Tainted Love & Gypsy Queen

Lately I've started wondering if I'm losing my ability to write about perfume. I mean, I smell and try to write down what I'm smelling but I don't get very far.
And although that is still a distinct possibility, I think it's more the case that lately I've been smelling some truly well-blended perfumes.
Because that is what they are supposed to smell like, perfumes, not a parade of notes.

Today I want to talk about 2 such creations from Haydria Perfumery. When Hadria asked me if I wanted to try her perfumes, I jumped at the chance. Her perfumes are inspired by the pin-up girls of the 30s, 40s and 50s and I'm always eager to smell perfumes that talk about a past I didn't get to know.

So, here we go.

Tainted Love

" A flirtatious and feminine bouquet of violets, berries and light amber drizzled with honey."

Well, if you were to consider the opening and the description, you might come to the conclusion that someone switched the label on your bottle. Because it opens with a bitter, nettle clean feel. Yes, there is some fruitiness hiding under there along with sweetness, but blink once, and they're gone. I keep thinking there must be something of the rooty iris in there and possibly licorice or something similar giving off a light anis-like feeling.
Of course, I could be wrong and except for the violety powderiness, there might be other aspects of violets I'm not aware of.
It's really strange because each time I smell it, it's slightly different. Last time, I could smell fruit, bittery violets. So, there you go.
I would classify this as bitter floral, until you get further along, into the drydown, when the bitterness dissipates almost completely

I've been testing this for days and this is the best I could come up with. But it does have a retro feel and I LOVE the bitterness of it you can't really find nowadays.


Gypsy Queen

"an enchanting, mysterious and intoxicating brew of lush florals and rich spices smoldering with deep wood notes"

The lush florals certainly take their time in showing up. For me it opens as a sweet and clean, lightly fruity little thing. And when I say fruity, I don't mean the fruitiness that permeats the modern perfumes, this is an elegant fruitiness. Does anybody else wonder what exactly that means? :)

This one goes through many stages for me, and I'm trailing behind it trying to put my nose input into word output.
Of the rich spices, I get something reminiscent of cocoa and a familiar spice I, of course, cannot name. Then it gets a green whisper of marshes before I finally emerge in the lush territory. It certainly took its time giving me the merry go round until my beloved tuberose peeks through.
But as I don't have the notes, I sincerely hope I didn't conjure the tuberose out of thin air. :)

In my defense, I really have to say these perfumes are blended into a perfume. They don't allow for themselves to be taken apart and studied.
You will either take these women as they come, or better leave this instant, these ladies don't allow to be trifled with...



Notes and pics by: http://www.etsy.com/shop/HaydriaPerfumery