Buried Treasure

I was going to write a review of a new fragrance, Lancà´me´s Hypnà´se Senses, but instead, I´ve decided to borrow a bit of inspiration from Patty´s last post. Here´s the info if anyone is interested: Hypnà´se Senses is a scent available exclusively at Lancome.ca and Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada. It is classified as a floral chypre; not my  category of choice when it comes to fragrance, but an interesting sniff nonetheless. The notes are osmanthus, patchouli, pink peppercorn and baies roses. It has a Coco Mademoiselle vibe to it, and will probably thrill mainstream chypre fans to pieces. I sniffed it only because it contains osmanthus, one of my favourite notes. Too bad the rest just doesn´t agree with me. The pale, peachy-pink juice is housed in the same translucent twisty glass flacon as original Hypnà´se, and makes for a stunning presentation. It can be had in 30 ml, 50 ml, and 75 ml sizes for $52.00 to $92.00 Canadian.

As I unpacked my bottles, decants and such earlier this week, I was grateful to not have suffered any casualties in the move. No runs, drips or shattered glass, I´m happy to report; all is well in my fragrant little corner of the house. As I took stock of my collection, I came across some gems that I haven´t worn in ages, and realized a distinct pattern that I never before paid any attention to. Besides my love for most things vanilla and almond, I noticed for the first time how many incense fragrances I have, and how long it´s been since I´ve worn many of them. Now, I´m anxious for more autumnal weather so I can break these out. Before I know it, there will be a foot of snow on the ground. Here´s what I´m looking forward to wearing:

Serge Encens et Lavande: liquid serenity and calm in a bell jar; nuff said.

Armani Prive Bois d´Encens: This was the incense scent that started it all for me. I never even considered wearing incense until I sniffed this one.

Costes: Who knew roses and incense could be so perfect together?

Eau d´Italie Paestum Rose: Roses with even more incense. Men go nuts for this one. Well, Italian men, anyway.

And, Chaos; I´ll always have Chaos. Three bottles worth to be exact.

How about some wacky tabacckie?

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille: This one could be a Serge scent with all the candied fruit in the drydown. But it was the initial hit of sweet pipe tobacco that hooked me instantly.

Etat Libre d´Orange Jasmin et Cigarette: It sounds disgusting, but I like it.

By Kilian Back to Black. I don´t own any yet, but it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Lastly, in part because I was so enthralled with Patty´s comparison of commercial versus non-commercial scents in her post yesterday, I will finally admit that I flat out adore Mandy Aftel´s Cacao perfume. Reams of text have been written about this gem, mainly because it will probably go down in history as the most fecal, indolic combination of jasmine, orange and chocolate ever bottled. I believe this was a limited-edition scent created with Scharffen Berger chocolate, and boy did it cause a stir on Makeup Alley back in the day. As Patty so eloquently stated, Jo Malone´s scents sell circles around Mandy Aftel´s, but there is definitely room to appreciate both categories of scent. I really liked Jo Malone´s new vanilla and anise scent, but it was a toss-up between a bottle of it, and making sure I had enough packing material to ensure that my most precious possessions did not crumble to bits within the confines of an 18-wheeler. Safety won out. And I didn´t lose a precious drop of Cacao, Chaos, Serge, or anything else.

 What are your buried scented treasures? You know you´re just itching to tell me.