Les Nombres d'Or: Tubereuse and Amber

It takes some time to get to know perfumes by Mona di Orio and even then, you cannot say for sure they aren't going to surprise you sometime in the near future.
I've been happily testing the Nombres d'Or line and I love them all. Some more, some just a little bit less, but if I had them all, I would happily wear them. As I don't see that happening any time in the near (or even distant) future, I'll give my samples all my love. (btw, I ordered mine from Aus Liebe zum Duft and they might seem expensive but they are also big). :)


Tubereuse

Notes: pink pepper, bergamot from Calabria, green leaves, Indian tuberose absolute, Siamese benzoin, heliotrope, amber, coconut milk, musk

Honestly, I really shouldn't be reviewing any tuberose perfumes. So far, I haven't encountered a single one I didn't like. Tuberose is one note I cannot get enough of and I enjoy it immensely.
In this case, I'm happy to say, I found one that would work great in my collection, as it's a refreshing, green tuberose. In the beginning.
It's lightly sharp on the nose due to the pink pepper and citrus, and greenery is there too, hiding the tuberose  bathing in the coconut milk. At no point in development does tuberose take over and the greenery remains there, not perhaps as obvious as in the beginning but there to make this tuberose light for wearing and something tuberose haters might give a go.
Also, it made me realize how wonderfully (for me) tuberose works with coconut (this is not the first perfume where the pair is featured but perhaps the most obvious one). Which brought me to the idea that perhaps Love Coco and Vamp a NY might work well together...  Hmmm, I should give it a try...
(of course, if it doesn't work out great, I'll never mention it here and I'll just pretend I didn't try it) ;)


Ambre

Notes: Cedarwood from Atlas, Ylang-ylang from Comores, Benzoin, Tolu, Absolu Vanilla Madagascar

As much as I could tell the notes in Tubereuse, I can't really say the same for Ambre.
It smells like the epitome amber. Lightly sweet, lightly burned, vanillic, somewhat musky and for a little while powdery. Ok, so that last part might not sound like amber, but it works for me (and I'm not a fan of powderiness).
Of all my ideas as to what might work to provide powderiness, none of them appear in the notes.
Anyway, my boyfriend assures me I'm wrong, but I smell similarities between Ambre and the drydown of Shalimar (which is a very good thing in my opinion).
This amber has me baffled. Each time I smell it, I smell something different and it's all good. :)
It's just a great, lightly burned and woody amber. There would definitely be a place for it in my collection.

Like Birgit says, there is always a place for another amber.


Notes and pics by: http://www.luckyscent.com/

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