Sweet-smelling Candy

It´s been awhile since I dug around in the candy, hasn´t it?

Amouage Jublilation XXV for Men – can I pause and say I think Jubilation is the greatest name for a fragrance? I believe this was released in honor of Amouage´s 25th anniversary, and it smells suitably opulent. (BTW anyone who hasn´t seen their luxury bottles – they are gorgeous.) Notes are: coriander, frankincense, honey, cinnamon, rose, orchid, immortelle, musk, ambergris, patchouli, cedar, myrrh and oud. People are wild for this thing, and looking at that list it sounds absolutely perfect. I´m going to revisit it for next month´s Posse Scent Club but … I dunno. It just doesn´t blow my skirt up. It smells like really nice, really expensive men´s cologne, but I didn´t sniff it and then do that borderline insane thing where I start thinking about what I could pawn on eBay to get a bottle (I think the little one is $350). There’s something (the patch?) mildly camphorous in the opening I don’t like, and then the sweet and bitter notes fight with each other in a way that gets my back up, then when it eventually dries down it seems sort of … expensively ordinary? Go ahead, tell me why I’m wrong. Tune in for my crow-eating reversal in January!

i Profumi di Firenze Vanigilia del Madagascar – this was recommended as another vanilla to try in my Smoke and Vanilla jag. It opens on a pretty intense vanilla extract-like note, prompting some thoughts of sprinting for the shower, but that blew off fairly quickly and left me with a kinda-floral, sorta-musky vanilla. It´s not bad. It´s nice with Burning Leaves on top of it. I think I´m spending too much time walking around smelling like I´m on fire.

Roja Dove Unspoken – I don´t hang out on MUA or Basenotes; does anyone talk about these? I feel like they went straight to video, so to speak. Also, I saw some photos online, and if I saw the correct photos those bottles are criminally ugly – the “cheap” $200 EDT bottles, that is, not the nice $700 EDP ones… where was I? I´m now on my second atomizer, and I do believe it´s love. Notes are bergamot, neroli, rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine, ginger, oakmoss, sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, vanilla, balsams and labdanum. This is a great fragrance. My only issue with it is that it´s complicated enough – like Coco or Mitsouko – that I wouldn´t reach for it as often as my regular daywear, but so what? That almost candied sweetness of rose, jasmine and ginger, supported by a fierce, almost gamey chypre base (the labdanum here is the perfect foil for those honeyed top notes) enthralls me. I don´t really understand the “oakmoss” bit (wasn´t it banned?) but however he did it — good job! My only complaint is that I can smell how stunning this would be in a stronger concentration – for all its ornateness it´s a bit thin – and I think this problem can be solved by throwing in a few hundred more euros for the EDP.

Andy Tauer´s Mandarines ambrees soap – Guess what? We need to get Tauer Perfumery to make an ancillary line of bath products. Seriously. Can you imagine Desert Marocain as a lotion? How about Reverie in a bath gel? Yeah, you see what I´m saying. So, I´m smelling his mandarins ambrees glycerin soap and I am having trouble putting it down long enough to type this. I want to eat it, but first I need to go try it out in a hot bath. I´m going to guess at the smells of the ingredients, and maybe he´ll stop by and tell me how close I am – lemon, lime, geranium, clove, coumarin, lemongrass, citron. It also says Clementine and mandarin oil. If I go to heaven, my soap will smell like this.

Commes des Garcons Champaca Luxe – a perfect example of why I have decided spraying is the way to go. Dab this on and you get … not much, really. Sprayed on it´s a full-bodied scent that bears only some resemblance to my favorite champaca, Ormonde Jayne, which is much more incense-like and has my beloved OJ base. Notes for Luxe are white pepper, angelica, cardamom, champaca, tuberose, white musk, iris wood. Luxe hasn´t displaced OJ in my affections. In fact, like a lot of interesting fragrances, I can´t decide whether I like it. I can see Luxe being a total scrubber on the wrong day. The cardamom, angelica and champaca together are almost feral on me, resembling the deliciously filthy indoles of jasmine. It is not quite a “nice” smell, but it is a compelling one, and I am beginning to find it dangerously appealing.

Jacques Fath Iris Gris – wow. I´m having trouble finding suitable words for this legendary scent. It´s sweeter than I expected (in a good way.) It´s also gentler. It´s that violet sort of iris, rather than the metallic one. It is absolutely smooth; next to it, Iris Silver Mist is as loud and hyper as a high-school cheerleader. Iris. Iris, maybe a touch of rose? Peach and pastry dough, although I´d quibble with the characterization of Iris Gris as “cold.” After this 1ml samp is gone, I will be so sad. I think I need a bigger decant…

burning frankincense: byzantines.net

  • Catherine says:

    I’ve only sniffed Unspoken from among today’s trials, and I’ve already exclaimed how much I love it. I’ve been resisting trying to many new scents all at once, particularly expensive ones–better on the sleep, no tossing and turning.:d

    Patty has the information surely, but I thought there were only EDP and Parfum versions of Roja Dove scents–or is that just an advertisement’s way’s-out? If the much reproduced bottle is the EDP/T bottle, I’m fine. I think it includes a purple bag to wrap it up. (Patty, chime in, please!) If a bottle’s ugly–or even a box–I wrap it up in a piece of Indian silk anyway. But to imagine the RDs in *parfum* … no, I won’t do it, I won’t ….:”>

    • March says:

      Hey, I’ll bug her and report back! My disadvantage is I almost never see the bottles, unlike Patty and those gals.

    • March says:

      Hokay, the word from Diane/Dragonfly on the Court is: they are EDP and parfum (whoops, my mistake!) and they are $200 and $750. Diane is much more diplomatic than I am and says only that they are “nothing to write home about.”

      I am better off not knowing what the $750 one looks like.[-(

  • Teri says:

    I have yet to sniff the other scents in your article today, but thanks to Patty’s generousity in a recent draw, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing Fath’s Iris Gris. I fell totally and irrevocably in love. IG is the fragrance of a fully mature, elegant and accomplished woman, impeccably dressed and groomed. Her thoughts have turned in upon themselves as she looks back at the joys and accomplishments of her life, juxtaposed against the waning days of her future. It isn’t melancholy, exactly, more like triste. There is wistfulness in her thoughts, but not sadness. She is in the autumn of a life well-lived and well-remembered.

    As you can see, this fragrance has made me wax perhaps a wee bit too poetic. But it speaks to me just as clearly and viscerally as any work of art (and it IS a work of art). It is a Holy Grail kind of fragrance…..seamless, balanced, composed and just a little unattainable. Since it is virtually unattainable in real world terms, I suppose that’s poetic justice of a sort.

    Sniff it if you can. You will probably always long for it afterward, but to paraphrase a familiar adage, it is better to have sniffed and lost than never to have sniffed at all. 😉

  • tmp00 says:

    I did like the Champaca as well, but I’m sorry, that price! :-w

  • Maria says:

    I wonder if anyone knows the answer to a nagging question. This morning a couple called Sabhani was convicted of slavery (of their two servant women). Supposedly the couple runs a worldwide perfume business out of their Muttontown, NY, home. Does anyone know the name of the business? Google has let me down.

    • Louise says:

      A post from MUA says that it’s a mostly overseas company called “Royal Mirage”…horrible abuse, apparently.

  • Silvia says:

    The luxe CdGs failed to win me over, but Unspoken is up there with the fresh lemmings.
    As to the Fath Iris, on Friday I went to a lecture by Roja Dove (covering perfumes from 1947 to 1957, in the theme of a current exhibtion at the V&A about the Golden Age of Couture) where he mentioned the Iris and said he smelled it only once and was totally mesmerized.
    So far I had held back for fear of falling in love with it, but think I am ready to cave in now.

    • March says:

      I am so glad to see Unspoken getting some love on here today. I was wondering if I was nuts.

      A Roja Dove lecture!!! I am =:) with envy, I bet it was so interesting.

  • Robin says:

    Simply shocked that Jubilation did not blow your skirt up. Will hold my tongue ’til your crow-eating reversal.

  • Denise l. says:

    Oh, wow. So many lemmings in one morning, and when I should be shopping for other people! I’m going to need samples of every one but the vanilla, and, rats, a bar of soap if it’s ever available for sale. Btw, I love that phrase, “doesn’t blow my skirt up.” I might start overusing it now. “The coffee? It’s alright- doesn’t blow my skirt up…”

    • March says:

      I have a friend who uses that phrase, and it’s always annoyed me. For, like, five years. And then all of a sudden I think it’s funny. Changed my mind through repeated exposure, just like some of my perfume reversals.;)

  • Patty says:

    It’s a warm cold. 🙂 I need to go back and retry the Cdg Champaca. I like the Patch just fine, and am going in on a split of it, but I keep thinking the Champaca is more me as a general rule.

    Iris Gris is really just gorgeous, and I think it’s a cool warm contrast. I think what is most sad abou tit is it’s reached almost iconic status because it is a beautiful perfume that should be out there in the world with people spritzing it with abandon and not hording little drbs and drabs of it. Just sad.

    • March says:

      You are so right about that Iris Gris. It made me want to weep. I thought it smelled like a perfume made for someone you loved and longed for and who broke your heart. (hey, for all I know it was made for his mom) but that’s what it smelled like. Of course if it HAD been in production still, it would be dumbed down beyond recognition, probably, like the Cotys? I mean, my vintage Emeraude and L’Origan are amazing scents.

  • Malena says:

    at the moment i´m testing the doves (enslaved & unspoken).
    at the moment i like enslaved a tiny bit more, but unspoken is the more unusual one of the two.
    i´ve my samples from TPC, so i suppose these are the EdT versions, right?
    are the bottles really that ugly? $ 700 are a lot, that´s why i´d rather like to get the EdTs instead of the EdPs – but i hate ugly bottles :((

    • March says:

      I’m pretty sure they’re the EDT, that’s where my samps are from and I don’t think they splashed out for the pricy ones …

      try googling the name with images, my recollection are they are tall and the labels are pink/purple? and the caps are lumpy and cheap looking, the whole thing could fit in on the shelf at Sears.:-w

      • March says:

        OTOH you could always decant into an atomizer and keep the bottles in a box in your closet.

        • Malena says:

          i couldn´t find any pics 😕 the ones shown on TPC aren´t the ones you´re talking about, i suppose? well, aynway, i´m almost sure that i need unspoken as well as enslaved. i´ve already about one dozen frags along the lines of enslaved…but this one is a real beauty, almost shalimar-like IMHO.
          just called the roja dove boutique in london & talked to roja dove himself 🙂

          • March says:

            No way?!?!?! Was he nice? Helpful? I hear he’s great. Did you remember to shamelessly pimp the Posse while not mentioning that March called the bottles criminally ugly?:o

            Most important … did you order it?

          • Malena says:

            he was very nice indeed!
            he explained to me the composition of both frags & i (at first i didn´t know it was him) was impressed how much knowledge this SA had \:d/
            i then thanked him for being so helpful & ask him if i could reach him tomorrow (because i´ll order then – i need to sleep it over) that was when he said that actually he knows so much about them because he has composed them – i was like :”> & said “that´s wonderful” or something like that LOL
            i didn´t mention what you said about the bottles – though i must admit i thought about it for a second :d

          • March says:

            That is so great. Isn’t that ironic? You get Da Man himself on the phone, and he’s nothing but lovely and gracious, and yet you can wander into a store and get some wanker who knows nothing about perfume and maybe s/he won’t give you the time of day…

            FWIW when I visited the Roja Dove boutique in London, they fell all over themselves being helpful.

  • Anne says:

    I do love OJ. That base is amazing…OJ Woman, Orris Noir. Bought my daughter a bottle of OJ Champaca last Christmas. So glad she appreciates it (and that I have access to it!). Will have to do an arm to arm comparison with the CdG.

    OK, now to the REAL buzz of your post, Andy Tauer’s Mandarines ambrees soap! Yes, yes, so many amazing possibilities. Andy if you are reading this…….it can’t be *if* you decide to enter this market, just please oh please make it a *when*!

    Candles too?

    :)>-

    • Abigail says:

      Oh, I would LOVE to have CANDLES!

      YES!

      Especially soy based ones, since I am sneaky and sometimes steal some of the soy from the jar and use it like a cuticle moisturizer.

    • March says:

      Seriously, was there ever a line better suited to bath products? And I mean that in a totally complimentary way. I don’t want some foofy fancypants thing in a soap, but most of Andy’s line is real and warm and voluptuous and comforting … I am tempted to put some of my Orris in an unscented lotion but wonder if that is sacrilege?/:)

      • Anne says:

        Great idea. Some unscented shea cream with, lets see……

        I won’t tell if you won’t tell. :-“

        • March says:

          But can we do that? I mean, I know it won’t explode or anything, but I wonder if they’ll mix? People usually scent lotions with the oil version, right? Well, can’t hurt to try :-“

    • Andy says:

      Fragrant greetings, to you, Anne and March! Yes, indeed, so many possibilities and so little time… In German we say: “Schuster bleib bei deinen Leisten” which translates into something like “shoemaker stick to your last” … so, for the time being: Perfumes and from time to time a few soaps for friends and perfume lovers.

  • Judith says:

    Well, I will have samples of the Amouages and Doves soon, but I don’t yet, so I can’t comment on them. Only smelled the Fath on paper in the Osmotheque, and it was to die for–the star of the show, IMO; I may have to break down for a small decant. I do like the CdG Champaca a lot. My heart belongs to the Patchouli, and I only dabbed the Champ, but I thought it was quite beautiful. If it was a more reasonable price (and warmer weather) I might go for it.

    • March says:

      The osmotheque! Shivers up and down me spine… sprayed on it’s loverly, even if (as I said) not what I expected. I’m not a big rooty-iris fan, so fine by me.

      Glad to hear you liked the Champaca. How do you feel about it compared to OJ? Was it as ripe on you as it was on me?:”>

      • Judith says:

        You know, I will have to try both of these again. i don’t remember being bowled over by the OJ Champaca (or any of the OJs to be honest–except Ormonde Man on DH–although I liked them all), but I wouldn’t say I am bowled over by this one either. Now that fenugreeky Patch (very immortellish on me, as on Louise), that’s another story. Right now, I’m covered in something else, but I will try them both again (if I can find them) and let you know. . .

  • Helen T says:

    March, these all make me remember I’ve been away from the posse, and from smelling new fragrances, for too many weeks! Liking the sound of Iris Gris, hoping Santa might bring some fragrance generosity (off my list, as opposed to some random choice). But now wishing Iris Gris had been on the list :((

    • March says:

      Girl, run over there and buy yourself a ml or 2 … wasn’t that much dough for a lot of iris love.;)

      What else is on your list, I wonder?

  • Abigail says:

    I have to admit I’m wary when I see “orchid” listed as a note. The orchids I have in bloom right now either don’t smell, or smell like burnt plastic.

    And they have been known to smell like dead elephants, Dr. Pepper, other flowers, etc.

    So, really, you can see why it’s vexing? It’s up there with iced frilly froofroo accord.

    ANYWAY

    You have me jonesing for spray vials. Seriously. Not the perfumes you mentioned, but itty bitty little spray vials that I know are out there waiting for me.

    • March says:

      I love the smell of those chocolate orchids, but not sure I want them in a fragrance. I have a nice-smelling spicy orchid upstairs, though. Blooms once every blue moon.

      I’ve decided those spray vials are crucial. Even now when I get a regular vial from somewhere else I’m dumping them into spray vials to smell them. I don’t know why it should make such a difference, but it clearly does for me.

      • Abigail says:

        http://www.lucienlelong.com/lelong_line.html

        If you e-mail them I think they will send you some of those little scented wipe things. They did for me, though I’ve already passed them on. Though, you did just say that was what you did not want, but still…

        And at least they say what orchids they’ve put in (Sharry Baby is the chocolate one, though some varieties are much more on the Dr. Pepper end of things), so at least you know you won’t get the 100 dead elephants one.

        • March says:

          Oh that sounds delicious! And I’ve never tried it, one of the classics I haven’t caught up with, thanks!

          Well, you know me. Probably I’d like just a squidge of dead elephant.:”> I’m the woman who wants someone to make me a fragrance with a note of durian.

  • Elle says:

    Adore Unspoken. Madly. However, you’re right – the edt bottles are truly derriere ugly. Haven’t seen the edp ones. Don’t want to know for that price. And Andy makes soaps?! Must investigate.
    Am going to be very curious to see if you have a reversal on Jubilation XXV. 🙂

    • March says:

      Andy sent out some holiday soaps, just randomly I guess. But you know Andy, the smell is amazing. He got me thinking about what his existing line would smell like in various products @};-

      So those ARE the ugly bottles?!? What is up with that? He forgot to save any pesos for the container? And now I really want to try the edp but am afraid to.

      Did you try the other two Roja Doves? And did you love Jubilation?

      • Elle says:

        I *adore* both Jubilation scents. 🙂 Rare for me to be so enthusiastic these days about new releases, but I am about these.
        I got Enslaved unsniffed and really like it (love child of Stoned and Habanita that it is), but Unspoken is the one I most adore and wish I’d made it my choice. I *will* have it, but probably not till Russian Christmas. The floral one was lovely, but smelled like a dozen other much, much less expensive white florals to me, especially a couple of dept. store scents I remember from the early 80s.

        • March says:

          Scandal was a dime a dozen, and not my thing anyway. I have, um, temporarily misplaced Enslaved, although I know it is here!

          Did you get the EDT? Is the bottle really ugly, or is that some sort of illusion? I mean, you’ve now giggled at it in person?

          I’m wearing the Jubilation Femme right now. Yum!:x

          • Elle says:

            I got the edp bottle of Enslaved. I thought he just made edp and parfum versions, but I could be wrong. Anyway, the edp bottle w/ its tacky purple label is *not* attractive. I’m very curious now as to what the parfum bottles look like. Will have to go look for them online. But there is no way I’m going to fork over $700 for one, so I’m not sure why I feel so compelled to look.

          • March says:

            Nope, you’re right, I checked with Diane/Dragonfly for another commenter down there at the bottom. EDP and parfum. Well … dang, I do think that Unspoken should be richer for an EDP. Diane is very diplomatic and says she is not sure she would use the word “butt” to describe their appearance, but neither did she rave over their beauty. She did not see the parfum bottles. Which is just as well, since they could look like the most beautiful thing on earth and I’m still not paying $750 … sigh.:(

  • Louise says:

    I like the mixed candies in the bowl today, though I haven’t tasted many yet. I am waiting on my Jubilation for guys sample, but found the ladies nice, but not my thang. But is is skanky enough you might like it a lot, March. I need to try Unspoken again, but recall that it got very “thin” on me very quick, I preferred Enslaved on me. Oy, the prices.

    Like Lee, I got distracted by the CDG Luxe Patch, and will likely try to do a little split on that after the holidays. I get a huge hit of the fenugreek, and the scent plays Immortelle-ish on me for hours. Little Patch. The Champaca sounds nice, but the OJ will come first.

    Nope, Maria, haven’t tried the Iris Gris…would love to, though I do bad things to iris and orris both. Just ask March what I did to Andy’s Orris…

    • March says:

      Everybody loved that patch! Loved it, loved it. I thought it was fine, but patch, she is just mostly not my thang I guess. More for you though:d

      I am curious to hear what you will think of Jubilation Men. And I like the OJ better, but the Luxe was so freaking strong sprayed on it might have some mileage on you (but assuming the OJs do too? They last forever on me.)

  • cinnamon says:

    what i’d like to know is why, oh, why did andy tauer stop making orris. the juice is sublime. late summer in maine, slightly mad voluptuousness. almost tipping into wildness. perfection.

    • March says:

      Well, he wasn’t going to release it at all. I guess it was too expensive/too much of a pain? But we begged and wheedled and whined and he did a LE, and I’m grateful for my bottle. You’re right — amazing smell.

  • mimmimmim says:

    Hi March, oakmoss hasn’t been banned by the EU, it’s just limited to certain concentrations if the packaging doesn’t carry a warning. As far as I know, companies don’t have to limit it at all, it’s just that a lot don’t seem to want to slap warning labels on their products.

    The fact that certain classics are being reformulated beginning with the EDT, the least potent concentration, makes me wonder how much of the reformulation going on is to do with the cheapness and shoddiness of certain ‘luxury’ brand conglomerates…

    • March says:

      Hey, thanks for clarifying. I wonder if the frag companies are just using that as a way to lower their overhead? A warning label — that is the most absurd thing.

      • Robin says:

        Also want to add that listing something in the notes doesn’t mean that the perfume contains it at all (sometimes, just an accord meant to mimic the item), much less that it contains it in its natural state (could be synthetic).

  • Maria says:

    Um, March, coumarin, geranial, geraniol, limonen, and lemongrass are listed either in the “contains” or “ingredients” lists on the cover sheet to Andy’s Mandarines ambree. Just thought you’d like to know. :d I’ll never be able to use the soap to bathe with because I want to preserve the treasure. I did take a peek inside. The soap looks like a lemon bar, and with all that delicious citrus smell, well, the DH and I got mighty hungry. Here’s hoping he makes the fragrance into a perfume, though Incense extreme will be enough for a start. 🙂

    I haven’t tried any of the fragrances you’re blogging on today, though naturally I’ll try Jubilation before the next club discussion. Here’s another great fragrance name: Joy. I wonder how many hundreds of readers are putting Fath Iris Gris in their PC shopping carts today.

    I’ll share my most recent fragrance revelation: Elixir des Merveilles. It took me a long time to get around to trying it. I love the Eau and find the Parfum stunning. But this weekend I just had to order a big bottle of the Elixir. I know it’s not universally admired. Well, who cares? I love the mixture of salty and sweet.

    • Maria says:

      Say, March, how long do you think Iris Gris would last on my skin? Has Louise tried it?

    • March says:

      Maria — I should have been clearer :”> that is the list, and I was trying to translate them off the top of my head, wondering how close I got? Like, I assume geraniol is geranium, but am I right? And I think eugenol is clove… limonal, coumarol or whatever (I don’t have the wrapper) and I think his *package* said something about lemongrass but I couldn’t pick out the matching aromachemical. Whatever — as you said, it smells amaaaaaazing.

      Iris Gris — gah. The truth? It’s not that strong. I mean, it’s not fierce like ISM or even a vintage like Femme or something. And it didn’t last a super-long time on me, probably several hours. So on you? I wouldn’t bet the farm on longevity.

  • Billy says:

    What a surprise; yet another rave for Iris Gris! You bloggers KILL me with this one! Someday, I will make it to a French perfume auction….

    Unrelated anecdote: This weekend, I was looking to buy a scented candle for a friend (cop-out Christmas gift), and I was checking out Barneys’s selection. The eager SA was trying to help my boyfriend and I as we sniffed through the Le Labo candles–which, by the way, are fantastic and I can’t wait until I can afford to spend $70 on a candle–when another man came up and started sniffing some Serge Lutens. Once the new customer started comparing scents to Bond No. 9 and other obscure gems, we were quickly ignored. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen another perfumista in action quite like that, but it made me so very jealous that I could not command the attention someone with money to burn on a Barneys-priced fragrance could. Boohoo.

    • Lee says:

      Billy – the SAs I like don’t care that I’m fabulously wealthy (a guy can dream, right?), they just care.

      That’s Leopoldo’s cheesy bon mots du jour…

    • March says:

      Billy — dude — shamelessly pimping for the Court — I’ll probably never make it to a perfume auction, I got my sample from the resourceful folks at TPC, which is the only way I’d bet I’d ever have smelled it. I wasn’t aching for it, having not loved Nombre Noir (another one everyone says is to die for) but this … @};-

      Regarding the SAs — ah, nuts to them. Look, anyone who *really* loves fragrance and sells it (the folks at my little local niche store spring to mind) are just as happy, if not happier, to play with newbies – help them find out what they like, show them some new stuff, etc. Perfume love is perfume love, it’s not about whether you can compare Arabie to 1000 or whatever. Retail snobs make my eyes roll. My vote is take your $ to someone who earns it.

    • Judith says:

      RE: Iris Gris–though I’m sure you’d appreciate it, I don’t think it’s something you’d wear. It’s pretty femme.

  • Gina says:

    March, you prompted me to get a sample of Burning Leaves and now I’m in absolute LOVE. I put it on every day. I’m really sort of glad that the Jubilation for men isn’t blowing you away – I think we have similar tastes with most stuff, and I was afraid I’d fall in love and need a full bottle, very bad. But the Burning Leaves might be a must-have. Now…must try OJ’s Champaca – eventually I’ll get around to the CdG Luxe. And Andy Tauer’s soap, oh man. Can I tell you how excited I am for the release of his incense perfumes? ahhhhh. Thanks again for another great post.

    • March says:

      Doesn’t that thing rock? I wear it so often (frequently on top of things I’m bored with) that I have noticed more than once when I put on a jacket etc. it smells like Burning Leaves. The far drydown, you may recall, moves me particularly because it smells like leaf piles (no smoke) and that is such a happy smell.

      Please please please try OJ Champaca if you’re using me as a fragrance twin, it is phenomenal (although to me it’s much more a warm-weather scent, it blooms in the heat on my skin.) Jubilation, we’ll see. I wonder which of Andy’s incenses you will fall for?

      • Gina says:

        I adore everything Andy makes, so likely I’ll fall for both. I love the far drydown on Burning Leaves – reminds me of the leaf piles we’d jump in as kids, it bowls me over. I’ll be heading over to the Perfumed Court to hook myself up with OJ’s Champaca. Sounds lovely. Your picks haven’t been wrong for me yet!

        • March says:

          Well, I’m just worried you won’t get enough out of the OJ without some heat, and I can’t remember where you live!;)

          • Gina says:

            I live in Los Angeles. So, what I’ll do is wear it to tae kwon do. Make heat to get the full effect. ha. Actually, Burning Leaves is pretty great to wear to work out, and I know this sounds deranged. It’s perfect for everything. I’ll try the OJ now and in the summer too, I’ll report back. :d

          • March says:

            Perfect! You’re good, then… if you’re going for it, pls spring for the wee atomizer, it is so much better sprayed on! I am beginning to wonder if that is true of everything.

            I try not to wear anything to work out that would get me tossed from the gym, but in its own weird way Burning Leaves is subtle enough I can see getting away with it. I think folks at the gym hate really strong femme scents….

          • Gina says:

            I will go for the spray vial of the OJ – it seems to make a difference on me to be able to spritz things instead of dab. When I wear stuff to work out, I always make sure it’s something that stays really close to the skin. I’d hate to smell something super feminine and strong at the gym, I think. It’s the wrong environment.

  • Lee says:

    I imagine it’s the fruitiness with the frankincense that puts you off Jubilation – it is, initially, like a very refined version of Pomegranate Noir (one of your bete noires, I believe). But only a little. For me, my skirt is up above my head and my knickers are on display to the world – they’re frilly and I just don’t care. a bottle’ll be with me by tomorrow. It’s a long way from ordianry, even expensive ordinary. It’s a Duchaufourian delight.

    That Iris Gris is something, ain’t it? Like you, I was surprised by its sweetness, but happily surprised. And the Luxe was bypassed due to Patchouli swooning. the other three – never sniffed. I knew Andy’s soap was doing the rounds – I imagine its loveliness…

    On another note, it’s before 4a.m here and I just can’t sleep. Yuk. It’s times like this where I go to First in fragrance for distraction and end up buying stuff unsniffed – Vento Canale sounds VERY tempting.

    Snooze…

    • Maria says:

      Lee, you’ll keep yourself up wearing frilly underwear. Put on a grampa flannels, for heaven’s sake, and have sweet dreams. |-)

    • Gail S says:

      Lee, if you are a fan of Ambre Narguile, then Vento Canale is a must. The opening is very similar. The drydown is not exactly like, but still…..

      • Lee says:

        March liked it I think when she tested it back in September. My fingers are twitching, but that might just be sleep deprivation…

        • Louise says:

          Awww, an order of Vento Canale and some cocoa with shnapps are well known to induce sleep. The VC is very cozy, I’ve been wearing it often, and often to bed.

          • March says:

            …. and all of you remind me, where *is* my Vento Canale? I’ve lost my vial. I need a bigger atomizer. You’re right, great comfort scent.

    • March says:

      Hey, good for you!! Those are the greatest moments in perfume love, aren’t they? When you say, this is *perfect.* And I would love to smell it on you. You are probably right about my “issues,” and maybe my nose just needs a bit more time.

      Everyone’s loving the Luxe Patchouli, but thus far that Champaca is the one that interests me.

      I am sorry you can’t sleep. Buy the Vento Canale — it was delish! There’s my mini-review on here somewhere … it can’t have cost very much I don’t think. Remember — anything under 80 euros is free!:d