Perfuming The Hunger Games: Scenty Thoughts and Drawing!

Thoughts, Perfumey and Not, on Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games, Part 2

Part 2: Hunger Games Related Musings, Olfactory and Auditory

So, now that I've said all that about Katniss and YA and Feminism in Part 1, let's talk perfume, a little music, and giveaways, shall we?

I've been thinking about what sorts of scents I would associate with the characters, because if I try to imagine the perfumes that would actually appear in the word of The Hunger Games, all I can imagine is horrible, fake, overly sugary fruity florals scents coating the Capitol, like the worst collection of boring celebrity scents in history. Seriously -- can't you just see someone suggesting to Cinna that Katniss needed a celebrity scent of her own? She's be as offended by that as by the idea of a Katniss Barbie. FN1. FN2.

He smells like food....hmmmmm...

No, instead I'm focusing on scents I think capture some of the spirit of the characters and world. It is hard not to think of L'Artisan Bois Farine when you see fans wearing buttons that read, "I heart the Boy with the Bread." I also think of it when I think about the District 11 gift to Katniss during the games, which sadly did not make the film. FN3. My other option was the intensely sweet marshmallow of By Kilian Love because I always think of Peeta as kind of soft and sugary. I don't mean that in a bad way; softness is a rare and delightful find in any man, and particularly here in a romantic lead. Even if that softness is worn away somewhat by circumstances, it is wonderful to think of the Girl on Fire ending up with the boy who frosts the beautiful cakes for the bakery windows. He isn't even the stereotypical bad boy baker/chef. He's sweet, vulnerable.

As for the Girl on Fire, I skip directly to CB I Hate Perfumes Fire from Heaven, which I once described as possessing a kind of "holy fire" and is therefore connected with my notion of Katniss as a warrior-saint, the Joan of Arc figure Lawrence referenced. Other options I think of are Comme des Garcons x Artek and Crazy Libulelle Encens Mystic, a solid perfume that was once recommended to me by a reader that I have since enjoyed (and can still be found with a little hunting). FN4. I also sometimes think of DSH Perfumes Festive, but that reminds me more of the triumphant girl on fire than the one strapping herself to trees to sleep and running from fireball cannons.

It's possible that in seeing Katniss only as "The Girl on Fire," I'm playing into a media-centered stereotype, and in turn I miss Katniss in her complexity, Katniss the sister, the daughter, even the lover. The Katniss that exists after she finally lays down her arms, and begins to love. The Katniss who hopes. That girl I want to give something vulnerable, something still innocent. But maybe I'll save that for later.

As for Prim, I like to think she smells of the herbal tinctures and salves that she and her mother use to heal the injured brought to their door. Medicinal but general, a little floral sweet, not foodie sweet.  Pretty, but not beautiful.

I think of JoAnne Bassett's Enchant, though that seems a little to adult in some ways, as is Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 EDP, though that also has a sweet/medicinal/earthy quality I'd look for. What little we see of Primrose is so young and innocent in the first book, I want to put her in some sort of delicate rose scent, something young and sweet but possibly edgy, like Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming?

Speaking of innocence, I have to give Rue a little love, mostly because this will be her only appearance. I love how clever she is, how every part of her life is used to her advantage.  She's a wonderful character, perhaps one of my favorite minor/side characters in all of YA.

For Rue, perhaps, something sweet, smart, acceptably youthful and light but...special. Maybe CB I Hate Perfume Wild Pansy or Borsari Violetta di Parma? I keep wanting to go floral with Rue...perhaps because of Katniss' impulse to honor her with wildflowers.

Generally, when I think of District 12, I cannot help but think it might smell like Olympic Orchid Perfumes Kingston Ferry, because it smells of woods and dampness and hard work to me, though wasn't exactly what Ellen Covey intended, I'd wager. FN5. I guess another way to go would be L'Artisan Al Oudh, which also reminds me of a walk in the woods, but on a dry sunny day...maybe the memory of an almost happy day Katniss spent with Gale hunting, the kind of memory she clings to during the Games?

Which brings me back to Gale. I don't know what to scent Gale as. Is there a scent that captures, in turn, angry, desperate, defiant, lost? I don't know. Maybe Esscentual Alchemy Lumberjack Man? Better to save him for later.

Interestingly, I found a perfumer who has been similarly inspired. SaraWenn Perfume Art popped up in my Hunger Games swag-related searches, and on sheer impulse I ordered some. There are three Hunger Games-inspired scents coming my way: Run Away With Me, Girl on Fire, and The Baker's Boy. And not just for me, dear reader. FOR YOU!

That's right. Once again, it's drawing time here at Feminine Things. Winner will receive a sample of several of the perfumes referenced above, plus a sample of SaraWenn Perfume Art's Girl on Fire, along with a Hunger Games bookmark, mix Cd of songs that remind me of Collin's stories, and yes, even a custom made hammered silver bracelet made by Serenity Storms that reads, May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor.


Perfume! Music! Jewelry! What fan wouldn't want that kind of swag?

So come on: what scents do you associate with Katniss and her band of rebels?

POST A COMMENT ON EITHER PART 1 OR PART 2 OF THIS PIECE talking about Katniss, YA books in general, feminism, perfume, whathaveyou on or before 11:59pm PST on Friday April 6, 2012 to enter. Will ship internationally.

I will leave you now with this, an oldie but goodie, and a song I always associate with Peeta and Katniss.




___________

FN1. This comes on the heels of Lionsgate sending a cease and desist letter to Oxfam/HP Alliance for trying to use the series' popularity as a tool to fight actual hunger because, you know, Hunger is not a Game. And can I just say, thanks HPAlliance! "The Weapon We Have is Love!"



EDITOR'S NOTE:  It appears Lion's Gate has since changed their minds re: OxFam. ('Hunger Games:' Lionsgate relents in charity kerfuffle, LA Times Blog.)

FN2. And before you ask, yes Bella already has a Barbie. In fact, she has two: normal and bridal. Sigh.

FN3. This is what I wore to the release.

FN4. I really need to do a round-up post of solid scents, which I have some of enjoy, and never talk about.

FN5. Reading the books, I kept thinking of The Capitol as being pretty recognizably in the location of Denver and District 12 more like being in West Virginia. Did anyone else think that? I know they filmed in the Appalachia, so I guess Gary Ross did, too. I just wondered.

Today I weigh less than a shadow on the wall, just one more whisper of a voice unheard.

Scent Spotlight on EnVoyage Perfumes L’Emblem Rouge and Giveaway

Shelley Waddington, perfumer of the EnVoyage Perfumes lines, reached out to me recently with an intriguing new offering. Like any good 'fumie, I jumped at the chance to review it.

EnVoyage Perfumes L’Emblem Rouge is part of the Rubicon Collection. This 100% natural scent is a "Deep, Lightly Spiced Rose Soliflor" and is described as follows:

The many meanings that cluster around rose – friendship, passion, love – are fulfilled in L’Emblem Rouge. It incorporates the full scentual and spiritual significance of the rose. Sensual rose set in soft woods, balsam and amber. A modern classic with a timely message. 

Top Notes: Cassie, Mace, Cinnamon, Bitter Orange, Juicy Grapefruit, Green Pepper, Iranian galbanum, Violet, and Cistus Heart Notes: Organic Iranian Rose Otto, Ylang-Ylang, Heliotrope, French Jasmine sambac, Violet, and Honey Base Notes: Guaiacwood, Sandalwood, Copaiba, Vetiver, Cedarwood Virginia, Tolu Balsam, Benzoin Siam, Tonka, Vanilla and Ambergris.

Did anyone call for a spicy rose? Because here it is with emphasis on the woods and spices. I get a lot of wood in the opening, which is a new aspect of roses for me, and I've got a lot of roses. Tonka and cedarwood provide a strong, gently sweet base that comes immediately upon application and feels almost like a dry chocolate powder dusted over rose petals. After a few minutes I also get some bitter orange and grapefruit, which was a unique twist on spicy rose. Over time, L’Emblem Rouge becomes a gently sweet, slightly edible, spice mix with what feels like a rose base.  Despite being a soliflor, the rose here seems less the focus but more the lead partner in an intricate dance.

I tried it next to Teo Cabanel Oha, Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance, DSH Perfumes Dirty Rose, DSH Perfumes Beach Roses, and DSH Perfumes American Beauty, and it was nothing like those . However, as I dug back through my bag of perfumey tricks, I did find a scent it reminded me of, and I think provides an interesting contrast - Tauer Perfumes Une Rose Chyree.

Une Rose Chypree, on me, is a hot sticky (but lovely) mess of cinnamon, labdanum, and patchouli. L’Emblem Rouge has more sweet foodie citrus and wood. "Lightly spiced" is a good description because the spice aspect is gentle and less aggressive than Une Rose Chypree. Now while I love and admire Une Rose Chypree as I do most Tauer Scents, the truth is the gentleness of L’Emblem Rouge makes it infinitely more wearable by the average person. It's a strong, bold, and yet surprisingly accessible scent. Given my choice between a bottle of the each, I would have a difficult time choosing, but think I'd probably go for L’Emblem Rouge.

For any one who has ever thought all naturals were weak and fleeting, lacking both the oomph and staying power of synthetics and mixed ingredient scents, I offer EnVoyage Perfumes L’Emblem Rouge as counter-exhibit A. Beautiful blooming on the skin, moderate to high sillage, and long lasting, L’Emblem Rouge is proof positive that all natural scents can have long lives; a dose from a wand sample lasted on me in excess of six hours, though it stayed relatively close to the skin after about three and a half. Still, in a sprayer? Probably a scent I'd still be catching hints of after a long day at work.

On the whole, I find L’Emblem Rouge artfully composed, and well worth a try. It can be found here.

A beautiful scent alone is a wonderful thing, but L’Emblem Rouge is particularly special because of the generosity of the fine folks at EnVoyage Perfumes. A lifetime gift of five percent of all L’Emblem Rouge proceeds are donated to Broadway Cares, a leading nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization.

I am old enough to remember HIV/AIDS at the height of its prominence in terrorizing the American psyche. I came of age in the late 80s/early 90s, and I have crystal clear memories of the incredible effort put into educating my generation about safer sex practices. I am not HIV+, but I have known and cared greatly for people who were, a few of whom lost their lives to AIDS or AIDS-related complications.

Because of this personal connection, I am incredibly touched by Shelley's efforts. Any time I am having a bad day, it heartens me to be able to look around and think of all the kindnesses we do for one another that aren't necessarily required of us, kindnesses given freely to strangers who will never know us, who will perhaps never meet us, but whose lives are improved by the goodness inherent in our deeds. It is proof that human beings are probably capable of ending most of the strife and pain in the world if we can gather our collective will and marry it to our compassion and ingenuity. In this respect, we are truly and profoundly miraculous.

I can think of a lot of issues that need this kind of collective miracle, but the HIV crisis in Africa would be high on my list of problems that could be solved if we wanted. Yes, there are practical problems: trying to devise distribution chains for medication in remote locations; teaching people all across a continent from a panoply of cultures that are not slaves to time or regiment how to deal with a drug cocktail that requires a consistent routine; overcoming cultural barriers to learning preventative care and safer sex practices; even the basic difficulty of maintaining peace in order to make delivery of materials. These are just a few of the challenges.

Just looking at the meager list I have propounded, I acknowledge: it's a logistical nightmare of epic proportions. But so is the crisis. Too many people -- young and old, men, women, and children -- are dying every day from a disease that the western world has engineered out of terminal status and into a condition treated more as a chronic illness.

Those of us on top have this strange self-delusion that we will always be here. That unearned and unrealistic certainty has been called a lot of things in human history: manifest destiny, American exceptionalism, to name a couple. A good student of history realizes that the circumstances that make up the differences, though, could be reversed on us. Eventually, even Rome fell.  A significant earthquake along the West Coast, a biological agent released widely, or hell, a complete and extended lack of confidence in the market, could cripple an already limping country, and the hysteria and fear that followed could reduce our once great nation, frankly, to so much anarchic dust. In that circumstance, would we really want those with the ability to provide us aid and assistance in our darkest hour to decide that reaching out would be too logistically difficult to bother?

The concept of the veil of ignorance is a simple one: wherever souls come from, the part of you that is your consciousness was born into a particular time and place. That makes some of us inherently safer, healthier, and better off from the moment of inception by sheer dumb luck. That privilege isn't something that was earned, and it could have easily been someone else far less fortunate in your shoes and you in theirs. So imagine, for one moment, that just before your personal die was cast, you had the opportunity to distribute wealth and access and resources and education. Maybe you wouldn't make it exactly equal everywhere, but you'd probably at least ensure that the minimal needs of every person next to be born were met because you could not know which of those people would be you.

Americans are hard-working, but we are also lucky. We have innovated a lot of technology, particularly pharmaceutical advances. We owe it to those born into crippling poverty and resource inequality to meet the challenges that stand between them and basic necessities like food, clean water, shelter, safety, and health care. Not just in this country, but anywhere there are people in the world willing to accept it. I'm not saying we must force other cultures to conform to modernity or western thought to accomplish this; I'm not into naked paternalism or cultural colonization. I am saying, though, that we have a moral obligation to offer some of what we have and to assist those who need and want our help. And that we carry the burnt of that logistical weight, for surely their burden is already more than enough.

But enough politics and philosophy; back to the perfume.

Shelley Waddington has generously provided me a 1ml sample of  L’Emblem Rouge and a mini spray flacon of L’Eau de Emblem Rouge, the hydrosol distilled from the parfum reviewed above, to give away to one lucky winner. I'm adding a CD to the mix to entice you; and this won't be a one of the monthly mixes, but a specially made CD reflecting on the theme of the value and beauty of life and good health we so often take for granted.

Open to all readers anywhere. To enter please post below by: 12:01AM, Friday, September 23, 2011 Pacific Standard Time.

"Tomorrow leave the windows open
As fear grows please hold me in your arms
Won't you help me if you can to shake this anger
I need your gentle hands to keep me calm...
I can't believe you love me
I never thought you'd come
I guess I misjudged love
Between a father and his son.
- "The Last Song," Elton John

Ribbon image courtesy of freizeit.  Chart from the United Nations World Health Organization. Other images from creative commons.

I'm so tired but I can't sleep.

2011 Perfume Challenge Week 17: Monday, 5/2/11, to Saturday, 5/6/11

Pass week! Yeah I know, I'm super weaksauce. This week I wore S-Perfume 100% Love, L'Artisan Vanilia, CB I Hate Black March, Jo Malone Red Roses, and  Juliette Has a Gun Citizen Queen.

What can I say? My only excuse is that it was a sad week, and I needed the comfort.

But hey -- I've got business cards now!

"Standin' on the edge of something much too deep.
It’s funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word
We are screaming inside, but we can’t be heard..."
"I Will Remember You," Sarah McLachlan

We got style, baby, and we know how to use it.

Perfume Challenge Week 15: Monday, 4/11/11, to Friday, 4/15/11

Post early this week because I am off to Seattle for the weekend to celebrate my friend Becca's birthday. I'm stopping off at the in-laws tonight in Olympia, then heading to the big city tomorrow morning to spend two days eating cake, watching movies, going to Pike's Place market, and generally having a good time. I hope the rain lets up, but I'm not counting on it.

Monday: Kenzo Flower - Notes: Wild Hawthorne, Bulgarian Rose, Parma Violet, Cassia, Hedione, Cyclosal, Opoponax, White Musk, Vanilla. You've heard the expression "hit with the pretty stick"? Imagine the stick is a powder puff the size of your head and coated in cake flour. Being hit with that in the face is what spraying three tiny spritzs of Kenzo Flower felt like to me this morning. Seriously.

It was the perfume equivalent of of that moment from "I Love Lucy" where Lucy is working in a candy factory and gets hit in the face with flour. FN1. This isn't to say that I disliked Flower. In fact, here I sit about an hour later, surprised by how much I like it. It's definitely a powdery rose, and though I haven't tried them next to each other, in my mind I keep thinking it's a lot like Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming (or should I say, Miss Charming is a lot like Flower, which was released in 2000, seven years before Miss Charming).

Three hours later: Flower has backed off considerably. Either that, of I've grown immune.

FIFTEEN hours later: Okay I have to mention this. I lay down for bed around 10:30. I sprayed three small sprays on Flower in around 7:30 a.m. As I fold my arms beneath my head, I get this gentle puff for flower prettiness and at first I can't remember where it came from. Then I remember -- I'm still smelling Flower! Note of warning: this one will be with you all.day.long.

Talking about Flower, Bois de Jasmin wrote "Flower is a beautiful example displaying that an impressive sillage and tremendous lasting power do not have to conflict with a nuanced and delicate overall impression." I love that assessment because it sums up my feelings exactly. It's a well-made, pretty scent that lasts and lasts. You just have to be comfortable with your perfume arriving five minutes before you and lingering long after you've departed. An unexpected 3.5 - 4 of 5 nods.

Tuesday: Le Prince Jardinier Labyrinthe Libertin - "Notes: bergamot, caraway, mint, artemisia, basil, orange blossom, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, violet, marigold, cedar, vetiver, iris, boxwood, amber and musk." Advertised as a "green floral," Labyrinthe Libertin is is an earthy floral that still has those clean notes you expect from jasmine, which is the dominate note for me. About a half-hour in, if you shove your nose right up against it, to really breath it in, I get the cedar/musk/vetiver lurking beneath. It makes it a surprisingly warm soapy floral in a way that diverges from the usual spin. ("Throw some dirt in there! More patchouli and moss! We need more moss!") FN2. Round the forty-five minute mark I also got some violet. It's layered with a lot of other things, though, so if you don't normally like jasmine, you might like this one if you approach it with an open mind and willing nose. A nice little scent that I see popping up a discount places around the tubes. If you like florals, I saw the 3.4 oz of this one available for $45, which is half the original retail. Try and it and buy it soon -- I don't expect it to be around much longer. 3.5 of 5 nods.

Wednesday: Red Flower Champa - Notes: Champa flowers, mimosa, jasmine, osmanthus, rose geranium, ylang ylang, palmarossa, clove bud. As a perfume oil, I always find Red Flower organics light but long lasting. If I told you it reminded me of the smell of sweet skin, like that great smell babies have, would that put you off? There was a time when that description would have brought a disgusted crinkle to my nose. I barely remember that time now, like it was another woman in another world.

I think the scent is nice and different from a lot of other things I sniff, but I can't decide if I like it. I think I do? It's so light it's hard to get an impression one way or another. One minute I get a smell one would expect if you made a tea exclusively from the skin of barely ripe peaches. In another I moment I get more green and geranium, and it runs toward the dry herbs and plantlike with fruit around the edges. It's solid and pretty, just very gentle.

If you like subtle, non-aggressive scents, this might as well be holding down the other end of the spectrum from Kenzo Flower. I can attest to the long lasting power of the roll-on perfume oils, because I have the Guaiac. I haven't tried the perfume concentrate sprays, so if you have, I'd love to hear from you. 3 of 5.

Hideous!

Thursday: Pilar & Lucy Tiptoeing through the chambers of the moon - Tuberose, amber, other unidentified notes. The opening on me is a whirl of sugar-free grape lollipop and green tea soda. If I were to peg it to a tuberose, I'd have to say it reminded me more of Prada Infusion de Tubereuse than Robert Piguet Fracas. You know what else I get around the ten minute mark? Civet. And while others might turn away from those fertilizer like base notes, I shove my face further into my arm. If only that part lasted! After about an hour, the amber is stronger than anything else, taking up 70% of the space, with 29% remaining for the balance of tuberose and a meager 1% left for anything else. Also, I completely agree with Scentsibility about the packaging on this one. Yick. (I admit to liking the name, though.) 2 of 5 nods.

Friday: Parfumerie Generale L'eau de Circe - Notes: Damask rose, jasmine, osmanthus, orchid, ylang ylang, white peach leaves, tangerine, patchouli, wood, amber and honey balm Apples, strawberries, peaches and tangerines -- oh my! This is one super sweet fruit cocktail of an opening, sliding within minutes into a powdery presentation of the same. It's so light and sweet I keep thinking it must have been designed for little girls to wear during First Communion and while tossing flower petals at weddings. I know a lot of people love this one, but I just don't see it. It reminds me the disappointment I felt when they made that Nancy Drew movie a few years ago, and Nancy was this wide-eyed innocent, naively placing herself in danger, instead of the intelligent, bold, tough little cookie I loved in the original novels as a girl. Give it a whirl if light, sweet, and innocent floats your boat. If you're looking for Circean  seduction, look elsewhere. 2 of 5 nods.

Winner of the Week: I can't believe it -- Kenzo Flower emerges the winner.  I can tell you I did not expect that on Monday.  I think I'm going to have to pick up a small bottle next time I hit Sephora.

"You and me, we couldn't stand being normal
That's why we, make a good you and me
We both laugh, at the most random situations
That's the key, baby don't you agree?"
~ "You and Me," Plain White T's
___________________________
FN1. While the whining can be grating sometimes, Lucille Ball was a physical comedy genius. Every woman who wants to be funny should watch at least ten episodes of "I Love Lucy." Tell your friends.

FN2. I love dirt/earth notes in scent. LOVE THEM. Probably the easiest way to sell me something is to "throw some dirt in there." That said, it's getting a little played out because it seems like "earthy" or "dirty" is the way to make a complex or 'alternative' model of something otherwise common, like they think they can put a bird on it (see video below) and it suddenly it becomes edgy.

Photos: mtoo, Pilar & Lucy website, and I Love Lucy. Video from IFC

The Monthly Spin: Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

The Monthly Spin is a newly recurring feature on Feminine Things wherein I talked about an album I'm loving and the perfumes I think go with it.

Okay, so this album is from 2009, but I only got it about four months ago. Sue me. Middle Cyclone took years to make, but was well worth the effort; it was nominated for two Grammys: Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package, and is most famous for Case's creation of a piano orchestra in her Vermont barn, where she obtained as many free pianos as she could off Craig's list, eight of which were playable and are used on Middle Cyclone.

Everyone on the planet should go out and purchase it immediately. It is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. It's soulful. It's rich. It's beautiful written. I've seen it described as "elemental" and I totally agree with that assessment.

The lyrics are moving and the music is that rolling rockabilly-esque that makes older rock music still so enjoyable. I don't want to suggest it is rockabilly and country fried rock. It's not. If you are thinking you're getting Social Distortion, The The's tribute to Hank Williams Hanky Panky, or the Old 97s, that's too much country for this. At the same time, I want to put it on the shelf next to those along side The Traveling Wilburys, Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, the new Wanda Jackson album produced by Jack White The Party Ain't Over, Lucinda Williams, and Kristen Hersh. FN1

My favorite tracks are"People Got a Lot of Nerve," a cover of Sparks' "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth," and "This Tornado Loves You." also, you may recognize "I'm an Animal"  from the second season of True Blood.

Recommended if you like: Any of the aforementioned bands, but also Patti Griffith, The Jayhawks, Wilco, the more rockabilly tunes from the White Stripes, Dar Williams' The Honesty Room, Joan Beaz.

While spinning, wear: Earthy or elemental scents, scents you can imagine ripping the roof off one house and leaving the next unscathed, pulling the very earth from the ground and wreaking utter havoc before leaving as though it was only your imagination. In other words, scents that speak to you of exquisite destruction. In my world, that would be things like Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory, CB I Hate Perfume Revelation, Jean Desprez Bala Versailles, Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud.

____________________________________________
FN1 More on the Jackson/White album next month.

I used to think we'd tell the story of us...

Monday, 1/3/11, through Friday, 1/7/11.

Monday: Jo Malone Black Vetiver Café - Coffee with sweetened condensed milk, in a ceramic mug wrapped in a leather cup holder. I had tried this once before and found it wanting. I like it more this time round, but I think there are probably better "vetiver and coffee" scents out there. Can anyone give me other recommendations that combine them both like this does? 3.0 stars.

Tuesday: Shiseido Koto EdC mist A light lovely scent, crisp and clean. I agree with Perfume Shrine that it is a very nice and accessible chypre. 3 of 5 nods.

Wednesday: Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange solid perfume - This is going to sound bad, and I don't want it to: on application it reminds me of the orange-flavored pink bubble gum that used to come with collectable cards. That might sound cheap and plastic and trashy to you, but to me it was a strangely comforting and happy smell. It's a little on the sticky sweet side, so it feels awfully young, but as youth perfumes go, you could do a lot worse. It's a guileless scent. I think of it as a scent costume; not for every day wear, but you never know when you might need to look innocent. 2.5 stars.

Thursday: Annick Goutal Mandragore - Citrusy and light at the opening, the bergamot is strong, and the scent becomes kind of herbal, like a not overly strong tea. Might be nicer in summer than in dead of winter (i.e. now). The top reminded me of a cross between Miller Harris Geranium Bourbon and Miller et Bertaux No. 3 Green, Green, Green, but did not strike me as being either as distinctive or as good as either of those. The bottom reminded me of Jo Malone Orange Blossom, but a weaker version. On the whole this wasn't bad, and I wanted to like it more, but I didn't. Also, like many other reviewers, I gotta say, really lacking in longevity. 3 stars for scent, but 1.5 for lack of lasting power.

Friday: Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud - Immediately sour, deep and yeasty like a good sour beer, then becomes strong and spicy, yet somehow still feminine. It also has a little bit of freshness to it, like chewing on a spearmint leaf. Sadly becomes much less interesting within an hour, and substantially weaker. 2.5 stars.

Favorite of the week: Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud ties Jo Malone Black Vetiver Café in a war of unimpressive acceptableness.

"Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room,
and we're not speaking.
And I'm dying to know:
is it killing you like it's killing me?
I don't know what to say.
It's such a twist of fate.
When it all broke down.
And the story of us
looks a lot like a tragedy now."
~ "The Story of Us," Taylor Swift

Slow like honey, heavy with mood...

Téo Cabanel Oha

Roses are one of my favorite scents. If there’s a rose scent around, I’m going to try it. As my nose has improved, one of the things I’ve noticed is how different roses can be presented, how the use of a Moroccan rose verses a Bulgarian rose changes the to me of a particular scent.

The rose I’m reviewing today is Téo Cabanel Oha. Perfume Posse’s March described Oha as “dark, spicy rose.” Luckyscent offers the follow description

Téo Cabanel Oha is a fresh sweep of bergamot in harmony with a delicate tea aroma. Voluptuous roses from Bulgaria & Morocco and jasmine from Egypt, create its heart of spicy notes enhanced with Guatemala Cardamom. Suddenly, Oha luxuriates in the captivating powdery notes of vanilla, iris, tonka bean and exotic woods lifted by a note of white musk. Transcending time and space this enigmatic perfume will appeal to the woman who likes her fragrance to reflect her own unique personality. Oha is considered to be a sexy, evening scent, but truly you can wear it anytime.

Notes: Bergamot, Tea accord, Bulgarian and Damascus rose, jasmine, cardamom, tonka bean, vanilla, white musk, Exotic woods

The first time I tried Oha, rose wasn’t the first thing to jump out at me. The first thing I thought was “Honey! Wait. Roses? And honey!” The initial application, on me, is very strongly honey like, which I think is the combo of rose and the tea note. After about fifteen minutes the rose takes center stage, deepened by that spicy note. After about an hour, I finally get to the woody/powdery bits and the honeyed rose seems to have disappeared. While it is still a lovely scent, this is one of those scents where I love the initial application so much that I keep reapplying it to have the experience over and over. It is a sensuous experience, conjuring in my mind the soft delicate petals, like velvet, caressed and, briefly, overcome, by a thick flow of affection and sweetness.

Based on what I read about Oha, this was not what I expected from the descriptions. After trying it a couple of times on its own, looking over the notes and other reviews, I decided to try Oha against three others with some similar notes: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz La Rose Fleurette, Parfumerie Generale Brulure de Rose, and Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance. About ten minutes after initial application is similar to Lady Vengeance in some ways, but without the dirty note you get from the heavy patchouli in Lady Vengeance. After half an hour, Oha morphs into something more similar to La Rose Fleurette. By the time an hour passes, Oha no longer resembles any of the three above, and is entirely its own experience. If you like roses, I highly recommend this one, because I do think it is unique and beautiful at each respective turn. To me, that's what makes it special. All the twists and turns in this one make it romantic and sexy, secretive and alluring.

My big secret,
gonna hover over your life,
gonna keep you reaching.
when I'm gone like yesterday,
when I'm high like heaven,
when I'm strong like music
'cause I'm slow like honey,
and heavy with mood.
- "Slow Like Honey," Fiona Apple

Want more? Try reviews of Oha from…
~ I Smell, Therefore I Am here.
~Perfume Posse here.
~ Perfume Critic here.

A half-angel, half-tart.

You shoot me glances and they're so hard to read.
I misconstrue what you mean.

I spent Saturday night at home with friends, coercing them into watching the excellence that is the 1992 Cameron Crowe film, “Singles,” and, as always, thinking about perfume.

The film came out just as I was starting high school, and I'd say was fairly influential on what I expected my twenties to be like. ("Reality Bites" was probably the other hugely influential film.) I try, now, to remember what I wore back then, in high school. I think I mostly smelled like Bath & Body Works Sun-Ripened Raspberry. Occasionally I think there was some Pearberry, Sweet Pea, and Country Apple thrown in there (I bought nothing but pink and red colored body products, apparently), but by and large it was Sun-Ripened Raspberry, day in, day out.

Then in college I swapped over to The Body Shop Vanilla. Vanilla everything. Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. A friend actually teased me about how boring I smelled, to which I retorted at the time that my now-husband had commented that he liked it.

Between college and law school, it was the now defunct Origins Ginger with a Twist. I picked it out for my wedding because ginger is my husband’s favorite things in the world. (The man can eat a *pound* of crystallized ginger in one sitting!) After I discovered Origins canceled it, I bought two bottles in the hopes that it will last me for years now. I wore it the day I got married, so it’s emotionally significant to me.

In fact, as I trip back through memory lane, I remember distinctly wearing three things as a young girl: Revlon’s Charlie, Revlon owned Natural Wonder’s Electric Youth, a fragrance inspired by the Debbie Gibson hit of the same name, and Coty’s Exclamation. You can actually still buy all three, though Electric Youth goes for a pretty penny on Ebay. All I remember about Electric Youth is that it was cloyingly sweet; my father hated it and reworked the lyrics to the eponymous song to indicate as such.

Charlie I remember as being less sweet, but I haven’t sniffed it since I was about twelve. I should really correct that by hitting up the local Walgreens. And Exclamation! I can’t believe it’s still being made. I’ll have to try to catch a whiff of that, too. It will be so strange to smell it all now that I actually know how to smell things.

And speaking of smelling things: Today I’m wearing Juliette Has a Gun Citizen Queen. The actual ad copy is pretty hilarious.

She is not only this edgy lady, or the most glamorous, or the most intimidating, she’s just all that at the same time, a Beauty on her own, impossible to describe… and that’s exactly why she’s so fascinating. Her perfume, first lead to solve the mystery, is an old fashioned leathery Chypre, at the crossroads of modern an classic perfumery. Romeo...be warned! Juliette is back, more uncatchable than ever…

This copy tells you less than nothing about the scent, of course. Luckyscent more helpfully provides the following:

The third weapon in this hip series of rose fragrances is the most powerful one yet: a striking chypre with aldehydic and animalic undertones, a scent at once belonging to an earlier era of classic perfumery and absolutely contemporary. Blended with amber and patchouli, the dark, leathery rose at the center of the composition takes no prisoners. Violet and iris soften the striking mix, adding a charming retro quality to the perfume. Veiled by this delicately powdery accord, the rose is mysterious, elusive, endlessly intriguing.

Notes: Leather, Bulgarian Rose, Iris, Amber, Immortal flowers, Labdanum

Citizen Queen on immediate application is very powdery and flowery on me, kind of like baby powder. Within a few minutes the overly sweet edge comes off, though, which is a good thing. The iris isn’t very obvious on me in application. This chypre obviously contains sandalwood, which is strong on me, and the amber is also strong, with the rose peaking through at the very bottom, giving it a bit of depth. In the middle, the leather note gets stronger on me, and it smells warm and a little spicy, again vastly improving on the initial application. Again, this lessening of the sweetness and warming up on the animalic notes really improves Citizen Queen. Like nineties riot grrrl fashion, which paired flower dresses with combat boots and thermal shirts under t-shirts scrawled with “This is what a feminist looks like!,” Citizen Queen is both traditionally feminine and boldly rejecting the trappings of traditional femininity. Much like its predecessor, Lady Vengeance, what seems pretty and traditionally feminine at the start turns out to be more assertive, independent, and, let’s be honest, a little dirty. And the little dirty bit, as we all know, is what I like best about it.

I know a lot of people have been swapping Citizen Queen away, but I really like it. Not as much as I love Lady Vengeance, but I like it very much. You can buy it from Beautyhabit and Luckyscent, but I got my 100ml bottle, sprayed once, at about two thirds the price!
Do I read you correctly? Lead me directly.
Help me with this part.
Do I hate you? Do I date you?
Do I got a dyslexic heart?
~ Paul Westerberg, "Dyslexic Heart"
Want more reviews of Citizen Queen?
~ Try the Scented Salamander’s review here.
~ A review from I Smell Therefore I Am here.
~Fragrance Bouquet’s review is here.

Perfume Thought of the Day

I was going to try to review Juliette Has a Gun Citizen Queen this evening, but right before I put it on I stuck an altoid in my mouth. Yikes! Nothing will screw up your sniffer like having something with a strong taste in your mouth. Sufficed to say, there is no Citizen Queen review this evening because Citizen Queen + Altoid = olfactory disaster. Keep this in mind if you decide to have lunch with a friend and then hit the perfume counter. Eat a particularly spicy or pungent food, and it can really mess with your perception of the scents you sniff!

Hiatus endeth!

Sorry for the break, dear readers. I am now finished with my 2L finals and will resume my fragrance love documentation.

Generally, I tend to love heavy, dark, rich, strong fragrances, but now that things are getting warm (like 96 degrees with no air conditioning warm), sporting these fragrances seems so...stuffy. So I am now engaging in a search for lovely light summer scents. Whilst I and my credit cards embark on that create experiment, I offer up my "So Far 2008" list, the list of fragrances I've acquired thus far this year:

First Quarter

1. Annick Goutal Songes (x2 - great deal!)
2. CK Euphoria (Yick! What a mistake that was!)
3. Gap So Pink! (I have no excuses for my fondness)
4. L'Artisan Dzing!
5. Lorenzo Villoresi Alamut
6. Origins Ginger With a Twist

Second Quarter

1. CB I Hate Perfume Smokey Tabacco Accord
2. Chanel No. 5 EDT
3. DK Black Cashmere
4. Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance
5. Origins Ginger with a Twist (2nd bottle b/c now discontinued)
6. Red Flower organic Guaiac

This is not counting decants, samples, etc. Just full bottled purchases... Wow. More engaged than certainly I would have ever expected given that I accidented my way into this via wanting to buy myself a gift of perfume for my 30th birthday (just this past Spring). And, of course, I still have a long list of more scents I love/want!

Three Sisters

So in all my weird hidden girliness, I have a weakness for rose scents. Such a weakness that in the short period I’ve been acquiring perfume samples, I ended up with several rose scents. So today I decided to try three of them — Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance, Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming, the new Chloé EDP — to see which one was worth the $80+ plunge.

The Darkening of the Light
Lady Vengeance is part of a five perfume Shakespeare-inspired series roll out. Here’s the ad copy:

The perfume with a rich and sophisticated trail. The expression of undeniable femininity, confidence and divinely sensual. The fragrance of a lady for whom the art of seduction bares no secret. You can smell... you can dream...but it's all in her hands. The very elegant but thorny Bulgarian Rose marries patchouli and vanilla to draw this fine elegance, both contemporary and inevitable.

I love Lady Vengeance. It’s rose, true, but also more. It starts sweet, but quickly descends into a sour little undernote. I smell it hit the middle notes and it turns vaguely funeral, invoking a kind of iron bitterness, smelling the metallic way biting your tongue bloody tastes. After that shock of blood passes it settle into a sweet and spicy end. As roses go, this is a dark little number, and when I smell it, I hear Concrete Blonde in my head.

Smile Like You Mean It
Miss Charming is described as follows:

The perfume of a virgin witch, docile and provocative, elegant and sensual. One instant, holding up the pressures of the world and the next, crying hot tears over the death of Enzo, her bowl fish! A joyful interpretation of the Moroccan Rose, musk and airs of wild fruits. A fragrance that makes up ingenuousness and lucidity.

On me it reads as rose and honey, but turns powdery and more tangy sweet on the dry down, the same sweetness you smell in fresh orange juice. Compared to Lady Vengeance, it is lighter and sweeter. Miss Charming is what I think of as more classically rose.

You can read an additional review of both Miss Charming and Lady Vengeance from Robin at Now Smell This! here.

Love Me, Love Me, Say that You Love Me
 I decided to give Chloé EDP a chance despite the scorching review Chandler Burr gave it. As a little girl, I really enjoyed the cheap drugstore Chloé, and so I figured giving the tiny sampler a go could not hurt anyone. Here's the copy shtick:

A new fragrance that encapsulates Chloe's youthful and contemporary appeal launched this month. Robertet perfumers Michel Almairac and Amandine Marie combined hints of peony and lychee with the embellishment of springtime freesia. The distinctive character of a rich rose is accompanied by magnolia and lily of the valley, along with subtle warm amber and cedar.

It was actually one of the first roses I tried, and smelling it now, next to the others only a couple of months later, is an interesting experience. Next to the Juliettes (or as I like to think of them, Rose-Red and Snow-White respectively), it has a hollow smell to it. Reviews have described it as synthetic, and maybe that is what it is, but to me it has a clean smell like you find in lemon based organic cleansers. Not sweet, but not soapy either. Instead, tall and angular, like one of the mod dresses they used to dress Twiggy in. Also, while Chloé lasted the longest of the three at a good six hours, what you smell up front is what you get. This is a one note song.

Final Verdict
As much as I enjoyed Miss Charming for being exactly that, charming, and as interesting as I find Chloé interesting in its comparative 60’s model stickfigure style, I decided to card down for Lady Vengeance. I’m not tall and skinny like Chloé, and I’m just not nice enough to be Miss Charming. I never was. But dark, angry and stubborn, misunderstood but really wanting to be good? Lady Vengeance, we were made for each other.

A Scent -- Love!

I have a new hobby...one that I actually enjoy talking about, so I thought I’d do that now. I am a burgeoning perfumista.

Yep, you read that right. Though not much of a traditionally girly girl, I have gotten into perfume. One of the regular bloggers for Now Smell This! works part-time in my office, and she got me into it. Now I am a fully fledged, blog reading, scent reviewing level 2/3 perfumista. Partly because I love scent, and I have a VERY STRONG olfactorial memory. Partly because smelling nice makes me feel so pretty, no matter how else I might look or feel.

The tricky thing about being a perfumista? Expensive. Another problem? I don’t speak French. You’d be shocked how much this matters, but hey, buying perfume internationally online means you really need some French. I have managed to satiate my obsessive need to try new fragrances, to experience them bloom and settle on my skin, by indulging myself not in $100+ bottles, but in $3-9 samples from Ebay, Lucky Scent, and The Perfumed Court and direct from perfumers themselves.

And, yeah, okay, I admit that I have now acquired a few bottles of extremely niche, hard to find in the real world, small perfumery too-elite/rare/small-for-department-store-sale perfume. I did pre-order Luca Turin’s anxiously awaited book. And I do now feel practically naked if I leave the house without picking a scent to wear for the day. On two separate occasions I have actually made a mad mid-day dash home to correct such an obvious oversight. And I did start a personal database of scents I want, scents I have, my personal rating, what I think they smell like (spec. notes, also associations), the notes listed by the perfumer, cost, where I got it from, etc.

So okay, I admit it. I am waist-deep into perfumista world. I did identify with, and laugh at, Lee’s post on Perfume Posse the other day. I genuinely love discovering new scents that make me feel pretty or feminine or fresh or sexy or cozy...I could go on and on. Right now, I’m sporting Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’s The Vert. My current reigning fav, though, is L’Artisan's Dzing!, though Romano Ricci’s Juliette Has a Gun: Lady Vengeance is running a close second. I have not had a chance to try Juliette Has a Gun: Miss Charming yet, but I suspect I will probably like it, too. I already broke down and bought Dzing! (though I got a great deal on Ebay) because L’Artisan has cut the 50ml bottle (originally threatening to cut it completely, then returning with only the 100ml) and I was afraid it would go away if I waited. Now I have to try for a measure of restraint before indulging the shift from winter/wet spring scents into wild, fresh summer scent.

Thank god for samples, bottle shares, and swapping boards.