First a big thank you to Ayala Sender for organizing this, and Katie and Elena for coming up with the title and picture. When I saw the picture, I didn't need any scent to make my heart sing - just remembering that movie is enough. :)
And what a better way to describe what spring does to people - seeing everything go green and blooming makes one's heart sing. And that's even before you start smelling the different things wafting through the air. For example, yesterday evening I smelled the air around my boyfriend's house and it smelled like Black March. It's been raining here a lot last two weeks so the soil is still wet, but yesterday it was sunny and in the evening, the earth was giving off that soil smell mixed with everything green in the garden leafing. Only it's April. :)
Each season brings with it its own scents but I believe the spring is the one where those scents are most noticeable. After the winter's cold and waste, time of birth is here and everything just seems to be amplified - the smell of spring rain, the blooming flowers, the smell of earth, the green boughs you walk under.
I've been meaning to talk about one particular note I seem to be craving this spring - green tea and I will leave that for another post in order to talk about scents that make me sing spring this year.
I realized that each spring there is another spring flower that comes to the front as the one I would like to wear. Last year I was in love with lily of the valley, this year I would very much like some hyacinths near me but that is a bit more difficult than it sounds. :)
So, let me tell you what I enjoy instead.
I'll start with the one my last post was about - Un Parfum de Charmes et Feuilles. It is one of those scents for me that I breathe in and instantly feel happy and relaxed (I'm blaming everything great in this perfume on mint and majoram).
Another perfume that I enjoy lately but wouldn't ever classify as spring, in my mind it defies any type of classification, Byredo Bal d'Afrique. I learned through testing it in different situations that it might not be the best choice for the workplace since on me it achieves a vast circle of scentful dancing. But for outside wearing - great!
One of the things that caught my interest this spring is Amaranthine. It's getting quite a lot of love, including mine. If you're in the opposite camp, you have some like-minded people on your side as well.
For me it embodies spring with bitter-green floral opening (there is some tea hiding in there) that turns slightly muskish (maybe that is where we are supposed to get the woman's thigh?). I resisted the urge to buy it and instead swapped some Bal d'Afrique for it. I'm just so economical.
I did the same with Annick Goutal's Ninfeo Mio. I love that one. One of the reasons why this one especially makes me sing spring is because it reminds me of my grandma's garden. There is no longer either the garden around or my grandma, but Ninfeo Mio warms my heart with memories. This is the second scent by Annick Goutal that reminds me of that garden. First was Un matin d'Orage which reminded me of that garden after a spring shower. And now comes Ninfeo Mio that smells like all the flowers and vegetables my grandmother had growing in her garden. But she didn't grow flowers like roses, tulips or some of that elegant flowers. I think her flowers were more of country cousins to the elegant flowers but the garden still smelled great. One more good thing about Ninfeo Mio is that it actually makes me tastes the sweetnes of flowers on my tongue - I really like this one and plan on hanging around it quite a lot.
I've also been trying to force some other things into the rotation among these four and I think I'm making some progress.
Miller et Berteaux Green, green, green surprised me yesterday with its lime-juiciness enveloped in spring greenery - quite easy to love and wear.
So, mine list isn't particularly long or innovative but it makes me sing in the spring (mostly my heart or when I'm alone).
Please visit other participating blogs and see what makes them sing in the spring!
That's lovely that the new AG smells of your Grandmother's garden- what a wonderful memory. It's a lovely scent- and the bottle is beautiful too.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why nobody invites me to join these projects ?
ReplyDeleteI must have done someting wrong somewhere...
I wore Robert Piguet Futur yesterday , a perfect green-spring scent...
I also reallyenjoy Ninfeo Mio .
Ayala's Rainforest is earthy spring , BOTTLED !! I have the parfum and I'm going to put it on right NOW !!
See, you think your list isn't "innovative," but I'm a bit behind on some new scent sniffing, so to me both Amaranthine and Ninfeo Mio are sirens whose call has not yet been answered. I enjoy hearing what you think about them!
ReplyDeleteAnd hooray for the Charms & Leaves love. For some reason, I lean Herba Fresca when looking to that zone, but I can see why TDC has "charmed" you. ;)
That smell in the air you described outside your boyfriend's house? That is THE SMELL for me. Spring. Adore it. :)
Rose, it really is a wonderful memory to have - I am really lucky in that regard that I had a great childhood and will keep those memories for life (and I keep discovering perfumes that remind me of that).
ReplyDeleteCarol, I have no idea what happened that you didn't get invited - I think it's some oversight and it needs to be remedied next time around.
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing me to Ninfeo Mio - my favourite AG so far.
Scentscelf, the name is really appropriate. ;) If you like it, it works like a charm.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I really liked your list - many new ideas for me to try. And you are right - THE SMELL really is the definition of spring.
Hello fellow participant!
ReplyDelete(what a great way to discover new blogs this is!)
You make me really want to revisit the Parfum de Charmes et Feuilles... for some reason, the TDC scents don't seem to be getting too much attention.
And it's funny you mention Amaranthine and Ninfeo Mio as Spring scents. I quite like the former, adore the latter, but to me, they really feel like Summer scents, what with the tropical vibe and the figgy shadows...
Hi Six' - thanks for stopping by and yes, it is a nice way to discover new blogs. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know, now that you mentioned you think Ninfeo Mio and Amaranthine more of summer scents, I realized that it might be the season of discovery that put them into spring for me. It happened with some other scents I discovered in summer and are now summer scents to me, but I see them on other participants' spring lists.
It will be interesting to see what will I think of them once summer is here. :)
I am going to have to give Ninfeo Mio another shot - the two times I tried it I found the opening a bit sharp, though there were a lot of interesting things going on. One of those times was on a fan, admittedly, which is a bit of an odd delivery mechanism.
ReplyDeleteI am of course firmly in the Amaranthine camp, and yet I could also see how someone could find its tropical milky sweetness disagreeable!
FS, on a fan? :) What were you doing with it?
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that Ninfeo Mio smells familiar and new at the same time. Familiar as in "I know this smell", but new because I never smelled a perfume like it.
Nasally "visualizing" your choices conjures up the zestiest, twangiest, springiest spring ever!
ReplyDeleteThanks Katie. :) I realized I need some energizing come spring and these really help.
ReplyDelete