Le Labo Aldehyde 44 Review

This is gonna be a really short review because Aldehyde 44 smells like another perfume. I tried Aldehyde 44 for the first time yesterday and kept doing a double take all day. Reason being, Aldehyde 44 is mainly a toned down Chanel no. 22 but it's less harsh than no. 22. While no. 22 and no. 5 are sisters, Aldehyde 44 is more like a very young cousin trying to mimic those two.

I'm not exactly thrilled with Aldehyde 44 for the reason that it smells too much like no. 22 and that leads me to believe that someone was blatantly trying to do a rip off of no. 22. Even though I found no. 22's aldehydes to be harsh at first (still do at times), I did grow to love it. Another reason I'm not really rocking this one is that Le Labo may have wanted to create something that smelled a whole lot like no. 22 but it was exclusive to only Dallas so it was really niche. But Aldehyde 44's rose is much more prevalent than the rose in no. 22.

At this point, I don't like Aldehyde 44 nor Le Labo in general. I've reexamined Le Labo's Labdanum 18 and found Labdanum 18 to be Labdanum 18 to be a toned down Shalimar. It's one thing to nod to the perfume classics but when company is doing rip offs, I get riled. Riled in that fact that it makes me think that the perfumers can't think up new ideas or an interpretation of a note or two.

Many people who have smelled Amouage Gold for women compare it to Chanel no. 5 but they are two different perfumes. They might share some DNA but it never was meant to be a rip off. Amouage Dia for women is different though. It's the idea of Gold but with a whole lot less heft and it was made known that that was the case.

Out of Season Perfume

Here in Cleveland, the weather has always been pretty goofy and it's been a goofy winter. One day, I can be sitting in 2 feet of snow and sub zero temps and the next day, I can be sitting in the same 2 feet of snow and it's literally 70 degrees out. Hence why I don't rotate my perfume collection. But as of this moment, I keep craving my "transition" perfumes and my summer perfumes.

The heavy hitters like Amouage Lyric and Epic are kind of taking a back seat and now I'm wearing Chanel no. 19 and Deneuve. I find that Deneuve and no. 19 are more meant to be spring and summer scents. Even though those 2 are more of the lines of a chypre, I do find them to be more spring and summer. Not like the queen, Mitsouko, who demands to be worn year round. I just find both Deneuve and no. 19 too green to be worn in winter, unless it feels like a spring day in February.

But I have found that the EDT version of no. 19 is really not my deal. I know that it is the leather in the no. 19 EDT version that is the problem. I like my leathers plush like Cuir de Russie not astringent and butchy. The extract version of no. 19 I find to be a cross of the EDT and EDP but with a plush iris note. While I like (a lot) the extract version of no. 19, the EDP is the one that won my heart.

The state of Deneuve does sadden me though. It saddens me that I find it to be one of the greatest celebrity scents ever made, that it's discontinued and that it is getting harder and harder to find. Especially when you do find it, the price always seems to be just out of my reach even for a EDT mini so I kind of hoard what I've got. Every time I wear Deneuve, I cannot decide if I love the extract form or the EDT form better.

Comme des Garcons Series 3 Incense Zagorsk Review

For a while I've been flirting with trying the Comme des Garcons line but always found it to be a little annoying. Annoying in the how many series and lines do you need under your name. If you say, Chanel, it's either the regular stuff (no. 5, no. 19, etc) and the Les Exclusifs line and that suits me but what 30 million lines? It's over the top and maybe a little arrogant. But, let's get to the review.

I had bought Zagorsk from Luckyscent, unsniffed. I thought, for $80, not a bad price for niche even though it is an EDT. When I first spray it on, I get a massive blast of the iris. It's not the no. 19 in extract form or iris, which is on the plush side. This iris is like the blast I got in Serge's Silver Iris Mist, that hissy, carroty, maybe a little earthy blast. Truth be told, I kind of like my iris to be on the hissy side. The iris stays mostly front and center during the wearing. Then the pine needles start to come into play. The pine isn't what you get from the air freshener things you hang in a car but the walking in a pine forest and sniffing the needles and the sap. I'm not sure exactly where the incense is because it's been quite a while since I've set foot in a church for a mass but Zagorsk is on the dry side. Not as dry like Sycomore and a few others that I own are dryer than Zagorsk.

What bothers me about Zagorsk is that it might be an EDT, there is no real lasting power on skin. Even with lotion, I get maybe 3 or 4 hours at best, if that's the case, I'll have to spray on clothes. I've had Chanel EDT's at comperable prices and have lasted much longer. In that respect, I might hold off on trying any more of the Comme des Garcons line even though I really did enjoy Zagorsk.

*Sorry for the spelling mistakes, spell check doesn't want to work at this moment.

Tough Going

I did hear back from Amazon the same day I e-mailed them and I got the shipping refunded. In a way, I was hoping that they would do a little bit more for me but whatever. Ever since I fell down the rabbit hole of perfumery, I've been reluctant to get anything bath related to any perfume. Doesn't matter if it is No. 5, Shalimar or anything else. I have to say that just about all mainstream scents have matching shower gel and lotion. I'm well past the stage where I have to have to have the matching bath stuff. Matching bath stuff with perfume is great if you are faithful to 3 or 4 perfumes.

Right now, I am trying to appreciate what I have in my perfume collection but it's tough. I mean really tough. Using up the decants is easy enough but using up full full bottles is another matter.I swear to a higher power, I've got no idea where this sudden fixation with minis is coming from.

Is it boredom or the eyeballing two vintage Shalimars on E-Bay? I'm not sure but all I know is that my hankering for vintage perfume isn't really new. But after cruising E-bay (bad idea, I know) for minis and vintage stuff, I'm having a hard time believing some things. It's usually the pricing on many vintage minis. They can either be dirt cheap, which is a little suspicious or wildly expensive. Sometimes it is a little sketchy all around, if the bottle is full, then it's fake. Or sometimes the color for vintage is a dead giveaway because I know full well that with vintage perfume, the color does darken.

Fun with Amazon

I've always enjoyed shopping on Amazon and never had issues with their shipping. Until today, well I, should say yesterday. I had ordered a calender and few other things that have not arrived. I had ordered Serge Lutens' A La Nuit and had received that it maybe late. Where it was coming from and what weather conditions were, I was understanding but A La Nuit, much to my surprise, did arrive on time. Four items haven't made it to my doorstep and there was no e-mail to give me a heads up. Needless to say, I am not happy with Amazon and sent them an e-mail. We shall see what happens with this.

Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois Review

I'm finding it hard to believe that I haven't reviewed my very first Serge Lutens. What I mean is that when I fell down the rabbit hole and was really new to niche perfumers, I was buying bottles left and right. I was most intrigued by the reverence in the perfume world with Serge Lutens. I wasn't sure what the fuss was about and still kind of don't.

Feminite du Bois (not the Shisedo version) was the very first Lutens offering that I did get. It's a spicy, fruity, dusty combination that seems pretty linear. Even though cedar is listed in the notes, I don't get any kind of cedar. Stewed fruit and spice market seems to be a recurring thing in many of Lutens' work and I still don't know if I like the stewed fruit and spice combination. It always smells dusty to be because of Feminite du Bois. Sarrasins and A La Nuit seems to be the exception to this and to a lesser degree De Profundis. There is the lasting power of plutonium in many of Serge Lutens offerings when you get the full spray bottles. Spray decants seem not to give the longevity as the full bottles.

What I have noticed with many of Serge Lutens perfumes, is the color of the perfume itself. Red, orange, pink, purple and a few others. It is a little jarring to see that in a perfume when one is accustomed to seeing an orangey yellow or clear. I'm wondering if I was attracted to this line because of the different colors in the perfumes themselves. I really don't wear Feminite du Bois too much but it is nice for what it is though.