Louise came shopping with us Tuesday — and can I just say how much levity she injected into the new-fall-dress-for-my-12-year-old expedition? It wasn’t quite the job from hell that it was for the more curvaceous Diva, who at 14 now looks like she’s a high school senior, but still — no stroll in the park. Bonus points to mom for not having a smackdown with the insane sales clerk, who talked about his desire to be a comedian when he wasn’t macking on the woman ahead of me with his prison stories … no, seriously. Ask Louise. (Me to clerk, eventually: “I feel your pain, and yet, I just want to buy these dresses and get out of here.”) Louise is like the cool auntie — both girls have really taken a shine to her — and is a big riot to shop with. Today she showed up toting a ginormous bag of nail polish she was getting rid of and being Louise, we are talking about purple, blue, green, black, etc. The girls are in heaven. Mom, too, since I get to borrow!
So, happy October! I am thrilled to be digging some of the heavy-handed favorites out of the closet. Soon everyone around me will be able to enjoy once again the seasonal miasma glory of such magnificent scents as DK Chaos and Black Cashmere, SL Chergui, CB Burning Leaves, Gathering Apples and Musk (the musk knows no season), CdG original and its tipsy cousin, Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant, Versace Dreamer, Dior Addict, Malle Noir Epices — the list goes on and on. Doesn’t it? I know, I know.
I finally got to try the Lacroix Tumulte Pour Homme (thanks, Kevin!), and call me daft, but the first few seconds I thought: Chaos! Notes are juniper, laurel, bay, violet leaves, incense, plum, atlas cedar, Virginia cedar, Chinese cedar, Virginia cedar. I know the big joke about Tumulte is it’s being whomped with the cedar-cedar-cedar stick, but on me there’s so much incense — the woody incense makes me imagine this as Chaos Pour Homme — absent any of Chaos’ sweetness. I would definitely wear this though, it’s unisexy, and I am not even a huge fan of cedar, although now that I think about it, I also loved Rochas Lui and then looked up the notes and it’s mostly cedar, so what do I know?
The new L’Artisan Aedes scent is … very bitter on me. Not sure why. It starts off so promising, all peppery incense, and then gets too sharp. The same thing happened to Louise. I like the actual room spray on which this is based a lot, so not sure where the misfire is. For a completely different perspective read Robin’s review, as she generously sent me a sample. The notes (orange, cardamom, incense, black pepper, rose, iris, cedarwood, resins, patchouli, coffee, opoponax, benzoin, treemoss, immortelle, white musk, vanilla) sound like heaven, don’t they? Like Robin, I don’t get much in the way of immortelle or coffee either. Wah.
In this transitional period, I have been wearing the new Chanel Beige — a lot. It wins this fall’s award for humorous name disconnect — I am deeply NOT beige. I dislike beige and its wan stepsisters, ivory and cream. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be interested in Beige. But not only does its honey-musky warmth make me smile, it also lasts — it even passes the Louise test, and many of you know how fast she burns off fragrance. It was delightful and luminous on her. Also in rotation right now — Lubin’s Idole, which is perfect for the fall but not too heavy when it warms up mid-day, and I have a question to ask my fellow sinners — have you accidentally bought a second bottle of fragrance having forgotten you owned the first? Duh. I’m thinking that’s the fragrance equivalent of one of those warning signs of addiction quizzes.
Finally, I want to flog another fall fragrance, relatively cheap, that makes me smile – Esteban’s Sensuelle Russie. It’s such a warm, cheerful thing — notes are bergamot, orange flower, pine, white cedar, cinnamon, cardamom, amber, woods, patchouli. The spices are fairly pronounced while retaining a certain transparency; I have seen this described as a poor man’s Ambre Narguile, but AN’s cloying richness makes me queasy — this is more like Fendi Theorema in my book. What I like most about it is that, while it is not “light,” it’s not so heavy that I have ever regretted applying it, which is more than I can say for some of my other fall favorites. It has historically been impossible to find online (mine was shipped from France via a friend) but researching this post I discovered it here for $45. Has anyone tried any/all of those yummy-sounding Voluspa body sprays on there? Burmese Rosewood, Cardamom Fig, Champaca Bloom and Fern, and etc.? Heh. Not that I need any more perfume. But I want it. Twenty bucks is free, right?
Received my bottle of Aedes last night – started off fabulous, cool peppery, incensy woods – then an alarming cumin note popped up that came perilously near to unwearable BO. Thankfully after an hour it calmed back down into a lovely quiet spicy/incense/wood scent. Whew!
Unfortunately it is 95 degrees here, so I am wearing a tropical fruity scent – the Aedes was too much for the heat here today.
Second to the merits of shopping with Louise, especially with a teenager in tow! My 16 year old son tolerates hours of fragrance sniffing as long as he can whisper conspiratorially with her!
And on to fall fragrances. So many to love! Don’t even know where to start. I love the fall but dread the winter. I can never get warm. The only thing that makes it tolerable is my adoration of the wonderful amber, wood and spice soaked fragrances that I associate with cold weather.
Warming you with hugs and ambers, doll, and maybe a hot toddy. Kisses to your boy, too 😡
I can so relate about never getting warm! I end up drinking hot drinks all day, and this past year got a pair of fingerless gloves for working on the computer. Sometimes while wearing a scarf. Yes, perfumista meets Fagin’s gang of urchins. At least I smell good, even if I’ve got my bag lady going on. /:)
What a fun post to read! It’s gorgeous here today, really cool & crisp, and the trees are getting prettier by the minute. Sweater weather at last! I love fall and fall/winter fragrances, can you tell? 🙂 I’ve been holding onto my bottle of Tumulte for just this kind of weather, it’s awesome. Smells great layered with anything musk, too. You mentioned most of my fall favorites; I can add Les Nereides Patchouli Antique to the list. The drydown is swoony.;;)
I have not tried the Patch Antique! Swoony sounds like a good fragrance … would you believe I unpacked a couple of light wool sweaters today, in anticipation, and I *swear* I can smell Chaos on one of them? And the other has one of those delicious scent combos, just a mess o’ winter scents. Yum.
Love Sensuelle Russie! And it *is* free at that price. I also am a big fan of Tumulte – love the bottle, but also got it since I managed to win it for very close to free on ebay a while ago. 🙂
I am afraid I may need a full bottle of Beige sooner than later and, sadly, it is not free. 🙁 But one might think I didn’t care (trust me, I absolutely do – painfully so) since just last week I discovered I have *two* bottles of Iris Ganache. Yes, I strongly believe in stock piling certain scents, but they have to be scents I literally can’t live w/out and from small perfumers I worry will go out of business or d/c the scent (San!!! Sob!!!). Iris Ganache doesn’t even remotely fit that profile. What was I thinking? Probably succumbed to Jason’s persistent phone calls during one of the $25 off events. 🙁 I have a couple of more scents I have accidental duplicates of and realize I *have* to create some better system for storing my scents so that they are actually easily seen and not forgotten.
I bought the Tumulte Femme by mistake. Sigh. It was fine but nothing to write home about, I swapped it away. How come our Marshalls never gets the good stuff?
That’s part of my issue being the decant queen — if I really fall in love with something, I get the bottle, saying, well, the decant will be empty soon and I’ll need more. Only then of course I am still using the decant and forget I own the bottle and there I am on eBay and … well, you know. :”> Your Iris Ganache story makes me feel better.
I’m obsessed with Voluspa’s Burmese Rosewood. I have candles, fragrance oil, hand wash, lotion, and the room spray, which is body-safe and wonderful. It’s very linear as a perfume, but it just smells so good and lasts really well, especially in the hair. You can buy it for cheap(er) on eBay.
Oooh, I love that Rosewood-it wears so nicely on the skin 🙂
“you can buy it for cheaper on eBay” — and thus begins another round of stalking various scents. It does sound darn tasty and has the Louise seal of approval … 😡
Got my sample of Beige from the most wonderful Perfumed Court & I think it’s just beautiful. Like being in a cloud of flowers. And I do like that honeyed note. Also really love Idole. I wear it in warm weather but now that we’re FINALLY cooling off here in the deep south I’ll probably wear it a little more. Sometimes, as many of you know, putting on some scents in 98 degree heat can be a killer. But sometimes I do it anyway. I like livin on the edge!!! :d
And OH YEA have I purchased bottles I already have! I think it’s the feeling of “Get it now! You may run out!” Cuz you bet, I’ll actually run out of perfumes in my lifetime. HARDLY!!! :”>
There’s a whole cadre of crazy gals (and guys) on here who like to trot out the Bal a Versailles extrait, or Ambre Narguile, or some such, when the temp. is in the high 90s. I think it’s the fragrance equivalent of drinking hot tea in the tropics. I will say having tried it at one point (there’s a post on here somewhere) the results were surprising. Bal in the heat is stunning. But there’s still plenty of room in my heart for lighter summer stuff.
Your shopping expedition sounds very fun, especially the nail polish part. Here by my lonesome on a rainy morning in the back country, an internet excursion is my only option. Checking out Amouage Lyric at Four Seasons, I discovered they also have Esteban’s Sensuelle Russie for only $35. Plus they offer 4 free samples with a purchase. Counting in what the price of the samples would be elsewhere, by your math that’s in the almost free zone. Cheers!
Kathryn — EXCELLENT work with the magical math!! That’s the kind of thinking I like from my fellow perfumistas. Yes, they are *giving you* the bottle at the Four Seasons …. like, on their website? fourseasons dot com? I’ll have to go look, the link I put up was the only one I found… :)>-
Yep. On the net: http://www.fourseasonsproducts.com
Thanks! Looking at it reminds me I have still not smelled Teck & Tonka … 😕
No fair! You mentioned Ambre Narguile, Theorema and under $$$ in one breath, but there’s nowhere to sniff this thing and shipping for a $3 sample is $7. I demand…something… [-(
Bottle split anyone?
On another note–the number for the company is a 208 area code–that’s Idaho, my home state, which seems an entirely unlikely place for them to be. I’m almost curious enough to call them up just to see what’s up.
Idaho!! I wondered where they were! Call ’em up, maybe you can drop by and pick up a bunch of samples — wouldn’t it be cool to be close enough to visit that place? They had a lot of inventory. I want to check out those Voluspas…
Alas (or rather, fortunately) I’m in Texas, now. Just grew up in Idaho. And you can imagine how infrequently I ever hear it mentioned or referenced so any little thing makes me prick up my ears. Hey, maybe they’d give me some kind of native’s discount?
I thought you were in TX! :”> Yeah, a native’s discount seems fair… where’s whistling dude? Why doesn’t he work any more? Let’s try and see what happens.
:-\”
No, just that boneheaded question mark dude! Who needs that? [-(
Oh, it was so much fun 😡 ! The girls and their girl buddy were very sweet, and I got so much pleasure out of hangin’ out with y’all. I had the easy part-chatting away, little gifts, stealing french fries…while mom had to do the work (that SA was such an a**-you went easy on him). You can call me Auntie L anytime, just call me :)>-
Beige really surprised me-it did have great longevity, and some note (Hawthorn) added a pleasant bite to the mix. I can’t see getting a bottle of this, but a decant would be lovely. The Aedes was quite a let down-I really just got the wood, though I will re-try when I don’t have the sniffles, only fair, no? I do love Tumulte, especially on the bf, who can drop by anytime wearing that scent.
March, you introduced me to Sensuelle Russie on our first sniffing date, and I haven’t looked back (’bout you especially, sweetie). I’ve been getting the fragrance and body products online since, very reasonable it is. I finally smelled the Hermes AN-and SR won hands down, even in longevity.
Lucky Lee-I am dying to try both ne Le Labos-both the London Pepper and the Tokyo Guaic tempt me now =p~
Really?!? Mano a mano, the SR won? On you? Wow, excellent. And I’d forgotten all about showing you the SR, I was obsessed with it for awhile there and then took a needed break…
I thought you would have eaten that Beige in five minutes. Glad it worked out for you. Like you I think I need a decant rather than FB.
Our kitchen smelled like a nail salon last night! Of course the girls had a different color on every finger… btw Enigma went to school today wearing the Old Navy striped dress with her leggings and flats and looked Cute As A Button. 😡 Thanks again for playing with us.
Idole, Idole . . . I really have to get over to Aedes at lunchtime and pick up an FB of that. I can’t wait to wear it again.
I like the Sensuelle Russie packaging. Manages to be elegant and cute at the same time.
Idole! Idole! (wanders off trilling her happy song) I hope your weather has cooled off appropriately as well… this strikes me as a nice time of year to walk in Central Park.
I think I got a small bottle of that Tumulte a while back for the equivalent of $10 – now that’s what I call a fall bargain.
I’m psyched to try three new autumn scents tomorrow – that le Labo Poivre 23 London exclusive, Eau d’Italie’s Baume de Doge (the notes sing a siren song to me – it goes la la la la la la), and Dans tes Bras…
The Aedes scent is out of reach – waaaah! I think the l’Artisan Luckyscent exclusive sounds like it’ll be great too (I’m hoping it smells like a variant of Diptyque’s Maquis candle).
And I can only imagine how wonderful it’d be to battle SAs with you and Louise at my side. I’ve had the experience of you both separately; I dream of you together…:o
And you have no idea how often dreams of you come up…:d/
“Tumulte” always makes me think (incorrectly) of tumescent, so the name makes me giggle. I’m assuming it’s like storm… oh, i so want to try that Baume de Doge! Speaking of a name I’m not wild for, but the scent sounds amazing. 😡
All the guys at Basenotes always refer to Tumulte Pour Homme as the poor man’s Kyoto (Incense Series) by Comme des Garcons. Would you agree?
And that reminds me, I need to sample the new Aedes L’Artisan. It sounds right up my alley. I’m hoping it takes the incense room spray theme that Diptyque did with Essence of John Galliano – and goes a little further with that. Like Dachaufour can do. I hope I don’t get just bitter ((crossing fingers))
Um … sure, I guess so. Tumulte smells woodier to me than Avignon and less churchy somehow. I’d say it might remind me more of Passage d’Enfer… dude, John Galliano is *way* more interesting than the new Aedes. I have a decant of JG it’s delish, like having your own bonfire (in a good way.)
Read too quickly…for a minute thought you were talking about the new Galliano scent, and was literally ready to go have some shipped from London. Duh.
Sorry!!! You know how I am jamming too much verbiage in my posts. I blame the morning coffee. /:)
And I miss every third word, at least until I’ve had my fourth cup of tea 🙂
Hi March,
I must let you know Tulmute layered with Chaos is magical!
Oooooh, off to try some of that!
My favorite is layering Tumulte Homme with Demeter “Thunderstorm”. Rainy, wet, ozonic cedar. Sigh – reminds me of where I grew up (our house had cedar siding, so, of course, when it would rain…..) 🙂
See, this is one of those things I love about perfume fans. I love people’s excellent combinations. I never would have thought of that, and it sounds perfect.
Hey, I wanted those nail polishes from Louise!! :(( What lucky girls. I suspect that Louise has all the way cool stuff!
I am surprised you and Loouise like Chanel Beige so much, March. Who would have thunk it? On me it was just bleh, and I wore my sample of it two days running. I just wasn’t feeling the love. :((
And, to add insult to injury, really none of the new releases, at least so far, are rockin’ my boat. I would say that Lexington Avenue is my favorite fall release, but that came out in August…practically ancient history in the perfume world, right?
And, it’s friggin’ hot out here, even hotter than it was this summer, so thinking about my wonderful fall fragrance wardrobe is simply not an option at this point. :((
Sorry, but it seems I have a lot to cry about. :((
Hugs!
All those tears!!! I am sorry Beige was so … beige for you. 🙁 I think it’s the heat making you crazy. :-s It’s time for the cool weather! We had a storm last night and it’s lovely here this morning.
My nails are a combo of a Vamp color with kind of a seafoam frost on top. Totally inappropriate and I am loving it.
“Twenty bucks is free, right?” Why, yes it is, March!
Wait. I just remember I spent $20 on a faded vintage Le Dix. Maybe $20 isn’t free, as I can think of a lot of other good uses for that money now.
The vintage stuff is such a crapshoot sometimes. Emphasis on “crap.” ;)) Ask me how many vintage frags I bought that were empty. :”>