Feelin’ HOT!HOT!HOT!
So. Did you just get back from Pluto? If not, you know most of the US is in a massive heat wave. Nature seems determined to fry us into Bac-O’s, then blow us out to sea via derechos which I just learned about. Did anybody who is Not A Meteorologist know anything about derechos prior to watching the Weather Channel a few nights ago? Down here we just call ’em Straight Line Winds and they can tear up a cornfield – or a town – in minutes. Luckily for us, no derechos. But it’s back up to ‘sizzlin’. It’s been hitting 94F – at 9p, which is just ridiculous – but, like Honey Badger, I. Don’t. Care. I sit under the fans (I hate air conditioning) sipping minted lemonade and wafting some hefty sillage. No…not ‘that’ kind of sillage, you rudesbies….PERFUME SILLAGE. One of the benefits of working mostly alone and, when amongst others, usually outside is that I can bust a cap in the ass of some massive scents without massive repercussions. You already know about Carnal Flower and Tribute in the 90+. I’ve waxed eloquent on the Glory What Is Mitsouko in triple digits. These Bad Girls take on a whole new meaning in the steamy heat. But Ive been there and you are sick of hearing about them…and it’s still Hot as Balls, to coin Missy March’s term…
So…what’s next? The heat made me a bit cranky – so I fired back with sheer bloody-mindedness. Let’s talk about leather. And amber. Both of those are considered cold weather scents. I say pfooey. Pshaw. Pfffbbbt! I mostly hate amber. I REALLY hate Hermes Ambre Narguile (aka The Nazgul)…except…hey! I tried it this past week, when it was hot enough to glue my shoes to the road…and it was incredibly beautiful, lush and complex. It mixes well with burning sunshine and sweaty brow. What smells like oily plastic in the cool weather liquefies in the sizzling sun into this rich, topaz-y goodness. I doubt I will ever wear it again – because I still hate amber – but I just had to tell you all how, in scorching temps, this morphed into a thing of beauty.
Montale Oud Cuir d’Arabie. Yet another ‘plastic’ scent made perfect in extreme heat. Maybe there’s something to the leather/heat thing – in cooler weather Cuir d’Arabie (and it’s Mean Girl cousin, Pd’E Cuir Ottoman) make me slightly nauseated – there’s a cheap plastic, not-quite-doll-head smell that I can’t get past to get to the leathery goodness inside. Or …it’s more like an old leather jacket that’s been left in a cold car – I don’t like the smell of cold leather, all crackly and stiff. Unlike Cuir de Russie and vintage Diorling, which, in winter, warm up and burst into gorgeous! on my skin, these stay cold and congealed in the colder weather. It’s like….hey! you know what it’s like? It’s the difference between cold maple syrup and room temp maple syrup. Cold, it is pretty one-dimensional. Same with butter (which is why I can never understand why restaurants serve ice-cold butter). Once they warm up, all the notes and aspects of these foods (and these scents) start to swirl and meld in the nose and tongue, releasing all the nuanced bits. I have a lovely decant of Cuir d’Arabie (and the dregs of a bottle of the Cuir Ottoman) and I nearly gave both away. What can I say? It was November. And I get flowers now!! – the tobacco in Cd’A gets all rosy and sweet, with the dry woods keeping it from becoming cloying. If I lived in the desert I might have to have a full bottle of this! As it is, I suspect I will be seeing the bottom of the decant and the bottle by August’s end. I’m also going to try Cd’A over some hefty Rosine body cream. I’ll let you know if anybody drops stone-dead from that combo ( Weekend Update: That combo is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!! I used the Rosine because I have it but I suspect any good quality rose cream would do. WOW!!!)
Are you finding weather-related surprises in your perfume wardrobe? I’m hearing murmurings of some Big Whites converts and even (gasp!) some ROSE converts in this extreme heat. C’mon. ‘fess up. You know you wanna.
Photo: Buster Poindexter. Lawd, sometimes I miss the 80s somethin’ FIERCE
Photo: Camel races in the Saudi desert. No, none of those frags smell like hot camels. Profilin’, I know, with the Arabie/Ottoman thing and all …sigh. But it’s a fab visual and I amuse myself, picturing ol’ Buster there, martini glass in hand, atop some galloping ungulate.
Mmmm…Rosine body cream. I have some in Folie de Rose. JCE’s Eau the Vert is a summer favorite of mine but lasts approximately 3 minutes, so I spray the Extremee version over Rosine body cream. Extremee doesn’t have as much rose as the other one. (Sacrilege, I know.)So this boosts the rose somewhat.
It’s so humid here that I haven’t had to courage to wear any heavy-hitters. Yet, anyway. It’s vetivers for me right now.
Heat wave? 90’s? Here on the Gulf Coast, that isn’t a heat wave, just normal summer weather. The last several day we have been actually cooler than normal for July, with highs only in the mid- to upper-80’s, mostly because it has been raining for the past week. I notice that the Amouages have been mentioned a lot in these posts. I recently snagged a mini of Dia Woman and have been wearing the heck out of it. I had a sample vial of it a few years ago, and liked it quite a lot, but this time I have fallen head over heels. I don’t know if it is a difference in the weather, as I cannot remember what time of year it was when I tried it before. Really, I can’t imagine there is any time of year when this perfume wouldn’t be totally appropriate.
No, I had never heard of a derecho, and more recently we had mammatus clouds pop up here, too. Wow, starting to wonder if the derecho was started by a supercell of Cd’A, Nazgul and Rosine. Step AWAY from the Balzilla, Musette!
I’ve been wearing Habanita and SL Iris Silver Mist, neither of which had I spent much time with before. And I’m feeling a weird craving for Amouage Lyric coming on….
Not sure why, but my ‘puter ate my earlier comment (it also ate this long convoluted comment I left over on Australian Perfume Junkies re Portia’s on-camera sniff of Secretions Magnifiques, but I didn’t want to go back and tackle the whole thing again, GRRRRRR… BTW, funny video, I recommend).
We had all this mad upper-90s heat here over the past two weeks or so, but since Monday it’s been cooler. It rained yesterday and today, and it’s been niiiiiice. Upper 70s nice. Anyway, back when it WAS hot, we were schlepping over the Eastern Seaboard, and I couldn’t get out the Big Guns to try because they were all at home, and because we were either in crowds of college tours or in a small car together. (I lived in No. 19, pretty much.)
Tomorrow I head for North Carolina to pick up Bookworm and PETBoy from drum major camp. YIPPEE, nine hours in a van. Half of those hours with teenagers. I could be nasty and douse myself in Amoureuse (which Bookworm hates, and which I wore to church this evening)…
Am just now reading this post and Lord, child, you nearly had me spewing ice cream! I miss the ’80s too and loved ol’ Buster Poindexter and his carryings-on (whatever happened to that guy?). I don’t have any of the big guns you mentioned (I don’t think), but will give Carnal Flower a go and see how she does, although ironically, we’re in a bit of a “cool” spell (only the high 80s today and rest of the week). Thanks, sweetie, for a great laugh (just found a bad leak under the kitchen sink and the plumber’s coming tomorrow, so I needed some chuckles)!!
Oh, nooooes! on the leak. I would send over El O..but I can barely get him to fix the leaks here! LOL!
You will love Carnal Flower in the heat, I am sure of it!
xoxo :Devil:
I have waded my way through organizing my huge pile of decants. This came about because I am craving Sarrasins and A La Nuit. Now, I’m horrified because I have 3 decants of A La Nuit and 4 of Sarrasins (still wish that full bottles would be part of the export line ). This morning, I couldn’t find a decant of Sarrasins right off the bat (when you get asked to work on a day off) and put on Amouage Lyric. I love how Lyric just blooms wonderfully on skin when it’s hot and humid. I’ve also been rocking BaV in edp form and I’m not interested if people think that I’ve just been ravished in the past 20 minutes. My current issue is that nothing, no matter how potent never wants to stay on skin.
Oooh! another beauty in the heat!! BaV is KILLAH! And who wouldn’t want to be ravished in the past 20 minutes? Especially if The Rock has just done the ravishing, with his pointed-headed sexbombalicious self!
xo :Devil:
I love big bold scents in the heat. I have scent eating skin so all those summery things are just gone in less than an hour on me. The sillage monsters on the other hand are pretty potent at first but then mellow out and work wonderfully in the heat. There are times I crave the citrus and greenery but if I want lasting power I go for the big guns. I’ve been wearing some of the big white florals this week like Fracas, Fleur Nocturne, and Michael Kors and loving them. It really is amazing how different they are in the heat.
Fracas is a thing of beauty, innit? 90s? That Girl loves it!
xo :Devil:
Shoo, I wish I was atop a galloping ungulate, it’d be cooler 😀
You know I love big fragrances. I’ve been wearing your mean girl leather lots lately, Cuir Ottoman, and she’s all iris, jasmine floral leather! Whadda ya mean, cold? In 90+F, Cuir Otttoman is a beaut.
So’s Amouage Homage Attar. I’m liking lots of big rose, big sandalwood things. . .but for hot nights. Daytime, I tend to wear soft citrus to keep from killing my scent phobic coworkers, but night is for me. I even tried Bruno Acamphora’s Musc the other day (and nearly DIED). Petite Mort is fun in this heat, as is MKK.
One BIG mistake: I took SL’s Fleur d’Oranger and gave about 3 spritzes into my bath, then walked out as the tub filled. I heard a weird yowl, and my cat, Cleo, was belly crawling, ears-flattened, out of the bathroom and down the hall. It was HILARIOUS. Until I went to shut off the water, and nearly asphyxiated in clouds of FdO. Yowsa. I had to turn on the exhaust fan, and wait 15 minutes to enjoy my bath. This is why I dab that fragrance, and never spray it, but I’d forgotten. Oops. Cleo was not amused.
Go big, but be careful out there, y’all. Some of this stuff is POTENT.
Holy Cats and Crackers!!!! OMG, K, I am SO glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I read this! OMG! My sides are still heaving!
omg. (trying to catch my breath)…
xo :Devil:
I also HATE amber – I also kind of hate oud. But I’ve found that By Kilian’s Amber Oud is soooo lovely in the heat. Granted, it’s got a healthy dose of vanilla in it too.
Amber Oud feels like silk. And I’m not a big fan of either (which is probably why I like it).
That one is amazing in extreme heat!
xo :Devil:
Can you beam over a few degrees? About ten? I’m freezing here….. Freezing and wet.
So naturally, I can’t say anything about fragrances which surprise me when it’s hot. But Lutens Mandarin Mandarine (or was that Mandarine Mandarin?) smells – to me – pretty awful when it’s hot. But the colder it gets, the better it is, and when it’s freezing outside I have my own private little grove of blossoming orange trees which goes with me wherever I am…..
I feel that way about a lot of aldehydes. I tried vintage L’Aimant a few days ago and it nearly brought up my lunch!!!
Will swap you 10 degrees and the rain. Done!
xo :Devil:
I can’t wear vintage French aldehydes in the heat, no way. They’re strictly snowstorm ‘fumes!
tell me about it. I can only wear No5 parfum. And even that is a crapshoot.
xo :Devil:
MY GOD you’re brave: in the broiling boiling sweltering heat you put on heavy fragrances you don’t like–to see what happens?? I can barely stand to wear whisper-light fragrances I adore when the temps are above 90. The thought of amber on any part of my body when I’m already sweating makes me want to weep. Then again, I very much like leather in warm weather; but, like you, I mainly wear such fragrances when I’m home alone, so I won’t make people think I’ve been rolling around in a barn all day. (Not that that’s a bad thing.) Well, maybe when the next heat wave rolls around I’ll put on Something Big and see what happens. Maybe.
GO BIG, Sam! If you do it at home, you can always shower it off!
xo :Devil:
I wonder how they’d go over Westwood’s Boudior cream? I have a HUGE tube. I will try it, but it’s winter here. Not quite as fabulous as rocking it in the heat,
Portia xx
Your winter…… :Overjoy: If I had your winter I would have 10′ tall lemon trees. Of course, you guys also have all those scary snakes……. :Worry:
xoxo :Devil:
I love labdanum scents in the heat. Also anything heavy on the frankincense. And also, Chergui!! But that last one can give the people around me screaming headaches if it’s too hot outside. Not me though. Wearing Chergui “seven inches from the noonday sun”, I, too, am a Honey Badger. “My perfume gives you a Screaming Headache? I . Don’t. Care.”
I. Love. You.
I also owe you. You opened my eyes to the whole ‘Avon of Arabia’ line(s) of scents and I am like a Honey Badger on a nest of cobras!!!
xo xoxoxo :Devil:
ps. I LOVE your new blog. LOVE IT!
(perks up ears) Masha has a blog? I’ll drop by and visit.
Uh, wait. No link to it in her avatar.
Here it is: http://mylifeamongthelithops.blogspot.com/ I hope she links it to her avatar. It really is a cool blog.
xo :Devil:
Ah, you’re so sweet! The link pops up with I log in with Google, but not with Gravatar, I’ll see if I can fix that. I don’t think there’s a lithops perfume, yet, but maybe Bertrand D or Olivia G can fix that!
I wore Amouage Homage Attar, and quite a bit of it, too, on a recent blast-furnace day. Loved it. And I wore Jicky extrait to an under-a-tent opera performance last Saturday. for the last couple of days, though, I’ve been craving light and citrusy, Quartz, Eau du Sud. Though I’ve also been enjoying Costes. It’s more substantial than the last two, but there’s something very crisp and clean about it.
I would’ve been sitting in your lap at that opera!!!!!
xo :Devil:
Like!
Well, you know, smelling these three new desert trio things from Guerlain, I was thinking “wow, so beautiful, but not exactly light and summery for all that heat and desert over in the United Arab Emirates! Like, where’s the citrus…lol??!” But, wearing them, plus the other three most gorgeous fragrances I’ve found within the last two months–Beloved, Mamluk and Dior Oud Ispahan–I have to agree with you. These hard-hitters all melt and bloom in the heat. It will be interesting to see how they do in the winter!!
Cuir d’Arable over rose sounds GORGEOUS and I’m not a rose lover. Love hearing about your “experiments”! Hope you got some rain and heat relief! Off to find some rose body cream now! 🙂
I first learned about Amouage from my Nordie’s SA who is from the Middle East (that was back when the Chicago Nordstrom carried the early Amouages: Ciel, Dia, etc). Like you, I was mystified by the complex, heavy scennts. Mohammed laughed and said “Middle East heat eats those citruses ALIVE!” and then began schooling me on the history of Middle Eastern perfumery. I’m still learning, of course, but since I live in a place that can blow the hair off your head in summer, it’s a great place to experiment!
lmk how you like Cd’A over rose!!! xoxoxo :Devil: