Comme des Garcons Kyoto EDT Review

Now it's time for a review after yapping/whining about perfume shopping. And not really blogging in general. But last night, I had randomly pulled out Comme des Garcons Kyoto. I have been meaning to give Kyoto and Avignon for a while now but Kyoto was the one that I had grabbed first.

At first application to skin, I immediately couldn't smell Kyoto. My first reaction was annoyance because I really wanted to try Kyoto. Then I took another sniff. Then I smelled Kyoto and Kyoto reminded me of a couple of perfumes that I couldn't quite remember. Then I had remembered Zagorsk and Chanel's Sycomore in my collection. Kyoto smells kind of like a cross between those two but resembles Sycomore a little bit more. I've noticed that Kyoto is just as dry as Sycomore but not as austere as Sycomore. I really don't smell a whole lot of incense in Kyoto but I do like it. For me, it's one of those perfumes that teeters on the edge of full bottle worthy. But there are two things that do hold me back. Kyoto is an EDT and doesn't last too long on my skin and since the price went up on this line, it might be a while before I do take the plunge to buy a bottle.

The Casual Buyer

Lately, I have found myself haunting Ebay a whole lot more in my search for a vintage bottle of Mitsouko and came to the question of being a 'casual buyer' on Ebay. The type of buyer that might poke around Ebay for a few days, might buy a couple of things and then disappear for a while. Yes, I am that kind of buyer when it comes to Ebay. But I spend more time looking than actual buying but I might come across that vintage bottle of Mitsouko for $40. You just never know with Ebay. Ebay has come in handy due to the fact that there are no Goodwill stores or Salvation Army that are close by or not in the seedy parts.

From time to time, I really do look for that vintage bottle of Mitsouko or Deneuve and always shake my head at the price tag for a partially used bottle. But I've always had some pretty good luck when looking for and getting full and partial bottles of vintage Shalimar. I may not exactly be able to afford the ones dating to the '60's or earlier but there is quite a bit of vintage Shalimar out there that people want to get rid of.

Is Light the New Term for Sweet?

Yesterday, this thought was floating around my mind when one of my guy friends commented on my wearing of Shalimar. I make every effort not to be heavy handed when I am applying perfume. But I was wondering how can Shalimar be considered light? Or is light the new term for sweet? I'm just thinking that he is confusing sweet with light. Now Shalimar is a lighter oriental but when over applied, it's not light, it's suffocating. Tocca Giulietta is light, Chanel no 19 is more of on the light side but I still wouldn't call Shalimar 'light' nor would I call Mitsouko 'light'. Then, I asked him how can he confuse light and sweet when he has been hanging around me for the past couple hours? Something that is loaded with vanilla is not light. I sprayed A Scent and gave him the blotter and said that it what you call light. But he really doesn't get it and this is the guy who buys his mother perfume at Christmas every year. Since his mother has no real sense of smell, she over applies everything.

I view perfume as an art form and should be smelled carefully before deeming them light, heavy, sweet. Sometimes the initial impression might be light but after a couple minutes, it actually may be sweet. But I'm not sure if most people just don't know how to use their sense of smell or they are too used to these your skin but better perfumes.

Guerlain Apres L'Ondee EDT Review

I've finally got around to wearing something new. Not exactly got around but kind of got out of that rut of either finishing off my smaller decants or just wearing the same old things. For a long while, when I was reaching for full bottles, I was reaching for my no 5 in EDT form. And I still am fixated on L'Heure Bleue and L'Heure de Nuit. It took me a while to get L'Heure Bleue and now love it. I love L'Heure de Nuit but just can't bring myself to drop almost $300 for a shade over 4 ounces of perfume, so a large decant is gonna have to do. But both of those bring me to Guerlain's Apres L'Ondee.

For a while during my wearing of Apres L'Ondee, I couldn't place what perfumes that it smelled similar to. Then in the dry down it hit me, L'Ondee smelled like a very stripped down version of L'Heure Bleue. If L'Heure de Nuit was somewhat stripped down, L'Ondee is even more stripped down. Then I looked online and found that L'Ondee was created in 1906, a mere 6 years before L'Heure Bleue and over 100 years before L'Heure de Nuit. Comparing the three perfumes, they share similar notes. I was really loving Apres L'Ondee but the only formulation that I am seeing online is the EDT formulation. Guerlain EDT's and I don't exactly mix unless they are the vintage versions. So Apres L'Ondee only lasts about 3 hours on my skin and it sticks really close. When sprayed on clothing, I can get maybe 4 and a half hours. Not all is quite lost for me because I can enjoy it's two siblings and not be missing much. But it was fun wearing L'Ondee while it lasted.

Guerlain Tonka Imperiale EDP Review

The whole going through Amazon to get  full bottle of Theorema didn't pan out and I am getting a refund. But I did make sure that I was unhappy with the whole situation because it was described as being sold as Theorema but instead Amazon was shipping out Fan di Fendi. I had said that if Amazon is going to sell Theorema and describe a product being sold as Theorema, I should expect to get exactly what I had ordered, not something else.

I had been testing some vanilla perfumes or vanilla like perfumes and had always debated on trying Guerlain's Tonka Imperiale. I'm always a little wary of trying perfumes with a hefty price tag. What if I fall in love with it and finally save up enough to get a full bottle and it's been discontinued and have to wait it out on Ebay?

Tonka Imperiale reminds me of Spiriteueuse Double Vanille in many ways. Just maybe a little more nutty, little less smoky and vanilla like. Tonka Imperiale could possibly be a kissing cousin to Havana Vanille or it probably resembles Havana Vanille more than it does SDV. Could it resemble Shalimar? Maybe in Shalimar's dry down if one can ignore Shalimar's citrus note. While I do like them both and lasting power is good. I'm not sure if I want to shell out $260 for 2.5 ounces. Yes, I still do have a hard time with vanillas due to the fact that there are two routes that vanilla likes to go. It's either cupcake territory or burnt or smoky and sometimes they turn sour or bitter in the end of the wearing.