Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Guerlain L'Heure Bleue EDP Review

My opinion of Guerlain at first was a perfume house that I didn't get along with. For the longest while, the only perfume from Guerlain that I really enjoyed was Shalimar. Then this past fall, I have finally understood Mitsouko and why she is a classic and I can finally enjoy Mitsouko. So now, I think that I am starting to warm up to Guerlain.

L'Heure Bleue is one of those classics that I kept meaning to try but kept on forgetting because other perfumes were catching my fancy. I think that what kept throwing me off was the anise note. After having to get up pretty early this morning, L'Heure Bleue was the first decant that I reached for is my semi awake state. First blast was what smelled like cloves. If you have ever been around someone who smoked clove cigarettes, or maybe tried them yourself, you have an idea of what they smell like. But I was actually smelling the anise. The anise doesn't come across like somebody bottled black liquorice but it has almost a medicinal element to it. Even after 12 hours, all I am smelling is the anise. Do I like it? Kind of but I'm probably going to need to test it out a few more times for the next few months or so before I can make a final judgement call on it.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit

This is just ridiculous that I have a bag filled with 40 decants that I have not reviewed yet. So, it's time for me to review stuff this week. That's if the power holds up through Hurricane Sandy. Since Sunday was pretty much the day I decided to do the Fragrance Frankenstein Challenge from Perfume Posse. Let's just say it was a cross of hilarious and a little horrifying. It was Serge Lutens Arabie, CK Obsession, with a healthy dose of Sarrasins.

I had gotten a sampler set of Serge Lutens non-exports a couple months ago and dug it out for a test run. I'm always a little bit hesitant of trying any of Serge Lutens scents. They are either exports, too much spice cabinet, or it gets a little too soapy or powdery. Rose de Nuit is somewhat of an odd perfume for me. It's odd because I get many other perfumes that are close to Rose de Nuit but not quite. The rose is a dominant note but it's not the musky, powdery rose of Fleurs de Bulgarie (Creed) it is more like the sharp, clear rose of Chanel no.19. About 5 minutes after the rose dies down a little bit, I get the familiar chypre category (little bit like Diorling and Deneuve) then come a fruit note. Normally, I abhor a strong or noticeable fruit note because I don't enjoy smelling like a overripe fruit salad or rotted fruit. This time, I'm not sure if I like it or not but it does take away from Rose de Nuit. In the dry down, is what I did not enjoy. The dry down smelled like a very old rose soap along with fruit. Would I go to Paris or find a connection to get this? Only if the soap and fruit wasn't a part of Rose de Nuit.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Bath Stuff, Amazon, Shipping

Ever since I became a perfume freak, I was a bath stuff person. I was the type that easily spent $75 or more every two weeks at Bath and Body Works. I adored getting the body wash, matching lotion and the body sprays with the periodic candle. At first, I was in high school and that was what most girls were wearing at the time. Then, I was in college with not a lot of money to spare, so I mainly went without scented bath products. After college, I had some spending money but kind of fell away from Bath and Body Works and was more interested in perfume gift sets. The Vera Wang gift sets, in the beginning where what I was wearing, I don't know, 3 or 4 years ago. After a while, I became really bored with Vera Wang's Sheer Veil and her signature scent. Then it was Chanel's Cuir de Russie and it was all over. I went into wearing one or two perfumes for months on end with the periodic break on wearing something else to wearing a different perfume every day.

On Wednesday, I was inadvertently reminded of my nephew's birthday that is coming up real soon. I had forgotten about it and had to ask my sister what he had or didn't have or really wanted. She sent me a link for what he wanted real bad. She said that she could find it in any brick and mortar store and since I seem to be the queen of online shopping and online bargains in her eyes, she was sure that I would be able to track it down. And not pay a huge fortune on it. My first stop is always Amazon and I managed to find the Avengers action figure that he wanted and the price was pretty good. What made it even better for me was a month long free trial of Amazon Prime. For those who don't know, Amazon Prime for $80 a year, one can get free two day shipping. I was going to make sure my 2 year old nephew (going to be three) will have it and he will love me forever. And I can exploit this (free shipping) for my Galileo thermometer collection. Hey, I don't have a 9 inch thermometer in my collection yet, just 17 to 24 inches.

After throwing out tons of ratty shirts and bras, I had to do a little clothes shopping. First of all, I love Gap's essential shirts and more often than not, they have some kind of sale going on. I am not going to pass up 25% or 30% off when I just threw out 20 really ratty shirts. Naturally, I didn't order 20 shirts in one sitting, I ordered 5 and manage to score free shipping be cause I spent $50. What I like about Gap and their shipping, they are not so outrageous with the standard shipping. Victoria's Secret is a whole different matter though. I paid almost $11 shipping on 1 bra. That is just not cool to be all over the place with shipping. They never used to be so horrific with shipping. Looks like a brick and mortar store from now on for me.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Patou Joy EDP Review

Finally, I've been motivated to test out a new perfume. It was somewhat of a choice on to which to test out. Either Patou Joy or Donna Karan's Jasmine and Joy won out. The last two perfumes that were instant love was Deneuve and Amouage Lyric and Joy comes close. Joy is a classic perfume that was created during the Great Depression and was marketed as the most expensive perfume.

When I first apply Joy, I get a huge blast of bright rose, similar to Chanel no. 19 EDP, then it's a mildly skanky jasmine. During the wearing, the rose and jasmine alternate is being dominant notes and I do like that. I like rose and love a skanky jasmine but what trips me up in any perfume is tuberose. The tuberose periodically peeks out under the jasmine or the rose. The tuberose is not overly creamy and is not overwhelming to me. It's just a little hint once in a while. Lasting power and sillage is about average for Joy.

Would I get a bottle? It's debatable but large decant worthy.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Guerlain Mitsouko EDP Retried

It's kind of funny on how for certain perfumes that I have dismissed as nothing special or really didn't "get it". Especially when it comes to classics. In the past couple months, I think that I finally understand Mitsouko. I now adore Mitsouko in EDP form. At first, I was put off with the peach note. In the beginning, I thought that the peach was a little too in your face. After giving it a few more tries, the peach is front and center until about half way through the entire wearing. Mitsouko is a perfect fall scent in my eyes. It has cooled down, the leaves are changing, there is that certain fall smell that compliments Mitsouko especially when there is a bond fire going. In the dry down, the rose and jasmine become more apparent and I really love the dry down. I have a small decant of the vintage EDT but have not gotten around to trying it, so this is of the most current formulation. But now, I cannot really think of wearing any other scent right now.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Apple Shuffle 2G, Fourth Generation

I'm a little bit weary of blogging about perfume and it's time to take a short break from it. A few posts back, I posted about traveling with perfume but was thinking about a new iPod. It was not really to replace my iPod Classic but to buy a little more time before I have to replace the battery on my Classic. I've had my iPod Classic for about 3 years now and finally the battery is dying. And during my little weekend trip, I was not about to keep charging the thing after 15 or 20 minutes of use. And I didn't feel comfortable carrying around a $250 iPod with me in the city. So the iPod Shuffle was the way to go for me. And the price on Amazon was right.

After being used to 160 gigs of space, it was difficult on trying to fit what I wanted on the Shuffle with only 2 gigs of space. After filling my Shuffle almost to the max, I have a little over 200 songs on it. What's great is that I can keep changing the songs. One feature that I have discovered is the voice over. Voice Over is a little button that one presses to hear the song title and the artist. For some reason, I am tickled over it.

When Apple started making iPods, your choice of colors were either black or silver. Now, there are many colors to chose from. I liked the look of the green Shuffle and it was a bright color and something I could easily find in my purse. Having all kinds of different colors to chose from is a nice feature but not a very important one to me. The earphones that come with the Shuffle are utter crap in my point of view but finding a better set of earphones, cheaply, are easy to find. For the price that one pays for what one is getting, this is a good deal.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Amouage Gold EDP Review

Quite a while back, I had drained a small spray decant of Amouage Gold Cristal (EDT) for women and then preceded to drain a small sample of Amouage Gold in EDP form.After a while, I did forget about Amouage Gold and then couldn't remember why it was on my full bottle buy list. Then I managed to find a 3ml manufacturer's sample on Surrender to Chance (those Amouage carded sample goes really fast). Then my memory was refreshed on why it is on my full bottle list.

Amouage Gold for women is almost identical to Dia for women but I can tell the difference between the two. Gold does not have the astringent like blast of aldehydes that Dia has. I find that Gold does have a little more heft than Dia but ultimately, Gold is the same scent as Dia. The dry down is like a very expensive jasmine/rose soap. Like all of Amouage perfumes, Gold lasts forever on skin.

What I don't get is that Gold is described as being for evening wear and Dia is for daytime wear. I find that I can wear Gold during daylight hours. Even though Gold is on my buy list, it has moved down a bit because I already own Dia but still want a full bottle.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Changing of the Seasons

Fall is probably my favorite seasons. It's cooling off, people are starting to use their fireplaces, leaves are turning, and anything pumpkin or apple is big. Apple cider, pumpkin pie, apple crisp. But fall can be a little odd. Because unlike winter, where it stays cold, I get two days straight of it being 85 degrees out then it's 55 degrees for two or three days and everything else in between.

This is also the time of year that it is harder for me to decide on what perfume to wear. Especially on days I have to work. One of my little rules is that I don't wear anything in my not worn and reviewed pile. I don't always know if something is a scrubber or smells like I have just been bedded by some random guy and didn't bother to take a shower before work. Today of all days, I cannot decide if I should wear the current formulation of Mitsouko in EDP form or Amouage Dia. At first, Mitsouko wasn't a great love but she creeps up on you. Dia is one of those perfumes that are very 'perfumey' but I love, no, adore the really expensive rose/jasmine soap dry down. But I am leaning more to Mitsouko because I am in more of the 'I am not interested in what you think, I need a decision out of you now. Not in 5 minutes.' type of mode.