Guerlain Nahema EDP Review

A while back, I did review Guerlain's Nahema and really enjoyed it. But what I reviewed was the vintage PdT. The only time that I see a perfume in a PdT form if it is in vintage form and nobody does a perfume in PdT today. Ever since the 80's when companies were launching perfumes in the new at the time, EDP version, the PdT's were discontinued.

Months ago, I had revisited the PdT version of Nahema and instead of just really enjoying it, I fell in love. In a moment of impulse, I bought a bottle of the current EDP version. I always like to review vintage versions and current versions of perfume separately. I like to do it because they might be somewhat different or massively different.

Is the current version of Nahema different than the vintage PdT that I have? Yes and no. The vintage version was more about the imaginary plush, jammy rose and the current version is more about the green hyacinth and a little less on the rose. The rose is still a dominant player but it's not as huge as the PdT. I do love green perfumes are there are many out there but there are not too many that include hyacinth. I love hyacinth in my garden, in the grocery store when they sell them as potted plants in the spring, and when they are either a star player in perfume or as a major supporting character in perfume. I can't fathom why perfumers don't use this more often in perfume. When they seem to, hyacinth is pushed way back or it's trampled by everything else. What I have noticed is that the current EDP is a little thinner than the vintage PdT. I still find the current version of the EDP very enjoyable and I do think that Nahema will have a permanent place somewhere in my collection.

Frapin 1697 Revisited

I remember a few years ago that Frapin had announced that there was going to be a new perfume to be released. That perfume's name was 1697 and since I had already fallen in love with 1270, I wanted to try it. When I got my hands on a sample, I was so excited. I promptly wore it, reviewed it and decided to not get a bottle. At the time, I was confused with the whole absolu thing and I still don't know what the hell it is. It's not exactly high on my priority list to fund out. I remember saying that 1697 was pretty much a toned down, less boozy version of 1270. While 1270 and 1697 are boozy, 1270 has more booze and stewed fruit than 1697. And since I had gotten another decant of the absolu, I stand by that statement. Wearing a decant of 1697 a few years later and knowing that the absolu isn't being sold anymore makes me want to take another look. I remember taking a look at the price tag for the absolu and saying that I don't love it enough for the price tag. Frapin's price tags are still a little scary to me even though it's a 100ml of perfume. I still stand by my statement that if you like 1270 but find it a little over the top, 1697 would be the better bet. I do love 1697, I don't love it enough to have a bottle since I have 1270. I wouldn't mind if 1697 were dropped in my lap but I am not going to buy it anytime soon.

I still don't know why I decided to visit 1697 again and look through it with new eyes but I did. I think that shopping my collection has something to do with it and being on a no buy. I have been wearing perfumes that I haven't worn in a while and some of them have been waiting over a year for me to grab them. Now, I need to rectify that and hopefully this no buy will help me use up a couple bottles. It's horrible to have almost no space because my collection is large. Maybe not the 700 bottle type of large but the 60 bottle large.

Keeps Getting More Difficult

It seems like this past week in general has been pretty rough. I was surprised with the election results and Trump actually winning the election. Was I disappointed that he won? Yes, because his rhetoric struck me as some newsreels of Germany back in 1932 and it scares me. That is all I am going to say because I am just not exactly motivated to get into or referee any type of political argument.

But since I have pretty much gone on a no buy journey for right now, I have noticed that I am having a bit of trouble with the whole no buy. I will admit to the fact I did buy a vintage bottle of no 22. I was surprised that it was still sealed and the seller said that it was a 1/4 ounce, it was a half an ounce instead. If you are not very familiar with pure parfum sizes, it's easy to do. I will admit to taking advantage of the latest STC flash sale and getting three small decants. I know that I have what seems like a million decants of what I have already worn and reviewed and a thousand more that haven't been reviewed and worn. And I am still sitting on two perfume reviews that I have forgotten to post when I was on vacation.

I am still shopping my collection and starting to look at some of my perfumes a little more closely. I am thinking that I should really think about using up some of these minis that I have lying around and possibly look at selling what I don't wear anymore. The sheer size of my collection has gotten a little ridiculous for me and I do want to do a cull. So I must take a look at E-Bay to see what the fees are.