A few random reviews
CHOCOLATE:
Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree squares: Amazingly, addictively good. Just the right amount of crunch from tiny salt crystals and crushed toasty almonds. Overtones of Heath Bar, only way easier to chew.
Chuao Chocolatier, Coffee & Anise bar: Finely ground espresso and star anise in a 60% cacao bar. Dark and subtle and delicious. The anise is fairly subtle, especially next to a strong flavor like espresso. I am still not deeply keen on black licorice, but I've learned to love fennel and anise. They're gentler. Will try some of Chuao's other nontraditional flavors, but only for a rare treat, given the price.
PERFUME:
Bois d'Ombrie (by Eau d'Italie): This was a "love at first sniff" scent for me, and several months later I still swoon over it. I'd call it super-old-fashioned-masculine in a sense, in that I could see Rex Harrison or some other strong-yet-refined English guy from the mid-20th-century wearing it. Leather, tobacco, and cognac are the notes I mostly get (though I might've guessed brandy, being not as familiar with cognac), with a good base of wood--smells like a cabinet in which our gentleman would keep his liquor and pipe tobacco. I hadn't noticed the iris that others mention, but now that it's pointed out, I see how it's under there, softening the whole effect just a tad. And though I'm a slip of a 21st-century American woman, I love wearing it. Mmmm.
Fire From Heaven (by CB I Hate Perfume): Wish I got woods, incense, or even patchouli. Instead what dominates for me is burning paper. A bit TOO fiery. I much prefer Burning Leaves (also by CB I Hate Perfume) for a purely-smoke accord.
A few samples I've found lovely but need to spend more time with in order to write a proper review: L'Artisan Mure et Musc (blackberry and a totally '80s clean musk), Hermes Rocabar (sexy manly orange), and Shiseido Murasaki (fresh, soft, classy green--not unlike Chanel No 19).
PRODUCE:
Organic Opal apples: They're lemon-yellow on the outside, the usual apple-whitish on the inside. Good crunch. Quite sweet with a hint of melon or pear flavor. Very juicy too, though perhaps not quite as juicy as a Honeycrisp. Recommended!
Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree squares: Amazingly, addictively good. Just the right amount of crunch from tiny salt crystals and crushed toasty almonds. Overtones of Heath Bar, only way easier to chew.
Chuao Chocolatier, Coffee & Anise bar: Finely ground espresso and star anise in a 60% cacao bar. Dark and subtle and delicious. The anise is fairly subtle, especially next to a strong flavor like espresso. I am still not deeply keen on black licorice, but I've learned to love fennel and anise. They're gentler. Will try some of Chuao's other nontraditional flavors, but only for a rare treat, given the price.
PERFUME:
Bois d'Ombrie (by Eau d'Italie): This was a "love at first sniff" scent for me, and several months later I still swoon over it. I'd call it super-old-fashioned-masculine in a sense, in that I could see Rex Harrison or some other strong-yet-refined English guy from the mid-20th-century wearing it. Leather, tobacco, and cognac are the notes I mostly get (though I might've guessed brandy, being not as familiar with cognac), with a good base of wood--smells like a cabinet in which our gentleman would keep his liquor and pipe tobacco. I hadn't noticed the iris that others mention, but now that it's pointed out, I see how it's under there, softening the whole effect just a tad. And though I'm a slip of a 21st-century American woman, I love wearing it. Mmmm.
Fire From Heaven (by CB I Hate Perfume): Wish I got woods, incense, or even patchouli. Instead what dominates for me is burning paper. A bit TOO fiery. I much prefer Burning Leaves (also by CB I Hate Perfume) for a purely-smoke accord.
A few samples I've found lovely but need to spend more time with in order to write a proper review: L'Artisan Mure et Musc (blackberry and a totally '80s clean musk), Hermes Rocabar (sexy manly orange), and Shiseido Murasaki (fresh, soft, classy green--not unlike Chanel No 19).
PRODUCE:
Organic Opal apples: They're lemon-yellow on the outside, the usual apple-whitish on the inside. Good crunch. Quite sweet with a hint of melon or pear flavor. Very juicy too, though perhaps not quite as juicy as a Honeycrisp. Recommended!