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