Random Sampling and Giveaways

March and I have discussed, and we think that doing a giveaway of samples each week will be fun for us and anyone who is reading. Since we both accumulate so many samples, it’s a way of passing along the fun.  March will have one of her daughters draw when she is doing it, and I’ll have my dog Buddy put his paw on the winner on the weeks I do it. And if he won’t cooperate, I’ll press one of my sons or my husband into service. Mine for next week will probably be a mix of a couple of Malles, like the 5 ml Lipstick Rose and Iris Poudre and a couple of other surprises that I’ll figure out this weekend. Tune in Monday!

 Mandarina Duck — This one starts off citrusy and tart, and I’m thinking I like it for a minute or four, and then it starts doing that ozonic shuffle so you have no idea what it is anymore, and since I don’t understand what it is and what it should be, I’m just going to put this picture of the bunny with a pancake on its head over there. It makes as much sense as Mandarina Duck does.  What a hot, manufactured mess.

Have you ever put on a shirt you wore earlier in the week just for something to wear for bed, and you smell some amazing scent all over it and you’re just not sure what it is, and it may be a combination of something. I think it’s partially En Passant, but something else is in there too, but this shirt should be framed in the Smell Hall of Fame, it is just glorious. 

Floris Malmaison — March just covered this one a couple of weeks ago, then assisted me on finding my own bottle with lotion on eBay, and good Lord, this is yummy!  I might be able to live without Coup de Fouet a little bit.  Oh, no, I didn’t mean it, honest (covers Coup’s little ears),  but it sure is a beauty of a carnation.

Going on with my Malle samples — Angeliques Sous le Pluie, angelicas in the rain. I dig the pink pepper and cedar, and the angelica or the corriander is just strange to me and I usually don’t like either of them very well, but this is one of the few that I like okay. Not a favorite in the Malle scent stable, but if you like those notes, it’s very nicely made, and the cedar is fairly subtle, I think you would like it. 

Molinard Iles D’Or  — says it was inspired by the golden era of the ’30s.  WTH does that mean?  Um, Great Depression doesn’t strike me as incredibly golden, just mostly brown.  Notes of citron vert, mirabelle, freesia, jasmin, amber, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla, musk and nougat.  From the notes, I pretty much expected to hate it, it’s definitely a gourmandy mess, designed to bring out the smell of nougat with some tropical  stuff. I don’t think I’d wear it much because I don’t care for vanilla or gourmands much, but it really isn’t horrible.  Gourmand fans should find something to like here.   After some time on my skin, this has turned into a scrubber, too sweet for too long, I have cavities and an upset tummy from too much candy.

Molinard Nirmala — mango, passion fruit, grapefruit, mandarine, jasmine, tonka bean, sandalwood, vanilla and cedarwood.  Pretty fruity and sweet, and there is something in there that’s not smelling so good., it’s gone body odorish. What is that?  Gak!  Do all the Molinards run sweet? I remember the Violette being pretty sweet, but that worked with the violet.  

 Any other Molinards I should try that aren’t as sweet?  I like them to some degree, but the sweetness in  at least the ones I’ve tried seems over the top, like CSP is over the top on sweet and vanilla.