Montale Jasmin Full

Marlen at PerfumeCritic just did a review of Montale Jasmin Full earlier this month, but in the comments to one of March’s posts recently, two people chimed in about it being an awesome jasmine. So I –had- to get it. You people (yes, I’m looking at all of you) are responsible for my kids’ college education winding up spread around the world in some perfumer’s coffers.  Again, Suravionline came to my rescue with a sample of the swoonworthy Jasmin Full. 

 A blend of jasmine, orange blossom and honeysuckle, this is definitely not one for the floral hatahs. I happen to love heady florals, especially jasmine, orange blossom and honeysuckle, so as you might imagine, spritzing this on made my eyes roll back in my head in bliss. 

Many years ago, I used to have a great big Newfie, Crosby, and he was just a joy and a love, but he was also about 150 pounds and destroyed my backyard, which was quite small. Cros had a heart defect and died when he was 2.  My dad died about four months later, right before Christmas, of congestive heart failure.  Once I had my backyard again, I decided to make a fragrant oasis in memory of my dad. I didn’t want pretty flowers, though they would be welcome, I just wanted smelly ones, the kind that he and I both loved.  

An inch of dirt and weeds had to be scraped first just to start cultivating. Then the planting started — the hardy survived, the ones that did not thrive on benign neglect just died or got taken over by something else. Did you know that in a fair fight a swamp rose will take a wisteria?  Surprised me too. I planted a sprig of honeysuckle by the back door, next to the Swamp Rose, and they loved each other and grew happily alongside. Allegedly in Colorado there’s some bug that keeps getting into the honeysuckle and destroying it, but I think that bug doesn’t like me because my honeysuckle grew when it shouldn’t have, was just this huge bushy thing filled with blossoms.  Every spring I would  bring out the pots of Star and Arabian Jasmine that I had sheltered all winter.  Growing and keeping jasmine in Colorado is really not for the faint of heart.  It can be done, but at great personal labor, which I am normally averse to, and I did give up on keeping them going last year.  Before I got lazy, the jasmine would be out in the late spring in pots, with the honeysuckle and carnations nearby, and the cool of early morning and early evening would have the most magical perfumed smell.  No orange blossom available, but I can say absolutely that Montale Jasmin Full is the closest I’ve gotten to that beautiful smell in nature. So thanks to Marlen and Ina, and any others that chimed in on the praises of this lovely creation, this is my new favorite jasmine perfume.  Just 1000% gorgeous.  All jasmine lovers need this in their perfume wardrobe.

Several of you have asked for Buddy snaps, and I do try to convince Buddy to get his picture taken, but he spazzes out every time we try. He’s a little camera shy and lays down, turns away and has been known to crawl under the chair and hide. Sneaking up on him when he’s been sleeping is really the only way to catch him, but even then, he’s still pissed, and no picture I have taken of him captures his joy, and even less so when he’s slunking off hiding from the camera (all three pictures there on the left were him just barely tolerating the picture-taking).  I have no idea why picture-taking upsets him so much, but it does, he hates it with a slobbery passion.  But I hate people chomping on food when we are on the telephone, so I figger he’s entitled to this eccentricity. This is the most joyous, happy dog on the face of the planet, but cameras and wind and light sabers (not wimpy light sabers, the good ones that light up and make the noises — love these things, we have light saber fights daily in my house) do the same thing to him — turn him into a hiding, shivering goober.  I love him, though.  Has anyone read Marley and Me?  I read it last week, and Marley was another yellow lab that really was rotten — rotten like Buddy is –just a thieving, exhuberant, shedding, drooling mess of yellow fur.  Reading that book made me appreciate all that Buddy has taught me in the two years I have had him. 

Buddy went to doggie boot camp a year ago because he was even a worse misbehaved mess, and they did a great job with him — he walks on a leash great, heels, stays, etc.  They also taught Buddy about barriers, that he has to stay out of places or in places unless he gets the okay, and he does all right with this most of the time. Cats can go by, he stays put.  Cats come up to the door to the office and tease him, and he whines and keeps pouncing at them, but he stays on the right side of the line.  One of my sons or my husband walk into his line of sight, he vooms over that line like it never existed, leaping and bounding and butt wiggling and panting and smiling… even though he knows I am going to Bad Dog him in about 2 seconds when I get aholt of him. He doesn’t care, it was worth it, he got to say hi to his beloveds.  He is simply willing to do the time for the crime.

This is how I feel about perfume. I can behave myself about most everything else in my life, but give me a beautiful perfume, and my butt is wiggling, I’m panting and leaping and bounding for my credit card, like for Jasmine Full.  On this point, Buddy and I understand each other.