This has not been a good period for me. I'm not going to go into details, I don't want to bother you with the bad news I keep getting and the stress I've managed to accumulate, but instead I'll talk a bit about what I do to relieve it.
I already thanked my colleague profusely for giving me the Sookie Stackhouse series to read. I'm already on book 3 and I'm enjoying it terribly much. :) It's a somewhat lighter and more humoruous version of Anita Blake and something that came at the right moment. Anita Blake is a bit hard to go through because she's always doubting herself, people around her (mostly boyfriends), her choices, her religion... And meanwhile, she just has a lot of sex. Sookie on the other hand takes what life throws at her with, well, what I suppose is a Southern view of the world. Tries to look at the bright side of life most of the time, when necessary gives in to grief and just enjoys life as much as she can and deals with trouble with a big smile. It's easy and fun to read and you go through the books quite fast.
Reading is what de-stresses me most. :)
Being so deconcentrated these days and very much tired, I don't feel my nose and brain are up to the task of sniffing efficiently. So, I'm slowly going through my Etat Libre d'Orange samples and finding them nice, fun to read the stories and mostly easy on the nose, although I managed to take out several with the strawberry note and generally of sweet disposition.
Today I tried Jasmine and cigarette and I got a lot of jasmine and it smelled to me like it was mixed with lilly of the valey but that note doesn't appear on the list (jasmine absolute, tobacco, hay, apricot, tonka bean, curcuma, cedre, ambre, musc). I didn't get any tobacco or the smell of cigarette and after a while some hay. It smells nice though, I like it - I'll try and swap for this.
I also tried Delicious closet queen and not reading the story first thought it was feminine so I got a bit surprised with the opening that smelled totally masculine. Well, it all got clear after I read the story for this one. The notes are: violet leaf, iris butter brut, atlas cedre, patchouli, vetiver,, dynamone, rose absolut, irisy strawberry (that's my translation of original), santal, cuir, tonka bean, opoponax. I don't know what violet leaf smells like (probably not like violets since I didn't find any) and I'm not sure what of the listed notes might smell citrusy but I got something of the sort at the beginning and thought there might be some lavender in it but I was wrong. I liked the opening more than the drydown, although it isn't bad. It's just, well, sweetish. I don't know how many of their perfumes feature a strawberry note but to me that smells more like strawberry candy than a real strawberry.
I managed to go through Nombril Intense which starts as a salty-sweaty oriental but quickly loses the belly button opening note. It strikes me as having an old perfume feel to it.
Notes are: patchouli, Peru balm, vetiver, poivre noir absolu, opoponax, bergamote, carrot seed, ambrette grain absolut.
The Vrai blonde made me wonder what exactly do they mean by fine de champagne because I didn't get anything champagny from it - it smelled sort of florally sweet, slightly powdery and creamy. Nothing spectacular.
Notes: aldehydes, fine de champagne, rose, peach, poivre blanc, myrhhe, patchouli, suede.
Rossy de palma was ok, I thought I didn't like roses in my perfumes but that is slowly changing. This was a nice green, fresh version of the rose (in my opinion) with a smoky undertone later and some patchouli. It's actually a wearable rose for me.
Notes: benzoin, patchouli, encens, cacao, rose de Bulgaria.
And the last one for today, Encens and bubblegum is totally true to its name. Although I got less bubblegum than in Charogne (can't say that's bad). I'd say it's a fruity bubblegum.
Notes: peach, strawberry, vanilla, lilly of the valey, fleur d'oranger, musc, essence and resinoide d'encens. It's totally girlish, as in 12 year old girlish. Fun though. :)
So you see, not much from my nose and brain. I do hope that will change soon. Until then, back to Sookie. :)
Notes and image by: http://www.etatlibredorange.com/
HELLO SWEET ONE!! So good to be able to read your words again, I was about to cry from all the studying :P It's nice to be able to both write and read my favorite blogs again. Re the Etats: I really like many of them! Jasmine et Cigarette is one of my faves of the line. As for Nombril Immense, it should be called Patchouli Immense :) I love this one, suggested it to my mother and it has become her winter staple. It made me grin when I read that you find it has an 'old perfume' feel to it, because this is exactly what my mom and I always say about it! As for violet leaf, once you isolate the note you will be able to recognize it everywhere!!! Very distinctive
ReplyDeleteDearest Divina, finally you're back! :) I missed your posts.
ReplyDeleteI find Etat libre makes me smile and makes me happy - they are fun. And I do think that's the way they imagined their perfumes - for having fun. Practically all of them are wearable for me, and I will definitely have to acquire some... :)