As you can see from the title, my new oriental find is Shalimar. Or, more like, we finally hit it off. All we needed was a second meeting and we're ok now. Well, more than ok actually.
The thing is, lately, Shalimar has been jumping out at me from all over. First, I saw a Katie Puckrik clip where she's also all over it. Then, I was browsing through a store here, and it winked from a shelf. I never ever noticed it before on a shelf anywhere. Only to end this weekend with Angelology and one of the girls (the rich one) wears it as her signature scent at the beginning of the WW II.
So, I located my mini bottle and re-acquinted myself with Shalimar. We've been hanging out ever since. :)
Btw, if you are ever in search of notes, there is quite a lot of them to be found if you keep searching. Here are all those I managed to gather.
Notes: bergamot, lemon, jasmine, rose, iris, incense, opoponax, tonka bean, vanilla, tangerine, cedar, patchouli, orrise, benzoin, peru balsam, leather, vetiver, heliotrope, civet, sandalwood.
I have no idea if all of them are in my EdT but it certainly smells great. I guess you just can't barge into the world of perfumes and know what stuff is great or what family you prefer. Some perfumes are going to reveal their secrets only after you cover a lot of ground.
So, what I like about Shalimar is that on me, it is not a sweet oriental. I was actually surprised by the beginning which is dry, spicy, slightly almondy but austere in appearance. It strikes me as being quite strict, no soft smiles on this lady. Only after a while it mellows a bit but don't you dare think it is a nice and lovely girl. Oh no, it's a strong woman with serious backbone, one that will seduce you and you won't know what hit you.
One of the reasons I kept on searching for notes was because I was surprised by smelling patchouli in there (some dryness and earthiness combined) so I felt quite good when I saw it listed together with cedar which I realized was alongside patchouli. The things is, you just can't describe Shalimar through the notes. Although I can say that jasmine was hiding each time I tried it. :)
As soon as I can, I'll try the EdP to see if the underlying booziness will get stronger (I would love that benzoin to get a more prominent role).
In the meantime, I'm falling asleep each night with my wrist under my nose...
I do love Shalimar. My mum used to wear it, (after I'd given it to her as a present!)
ReplyDeleteI adore Shalimar. My mother had a bottle and she never wore it. Guess who sneaked several spritzes and was easily found out?
ReplyDeleteMy mother hoarded her perfume and that drove me crazy but I was a foolish teenager then. As I roll into my 40s I am beginning to understand hoarding perfume!
I'll chime in here too , my mom started to wear this after her beloved Chanel No 5 was reformulated beyond recognition . She always loved it's prominent vanilla/benzoin . So I have never worn it , and now that I think about it , have probably never put it on skin !
ReplyDeleteit always seemed like "hers"...
I gave her a bottle of Cuir Beluga and now she never wears her Shalimar either !
Lovely review !
Beautiful Things, one of the reasons it took me so long to smell it is because it was always linked in my mind with older ladies. :)
ReplyDeleteJoanElaine, I can completely understand the hoarding urge when it comes to perfumes (and books). :)
ReplyDeleteHmm, Carol, she loved Shalimar and now she loves Cuir Beluga? OK, so that's the thing to add to my ever growing list of things to try. It never seems to shrink, it's in perpetual expanding mode.
ReplyDeleteWill you try it now? :)
Shalimar- it's just incredible- it was my entry into the world of the Guerlain royalty scents actually- well and Apres L'Ondee. I have graduated on to L'heure Bleu and Mitsouko to wear myself because I think Shalimar is a little- blonder maybe? not in a bad way but I like the moodiness of L'heure Bleu and the pure feminity of Mitsouko- but Shalimar is a grand dame of perfumery.
ReplyDeleteI still can't see what's the deal with MItsouko but then again, I only tried the latest formula so I guess that's not the best way to approach that particular perfume.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of royalty Guerlain's mostly escaped me, I tried some but then forgot which because I couldn't relate to them. I think it's time to find those samples and check if now is a good time to get to know them better.