmin

1000 Fragrances

Olfactoria’s Travels

Ahh, the smell of it! Calvin Klein Obsession

Calvin Klein Obsession for Women launched in 1985 when I was 14 years old.  I remember how profoundly the Calvin Klein brand permeated 80’s culture.  I remember the scandalous Brooke Shield’s jean commercials followed by the oddly androgynous and creepy child-porn Obsession perfume commercials.  I never wore Obsession when I was a teenager.  I was fixated on florals and florientals.  It probably wasn’t until I dove headfirst into my perfume habit in the very late 1990s (around 1999 I’d guess) when I first purchased and wore Obsession. 

Lately I’ve been obsessed with Obsession (so sorry, I had to!).  I’ve worn it a total of maybe 10 times since 1999 but all of a sudden over the past month I’ve worn if for days on end and I’m so impressed with it.  It’s possible this new-found love for Obsession has something to do with the lack of good mainstream releases.  When I compare Obsession with most celebrity scents and the latest stuff from CK, Gucci, Dior, Givenchy…well…pretty much EVERYTHING at Sephora (and almost everything which is a current bestseller) I come away thinking that Obsession is pretty fucking amazing.  Obsession is a classic oriental.  Truly classic.  It’s also sublimely dry and unisex.  It’s really a shame that Obsession is considered by many to be a “big over-the-top 80’s powerhouse” because I find it to be quite understated when not over-applied.  Obsession isn’t anywhere near as sweet or powerful as most current bestsellers at Sephora such as Flowerbomb, Prada, Pink Sugar, Juicy Couture, Lolita Lempicka, Ralph Lauren Romance, Dior Miss Dior Cherie and so on.  Maybe I’m just getting old and cranky (entirely possible!) but to disregard Obsession as dated or “too potent” seems short-sighted and inaccurate (or is the reformulated Obsession I now have drastically lighter?).

Recently I realized I can’t wear Shalimar but that doesn’t mean I don’t still love the idea of it.  Orientals are one of my most favorite fragrance types and I especially like dry, spicy, ambery-incense type Orientals.  Obsession is all this and more.  It begins with the Shalimar-type citrus burst, which might be off-putting to those who don’t admire this sort of oriental.  The vanilla and amber in Obsession are very close to the manner in which these notes are presented in Shalimar.  This is not foodie vanilla. Obsession isn’t too-sweet and doesn’t have those jarringly synthetic musks like virtually everything launched since the early 2000s.  This is a warm, spicy, ambery oriental that melds with your own personal chemistry especially in the dry down. 

Vastly underrated, truly unisex, Obsession blooms then mellows into a spicy Oriental which is classic but still effortless.  Obsession becomes me as opposed to the fragrance “wearing me.”  

For those around my age or older, here’s a fun blast from the past (Ahh, the smell of it!)

Pretty creepy, no?!

Here's a newer commercial, I think this dates from 2001, Benicio del Toro and Heather Graham look so young!

 I wonder when perfumes stop being considered "dated" and instead become enduring classics?  Do you think Obsession is or will ever become a classic (be honest, I have thick skin)?  Is Obsession already a classic?  Do you think Coco by Chanel has made it into classic territory or is considered by most to be dated or in the dreaded "old lady" category?  I'm just curious...

Draw Winner

The winner of the full bottle draw for the video "Fur" is Queen Cupcake.  Thanks everybody for participating.  It made for entertaining reading.  Queen, please email me within the next week to collect your prize.

Choose from the following bottles:

Bond No.9 Lexington Avenue (50 ml)
Caron Bellodgia (50 ml)
Guerlain Samsara EDT (30 ml)
Parfums de Nicolaï Vanille Tonka (30 ml)
Ava Luxe Queen Bess (30 ml)
Caron Third Man (100 ml)
Womanity (50 ml)
Bois 1920 Classic 1920
Chanel No. 19 EDP (50 ml)
Cartier Must Pour Homme (100 ml)
Guerlain L'Instant Pour Homme (100 ml)
Estee Lauder Beautiful EDP (100 ml)