Ubar Relaunched

 Now is the time where I really get a move on with the revisiting the things from early in my perfumeista journey. Back when I started blogging about perfume, I feared not liking a perfume and saying so on my blog. My tastes have changed and I have become less afraid of saying what I think about perfume. If I think that something smells like a really bad fart, I'm going to say so, if it smells wonderful, I'll say so too.

When I had first tried Ubar, I almost physically recoiled. I thought that I got a decant that was bad or someone wanted to play a prank on me. It did smell like the Off bug spray with flowers somewhere in there. At the time, I had made every effort to make friends with Ubar but Ubar wasn't having it. I really think, at the time, I predominantly wanted the cheapest Amouage perfumes. At the time, it was $250 for a 3.4 ounce bottle and that was a bargain for an Amouage if you wanted to pay full price. Now I know better and can find it cheaper.

Since a few years have past and I haven't had a decant in any form, I had ordered one when STC was having a sale. I figured that if I have fallen in love with a few perfumes that I initially hated, I should give Ubar another go. After I had worn it a couple times, my opinion has somewhat changed. Does it smell different? Yes, probably due to some reformulation. The bug spray note doesn't seem to be prominent in this and I get more of a floral note to this. Ubar still lasts forever and isn't the best to wear when you are working in a bakery. Heat makes Ubar really bloom. Has my opinion changed? Yes, I am starting to like this one and I'm thinking that I will eventually fall in love and get a full bottle.

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.

Rochas Femme EDT Review

Any regular readers that I do have, kind of know that I go through phases of reviewing a lot of perfumes then it's just general blogging. I find that I have to be in a certain mood to try new things at least a couple of times either two days in a row or 2 or 3 months apart. Rochas Femme was something that I had to try 3 or 4 times before I could even begin to review.

Rochas Femme has been around for a while and is considered a classic. It comes from the 1940's where women were women. At the time, I was looking for a classic perfume but was considered 'animalic' and stumbled across a list from Surrender to Chance. Femme is not one of those skanky perfumes that is just about sex. It beats around the bush a little bit. I got the flowers and I got the spice, then well into they dry down, I had gotten the skank. The skank was nice enough but I wished that it had come out a lot sooner and maybe a little louder. For an EDT, this is pretty long lasting on my skin; I could still smell it on skin 9 hours later. Truth be told, this is one of those classics that really doesn't suit me, so a small decant for reference purposes is good enough for me.

Guerlain Mitsouko EDP Retried

It's kind of funny on how for certain perfumes that I have dismissed as nothing special or really didn't "get it". Especially when it comes to classics. In the past couple months, I think that I finally understand Mitsouko. I now adore Mitsouko in EDP form. At first, I was put off with the peach note. In the beginning, I thought that the peach was a little too in your face. After giving it a few more tries, the peach is front and center until about half way through the entire wearing. Mitsouko is a perfect fall scent in my eyes. It has cooled down, the leaves are changing, there is that certain fall smell that compliments Mitsouko especially when there is a bond fire going. In the dry down, the rose and jasmine become more apparent and I really love the dry down. I have a small decant of the vintage EDT but have not gotten around to trying it, so this is of the most current formulation. But now, I cannot really think of wearing any other scent right now.