Neil Morris spoke to me about this lovely, dark, lush fragrance:
I was walking one October in New York City, which is also called Gotham. It was a particularly warm evening, very dark, almost menacing in an intriguing way … almost intriguingly menacing, it spoke to me of things hiding in the dark … there was a kind of Sherlock Holmes feeling. It was a magical night, going to a couple of different clubs. It was intriguing, looking down dark alley ways — a very unusual night in Gotham City, like a Batman Gotham scent, like a slice of pie, a portion of your life and trying to recapture it.
The notes are:
Top notes: Black Pepper, Yuzu
Mid notes: Rose, Narcissis
Base notes: Amber, Pearl Musk (lovely, creamy as Neil described it), Myrtlewood, Tonka absolute, Labdanum, Russian Leather, Redwood, and Ambergris
This fragrance is as lovely as the notes make it sound. It is creamy and smooth, intriguingly sweet in a dark way. It is not a floral sweetness, but it is rich with the amber and tonka, tempered with leather and woods. The pearl musk is lovely and creamy. It is not a musk that hits you in the face and just keeps on and on.
This fragrance weaves a spell. I left it for last, but it could have been first. Somehow for me, there is even the mingled scent of car exhaust in the air, but this is a good thing. In that respect it reminds me, but lightly, of one of Andy Tauer’s scents, Lonestar Memories, but they aren’t really alike.
Again, the price is $150 for 2 oz of perfume, not edp or edt.
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Rêverie au jardin (Daydream in the garden) (it’s a little hard to give the nuance in the name as he uses ‘au’ which means ‘with’ instead of ‘dans le jardin’ which would usually be ‘in the garden’, properly it would be Daydream with the garden or Daydream with garden, which to me has a difference nuance which is hard to convey in English, almost side by side equally, rather than ‘in’) is Tauer’s newest fragrance. Thanks to a friend at POL who shared her sample with me, I was able to experience it. This is certainly a lovely fragrance. It joins his others that are equally compelling.
Rêverie au jardin
a classical fragrance, twinkling like a star, caresses your journey, through green lands.
Tangy galbanum and gentle fir circle a green mountain lavender.
Bulgarian rose softens an airy and mystical frankincense.
Abelmoschua seed embrace a woody vetiver and balmy tonka bean. Tauer perfumes
I would seriously have considered not trying this fragrance, as I have yet to meet a lavender that I really like. Usually lavender is used in men’s fragrances, and even a spritz is unwearable by me.
But this lavender reminds me of the lush sweet flowers planted by my son’s mother-in-law. Her garden has three different lavenders, each of which gives up its fragrance when the flower is pressed in one’s fingers. Tauer’s vision of lavender is imminently wearable.
Rêverie au jardin
I love lavender, in all its facets ranging from herbaceous, spicy green notes to sweet, clean flowers and woody, vibrant chords. I wanted to create a fragrance that captures this complexity and transform it into a perfume. A perfume that melts into the skin, and makes me dream of green lands and twinkling stars. Tauer perfumes
He has captured his vision perfectly.
I confess when I looked at the notes, I didn’t know what to make of them.
I love greens. I’m not so convinced of fresh. Fresh as in real life freshness, yes. Fresh as in some modern ‘fresh fragrances’ that are too sharp and artificial for my tastes, no. This freshness falls into the former category.
Fir? I didn’t think so…but these are blended exquisitely. The fir is definitely not a strong pine scent. It lingers on the edges, completing the memory, it does not take over the fragrance.
Lavender? Rose? Maybe not.
It just goes to show in the hands of a master parfumeur anything can happen.
But how to describe the differences in just a few words? The Hermès all have a strong opening and the notes are almost jarring in comparison to Tauer’s garden fragrance which opens lushly and moves more subtlely. Each take you on a journey.
Rêverie au jardin
The notes
The head notes are very green and fresh- lavender (high altitude mountain lavender from France, galbanum and fir balm with bergamot and rose absolute from Bulgaria softening the herbaceous lavender.
They lead over to a musky, fresh heart note (frankincense from India and ambrette seeds) with a woody and flowery orris line.
The body note is the most complex part of the scent, being a soft, and airy wood accord (vetiver, tonka beans, oakmoss). Hints of vanilla and ambergris, sandalwood and cedar wood play into a balsamic tone that seems to last for ever. Tauer Perfumes
All in all, on me, the fragrance comes down to a lovely floral, somewhat sweet but not like candy, somewhat vanilla-y, tempered by the green notes. I quite like it.
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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?
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A couple of days ago I had the chance to test both Beyoncé Heat and SJP NYC. I didn’t put either one on my skin, instead I spritzed cards. Generally speaking, I don’t wear fruity florals, so I hesitated to skin try either of them. I’ll do that later.
My take
To me, both are very similar, but Beyoncé Heat has a little more depth. If you wanted both, I’d wear NYC for day and Heat for night or I’d switch them around depending on my mood. NYC is billed as a fruity floral, but Heat has a fruity floral thing going on too, with the addition of woods, tonka and amber. Neither one smells like a teen fragrance.
Beyoncé Heat:
Top notes of red vanilla orchid, magnolia, neroli and blush peach,
Heart notes: honeysuckle nectar, almond macaroon and crème de musk
Base notes: giant sequoia milkwood, tonka bean and amber.
SJP NYC notes: Italian mandarin, white osmanthus, wild red strawberries, gardenia and honeysuckle.
The print ads for Heat are so hot, they scorch the paper. And the commercial will raise your temperature!
Perfume Shrine caught the similarity to this:
SJP’s ads for NYC take a different tack. They have energy, from the bottles to her dress.
After I spritzed the cards, I carried them separated, but in my hand. At the next store, the SA raved about how good I smelled. I told her I had just sampled both fragrances, which one did she like better, and I let her smell both cards.
She picked SJP NYC, which she said smelled sweeter.
I also liked SJP NYC better for the same reason. But NYC is not girlie-weet, it is more grown up.
When I get a chance, I will skin try them both.
Have you tried either?
Do you prefer one over the other?
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Spurred on by hearing a description of this on another, I reached for my bottle of Delices de Cartier parfum last night and decided to give it another go.
Generally speaking, I do not like cherry in a fragrance. I bought a bottle of Guerlain’s cherry a number of years ago, because I fell in love with the bottle, but it keeps refilling itself, for the few times I reach for it, it doesn’t seem to go down. Each year Guerlain has tweaked it a little, but I’ve only bought it once.
I find I’m gradually moving into another price range of perfumes. This one I resisted buying because of the price point and because I don’t usually care for cherry. (edt is either $75 or $105 and parfum is $160 — and of course, wouldn’t you know, the only one I liked really was the parfum. I’m not surprised that I like the best. I usually don’t go for parfums as I prefer sprays and I don’t notice a lot of difference, but in this one, the parfum is a spray and there is a difference.) I ended up trading for a partial bottle, which works just fine for me, as it is rare for me to finish a bottle. I’d rather have variety until I know how much I will reach for it.
Cartier’s fragrance, which means Delights, is packaged in one of the most beautiful bottles ever designed — a red and clear, cut-glass bottle topped with a flower centered with a large square crystal. With this fragrance they moved successfully into another fragrance type, that of the fruity/floral gourmand.
It’s notes are Iced Cherry (Morello), Sicilian Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Violet, pink, white and yellow Jasmine, Freesia, Amber, Tonka Bean, Musk, Sandalwood.
Last night, I kept coming back to smell my arm, and it was Delight-ful. At the same time, because it is not something I usually wear, it was a bit jarring to me and didn’t seem like ‘me.’ But I liked it well enough to give it a go again today.
I spritzed a small spritz before heading to the movies, transferred it from one arm to the other, and this time, it was lovely, not jarring. Imagine, when I came home, that my house smelled wonderful. (People always tell me it does, but I’m not able to identify what it is particularly.) This time, what I smelled under it all, was the small spritz I had spritzed, then walked down the hallway carrying the sillage with me. (No one remarked about the fragrance on me. I really do wear fragrance for myself. If I wore enough that others would particularly notice, I’d overwhelm myself.)
Because I loved the way the house smelled, I re-spritzed once more for the day. One tiny spritz — remember this is parfum!
In this fragrance, there is a difference between the edt and the parfum (which is a spray) (there is no edp). I prefer the parfum, as it is richer and deeper. The edt seemed brighter and less ‘real’ if that makes sense.
I find the cherry neither tart nor sickeningly sweet. If you’ve ever eaten Rainier cherries, which I particularly love, that is the feeling I get from this fragrance. Rainier cherries are large with sweet flesh and are considered the best of the best. The skin is yellow to red. They sell for $1/each in Japan, but lucky for me, they are about $5 a pint here and are available only once a year. Considering that I don’t like cherries and I love these…I wait each year for the season, now that I’ve found them.
It’s no surprise that Cartier which is known for its opulence would choose an opulent cherry as well, for this is not a typical teen cherry…oh no, this is grown up, voluptuous, Delight-ful, complete with spirit and verve. This is a grown up woman, used to the best in life, who loves to experience life. Her gourmand fragrance is not chocolate. You better watch out for her — she’s a little bit saucy and unpredictable, but that only makes her interesting.
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Thanks to a friend at POL, I finally have a bit of Borneo to sample.
I’ve been waiting a long time to catch a whiff of this one. Frankly, I wasn’t really eager because of how it has sometimes been presented: camphor and patchouli. Two highly possible negatives.
Camphor wouldn’t interest me, but patchouli is a favorite, provided it is the right presentation of it. Patchouli has many different manifestations, some of which are just too dark and bitter or 70’s for me to wear. But the patchouli in Borneo is my favorite kind — it’s heady on the sweetness, similar to that found in Prada By Prada For Women..
Wow! My sample is not a spray, but this is a love from the first blast. Loads of sweet patchouli…even when daubed on. There’s something sensual about applying a fragrance in drops, made doubly so, when the fragrance is sensual to begin with.
It reminds me a bit of Yves Rocher’s Cocoon, which is a much less expensive version. But whereas Borneo is deliciously smooth and holds close to my skin, Cocoon is brass and wild and stronger through all the layers of notes, including the chocolate. Another way I’d describe it would be that Cocoon feels a bit artificial, whereas Borneo has no feeling of artifice in it. For me, I find Borneo far more wearable — darn! (I expected it.)
Well, never say I don’t have expensive tastes. I generally like the best.
And because I liked it from simply smelling it, I wasn’t afraid to really give it a real try the first time I wore it. I was pretty sure it was not going to be a scrubber on me.
Both of them are sweet and hot and dry. Borneo settles quickly into more sweetness and a uniform nature. DM settles into sweet and dry and sensual, while still holding distinct notes that blend but are not lost in each other. Of the two, I can smell DM more strongly, but not so strong I would tire of it over the day. I think I’d have to reapply Borneo to keep pace. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Well, I will have to drag out my Prada again to compare that also a bit later in the day. If you are lucky enough to find a sample or a decant, definitely try Borneo, if you like sweet patchouli.
Borneo 1834, part of the non-export collection, is available only in Les Salons du Palais Royal in Paris, where it retails for 100 Euros for 75ml.
Karin
The notes of Borneo include Indonesian patchouli, white flowers, cardamom, camphor, cistus, galbanum, cannabis resin, cocoa accord.
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Once in a while a really beautiful new perfume comes on the scene. Guerlain Tonka Impériale is one of them. It is destined to be a classic. Part of the L’Art et la Matière collection, it is one of the best in that line.
It’s rare for a perfume to hit all the right notes, be neither too sweet nor too dry, to be perfection on all levels. Tonka Impériale is the best of the best. It is poetry and art in a third dimension.
Do I sound too complimentary? Try it, and you will agree.
Notes: rosemary, almond, tobacco, honey, facets of hay and balsamic, tonka bean, of course vanilla, and the famous Guerlain Guerlinade, including rose. Maybe some orange blossom. Described as having almost a gingerbread quality, but I don’t catch that.
Thierry Wasser is the genius behind this fragrance, and I have to admit that I cannot wear his Iris Ganache. It is much too sweet and heavy on me. It never softens, but just keeps going. But here, in Tonka Impériale, he has removed the elements that gave me trouble.
Let’s talk about some of the notes:
Almond — this weaves its way through the fragrance, along with vanilla. I happen to love almond in a fragrance. Honey — this is a gentle form of honey, not that acrid honey that is in some that is unwearable to me. Rosemary and hay — I can’t smell it, but I’m guessing it gives it balance and takes away the sweet gourmand and brings it into herbs and essences. Tonka bean — one of my favorite notes, a sort of vanilla-y scent, but not as sweet; some feel it adds a chocolate sense, but I feel it is the gourmand sense coming through. Tobacco — yummy, even for those of us who do not smoke.
How does it compare to L’Instant Magic?
It has the almond note, but more vanilla and is headier. Think of Magic as a fragrance for the office, and Tonka Impériale as sex in a bottle, but not so earthy that you couldn’t wear it in the daytime to work or play.
How does it compare to YSL Cinema?
YSL Cinema is all almond, and it is less sweet. Tonka Impériale has the addition of vanilla, and while it is sweet, it isn’t sweet-sweet like Pink Sugar, for example.
How does it compare to Spiritueuse Double Vanille?
Spiritueuse notes: vanilla, benzoin, frankincense, spices, cedar, pink pepper, bergamot, Bulgarian rose and ylang-ylang. A little boozy and smokey.
Tonka Impériale is a little less sweet and a little lighter on the vanilla.
If you love B2B, you will love Tonka Impériale, which is heady on the tobacco, but less heavy than B2B. You could designate one for day and one for night — then switch and wear them just the opposite. They are enough different that I would want both.
How does it compare to Parfum de Nicolai Vanille Tonka?
Vanille Tonka is a floral spicy amber — even though amber is not listed in the notes. It is more spicy than Tonka Impériale and not quite as sweet, but just as luscious.
Vanille Tonka Top notes : Aromatic and citrus : basil, lemon and mandarin oils
Heart : Floral : carnation, orange blossom absolute, pepper oil, cinnamon oil
Bottom notes : Frankincense : frankincense and vanilla absolutes, tonka bean.
Have you tried Tonka Impériale?
Do you love it as much as I do?
How do I buy it? $235 for 2.5 oz.
Contact Claire at the Guerlain store in the Las Vegas Palazzo. Call 702-732-7008 or email GuerlainPalazzo.STORE@lvmhuspc.com . He will take good care of you and get it right out to you.
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How many iris scents can one person own? Judging from Prada Infusion d’Iris, there is always room for one more, even if the bottle is gigantic.
I fell in love with this on the first spritz. My only complaint is that it is very light. Compared to the original Prada, it seems lighter yet, as Prada packs a wallop. I have not tried layering the two yet, but I bet they would work nicely together.
Top Notes: mandarin, orange blossom,
Heart notes: iris,
Base notes: galbanum, incense, benzoin, cedar, lentisc and vetiver.
On me, I don’t smell the orange blossom, which is as well because it doesn’t agree with me. It begins with iris and mandarin, the iris lasting as it gradually comes down to the base notes and ending with a sigh (or a punch, depending on how many times I’ve layered it) of woods and iris. I’ve re-sprayed more than once in a day, which is unusual for me, liking it each time through the stages. Tonight, I think I will layer Prada into it just for kicks.
I don’t notice any sillage after the first few minutes, and when it is finally really settled down, I can catch a whiff only if I sniff where I sprayed. I can see how it is possible to go through the bottle far more quickly than I usually go through a bottle.
I tried it first in a hot, dry climate. I live in a hot, humid climate. The feel I get of it is not a spring fragrance, but one that gives me a hint of autumn in a climate that has no autumn. It is perfect for this beginning of fall period in which we have no true fall. I’m guessing different notes would pull out if it were spring…or the notes would linger differently because of the scent already present in the air.
This perfume does not mimic any current trends in perfumery. It does not follow any olfactory or descriptive stereotypes of what a woman should smell like, but rather expresses itself through its contrast between a great freshness and apparent lightness and a type of tender veil, sensual and strong, that envelops the body and the clothing of the woman who wears [it]. Daniela Andrier, the nose, who worked with Miuccia Prada over a two-year period.
It could as easily be worn by a man as a woman. The bottle is elegant and hefty, even masculine without it looking like it were made exclusively for a man. Really, I hardly think masculine or feminine applies to many fragrances anymore. They are crossing over nicely. If it smells great on you, wear it!
This fragrance has a feel of casual elegance to me. I should dress up a bit and take a tramp in the woods. I definitely would do it, if there were woods near me, as you know I love trees.
Have you tried this? How does it wear on you?
Karin
Daniela Andrier fragrances that have won Fifi awards: Lancome Attraction (European Fifi, 2003), Armani Prive Pierre de Lune (2006). See a very brief profile of Daniela Andrier on the Lancome website. Perfumes created by Daniela Andrier include:
Giorgio Armani Emporio Armani He (1997)
Giorgio Armani Prive Pierre de Lune (2004)
Gucci Eau de Parfum (2002)
Gucci Rush for men (with Antoine Maisondieu)
Guerlain Angelique Noire (2005)
Lancome Attraction (2003, with Christian Biecher)
La Perla Io La Perla (1995)
Prada Amber Pour Homme (2006)
Valentino Very Valentino (1998)
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche (reformulation, 2003) [I will attribute this to the website I got it from when I figure out where it was. I had it in my files.]
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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.
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Prada L’Eau Ambrée is one of the nicest new fragrances to come along in a long time. It has a luminous quality to it and is very wearable, for either men or women. Nice hardly does it justice.
Daniela Andrier is the perfumer. She also did Infusion d’Iris. There is a similarity between the two fragrances, but I find L’Eau Ambrée more interesting. It holds my attention. I don’t tire of it. I found the sameness of Infusion d’Iris to be grating after a while — and it would get distressingly stronger.
L’Eau Ambrée is soft, but long lasting. It is said to be
graceful…empowering but never demanding.
Perhaps this should describe the ideal me!
Oddly enough, graceful, empowering, never demanding are words I could easily use to describe this fragrance, along with luminous, luminosity, sheer and enveloping. Discretely sexy and sensual. And however Andrier has modernized amber, it works. At least for me. There is even a hint of saltiness or sea air to it.
L’Eau Ambrée notes:
modernized amber, lemon and May rose essences, patchouli, oppoponax and vanilla.
Amber is usually very heady, rich and sweet. This is airy, but it has definite presence. It is light enough to wear anywhere, even out to dinner, but it has enough presence that I can smell it hours later, and I can catch nuances on my clothes. I use very little, as always, one squirt, maybe two. I might think it is gone, then I turn just right and catch this amazing fragrance that is more than gentle and less than the freshness in Infusion d’Iris.
I have not had good luck with Laura Mercier’s Amber Passion, which turned out to be a scrubber on me. At the time, the SA told me that they were told in sales meetings that it would either be wearable or not wearable. It started out very good, but did not stay that way on me. This was the first time I’d ever heard that amber could be either good or bad. Of course, that is true for any fragrance, which should be tried on skin for that reason. But if a fragrance starts out good, it’s generally not such an either-or proposition. But since that time I have been very careful with amber fragrances. The ones I wear are rich and sweet — I wear them at night or in winter; L’Eau Ambrée fills a different niche.
Amber Passion notes:
Top: labdanum, vanilla and geranium; middle: amber, tonka bean and patchouli; base: sandalwood, musk and cedar.
I suspect that different molecules were used for these two ambers.
My take
I find myself reaching for L’Eau Ambrée as my go-to everyday fragrance right now. I knew immediately that it was something I would enjoy, and I am not disappointed. As usual, I waited about 1/2 hour to make sure it stayed true. It is different from anything else I wear.
I think you could layer it nicely, though I haven’t tried that yet.
If you like amber, but are looking for a lighter version of amber, but one that has presence, give this one a try.
Is this one that you wear?
Have you tried this one? What do you think?
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Oh, I like this one! This smells like a night time rendevous! Going to a club… It’s definitely for someone in their 20’s. Young and spunky. I like it!
She says it’s more elegant than skanky, and she didn’t even know the name yet.
Avon had Little Black Dress first, but it wasn’t this version, and it wasn’t with a French name. La Petite Robe Noire, Little Black Dress, AKA Little-Black-Dress-gone-clubbing, is considered a fruity gourmand, right up the alley of the 20-somethings. And it decidedly not noir noir, it is more fuchsia noir.
Notes include Sicilian lemon, licorice, almond, rose, smoky tea, musk and vanilla.
Yesterday I picked up more of the floral. Today I’m picking up more of a somewhat subdued Angel. It is Angel’s youngest sister. Sweet and sassy. LVMH uses the word audacious.
Almost cherry or very cherry, it must be the almond thing going on, but it does not smell like the original Jergen’s. And then there might even be a touch of Lolita Lempicka — it’s got to be the licorice.
I want that bottle. Or, at least I want to see that bottle.
Octavian has a nice write up at his blog, a play on French words, and a great picture of the window on Rue de la Paix.
I keep hearing this lyric in my head:
Someone left the cake out in the rain.
12:40 Today, it is not moving past this first stage very quickly, but then I gave myself a double hit. The top notes are predominant, but make no mistake, it will move. I will update as the day goes on.
3:00 pretty well gone, just smelled lighter
5:00 gone; but still apparent on Book Girl
5:47 I replenished with a drop on each wrist — smells less like Angel when used in small doses
7:06 much more of a fruity floral when worn this way
Update December 2009 I got a great compliment while wearing my sample. I still have not bought this in full size, but considering the compliment, I ought to!
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I must have been sleeping whenever this fragrance was discussed, because I only happened upon mention of it the other day when I was surfing for decants and samples. It seems to be one that is either liked or not — there’s no happy medium.
And it’s important to know that there is nothing remotely like Vol de Nuit in this fragrance except for borrowing the name.
What I’ve noticed over time is that if you can wear Mitsouko or Vol de Nuit — and like them — then you might not like L’Heure Bleu or vice versa. That might be a way you could determine if you would like this or not, short of ordering a small sample.
I like Vol De Nuit a lot, and often layer it up as the notes soften during the day, starting with Chant d’Aromes, passing through Chamade or Mitsouko or both, and ending with Vol de Nuit at night, so I thought I’d like to give this a shot.
LHB is definitely not one of my faves, but I wear it occasionally.
I received my sample in today’s mail and immediately sniffed and put some on my wrist.
The notes are peach, rose, jasmine, amber, iris, woods, vanilla.
And while these notes are common to a lot of Guerlain fragrances, they are put together in a different way in this one. I don’t get any peach at all — it isn’t a bit like Femme by Rochas, for example. And it isn’t a chypre at all.
On me, it starts out aldehydic with lots of powdery overtures. As that softens, it moves into a more animalic phase which has been described as smelling of sweat (which I do not get) or marine (salty, I’m guessing — I do get a bit of salt in it). Underneath it all is iris, almost as sweet as in Iris Ganache, without the chocolate that puts it into the too sweet category for me. It reminds me of the iris in Prada Infusion d’Iris. In the drydown I get amber and woods, but no vanilla. It’s there, but so minute as not to be particularly discernible.
So, there you have it. I will try it in a heavier dose a bit later today to see how that develops and compare it to Guet-Apens/Attrape-Coeur, which I have a bit of. It has also been compared to 31 Rue Cambon by Chanel, which I have never smelled. If you have that one, you might try comparing and let me know.
Vol de Nuit Evasion has been available in airport stores. You can also find it at ThePerfumedCourt.
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Ayalitta and Megumi were both chosen for me by Ayala. I have been wearing one on one wrist and the other on the other for the past two days. Both are chypres and very similar to each other, at least on me. I don’t know that I would want both, but I might alternate between buying one or the other at different times. I expected the notes to be very similar because of how similar they are. I was surprised to see how many were different. I italicized the notes that are the same, though the source or type of rose or jasmine is different, for example.
Ayalitta
Green chypre
Top notes: Galbanum, Sage, Neroli
Heart notes: Jasmine, Rose, Clary Sage
Base notes: Patchouli, Oak moss, Labdanum
The Megumi is lighter on me and disappears quicker. The Ayalitta is stronger, or sharper as my dh noted. I suspect it’s that patchouli. Both have oakmoss. My younger girls and dh all chose Ayalitta as their favorite of the two. College Girl is not here to ask. Megumi is a tad spicier, but it is not enough noticeable on me to make a difference in what I would order. Generally speaking, I would lean to the spicier. But it is the patchouli that makes the Ayalitta fall into a ’spicy’ category for me. My 11 year old said the sillage she smelled was Ayalitta.
Again, they are blended seamlessly. They seem a part of you.
Megumi
Woody spicy chypre, with a heart of jasmine and rose and a base of agarwood
Top notes: Red Mandarin, Apricot, French Rose
Heart notes: Turkish Rose, Indian Jasmine, Allspice
Base notes: Oud, Vetiver, Oakmoss
So there you have it. If you like chypres, try them. Perhaps on you they are quite different. I think chemistry makes a difference in how one wears a fragrance, else we would all wear the same. Or, if you know you dislike one note in one, then choose the other. You can’t go wrong, especially if you are trying samples first.
Do you wear either of these? how do they compare on you?
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Madame Rochas was introduced in 1960. It used to be one of my favorites for spring and summer. It’s a floral aldehyde, but it has more zing than Chanel No. 5. The vintage fragrance was potent, but not over-powering. The modern version is different than the vintage — no wonder that whenever on whatever rare occasions I found it and spritzed it, it wasn’t me.
Original:
Top Notes: Hyacinth, neroli, aldehydes, greens, lemon
Heart Notes: Bulgarian rose, jasmine, iris, lily of the valley, violet, orris, narcissus, tuberose
Base Notes: Amber, cedarwood, sandalwood, moss, vetiver, musk, tonka bean
Well, I didn’t think it was me for a long time. I gave it a couple of decades long break. It had been one of the bottles I had felt I’d had to use up before I could buy another one. Doing that, I always really tired of it. Ha! if I hadn’t done that, I’d have my own vintage bottle, and it would still be in good scent condition.
Sometime in the last year I found vintage spray parfum on ebay, minus the decorative outer case/bottle. Never having worn the perfume, only the edt (I think) version which was as strong as edp, I thought I’d spring for it, if it were inexpensive enough, which it turned out to be. It certainly smelled fine, but again it wasn’t me. I hated to use it up as room spray! So, I decided to wait…and try again.
Today with spring in the offing, loads of wind and plenty of sun, it just felt like a Mme Rochas kind of day. Plus it conjures up plenty of happy memories and moments. No sense whatsoever wearing anything with bad vibes, LOL!
Yep, I was right. Given the right atmosphere, it is just as beautiful, rich and full-bodied as it ever was, complete with lovely woods.
How to describe it….similar to Chamade in some respects, but brighter. Heavy on rose and jasmine but blended into the woods and iris so it has a green aspect to it. There is more moss in the base than there is musk, which is a good thing for me. I picture myself walking through the woods towards a companion seeing bits of bright green spring grass and moss, with sunlight dappling through the trees, after a rain or with dew or mist on the ground. Each of those things bring me joy; having them together is a bonus.
It is long lasting and makes you happy. What more could you want! I’m glad it worked today.
Do you wear it? have you ever worn it? Why, oh why, do they tweak with perfection!
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Ah, sweet Prada. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
When do I wear it?
Frankly, I haven’t worn it in a while, but the stars aligned this morning.
When it first came out, it was one of my absolute favorites. I reached for it first.
It had everything going for it.
It was strong, but not too strong. It had sweet patchouli — more than most fragrances had had for long time. It went through various stages, and it was just different from the rest on my shelf. Amber is there, but toned down, and definitely wearable.
Prada Notes: Italian Bergamot Oil, Orange Oil, Bitter Orange Oil, Mandarin Flower, Mimosa India, Rose Absolute ABS, Schinus Molle ABS LMR, Peru Balsam, Patchouli Oil LMR, Raspberry Flower, Labdanum Resinoide LMR, Tonka Bean , Musk, Sandalwood Oil. Amber fragrance with 4 dimensions.
Sweet Patchouli
If you follow my blog, you know I love patchouli, but not the dry, sour kind of headshop patchouli left over from the 60’s. I’m talkin’ about sweet patchouli.
I wanna wear patchouli into the 2010’s. I don’t want to go back, no matter how nostalgic the era of the 60’s is. The negatives of the era are right up front for me too. Perhaps what I want is to go back to the future.
And absolutely a man can wear this.
Even if there is a man’s version.
Do you wear Prada?
Which is your favorite Prada fragrance? Do you wear them all, just depending on the day or your mood or the weather? I found Prada Infusion d’Iris got monotonous on me. But Prada (original) zings. I may give Prada (Amber) a try. I’m going to spritz some more. I’m ready for overkill, because I know this one doesn’t.
Karin
www.savvythinker.com
I wrote about Borneo and Cocoon earlier, if you go here.
I wrote more about Sweet Patchouli here.
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