Ginestet Botrytis EDT Review

Early in my perfumes days, I had received a sample of Ginestet Botryis when I had ordered Tocca's Guiletta. Before I knew it, I had used up my sample and paid a visit to the Perfumed Court for a decant. For the longest time, I kept forgetting to retry this perfume. Then I took a look at the bag of decants that I haven't even worn let alone reviewed. At first, I couldn't remember why I had bought a decant of Botrytis. Then it hit me, at the time I was going through a two week phase of trying out and wearing boozy perfumes.

Upon first application, Botrytis is a huge blast of booziness laced with a huge dose of honey. The huge blast of booziness reminded me of Frapin's 1270 and the honey reminded me of another one of Frapin's creations, 1697. After the initial blast, the booziness settles into the background but the strong note of honey remains. Some candied fruits do come out to play but I find them to be subdued by the honey. After about three hours wear, there is almost an overwhelming sweetness to this EDT that does become a little irritating to me. On a good day, Botrytis lasts about 5 hours on my skin but doesn't wear close to the skin.

At the end of the day, I cannot see myself shelling out $110 for 100ml. I do find that to be a bargain for a niche perfume but I've become more cautious when it comes to buying full bottles of perfume and I usually want less than 100ml.

Chanel no. 5 Sensual Elixir Review

Whoever reads my blog is probably going to ask, isn't one Chanel no. 5 review enough? My answer is no. I want to try all of the formulations of Chanel no. 5 (parfum, EDP, EDT, etc.). So far, I have tried and reviewed the parfum, EDP, eau Premiere, but have not gotten to sample the EDT yet.

I had received the Sensual Elixir as an early Christmas present and wore it for the first time today. I have never dealt with a perfume that comes in gel form like the Elixir. Sensual Elixir is not something to be sprayed on but dabbed on. After application, I don't get the normal blast of aldehydes. The aldehydes are very faint in this version of no. 5, but I get a huge blast of the heart notes of iris, jasmine and ylang-ylang. I noticed within the heart notes that there is a powderiness in this version that I have not noticed in other versions to have. The odd thing is I view this after a day's wear, that this version is probably a version for those who don't really get no. 5. But I also find that this is very similar to the EDP version of no. 5. I think that Sensual Elixir is probably meant for those who might not want to spend the money on a huge bottle of EDT or shell out the money for the EDP or parfum version. As much as I love and adore no. 5, I probably won't be getting another bottle of this.

Lubin Idole Extreme Review

When I heard that Lubin had created an EDP version of Idole, I had to try it. Luckyscent was offering samples of it, but I wasn't interested in a dabber. I get a better feel for a perfume when I spray it on my skin. Dabbing perfume doesn't help me at all. After the Perfumed Court had spray decants of this, I ordered a decant. After two days of wearing Idole Extreme and one day of Idole EDP, there are a few differences. The Extreme version is a lot more peppery than the EDT version. That gives the Extreme more of an oriental feel to it. Idole Extreme has a little more depth than the EDT version along with being a little louder. After wearing both, I don't find them to be that different. I do find Idole Extreme to still be on the weak side with very little depth. I think that my nose has gotten accustomed to wearing Amouage's Epic for women though.

Molinard Habanita EDT Review

Habanita, according to Now Smell This, is a perfume that started out as a packet that flappers used to scent cigarettes. But Habanita has morphed from scenting cigarettes in the 1920's to a perfume. The Perfumed Court had and still has a large decant special on Habanita and that is how I have come to acquire a large decant. I find Habanita to be a cross of many classifications of perfume. I can see where it can come across as an oriental or as a gourmand. But I mainly associate Habanita with being a oriental. I find Habanita to be smokey and similar to two other perfumes that I have in my collection. Habinita shares many traits with Serge Lutens' Chergui and L'Artisian Havana Vanille. I get a huge dose of tobacco and vanilla plays a supporting roll. What makes Habanita different is the powder note. For an EDT, Habanita does have pretty good lasting power on my dry skin. It's nice but I don't find myself reaching for Habanita very often let alone get a full bottle.

Amouage Honour for Women Review

I received my sample of Honour for women when I had ordered Amouage Memoir for women from the Lady Ruth website. In many ways, this reminds me of Amouage's Reflection for women but slightly different. Instead of a watery freesia, I get a watery gardenia. But the gardenia is anchored by the tuberose and jasmine that I smell 15 minutes after application. As much as I like it, it's a big white floral. It's the type of big that I have come to expect of Amouage. Three years ago, I was a huge lover of white florals, but my tastes have changed to accommodate leathers and aldehydes. I love how Honour lasts at least 12 hours on my skin. At the end of the day, I can't see myself buying another big, white floral.

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie Review

Fleurs de Bulgarie is my first foray into Creed. I do have a liking to rose dominant perfumes. I have been wearing this off and on for about two months for a few reasons. On the first wearing, I wasn't wowed or moved by this perfume. Fleurs de Bularie kind of smelled like something Victoria's Secret might throw on the market if they wanted to be viewed as higher end with their perfumes. I did notice that there was a metallic element to this whole thing that picked up on with the first wearing and thought that it was probably too close to that time of the month. Nope, no matter what time, the metallic note is there. After about a half an hour, the rose is anchored to my skin with musk, turning the rose into a powdery or dusty rose. At the end of the day, I just don't understand this perfume, I really don't enjoy this perfume like I thought I would. Will I be buying it? No.

Faberge Babe Perfume Review

In October, I had a little bit of a hankering for vintage perfumes. Looking around the Perfumed Court and E-bay, price became a factor. But I did decide that I better get a larger decant of it. I wish I hadn't though. It's fruit, fruit and more fruit. The fruit aspect has this rotting/overripe smell to it that drives me up the wall. I find it to be a typical '80's perfume as well, loud and in your face. Babe, according to my nose, smells cheap and way too young for my 29 years in spite of being released in 1977. I am not amused with this dated, overripe perfume.

Amouage Lyric for Men Review

I've been wearing a 1.5ml decant of Amouage's Lyric for men off and on for a few months now. I still don't know what to make of it still. I adore Lyric for women and decided to try Lyric for men. Lyric for men started out with a blast of what I thought smelled like celery seed but turned out to be lime. Then out came the rose along with the orange blossom and incense. The reason I don't know what to make of it is that it smells more on the feminine side of unisex. This offering of Lyric is not what I am used to smelling in a men's cologne. I did wear this in 90 degree heat and I didn't get the wonderful bloom like I did with Lyric for women. It's sweet but not sickeningly so. Staying power is what I have come to expect out of Amouage. My pocketbook is sighing with relief because this is perfume is not working for me at all.

The Two Months of "No Buy"

For the past two months, I inadvertently decided to not buy any decants. It hit me around mid-November that Christmas was a month away and I would not have a lot of my own money left over if there was for decants let alone full bottles. So, I neglected getting decants and full bottles of perfume in favor of gifts for my family. When Christmas Day rolled around, it was a pretty good day for me perfume wise. A flanker of Chanel no. 5 Sensual Elixir (haven't tried it out yet) was gifted to me along with some Christmas money that did turn into a bottle of no. 5 Eau Premiere. But I still didn't and have not bought any other decant or perfume.

I'm still obsessed with perfume but I am not finding anything that is really catching my fancy where I must get my hands on a sample or decant. The new Lubin Idole is catching my fancy somewhat because it is in EDP form. But have not decided if I really should get a decant. But in the past couple of months, I kind of did slow down with my perfume buying due to the fact that I a paying more for my cell phone bill. Instead of having a dumb phone, I now have an Android phone and with any smartphone/Android comes a data package. The higher cell phone bill has eaten into my perfume budget. At first I lamented, but now I have learned to embrace a higher cell bill eating up my perfume budget by $30. It has made me realize that I need to use up some smaller decants before I go buying more.

Guerlain Mitsouko Perfume Review

For the past two years, I've had a difficult relationship with Mitsouko and chypres in general. One moment, I love Mitsouko and the next I don't. I had gotten a 2.5 ounce bottle in my early days of being a perfume fanatic and didn't know about the Perfumed Court. Mitsouko does serve a purpose in my collection though. It's my invisible armor, it seems to tell others that I'm not one to let others be indecisive. Nope, you make a decision and stick to it, my time is valuable. When I first spray Mitsouko, I get a huge blast of peach, then the jasmine does come out after a few minutes. I did notice a certain bitterness and coldness that lasts from start to finish. The staying power of Mitsouko in the EDP form is phenomenal. Mitsouko lasts at least 12 hours or more on my dry skin. At the end of the day, Mitsouko doesn't really fit my quirks and is not something that I reach for often unless I want to be cold hearted.

Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte EDT Review

Chanel's no. 5 Eau Premiere did grow into love and did order a bottle. Along with my 2.5 ounce bottle of Eau Premiere, I received a sample of Cristalle Eau Verte EDT. I sprayed it on yesterday and right off the bat I got lemons, lemons and more lemons. More often than not, anything citrus makes me nauseous. But this was an exception, I didn't get that nauseated feeling but the citrus smelled a little bit chemically. After 20 minutes, I got a faint whiff of flowers. Within an hour of spraying it on, Cristalle Eau Verte dissapeared on me. I do own a couple of Chanel eau de toilettes and they don't dissapear on my skin within an hour. That is something that I don't associate with Chanel eau de toilettes. At the end of they day and three applications later, Cristalle Eau Verte is crisp and light. The kind of crisp and light that I associate with a starched and ironed white linen shirt. After wearing this, I cannot imagine owning a bottle of this. Sorry Chanel, this is the first scent from you that I didn't much care for.