Awesome perfumes lately
I'm still me, which means I'm still sampling absurdly large numbers of perfumes, even though I haven't posted about it here much. Therefore we're past due for such a post, right? Here goes!
Of the absurdly large assortment, these are the ones I've especially enjoyed:
Bel Ami by Hermes: I've been adoring it for over a year, and what can one say? Swoon at first application, and every application since. Manly, sexy, and leathery, but in the most elegant and refined way, a leather polished with citrus and spice, and enough fresh herbs that it feels as outdoorsy as it does indoorsy. Personally I think it can go anywhere and be worn by either sex, and I give it full marks.
Vanilla Pipe Tobacco by Solstice Scents: Oh goodness, yum. Matches its name perfectly; sweet, rich, earthy. Almost the way the house smells when sticky buns or cinnamon bread is baking (not in the cinnamon sense, but in the rest of the scent mix). Lovely almost-caramel-ish lickability to it. Solstice Scents is a small perfume house that has several yummy scents you can order samples of. Some of the others I also liked were Fires in the Night (smoke and spices), Manor (vanilla and woods), High Desert (sagebrush, of course), and White Fox (frosty vanilla and cedar).
She Came to Stay by Timothy Han: Comfy and sexy both. Has a resinous-sweet top that reminds me of a high-quality root beer, but with an earthiness and a playful spiciness dancing through it. I'd say most people would call it more masculine than unisex, but I'd be happy to wear it too, as I am with Bel Ami, for example. In fact, it's kind of like Bel Ami's fougere sibling, the oakmossy-herbal side highlighted more than the leathery-spicy spotlight of Bel Ami. And still enough its own thing that I might need more.
L'Air du Desert Marocain by Tauer Perfumes: This has become one of my Holy Grail scents. Oh baby, that's a good amber! Love the labdanum (a.k.a. cistus or rockrose) accord in particular--it's one of the truest impressions of a rockrose shrub I've yet encountered in perfume, and that's a smell I adore. It mingles with incense and dry Moroccon spices, then dries down into the best part yet: a beautiful resinous sweetness that lingers days (nay, weeks) on sweaters and seatbelt shoulder harnesses. Plenty of bang for buck.
Sienne L'Hiver by Eau d'Italie: Despite its winter description, I get some lovely fresh flowers at the opening, almost rose-like. But it soon settles into chilly, smoky, olive tree with salt air, even a hint of dill pickle, among the leaves and flowers. Sounds bizarre, I know, but the effect turns out beautiful. Has an elegant expensive feel, like a Chanel, but I think its chemistry works better on me than most of the Chanel line does.
L'Ombre Dans L'Eau by Diptyque: Black currant and rose and fresh water, in a leafy and cool and mysterious way. As its name suggests, this is the overgrown part of the garden, in the shadows. Quite lovely. As to EDP vs. EDT: EDP is sharper and greener at first, like a broken stem oozing sap, while EDT is a touch more fruit/floral while still being a green perfume. I bought the EDP, though both worked well on me.
Bois d'Ascese by Naomi Goodsir: Smoky smoky. So smoky that at first I thought, "Barbeque sauce on a motorcycle jacket." It settles to a more pleasant smokiness, but I still wouldn't have said incense, despite its name. Much more like bonfire or campfire, although with kind of a desert mystique to it--or Scotch whisky, as Luckyscent suggests. A hard one to approach, but attractive, and with each wearing it has come around to charming me more and some days making me a little bit obsessed with it.
Norell (vintage; Norell Perfumes): There's an oakmossiness to it, and overall a delicious vintage green-floral quality. Makes me think of a moor full of blooming heather and English ladies in those crazy but somehow flattering hats. Later it develops a good powdery (but not too powdery) iris note. I feel pretty, oh so pretty...
And I'll stop there. I hope I've enabled some fragrance spending in the world by this update.