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.

Perfume Sizes and Things I Have Learned

This thought struck me while I was Christmas shopping and looking at the perfume counters. For a purfumista, bigger is not always better in terms of perfume bottles. Before I was a perfumista, bigger was better since I didn't have the collection then that I do now. Thus far, I have accumulated 24 full bottles of perfume in regular rotation and 19 that I am looking at selling or giving away. Some of my full bottles are either 2.5 or 3.4 ounces that will take me a while to finish off. Writing that makes me a little ashamed to have to much perfume full bottle wise. It's always a fleeting feeling when I look at all of my perfume bottles and massive collection of decants. But I have come to prefer smaller bottles of perfume due to the sheer size of my already large collection and it it is easier on my pocketbook.

I have learned that I don't need the matching soap and lotion to some of my perfumes. I am not one of those folks who has one or two signature perfumes and that's it. I like to try out different things and the matching soap and body lotion to any perfume just sits around. Another thing that I have learned is that tastes do change. I used to have an immense dislike for Chanel no. 5 but fast forward to about a year ago, I love Chanel no. 5 and have it in parfum and eau de parfume form. It's alright to have one perfume in various concentrations, I'm looking at you Cuir de Russie and how you've driven me mad with need when you came out in parfum form until I actually bought that half ounce bottle. I have also learned that it's okay to hate a certian perfume after you have tried to love it no matter what concentration it is or vintage (Chanel no. 22). Once in a great while I can afford to get a bottle of Amouage but not on a regular basis or any bottle of expensive perfume.

Chanel no. 19 Poudre EDP Review

When I heard that Chanel was tweaking no. 19, I was slightly horrified like I was with no. 5 eau Premiere. While no. 5 eau Premiere turned out to be a lighter version of the no. 5 I know and love, but no. 19 Poudre is different. My slightly horrified feeling turned into full horror when I tried no. 19 Poudre. It smelled nothing like the no. 19 that I love. Poudre is nothing but powder, powder and more powder with iris laced through it. The no. 19 EDP is a very cold, green rose. It's like a leather corset. It's the type of perfume telling me this too, will pass when things get rough. No. 19 Poudre is a weak in the silage but has staying power. Will I get a bottle? Not in a million years. Will I get another decant? Definitely not. Poudre just turns my stomach in ways that are not good.

Chanel no. 5 eau Premiere Review

I had gotten a sample of Chanel's no. 5 eau Premiere when I bought Chanel's Cuir de Russie in parfum form about a year ago. Naturally, I was hesitant to chose the sample instead of some other sample. The reason is that there was a horrified feeling of tampering with a legend. I had initially tried it and dismissed it as nothing impressive and proceeded to give away my sample. After wearing the originally no. 5 in eau de parfume, I wondered if I had dismissed eau Premiere to readily. Then it was off to the Perfumed Court to get a 1.5ml decant to try. After wearing eau Premiere for two days straight, I'm still not wild about eau Premiere. Eau Premiere is lighter and softer than the original. After wearing Eau Premiere, I did notice that it didn't last as long as any of the Chanels that I have tried and own. It only lasted about 6 hours compared to the 24 hours that I am used to with other Chanels. I did find myself craving the original no. 5 while wearing eau Premiere. Would I get a bottle? No. Decant? Maybe.

Piguet Fracas Review

After separating my growing hoard of decants, separating the reviewed and not reviewed, I found Fracas. I couldn't remember when I got it or if I even wore it. But then it hit me, I wore it the day I got it. I was getting together with a friend to go hiking. Then I wore it again today to refresh my memory. Fracas is a tuberose dominate perfume. The first time around, the creaminess of the whole getup made me gag a little bit and put me off Fracas. The second time around, I am still not liking the creaminess of tuberose. I don't mind and sometimes even like some creaminess of perfumes but Fracas was too much to bear, even in small doses. While I noticed the creaminess and tuberose right off the bat, I got some jasmine peaking out here and there. I don't view Fracas as a bombshell perfume because after one small spray, it's loud. Loud as in Calvin Klien's Obsession type of loud. It's not loud in a crass way but more of an assertive kind of loud. Would I ever get a bottle? No. Would I keep a sample or small decant as a reference? Yes.

Serge Lutens Arabie Review

When I was starting out my foray into perfume, a perfumer's name kept popping up. That name was Serge Lutens. I currently own 4 bottles but it's Arabie's turn to be reviewed today. Before I knew anything about and discovered The Perfumed Court and getting decants, I bought this blind. When my package arrived, I was so excited to tear it open and try it out. At first, I didn't know what to make of Arabie. It was almost a scrubber because it was so strange to my inexperienced nose and it puzzled me to no end. The longer I wore it, the more intrigued I became and I started to love it. I was puzzled because there is the initial blast of cloves and spices and I was very used to smelling straight up florals and fruity florals. After about an hour, the candied fruits do start to subdue the cloves. Arabie is not a soft nor quiet perfume, it's loud so a little does go a long way. Now that it is fall, I find myself craving this scent. I do love Arabie because it is interesting. But I am not sure if I love it enough to always have a bottle on my shelf.

Cellphones

Yesterday, I had renewed my contract with T-Mobile and had ordered new phones for my parents and I. Wirefly.com and the T-Mobile website offer many smart phones and Android phones for free but one must pay for the dumb phones. Needless to say, my mother was none to happy that I had to spend money on two dumb phones. It's not like two years ago that you could get a basic phone for free and had to pay for a smart phone. Now it is hard to find a free dumb phone but easy to find a low cost dumb phone. Five or six years ago, everyone was excited over the Motorola Razr but now it's the Android phones and the iPhone. Cell phone companies seem to be pushing the Android phones and getting rid of the dumb phones. Which makes me believe that in the next two years, there will not be any kind of dumb phone to speak of and my parents will be forced to make a choice. Either get a smart phone, cancel thier cell phone plan and live without cell phones, or get a pay as you go cell phone (if they are still around). I am not opposed to getting an Android phone but I am not thrilled about paying extra for a data plan. But I did want to try out having an Android phone.