Serge Lutens Arabie Review

When I was starting out my foray into perfume, a perfumer's name kept popping up. That name was Serge Lutens. I currently own 4 bottles but it's Arabie's turn to be reviewed today. Before I knew anything about and discovered The Perfumed Court and getting decants, I bought this blind. When my package arrived, I was so excited to tear it open and try it out. At first, I didn't know what to make of Arabie. It was almost a scrubber because it was so strange to my inexperienced nose and it puzzled me to no end. The longer I wore it, the more intrigued I became and I started to love it. I was puzzled because there is the initial blast of cloves and spices and I was very used to smelling straight up florals and fruity florals. After about an hour, the candied fruits do start to subdue the cloves. Arabie is not a soft nor quiet perfume, it's loud so a little does go a long way. Now that it is fall, I find myself craving this scent. I do love Arabie because it is interesting. But I am not sure if I love it enough to always have a bottle on my shelf.

Cellphones

Yesterday, I had renewed my contract with T-Mobile and had ordered new phones for my parents and I. Wirefly.com and the T-Mobile website offer many smart phones and Android phones for free but one must pay for the dumb phones. Needless to say, my mother was none to happy that I had to spend money on two dumb phones. It's not like two years ago that you could get a basic phone for free and had to pay for a smart phone. Now it is hard to find a free dumb phone but easy to find a low cost dumb phone. Five or six years ago, everyone was excited over the Motorola Razr but now it's the Android phones and the iPhone. Cell phone companies seem to be pushing the Android phones and getting rid of the dumb phones. Which makes me believe that in the next two years, there will not be any kind of dumb phone to speak of and my parents will be forced to make a choice. Either get a smart phone, cancel thier cell phone plan and live without cell phones, or get a pay as you go cell phone (if they are still around). I am not opposed to getting an Android phone but I am not thrilled about paying extra for a data plan. But I did want to try out having an Android phone.

Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale Review

There is a feature on the niche perfume website, The Perfume Shoppe, that does recommend perfume based on your perfume preferences. I had filled out the form in my early days of being a perfume nut and there were three suggestions. One of them was Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale. I've been debateing on if I should go the decant route or just buy unsniffed. I am happy that I made the decision to get a decant instead of going for a full bottle. It turned to be an odd perfume on me. At first, I thought that I had put on Shalimar but then a shaving cream phase came. Yes, shaving cream laced with Shalimar. It's nice enough but it's a perfume that's trying to be Shalimar but yet not. The staying power is is decent andwears close to the skin.I'll take the Shalimar because I like it better and Shalimar doesn't fade after 6 hours.

Lady Ruth Perfumes and Amouage

I did get a horrific craving to buy a full bottle of perfume and did break down and bought Amouage's Memoir. I didn't go through Luckyscent but through Lady Ruth Perfumes. You can go through the Lady Ruth Perfumes website but she does sell through Amazon. I placed the order on the 18th and my package had arrived today. I almost squealed with joy when I came home from work today to find that it had arrived. Memoir was buried in that packing popcorn stuff and then the box itself was wrapped in bubble wrap. I had forgotten how the Amouage perfumes are packaged and the outer box is beautiful. But what made me audibly squeal was that there were three Amouage samples with my order and one of them was Amouage's newest release, Honour for women. These samples are huge compared to what I am used to getting from Luckyscent and these samples are carded samples. It's just the awesomeness of getting a full botte of perfume after going about 6-8 months without getting a new bottle. I am going to be doing a lot more buisness with ladyruthperfumes.com. But just not yet since I've blown 3 months of my decant/full bottle budget.

Amouage Memoir Review

I have finally gotten around to wearing and now reviewing Amouage Memoir for women. Memoir woman is a modern chypre. I do find that Memoir is in some ways related to Mitsuoko and Jubilation 25. Memoir avoids the dreaded title of old lady perfume that Mitsouko seems to get. Memoir is a sultry chypre but it makes the statement of either go big or go home on me. But on my skin Memoir is by no means a loud perfume. A guy friend of mine who never seems to notice perfume, except when he gets perfume for his mother asked me what I was wearing. He said that it was nice and light. I wouldn't say that any Amouage that I have tried is not exactly what I would call light and airy. Amouage perfumes are heavy on the frankincense. Memoir projects slightly but not so much so that it makes those around you want to run to the hills. Memoir is giving Amouage's Lyris for a run for it's money in terms of full bottle department. In the next two weeks, I should make my final descision to buy a full bottle.

Calvin Klein Obsession for Women EDP

Obsession for women is one of those perfumes that people either love or hate. Yesterday, I had a hankering for Obsession due to the fact that I was reading Janet Fitch's White Oleander. One of the characters, Starr, was Astrid's first foster mother that wore Calvin Klein's Obsession. I do find that Obsession is a very fitting perfume for Starr who was a recovering alcoholic and a stripper that was obsessed with her married boyfriend and who felt threatened by Astrid's presence. I search for my 12 year old Obsession bottle (is that considered vintage?) and spritz some on. It still smells like what I remembered. Obsession is one of those perfumes that I can smell from a mile away and recognize immediately.

Calvin Klein's Obsession was apparently a huge, no, massive hit when it came out in the '80's and still somewhat popular today. Obsession is loud and heavy perfume. It's not to be applied with a heavy hand, so I apply with a very light hand and Obsession lasts all day and all night. I smell a lot of spices that are toned down with vanilla. As time goes on, the creaminess does come out and it softens the vanilla and spices. As I mentioned, there is a great staying power. I would not go recommending this for spring or summer but find this to be a fall or winter scent. I'm not sure that I will buy Obsession again but my 12 year old bottle is mostly full.

Chanel Pour Monsieure EDT

I remember Chanel's Pour Monsieure to be a certain type of EDT. Pour Monsieure brings up a vision of a man who is well groomed, doesn't need Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, dresses in classic men's styles. A man that thinks that the current men's fashions are just out of hand. When learning that Pour Monsieure (not the concentrate) was no longer available in the United States, I had ordered a large decant of it from The Perfumed Court.

But alas, Pour Monsieure is not the EDT that I had remembered. Initially, I thought that there was something was wrong with my nose or the perfume that I was wearing that day was interfering with it. I had asked my mother, who asked me to order it for her, agreed that it's not the same EDT. I am looking at reformulation as the culprit. I do not remember Pour Monsieure smelling more like a toned down Lemon Pledge. I don't remember Pour Monsieure to be very heavy on the citrus. Pour Monsieure is, sadly, a former shadow of what it used to be.