Savvy Thinker » Orange Blossom http://savvythinker.com thinking about life, playing with makeup Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:15:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 October Launch: Guerlain Boise Torride http://savvythinker.com/october-launch-guerlain-boise-torride/ http://savvythinker.com/october-launch-guerlain-boise-torride/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:14:48 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=3931

Boise Torride is coming October 15, 2009, unless the launch date changes as has happened with some. And Boise Torride is how the Guerlain paperwork spells it.

According to the paperwork, courtesy of Claire at the Palazzo Las Vegas location, here's the scoop.

Words associated with this fragrance are:

woody, rebellious, provocative, triumphant, bold and beautiful

Sounds good already!

And the notes:

top: bergamot, tangerine, pink berries
middle: marshmallow harmony, orange blossom, jasmine
base: patchouli, white musk, cedar

Marsh mellow makes me think of Mariah Carey's fragrance. Nothing wrong with marshmallow there.

It sounds like a good mix between old and new. Time will tell!

What do you think?
Does this sound like one you will try? I've never really met a Guerlain that wasn't better than others with similar notes. The trick for me will be the orange blossom, as that is something that I usually have difficulties with. I look forward to trying this one just the same.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-07-05 12:09:37.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/october-launch-guerlain-boise-torride/feed/ 1 Review: Comparing India Hicks Island Night with Gucci Flora http://savvythinker.com/review-comparing-india-hicks-island-night-with-gucci-flora/ http://savvythinker.com/review-comparing-india-hicks-island-night-with-gucci-flora/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 02:34:43 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=1898

Gucci Flora edp and Island Night edt are siblings; they aren't twins. They begin differently and end differently, but at the midpoint they are very much the same on me.

And when I first spritz Island Night, I wonder what made me buy it at the store. It's a whopper. And, in general, I have to be very, very careful with orange blossom in fragrances. It usually goes sharp on me.

The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Crabree and Evelyn sells Island Night. It comes in a beautiful midnight blue flask, with some heft to it. It is a pleasure to hold. It also comes in an evening compact with enhancer, body wash and lotion, a scented candle, and a fragrance diffuser for the home.

Notes: purple and white orchids, night blooming jasmine, orange blossom nectar, green island palms, woods, musk

I chose the edt over the compact as there was more scent to it. After spraying the edt, I could hardly smell the compact. The compact might be an easier way to wear it. I haven't tried either the candle or the diffuser, though the diffuser especially looks lovely.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

Why the two fragrances would be reminiscent of each other, at least at mid-point is a mystery to me:

Gucci Flora notes: citrus, peony, rose, osmanthus, sandalwood and patchouli

Perhaps it is the orange blossom-citrus thing going on.

Island Night starts off with a bang. It is heady and heavy. You are in a garden with a lover, heavy-eyed, under a deep sky with stars low enough to touch.

Gucci Flora begins at a similar place, only it is twilight. The winds have blown through the garden for a bit, and your lover has not yet arrived. It is easier to wear from the get-go.

At the mid-point, there is not a lot of difference. Gucci Flora might be a tad sweeter.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost 1920

And then, at the end, both fragrances circle back around again. Island Night has the same nuance at the end, as at the beginning but softened, not nearly as strong. Funny that it is gone in the middle. Gucci Flora stays the same through the end. Truly lovely.

And what about several hours later? I can still smell Gucci Flora, though I have to bring my arm up. I could still smell it faintly before I got out of bed from the night before. Whereas, Island Night is gone. No trace. But it sure packs a wallop in the beginning.

Which road will you take?

Karin


Originally posted 2009-03-15 16:26:56.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/review-comparing-india-hicks-island-night-with-gucci-flora/feed/ 0 Review: Guerlain Boisé Torride http://savvythinker.com/review-guerlain-boise-torride/ http://savvythinker.com/review-guerlain-boise-torride/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:45:05 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=4660

Boisé Torride is a powerhouse of a fragrance. In some ways it reminds me of Paloma or of Estee Lauder's Knowing. It starts off with a bang and hours later ends up with a sigh or a whisper.

You have to like patchouli and cedar to love this fragrance. That is where it starts on its journey.

I do.

And this combo takes it a little bit from the sweet patchouli into a more incensy version. The overall effect is not like some of Neil Morris' fragrances, which I also love, but unique to the vision that Guerlain was reaching for.

It also is not like the sweetness of Gucci by Gucci with the added fruits.

It is called an androgynous fragrance, designed for a woman but to me surely suitable for a man, part of Les Elixirs Charnels series, which also includes Chypre Fatale, Gourmand Coquin, and Oriental Brûlant.

It is translated

smoldering wood, a new opus for femininity

though I think torrid or scorching would be easy translations also. Perhaps it begins as scorching and ends up smoldering. Some like it hot!

Guerlain loves women and has always celebrated their sensuality. A new expression of sensuality now completes this collection of Elixirs Charnels.

To me, there are three distinct stops on this voyage. The first is the initial flare. I used a couple of drops on my wrist and arm, passed to the other wrist and arm. Frankly, I can't imagine this one sprayed 10 times in the beginning, as at least two people I know do with some of their fragrances. You might knock someone out with the sillage.

I could see extending the 10 squirts throughout the day to refresh it back to the flare stage.

OTOH, an extremely heavy hit of this fragrance, depending on your chemistry, might soften just as nicely to a richer sigh of an ending. You'll have to try it both ways and get back to me. You would certainly have some serious sillage, at least for that moment. And some would have to be on your legs. After all, fragrance rises.

A couple of hours later, the fragrance hits a midpoint. Patchouli is still evident, it is wafting through the trees. I catch it when I turn or move my hands quickly. It surprises me. It is softer and gentler, but still has presence.

The last stage is about 7-8 hours in, when the fragrance has settled into a sigh.

I like the presence of all three. I like that the fragrance moves and isn't linear, though in some sense it is linear, because patchouli and cedar, less so, are evident throughout.

Now something completely silly to me and totally unnecessary is the excessive verbiage of the ad copy's stream of consciousness of the imagined wearer. I could do without that. I'd rather have my own imagination, thank you very much, laughing here. I mean, get real! It sounds like drivel. (And this is true for the other elixirs as well.)

...I still can't decide...Too obvious. I have to seduce him in a different way. Take him down paths still unknown to him...Why didn't I see it sooner?...masculine outfit...nothing under the jacket... contrast...ambiguity do the talking. Androgynous? Perhaps. Terribly sexy? But of course...[2 more paragraphs similar except for telling the notes] He will...become intoxicated by my skin and my essence, strangely androgynous yet irresistibly attractive.

Are they trying to reach a young, unseasoned woman, who presumably might not be able to make up her mind? Or the mature, knows-her-mind-and-how-to-get-it woman who would be more apt to choose this fragrance. After all, it is a fragrance for grownups. It certainly is not a fruity, sweet concoction.

How many of us think this way? I sincerely hope not many.

Perhaps it reads and sounds better in French. Everything sounds better in French!

If I were a man, Boisé Torride would lose me right there, without even giving it a try. And this would be a mistake, because this would be a delectable fragrance on a man, maybe even more so than on me. Or, it could be one of those shared fragrances between two lovers, where it develops differently on each one, to be individual, yet complementary, the way life should be.

Top Notes: bergamot and tangerine with pink pepper
Heart: jasmine and orange blossom with white musk, underneath is a mallow note, not sweet like Mariah's M
Base: cedar and patchoui

Have you tried it?

If you like
If you like any of the patchouli fragrances I've mentioned, you would likely like this one.

To me, there is a little bit of second-cousin-twice-removed to the fragrance Narciso Rodriquez for women.
It has some similarities, but ends up in a different place. Maybe it's the woods and orange blossom.

It's a good one for your repertoire. Remember you have to be a grown up. And that isn't a bad thing.

Where to get it:

Guerlain @ Palazzo in Las Vegas. Call (702) 732-7008 or email: GuerlainPalazzo.STORE@lvmhuspc.com. Ask for Claire. Be sure to tell him that you heard it from me.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts, you know who you are!

Originally posted 2009-09-04 10:48:16.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/review-guerlain-boise-torride/feed/ 2 Review Kilian Cruel Intentions Tempt Me http://savvythinker.com/review-kilian-cruel-intentions-tempt-me/ http://savvythinker.com/review-kilian-cruel-intentions-tempt-me/#comments Sun, 13 Mar 2011 07:12:31 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=3971

Cruel Intentions is a fragrance I've found surprisingly to my taste. Well, maybe not surprising, but it wasn't my first choice. I find I love it. And perhaps it should have been my first choice!

Again, *Sergio Gonzalez is the expert on the line at SAKs in Las Vegas, and he will be happy to help you. Phone 702-967-1266. Be sure to tell him you heard it from me. He will take good care of you!

Kilian says:

A fragrance inspired by the warm, enfolding balsamic notes of Oud, a legendary wood said to be « worth more than its weight in gold ». Perfumer : Sidonie Lancesseur

I've heard it said that it gets stronger on some, but on me it just stays softly resinous. I love the scent as it softens, and I love the bit that is on my clothes. I spray my wrist and arm, then transfer to the other arm and wrist. And I spritz my neck.

The notes are:

Fresh notes: Bergamot calabria oil, orange blossom oil,
Floral notes: violet accord, centifolia rose absolute,
Woody notes: agarwood (here is the oud again), Indian papyrus oil, gaiacwood oil, Haiti vetiver oil, sandalwood,
Animalic notes: styrax absolute, castoreum absolute, vanilla absolute, musk.

This is not a sweet vanilla; it is more of a dry vetiver. It is so precisely blended that I cannot really separate the notes. Occasionally I get a glimpse of violets in the woods. Mostly it is a very wearable animalic fragrance. It is soft enough to be worn day or night by both men or women.

Sergio considers it the most complex of Kilian's fragrances. I don't know about that, but it is quite, quite lovely. My over all impression includes a leathery dry down, though leather is not listed as one of the notes.

This is a fragrance that has a double meaning in the name: likely if someone is being tempted, there are cruel intentions in that temptation.

But I don't find this fragrance cruel or cutting. It gets under your skin and becomes an ambiance. The sweetness that is there is not sugary, but resinous. It's even a little bit boozy, as I find his other fragrances. I find this particularly interesting, as Kilian is heir to the Hennessey cognac family.

Have you tried it? Do you love it? I bought this in the travel set.

It may be that I end up liking it as well as or more than Love, don't be shy.

You can see an overview of all his fragrances here.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-07-11 23:46:00.

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Hiris is one of my favorite hot weather fragrances. Introduced in 1999, I only heard about it a couple of years ago. It is considered a semi-oriental, suitable for a man or a woman. It is iris with an H for Hermes.

Top Notes: Orange blossom, rose, coriander seed
Heart Notes: White iris, black iris, cedarwood
Base Notes: Vanilla, ambrette seed, almond wood

There's been a lot of iris hitting the market in later years, but Hiris stands the test of time. It is both sophisticated and modern. The scent of iris comes not from the flower, which as I remember has very little scent, but from the root or rhizome. Some iris is as cold as ice (notably Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens -- which I cannot wear.)

Prada's Infusion d'Iris brought out in 2007 was similar to Hiris, but it lacked any punch. It got tiresome after a while, because it was very light, with not much movement. I found myself overwhelmed (underwhelmed?) by its sameness.

Top Notes: mandarin, orange blossom,
Heart notes: iris
Base notes: galbanum, incense, benzoin, cedar, lentisc and vetiver.

By contrast, Hiris is greener and more earthy. Maybe it's the vanilla that I like, though I don't particularly smell it. Maybe it's the woods in it, in contrast to Prada's. Whatever -- I know I like it better.

For a while I swore off Iris, thinking I had grown tired of it and could no longer wear it, but I find I'm enjoying Hiris again. And my kids think I smell good.

It's a refreshing fragrance, good for this sticky heat we are having. It brings the temps down, if that is possible. Somehow it reminds me of the time I walked along a park in Innsbruck. The park was filled with tulips and smelled earthy and green, along with the scent coming off the water.

Just what I need for a super hot summer day.

Have you ever worn Hiris? do you love it too?
I know a man could wear this well, but it is not so unisex that it leans sharply masculine. I couldn't wear it if it did. Do you prefer Prada's? or not?

Karin

Originally posted 2009-06-14 16:06:43.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/review-hermes-hiris/feed/ 0 Review: Guerlain Mon Précieux Nectar http://savvythinker.com/review-guerlain-mon-precieux-nectar/ http://savvythinker.com/review-guerlain-mon-precieux-nectar/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:57:56 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=4333

I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to sample and review Mon Précieux Nectar. It's no secret that Guerlain is probably my favorite perfume house, though I have others represented in what I wear, as you know if you've been reading my blog.

Mon Précieux Nectar, is for the true perfumista, the true collector. It retails for (are you ready!) $9,000 for a 1 liter extrait in an Imperial Fountain, a gorgeous hand-made crystal fountain. This picture hardly does it justice.

Photobucket

It is paired with a silver-plated refillable atomizer, all offered in a black leather presentation box.

For the woman who relishes being unique and strives to set the trends instead of following them, Guerlain has created an extremely limited fragrance offering appropriately titled Mon Précieux Nectar. Only sixty-two women in the world will be privileged to wear this scent, all but ensuring the wearers will never cross paths.

Yes, I truly am unique, and I do tend to set trends rather than follow them...ahem...this is true!

Randa Hammami is the nose who worked with Sylvaine Delacourte on this one. Hammami also collaborated with Delacourt for Guerlain's Cruel Gardénia and L’Instant Magic, as well as the two limited edition fragrant oils inspired by Delacourte’s trip to the Middle-East.

Here's a little info:
Mon Précieux Nectar is a floral gourmand with notes:

Top: petitgrain and bitter almond,
Heart: jasmine and orange blossom
Base: sensual woods, incense, vanilla and white musk.

My take:
I find myself saying to myself, "What is it that smells so wonderful?" And then I realize it is me -- this fragrance that I am wearing. It is just enough different than anything I own that it intrigues and surprises me in equal measure. It reminds me of L’Instant Magic, which should come as no surprise, since it revisits the almond-musk of that fragrance. But it is richer and fuller, not powdery. It is altogether more luxurious, as well it should be. It is certainly a way to cushion oneself from the world's negative vibes.

I applied it with an atomizer, so there is some sillage. Even so, it lays close to my skin.

I think it smells heavenly. My 23 yo daughter just said it smells delectable. Did I mention that I love it? If you would like to give me this for my upcoming birthday, I would be very appreciative.

Why did I hesitate to try this one, outside of price?
I expected I would be unable to wear it well, because of the white floral in it, but I underestimated the power of almond, which I love. The almond is paired with orange blossom, reminiscent of Middle-Eastern pastries, but the over-all effect is not the sweet gourmand of Iris Ganache which I found unwearable for me. And it isn't the sharp floral of Jardin de Bagatelle or Champs Elysees.

No, this is a completely lush rendition of floral with just enough sweetness, incense, and Guerlinade accord to balance the various elements, bringing it into a totally modern fragrance with classic inspiration. I'm sure these aspects are what make one think of vintage L’Heure Bleue which is reported to be Ms. Delacourte's favorite fragrance, though almond notes are reported to be her favorite note. Perhaps MPN is her favorite fragrance now!

How and when should you wear it?
This is a fragrance, that if you are lucky enough to own it, you should drench yourself in day or night. I don't think you could overdo it.

Then, if someone admires it on you, as they assuredly will, tell them with a twinkle in your eye what it is. If you are feeling especially open that day, you might offer them a spritz -- after all, you have plenty more where that came from.

OTOH, if you are not feeling friendly, mention the price, with a dismissive, airy wave of your hand. (Eat your heart out...that will teach them not to be nice to you.)

But by all means enjoy it! After all, you are worth it!

I recommend calling or emailing Claire at the Guerlain boutique at the Palazzo in Las Vegas for all your Guerlain needs, including Mon Précieux Nectar. Be sure to say you heard it from me. (702) 732-7008 or GuerlainPalazzo.STORE@lvmhuspc.com

Did I mention that I love it? and I have a birthday coming up?

Karin

Originally posted 2009-08-17 12:00:28.

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