Carven Ma Griffe EDP Review

I first came across Ma Griffe when I was reading the book White Oleander and had been meaning to try it ever since. I don't know what kept me from getting my hands on a decant but I wore it for the first time yesterday. I find Ma Griffe to be similar to Amouage's Dia for her but a very pale version of Dia. They aldehydes in Ma Griffe are on the astringent side like Dia but that is were the similarity pretty much ends. Ma Griffe is a perfume that was created shortly after WWII, so it's an old school perfume. I find that old school perfumes do have a perfumey smell unlike today's perfumes that don't smell perfumey. I was disappointed with Ma Griffe because after the tops notes wear off, and they were off quickly, I barely couldn't smell it on my skin. Then, I sprayed on clothes and could barely smell it for 3 hours. Normally, EDP's last on my skin for at least 6 hours. I doubt that I will get another decant let alone a bottle. I did want to love Ma Griffe but the lack of staying power really dissapointed me.

Lanvin Arpege Vintage EDP Review

I don't know what possesed me to seek out and try Arpege. Maybe it's my wanting to work my way through the classics or the quest for trying vintage versions of classics. The price for a larger decant at The Perfumed Court was reasonable. I like to get larger decants of vintage for some reason. For the past three days, I've been wearing Arpege to form an opinion. At first, it smelled like a strange cross of Chanel no. 5 and Amouage Ubar. I just find that combination of a bombastic floral and an adlehydes don't seems to work to well on my skin. After about 45 minutes, I get smacked in the face with this huge Johnson's baby powder note. Lasting power is about 9 hours. I don't find it to be a scrubber, but I just don't like the baby powder bit.

I'm Not Getting This

No, it's not about shopping or getting things but I'm having perfume issues. This week, it's been in the mid to upper 70's and for two days it was in the 80's and I am having issues with my perfume lasting. Just like today, I am wearing Bal a Versailles in vintage EDP form and I've had to apply it twice because it just disappeared. Even my beloved no. 5 and my Amouages are disappearing just a mere 4 or 5 hours afterwards. It's bad enough that I have dry skin but even with lotion my perfumes are not lasting. It's kind of made it difficult for me to attempt to try the decants that I have not worn yet and review them because I can't get a full reading on lasting power on them. It's driving me insane because I want to review something but I'm out of ideas on how to make my perfume last this time of year.

Cartier de Lune EDT Review

It's a wonderful thing for me that many perfume houses are going for spray samples that I can take home with me and try at a later date. A small dabber vial doesn't do anything for me when I'm trying a new perfume, it doesn't give me that great of an impression of any perfume in any concentration. But I cannot remember how I had gotten a sample of Cartier de Lune EDT but I've had this sitting on my jewlery stand for a few months and somehow one of my dogs thought that it would be a great idea to go sniffing around my dresser and thought that this sample was maybe something to play with. At first, I thought I smelled anise but by looking up the notes, there is no anise. Then I realized that I actually was smelling juniper. The juniper does fade a little bit for the rose and pepper. Lasting power of this EDT is about the average 3 and a half hours on my skin and Lune wears very close. After Lune peters out, I'm not impressed with this EDT. It kind of reminds me a little bit of another boring floral (Vera Wang's Sheer Veil). I doubt that I would even get a decant let alone a full bottle of this.

L'Artisian Dzongkha Eau de Toilette Review

I haven't had a whole lot of experience with the L'Artisian line and what I have tried, with the exception of Havana Vanille, has left me wanting more. Dzongkha is no exception to leaving me underwhelmed and not happy. At first, I got a blast of dill and celery. Dill and celery may be fine in soup or corned beef but not in perfume. After the initial blast of celery and dill, the iris came out to play with the incense. I've tried Prada's Infusion d'Iris and Chanel's no. 19 Poudre and didn't really like the iris dominant note. With trying Dzongkha, I realized that I do not like iris that plays a staring note. The iris and incense are very dry smelling with no development. The lasting power of Dzongkha is about 4-5 hours on me but projects at least two feet away from my skin. I think that this is the first perfume that I actually dislike bordering on hate.

Chai Tea

I've never been a coffee drinker but a tea drinker. Part of the reason why I don't drink coffee is because I've never much cared for the taste and I seem to get the worst case of sour stomach known to mankind. I've tried a lot of teas and I've enjoyed Tazo's chai tea concentrate the best. I've normally been able to get this at the grocery store at work but I have found out that they have stopped carrying it. They have other brands of chai concentrate but they are terrible. Most of the other concentrates taste like milk with a butt load of honey dumped in. Chai tea is sweet but that honey water vibe makes it way too cavity inducing. The Tazo concentrate is sweet but not sickeningly so. I enjoy the taste of having spiced black tea. I've complained to the manager at my local grocery store because there are things that I normally buy there but have discontinued and replaced with their own brand. With gas prices going up, I can't afford to go out of my way to get. This is when online shopping and being what must be the Amazon.com fanatic comes in handy. I was surprised though. Even though I know that Amazon is becoming more of a third party seller, the shipping costs of some things actually cost more than the actual item itself. Amazon is selling a pack of three chai tea concentrate for a shade over $17.

I know that I haven't been reviewing perfumes and I do have quite a few that need to be reviewed. It just seems that I find myself reaching more and more for the stuff that I've already reviewed or I seem to be spending my perfume budget on decants that I already have.