Bois de Jasmin : Perfume Reviews and Reflections :: Fragrance review: Guerlain Attrape-Coeur / Guet-Apens

This will be easy. For the beautiful review with all the detail about notes, go to the link above. I’m not good at eloquence in my reviews, as y’all have probably noticed.

Attrape Coeur is singly one of the most beautiful fragrances I’ve ever had on my skin. I tend to not like overly animalic scents (Serge, I’m so not looking at you, really… well, I am), and Attrape Coeur certainly has notes in that direction, but it is so perfectly balanced with the florals, that it is hard to categorize this scent and have it stay put.

A smokey, woodsy violet, that’s the best I can do. And did I say beautiful? A stunning creationg that I am so glad they have brought back and hope receives wider distribution.

Still only available at the Champs Elysees boutique, it is well worth the effort to get.

All through your life, your children open and shut doors.

I can remember when I was a new mom, my life was full of babies and diapers and crying. I thought it would never, ever end. Then it did.

When my boys went into toddlerhood and the preschool years, there were the unending playdates and preschool and shuttling them to a bazillion different activities to “socialize” them. Picking up their toys in every room of the house, picking some out of VCRs and vents, the unending battle to get them to clean up their rooms and pick up their own toys. That ended too.

The grammar school years. We learned about homework and how to fight about getting it done, parent-teacher conferences where I heard the now-familiar “he’s not performing up to his potential.” My oldest son memorizing Dorothy Parker poems for poetry recitation days to torment his 5th Grade teacher who hated him and he hated in return. Both of them finding new things they could do well — playing guitar, computer programming, acting, speech.

When the grammar school years ended for both boys, I knew I wasn’t a young mom anymore, I was now a teenagers’ mom. Gone was the innocence and kidding and the almost-reverent mommy adoration. The new door that opened unveiled my oldest to be the new, improved, surly nihilist with enough teenage angst to drown a mother.

The teenage years were unbelievably difficult, but the most fun I’ve ever had. Challenging to stay ahead of maturing, getting-smarter-every-day boys, to anticipate their fibs, their feints, while instructing them in all the things they will need when they are on their own. Walking the line between lecturing them too much so they don’t hear you anymore and saying enough of the important things over and over again that when they reach the moral fork in the road, yours is the voice they hear when they need it most.

My oldest is 19, and there were days when I did not know if he would survive and days when I thought he could do anything. He is brilliant and fun and still surly and immature in so many ways, and he is gone.

Moved out into a one-bedroom apartment with two other young men. This is a happy time, that he’s actually moved out and is mostly on his own now, and sad because I will miss that snarl when I forget and flush the toilet when he is in the shower. I will miss the quick humor that you see hundreds of times a week, but that will become unfamiliar now that we do not share a home.

I will miss the person he has become. Just when it’s getting interesting, they head off on their own.

As he leaves, and my almost-16-year-old is in the countdown phase to leaving, I know the last part of my mom life is ending. I will always be their mother, but the active raising of my children is almost over. All I can ask now is have I done enough? Did I give him (them) enough tools to survive, to make good decisions? Did I say enough so that he will hear my voice when his moral compass can’t find north?

Will he survive and be happy and find a nice girl and get married? Will he be back in two months because he can’t stand the crowded conditions of three young men in a one-bedroom apartment?

So I see my mommy life coming to an end, that door is closing, and I mourn. The door opening will be the one of worrying from a distance and hoping they really aren’t going to get serious with that little tramp who reminds me of a tramp I used to know back in high school. This door opens to grandchildren eventually, but in the meantime there is now an “otherness” about my oldest son that will grow. The separation is almost complete, and he will become more of a mystery.

This is a hard road, starting with a cell of mine to two people inhabiting the same body, to two bodies, to now two completely different lives.

All of this is as it should be, but, damnit, it’s hard.

The next time my husband gleefully starts planning on redecorating my oldest’s room and turning it into something else, I’m gonna lay him out, I swear.

Okay, /self-pity off.

My AttrapeCoeur is here!!!!!!!!! And samples of delicious Guerlainy fragrances like Vega and Philtre D’Amouir and Angelique Noire and Quand Vient l’ete

I feel like I just got back from Paris. My nose will be otherwise occuped for the remainder of the evening. Must shower immediately and get remnants of all other perfumery off me.

Got my eBay steal of Guerlain Liu in the mail today, so I’m doing a quick tryout and review.

Top notes: Bergamot, neroli
Heart Notes: Jasmine, May rose, iris
Base Notes: Amber, vanilla, woods

This goes on very citrusy, very much the bergamot dominating, quickly the jasmine, rose and iris show up and blend in. There’s a very light vanilla and amber which deepen the whole composition, with the iris adding in the powdery touch. A very soft, elegant floral. I find myself sniffing my arm since I’ve had it on just to see what it has done next. I’m glad they have brought this one back. I believe right now it is available only in the Paris shop, though I’m not entirely sure of that; it may be in wider distribution.

This was made for Rose Kennedy in 1933, allegedly she wanted her own Chanel No. 5. I don’t know how Chanel-like this is, I’m not a No. 5 fan and haven’t smelled it in quite some time. Liu very much has the Guerlain base. If you don’t like Guerlains in general, you probably won’t like this one. If you like Guerlain, you will likely love this. I’m in the love column on this, and I don’t love all the Guerlains, they just don’t all work on me, particularly Shalimar. This is not overly powdery like some of the Guerlains.

This has to be my best perfume score so far this year.

Nope, nobody saw that coming

… about any clothing you wanted, you had access to the top stylists and designers, is this what you would wear? Why bother with the dress?

I’m horrible with fashion, just don’t care, but my inability to look fashionable simple will not stop me from criticizing celebrities who look like hell.

Found at ohnotheydidnt: Kirsten’s a frump.

THAT SHIRT, NO!!!!! Such a pretty girl, so cute, and that shirt just makes her look so weird. I think Hayden Pantierre is a terrific actress, from when she was on “Guiding Light,” but being cute does not give you a license to put on strange shirts in public and escape criticism.

Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle

I want need a bell jar from Serge Lutens. Perhaps I should ask myself why, but instead of dangling some troublesome psychological question out there, I’d rather believe that one of his non-export perfumes is my destiny. Then I canl call my uncle in Paris, have him or one of his daughters or his wife zip down to the Palais, scoop up the much-desired bell jar and ship it to its rightful place on my dresser.

Is Tubereuse Criminelle the one? I don’t know. When it first went on, the answer was an emphatic no. It was a car wreck, with gasoline and rubber and fumes. It was horrible, I couldn’t watch, I covered my eyes, pinched my nose and tried to ignore it, slowing down and gawking from time to time.

Halfway into finding the saw so I could take off part of my arm if soap and water didn’t work, the tuberose peaked its head up and said hi. There is still that rubbery feel to the tuberose, but a lovely little tuberose smell it is.

So… I don’t hate it. I’m always willing to wait for perfumes to develop, which is the biggest change from how I used to evaluate perfumes

Is it a love match? Not sure. Tuberose and roses in general aren’t the perfumes I reach for, but there is something about this one. The rubbery note keeps the tuberose from overflowing the olfactory banks and making a mess out of things, and that is what makes it different and lovely. Not lovely in that swooney kind of way. Different in that “I need to sniff my arm again one more time to see what in the world has happened.”

I think Natasha from “Rocky and Bullwinkle” would wear this perfume, and I mean that in a complimentary way.

More and more I do believe that the world needs beautiful smelling perfumes and interesting perfumes. This one may be a candidate for the bell jar I want on my dresser, but I have yet to get to Bois de Violette and Santal de Mysore decants.

Ambery goodness in a bottle, that is Laura Tonatto’s Amir. Myrrh and frankincense are the other notes, and it is definitely warm and spicy.

If you’re looking for a delicate floral, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a sweet amber, this isn’t it either. Normally ambers don’t work for me, they just exhaust my nose. Don’t ask, I really don’t know why, but it is true.

Amir does worry my nose at the start — a blast of very pungent amber, rich and startling, but it settles into a much more incense-like smell in the drydown, with the myrrh and frankincense cradling the amber and keeping it lively, without being exhausting. It’s like the best of a room full of old spices, that lingering smell that’s hard to define, but just there and comforting and a little sensuous without feeling over the top.

I have a hunch this this would be even better layered with one of her other scents, maybe Albi or Dama? I’m going to try that later today. Un bois Vanilla or Comme des Garcon’s Spicy Cocoa might work with it really well too.

A lovely scent that gets better as the day goes on.

Money can Buy some happiness… up to a point

Well, a little more money coming into my bank account and dispatched to Ormonde Jayne and Caron would net me the remaining perfumes I can not live without, and that would definitely make me joyous and smelling wonderful.

My Un Zest de Rose I got a great deal on in an auction on eBay arrived today, and it is the first rose scent I believe I have ever liked. de Rosine does roses like they smell in my garden. At my old house, I used to have a bunch of mint growing around the roses, and this is very close to what that smelled like. Lovely.

Ormonde Jayne - Ormonde Woman

I’ve had a hard time working up the courage to review this fragrance from Ormonde Jayne. Partly because I don’t think I can do it justice; partly because this is an emotional perfume for me — it mesmerizes me and evokes just the most joyful and sorrowful feelings at the same time; partly because I want it to be my secret.

I have read mixed reviews on this — those who love it are head over heels, and those who don’t love it really cannot figure out what we who are smitten are raving about. I think it’s body chemistry. If that hemlock/violet hits your body chemistry, it is magic. If it doesn’t, you just don’t see Ormonde’s specialness. I generally don’t spray this on my arms. It has to be spritzed on the body, that’s where it gets its most fabulous.

Top: Cardamom, coriander and grass oil
Heart: Black hemlock, violet and jasmine absolute
Base: Vetivert, cedar wood, amber and sandalwood

This goes on sharp and fresh, almost tangy, the grass oil is pungent, like days I spent on the farm out in a hayfield. It is an earthy, almost bitter tang. Then there is a sweet spiciness that comes out with the coriander and cardamom. Once the top notes waft off a little, the hemlock and violet emerge, along with hints of the amber and sandalwood and cedar wood and vetivert. It is an earthy, joyous mix that is dark and almost narcotic, while it sheds light and zest..

Ormonde is the one scent that I prepare myself to put on in the morning, because I want to experience every bit of it. It’s not good for me to wear it on a busy day, it distracts me as I catch some dark violet, hemlock or woody whiff from time to time.

The best way I can describe it, this perfume smells like my life — rich in so many ways, dark and sorrowful in others, joyous and earthy, sometimes sharp and bitter. There are moments of clarity, you can see this scent clearly and know what it is, and then it becomes clouded by other notes, sometimes obscuring your view and sometimes enhancing it. If I try and get too close and scrutinize it, it loses something. Far better it is to spirtz gleefully and just revel in the whole.

See, emotional. I am tempted to buy ten bottles of this so I never run out, but I don’t want to wear it every day - I couldn’t wear it every day. That seems almost to dilute its magic. Everyone should have one scent in their life that brings out this kind of feeling.

Ormonde Jayne, you are a genious. Not just for this scent, but for all the other lovely little creations you have stirred up, all of which are lovely and worthy just on their own.

I need all of them! My husband agrees with this, he has followed this scent from the upstairs, just to find out what I had on. He’s equally as entranced by the Isfarkand.

Chanel’s Bois des Iles (part of the Rue Cambon collection) is my grown-up girl scent.

Notes: Jasmine, Damask Rose, Ylang-YLang, Bitter Almond, Gingerbread, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Sandalwood, Vetiver

Created by Ernest Beaux (he also created Chanel No. 5), this is a cool fragrance. Not like cold, but as in soothing cool, like a river on a summer day. While many florals are listed in this fragrance, this never feels like a floral fragrance to me. It goes on with a burst of notes, then it just soothes into a delicious scent. It lingers throughout the day with the Sandalwood and Vanilla, but not in any gourmandy way at all. It is perfection.

Bois des Iles is one of my top five scents. It is the one I reach for when I am feeling confident or wanting confidence. When I don’t know what I’m in the mood for, I’m always in the mood for this.

No, this is not the Holy Grail fragrance yet. This is just a much beloved friend in my fragrance wardrobe.

I’m in Los Angeles for meetings today, and I need someone to please stop me from thinking about going to this place I haven’t tried but one Santa Maria Novella product, and I’m certain that it’s another one of those “this comes from an old recipe from a 16th century monk or my great-great-great-great X4 grandfather from Tuscany that we are ‘reintroducing’ at a price that would have stunned the monk or my Tuscan great-great-great-greatX4 grandfather.” The Eliotropo was really nice, but not “we’re charging prices that will make you cry” nice.

I’m NOT going there. It doesn’t help that these meetings are so boring and that I need to dream of an escape.

Teenagers and webcams are a bad idea

I’m actually liking this version of “Hung up” better than Madonna’s.

My youngest son, Harry, who is 15, snagged my webcam months ago, and I haven’t missed it yet, but I would come in, and he had this long distance crush on a girl his cousin knew, and they would just leave the webcam on for both of them for hours, not even talking, just going about their lives. Totally cracked me up.

I’m going to show him this video and ask him if he’s got anything like this out there. Normally he just records himself playing guitar, and he is a spectacular guitar player, but I fear there could be something like this out there to haunt him.

Why do I think that? Because he’s 15, and he actually thought it was a good idea to break into his high school’s grading system, which he and his friends did… and got caught. What I’m surprised about is they didn’t have a webcam recording their “adventure.”

Teenagers, webcams, music and computers, a bad combo all around.

Link found at A Socialite’s Life

I promised a cheap mascara to die for, and today I’ve got it!

But a couple of other things first.

Got a sample of YSL Teint Parfait (3, Champagne). I’m not exactly sure what it is supposed to do. They call it a complexion enhancer. 3 is supposed to illuminate cheeckbones, forehead and chin. At 45, I’m not sure how much illumation I ought to have, but I do use it as a light foundation when I don’t want to do anything heavy, putting it around on my cheekbones, forehead and chin, as they suggest, but not for illumination as much as coverage. At $35, I wouldn’t buy it, but it sure was a nice sample that I got with something or other.

I have to confess to pre-ordering a couple of items from the Tom Ford Amber Nude makeup for Estee Lauder. Just a lipstick and the refillable face highlighter compact. Again, as with all highlighter things that I have bought and will probably continue buying, I’m never quite sure what I should be getting, but this one is a really lovely nudey gold color, so it goes on very sheer with just a hint of gold in it. Not annoying “I just came off my hookin’ shift gold,” but that shimmery gold that is subtle and pretty. The SA’s told me this was selling like hotcakes, I got the last one of the face highlighter, and apparently this is a limited edition he did this time. So now I’m kind of wondering what I’m going to refill my pretty gold compact with when this runs out. I’ll worry about that later.

Okay, this is the elusive “cheap mascara” that is perfect that I’ve been searching for. I’ve tried most of them and loved some. Lancome ones (all the ‘cils in the world), the YSLs, which I love dearly. Lots that I haven’t loved that have been expensive. Lots that I haven’t loved that were cheap. Why does everyone love Great Lash? I hate that crap, it flakes off, irritates my eyes, and I end up looking like a tramp in two hours.

What is this magic cheap product? I’ve read reviews on it all over the place, but with my bad experiences with Drugstore mascaras, I was truly skeptical. Hearing that it was in short supply, I got a link to the Max Factor site where I could buy it directly (and now you have it too).

They’ve got the new brush technology, it has soft, flexible bristles. Whatever they did, it’s amazing. Easily went on my lashes, no clumping, all the way from the base to the tip of the lashes. I even experimented and didn’t curl my lashes first, just to see if I could get the same effect as when I curl, and I did. It coats great. I could have done just one coat and been fine, but a double coat is just habit, and that second coat really locked in the curl.

The true test, though, is does it irritate my eyes? The joyous, happy answer is, no, it does not. Not in an hour, not in a half day, not all day. No smudging, no raccooning. My only wish is that it will come in a dark brown eventually or lots of other colors would be better! Dark Green and dark purple and a dark blue! This is as good as mascara gets, and much less than what I normally pay for mascara. $7.89 for the limited edition on the Max Factor site, but I believe it’s less than that in the stores.

Next up: Next week I promise to review the perfume of my dreams that is now in my hands, but a work trip to L.A. is coming up, so it will have to wait.

I now have the full bottle of Tom Ford for Estee Lauder’s Youth Dew Amber Nude in my hands. I had smelled this briefly in the store and liked it. Liked it enough to commit to purchase

Youth Dew has been around forever. It was my sister’s first grown-up girl fragrance (mine was Estee Lauder Private Collection because my adored auntie wore it).

Top notes: gentian flower, magnolia, grated ginger, tea, grapefruit and a bare skin accord.

Heart: red carnation, jasmine, ylang ylang and black rose

Base: amber balm, vetiver, sandalwood, patchouli heart and dark chocolate.

This starts out very spicy, reminding me much of the original Youth Dew, but not quite as potent, which is a good thing, really. The drydown is lovely, it becomes mellower, there is a leathery feel in there, but still staying a spicy floral. The floral is not sweet or overpowering.

It’s lovely. For those of you that weren’t fans of the original, take another look at this one.

Rogers & Cowan go on Cruise control - Entertainment News

Popularity tanks, going from 11th-most-liked celebrity to 197th. Fires sister as publicist. I’m not sure how that’s gonna make me like him more.

From Smart

Bois de Jasmin has a really wonderful review of Bois d’Encens.

I’m so glad she reviewed this. It is an interesting, lovely scent and really does remind you of attending a Catholic mass, but it is not a dark incensey, it is light and soaring.

Luscious Cargo has an awesome lineup of perfumes and bath and body and home fragrances, including Lorenzo Villoresi, who is an Italian perfumer who does some out of the norm things (think Laura Tonatto out of the way, another Italian). I had ordered some things a while back. Not a hugely long while back, but like two-three weeks, and no word yet on when I’d get it.

I called up and spoke to the wonderful person there, and didn’t get her name, but it was the owner, and she couldn’t have been lovelier to chat with.

This just seems to be my experience with most on-line shops (they may have a brick and mortar as well), they’re great to deal with. She’s going to make some welcome substitutions in what I originally ordered since the other things hadn’t come in, and I’ve got a better set of things I’m getting than I had before.

Another company that I would nominate to run the world if we want it efficient and fast — Paper Mart If it’s paper, they’ve got it and at a great price. Small orders, big orders, padded mailing bags, goodie bags, shopping backs, tape, wrapping paper. And it is just the best quality. And it shows up almost as soon as you think about ordering it (well, minus the couple of days for shipping — they must be near a mailing distribution center to move things this fast).

If you’re having a party, need balloons, favor bags or boxes, go there. I try and figure out stuff I need just so I can have the pleasure of ordering from them and getting stuff that’s even better than I thought I was getting.

Another favorite — Beautyhabit. Lots of great stuff, always running a great special, quick service, you get the tracking notices when it ships (I love when on-line shops do this) and also get a confirming e-mail when it is delivered, just so you know it’s on your front porch.

Where to go to burn up time, if you are a girly-girl and love talking about perfume and makeup and don’t mind that you’ll wind up wanting things you never knew existed, Makeup Alley Board. Sections for Makeup, Bath and Body, Fragrance, Fashion, Skincare, Hair, Health and Fitness and Nails.

If it is just fragrance you want to talk about, then Perfume of Life and Basenotes is where you want to go.

Ava Luxe sells their own fragrances and other bath and body items. This week I have the Hand and Body Cream with their scent Noel Blanc. First, their cream is light and whipped up and silky, a wonderful consistency, one of the best I’ve run across. It’s very emollient without being greasy. Notes for Noel Blanc: ozone, midnight air, woods, white chocolate, berries, spices, cashmere essences, soft white musk and creamy vanilla. This just smells like comfort and home. The vanilla isn’t too sweet, it’s balanced well with the other notes so it doesn’t wind up smelling like just vanilla after an hour (my pet peeve about vanila scents, I just don’t want to smell like a cookie). I did get a couple of their other scents in the perfume, viva and tabac and Oeillet Rouge, but haven’t had a chance to really study them. They seem very nice.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb. They really get an A for the over-the-top lemming-inducing description: “Flowerbomb is a floral explosion, a profusion of flowers that has the power to make everything seem more positive. On application, the perfume’s magically evocative notes will immediately awaken your deepest senses, giving you the impression of living life in your own secret garden away from hard reality.” At $95 for a 1.7 oz bottle, you’ll be needing that escape from your credit card reality.

What it turns out to be, instead, is a pretty nice perfume. This was my surprise sniff of the week. I tried it in the store, thinking I would hate it. I’m not the kind of girl that wears sweet, overly floral scents.

Notes: Top — bergamot, tea. Middle — jasmine, freesia, orchid. Base — centiflora rose, patchouli.

The first burst from the bottle is very floral, but it immediately dries down into a more gourmandy fragrance, warm and enveloping, no sharp notes. Sillage is good, but not the overpowering perfume wake I expected with “bomb” in the name. Lasting power is good, but not in an overwhelming, “please let this fragrance die” way. What was most interesting is that the patchouli that I normally detest, hate, loathe and otherwise scorn isn’t bothering me. I can smell it just a bit, but only in how it holds the flowers together, which is what a base note should do. This is definitely a fragrance for gourmandy and floral fragrance fans to have.

Now, if you don’t want to spring for the $95 per bottle at Saks, which has an exclusive on the perfume that runs another couple of months, I have it in my eBay store for decants in two sizes. I never buy a perfume anymore without getting a decent decant first to make sure it’s worthy of my dollars. If you want a sample or smaller or larger decant, just e-mail me, and I’m happy to send that out. If you’re an incensey patchouli freak (I know there are a LOT of you out there) the Messe de Minuit can’t be beat.

What’s coming up: I am so pleased to announce that I have found the HG (Holy Grail) of fragrance. I don’t want to say too much and spoil it, but I hope to have it winging its way to me soon. I can say this, from the generous sample I tried, I used it all up in one day because I kept thinking, “Damn, I smell good!” and spritzed on some more to keep my jonesin’ little pug nose happy with a fresh infusion of fragrant heaven. This is my signature scent, without a doubt, and now it just needs to come home from the pefumer’s shop where it is sitting in its little box crying for me.

In the next week or so, I will have also gotten my hands on Youth Dew Amber Nude. Tom Ford has redone Youth Dew for Estee Lauder. I did get a sniff of this, and I am mightily impressed — I fell in instant lemming-osis. I never was a Youth Dew wearer, but my sister wore it as her first “grown-up girl” perfume for years, and I have really fond memories of it. Notes: Tea, Grapefruit With A Beautiful Heart Of Black Rose, Carnations, jasmine, Ylang-ylang. The Dry Down Finishes Off With Patchouli Notes, Amber, Vetiver, Chocolate And Vanilla. This will be a very limited initial release, I understand. It is exclusive to Saks until spring of 2006. My local Saks is only getting in 9 bottles next week, and they’re all spoken for, and nothing else is coming in until December, I believe. I’m also trying out a couple of items in the rest of the Tom Ford cosmetic line for Estee Lauder. I’ll cover those as well.

I will be offering decants and samples of this in my eBay store once I have it. BTW, why do I sell decants on eBay? Not to make money, that’s for sure. I like getting bottles of some perfumes because I think I’ll go through the whole bottle or I just really love the bottle (No, Fifi Chachnil, I am not looking your way again, you little bottle siren). As it turns out, I either do not like the perfume enough to get through the whole bottle or I am distracted by the next new scent that wafts by my nose (more often this than the other), and I hate to let nice scent just sit. I used to give away all my scents that I was underutilizing, which was a total boon for whoever happened to be nearby when I was cleaning out my perfume cabinet (yes, I do have a whole cabinet devoted to perfumes). Once I discovered small decanting bottles and eBay, the rest is history. Decants just keep funding my next new perfume finds so I don’t have to raid the kids’ college fund. I also buy decants from other people, lots of them, so I can try out perfumes and keep perfumes that I don’t want to wear all the time on hand in smaller amounts for less money. It’s a wonderful way to expand your fragrance wardrobe, and I’ve found almost every decanter on eBay to be a perfume lover of the best integrity. I generally just list the harder-to-find, more unusual things and not my entire perfume wardrobe.

This week should see a review of the drugstore mascara that is fast winning the hearts and eyes of makeup’istas everywhere. First person to guess what it is, I’ll send you a free decant of Flowerbomb.