Most of you know I’m not particularly fond of patchouli. In fact, I’ve made it abundantly clear how much I can’t stand the stuff. Well, I’ve had a change of heart.

Last month I reviewed some amazing natural perfumes by perfumer Amanda Feeley, some of which contained natural patchouli in their blends. She sells her wonderful scents under the brand Esscentual Alchemy.

Shortly after my 2-part review appeared, I got a message from Monica Miller, one of my Facebook friends, and another natural perfumer at Perfume Pharmer. Monica wanted me to take part in her “Summer of Patchouli Love” as a “Patch Test Bunny”. After I’d sung the praises of Amanda’s compositions, I’d have been more of a crash test dummy after a 50 mile an hour impact in a SmartCar if I refused.

The idea was for a bunch of us perfume bloggers to blind-test 13 different natural patchouli based scents and pick our top 3. And these were no ordinary scents; they were composed by well known natural perfumers including Liz Zorn, Opus Oils, Dawn Spencer-Hurwitz, Amanda Feeley, Ambrosia Jones and others. The judges were nothing to sneeze at either: Marlon Elliot Harrison, Nathan Branch, Donna Hathaway, Felicia Hazzard, and some other well known bloggers. And me!

I have to admit I was a bit frightened by the task, since, well, the idea of patchouli used to make me want to hose myself down with a power washer. I now have to specify that it’s the patchouli found in mainstream scents, such as Angel, or those ubiquitous “fruitchoulis” that make many of us squirm. Natural patchouli is a totally different animal, and when it is blended with other ingredients by skillful perfumers like the ones who participated, it bears absolutely no resemblance to the stuff that makes me want to exfoliate myself with cement.

All the selections were 100 percent natural and contained at least 25 percent patchouli. Monica lovingly hand-decanted all the scents into vials and sent packages to all us judges. She created a Facebook group for all of us to share our thoughts. Now, here’s where things get interesting:

Monica mailed out all the samples around the second week in June, just before a postal strike/lockout was declared here in Canada. There were roving postal strikes in some Canadian cities before Canada Post decided to cease all mail delivery nationwide. My original package from Monica was hijacked by the strike.

As time wore on and there didn’t seem to be an end in site (the workers were finally legislated back to work by Parliament last Sunday), Monica decided I needed an alternate means of getting my sample package. She somehow managed to get more samples to another one of the judges, Cirque de Soleil casting advisor, Gillian Ferrabee, who happens to live in Montreal. So, my second set of samples were ferried from Gillian in Montreal via courier service to me in Toronto. I finally received them last Friday, and spent the better part of a week completely enrobed in patchouli. Laugh all you want, but it was fabulous. I am now a reformed patchouli hater.

The composers of each scent were finally revealed on Thursday, after I picked my final 3. Much to my delight, one of the compositions I chose was the Amanda Feeley scent, “Queen of Punk” that I loved so much. Remember, I had no information other than a numbered vial.

My other choices were a scent called “Happiness” by Ambrosia Jones (Perfume by Nature) and “Patchouli Paisley” by Lyn Ayre. Truthfully, all 13 compositions were fabulous, including one by Shelley Waddington, named “Go Ask Alice”, which was chosen by most of the other judges. It was absolutely stunning, but too strongly floral for my comfort level. For me, it is one of those compositions I could sniff forever, but never wear on my skin.

Speaking of judges, there is also a cadre of celebrity panelists waiting to be heard from: Singers Patti Austin, Mary J. Blige, actresses Kim Novak (!) and Jodie Foster, and some other well known industry people. Us bloggers were first, and now the celebs are poised to weigh in.

I am so grateful to Monica for giving me the opportunity to expand my fragrance horizons and I now appreciate the art of perfumery on a completely different level than what I’m used to. I’ve dabbled in natural fragrances before, but never in this setting, and it was a wonderful experience. I’m so impressed by the talents of these artists, as well as the dedication of the natural perfume community to spreading the word about their wonderful creations.

I’m looking forward to sniffing many more natural perfumes; look for another review from me in the coming weeks from another natural perfumer I’ve heard good things about.

Happy Canada Day and Happy Fourth of July to everyone! And remember: Peace, Love and Patchouli – or PLAP for short!

Listen, I would promise to step up my game, but y’all already know I have the attention span of a gnat and get too sidetracked during my days to  do any serious writing with meaningful content.

I think I had stuff to give away from two weeks ago?  Swapapalooza intervened.  Oh, yeah, yeah. You could pick either the Jo Malone Wild Bluebell or the MDCI two samples of Promesse – old and new.  Winners of that are:  Madea and Kirsten. Just click on the Contact Us over on the left, remind me what you won (pick either the Bluebell or MDCI) and send your address. I’ll send you back a quick got it note so you know it’s been received and not been caught in my spam filter.  If you don’t get that confirmation, please e-mail me again!

I have another give-away this week from En Voyage Perfumes. They sent me samples of Nectar des Iles (gardenia and tiare island-type floral) and Vents Ardents (caribbean citrus, vanilla beans, bay tobacco and Jamaican rum).  They are also going to give out two very special glass flacons in a random drawing of commenters.  The presentation sounds beautiful and would be something I think you’d like to own.

As far as the fragrances, they’re actually quite nice.  I’m not sure it suits my tastes exactly. They are rich and full, leaning a little sweet.  I can’t fault that because it fits the  mood of the fragrance, and I’ve been known to  run my hand up the leg of some sweeter perfumes. Yes, I’ve admitted my Pink Sugar  minor obsession – I don’t understand it, like a lot of the men I’ve dated and/or married in my lifetime, but it just works  – and I’m refusing to get help or apologize for my appaling lack of taste for either.  Back to the En Voyage perfumes. Nectar des Iles is exactly what it is aimed for – tropical, lush floral.  It’s made well, not indolic, no rank gardenia’ish direction in it at all.  So while I find it lush and a little sweet, it’s not so much that you’re making anyone pass out around you.  In fact, I’d guess people around you would probably like you wearing it and would comment on it.  It’s growing on me.

Vents Ardents is more interesting with the booze-soaked vanilla.  I’m more likely to wear this one just because it seems like one thing on the surface, but it’s more interesting than just a booze-soaked vanilla. There’s all sorts of other fun notes going on  in this that gives it interest and depth.

Nicely done perfumes. Again, the samples were furnished by En Voyage to me, and the prizes for commenters will be provided by En Voyage, but they’ll ship them to me to ship out to the winners.

Well, it’s almost July 4th weekend.  I did my CSA farming duty this morning, including about two hours of picking up garlic in the field.  Did you know it could make your nose run?  More something in the soil than the garlic, I’m told – some enzyme or something?  Once I quit digging around in the dirt to make sure I didn’t miss any, my nose stopped running like a faucet.   It was the hottest day we’ve had this year, and I almost melted out there in the garlic field.  We won’t talk too much about how unprepared I was with  no hat. Well, I never had to wear a hat when I was 16!  I grew up on a farm, and I somehow minimized a little bit over the last 30 years how hard the work is.  Well, it’s all back, and I remember why I left the farm. Not that I mind playing Lisa Douglas once a week or so, but more often than that isn’t going to happen. My nails are shot, I can’t look at my toenails, and I’m counting the days to my mani-pedi on Friday.

What are you doing this weekend? Anything fun? Family get-together, quiet time, going on vacation, seeing some fireworks?  Happy 4th, y’all!!

Patty

by TOM

Okay, this is a big rose.  A big huge cabbage rose the size of a globe artichoke.  One that’s almost blowsy-looking.  The kind that smells of spices, the kind that if you have a bouquet of it had better be in a room the size of a small branch library lest its big, fat rosiness threaten to strangle you.

It’s exactly the kind of rose that I don’t like.  It’s Just. Too. Much.  So much that I am not going to wear it more than this one day to see if I can stand it.

But you know what?  I had three strangers compliment me on it and by BFF raved about how great it smelled when we were having coffee.  So it may not be me; perhaps it’s you.

$75 for 34ML at IndieScents, where I got the sample

By Anita (“Musette”)

So….the beauty that is Swapmania, Summer 2011 is Officially Over, though I’m sure there will be emails back and forth for days to come.  I swore I wouldn’t get involved in Swapmania this time around – I had a blast last time but had a LOT going on this month.  So.  No Swapmania.

To channel Doctor Phil ” so Musette, how’d that work for ya?”. March was busy so I stopped in to make sure all was well…..uh….somebody had Diorling….somebody  had Cuir de Russie PARFUM….oh, lord…saaaave me!  I started pulling out stuff to swap.

And it was fun to pull out stuff I hadn’t paid much attention to since..uh, last Swapmania?  And most of the stuff I was willing to swap away was an easy decision – but I enjoyed revisiting them before I set foot in the swap.  Of course, after I revisited a couple of them I remembered why I had them in the first place so they came back up front in the Stay section…..but I did decant a few samples, just to be nice about the whole thing – I enjoy perfume more when I can share …..and everyone is always so generous and fun on here…but enough about me and the Diorling etc etc… what I want to know is:  “how did this work for all of YOU?”  Some questions:

1. Did you find some forgotten loves, get your guts all in a knot trying to decide ‘swap or keep’ …or did you just put it back?  let it go?  You don’t have to say what it was, if you don’t want to but I’d love to know how you FELT when you respritzed.

2.  Haterade.  Someone wanted XX .  You had XX.  You went back to revisit because you’re nosy that way and….bleeeargh.  You remembered  (Drama Nuuuuui, I’m Talkin’ to Youuuui)!   You. Hate. It.  Again, you don’t have to say what it was (not that it matters.  One gal’s perfume is another gal’s poisson and all that)

3. The” OMG…I really need to suck it up and get this bottle to a loving home because I don’t want to be on Hoarders” .  Mine were Olene and Apres l’Ondee. Yeah, yeah…I know.  But It. Just. Doesn’t. Work. For. Me.  To keep it feels like Bad Juju.  And the joy these swaps gave (not to mention a new perfume pal)!  Well worth it.

3a.  Swapper’s Remorse:  “OMG….I can’t believe I just swapped this beauty awaaaaay!” – that one is OUCH! when you have already committed to the swap, resniffed…and….ow.  Here’s what happened to me last time.  I got Swapper’s Remorse – bad.  But I’d already committed.  So I sucked it up, packed it up, let it go and wished it well.  A few days later, in a totally unrelated swap, somebody sent me another bottle of what I’d swapped away, unasked.  I’m totally serious.  So let those babies go, with love.

4. Aiiiiy!  I gotta pack and MAIL all this!  See, that’s why I reined myself in – last time I got carpal tunnel, a blister and a headache from all the wrappingwrappingwrapping.tapingtapingtaping, lyinglyinglying…….my advice to Newbies, if you did more than 3 swaps:  Pace yourselves.  Email your swappers and let them know when you’re going to get it out…but don’t try to do it all in one day.  You will hate everybody, including yourself, by 2:30 tomorrow.

Holla at Evil Auntie Musette and let her know what feeeelings got all churned up this weekend.  And put some Neosporin on those blisters!  Can’t wait to hear from you!

Last fall we did Swapmania – our first perfume swap free-for-all on the Posse.  I’d wrung my hands for weeks prior, came up with eleventy-jillion rules, and figured maybe nine people would show up and play.  By the end of that weekend we had more than 1,200 comments, and for awhile people were having trouble getting on the site due to traffic.  So: I think we can call it a success.

Today, I, March the Maleficent, decree the start of our Summer Swapmania, and this post will stay up and will run through the weekend.  I’m guessing fewer people will play this time (vacation etc.) but who knows?  I’m going to do an abbreviated set of instructions below.  If you are new to this and have no idea what I am talking about, and/or you want to see the “full” list of instructions from last time and how it actually worked in comments, click here for a link to the last Swapmania.

For further edification, I did a follow up post asking how it went, and if you’d like to read THOSE 215 comments (what people got, etc.) that link is here.

Today you are invited to list, in comments, your swap bottles of perfume, partial bottles, minis, decants and samples.  I think it’s easier to list items in separate comments if you’re offering more than one item (sample sets are one item), otherwise the threads can get confusing, Edited Weds. morning:  go ahead and list all your swaps in one comment unless you’re doing more than, say, five.  Ish.

Please include:

• a brief description of each item you’re offering – such as oz/ml size, concentration (EdT, EdP), and any other info you think might be of interest (vintage/partial/used/boxed…)
• the country you live in (so people can take that into consideration for customs and shipping expense)
• whether you are open to receiving NON-PERFUME ITEMS in exchange, or whether you really would prefer only other perfume items.  FWIW – last time people ended up swapping for all sorts of amazing things, including hand-knit scarves and hats, chocolate, tea, etc.
• You can also say if you are looking for a particular bottle of something(s) to swap for –hope springs eternal!
• WEDS. AM UPDATE – hey, go ahead and list your contact info up front if you want to, that seems to be working.  Don’t just type your normal email address in there, though (see #2 below.)

Clear as mud?  Here’s a sample of what a swap listing might look like:  “Hermes Jardin Sur le Nil, 1.6 oz. EDT, half full, boxed.  I live in the US and am open to swaps abroad.  Willing to swap for perfume or other items. email me — jane doe at gmail dot com”

What can people offer to swap in exchange for your perfumes?  Other bottles/partials/minis/samples etc., or things.  When offering for a swap item, please say what country you’re from so they can take that into consideration.

This will work best if everyone keeps an open mind – let us practice and presume honesty, good intentions, and respect.

Someone posted the helpful detail that you can search comments on a PC by hitting CTRL + F (think “find”.)  This makes it easier if you’re looking through massive comments for a particular fragrance and/or your swap offers.  If you’re on a Mac, try (if you are in a browser like Chrome) hitting Edit, Find to search.

The fine print:

1) Caveat Swapper.  This is not eBay, and I am not your higher power or your mother.  I will not be mediating disputes. If anything went horribly wrong in the last Swapmania, I never heard about it.  I think most everyone had a blast.  But if something goes wrong with your swap, that’s between you and the other swapper.  Perfume Posse and I are not responsible or liable.

2) You and your swapper are responsible for figuring out a way to get in touch with each other to exchange details (mailing address etc.)  Many of you already have gravatar IDs that link to your websites, etc.  You can use MakeupAlley (MUA,) FaceBook, LiveJournal, email, whatever.  PLEASE DO NOT type your email addresses into comments; they are collected by spambots.  If you must do so, spell it out:  chris dot smith at hotmail dot com   When you have completed a swap, please go back and mark your item as taken.

3) Please remember to behave yourselves; often, two or more people are making offers for the same bottle of Cuir de Russie, and only one person is going to get it (unless the owner wants to split.)  Last time there was some fairly intense competition on certain bottles, and that’s the way it works.  Let’s treat our fellow swappers with kindness and respect.  Once you’ve agreed to a swap and exchanged mailing info, etc., please don’t back out if you suddenly see something pop up that you’d rather have.  The karma fairies will turn all your Guerlain into vinegar.

4) Send your swap in a timely fashion. It seems self-evident, but this was a minor issue last time.  Once you’ve agreed to do this, send your side of the swap.  If you’re not going to be able to do so until August, you need to tell your co-swapper ahead of time.

5) MUA peeps – you can’t just say “go see my MUA list and see if there’s anything you’d swap for.”  Lots of folks on here aren’t on MUA.  Also I’m not thrilled with people pasting in their entire, lengthy MUA wish/swap lists … because that’s what MUA is for, right?  But I won’t flame you for it.

Okay, kids!  This was a huge blast last time, and people got some amaaaazing things, including extras in their packages.  So go have fun!