Perfumery
I find myself more interested in wearing scents lately. I'm lucky in that I don't sweat very much, but some people carry a nice scent with them everywhere they go and I want to be like that. Currently I've been rotating between three fragrances that I really enjoy.
The first one is the one I've been wearing the longest, Alice from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. rigel give me my first bottle of it as a very sweet gift to congratulate me on the successful first run of Alice my larp. By sheer luck, it turned out to be my favorite perfume I've ever encountered. The notes are listed as "milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot," so it's a little unusual. A warm, spicy, dark sort of scent. It's probably too heavy for some, and it reminds me of the musk oil my grandma used to wear when I was a kid, so its sensibility may be a bit dated, but I really like it. I always knew I had the soul of an old lady.
The second one is the fanciest and most mainstream, Opium by Yves St. Laurent. I inherited a bottle from my mother, so it's a pretty old at this point, but its character is still recognizable. The formula is extremely complicated and the resulting scent hard to describe: "top notes are a mixture of fruit and spices, with mandarin orange, plum, clove, coriander and pepper, as well as bay leaf. Its floral middle notes consist predominantly jasmine, rose and Lily of the Valley, in addition to carnation, cinnamon, peach and orris root. It is underlined by the sweet woody base note containing sandalwood, cedarwood, myrrh, opopanax, labdanum, benzoin and castoreum, in addition to amber, incense, musk, patchouli, tolu and vetiver." It's on the warm and heavier side like Alice, but a little more delicate, more floral. It's also expensive, but when this bottle is gone it might be worth it to replace. The scent evokes strong memories of my mother, as she wore it more than anything except white tea and ginger.
The third one is new, as Casey and Sarah gave it to me for my last birthday. It can be tricky choosing scents for other people, as you don't know if what smells good to you will to them, but they actually knocked it out of the park for me. It doesn't really have a name, but it's a petal oil produced for Urban Outfitters they mark as "No. 2" with a forget-me-not top note blended with peach blossom and green tea. It's much lighter, sweeter, and more floral than Alice or Opium. Even though I tend to prefer spicy musk scents in general, it's making a nice change of pace. I also love the bottle, which has an easy to unscrew cap (unlike Opium) and has a ball in the top of it so you can roll it on (unlike either). Plus you can see the dried flowers floating around in the perfume, which is pretty.
Unfortunately my skin tends to eat whatever scent you put on it. I get a few hours out of it, and if it last any longer than that, it's usually because I put on way too much in the first place. What I should probably do is plan on reapplying, but then I'd have to bring it with me during the day. Keeping it on my vanity table has made it easier to remember to wear it, not to mention prevents it breaking in my bag. But even if it goes away quickly, it's a nice little pleasure to put it on in the morning, and I can use more little nice things in my life.
The first one is the one I've been wearing the longest, Alice from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. rigel give me my first bottle of it as a very sweet gift to congratulate me on the successful first run of Alice my larp. By sheer luck, it turned out to be my favorite perfume I've ever encountered. The notes are listed as "milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot," so it's a little unusual. A warm, spicy, dark sort of scent. It's probably too heavy for some, and it reminds me of the musk oil my grandma used to wear when I was a kid, so its sensibility may be a bit dated, but I really like it. I always knew I had the soul of an old lady.
The second one is the fanciest and most mainstream, Opium by Yves St. Laurent. I inherited a bottle from my mother, so it's a pretty old at this point, but its character is still recognizable. The formula is extremely complicated and the resulting scent hard to describe: "top notes are a mixture of fruit and spices, with mandarin orange, plum, clove, coriander and pepper, as well as bay leaf. Its floral middle notes consist predominantly jasmine, rose and Lily of the Valley, in addition to carnation, cinnamon, peach and orris root. It is underlined by the sweet woody base note containing sandalwood, cedarwood, myrrh, opopanax, labdanum, benzoin and castoreum, in addition to amber, incense, musk, patchouli, tolu and vetiver." It's on the warm and heavier side like Alice, but a little more delicate, more floral. It's also expensive, but when this bottle is gone it might be worth it to replace. The scent evokes strong memories of my mother, as she wore it more than anything except white tea and ginger.
The third one is new, as Casey and Sarah gave it to me for my last birthday. It can be tricky choosing scents for other people, as you don't know if what smells good to you will to them, but they actually knocked it out of the park for me. It doesn't really have a name, but it's a petal oil produced for Urban Outfitters they mark as "No. 2" with a forget-me-not top note blended with peach blossom and green tea. It's much lighter, sweeter, and more floral than Alice or Opium. Even though I tend to prefer spicy musk scents in general, it's making a nice change of pace. I also love the bottle, which has an easy to unscrew cap (unlike Opium) and has a ball in the top of it so you can roll it on (unlike either). Plus you can see the dried flowers floating around in the perfume, which is pretty.
Unfortunately my skin tends to eat whatever scent you put on it. I get a few hours out of it, and if it last any longer than that, it's usually because I put on way too much in the first place. What I should probably do is plan on reapplying, but then I'd have to bring it with me during the day. Keeping it on my vanity table has made it easier to remember to wear it, not to mention prevents it breaking in my bag. But even if it goes away quickly, it's a nice little pleasure to put it on in the morning, and I can use more little nice things in my life.