Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn...

On moving, the Aurora, Colorado shooting, and DSH Perfumes Vanille Botanique

Dear reader:

This is a three-part post. It is long. (What can I say? I missed you!)  Feel free to skip ahead to the perfume if you want. Everyone else, hang on, and remember: keep your arms and legs inside the car at all time. <g>

Part One: On Moving.

That's great! It starts with an earth quake, birds and snakes and airplanes. Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
~ "It's The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," R.E.M.

My old original LC mail box!
Goodbye forever!

Rejoice and glad tidings, for I have a place to live! For those of you who know nothing about the Portland real estate market, let me tell you a harrowing tale of a town where young people come to retire, no one wants to buy, and the rental market is a brutal, awful place. Luckily, David and I found a lovely house with a week to spare. We have to be off campus on August 1, so we are in the midst of a massive move. Like everything else in the new economy, we found the house through friends, and we are living with friends because (1) he's starting school so we could use the rental discount, and (2) after being in a fishbowl, we would probably die if suddenly we were locked in a room with just each other day in, day out after a decade of constant visits from friends. We need some transition time.

We are moving into a lovely one and a half story. We have a deck. We have fruit trees (green apple, plum). We have a fireplace, dishwasher, and a clothes washer/dryer of our own. There are flowerbeds for me to plant and walls for me to decorate and at the holidays, I can actually put up decorations people can see. I will finally be able to get a welcome mat.

Moving is tiring...

Group house or not, I feel awfully grown-up all the sudden. FN1. It's not quite how I imagined my life as a kid. I mean, I remember my parents when they were my age, and I am still a lot less 'grown-up' than they were at the time. But I'm a lot happier and my life is full of good friends and laughter and love, so as far as I'm concerned, I ended up in a much better place than the place I thought I wanted to be.

Hmmmm. I believe there's an Amanda Palmer song in there somewhere. FN2. That's appropriate, since I saw her last weekend. It was a small venue show to raise money Literacy Bridge, an organization that provides a "talking book" to help spread educational programming in Africa (best practices for pre/post-natal care, subsistence farming, etc.). The whole thing was terrific, especially the cause involved. The tickets were a belated birthday present from El Hubs, and it was a great night/gift and our local friends, The Doubleclicks, were the opener.

Part Two: On The Aurora, Colorado shooting.

"Sometimes I feel like I can't even sing. I'm very scared for this world."
~ "You are Everything," R.E.M.

Before I get to the perfume in this post (and yes, I'll eventually get there), I wanted to say a few words about the Aurora, Colorado shootings. I bring this up in part because Amanda talked about it a lot at the show, and also because I'd be thinking about it regardless.

Depending on how you count, this is the fifth, sixth, or hundred and twelfth mass shooting since Columbine. FN3. FN4. I know we spend a lot of time on the "why?," but if we are trying to figure out what makes someone crazy and destructive, while that question is worth exploring, it is probably besides the point. There have always been and will always be crazy people, destructive people, people who are not satisfied with killing themselves and want to take others with them. Why would they hurt others and/or hurt themselves? There are socio-cultural debates about the state of mental health care, hopelessness and disconnection in the digital millennium, and the fetishization of violence that we could talk about for hours. Me? I just keep hearing, "I Don't Like Mondays" in my head. Stupid, but true.

Ukuleles save lives!

We keep asking these questions because we all want answers. We want a solution, something that makes us feel safer and helps the world make a little more sense. We want to feel like there is something we can do, actively do, that gives us back our power over the insanity of the world. I get that, too. I feel it as much as the next person.

The question is: what concrete thing can you and I do to make a difference?

When you sit and ask yourself, "Why is this happening so much now? Why is the impact so much larger now than when people went crazy in the past?", I think we all have to own the fact that the proliferation of guns, specifically automatic and semi-automatic guns, is 80% of the answer. I'm not saying someone can't do a lot of damage without one six round revolver, but if you want to know why the number of injured and dead keeps going up and up, I think we all see this is a huge part of the problem.

Now, I am not anti-gun. Yes, you read that right. Not against personal gun ownership. Given my general leftie swerve, this probably surprises many of you. Part of it is my upbringing, as I was raised in a world where every man I knew was a cop, or in the military or a sport hunter or a combination thereof. In my mind, it felt like gun ownership was something that came with adulthood, like getting a driver's license or drinking alcohol. Grown-ups had guns. All of them. FN5. My house came replete with a plethora of guns, including an AR-15, one other guns we know was used in Aurora.

This assault rifle, which had *no business* in my suburban home for a lot of reasons, was used throughout most of my life to prop up a fan next to my parents bed so the fan blew directly on my father while he slept. "Be careful getting out of bed on that side," they'd tell John and I, "there's a gun over there." John and I were raised with what I believe was a healthy if somewhat non-specific fear of guns, taught to think of them with the same kind of fear one treats a poisonous snake; it lives over there, stay away and don't even come close to it, it could kill you if you touch it.

The result of this upbringing is: I know how to shoot a gun. I do not own or carry one, but if I felt compelled to, I'd be fine with it. David doesn't have a gun, but it would not have been a barrier to our relationship if he had. Having a gun in a home doesn't scare me or worry me; I just don't really see the reason to have one. I don't need it for work, like most of the people I grew up with, and I'm not interested in sport hunting, like the rest of the people I grew up with, because I have other hobbies. In my mind, a gun is a tool for a specific purpose, and since my life does not contain such a purpose, it doesn't contain a gun. If that were to change, I'd be fine with it.

So when I tell you that the solution is the complete ban on the sale of some weapons to the general population, I need you to understand that it has nothing to do with me hating guns or wanting to take your guns. When I tell you that background checks and gun control laws and waiting periods are the key to a better world, it is not because I am some knee-jerk reactionary hater when it comes to guns. I just generally believe that it should not be easier for me to go buy a gun than it is to buy Sudafed. I believe those who have a documentable propensity toward violence or mental instability do not need 24/7 immediate access to fast-firing, high volume weaponry.

This doesn't seem like a political issue to me. It seems like common sense. It has become a political issue because gun manufacturers have a lot of money and they know how and where to spend it. We have ways to fight them, though. It's our vote. Politicians don't like being laid off any more than the next person. If you believe in gun control, tell you elected representatives that this issue matters to you and will be an issue you follow when it comes to their donations and voting record. You can find out who your reps are here (Fed and State), and check their voting records on any issue here (Fed) and get their record as it relates to gun control (and any other issue) through their organization report cards here. Your voice does matter, and let's face it: all the money in the world can't save a politician we choose not to vote for.

Though I don't think Jim Morrison meant it quite this way, I am reminded in this moment: "They've got the guns but we've got the numbers." Or, to put it another way, "I believe in peace, bitch." Thanks, Tori Amos. You always know how to say what I'm feeling with a twisted flair.

We need more gun control. More guns will not result in less violence. And for anyone who thinks armed civilians in the theatre could have stopped this incident, I will only note the following: 1. the theater had a sign up telling gun owners to leave their weapons in their cars, so any law abiding citizen would have been unarmed anyway; (2) two members of the military were shot and killed in the incident. All the training in the world, including how to avoid live fire, isn't going to save you in a crowded, smokey stampede; (3) even the best trained people will struggle with a surprise attack requiring a response that includes accurate shooting in a moving crowd in a smoke filled room. More guns would have meant more people shot. Again, we're not talking about rocket science. This isn't a movie; it's real life. Common sense says more shooters, no matter how well trained, experienced, and/or armed they were, would have meant more wounded, more dead.

The answer isn't more guns. It's fewer guns.

Well, that was decidedly non-perfumey, wasn't it? So let's talk about what I'm wearing right now.

Part Three: A Review of DSH Perfumes Vanille Botanique, aka "Dear gods in the ether, where have you been all my life?"

The world is collapsing around our ears. I turned up the radio but I can't hear it..."
~ "Radio Song," R.E.M.

As we make our move today, I am currently sporting Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's Vanille Botanique, a 100% botanical designed for Indiescents. DSH Perfumes describes it as:

Vanille Botanique is a luscious, balsamic vanilla in the classical style. A soft jasmine heart and bergamot top note balance and round out the bouquet. Such deliciousness! 

Top notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Rosewood (bois de rose)
Middle notes: Bulgarian Rose Absolute, French Beeswax, Grandiflorum Jasmine
Base notes: Australian Sandalwood, Buddahwood, Civet, Labdanum, Peru Balsam, Siam Benzoin, Tahitian Vanilla, Tolu Balsam, Vanilla Absolute

Indiescents' description adds the following: "Rich, decadent vintage style vanilla perfume; all botanical. Subtle citrus in the top, warm, sensuous florals mixed with rich gourmand notes in the heart and luxurious base of balsams, resins and of course vanilla."

So now we have the perfumer's description, some notes, and some ad copy, let's talk vanilla perfume for a second, shall we? Lots of houses make vanilla perfume. It's, ummmmm, how do I say this....abundant almost to the point of being unwieldy. People love the way baked goods and old books and sweet cocktails smell, and every tom, dick, and bath and body place in the mall will tell you that this or that vanilla is a well-paced selling standard for them. I think most fragrance and flavor companies would bear me out when I tell you that vanilla/vanillin, real or synthetic, is a primary note available in abundance.

Because of that, it's a crowded field out there -- good, bad, and ugly. So I'll tell you right now that are already a number of good vanillas to be had. My personal favs are, in no particular order: Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise, Atelier Cologne Vanille Incenseé, Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille, L'Artisan Vanilia. I am happy to report Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has once again found a way to seperate me from my hard earned dough with Vanille Botanique, which will round out my All-Time, Top Five Des(se)rt Island vanilla scents. Releasing at Number Five, with a bullet.

Why am I so quick to proclaims its supremacy? In keeping with the theme, here are my top five reasons.

1. Vanille Botanique is so warm! Vanille Botanique is almost a hot scent on my skin. It works the way I'd expect a hot pepper taste to translate into perfume. It rises in smexy wafts from my arm in a way that is decidedly unfoodie. I bet it's the civet in the base that's making me feel all ha-cha-cha about it, but about a half hour in -- wow, do I want to have sex wearing this perfume. (There, I said it). It smells the way I'd write a scene with people licking vanilla frosting off each other. I know, I know. You're taken aback by my frank dirtiness, but there it is. What can I say? I learned it by reading you, Chandler Burr.

Spray sample from Indiescents.
GET ONE TODAY!

2. Vanille Botanique is strong. I mean this in a good way. Not like, "Hi, I'm here to knock you down with my perfume," but more, "Who was that masked woman leaving a terrific scent wake behind her!?!" When it comes to Vanille Botanique, a little dab (or spray) will do you; the scent keeps blooming. Vanille Botanique is a scent that will love you for a long time (seriously, why am I being so dirty!?!), and for me that makes the price point totally worth it. I'll buy a bottle and it will last me forever. FN6.

3. In no way does Vanille Botanique smell fake. There are so many vanillas out there that smell like cleaner, or bathroom spray, or cheap candle, or floor wax. This is definitively not one of them. It smells beautifully natural, and if you were trying to sell me on the differences/purposes/superiority of pure botanicals, this would be a good scent to point to.

4. Vanille  Botanique is vanilla, yes, but so much more. It's not foodie. I can't believe it is so strongly vanilla and I do not get food at all. No candy, no cocktail, no baked goods. It's -- dare I say it? -- floral, but without being very green, like L'Artisan Vanilia is. The opening is lemons and roses and vanilla bean pod skins, not something to put into food and drink. It is more something I'd expect to get from a beautiful floral centerpiece. The middle is dry and light, without being angular and open like Vanille Incenseé. Some aspects as almost...I don't want to say soapy because it has potentially negative connotations, but yes, soapy. This is not the vanilla of your local bakery or your mom's kitchen, and even if you think it is, I challenge you to smell deeper, because there is simply something more about Vanille Botanique.

5. Vanille Botanique is the vanilla you've been searching for. If you're one of those people who always tries a vanilla, especially ones that get continually high praise, and think, "This is close to what I want, but not exactly what I was looking for," I bet this is your huckleberry. It is just so damned beautiful that I keep thinking, "How did I not know I wanted this?" But that's the truth. As someone who loves vanillas and tries them at all price points and in lots of forms, I didn't even know vanilla could smell like this -- dirty and hot and sexy, of earth and sweat and skin and very much alive. Perfume is amazing that way, isn't it?  You think you know what there is to know about a thing and then, bam! A whole new world opens up.

Bottom line? Get some DSH Perfumes Vanille Botanique. It's terrific.

Five Nods. No question.

Vanille Botanique sells from Indiescents at 30ml for $130.00. You can also get samples there. You can also go straight to DSH Perfumes, where the scent is available as a body wash, shea butter body cream, body lotion, massage oil, a water-based spray concentrate, and in a couple of EdP sizes.

Want more? Try....
~ a review from Perfume Pharmer
~ a review from *jen at This Blog Really Stinks!
~ a review from CaFleureBon
~ a review from Victoria at EauMG
~ a review from Trish Vawter in The Perfume Magazine

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F1. Also all our roommates are 26 or older, so this isn't your typical college-aged group house.

FN2. Video of said song...





FN3. I seriously do not understand how people can remember Columbine, Virgina Tech, Congresswoman Giffords, and Batman, but somehow forget that time a woman-hating lunatic used three guns to shoot up an LA Fitness in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I think it is because only three people died and nine were wounded, because otherwise it was an equally terrifying attack on a benign public location where people generally do not expect to be attacked and believe they are safe. Also, the shooter killed himself, so there was no meal of a trial for the 24-hour news cycle to feed on. But seriously? Dude killed several women and would have killed several more because 1. he was crazy, and 2. he couldn't get laid. (No, really. That's the reason. He said so in videos and letters.) In my mind, this is also a huge tragedy.

FN4. The cynical feminist in me requires I also tell you that part of me believes the reason no one cares about this shooting was because it was a clear example of misogyny, and no one in America cares about that, because our society is perfectly fine with hatred and violence against women, even when it costs women their lives. She needs to say that, just for the record.

FN5. Don't ask me how it escaped my attention that few women I knew had guns. They all knew how to shoot them and had access to them in their homes, so I guess I always felt like they 'had guns' in the same way that two people sharing a car both 'have a car.'

FN6. Incidentally, I will say that I find this almost universally true with my DSH perfumes. They have great longevity and good sillage and I have never regretted a single purchase, which is impressive since I went nuts during the site redesign sale and now have about 12 different scents in roller form.

All photos were taken by me. The video belongs to Amanda Palmer.

The Monthly Spin: The Band Perry - Self-Titled

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

I got a little behind in my monthly spin posting, though not in my listening to new music. To make it up to you, lovely reader, I'll be posting one a week for a couple of weeks.

If you listen to any kind of mix station, you've probably already heard the music of three Perry siblings of Greeneville, Tennessee, even though you may not realize it. The remix of their double platinum country single "If I Die Young," which was written by the lead-singing eldest Perry, Kimberly, made it to #4 on the US Charts, while the original country mix was #2 on US Country. Personally I feel like you can't turn on the radio without hearing "If I Die Young," placing it in the category with current radio-ad-naseums like Katy Perry's "Firework" and Lady GaGa's "Edge of Glory." FN1.

As catchy as "If I Die Young" is, I hope those sick of it will look past it to the actual album, which was released way back on October 12, 2010. Setting aside the other two hits, "You Lie" and "Hip to My Heart," the remaining tracks are just as good or better. My personal favs are "Lasso," "Postcard from Paris," and "Walk Me Down the Middle." And, okay, yes, also "You Lie," which is why I got the album in the first place. Because, let's face it, I love wordy cleverness -- and also, she knows there's cheating because she detects foreign perfume! J'accuse!





I think the eponymous album is a great first effort from a relatively young trio. Okay, yes, it's not the Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces, but remember that their first charting albums was also their third full length effort. Compared to Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, this is about par, so my hopes are high for future Perry Band developments.


Recommended if you like:  Dixie Chicks, Taylor Swift, Patti Griffin, Sugarland, Thea Gilmore, Lady Antebellum, Bonnie Raitt

While spinning, wear: The album has a youthful naivte about it that I find charming and youthful, if naive. Scents I find charming in their innocence.  For me, that means: Demeter Fragrance Library Fresh Hay, Ava Luxe Milk, DSH Spring Moss, L'Artisan L’Eau de Jatamansi.
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FN1. I happen to like all three of these songs, for the record. (Sorry, Jill.) But even I will be the first to admit that they are all severely overplayed.

I'm gonna love you with my hands tied.

Perfume Challenge Week 34: Monday, 9/5/11, to Friday, 9/9/11

Criminy, dear reader! Why is it so fracking hot in the PNW? Seriously...it needs to stop. I honestly can't even sleep before one in the morning.

Quileute performers...

At least I was spared the brunt of the 96+ degrees of Portland this past weekend by heading up to the Olympic Peninsula with my friend Tiffani. What was I doing there, you ask? Engaging in some vampire-related shenanigans, which included a discussion session with Natalie Wilson, professor of literature and Women's studies and author of the ah-mazing feminist work in Seduced by Twilight, which is chock-o-block full of oppression and privilege critique of the book series.

I also got to shake my groove thing with Hilly and Hannah from The Hillywood Show, have a one-on-one chat with York Baur, director of Twilight in Forks, and, oh yeah, I got to meet Veronica Blake, who is SUPER NICE. One of the highlights had to be attending a performance of traditional dance and storytelling by tribal members of the Quileute Nation. And that's not counting the cool people from all over the country who showed up to hang out and do ridiculous things with us (hi peeps!).

So, you know, a typical weekend in the life of your intrepid blogger.

Monday: Penhaligon's Bluebell - Created in 1978, the pure and unadulterated distillation of the scent of bluebell woods. Notes: Citrus, Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley, Cyclamen, Jasmine, Rose, Galbanum, Clove, Cinnamon.

I'm trying this and tomorrow offering back to back because I picked them us specifically to try together. (Though Jessica at NST! already beat me to it.) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, though, and great minds think alike, yada-yada-yada -- I'm doing it anyway. So here we go.

Olympic Forests.

Will you think I'm crazy if I tell you I've tried Penhaligon's Bluebell three times and I keep getting cinnamon and ground mustard? Or maybe it's mustard greens? I've tried it three full times to be sure. Whatever is happening here for me is a spicy foodie scent, more edible floral than decorative floral. Maybe it's because the opening is very green on me; this is one of the greenest flower scents I've tried. I also pick up a lot of crisp green apple, which must be the galbanum.

I admit to not having a huge amount of experience with bluebells, but I can't describe this as floral. It is all spices and greens on me. Now, having said that, the temperature here is (in my opinion) an inhuman very high eighties/mid-nineties this week, and this scent is excellent for hot weather. While it's pretty and interesting all the time, I took it camping with me this weekend and it bloomed beautifully on my warm skin. If I had a bottle this week I'd throw it in the freezer and spray it on lightly every time the heat was overwhelming.

Unfortunately, it's after about fifteen minutes that I hit a problem. The spicy edges I love up top give way to a gentle close-to-the-skin scent that compared the va-va-va-voom of the initial application seems wimpy by comparison. So much potential comes to nothing in the long run as the scent turns to this polite unassuming flutter. Still true, not overly sweet, but just too damn nice a follow-up to the beginning. 3.5 nods for the fall flat, which hurts after the superb opening.

Tuesday: Jo Malone Wild Bluebell - An imaginative scent, drenched in the delicate sweetness of sapphire blooms. And wild, because it's a pretty quirky take, inspired by a wickedly whimsical, contemporary fairytale starring Wild Bluebell herself. With persimmon, lily of the valley and eglantine, its lush transparency is decidedly naughty...but nice.

First Beach in La Push, WA

Now here is a floral bluebell, and one I would also recommend for particularly warm weather. The word whimsical is a good word -- strong, flirty, floral. Sweet in the floral way, there is nothing particularly spicy or foodie about this. The closest Wild Bluebell gets to foodie is the fruity persimmon notes rounding out the middle and end of the drydown. I know Jessica preferred the Penhaligon's and thought the Jo Malone was not all that distinctive, I really like it. As florals go, this is very pretty, without feeling youthful. 4 of 5 nods.

Wednesday: Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea - Notes: figs, osmanthus, davana, tea.

Let's talk fig tea, shall we? I have never actually drank a fig tea. To be perfectly honest with you, reader, I'm a hard sell on the tea in general. I am by nature a multiple shots of espresso swilling fool, who is perfectly content to never understand the propriety or civility or comfort to be found in a 'nice cuppa tea.' I have, however, a soft spot in my olfactory heart for tea scents, which I enjoy sniffing significantly more than the prospect of consuming tea. The tea part of Fig-Tea is pret-tay nice.

But is it figgy? (Which was why I got the sample -- a quest for more figs to love!) Yes, it is figgy, but not edibly so. It doesn't feel like biting into the fruit, or eating a piece of toast with fig jam smeared on it. Instead it smells like, well, fig tea. It's got a nice dry aspect that leans toward the sophisticated, it isn't gourmandly sweet, and generally feels like a mature scent. Not grown-up in a sexy way, but grown-up in a "Here's to the Ladies Who Lunch" kind of way. Respectable, poised, put together. It smells like a more put together woman than I will ever be, like that montage of women getting dressed at the beginning of The Devil Wears Prada which made me feel permanently twelve. I just don't feel like I ever project the kind of image this scent does with. I like it; I think it's lovely. Sadly, I just can't see it on me, which is too bad because at $35 for 30ml it is very reasonably priced. 3.5 of 5 nods.

Thursday: Frederic Malle L'Eau d'Hiver - Created by Jean Claude Ellena. Notes: bergamot, angelica, iris, hawthorn, jasmine, honey, carnation, heliotrope, caramel and musk.

Robin at NST! called it a "sheer, understated perfume" and I agree. I actually risked wearing this one to work, feeling it was light enough I could get past the scent inspection. FN1. I get a lot of iris and, yes, I can now also identify the carnation here. For something so floral and decidedly feminine, it is a very light and unassuming scent. Angelica and honey are also super evident on me after about an hour but the musk stays safely buried underneath, which for this scent is a good thing. I never thought I'd say, "This Frederic Malle would be great for a young girl!" but here's one that would, which isn't to say it is only nice for young girls, but I do think it would make a nice high quality gift for a woman of any age, and that's a rare get. 4 of 5 nods.

Threat meter high!

Friday: Le Labo Fleur d'Oranger 27 - Created by creator Françoise Caron. Notes: bergamot, petitgrain, grapefruit, amber, musk and vetiver.

Less edibly orange than Jo Malone Orange Blossom (which I own), less bitter than L'Artisan Fleur d'Oranger (for which I have an unrepentant lack of appreciation), Fleur d'Oranger 27 hits an enjoyable sweet spot between the two thanks to the vetiver base and a sweetness that comes on the form of amber, rather than a foodie vanilla or fruit sweetness. I really enjoy this despite it being almost too polite, perfect for an upstanding, regular Sunday church attendee complete with big hat, white gloves, and pearls. I'd tell you it's pretty, but that's too pedestrian; it's more notable for its elegant propriety. Five hours in and still very apparent on my skin even out of a small wand sampler, this is one orange flower that will definitely stick with you.

 If you like scents of this stripe, I really recommend you try this one. It's a little on the pricey side, but with the staying power being so significant off even a small application, a single bottle would delight you for years. (You could probably also get away with a 10-15ml decant for a good long while.) I'll also say that I appreciate the minimalist packaging of the Le Labo line. What some people might find ugly or frumpy, I find classic and appealing in its simplicity.  4 of 5 nods.

Winner of the Week: This probably won't make any sense to you after the reviews, but the winner is still Penhaligon's Bluebell for the great opening. I'll probably never own it, but those for few moments make it an Icarus in my scent pantheon; it may have landed with a spectacular failure, but for a brief time, the ascent was beautiful to behold.

Twilight CosPlayers -- yes really!

"Got my addictions.
(My addictions.)
And I love to fix 'em.
(And I love to fix 'em.)
No one's perfect."
~ "Teeth," Lady GaGa

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FN1. Only half kidding here. One of the bosses gave me a pointed nose crinkle last week when I accident wore some Bond no. 9 New Haarlem in because I had a meeting right after work and sprayed it on before work without thinking. A VISIBLE NOSE CRINKLE at a scent made of patchouli, vanilla, and coffee. Seriously? In Portland!?! You could practically rename the scent Bond no. 9 Portlandia, that is how much those scents are synonymous with our hippie-flailing, coffee-swilling, food-cart-loving town. It is my scent most guaranteed to be liked and complimented here in any weather conditions. I wanted to tell her to GO PUT A BIRD ON IT, which I think, in the right tone and context, is a great hipster euphemism for "f--- off."

All photos taken by the author.

Lately I’ve been living for the weekend...

Perfume Challenge Week 30: Monday, 8/8/11, to Friday, 8/12/11

Thanks to Undina, I now have wonderful ammo cases to store my samples in. I initial bought *muffled sounds* hundred sample slots worth, and I managed to get my estimate pretty close. I also managed to get some of them organized by house immediately, which was great for being able to, you know, find things. Now I need about twice as many boxes so I can take all the scents I don't have enough of to merit a house section and break them up by notes. Because I'm completely neurotic, and as Rob Gordon so succinctly put it in High Fidelity, "Fetish properties are not unlike porn. I'd feel guilty taking their money, if I wasn't… well… kinda one of them."

I'll try to post some photos next week, but if you look at Undina's post you get the basic idea. I need more of those grey ones though...

Perfume has taught me so many things. One of them is that the word 'need' is entirely relative.

Monday: L'Artisan Navegar - Notes: Lime, Red pepper, Ginger, Rhum, Star anise, Black pepper, Cedarwood, Guaiac wood, Incense. 

Lime and pepper are all over this opening, and the woody base is very strong on me. It's like a super classy version pencil shavings (always my thought when it comes to cedar) but then it turns into a pretty lime flower.  I find this less about the fruit and more about the plant when it comes to the lime aspect which I don't often encounter. (It's usually all about the fruit flesh or the fruit peel, or even the fruit leaf...but never the flower.) This is exactly what I wanted Jo Malone Lime Basil & Mandarin to be. Refined and elegant, yet youthful. Pret-tay nice. 4 of 5 nods.

Tuesday: Atelier Cologne Grand Neroli - A romantic ingenue; wraps elegant orange blossom flower around layers of clean herbal notes, warm musks and addictive brushstrokes of vanilla.” Additional notes include neroli, lemon, bergamot, petitgrain galbanum, moss, birch leaves and white amber.

WOOHOO! An extremely light dry citrus aspect makes Grand Neroli even more orange than your usual neroli. It is so pretty, and the first almost edible orange flower scent I've encountered. The vanilla aspects are much like those of Atelier Cologne Vanilla Incenseé as Grand Neroli has a similar dryness to it that gives the scent an open air quality I find unique and enjoyable about several of the Ateliers. It's a very crisp scent and not at all weighed down by the vanilla sweetness.  At a mere $55 for 30ml, a great bargain for neroli lovers everywhere; I'd chose it over a lot of other comparable scents. I like wearing my Jo Malone Orange Blossom in the warm weather, but this would make a great Fall neroli/orange blossom thanks to the dryness of the vanilla. 4.5 of 5 nods.

Wednesday: Comme des Garcons Series 2 Red: Carnation - Notes: red carnation, essence of red pepper, red rose, cloves, absolute Egyptian jasmine, absolute red pepper.

My first carnation. One critical review I saw called it "big red [chewing gum] in a bottle" but I think that really undersells this  Comme des Garcons. It is decidedly traditionally 'feminine,' which naturally makes me want to spray on the most dudely dude I can find just to see how I like it. Carnation is not overly peppery and the clove is smooth like the finest grained powder instead of sharp the way I find in so many clove heavy scents.
It does smell like carnations, which I would have thought I'd hate; my only instructions to my wedding florist was that I wanted funky arraignments and NO CARNATIONS. FN1. So when I tell you I find this carefully balanced scent that is equal parts rose and carnation frosted with clove delightful and compelling, no one is more surprised than me. I do question if I'd like it as much if they had used something other than rose, since roses are one of my addictions. That I suppose is a question for another day, a different carnation. Today, this carnation, for me? Wonderful. 4 of 5 nods.

Thursday: Penhaligon's English Fern - Notes: Geranium, Lavender, Clover, Patchouli, Sandalwood and Oakmoss.

My first Penhaligon's and it turns out to be one of the nicest fougeres I've ever encountered. The geranium is very strong in the opening, and the lavender makes a nice accent without being overwhelming. Apparently considered more of a masculine (I'm sure the complimentary scented shaving soap helps), I actually think this is lovely for a woman, particularly when the opening moves off and the sweetness of the clover and sandalwood come in. It's like a woman wearing an expensive men's dress shirt as a nightshirt. Sexy as hell due to, rather than in spite of, the 'traditional' gendered item juxtaposition. Some find it a difficult scent to tame, but I find it classic, sophisticated, and a wonderful scent for summer. Be careful, though. It's got strong legs, lasts forever, and has generous sillage. At $125 for 100ml, this bottle would last you approximately forever given the strength of the scent, so it's probably best for a bottle split. 4 of 5 nods.

Friday: Parfums de Nicolai Week-end à Deauville - Notes: basil, peppermint, tarragon, calone, helional, jasmine, lily of the valley, cardamom, galbanum, apple, cedarwood, leather and white musk.
Week-end à Deauville is a lot of white flowers with healthy accents of peppermint and basil. I like the basil here, because it isn't overwhelming and fuses together with the peppermint for a fresh bright opening best fitting for Spring. Unfortunately, that part burns off too quickly on my skin, so all I get is white flowers and light musk. I do get some apple sweetening the middle of the drydown, but not enough to suit me.

Bois de Jasmin describes it as "salty-sweet", and I can see that. Week-end is pretty and floral, so if you like those things, try this. It's supposed to be a beach scent of sorts, but this isn't any beach I've ever known. For me, this scent suffers from the same problem I have with L'Artisan Mure et Musc. It's just so...nice. That doesn't make it boring, it just feels so young and...naive to me. It doesn't feel innocent necessarily, just the opposite of worldly.

When I young I had this old anthology of poetry that divided love into two categories: "Young Love," and "Love, Older Grown." This is decidedly the former. There is no passion here or bitterness, just sweetness and romanticism. It's about as scandalous and sultry as Rebecca Black's idea of fun on a "Friday" night. Like if an extra wore it to the filming of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" video, they wouldn't be in on the irony. All that said, it is very pretty, so pretty that I can imagine it scenting the air during the filming of the scene from West Side Story when Maria tells us how pretty she feels because she's in love with a "pretty wonderful boy." So if that's your wheel house, get yourself a sample.  Also, only lasts four hours on me, which I don't generally think of as long enough. 3 of 5 nods.


Winner of the Week: Atelier Cologne Grand Neroli edges out Penhaligon English Fern, but barely. Oh Wait! Comme des Garcons Series 2 Red: Carnation! Sigh. Okay, once again, I cannot choose.

Also, I want to give a special shout to my friend LillieMae, who is moving to Chicago this weekend for graduate school. Study hard, be all smart, and then come home.  I miss you already.

"Every Friday, just about midnight,
all my problems seem to disappear.
Everyone that I miss when I’m distant.
Everybody’s here.
Yeah, my friends cause they’re so beautiful
Yeah, my friends they are so beautiful
Yeah, my friends... ~ "Friends," Band of Skulls

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FN1. Arrangements; not arraignments. Sometimes lawyer life is bleeds over into my blogging...