Weak Sister (Patty)

Okay, I admit it, I’m impressed by y’all’s fortitude and sticktoitiveness on that 7-day same-scent challenge.  I would have nose-dived off the scented cliff by Day 3.  It was fun reading through what many of you learned.  For me, wearing the same scent every day does result in the same anosmia to that scent, which makes me a little afraid of what I smelled like back in the days when I only had one bottle at a time and likely kept putting on more scent each day in an effort to smell it.

Gag.  I humbly apologize to everyone around me that I offended with Cinnabar back in the ’70s.

I nervously drum my fingers on my desk waiting for my India visa to arrive – you know, the one I expedited because I put it off too long, but still more than a week than I needed for it to get here.  Um, I need it by Friday – I guess a Saturday morning delivery would be okay too. So it’s daily calling and nervousing until they give me an overnight delivery tracking number.  I’m amusing myself by trying a flanker!

Why, you ask, when I normally hate flankers?  Because it has a pretty name, and I have loved the original version and the one flanker they came out with for it and the parfum version.  Hermes Eau Claire des Merveilles has some vague description of the notes like vanilla and powdery, which is pretty horrifying to a nonpowder person like me and more so when I love that upside down ambergris beauty, Eau des Merveilles and even more the richer, stronger, lots more peppery Parfum des Merveilles.  Eau des Merveilles has always been the scent I point to for how to do something mainstream that has a little oddity interest to it.  Elixir is just a nice treatment of gourmand’ish layered over the top. I love all three of those.

Claire?  Wanted to love it.  Don’t hate it, but it seems like a weak sister. It is a little powdery, which i didn’t hate, lighter, almost all of the pepper has been whooshed off.  I’m just left trying to figure out why I should care about this scent.  Just when I’m thinking it’s a less grown-up version of the original that would work well on a younger woman, it whooshes away entirely.

The good news is, I dug around in my drawers and found all my beloved Merveilleses and am all tipsy falling in love with them again.  If I could have included them as one scent in that scent challenge, this would have worked for me.

So I have my leftover carded spray sample of the Claire for a commenter to take off my hands- which I got from the Hermes boutique.  BTW, they mostly confirmed the new Iris Hermessence rumored debut in November to be highly accurate.  They leave wiggle room  in case it gets delayed.  What I’ve read is they are supposed to be zeroed in on the iris flower instead of the root, which should make March beyond ecstatic, as well as me, if they get it right.  Anyone sniff it yet?

Okay, back to pacing about my visa, unless anyone knows someone at the consulate in Houston?

  • uggs says:

    wowwwwwwww it’s beutifull place.

  • gator grad says:

    Oh! Me! Me!

  • Sara says:

    I love the Eau, but haven’t tried the Claire yet (so I’d love the sample).

    I’m interested in smelling the Iris also – curious because I’d always thought most of the iris smell was from the roots?

  • minette says:

    i liked the claire, but not enough to purchase. my favorite of the merveilles is elixir des merveilles. eau i like very much, but it fades like water on my skin. elixir is delicious and lasts.

    a flanker/formulation week might be fun – i think i would do my narciso rodriguez trio, the edt, edp, elixir and the essence. or maybe shalimar in its various formulations. or femme. or…

    • minette says:

      hmmm… i meant my narciso quartet… i realized as i was typing that i had both the essence and the limited edition elixir (is that what it was called?) in addition to the edt and edp. all of which amuse me, since for the first couple of years after its release i was complaining about how i couldn’t smell either the edp or the edt at all, and so couldn’t see why anyone would pay for them. something changed in my chemistry, cuz now i can smell all of the narcisos quite well.

  • violetnoir says:

    You should be receiving your visa shortly, Patty. When both my sister and myself applied for our visas, we received them within a week or so. I will keep my fingers crossed that you receive your visa before Friday!

    I like Elixir and love the Parfum version, but the new one really is a weak sister.

    Bring on the new Hermessence! I can’t wait to try it.

    Hugs!

  • Musette says:

    I am putting INDIA VISA TO PATTY ON TIME out there in the U!!!

    I so wanted to love Merveilles but that chocolate? – something – note just boogered it up for me. I never went back – certainly not to visit the flankers.

    The iris, though……:-? I scooted past Hermes last week – was going to go in but only saw the original H’s showcased in the winder which tells me they don’t yet have it….will be back anon and will check in…

    xoxoxo >-)

  • maggiecat says:

    May your visa arrive quickly and your anxiety be eased. And I hope you have a wonderful trip! I’d like to try to Eau Claire – the original was a close but no cigar for me – loved the scent but it did strange things on my skin. I may need to retry it – I’ve found that trying htings more than once often changes my mind about them – and also that my tastes have grown and changed.

  • Daniele says:

    I haven’t tried the Claire, but the Eau was my first FB purchase after really falling in love with perfume, so it will always have a special place in my heart (and on my shelf). I find Eau to be the perfect spring and summer scent. It’s noticeable without being overpowering, and there is something about the dry-down that reminds me of a very idealized version of beach-salted skin. I also love the elixir, but I’ve never tried the Parfum; must remedy this asap!

  • Ann N. says:

    Hi Patty, I’m sure everything will work out OK about the India visa; I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you. I am a latecomer to the joys of Eau de Merveilles; didn’t think much about it when it first came out (or just didn’t have enough time to really appreciate it). But now I find I like all the variations of it, except this new version, not so much. It’s not bad, but I find it “whooshes” off my skin quickly too.

  • Isa says:

    I love Eau des Merveille, although it gets maybe too woody on my skin. I wish it emphasized the cinnamon and the orange notes.
    I think that Eau Claire will be more to my liking, because I love powdery scents.

  • Tiara says:

    Of the perfumes I’ve tried from Hermes, I haven’t tried any of these but would love to try Claire. I don’t mind some powder so long as it isn’t overpowering.

    YIKES on the visa delay. I used to work in an office handling corporate relocations. While I did within U.S. transfers, my co-worker managed the international side. She spent many hours on the phone tracking down visa paperwork. Some of it could have been avoided by timely application, but much of it was due to red tape tangle. Good Luck!

  • Daniela says:

    Oooh I tried all three (Eau, Elixir, Claire) recently in an effort to figure out which one I loved the most. And initially I thought the “love” order would be: 1) Eau, 2) Elixir, 3) Claire. Because Claire seemed to me to be this burnt sugar concoction that smelled close enough to other sweet things in the mainstream. But actually, bit by bit, Claire grew on me. And now, the order is 1) Elixir, 2) Claire, 3) Eau. Craziness, I know.

  • March says:

    I need to retry it — it seemed kind of wan to me, although I really, really love the original Eau. I think my bottle has gotten funkier, too.

  • zeezee says:

    Not a fan of Claire either. I love Eau & Parfum, meh about Elixir and Claire can go into that same “meh” category for very different reasons. Too light, too stripped of all oddity, too… meh.

    I did get to try the Iris (in fact it was one of the samples I scored out of boredom during the Challenge) and I’m disappointed. It’s too damn sweet for me, for starters. Definitely next of kin to Vanille Galante, so that may warn off a fair few people too (not me, I love VG.)
    Haven’t really worn it for an entire day yet though, so I haven’t any more coherent impressions on offer.

  • Masha says:

    I love the entire EdM series, I like the Elixir, too, it’s much more gourmand, but the best orange/chocolate scent out there. I liked Claire, but didn’t buy, because I prefer the original.
    Hope your visa arrives soon! Did you delay the application because you had second thoughts about the trip? Sometimes we put things off because of that. But I’m sure it will arrive soon and you’ll have a fantastic time.