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

_____________________
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

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

The sun in your eyes made some of your lies worth believing.

Sometimes a girl just wants to rest!

Perfume Challenge Week 22: Monday, 6/13/11, to Friday, 6/17/11

First off, congrats to Elisa who won the May drawing and with it a mix CD and beautiful sampler set from INeKE Perfumes. Bonus: the cost of the sampler set goes toward a bottle purchase! That's right, people. The prizes just keep getting sweeter here at Feminine Things.

This weekend is busy like woah. I had a wedding last night, The Mountain Goats show tonight, and tomorrow, more things! And every weekend has been like this lately.

Also, I want to give a shout out to Samantha, one of my readers who introduced me to a some new perfumes and gave *me* a couple mix CDs. Who knew I could love a carrot perfume? But I do. It's awesome. Also, I am rocking those CDs, so thanks for that. It makes me want to see if we can get a little local perfumista shindig together. If you're greater PDX local and interested, send me an email.

Monday: Soivohle Perfumes Vanillaville - Notes: A rustic eathery vanilla with overtones of pipe tobacco, notes include, sweet fennel, pink pepper, coffee absolute, cinnamon cepes, rectified birch tar, sandalwood, amyris, floral accord benzoin, almonds. This a bitter, dry chocolatey, rubbery leather scent. I imagine this is what chocolate scented leather would smell like, or like drinking a bone dry mexican chocolate latte while perched atop a mountain of brand new leather pants. I get no vanilla at the top, just a noseful of vetiver and chocolate. If you were looking for a chocolate scent for someone who wanted a muscular and lean expression and less full-bodied and foodie, this might make a good one. You better love the leather, though. I haven't smelled this much leather since the last time I was in a bondage boutique. My only complaint is that on me it faded to a slightly sweet but otherwise almost undetectable scent on my skin after about four hours. 4.5 of 5 nods for scent originality, 3 of 5 nods for longevity.

Tuesday: As part of The Midsummer Night's Dream event, I reviewed Bellatrix Perfumes Titania.

Wednesday: By Kilian Prelude to Love (Invitation) - Notes: Seville orange, bergamot, Amalfi lemon, ginger, pepper, orange blossom, Florence iris. The notes on this one really precede it with accuracy in my opinion. I don't get a lot of orange, but I do gt a nose full of bergamot, ginger, and lemon heavy-citrus up front, like being slapped with the citrus stick. I personally get very little of the iris, which appears in the middle, before the drydown turns into a citrus-tinged orange blossom. A nice fragrance, but a strange and unexpected sharpness to a romantic prelude, so as a meditation on the theme, a little off for me. 3 of 5 nods.

Thursday: Parfums de Nicolai Turquoise - Notes: Mango, apricot, lime, osmanthus, spice, Turkish rose, pepper, jasmine, cardamom, cedar, musk, jasmine absolute. Lime, mango, and rose mesh together in the opening to give a surprisingly pleasant fruit coctail experience. I know that sounds bad, but it is meant to be a compliment. It smooths out thanks to the dry spices so you end up with a gently smooth and sweet scent that works surprisingly well in hot weather. Don't really get the name, though.  3 of 5 nods.

Friday: As part of The Midsummer Night's Dream event, I reviewed EnVoyage Perfumes Titania.

Winner of the Week: This is really hard because of the fantastic perfumes made for the Midsummer Night's Dream Event. I think I have to pass; this week I'm the winner for getting to smell all these lovely smells.

"Don't leave false illusions behind.
Don't cry; I ain't changing my mind.
So find another fool like before
'cause I ain't gonna live anymore believing
some of the lies while
all of the signs are deceiving..."
~ "Eye in the Sky," Alan Parsons Project

I never thought that tonight could ever be this close to me...

Parfums de Nicolai Patchouli Homme


When I was sixteen years old, there was a guy I knew who wore scent. Just one. I don’t mean “scented body wash” or “smelled like shampoo,” I mean he wore a fragrance, the same one every day. Specifically it was Joop! Pour Homme, and though we never dated, I still think of him as one of the most attractive young men I ever knew in my youth. (You know who you are, Chip. ) There was something about his smell that just made you want to go back for more. I think that's when I was first persuaded that smelling good could create attraction where there was none....or at least, strengthen otherwise weak attraction with perfume.

Ever since, I’ve been on the lookout for scents for men I’d have loved just as much if sixteen year old me had an excuse to hug on cute boys until I found one who smelled nice, and then keep snuggling him. Upon finding said scents, I try to convince David to wear them, and failing that, I spray them on my pillows and dream of sweet smelling snuggles. In my quest to find such scents, I tried Patchouli Homme.

According to Luckyscent,

With Patchouli Homme, the perfumer wanted to compose a woody oriental for men, but she ended up selling it to women too (which is why it will soon be renamed Patchouli Intense). And why not? This distinctly un-hippie patchouli straddles both sides of the olfactory gender spectrum, with Patricia de Nicolaï signature candied orange opening, sprinkled with cinnamon, sweetening the wedding of a deep, dark, earthy patch and its natural partner, rose. A passing quote of the fougère family – lavender and geranium – lightens the heart of this heady blend before it subsides into an incense-laden, almost tarry leather drydown that plays up the smokier facets of vanilla. A sophisticated patchouli for dandies (both male and female) who aren’t afraid of snagging a sleeve on a rose bush when they go out in the garden to pick their boutonnière.

The notes for Patchouli Homme are listed as “lavender, Turkish rose, geranium Bourbon, frankincense, sandalwood, bay oil, cinnamon, leather, amber, vanilla.”

Hello, holiday Patchouli. A sweet patchouli, with little green up front, it’s mostly cinnamon, bay oil, amber, and vanilla at the beginning with greenery in the background, like a winter holiday candle. After twenty minutes or so, the sugar and spice burns off and the patchouli comes through much stronger. As the patchouli steps forward, the scent gets bigger. At the two hour mark, it’s mostly patchouli and very little sweetness. Patchouli Homme has moderate sillage, so if you sprayed Patchouli Homme on for three to four sprays, it would probably last you most the day. I can’t say for certain since my sample is a 1ml wand sample, but since I test most of my scents this way, I’d say I’ve got a pretty good approximation of what it would be like sprayed.

On the whole, a nice scent. It’s sweet, still, but that’s not the overriding aspect of the scent; instead, it’s a nicely balanced concoction that works well for men or women, though I see this as being more of a masculine than feminine scent, despite the sweetness up front. I really hope that men will keep it on long enough to get past the sweet part, because it’s so lovely, and I can easily imagine stepping in to hug someone and then lingering, face pressed to the crook of the neck, to get closer to such a lovely scent and the lovely person who’d wear it.

You can purchase Patchouli Homme in 30ml for $55 or 100ml -- a lifetime's worth, I'd wager -- for $130 from Luckyscent. Samples are available from Luckyscent or The Perfumed Court.

But if I had your faith,
then I could make it safe and clean.
If only I was sure
that my head on the door was a dream.
- "Close to Me," The Cure

Want more? Try reviews from: Fragrantica * The Scented Salamander