By March

I rooted around in the collection of vials and decants sitting near my computer, I haven’t done a random candy samples review in forever!

Also:  I’m thinking we should do another Swapmania, in June, maybe?  I promise not to do it on a holiday weekend this time.  Would you funsters prefer June or July?  Or never again?  OK, on to the reviews…

Jo Malone Earl Grey & Cucumber cologne: one of the new JM tea scents.  If you can smell either tea or cucumber here, your nose is more discerning than mine.  Seriously, this could be anything summer-musky out of a splash bottle.  This could be Estee Lauder Pure Linen Paradise Eau Légère. Or possibly Marc Jacobs Biscotti Breeze.

Jo Malone Assam & Grapefruit cologne: another one of the tea scents.  Man, am I glad I didn’t buy this unsniffed.  Thanks, Anita, I owe you.  For the first seventeen seconds it smells great – not a ton of grapefruit, more citrus, and a lovely tea note.  Fortunately my internet connection’s kind of slow, so by the time I started surfing for bottles, maybe five minutes later, all the fun tea and citrus had disappeared and I was left with whatever they’re putting in the Earl Grey & Cuke bottle above, only more in the direction of D&G Light Blue.  Apologies to anyone who just had their breakfast spoiled.  Also, I wish they’d make a Light Blue Light (lite?) flanker.  See, I told you I had crap taste.

Roja Dove Diaghilev – I went off to read more about Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev but wound up reading about Nijinsky instead (they were lovers), then got distracted by details like: “Then Nijinsky went back to the Mariinsky Theatre, but was dismissed for appearing on-stage during a performance as Albrecht in Giselle wearing tights without the modesty trunks obligatory for male dancers in the company. The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna complained that his appearance was obscene…”

Eh, where were we?  Oh.  How’s the perfume?  Well… I agree with Anita that it’s kind of a hybrid of (new) Femme and Mitsouko, the scent Diaghilev is either supposed to have worn himself or sprayed on the curtains before performances, or maybe both.  I’m kind of a sucker for Roja Dove’s retro scents, and if I didn’t have Femme or Mitsouko I’d have ponied up for one of the thousand bottles of this limited edition.  It’s a lot like Mitsouko, only with a strong sweaty note, more peach, and less … fangs.  Sadly, Diaghilev is sold out on the Roja Dove website.  I already have Femme and Mitsouko, though, so I’m not crying myself to sleep.

Cartier L’Heure Fougueuse – call me lazy, or crazy, but when you release a slew of fragrances and they’re all named “L’Heure (something or other),” I can’t remember which ones I liked.  I finally got around to trying Fougueuse, which came out later than the first batch, right?  This is “the spirited hour,” composed by Mathilde Laurent around a “horse-mane accord,” notes are bergamot, magnolia, horse-mane note, green notes, lavender, floral notes, Maté, Vetiver, musk, oakmoss, leather.

I throw up my hands, okay?   I agree this is totally worth smelling — because it’s phenomenally weird.  Does nobody else find it bizarre, as strange as Dzing! only maybe even more so?  Here’s my personal list of notes as Fougueuse unfolded, since I gave up trying to construct any sort of reasonable review:

I sure didn’t sniff it and think, meh, I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve smelled that.  It’s unisex, to the degree that eraser dust and horse can be defined thusly.  I’m not sure it’s right for me (I guess I’ll stick to smelling like damp earth or moldy crypt, thanks very much) but if you find the general crossroads of, say, Dzing, Bulgari Black and Fleur de Narcisse appealing…

March

by Musette

When we were in our 20s (back in the Jefferson administration)  my galpals and I  fantasized about our married coworkers’ lives -a permanent partner for Chinese food and Friday Movies, sex every night, total validation on Valentine’s Day…and the cessation of the ignominy of the Blind Date.  One by one, we entered into couplehood, thinking our problems were all behind us, especially the Blind Date.

Then came an even scarier Event: Couples Blind Dating.   When you’re single, blind dating is weird enough – but usually it’s just between you and the date.   But once you are a couple, you end up occasionally dating other couples – folks you Might Not Know But Your Partner Does.   And the stakes are often higher.  Is this an old pal? A friend from work? A Business Connection?  What a pain.  Now try it when you’re older than dirt, you’ve worked all day and you are NOT in the mood.  What do you wear?  I struggled with this in the 20 minutes I had to throw on some lipstick and a heavier jacket  (it was a night to stay in with a hot cocoa and a good book, not go gallivanting off to dinner with strangers).  I toyed with the idea of my new love, Diaghilev but  if the night sucked CheezWhiz  I would be stuck with the association.  Mitsouko was out of the question – I’m working on softening my mien, not ramping up the terror quotient.   I needed a comfy scent that would remind me of me, in case I hated every aspect of them, but a perfume I could kick to the curb for awhile if the association was too tiresome.

I chose Bas de Soie. Just so ya know, this is NOT a review of Bas de Soie.   I think I’ve already reviewed it but in case I didn’t, here it is, in a nutshell:  I like it.  It’s got a facet that I find compelling/slightly irritating (which is the compelling part, I think)…but even though I really like it, I have no emotional attachment to it.  Vi-ola!   A perfect ‘sacrifice’ scent.  I threw it on, it was great – nobody sneezed or threw up and it kept me engaged through the whole evening, which turned out just fine, btw – they’re nice people and I liked them enough to hope they thought I was nice people, too.  But if it had icked out I could’ve shelved Bas de Soie for a few months with nary a tear.

On the way home  I started wondering ‘what scents would I be willing to sacrifice, should a particular occasion blow up in my face?’   Not throwaway scents; these sacrifices would be scents you like/love that you could rely upon to get you through a potentially challenging situation but if it turned ugly it wouldn’t kill you to retire that scent for a long time (this is of particular importance for those of you who have scent/memory issues ).   I thought about the following situations and here is a random list of what might/did/could work for me:

Cold Customer Meeting: Hermes Caleche. It’s confident and ladylike, with a coolness that gives pause…but its very aloofness means I could box it on the way-back shelf if that cold customer broke my day. Ask Caleche if it cares.  It doesn’t.

New Mother in Law: Fracas (I can’t believe I might throw Fracas under the bus; then again, I’ve had great luck with mothers in law – besides, NOBODY can keep Fracas down.  She would be back, like the Terminator)

Job Interview:  TDC Charmes and Leaves. It’s lovely.  I love it.  But it’s innocuous.  Innocuous has a way of being expendable for the time it takes to get my guts back.

Amicable divorce lawyer meeting : Calyx. It was his fave.  If it got nasty, oh well.  If not, it’s a nice memory of a nice ending.  I got lucky on that one, both with the ex and the perfume. I still wear it now and then, 20 yrs later.

Wedding of someone you adore who is Not Marrying You: Shalimar perfume/extrait. It can take the hit and Lord knows, if you put enough on and  wrangle even a quick hug, the wedding night will have ‘you’ all over it.  Grab a slow dance and your aura might stick around through the honeymoon.  Not that I would know anything about that kinda thing…

Lunch with an old rival: Cartier Brillante. It makes me feel thinner and slightly richer…but if it turns out that the shrike is still richer and thinner than you it can go back in its red leatherette box for a Season.  Next time you take it out maybe you will have laid off the chocolate cake!  And you’re in fundages again.  Birkin-level fundages!  It could happen!

What are your challenging occasions?  And what scents would you be willing to sacrifice if the  scent association gods demanded?

photo:  Morning Glory/flower sacrifice

Denyse says L’Heure VII Defendue is based on the seven deadly sins or the Forbidden Hour.

I’ll say. in snaps and sn

L’Heure VII Defendue is not some lightweight chocolate that’s a little milky or fluffy like a dessert. This is the dark black chocolate that’s a lot bitter and holds nothing back in expressing itself in snaps and snarls.  Surrounded lightly in patchouli notes, you get that dusty, slightly musty smell, similar to the patchouli effect in Serge Lutens Borneo, but it’s more delicate, stringing out like tendrils instead of infusing the cocoa in a cobwebby cloud.  And then there’s the iris that unfolds in the heart, tinged with melted chocolate, which is exquisite and unexpected.

This isn’t a gourmand, even though it is cocoa. This is the raw element that’s earthy, not the one you pick up in the chocolate shop.  Sorta how regular Charbucks coffee is not a mocha cappucino.  Long into the drydown, the cocoa loses some of the bitterness and hovers on the edge of gourmand like a tease. There are moments I sense a touch of Guerlain’s Iris Ganache, then shake my head and say – naw, couldn’t be.

Mathilde gave us three very interesting scents in this release. One which is utter floral beauty,  Diaphane, much more mainstream, then the absolutely cunning horse and tea Fougueuse, and then this nongourmand gourmand, Defendue.  It does call to mind a few sins, but ones I don’t think I’ve indulged in yet.  Or that I can’t quite imagine how they’d work exactly.

Cartier sent me generous samples of all three of these, and I’ll part with four sets of samples from this sample for four commenters.  So which one do you think you’ll like the most?  The least? Did you have a favorite from the first set?  Or have you not even smelled any of them?

Patty

oooh!  almost forgot (again)!  Bruno Acampora winner is jen. (all lower case, no asterisk – clarifying because there were 3 ‘jen’ variations in the draw) :  Musette

When I first stumbled into the Posse,  one of the first things I did, after I stopped drooling, was to go into the Archives to see what I’d been missing .  One of my faves was this hysterical post, which got me on a hunt for Hermes Doblis, just to see what the fuss was about.  I thought about what constitutes “smelling like money”.  Doblis has it, with its rich, honeyed-leather tones…lots of money there…tons of money…

..yeah, right.

You want MONEY?  How about Saudi Prince money?  A state-of-the-art stable full of Arabians, each with its own groom, massage therapist… private plane (I’m talking the horses here), air conditioned semis….tack that costs more than your house?

Hellooo, Cartier L’Heure Fougueuse. Mathilde….wow.   It’s phenomenal.   I get a huge blast of clean, slightly-green hay, coupled with that sharp, acrid smell that says ”barnyard’…… then, about 5 minutes into it, that all smooths out and it gets weird, compelling and way fabulous – not perfumey at all, more essential/elemental…..but seriously groomed and refined. A scent of elegant contradictions.   Per Denyse’s review here, Mathilde Laurent used what she called a ‘mane accord’ but I’m not getting ‘horse mane’, as in what you get on a farm (at least not for me – but I wasn’t raised on a farm so what do I know)… Yes, it’s ‘horses’ but not really (bear with me as I try to make sense here)….for me, the overwhelming impression I get from it the idea of a stable built for a staggering cost, housing the most cosseted horses on the planet.

I know this is a lame review.   I can’t really talk about the notes on this one.  It’s just….honest, I just can’t get past this seamless marriage of Nature and Money.  Horse translates to  ‘ the best horse (and horse stuff) that money can buy.  LOTS of money.  Fougueuse is gorgeous and addictive – I wore it for several days in a row and could happily make this my next  Scent Challenge – if I could afford it!  As with the other Les Heures, it is shockin’ expensive.  And I’m still awaiting that Saudi prince.

Serendipity:  for a more coherent take, see what Victoria has to say about it – she’s reviewing it today as well here.

photo:  Arabian Horse Network/2008 Al Khalediah Arabian Horse Festival

Photos courtesy of Scott Bailey

perfume sample from a generous, private ‘gifter’

Let’s all settle in to unpack the new L’Heures, shall we?  Anita is going to be reviewing one soon, Fougueuse (horse and tea according to Denyse), so I picked the one that I liked the name the best.  Did I choose well?  The notes?  Not so much.

Rose, litchi, peony.  Crap. Can I talk about the horse and tea one instead?  Well, maybe.  Diaphane is a perfectly lovely floral, the rose isn’t excessive, the litchi isn’t as sweet and overrotated as you usually find in the mainstream scents, and I really do love peony.  It’s a beautifully rendered floral, fairly light and gossamer dewy.  If you love your florals, you could do a lot worse and probably have.  If you’re not a rose fan, I don’t think you’ll find this heavy enough in the rose department that it would scare you off.

This would be pretty perfect to wear to a wedding, as a bride, to your prom, to lunch cocktails, definitely to the office. I do have to say, after I sprayed it on and went to the movies, I wound up liking it a lot. It’s got a sweetness in it – and I don’t mean sugary, more like innocence – that gave a great backdrop to “Blue Valentine.”  Can I just mention that no young, bright-eyed person should go see this movie. it’s definitely for us jaded  older people who have seen this movie in real life technicolor a number of times and nod our heads in understanding and chuckle.  Reviews kept saying it was depressing. I just thought it was realistic.  Highly recommend it.  They both deserve Oscar nods. I think Michelle Williams got one, but can’t remember if Gosling did.u

Can I talk about the horse and tea one yet?  Wait, Anita’s going to do that. But can I just say Fougueuse, the IV hour, sits you down at tea, the sun nice and warm on your skin, before you set off to the stables and bury your nose in your horse’s neck, with the smell of hay (fresh, not used) wafting through on the breeze.  Well, more about that later.  I want to put it in a sprayer and envelope myself in it to get a better feel for it.  Um, yeah, exactly.  I may need to drown myself in it.

Winners of the Cartier de Lune samples – rosiegreen62, Alice C, Shari, rednails and Vintage Lady. Just click on the Contact Us over on the left, send me your address, remind me what you won, and I’ll get you a sample sent out.

So Oscar nominations are out.  Have you guys seen many of the movies, none, all?  Predictions, hopes, favorites? I still need to see a few.

Patty