Food for Thought: Flowers, Chocolates, and Super Sweet Scents for Valentine's Day

Dear reader:

I should be in bed right now. I am so tired. My new job is good, but kind of exhausting. So why am I writing you? A lot of reasons I guess. Despite being bone tired, I'm feeling restless. I don't know what it is, exactly. Something under my skin. A weird kind of itching.

So while the wickedness within refuses to give me peace, let's talk about that cheesy commercial holiday bearing down on us. The men I work with are surprisingly on top of their game, Valentine's Day speaking. They have reservations. They have gifts. These guys got game.

It's probably why they're all happily married.

I'm surprised by how happy they are about participating in V-day. I never dated anyone who embraced Valentine's Day. I was sort of under the impression most people tolerated Valentine's Day. I'm not used to it being whole-heartedly embraced.

So you know what, reader? Let us try to get a little into the hearts and sparkles spirit, shall we? After all, Beautiful Creatures comes out next week, and we all know that I have fangirlish feelings for Ethan and Lena and their trials and tribulations. Plus, I do get go see two of my closest friends next weekend. So let's embrace the love a little, shall we? After all, the Greeks had as many words for loves as there are kinds of love to be had. So let's talk love, romance, music, and—of course—perfume.

First up on my list of V-Day scent selections for 2013? By Kilian Good Girl Gone Bad. Released as part of the In the Garden of Good and Evil collection, Good Girl Gone Bad is described as follows on Luckyscent:

GOOD GIRL GONE BAD typifies a special sort of woman. A perfume that represents a kind of voluptuousness beloved by Kilian : sensual and unrestrained. A woman who is game for anything in the world of love, of desire, of naughtiness.

GOOD GIRL GONE BAD is a composition of fruits and flowers, a perfume as bewitching as bursts of laughter, a barrier moved beyond, a forgotten prohibition.

The perfume opens on the fresh innocence of the petals of Jasmin Sambac and the apricot sweetness of Chinese Osmanthus. But that feminine ideal does not continue to fool anyone for long. Letting go of their demure appearances, the flowers toss off their inhibitions and reveal the other, decadent side of themselves. The Rose of May gives off its honeyed heat. The Indian Tuberose nakedly exhibits its milky roundness, while the narcotic sensuality of Egyptian Narcissus surges forth, uncontrollable and deliciously haunting. Notes of Virginia Cedar and Amber open up and try to assert their dominant character In order to contain that outpouring of opulence, but they never succeed in taming it completely. The tension is palpable; the addiction exacerbated; the pleasure consummated.

GOOD GIRL GONE BAD, when the woman become a temptress, a sinner - when she dares and when she proves her audacity.

Notes: Jasmin Sambac, osmanthus, rose, tuberose, narcissus, violet accord, plum accord, cedar wood, amber, patchouli, vetiver, musk.

Okay -- overbearing ad copy aside, this is a pretty, well-made scent that would make a nice Valentine's Day choice.

Good Girl Gone Bad is feminine but with an edge. This scent starts out floral but quickly becomes a little dirtier thanks to the base notes.  For me, though, Good Girl Gone Bad is less about dirty florals than it is about the sticky sweet floral. I don't get nearly as much patchouli as I get hefty sweetness.  Good Girl Gone Bad is heavy on the amber note for me, as well as the sugar heavy edge of the florals ( the sweetest part of rose, narcissus, violet) mixed with the jammyest of plums.  On the whole, I like it.  It make my sweet tooth ache in the best way.

Any list of sweet scents that could be romantical would also have to include A Lab on Fire What We Do In Paris is Secret, particularly for the perfume lover with a wicked sweet tooth. Another super sweet favorite? By Kilian Love.

Not into super sweet? How about chocolate! First of all, Aftelier Perfumes Chocolate and Saffron Body Oil & Hair Elixir is described thusly:

This romantic and sensual body oil leaves your skin of smelling of chocolate and flowers. Featured on the blog, Brainy Beauty for Product Junkies: "I put this on my arm & now I want to eat my arm... it is such a delicious smell."

Chocolate and Saffron is sweet without being aggressively so. It leans toward the foodie side of chocolate, but the saffron balances it nicely so it isn't overly edible. Instead the chocolate is counterbalanced against the slightly floral spice of saffron so it just feels simultaneously fresh and light. Pretty, polite, and subtle, Chocolate and Saffron is sexy without being provocative, and at 105 ml for $50, the price point is perfect for a lovely holiday gift that will last a long time.

Other chocolaty scents I recommend? Try the spicy chocolate of Il Profumo Chocolat EDP or one of my absolutely favorites, the light and airy chocolate rose of S-Perfumes 100% Love.

You know who else makes a great chocolate and rose scent? Ayala Moriel Natural Perfumes! Roses et Chocolat, originally created as a Valentine's scent, is now available year round, which is lucky for all of us. That means any time of year you can have...

...three pleasures in one elegant flacon: a bouquet of red roses, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffles, and, of course - a perfume! The most sensual and sumptuous way to declaration of love. Kisses not included. Notes: Allspice (Pimento Berry), Amber, Benzoin Siamese Cocoa Absolute, Mace, Nutmeg Pink Pepper Absolute, Rose de Mai, Rose Maroc Rose Otto (Turkey)

If 100% Love is the barest brush of a feather, then is is chocolate and roses as a full-bodied seduction. Strong chocolate notes balance against a rose with a tangy bite like the taste of rose petals. It is a dark rose with a bit of...is that pepper? Talk about your spunky Valentine! Long lasting and elegant, like a heavy china plate with a 14 carat gold rim. You can have it as an EdP or a parfum extrait, or even as a real chocolate bar! How awesome is that? And if I had the money, I'd buy the whole Ayala Moriel Natural Perfumes Broken Hearts - Valentine Coffret 2013! A truly luxurious gift for the scent addict in your life.

And if you are going to talk about sweets and chocolates, we might as well talk about flowers, reader. Since I couldn't have the Broken Hearts Coffret, I will have to console myself with DSH Perfumes Les Rouges Collection Box.

PASSION, POWER, LUST, RAGE, ECSTASY… such are our associations with RED; our wildest emotions and greatest HEAT are bound to this primal color. Inspired by the radiance and intensity of RED, my Les Rouges Collection Box contains a miniature (5ml) bottle of all four of the exquisite members of this collection.

The Les Rouges Collection includes Fleurs d’Oranger (Orange Blossom); Oeillets Rouges (Red Carnations); Poivre; Piment et Chocolat – four lovely scents that cover a range of florals and a chocolate to boot! I feel pretty confident that I, for one, will be pleased by own Valentineal thoughtfulness.

So that's it for me this year. Some more traditional Valentine's recommendations this year. While I'm here, I'll also direct your attention to my Valentine's post from last year, where apparently I also talked about BC, and then wrote about a lot of really great perfumes that I still whole-heartedly endorse, including a list of less conventional recommendations.