Summer Perfume Picks

Floral: Editions de Parfums Fredéric Malle Lys Méditerranée.  One of my favorite scents.  Ideal for summer and for those who love France (don't forget that France extends beyond Paris!).

"Heavy": Paco Rabanne Lady Million.  I would say that is heavy for summer.  I think it is a sexy skin scent that starts out a bit fruity (mostly raspberry/bitter orange/grapefruit on me) and then settles into something more interesting. Nothing revolutionary, but it smells great. Dominique Ropion, one of the creators, is famously know for the best tuberose fragrance in the history of perfumery, Carnal Flower. Yes, that is my opinion, but many people will agree with me!

Sweet: Hermès Un Jardin sur le Toit.  Amazing! I am usually not impressed with the scents Hermes puts out, but this is fantastic. I got a sample with my Lady Million purchase, and my friend and I were bowled over by how great it smelled. Starts out very "bug spray" but turns into the ideal fruity scent for adults.

Masculine: Lanvin Vetyver.  I got a sample of this recently, and I think it smells gorgeous.  It is a soft, mossy vetiver that is perfectly light for summer. 

As you can see, two scents are old, and the other two have been released within the past year or so.  A good fragrance knows no age!

photo credits:  barneys.com, sephora.com, basenotes.com, and amazon.com

Fragrances for fall

Well, it is really chilly here in the mid-Atlantic region.  Before I concede and give up flat sandals, I will wear some heavier perfumes.  I want to talk about a few bottles that I own, as well as one that is on my wishlist.

I am not sure if I sensed the cooler weather coming, but I wore Dior Addict two or three times last week! And I hardly ever repeat a scent in the week,but after the first day  I could still smell it at the end of the day,and  I realized that I forgot how much I love this one.  I think I had it 2-3 years now.  Another fragrance from Dior that I want (other than Dior Homme) is Hypnotic Poison - another dark and sexy scent.  Comes as an eau de parfum and starts at $75.

top note - mandarin
heart note - queen of the night
base note - vanilla

The perfume I spritzed on today after I bathed was Gucci by Gucci edp concentrée.  The joys of having a sister in the beauty industry - part of her"swag" so she gave it to me a few years back.  Although it is a concentrated edp, it sits really close to my skin and is subtle but lingering.  Retails for $275.

top notes of pear and guava accord
heart notes of lily of the valley, tiare flower, and orange blossom 
base notes of patchouli, musk, and honey

 Impérial Opoponax by Les Néréides.  Very simple, yet very luxurious, unique, and sensual.  Although it is an eau de toilette, this has some serious staying power.  After trying a sample at Lucky Scent I had to have it. $65!

notes: opoponax (sweet myrrh), amber, vanilla, sandalwood, benzoin, citrus

Another sample I got from Lucky Scent which is now on my full-bottle-worthy wishlist is Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque.  I was sooooo saddened when I read the review in Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez's "Perfumes: The Guide" about how Caron "instituted a smoking ban" on Tabac Blond.  The next time I went to NY, I tried it and it definitely was not the same as before.  So now I have to live my life not owning that scent.  So I have been trying out different sweet, tobacco leaf scents, and Fumerie Turque is absolutely wonderful.  $150.

notes: Corinthian raisins, white honey, candied Turkish rose, Egyptian jasmine, smoked leather, beeswax, Balkan tobacco, Peru Balsam, patchouli, tonka bean, styrax, juniper tar oil.

Last, but not least, is mark. Karmala, which has sadly been discontinued.  But that is the nature of Avon's products, so one can't cry too much.  If I remember correctly, this was up for a fifi when it came out a few years back.  I like to spray this on my bed before turning in for the night.  It is very heavy and comforting.  Another Avon fragrance I want to try is Christian Lacroix Absynthe.  Don't sleep on Avon perfumes just because they are cheap!

Karmala notes:
Turkish myrrh
clover leaf
Tahitian candole flower
white heliotrope
white pepper
pink cassis


pictures lifted from sephora.com, nordstrom.com, luckyscent.com, and makeupalley.com

DIOR HOMME advert

Hypebeast posted the first part of a series for the DIOR HOMME fragrance.  It stars Jude Law being dressed in a very dashing manner and then meeting with  a mysterious woman.  In the first minute or so, I was unconvinced and thought it seemed like a stupid campaign (I am not a fan of Lady Dior campaign), but this flick won me over.  I've only seen one Jude Law film (Alfie, and I watched it a month ago!), but I think he is sensuous, and boy oh boy, he can wear a suit!  I always find some enjoyment in Dior's ads because I am a huge fan of the brand and the styling is always on point.

Anyways, check it out HERE.

I just checked Sephora's site and there is a DIOR HOMME fragrance for sale, so I suppose that this ad is for that.  I have yet to smell it, but I will check it out when I get a chance.  You know I do not discriminate when it comes to masculine/feminine fragrances - all are fair game to a perfume lover!  Great reviews on basenotes.com and sephora.com. 

Men's Week: Fragrances

Fragrance can be lingerie: it is worn close to the skin and sometimes only you know that you are wearing it.  I think the secret of finding a signature scent, or developing a personal fragrance wardrobe, is to wear what makes you feel good in your skin.  Perfumes can smell different on people and certainly different comparing a paper tester and on your skin!  Scent is famously known for being closely linked to memory.  When I come across a guy whose fragrance turns my head, I remember! Two examples: In high school a classmate named Angel wore Acqua di Gio, which is nice but not great in the bottle or on a paper tester, but as he passed by my desk one day, I spun around in my chair and demanded what he was wearing.  In college I used to hang out with this guy I wasn't 100% fond of, but I really liked being around him when he sprayed on Angel for Men, and that is one I am certainly not crazy about.  And sometimes when I see a picture on the internet of a well-suited and impeccably groomed man, or when I like a character in a movie, I wonder what cologne he would wear...

When I used to work at Bloomingdale's, there were two men's fragrances I loved to spritz on myself - Viktor & Rolf's Antidote and YSL's L'Homme.  I wasn't a huge fan of Flowerbomb because I thought it was too heavy, and although Antidote was heavy as well, there was something about it that worked for me.  L'Homme I loved so much, I bought it!  Whenever I would spray this one on in the store all my female coworkers would sniff me like crazy, "ohmigosh you smell soooo good!!!" LOL. I love the metallic edge it has to it. 

If you are hesitant to step over the feminine/masculine boundaries, you can always try a unisex perfume... remember a little thing called CK One?   On most fragrance entries, LuckyScent.com has a  neat slider on a scale from femme to masculine (unisex is in the middle) to show you where the current fragrance lies.  In their top picks, they do have a list of top Unisex purchases, gs02 is one of them that looks very interesting to me. 

Luca Turin ad Tania Sanchez list the best overall masculine fragrances as:
Azzaro pour Homme (lavender, basil, sandalwood)
Beyond Paradise Men (lavender, tarragon, sage, vetiver, oakmoss, patchouli)
Cool Water (rosemary, sage, sandalwood, amber)
Derby (a re-issue that is rare to find.. there is a Derby offered by Bergdorf Goodman)
Eau de Guerlain (lemon, bergamot, neroli, tonka bean)
Habit Rouge (citrus, vanilla, leather)
New York (bergamot, Sicilian lemon, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, black pepper, pimento, oak moss, vetiver, amber)
Ormonde Men (juniper berry, bergamot, cardamon, oudh, vetiver, sandalwood, musk)
Pour Monsieur (amber, musk)
Timbuktu (green mango, pink pepper berries, cardamom, karo karounde flower, smokey incense of papyrus wood, patchouli, myrrh, vetiver)

The best masculines for women are:
Beyond Paradise Men
Cool Water
Dior Homme (Lavender, Sage, Cardamom, Iris, Cocoa Bean, Amber, Vetiver, Patchouli, Leather)
Eau Sauvage(Lemon, Rosemary, Petit Grain, Basil, Water Jasmine,Vetiver)
Jules (black pepper, Russian leather, sandalwood)
New York
Pour un Homme (lavender, vanilla)
Timbuktu
Yatagan (celery, musk)
Yohji Homme (coffee, rum, licorice)