An abundance for May Day

Happy May Day. It’s a bank holiday here. In fact, the first of three this May (usually there are only two, but this year there’s a third one associated with the coronation of the new king).

Anyway, the weather has gotten very pleasant. The trees are leafing, the lilacs are blooming, all kinds of odd and surprising things are up in my garden.

And it’s Joe the Lab’s 10^th birthday. So, happy birthday to him!

Right. The things I sniffed with Portia. All but one were on blotters, so I made notes very quickly after returning from London. They aren’t in any particular order. Here goes.

Dior Balade Sauvage (2018, Francois Demachy, ozonic notes, bergamot, petitgrain, fig tree and fruit, solar notes, sea notes, hedione, peach, orange blossom, rose, pebbles, amberwood, labdanum and vanilla). Fresh, ozonic, peach and rose. Faint on the blotter after two days, so I don’t imagine this will be terribly long-lived on skin. Pleasant and gentle.

Dior Tobacolor (2021, Francois Demachy). Tobacco with fruity notes and amber. I get tobacco and caramel, and it’s really quite nice.

Dior Vanilla Diorame (2021, Francois Demachy, orange, pink pepper, lemon, rum, cacao, cardamon, vanilla, sandalwood and patchouli). Interesting gourmande. A bit spicy, nicely rounded with the cacao and cardamon. I don’t get much of the woody stuff. Prefer Tobacolour.

Guerlain Oud Khôl (2022, Thierry Wasser, leather, carbon resin, caramel, powdery moss and oud). A mossy, powdery leather-oud with a strange fresh note. Quite strong and actually quite attractive. Wouldn’t mind trying this on skin one day.

Thameen Riviere (2016, Julia Rodriguez, saffron, cinnamon, black pepper, Turkish rose, sage, carnation, leather and nagarmotha). This is labelled amber-spicy, but is another that was disappearing from the blotter after a couple of days. Gently sweet floral spicy is what I get, with some sweet amber.

Themeen Sparkling Opal (2020, can’t find nose, saffron, nutmeg, pepper, orris root, oud, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, labdanum, cedar, vanilla, amyris, sandalwood, guaiac wood, leather and more cedar). Mild spicy leather. The kind of leather worn by someone who is looking for soft beige suede. It’s nice. Another that didn’t last that well on the blotter.

Thameen Fanfare (2023, Bruno Jovanovic, lemon, neroli, bergamot, floral notes, Vermouth, juniper berry, rosemary, musk, vetiver and patchouli). Citrus aromatic, according to Fragrantica. Herbal – I get mostly the Vermouth, rosemary and juniper. Quite pleasant and fresh, but not irritating fresh.

Thomas Kosmala No 4 Candy (2023, red fruit, cherry, raspberry, tiara flower, cotton candy, vanilla and caramel). Not as bad as it sounds. Indeed, very sweet, but a hit of apricot for me (Portia said air). Sweet, fruity, vanilla with maybe a whisper of amber. Fun bottle.

Thomas Kosmala No 6 Brume Radieuse (2018, black current syrup, coconut, peach, jasmine, rose, oud, patchouli and amber). Weird, slightly chemical, sweet woody. Not very strong. Fruit not very prominent.

Fueguia 1833 Patagonia Cacao (website isn’t helpful on this. as pic shows, there were a lot of fragrances and the one I tried on skin – the only one all day – was, I think, just cacao). This started out a great dry cacao with a bit of skank. By the time I really re-smelled it at home much much later, it had simply become very sweet. The top is great. Development not what one would want (at least not me).

Memo Hermetica Green Lion (2018, Philippe Paparella-Paris, basil, juniper, cardamon, rosemary, lily of the valley and amberwood). Green resinous. Nice herbal kick. My understanding of the name Green Lion has to do with in alchemy an experiment call Chasing the Green Lion (have a look at Wiki if you’re interested).

Serge Lutens Écrin de Fumée (2023, rum, tobacco and cacao). The ‘blotter’ for this was actually a green Harrods ribbon. It holds fragrance pretty well. Peppery and smoky, with a good slug of rum. Smoky sweet. Definitely want to try this on skin.

Robert Piguet Fracas (1948, Germaine Cellier, peach, orange blossom, hyacinth, green leaves, mandarin orange, bergamot, tuberose, jasmine, gardenia, ormanthus, narcissus, lily of the valley, carnation, white iris, violet root, coriander, rose, rose geranium, musk, sandalwood, amber, oakmoss, vetiver and cedar). Sampled this late in the day – mostly because I still truly want to love it but it’s still, after at least five goes over the years, not my tuberose. Portia wondered if it’s that candy floss aspect. Perhaps. Still gorgeous but still not me.

Pics: Pexels and me (very poor one of Fueguia)