happy smells day!
Got a FragranceNet.com treasure trove today. Did you know 2.5oz of perfume is a LOT? It really is. The Escale a Portofino bottle is slightly too large to fit comfortably in my hand, and definitely too large to travel with! Glad I have a few extra mini atomizers. Am looking forward to being able to spritz the stuff with abandon, because it's delish. Orange blossom, citron, and almond nom! Bottle is pretty and sparkly, even if the almost-matching pattern on the lid is somewhat tacky.*
I love samples. Lovelovelove. ^_^ Haven't had the time or clean skin to do a thorough test yet, but initial impression of Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien is GOOD. Fresh and sunlit-citrusy but not harsh, lightly candyfloss-sweet but not cloying, interestingly nuanced, like a storybook painting of a lemon tree. I definitely see using up the sample. Hoping the ylang continues to not be evil... that would be a first!
Eau de Cartier is nice stuff, but it's got a definite violet thing going on. I like violet. It just never quite sits comfortably on my skin, and I feel vaguely off balance wearing it. There's a nice mossy note underneath like new paper, and as the violet fades I'm getting pale musk and a pleasant crisp peppery-mineral accord that reminds me oddly of Terre d'Hermes, but more shaded streambed gravel than sun-baked high desert gravel. This would be great everyday cologne for a reserved and meticulously well-put-together professional of either sex. Or just someone who's more comfortable with violet.
Kelly Caleche I've tested before, and it was interesting enough to merit further wear but not a bottle purchase. I remember it being a lovely dry black tea with an orange-floral layer. Today the leather note hit my skin and went straight to... the county fair sheep barn? Not that I mind the smell of sheep - it was just unexpected in a perfume. The florals followed a few seconds later with a honey-sweet-fruity WHOMP. They're now melding together into a smell that's a little tea-with-raw-honey, a little summer garden, and a lot very expensive handbag. Yes, definitely interesting. I like it quite a bit, but can't decide what occasion would be appropriate to wear it.
Paul Smith Story, on first application, smells appallingly like salami and fresh basil with a brief sparkle of orange. I am not joking. At least it's GOOD salami. Slowly fades to that dentist's-office smell of latex gloves and disinfectant, which is delightfully wearable in comparison. There's something really interestingly constructed struggling to poke through, but this is obviously a case of bizarre skin chemistry fail. "Haitian vetiver along with grapefruit, bergamot, green ivy, jasmine, green rose, musks, mineral amber and cedarwood" hadn't ought to be nasty at all! I blame the vetiver... sometimes it behaves, sometimes it's ALL BACON, ALL THE TIME. Better on someone with more cooperative chemistry and/or a man who likes smelling faintly of woodsmoke.
Exceptional... because you are(R) FOR MEN was an unsolicited sample. Sniffed it, and quite honestly, it smells like the men's section of the perfume counter at Nordstrom. Just utterly generic. The bit that got on my fingertips turned to vinegar. Someone with better or more masculine skin chemistry might have better luck.
*(Sorry, puffy embossed quilt-block motif does not say "Mediterranean luxury" to me. But then I thought the Lolita Lempicka bottles were the sweetest things EVER, so....)
I love samples. Lovelovelove. ^_^ Haven't had the time or clean skin to do a thorough test yet, but initial impression of Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien is GOOD. Fresh and sunlit-citrusy but not harsh, lightly candyfloss-sweet but not cloying, interestingly nuanced, like a storybook painting of a lemon tree. I definitely see using up the sample. Hoping the ylang continues to not be evil... that would be a first!
Eau de Cartier is nice stuff, but it's got a definite violet thing going on. I like violet. It just never quite sits comfortably on my skin, and I feel vaguely off balance wearing it. There's a nice mossy note underneath like new paper, and as the violet fades I'm getting pale musk and a pleasant crisp peppery-mineral accord that reminds me oddly of Terre d'Hermes, but more shaded streambed gravel than sun-baked high desert gravel. This would be great everyday cologne for a reserved and meticulously well-put-together professional of either sex. Or just someone who's more comfortable with violet.
Kelly Caleche I've tested before, and it was interesting enough to merit further wear but not a bottle purchase. I remember it being a lovely dry black tea with an orange-floral layer. Today the leather note hit my skin and went straight to... the county fair sheep barn? Not that I mind the smell of sheep - it was just unexpected in a perfume. The florals followed a few seconds later with a honey-sweet-fruity WHOMP. They're now melding together into a smell that's a little tea-with-raw-honey, a little summer garden, and a lot very expensive handbag. Yes, definitely interesting. I like it quite a bit, but can't decide what occasion would be appropriate to wear it.
Paul Smith Story, on first application, smells appallingly like salami and fresh basil with a brief sparkle of orange. I am not joking. At least it's GOOD salami. Slowly fades to that dentist's-office smell of latex gloves and disinfectant, which is delightfully wearable in comparison. There's something really interestingly constructed struggling to poke through, but this is obviously a case of bizarre skin chemistry fail. "Haitian vetiver along with grapefruit, bergamot, green ivy, jasmine, green rose, musks, mineral amber and cedarwood" hadn't ought to be nasty at all! I blame the vetiver... sometimes it behaves, sometimes it's ALL BACON, ALL THE TIME. Better on someone with more cooperative chemistry and/or a man who likes smelling faintly of woodsmoke.
Exceptional... because you are(R) FOR MEN was an unsolicited sample. Sniffed it, and quite honestly, it smells like the men's section of the perfume counter at Nordstrom. Just utterly generic. The bit that got on my fingertips turned to vinegar. Someone with better or more masculine skin chemistry might have better luck.
*(Sorry, puffy embossed quilt-block motif does not say "Mediterranean luxury" to me. But then I thought the Lolita Lempicka bottles were the sweetest things EVER, so....)