Séville à l’aube - a place where you get seduced

With the arrival of The Perfume Lover, there came a little round black bottle containing some of the most potent stuff I ever smelled in my personal fragrant history. The juice in that bottle could be called radio-active due to its strentgh, vibrancy and longevity.

Now my little black bottle is empty (and I've read the book), I believe I got to know it well enough to end up seduced by it. :)

The book also helped me identify more of the notes and smell the warmth of the drydown which I had problems with in the beginning getting pounced upon by orange blossom and petitgrain. It took me several tries to delve deeper than these notes.
I also think it has something to do with my skin as when I smell the bottle, I have no problem finding incense in there and the warm, full, sweet and rich, slightly ambery, base.

Just reading a review of what this perfume smells like will not prepare you in the slightest for what is to come. Plus, what is coming will last and last and you will have quite a ride before you reach the end.

For me it was a slow seduction, first I got to know the ebullient flowers, then I slowly delved through their depth to find incense coming through with occasional glimpses of metallic saltyness (which I'm guessing was the part meant to evoke blood), only to end up warmly enveloped in the still flowery cocoon of sunrise (possibly a bit drunk when I consider the lingering wafts of my little bottle).


Ok, I just took a look back onto my words and it seems I got more influenced by the book than I thought. ;)


The perfume is coming out soon so you can get ready for being seduced by it.

Notes: petitgrain, petitgrain citronnier, orange blossom absolute, beeswax absolute, incense resinoid, Luisieri lavender absolute and Siam benzoin resinoid.

O Tannenbaum! A joint blogging event

I adore participating in joint blogging projects so when Joanne and Krista asked if we were interested in this year's Christmas project of course we said yes (that includes Asali and I).

So here are Asali's mini reviews for O Tannenbaum! project:


Pick #1:

Iunx, L’Ether; Only recently I discovered this fragrance, and I can’t get it out of my mind, so it is definitely my Tannenbaum perfume no 1 – in spirit, even if not yet in material shape.

Because this incense perfume invites introspective thoughtfulness, and in the middle of this almost spiritual swirl of fragrance there is a discreet rose heart, and there is the golden hue of saffron softened by sandalwood. Even if this can be worn all year round, somehow it manages to sum up the soul of Christmas to me. A divine creation by Olivia Giacobetti

My pick #2;

Another Giacobetti gem is Safran Troublant (L’Artisan Parfumeur), ok so it isn’t exactly an imaginative choice, but it practically IS all that is nice about December to me.  It smells like the most delicious bun that the Swedes do for Lucia day called Lussekat. The fragrance like the bun manages to sparkle in all its glorious saffron spiciness, rounded and softened by vanilla sweetness.  It is alluring and smooth, and a most wonderful fragrance. Sharing many of the same notes including the creamy sandalwood, it couldn’t be further away from L’Ether in its expression. On the 13^th of December you can experience a little scenery of girls dressed in white with a candle clad garland on their heads singing the Santa Lucia song, and you can eat Lussekatte (plural), and you can relive it every time you wear ST.

Pick #3

Last but not least the ultimative Christmas party fragrance: Marron Chic from Nez a Nez.

It’s less “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and more sleigh ride style “We’ll be singing the songs we like to sing without a single stop, at the fireplace while we watch the chestnut pop, just hear those sleigh bells jingling , ring ting tingling too, come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you ”

Comfy cosy and yet very sensual, it truly comes alive on the skin, oozing chic radiance, and like some of my most cherished perfumes turns you into something a little better than yourself.

Please visit other participating blogs to read more about what Christmas season perfumes bring happiness to them:

Another Perfume Blog
Beauty, Bacon, Bunnies
Beauty on the Outside
EauMG
Eyeliner on a cat
Fragrant Reviews
Muse in Wooden Shoes
Olfactoria's Travels
Parfumieren
Redolent of Spices

Scent of the Day
Suzanne's Perfume Journal
The Candy Perfume Boy
Undina's Looking Glass


P.S. I'll be posting my reviews later in the day.

Giving in to my perfume sweet tooth - Un Bois Vanille

I find it both interesting and telling that at this point in month, the two perfumes that made such an impression are both sweet. :)

First, I'm forever thankful to the Perfume Posse for hosting that incredible mass swap before Christmas, I got so many wonderful things in exchange, I still need to go through them properly.

One of the things I received was the decant of Un Bois Vanille as I never tried it before and since I, well, like pretty much anything coming from SL line, I wanted to try it. It took a while for me to take it out (two days ago actually) and I decided to spray it on without testing it first.

It wasn't a mistake. :)

In my case at least. I'm not sure though how many people actually appreciate burnt caramel smell. But it's so wonderfully done! I keep getting that burnt caramel/sugar vibe with some smoke hidden under that heaviness but it's so good. (I'm doing a little happy dance in my chair just thinking about it) :)

Before you start thinking that's all there is to it, I do get traces of vanilla, the one that makes me love Vanilia by L'Artisan (why in the world did they decide to discontinue it?!).

For me the burnt caramel never truly goes away but it certainly dissipates enough to get you to smell a nutty (slightly bitter) vibe and then it just dries down to a less sweet (not that it was too sweet in the first place) woody burnt caramel/nuttiness. The burnt part has here already been mostly cleared by the wind.

Notes: Black vanilla absolute, licorice, sandalwood, coconut milk, beeswax, caramelized benzoin, bitter almond, Gaiac wood, tonka bean


P.S. I do wish I got a 10ml decant instead of 5ml.

Can there ever be enough figs?

Not for me. Turns out at the moment I have four different fig scents and if I can get my hands on more, I won't mind (so after you read this post, please comment with some new choices for me).

Today it was actually (finally!) a real summer day here so I wore Fleur de Figuier by Molinard. Did you know that a 100ml bottle of this costs 31 euros? I couldn't believe it and once my decant is empty, I'm buying a bottle. The only thing that angers me a bit is that I don't have to pay VAT so it's even cheaper, but the shipping cost is 27 euros (more than the bottle without the VAT).

This is a green, fresh fig that has some serious lasting power and feels refreshing when you wear it.

Then, of course I have a decant of Diptyque Philosykos which is another great fig (one it seems everyone is familiar with). There's not much to add to the name. :) It's similar to Molinard and just as great.

One more decant, L'Artisan's Premier Figuier, my introduction into fig category. And a love at first sniff, the one that started all this fig love.

In the end, a fig that passed under my radar, Ninfeo Mio. I'm ashamed to say that I went down another path when smelling this for the first time and haven't even realized there was a fig in it. But after wearing it for some time, now I cannot mistake it even though this is not a fig scent like the other three before.

So, I told you my favourites. Now, let me know what are the scents that make you feel figgy too?

Pic by: www.bregar.si/fotos

Almost strangled by tuberose: L'Artisan Tubereuse

The title might sound as if I didn't like what I smelled and that would be very wrong. But it isn't that simple.

I wonder what tuberose fans think of this one? I only dabbed it on my wrist and I got hit by a tuberose wall (for a lack of better description).

Notes: tuberose, ylang-ylang, coconut milk.

As you can see, there aren't really that many notes to decipher but I still didn't smell coconut milk. :) It's camouflaged in all the tuberose.

Anyway, my nose was almost glued to my wrist after putting it on - it actually smelled narcotic to me. And I think this is the first time that my mind instantly associated tuberose with smelling tropical. The smell is actually so strong and saturated that I could feel the imagined tuberose jungle lianas winding around me while I stand there dazed and keep smelling it.

And although I really enjoyed smelling it, I'm not sure I would be able to wear it. I just can't imagine smelling like that (not that that might not happen, who knows what will be my favourite note year from now?).

I guess I did smell ylang-ylang because I got the feeling of tropical lushness. This is the first scent for which I can say that it grabs you by the neck and doesn't let go with its intensity. I'm sure if you're not careful with applying, you are definitely going to give yourself a headache. But you will probably be drugged by the smell, so you might not care. :)

Pic by: www.theperfumedcourt.com

L'Artisan Parfumeur: Vanilia

I think the time has come to give this a proper review. After all, I do have a bottle now and I've been wearing it for some time. And it never ceases to amaze me.

I tend to skip it when I'm deciding what to wear in the morning, it's just that I always think of it as a warm, comforting scent that kind of makes you blend in. Like wearing something that makes you look like just one more face in the crowd.

Today I concluded that I'm both right and wrong. It does smell warm and comfortable but I don't see (smell) many people around me who actually smell this addictive. :) And that is what it smells like to me - addictive.

When I first spray it on, I get a large dose of wet and lush tropical-smelling vanilla. And I realized that I would definitely term this as a gourmand smell but without any foody connotations. It never reminds me of anything edible. Anyway, I was thinking how there must be a lush smelling (probably tropical) plant in this together with vanilla and while enjoying the ride, I started getting hints of warm spices. As I was considering the fact that I seem to smell clove everywhere these days and that I shouldn't jump to clove as soon as I smell spice, I went in search for notes.

I don't know how many of you were looking for Vanilia notes, but they tend to differ. :)

So first I got: ylang-ylang, vanilla bean, amber and sandalwood. Aha! There WAS some tropical lushness in this.

So I looked some more thinking how come there is no spice listed and I found another list: ylang-ylang, vanilla and vanilla flower, nutmeg, clove and sandalwood. No amber in this. And then one more list without ylang-ylang in it and listing only spices.

I'm not sure about the amber but everything else seems to be there. Of course, I don't really know what vanilla flower smells like but my guess is really harmoniously with ylang-ylang. After I read nutmeg, I got that as well.

I was reading some of my older notes on Vanilia and saw that I wrote about a salty undertone. I would have missed it this time, I was preoccupied with lush-tropical vanilla but it's there. It is the exact thing to make this adhere to non-foody road of development. Where does it come from - I'm not sure but my guess is that ylang-ylang brings it out from vanilla.

Now, that I've re-read my post I'm not sure you got the idea of what it smells like. :) I realize I sometime have a problem with expressing coherently my thoughts on things. ;)

Picture by: expat21.wordpress.com

Perfume shopping in Zagreb - Viktor Koncept

My hometown might not be Paris, London or New York but we do have our share of niche perfumeries. :) Thank God for that.

I don't how many people will visit Zagreb and decide to to go niche perfume shopping, but in case some get the urge, I decided to do a series of posts after visiting each of the stores. Those visits might prove a bit hard on my credit card account but will certainly make me happy, like the one yesterday to Viktor Koncept proved to be.

All the shops I plan to visit are located in the centre of the city but since that is a relatively large area, I am attaching a map to the address, Kralja Držislava 10.

Viktor Koncept is not only a niche perfumery but as the name might indicate, also a concept store. I wasn't interested yesterday in perusing the rest of the store that contains clothes, shoes and accesories for men and women, and some cute house accesories as well (I checked those the last time I was there).

I have to admit, I wasn't there for quite a while, so I got terribly upset with myself after entering and discovering that they have significantly improved their offer with new lines. I mean, I know why I didn't go (trying not to spend money) but I still should have. At least there is still time to change that and try everything I find interesting, or the SA finds interesting. I didn't achieve a rapport with the lady there but she was still nice and at some point in time, seeing my obvious interest, presented some of the Comme des Garcons fragrances I might find interesting (I was mostly focused on them yesterday).

My most pressing concern in going there yesterday was trying the L'Artisan's Vanillas since I know Viktor holds the line. They still didn't have the Havana Vanille on offer but had one bottle left of Vanilia. So I tried the Vanilia and while I was discussing my wish to compare it to Havana, another SA came and said that they just got yesterday the sample and if I wanted, they could spray it for me to try. I mean, what they had was a 10 ml decant bottle, not the actual sample bottle. Not only Havana Vanille, but they also had a small bottle of Al Oudh as well. :) And of course I tried that one as well. What can I say - I've learned to appreciate and respect ouds but I still have a problem wearing them. I had no more space on my wrists so I only tried a strip of this one, but that was enough. I not only find it wearable, I find it sexy of all things (I'm not sure if that was the intended idea). It's obviously an oud fragrance but it is so much more (it takes you to faraway places that speak to your soul and seduce you).

This oud is going to find it's way to me sooner than later. :)

Actually, this was not the point I was trying to make, I got sidetracked by oud.

After spraying Havana Vanille on a strip and smelling it, it was obvious straight away that this was not the vanilla I was going to take home. I got hit by sweet vanilla, rum and dried fruit and had to remove it from my nose straight away. I am planning to give it space on my wrist in the future but I'm not holding my hopes up for it. I do understand now why people are upset that Vanilia is going out of production. But my bottle is safe now. :)

This is turning into a long post. :) So, to get to the point. If you are interested in tracking down the following lines in Zagreb, Viktor Koncept is where you can find them:

- I already mentioned L'Artisan and CdG

- Parfums de Nicolai (including home fragrances and lovely bottles for holding them)

- Etat Libre d'Orange (no Fat Electrician yet)

- Penhaligon's

- Byredo (and candles)

- Villoresi

- Carthusia

- Juliette has a gun

- Escentric Molecules

- Boudicca

- Parfum D'Empire

- Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier (can't wait to try them)

- Parfumerie Generale

- Parfum d'Orsay

- and lastly, they have Cire Trudon candles.

My appetite for discovery is only whetted now. I plan to visit in a month or so (just before Christmas) since that's around the time they are expecting some new additions (like CdG Daphne, Penhaligon's Amaranthine and I have high hopes I might find Al Oudh then as well).

Come back next week and see what else can be found in Zagreb.

Pictures by: Viktor Koncept facebook page.

Wearing Timbuktu

I was finally wearing Timbuktu today, after sort of going around it for months. Now, one would wonder why would someone buy a bottle of a scent and do one's best to avoid it as long as possible? Well... What I had in my mind of Timbuktu was both true and imagined. I remembered it as a dry incense thingy that just, you know, is, well, only ok. How wrong I was! It is incensey and dryish but there's so much more to this scent!

My untrained nose gets this smokey incense that slightly burns my nose, a bit later mixed with dry fruit (that's how I feel it) and some patchouli. This is an EdT but it lasts all day on me and is just wonderfully strange. :) I lack better words to describe it.

Notes by Luckyscent: green mango, pink pepper berries, karo-karounde flower, cardamom, smokey incense, myrrh, vetiver and patchouli.

What I actually found fascinating today is that this is a scent you have to be able to wear. It is without a doubt a masterpiece but not exactly in the perfume terms per se.

I've been really stressed out lately and frustrated and felt like my back was slowly lowering toward the ground under all the accumulated hardship. On top of it all, I have a cold. And this morning, I decided it was time to take Timbuktu out again. As soon as I sprayed it on, I felt I was breathing easier. Which is really strange because having a cold sort of limits the enjoyment of a perfume - usually the first spray makes me sneeze. What I mean is it didn't clear my nose, but it cleared my head. I felt like someone took the burden off my back and I was finally breathing easier after quite a while. And the result was that I knew what my path from now on should be. That is some good work for an edt if you ask me. :)

I believe there will always be a bottle of Timbuktu in my perfume closet/drawer/room (ok, hopefully it won't be that bad that I'll need a room). We all sometimes need someone or something to reconnects us with our unconscious self which might know the way forward but is unable to communicate it to our conscious self and now, I have a solution. For myself of course. But I suggest you give it a try. You never know what your unconsciousness might tell you...

And beware, it might not be easy or expected or something you like. But it still might be necessary.

Picture by : www.laboutiquedelartisanparfumeur.com

Perfume thoughts

Unfortunately, lately I sense a definite lack of time in my daily routine. Have no idea why suddenly there are so many things requiring my attention, but the only thing is to go with it, it also will pass. If not sooner, when I leave for my (well-deserved if I say so myself) vacation.

So, experiencing a serious time problem, the only thing I have time to write about are sentence or two about scents I've tried recently.

Foremost in my head is the fact that I'm heading down the new bottle road after reading a review of Chanel Cristalle edt by Vetivresse (July 9) - I tried it yesterday, and it hit all my buttons. One of the loveliest green scents I tried in a long time. And I so wanted to try and save my money... Or at least not spend so much.

I finally got my hands on Tea for two by l'Artisan and although I loved the opening (I'm very much into tea in any manner it can be experienced), the drydown was too sweet for my taste. It's not actually that sweet, but I'm more of a salt person, so too sweet for me is probably normally sweet for everyone else.

I keep saying how much I love Lucky scent's sample packs, and I'll keep saying it. :) They are great. My last one contained samples of Amouage Reflection masculine and feminine. I really liked Masculine version, it smells like a male version of Amouage Lyric. Which is good because I love Lyric (not so much the price though). The feminine Reflection is some aquatic, light thingy that left me completely cold and not impressed.

Yesterday I was contemplating how much my nose has changed during the last year. I'm nowhere near having even an average knowledge of perfume but I seem to enjoy more different scents than before, and appreciate notes I don't find wearable but that seem to be well incorporated into a scent. I know I tried L'Artisan Ete en douce last year and dismissed it straight away (I'm not going to say what I though of it then), yesterday I tried it again and found it lovely. I'm still not sure I'll be wearing it anytime soon, but it seems I'm on my way.

Picture of what I wait to see in person in 2 1/2 weeks. :)

Two short reviews (rainy garden and vanilla)

Yes, I finally got my hands dirty with some new fragrances. Today I testes L'Artisan's Vanilia and AG Un matin d'orage. I've read a lot about Un matin d'orage so I knew I wanted to try it, but Vanilia sort of flew under my radar, being a vanilla scent. I have a strong dislike of vanilla, after smelling a whole lot of vanilla car smells that keep making me sick.

Vanilia notes:vanilla flower, ylang-ylang, vanilla bean, amber, sandal.

Well, it certainly does not fit my vanilla image but that's good. That's actually more than good because I think a bottle of this might be coming my way. :) It starts like sweet, white flowers with a light green-fresh undertone. I read a review at Now smell this and Robin mentioned the slight smokiness. After I read that, I did smell it but I don't think I'd get it on my own. I like smokiness in my scents but those tend to be unmistakeable. :) After a while, it settled onto a salty, white vanilic flower with a hint of smokiness and bark. Absolutely wonderful. Such a comfort smell. And I keep wondering where did the saltiness come from?

Un matin d'orage notes: gardenia, magnolia, lemon, perilla leaves, ginger, jasmin sambac, champaca, sandalwood.

Although I'm a city girl, my grandmother had a garden and I spent many wonderful days playing there with my sister and cousins (coming home dirty and going straight into the bathtub). :) But I do remember the smell after a downpour. This does it complete justice. I get the whole aquatic-ozonic opening (more ozonic than aquatic if you ask me) and it smells of wet flowers, greenery and earth, and that ozonic layer making it seem you're standing there just afterwards. I find it fascinating when perfumers manage to catch that one moment and give it form. I'm not going to break it down into notes, I love the wholeness of it and the fact that the ozonic hint does not disappear after the initial appearance. Now, after all this, I don't think I want to smell like it but I'll be using the little sample I have to smell it again and again.

Picture by: www.gardening.savvy-cafe.com