Hi Posse! Another new fragrance that come in my latest First In Fragrance order is 11. My lucky number. I was so excited to see it as one of the frag titles in the range, even though I find naming by numbers boring, hard to remember and uninspired. It’s the picture of the bottle that really lured me in. It’s a beautiful, modern interpretation of the Boss Orange bottle. That brown/amber glass must be ready for a home fashion resurgence any time now.
11 by FO’AH 2018
Michel Girard
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Sichuan pepper, Sicilian lemon
Heart: Lily of the valley bud, Palm tree
Base: Amber, Musk
A sizzling freshie. You can really feel the heat coming off the pepper and the lemon provides an excellent counterfoil. It’s fun, fizzy and feels very clever. This opening does not last long enough, I wanted it to go on and on and on.
The heart is a vegetal green version of lily of the valley. This crew has cut out all the challenging bits and kept it clean and sappy. I like the way they’ve done this and am presuming ( because I’m unsure exactly of how a palm smells) that they’ve used palm as a calming influence. Suddenly lily of the valley becomes unisex. There’s a synthetic feeling component in the mix that I know but can’t place, it’s not over used in fragrance but it does pop up and it seems to be rounding the edges of everything.
Within the first 30 minutes most of the fireworks have died off and we are left with a modern, simple laundry musk, a soft focus greenness floating above it and a synthetic, metallic ambergris underneath for interest.
Nice, safe, unchallenging and perfectly office friendly. I can imagine people wearing this for the first 30 minutes of pure self pleasure on their way to work and then making their way through the day still smelling very good but office appropriate.
What do you wear for office appropriate?
Portia xx
Portia also writes for Australian Perfume Junkies
My skin eats up fragrance so quickly that it almost doesn’t matter what I wear–it’s either gone or a pale ghost of a scent in a couple hours. Plus, I sit in an office with the door closed, on teleconferences for a large part of the day, so it probably doesn’t matter much what I wear. Black Orchid is one of the few that has staying power and a decent level of sillage for me, so I spray lightly with that one. Otherwise, I wear whatever I’m in the mood for that morning.
Hey Diana,
Yes, I suffer from hungry skin too. If I worked an 8 hour day there would have to be a lunchtime top up.
Black Orchid is so good. YUMMY!
Portia xx
Those scents with a lot of white musk bother me, but so many people find them neutral. I do find most people tolerate cologne-style or citrus scents, such as Orange Sanguine. I also use green florals, anything light really, to the office. For the past few weeks I have often used Bulgari Mon Jasmin Noir (a whole different scent than Jasmin Noir!), Korres White Tea, Bergamot, Freesia and L’Occitane Pamplemousse-Rhubarbe to the office in an attempt to empty some bottles little by little. We have open plan seating for most, but some of us have our own tiny office. We still have to take care what to wear since we pass through the large open rooms.
Hi there Ingeborg,
I loved Bulgari Mon Jasmin Noir but it lasted about thirty minutes on me, otherwise there would be a BIG bottle of it here.
Those Korres scents are terrific, and so well priced. I love their shower gels too.
Portia xx
Oh yes, Korres is a brand with good quality at a very reasonable price, especially the shower gels can often be found at 20% off the recommended retail price.
Ingeborg! I just had a few Half Price Sale Korres Shower Gels arrive from Bath and Unwind TODAY. With free shipping they were an absolute bargain !
How uncanny is that?
Portia x
? Isn’t it great to find a real bargain at times?
I LOVE that bottle. I think it would look great in my collection! I toss office-appropriate scents in my desk drawer at work…. for emergencies. I checked and in there right now are Hermes Twilly and the Frederic Malle Magnolia
Hey March,
I LOVE that you call Twilly office appropriate. What a fun fragrance, so luminous and pretty.
Portia xx
LOL! Tribute Attar, lavishly applied. But then I a) own the business and b) largely work alone, unless I’m on the shop floor or visiting clients. If I’m going to a client I do tone it down because Client ($$$) , so I usually do No5 body oil, which gives me something to smell but doesn’t smoke ’em out (h/t Gina) – most of my clients are energy plants or construction sites so it’s not like we’re jammed in an office.
xoxoxoA
Hey Musette,
Considering the toxic smells they deal with all day in the fields you visit I reckon you’re a breath ofd fresh air.
Portia xx
I never concerned myself about office appropriate. I wear great perfumes, wanted to let everyone enjoy them. 😉 I never got a single complaint and often got compliments. Any scent described as office appropriate is no doubt too boring for me to consider.
Hey TaraC,
You are lucky. There are apparently whole office buildings in Sydney now that are fragrance free zones. One of my girlfriends wears scented lotions and even she gets spoken to.
Portia xx
Lol Gina, I agree with you! And when did it become most appropriate to smell neutral?
I wear fragrance when I go to work for me, just with lighter application. I’ve been wearing Papillon Bengale Rouge this week, gorgeous but low sillage which is sad for me but good for office. I also wore Heeley Poudre Blanc a lot to work this summer.
Hey Kathleen,
I think it has been residual push back from the 1980s. The days when people wore so much loud perfume that restaurants were putting over spritzers outside with the smokers.
That Heeley Poudre Blanc is so pretty, I bet you were a hit in it.
Portia xx
LOL, I am never appropriate. Wearing Tauerville Tuberose Flash today and smoking them out. If they want to create open office environments with no privacy and six people crammed in a room, then they can deal with the consequences of me hacking, blowing and smelling.
YAY Gina,
Those open office environments are so toxic in every other way too. You show them.
Tauerville Tuberose Flash is a yum scent, so fun and glam.
Portia xx