Regular Posse know that this time of year is Not for Perfume. I’m in the garden, ripping out weeds, digging holes…and bees and wasps abound…so perfume is replaced by Avon Skin So Soft (still, in my opinion, the best flying insect repellent on the planet). Usually I don’t even open perfume packages this time of year.
But I got an unexpected box from Amouage. Who doesn’t open a box from Amouage, amirite? So …..in the box was a plain little bottle….and in that Plain Little Bottle is Opus IX.
Before I tell you about it, let me walk you back though my Opus history. I am an unabashed fan of Amouage, as you all know – but I have always found the Opus line to be a little challenging. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I took the top off that sprayer….whoa! Posse! The cap nearly blew me away – JUST THE CAP! It is that beautiful, I promise you! An elusive, chiaroscuro cloud of jasmine, floating through dappled woods….I was so gobsmacked that I immediately spritzed it on my wrists and went back in the garden. Amongst the late lilacs and early roses, the jasmine wove a beautiful, soft…well, we’re back to ‘cloud’…it really is cloudlike in its beauty. Jasmine is a toughie for me – I always want to love it but am not always successful. Surrender to Chance’s Coldwater Canyon helped turn me into a jasmine lover – and Opus IX takes that love to a whole other level.
Christopher Chong, an avowed Operaphile (is that a word? It is now) created this stunning perfume in homage to the vaunted 1958 Lisbon production of La Traviata, with the diva Maria Callas as Violetta. A quote from his notes ” To express the theme of love, death and redemption we play with textures of opulent floral spectrum combined with the carnal desire of the animalic and leather notes.” In homage to The Lady of Camellias (the basis for La Traviata) Amouage created a ‘camellia accord’ since camellias are without scent (but so gorgeous). Christopher’s creative interpretation of camellia fits perfectly with the Amouage oeuvre – whenever I wear Lyric, with that hypnotic ‘waxy’ note that haunts me so… I think of camellia.
This is shimmering, faceted beauty, much like Mme Callas’s gown in the opera. Without being ‘frothy’ it managed to convey a lighter-than-air quality, while still hinting at the darkness below. I wore Opus IX for nearly a week and was never bored by it. Notes:
Top: Camellia Accord, Black Pepper, Jasmine
Heart: Gaiac Wood, Beeswax, Leather
Base: Grey Amber, Vetiver, Civet
I could wax on but it would be just mindless babbling – this is a thing of beauty that requires that you experience it firsthand. So! I’m going to have Miss Chloe pull one of you for a leetle vial of this beauty. Tell me what’s going on in your world and you’ll be entered. Tell me a story – fun, sad, whatever. It’ll be worth it, to be entered into this draw – this is a stunning beauty you need to experience!
Gosh does this latest Opus ever sound lovely! Jasmin is a difficult note for me, too…something about it always gets too indolic on my skin. My allergies are just slaying me this year, so as much as I want to dig up weeds, I have to wait a little longer before I tackle the jungle taking over the garden. I have never tried Skin So Soft as an insect repellent — does it have an actual insect repelling ingredient, or is it just the scent itself that keeps bugs away? I’ll have to keep it in mind. Mosquitos treat me as a buffet.
My world, at the moment, is all about figuring out who to invite to a conference and how big a meeting room we need. Sounds easy, but somehow I feel like every person involved is having a different conversation, and I’m not sure we’re any closer to a resolution than we were yesterday. I’ll just keep pretending I’m party-planning instead of meeting-planning.
Jasmine, beeswax, and leather? Sounds amazing… count me in, and thanks for the draw!
A good friend of mine has decided to keep chickens, and I went over to her farm one day to take a look at them up close. My friend wants them to be well-socialized and friendly around humans, so I was picking the birds up and swooping them up and down (like when you give a little kid a ride). One of the Rhode Island Red hens thought this was The Best Thing Ever… I’d put her down and she’d rush right back to me and jump on my feet until I picked her up again and gave her another ride (complete with “wheeeee!” sound effects).
So that’s my life right now – entertaining chickens. 🙂
My hummingbirds have returned! That’s about all that’s going on here, but it makes me happy. 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
My life is also all about the garden these days. But when I have to be inside, I am enjoying the season’s best floral fragrances. I would love to try the new Opus!
when we moved, my husband planted a lime tree from our garden on big vase, so that we could keep it. Though I thought it would die, it lived. So happy, I love my citrus flowers.
Thank you, Musette.
My world is all about my 74 pound puppy, my husband, my husbands garden, and an insufficient around said garden. Oh the drama! Yep, you guessed it. Two days after my husband got his beloved veggies planted, my sweet puppy got into his garden and started digging. It really looked like bombs went off, huge craters and dirt and little green plants scattered everywhere. Did I mention drama? It can’t be commented on enough.
Keeping with the garden theme, this seems to be the year of the mushrooms for me! We found four morels in our front yard before Mother’s Day (Yeah, don’t ask. Our gardening philosophy is benevolent neglect, so it’s always fun to see what happens. Risotto con Funghi–ah) The we found dozens of little slender stemmed ones in the back, and the coup de grace was a huge clump of fat toadstools that could be from the chorus line of Fantasia. I love spring.
We are also doing some gardening this time of the year. When I say ‘we’ it’s not really me, but other members of my family, including my youngest one, who is four years old. We planted a cherry tree and another apple tree so there’s more of those now too. It’s been very chilly spring thus year, apple-trees are only now starting to bloom. The cherry is already in full bloom. We also
have a peach, but it’s thriving in this sort of climate. Cannot wait for the summer!
My world is full of too much work and family stress. A little beauty in the form of perfume is much appreciated. Thanks for the opportunity to try this!
What’s going on in my world right now is trying to control two young cats, one of whom is trying to drink all the water in the goldfish bowl. This sounds lovely. Thanks for the drawing!
Never ever smelt anything from Amouage so this would be a great chance and I love Jasmine.
Oh, would love to try this! Just one thing after another here, end of school year crush, deadlines, and I have to have a breast biopsy next week. Not terribly worried, but wish it was over with. On the good side, updated my resume to think about a job change and it made me feel good to see those accomplishments. Thanks for the draw!
I love jasmine AND Amouage, so I’d love to give this a try. In my world, I am having the exterior of the house painted and six windows replaced. I am terrible with color (took me three years to decide what to paint the living room in my old house) and so the exterior will be beige (sigh). With a teal front door, and new shrubbery eventually.
@Bridget, the only Amouage I’ve ever worn was a part-bottle of Dia someone kindly passed to me. It was a nice office scent, but wouldn’t have spent $$$ on it. A colleague and I went to the Perfume Shoppe: she needed a new perfume for her new, post-divorce life, and ended up with one of the Montale Ouds.
Jasmine? Animalic notes? I’m all for it and will have to try this!
Wow – that sounds lovely. Jasmine is so beautiful for this time of year. Right now my baby’s laid up with a fever of 103. He’s had it since Monday night and no other symptoms, so it’s been a rough couple of days for him. We’re also in the middle of some house reno work. We just got new floors (well, remilled antique pine floors) and I’m doing some work on the kitchen after *ahem* seeing someone’s posts about their kitchen renovation *cough cough Musette*… So I added a wraparound tile backsplash and some DIY open cabinetry. I’ll be adding some floating shelves soon too, I am just figuring out what style I want them to be. And lastly, I’m finally finally trying to get back to reading blogs and posting on my own. 🙂
I’ve been busy tying up loose ends in my current job because I’m moving to a new position in another area of the company soon. Hopefully I’m not moving from the frying pan into the fire! My dog and I both have also been suffering something horrible from allergies this season. We were fine in NC but here in IL, it’s been terrible. Between the weather, allergies, cost of living and traffic, I’m dreaming of the time when I can move back south. That’s another year or two at best, so in the interim, both my dog and I will take our corticosteroids and dream of warmer places. I haven’t tried any of the Amouage Opus line, but would love to and Jasmine one of my favorite flowers, so please enter me in the drawing as well. Thanks!
I’m recovering from yesterday’s radiofrequency ablation on my back. The surgery center only used topical anesthetic; the doctor had promised sedation. I’m not happy. A beautiful perfume would cheer me right up. Thank you for the drawing!
This sounds amazing…I’d love to try it! I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m currently obsessed with the fact that CB I Hate perfume is now offering a 30 ml size for the water perfume nad have already ordered two of them!!
I would love to try anything from Amouage’s Opus line, particularly a jasmine! Please enter me in the drawing!
Opus IX sounds amazing. I love jasmine but also sometimes have trouble appreciating it in perfume. We have jasmine, star jasmine, and a single camellia bush in our tiny garden—where I will be happily working over the long weekend—and I’d love to see what Amouage has done for “camellia accord.”
Oh wow. This is why I love reading perfume reviews. I can almost imagine how wonderful this is. Aside from work work work…I’ve been only doing the gardening in small bursts. Not only is the pollen worse than any other year (here in the Northeast) but so are the bugs. You know those little gnatty things that fly around in a micro-swarm/bug party? Yeah, hate those 🙂 I may need to pick up some Skin So Soft…
My world right now is loving 2 adorable grandchildren, praying for both a friend and a cousin with cancer plus saying a long goodbye to a beloved neighbor in her last days with cancer. Smelling something this lovely would be most welcome.
I hate to admit it and hope I’m not booed, but I haven’t yet found an Amouge that does it for me. I hope there is one out there and this sounds gorgeous! Maybe this will be it! Thank you for the draw.
DNEM. No boos here. I haven’t found an Amouage that I like and I’ve tried a lot. I have several friends that actively dislike them. Amouage may get a lot of love on the blogs but not from me.
Recovering from Sniffapalooza 2015 and trying to finish up a couple of great books. Enjoying the not-too-hot sunny NYC weather today…But it could change! Thanks for the draw.
My DS is in the last month of his senior year of high school, so we’re facing testing, exams, finals and all that stuff. Hoping he passing Physics and actually gets to graduate. And really really looking forward to summer vacation. Right now in Virginia the iris are blooming which is great. I love the scent of them. I have to get up close to smell them. Opus sounds amazing. I love jasmine, too.
Like you, I am working in my garden and potting some flowers so everything looks pretty. I’ll be planting my veggies and herbs next weekend, after Memorial Day. The weather in New England is more bizarre than ever this year, 85 one day and 65 the next. My cat keeps me company but I think it’s only because he likes to smell the herbs. Thanks for the draw!
This perfume sounds sublime! And I hope your garden is behaving itself 😉
Thanks for the giveaway!
big lover of La Diva, Traviata and Amouage- I so wish to try this frag
My corner of the world is in a bad phase now (just look at my little flag…) – but summer will be here any day, now
Thanks for the draw
This sounds like the Opus to win me over and the kind of jasmine I’ve been searching for.
Currently I am trying to learn to meditate and failing. Stopping my mind from wandering for more than a second feels impossible. I’ll keep at it and hope I get better. To achieve peace of mind would be worth it.
Many thanks for the draw!
Beeswax, leather and civet. OMG !!!!
My life is all about finding new normal. After ending a 20 year marriage recently, I am finding new joys futzing around the house, learning about yard work and enjoying the peace of space that belong to myself and my greyhounds only. Not a lot of disposable cash, but lots of love and puppy snuggles.
A story? Well, my kitchen has a start date of June 1 which I guess is good. But…before my hubband talked me into the kitchen I really wanted to do the deck. I just hate the deck. It’s an odd size and the paint is all chipped and it looks awful. We thought it was in reasonably good shape otherwise but honestly I never really inspected it in detail. The other day one of the boards cracked and a piece broke off while I was walking into the house. While it could be a testament to winter weight gain, upon closer inspection, the wood is getting soft in spots. So it looks like that deck he wanted to do in another year or two will need to happen sooner. It had already been repaired at some point before we bought the house so another patch job isn’t the best idea. So there goes more of my perfume budget. Poof! Just like that.
Tomatoes are taking over my world and my greenhouse! Not quite the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes… not yet…but if I don’t get these monsters outside pretty soon something strange might just happen in the hothouse. I do love the scent of tomato leaves. I suppose I planted too many seeds this year anticipating that lovely tomato leaf fragrance. Thank you for this great draw! I am in the US.
My world rotates at the moment around my daughter who is leaving for one year to the USA for her internship. We are busily collecting documents, information, etc for her visa and planing the expenses – I could do without the stress…
I adore Amouage from the first sniff and I would love to try this one. Jasmine is now in full bloom here and walking the streets in the evening smells beautiful.
i have always liked jasmine ever since, at the age of 6, i got into my grandmother’s makeup and perfume and sprayed enough Chanel No 5 to smell me a block away! Loved No 5 ever since.
Living in a warm climate for a few years with jasmine in many gardens made me a true lover of jasmine.
so i am trying to grow a hardy jasmine, and a hardy gardenia for good measure. neither have bloomed yet – so to be continued but i am hoping…..
haven’t tried any of the Opus and would love to try this!
Super un-fun but totally honest — what’s going on in my world today is a really bad bout of hot flashes. Really. Seriously. Who thought this was a good idea? But Amouage, I love you so…I cannot afford much of you, but I love you! Thanks for the smile — and now, a cool shower.
Since I live in AZ, and we have had some good rain, my two tomato plants have exploded: bags to the neighbors and to friends, making sauce to freeze, eating tomatoes at every meal. I can smell the tomato leaves in my sleep!
Ohhhh Skin So Soft…. How I miss thee! And yes, I agree, best bug spray!
In my world school is ending for my little and he will be in need of constant entertainment in 10 days! Nothing better as one day I will miss this time!
Thanks for the draw!
What’s going in my world…a one-year-old girl mostly. It is so wonderful to watch her growing up,learning new skills and admiring all the fabulous thing in this world (such as a piece of paper, perfume box, patterns of the wooden floor, her own incredibly soft toes…).
I’d love to have a proper garden (lilacs, lilies and roses are my favourite) but I’ll have to settle for a balcony for a while. I’m having some roses, violets and basil for this summer, I wish there was a way to sneak in some lilac bushes!
this sounds really beautiful!!camellia really fascinates me.the flowers smell so green and mossy but like a very dry moss.it is such an interesting smell.thanks for sharing the joy : )
I am a die-hard Jasmine lover; this sounds glorious. Please enter me in this wonderful draw.
I’d love to try that. I have one of the Opuses (Opi?) and I love it. No. 4, maybe?
I live right on the edge of heartiness zones 5 and 4, so technically, I shouldn’t have planted anything yet, but I put in two new rosebushes on Saturday…and then had to cover them last night, just in case. The meteorologist said we’d only get down to 37F, but…five degrees of wiggle room isn’t enough in my book. I covered the peonies too, because they’re finally budding, but the hostas were on their own. And the crab apple tree is almost done blooming.
Last fall I had a buried oil tank removed from the back yard. Grass has mostly filled in, with the exception of a few lumpy, bare patches (had a seed germination blanket on it over the winter). Have been seeding, but the birds seem to be getting most of it. Am wondering if anyone’s tried the hydromousse stuff–grass that’s sprayed on? Also plotting what else to plant–clematis & hydrangea for sure, and attractive ground cover for the perennially grassless areas.
Not typically an Amouage gal, but curious about this one.
Oh…you had me at Jasmine…and gardening.
I am a Jasmine loving gardening besotted illustrator up to my eyeballs trying to finish painting two children’s books before a cross country move at the end of the Summer…..and so ignoring the garden on which I previously lavished so much attention, stealing longing glances out the studio window at the neglected beds…forcing myself back to work.
Opus IX sounds a glorious anodyne!
Sounds divine!!! My world currently consists of wicked bad allergies and planting the veggie garden. Lol.