Friday, September 28, 2012

Dior Diorissimo EDT Review

I've probably have got to be the oddest perfume nut. I have this huge, and I do mean huge pile of decants of various sizes that I haven't tried and reviewed and yet I keep getting more. How can I refuse 15%-20% off decants sales of Surrender to Chance's daily specials? After spending a small fortune on a carpet steam cleaner and spending a lot less than I thought in Cincinnati, I was able to get more than one small decant but Diorissimo was a decant that has been sitting in my enormous pile of decants that I have finally gotten around to trying and reviewing.

Diorissimo normally sold in EDT form but now I am seeing it in EDP form. Since both Surrender to Chance and The Perfumed Court only carry it in EDT form (I can't say if they won't ever have) that is what was available to me within my price range when I ordered a larger decant. The decant I have is not the current 2012 formulation but probably the one before that. I wouldn't call it vintage because my definition of vintage is before 1990.

For a while, Diorissimo smelled very familiar but I could not place it. It seemed like I had smelled this before and then I realized that it smelled a lot like the Easter lily that my parents always seem to get a couple days before Easter. My mother hates Easter lilies because it makes her sneeze and she is just not wild over the scent. Diorissimo does have a slight soapy feel but it adds to the overall feeling of the EDT without taking anything away. Diorissimo does have a slight green note that is kind of nice but I am not wild about for some reason. I really do like the EDT version but it doesn't last very long on skin. It lasts a little longer on skin and clothes than Diorling did. I might have to splurge, unsniffed, on a full bottle of Diorissimo EDP to get any king of lasting power.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Serge Lutens De Profundis Review

I have been wearing Serge Lutens' De Profundis off and on ever since I had gotten a decant a while back. I was attracted to De Profundis because it was based on an Oscar Wilde letter and the color of the perfume itself. De Profundis doesn't have the intense purple of Sarrasins, but I don't see very many perfumes that are colored purple. Take that back, I don't see it outside of what Bath and Body Works sells.

Serge Lutens creations can be difficult for me. Maybe it is his use of spices in his perfumes that make it difficult for me. De Profundis is more of what I am used to smelling even though it is slightly odd. De Profundis reminds me strongly of fall. Just when the leaves are changing, some people are really getting into having bond fires, there is more of a need for long sleeved shirts and long pants. De Profundis is a muted floral/green scent. I find it to be more green stems than flowers though. On skin, I get about 4 or 5 hours of wear then it's gone. While it's likable at the end of the wearing, I'm not in love with it.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

A Little Bummed

Okay folks, I have gotten back from my weekend trip and I am tired and slightly cranky. Out of boredom, I looked at the Barney's website and the Serge Lutens cloche perfumes have come in. I have been drooling over Sarrasins for a while now and have been wanting a bottle for a while now. Rumor had it that the price was probably going to be steep but I was still amazed at the price. Sarrasins' current price at Barney's is $300 and still cannot seem to buy a bottle online. In Europe (after doing a conversion), the going price there is about $130-$140. Some will say it's cheaper than a plane ticket to Paris. But going to Paris would be a great trip and worth the price of a plane ticket. My way of thinking is that I do not find that for 75ml of Sarrasins is really not worth the $300 price tag. Serge Lutens creations, while good and original, are not worth that kind of price, unlike an Amouage perfume. I can justify the price tag with an Amouage. The reason is that I smell quality ingredients, one small spray lasts all day and there is loads of richness and depth with an Amouage perfume. But $300 is a little outrageous for Sarrasins.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Packing for Trips

I'm not a person who travels very often. My last, albeit big, trip was three years ago to Hawaii. At that point in my perfume journey, I had full bottles and most were 3.4 ounces or larger. Naturally, you can't pack any perfume bottles (full) that are more than 3 ounces. So I was stuck at that time to my Victoria's Secret Heavenly.

Now, I am driving down to Cincinnati for a festival on Friday and must think about packing. I have a basic idea of what I am wearing clothes wise, but I am really looking at what perfumes I want to bring along. Since I do not have to worry about the size of perfume bottles, I can relax a little bit. Even though I am having a craving for wearing nothing but Mitsouko and have worn it for 3 days straight, I may not even want to take it along. I maybe just sick of wearing it by Friday. Maybe it is because I am very accustomed to having my perfume collection on hand but I don't really want to pack just one or two bottles or decants of perfume. It's always the same question of what if I want to wear something different and I didn't pack it type deal. So part of today is doing some laundry and most of the day tomorrow will be spent packing clothes and agonizing on what perfume(s) I will be wearing for the weekend. If I can squeeze in a review tomorrow, I'll be doing pretty good.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Beating My Head Against A Wall

It never seems to fail is when I have something planned, something else happens. One of my dogs had decided to eat almost an entire bag of M&M's (huge bag). Vomit and a couple other things everywhere and it did not help that our steam cleaner was broken beyond repair. After dealing with cleaning the mess, my mother thought it would be a great idea to go onto Amazon to get a new steam cleaner. I pointed out that after dealing with the dog, that we could have rented a steam cleaner and the entire day would not have been wasted on trying to hand scrub the carpet. Nope, it was off to Amazon to buy a steam cleaner and of course she picks out one of the most expensive ones. Since it was my Amazon account she was using, all of my gift cards were used and all of my American Express points were used but I still spent over $200 on this. Now, my budget for the most part is blown and I am not able to consider any decants for the rest of this month and the beginning of this month. Take that back, after this weekend, I might be able to get one decant but not my normal fist full. I know I have a massive pile of decants to try out but there is so much out there that I want to try. I am not planning to get anything extra at this festival. I'm just going to be paying for my food and that is it.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

iPods and Montale Jasmin Full Review

For maybe the past 6 or 7 years, the only Apple product I have had is an iPod. It all started when the first iPod Shuffle came out. I had quickly outgrew the Shuffle because at that time there was only 1 gig of space. Then I went to the iPod classic when I could only get one with 80 gigs of space. When I got the 160 gig Classic, my dad inherited my old 80 gig Classic because it was a lot better than using it as a paperweight and he could use it for those long plane rides. Now after constant use, my current iPod needs a new battery. After poking around the Apple website, it would run me about $60 and I am not sure how much labor would cost. It always seems like one has to pay an arm and a leg for labor on top of the cost of whatever you are replacing. Since next weekend, I will be traveling and have a busy week before then, I do not have time to go out of my way to an Apple store or ship it in through the mail, I ordered the latest iPod Shuffle. It maybe only 2 gigs but I'm not really sure how much I am going to be listening to music or watching any kind of video, so it suits my needs for a weekend trip.

I'm still kind of on a jasmine kick and have branched out. By branching out, I mean that I am trying other jasmine dominant perfumes and not quite as hyper focused on Sarrasins or A La Nuit.That has led me to trying Jasmin Full by Montale. Jasmin Full is very different from Sarrasins and A La Nuit. Jasmin Full is a bright jasmine. A La Nuit, Sarrasins, and Bath and Body Works' Midnight Blooming Jasmine were heavy and dense. Besides getting a whopping dose of jasmine, there is a huge orange blossom note. Both jasmine and orange blossom are heavy on indoles, I do not get the fecal element like I do with Sarrasins. Lasting power is about average for an EDP on my skin. For the life of me cannot decide if I like this or not. So getting a bottle or keeping a decant around it up in the air.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Unmotivated

For the past couple months, something happened between perfume and I. I am not talking about the two month heat wave, Chanel no. 19 EDP or nothing lasting on skin because I pretty much beat that to death. I'm talking about not wanting to really try anything new or get anything new. Probably due to the issue of I had bought so many decants these past few months and may have tried only 4 or 5 of them or I'm just a little burnt out right now. The last scent that really knocked me off my socks was Deneuve in extract form. I love Deneuve and wish someone would bring it back but if someone did, it probably would be a shadow of it's former self. At this point, I am wondering if the uncertainty from my job is creating this not being motivated. Naturally, it doesn't help either that a friend of mine has become critical of my perfume choices. I mean super critical for some reason. Just like I was wearing Mitsouko and tells me that I smell like I have not showered in a few days. I've known him for years and until a couple of weeks ago, there were no comments. I retaliated by letting him know if he wanted to criticize my perfume, I could harp on his lotto tickets. Shut him up real quick and this is the same friend who uses me as a sounding board and a nose for his mom's Christmas gift.

I am a little bummed out that after accidentally knocking over my makeup bag of decants onto my bed, I lost a 2ml of Sarrasins. Let's just say that Sarrasins doesn't mix too well with wearing Mitsouko and luckily I have some back up decants (I adore the skankiness of Sarrasins). Even washing my hands doesn't completely make it disappear. Let's just say it has stained one of the sheets of my bed but now my sheets smell really nice.

Monday, September 3, 2012

The End of Summer

In the US, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer for many. Kids heading back to school after a long weekend. In rural parts of the nation, many kids belong to 4H and during Labor Day weekend, spend the entire weekend at the county fairs. During the whole weekend, it wasn't very hot but very humid. Each day was a different scent. Friday was the current formulation of Chanel no.22, Saturday was the vintage version of no. 22, Sunday was Mitsouko and today was testing out Diorella.

This summer was marked by the hottest summer that I have ever experienced. I was slathering on heavy duty lotions and yet, no perfume would stick around very long. Late spring was when I became so enamored with Chanel no. 19 in EDP form, that I was constantly on the look out to buy a back up bottle of it. No. 19 in EDP form was one of the only perfumes that was sticking around on my skin and didn't grate on my last nerve. For a while, it was in stock but I didn't have any fun money left to get it, when it was out of stock, I had fun money. Sarrasins and A La Nuit were two scents that I was wearing quite often in the heat and I've never wanted to wear jasmine dominant perfume in summer. Now that summer is mostly over and now that temperatures are creeping down, I'm ready to start wearing my heavy orientals again.