The easy choice - Labdanum 18 by Le Labo

I'm calling this an easy choice because each time I have to go someplace and don't know what to wear, I reach for this. :)
My relatively large decant came through a split and the speed I'm going through it, makes me think I will have to start looking for another one soon.

Notes: Labdanum, tonka beans, vanilla, castoreum, patchouli.

If I were to describe this perfume in one word, I'd say it smells ambery. :)

Lately, I realized I write down my notes on a perfume, then I go see what are the notes listed and then I go investigate which parts combined to get me the smells I was getting.

One of the good things about Labdanum 18 is that I believe I know what castoreum smells like. The process of elimination brought me there. :)
So, the vanilla, labdanum and tonka beans are responsible for the ambery feel but all very nicely tempered so no note overpowers the other. I also detect light whiffs of some herbal sharpness and I thought that came from patchouli but cannot really say for sure.

The problem with this perfume is that it is better smelled around you than on you. I mean, for reviewing purposes, I get less when I smell it on my wrist than when I smell it around me when I wear it. Then it sort of jumps out at me at all times. Not that this perfume jumps, it's more like it suddenly stealthily overpowers you and you are left wondering how you didn't know it was there a second ago.
It's an aural perfume to me (you know, it has the amount of sillage like an aura - just right).

Which brings me to the last note and castoreum. I have a problem detecting that particular tinge to this perfume on my writs, but when I catch a whiff of my "aura" there is a light sexy, possibly dirty or animalic to some, tinge to this perfume. But when you want to take a better look, it's gone. And then when you're not watching, it hovers around the edge of your vision, only to disappear when you take a better look.

There doesn't seem to be much development to this perfume (at least not to me) but I don't mind that because I really love the way it starts and those "sleight of hand" changes it does so it remains smelling the same with some minor changes for the  duration.


P.S. I just checked the Le Labo site and they list more notes than Luckyscent.
The ones missing up there are: cista, civet, musk aubepine, birch tar, cinnamon, gurjaum balsam.
Can't say I got any cinnamon but the first 3 could be all responsible for what I thought was solely castoreum's part. Oh well, I guess I still need to learn how it smells then. :)

Found one! - Le Labo Vetiver 46

So after an enthusiastic search yesterday for samples and decants of spring lovelies to try from the suggestions I received, one of those I found and wasn't looking for was Le Labo's Vetiver 46. (I also found MAC's linden one and Le Temps d'un Fete by PdN and Reverie au Jardin but that's another story).

Today, while looking for notes, I realized that the 46 from the name stands for 46 essences in there. Well, there is certainly more in there than they listed as notes: pepper, gaiac wood, labdanum, cedar, olibanum, incense, tahitian vetiver.

While I said there is more in there, in the beginning, you wouldn't know it, getting hit by some serious pepper. Which I don't mind, I enjoy that but it did smell, well, I hate to say it - masculine. It's slightly citrusy, very peppery and lightly smoky.
I also saw that this was a Mark Buxton perfume and I seem to be getting an idea when smelling perfumes that they are bearing his signature as this one hints at some CdGs.

The initial pepper blast doesn't last too long and soon something slightly sweet starts to appear in the background, while in the front, incense is slowly taking center stage. The perfume keeps smelling better and better and this is the point where it reminded me a bit of Timbuktu. But it's more lively and refreshing than Timbuktu. Which sounds exactly like the thing one needs in spring. :)

And this is where I come to the part of the missing notes. Ok, yes, I smelled vetiver at some point but it was very delicately done. This is not a fragrance dominated by vetiver for me (or after some googling for everyone else), unless there is a facet of vetiver I'm not aware of. In the drydown I started getting this flowery-blackberrish radiance on top of the lightly sweet,  woody-vetiver breeze. The drydown smells so great to me that I keep thinking with those 46 essences in there, someone must have accidentally hit on the perfect ratio to produce this effect. I simply love it. :)

Oh! Just found better notes on Luckyscent: bergamot, black pepper, clove, cedar, vetiver, labdanum, olibanum, gaiac wood, amber, and vanilla.

Pic and notes by: http://www.luckyscent.com/

Oranges blossoming around me

I never thought I was a flower girl. By that I mean I never thought I might like floral perfumes that much. But then again, 2 years ago I wasn't aware there was a perfume world beyond the doors of my local stores into which once you enter, you never leave. :)

Anyway, it seems to me that this spring/summer (I believe we are seeing the last days of spring here), I'm into orange blossoms. Today I'm wearing SL Fleurs d'Oranger which I got from a lovely MUA swap. And even though I know that orange blossom does not smell like the fruit, the first thought this morning in my head was - wow, where did this flower bomb come from? :) Kinda stupid when the name itself declares that it is about flowers. :) The initial flowers didn't last that long and now I'm enjoying myself feeling the softness of all those white flowers in it. It seems we hit it off perfectly today, because I don't think I'll be able to wear this when the real summer hits. Today it makes a fresh spring day warmer, but I don't think I'd want that in the middle of summer.

That's why there is Fleur d'Oranger 27 by Le Labo. That one seems to be the fresh orange blossom that is going to bring some fresh air into the summer heat of Zagreb. I have a fondness for grapefruit both in perfume and in my diet, so getting a whiff of that citrus bitter smell is perfect although kind of hard to detect around bergamot. But that's ok, I like bergamot as well. :) So, I'm preparing to battle summer heat with this fresh, summery-green orange blossom.

And on to my third orange blossom scent. I have to admit, in the end I did buy the Givenchy's 2008 harvest Organza Fleurs d'Oranger. :) But I am proud I limited myself to only that, didn't buy the Amarige Ylang-Ylang. In the end, Fleurs d'oranger spoke to me much stronger and convincingly, so it came home with me. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to smell it properly and with concentration, so no more information about that one today, but it falls somewhere in the middle of the first two.

SL Fleurs d'Oranger notes by Luckyscent: Orange blossom, white jasmine, Indian tuberose, white rose, citrus peel, hibiscus seeds, cumin, nutmeg

Fleur d'Oranger 27 Le Labo notes by Luckyscent: bergamot, petitgrain, grapefruit, amber, musk and vetiver

Organza 2008 Orange Blossom notes by Harrods: neroli, honeysuckle, petitgrain, orange blossom, soft spices, vanilla

Images by: www.ures.hr

Reading in the rain

It seems I won't be smelling much these days, after all the sunny, wonderful days of last week, this week is cold, rainy and on top of it all I have a cold.

All I managed to sniff of the Le Labo samples are Vetiver 46, Ambrette 9 and Iris 39. First two didn't impress, they are ok. I mean they smell nice and forgettabel. Iris 39 is definitely not something I would wear but I honestly sniffed it a lot because I found it interesting. It smelled green and bitter and strict and I imagined it would be a perfect smell for a strict, middle-aged professor. :) Hence, not for me.

What I did manage to do last few days is read two of Mary Balogh's romance novels - at the moment, she's the author whose novels I'm going through (after having those phases with Stephanie Laurens, Nora Roberts, Keri Arthur, etc.). When I come across an author I like, I just start reading everything I can get my hands on from that author. What I like about Balogh's novels is the fact that from all the romance novels I've read so far (and believe me, the number is quite high), her characters and plot seem most real. Not in the sense that those are likely realistic stories but in a way that romance and love and passion can be found in everyday relationships. I have no idea why is that the idea I got from her stories because all those 'historical' romance novels are, well, pretty much similar. :) But I guess every author I keep reading puts her stamp on those stories to make them jump out of the crowd for me. So, Mary Balogh just joined my list. And reading is what gets me through these rainy days and how I fight my cold.

Image: http://www.marybalogh.com/