No, there ain't no rest for the wicked...

L’Artisan Tea for Two

L’Artisan has got to be one of my favorite perfume houses. This is not to knock Guerlain or Annick Goutal, who both make excellent high quality scents. But over and over, I find myself trying a L’Artisan scent and thinking immediately, “Wow, I really need to buy this.” If I could only have one house for the rest of my life, it would be a really tough call for me, personally, between CB I Hate Perfume and L’Artisan. Given my love of the ultra-realism in scent, that’s saying something significant.

One of my favorites by L’Artisan is Tea for Two. L’Artisan describes Tea for Two thusly:

Tea for Two celebrates the precious moment of sharing tea and spicy bread with someone special. The curling steam of smoky Lapsang Souchong hides mouthwatering spices of cinnamon, ginger and anise. Lightly sweetened by honey and vanilla, the fragrance is fiery and warm, provocative and mysterious. Deliciously spicy!

Notes: smoky tea, bergamot, cinnamon

Tea for Two is this amazingly masculine scent to start, all chewing tobacco, leather, incense, and smoke, like Clint Eastwood’s stubble, gritty rough and tumble. But after a while, it slowly melts into a lovely spicy sweet tea, lush and vanilla-y. It reminds me of a concoction my mother made for me as a child of sugar, vanilla, lipton instant tea, and tang. She always made it when I was sick and had a super sore throat, and it went down sweet and warm and delicious.

Very few scents seem so completely masculine to me on immediate application, but the dry down is so sweet and intimate that I think it would wear beautifully on anyone. This one seems like a perfect match for an intimate date in a dark little bar, where sitting close and whispering in one another’s ear will ensure that your date gets hit with a wave of this sultry beauty. Tea for Two has moderate sillage and lasts for hours on me. It’s one of those fragrances that I will forget I’m wearing and then catch of whiff and immediately my reaction is, “What smells so great?” Then I remember, it’s me! Definitely worth a try.
I know I can't slow down,
I can't hold back,
Though you know, I wish I could.
No there ain't no rest for the wicked,
Until we close our eyes for good.
- Cage the Elephant, "Ain't No Rest For the Wicked"

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