Candy Samples – Niche Perfume Sample

It must be time for some new candy samples, which also gives me an excuse to drop in a thing of beauty by one of my favorite painters:

Niche Perfume Sample

John singer sargeant lily rose

John Singer Sargent — Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

Floris Malmaison: I was jonesing for a nice carnation, and Boisdejasmin recommended this one. Victoria, I kneel at your sweetly-scented feet. The smell of a spicy carnation with a kiss of cloves and a warm base of a lightly powdery, delicate musk. Gorgeous.

S-Perfume Lust: Some fragrances go wrong on my skin through no fault of their own (Serge/Sheldrake Bois d’Anything springs to mind here). Some things are just all wrong straight from the bottle, and Lust is one of them. This falls squarely into my Rasputin’s Armpit category a photorealistic rendition of a hairy, unwashed underarm in humid August. If unwashed armpits are your lust thing, or if you think I’m wrong, email me and I’ll send you my large-ish sample. Possibly the nastiest smell I have ever deliberately applied to my person.

Shalini: it costs $400 an ounce, notes are tuberose, neroli and tiare-  so don´t spill it, honey. A soaring, ethereal white flower arrangement, created by Maurice Roucel. It manages to be every glorious thing it promises on the Aedes website, without the cloying aspect I would usually find from a fragrance this rich (in all senses).

Mona di Orio  Carnation: Top notes include bergamot, clove and geranium. Middle notes include ylang ylang, violet, jasmin and precious woods; Base notes include musk, amber and styrax. This is a faintly spicy, face-powder smell, with a touch of a musty, sweet mildew. Meh. Nuit Noir: Top notes include orange flower, cardamom, ginger and orange guinee; Heart notes include olibian, cinnamon, tuberose, sandalwood, clove and cedarwood and base notes include amber, leather, musk and tonka bean. I wanted to love this one, Columbina says it’s a winner. On me it is, well, animalic to the point of zoo-smell, served with a generous dusting of cinnamon and a squeeze of orange. Lux — Top notes include Sicilian lemon, litsea cubeba, petitgrain bigarade. Heart notes include vetiver, cedarwood and sandalwood Mysore. Base notes include musc, amber, vanilla bourbon and labdanum. A cheerful, lemon-y winner. Not an entirely novel concept, but still quite pleasing in a fresh citrus-cologne way.

Creed Fleur de The Rose Bulgare: What a bitter disappointment. Many sophisticated fragrance friends said this is the most true of roses. On me it manages to be (paradoxically) thin and cloying, a high-end-catalog silk erose, rather than a rose. I might as well give up writing fragrance reviews right now, after all, I’m the flake who found Malle’s Une Rose to be the most realistic thus far. My 11-year-old Junior Nose pronounced it “fake like cherry candy.”

niche perfume sampleEscentric Molecules Escentric 01: is based around the radiant warmth of Iso E Super, taken in an unprecedented concentration of 65 percent. Ornamenting the radiant wood tonality of this fascinating aroma-chemical is the sweet piquancy of pink pepper and the verdant tartness of lime peel. Orris incense veils the velvety composition with sweet delicate smokiness; its subtle sensuality underscoring the darkness of Iso E Super — Aedes. Ooooo-kay. I’ll take their word for it. I figured anything with this chemistry-set approach was worth smelling if only because it’s such a refreshing antidote to the ‘natural perfume is better’ cant. (Natural how? Better than what?) I’m not going to begin to pretend to understand the mechanics of this fragrance. (There’s also a whole precious blurb about the brilliance of their binary-code bottles, which I’ll spare you). I am simply going to tell you that I did one of those road-runner-type screeching stops when it wrapped itself around my olfactory receptacles. It is a really, really cool incense smell, brightened by lime and some other juju like somebody’s holding the whole thing up to a powerful source of light. Unisexy.

Molecule 01: is composed solely of Iso E Super, an aroma-chemical with a warm woody tonality. It possesses a velvety quality that is simultaneously elusive and tenacious. Well, not that elusive — it smells like Windex and pepper, and half an hour later it’s just pepper. It’s interesting, but I much prefer the Escentric 01, even though I’m not sure it’s worth $135. All niche perfume sample that are referenced can be found at Surrender to Chance

  • Rosie says:

    I love Shalini I`ll always have this on hand for special spring and summer events, flowers that won`t gag you. Speaking of Carnation Flores malmasion doesn`t do much on me, so if you`re like me try Lorenzo Villoresi Garofano, yummie and spicy and it drys down to a soft floral. Some people claim I`m wearing a soft Gardenia.

  • Rosie says:

    Floris Malmaison doesn`t cut it for me, I washed it off and gave it away. Try Lorenzo Villoresi Garofano for a different Carnation kick.
    Shalini kicks butt on all the white flowers, toss them all out and just buy this one, it`s all you need for this summer.

  • cheezwiz says:

    I hope you make it to London someday to see this one: Being in the East, it’s probably not a long trip for you. Not to be missed! I’m usually not crazy about portrait art, but there really is something special about John Singer Sargent’s work.

    I’m not sure if I like carnation or not!

  • March says:

    Cheez — one of my life goals, believe it or not, is to see this in the original. I live in Wash DC and have seen a fair amount of Sargent in the flesh, so to speak. Takes my breath away, every time. PS If you like carnation AT ALL, please, order a decant of the Malmaison on eBay. It is amazing. Really.

  • cheezwiz says:

    Well I haven’t tried any of the fragrances you listed above, but thank you for posting one of my all-time favorite paintings! And how fitting that its titled “Carnation Lily Lily Rose”.

    I saw the real painting in London, and it took my breath away it was so stunning. The canvas was enormous, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an artist capture twilight so perfectly. I could have stared at it for hours.

  • March says:

    V, thanks!@};-

  • Victoria says:

    Molecule01 is just a dilution of Iso E Super. Smell it and then sniff any of your woody fragrances. Chances are that you will recognize the note. What is wrong with it? Well, I like minimalism (hence, my appreciation of Ellena’s fragrances), but I would not pay $135 for a bottle of something that I can whip up myself (I bought my Iso E Super for less than $10). Interesting idea and refreshing, but it is along the lines of modern paintings that exhibit a canvass painted in a single colour.

    Escentric01 takes the stuff in Molecule01 and adds other notes to it. It is a very pleasant woody-spicy fragrance, but again $135 is a bit much for it.

  • Patty says:

    Yes, those darn people keep expecting me to earn my paycheck, much as I tell them to stop having such high expectations.

    She failed the test? I think you need to post about this, really…. =))

    I’ve got the Malmaison on my eBay watch list, I will have some before the week is out. Carnation is my favorite scent in the garden as well, just that spicy, wispy thing that makes my nose do flip-flops of joy.

  • March says:

    Patty — I need to email you… what the hell are you doing, working?!? I’m the new house driver. The Floris Malmaison — I thought I would weep. I mean, it was that perfect, like they made it *for me.*:x

  • March says:

    Victoria — I liked how different it was initially, although you’d understand all the Iso-E-Super text and I don’t. But ultimately it wasn’t different enough to make me want to own it. As Marina asks, did the earth move? Well, no. If you read this and have time to comment, what, if anything, is wrong with the Molecule 01? To me it smelled like an idea, not a finished scent. Was the Escentric 01 made of Molecule 01+something interesting to give it range (orris and citrus)?

  • Patty says:

    Malmaison? How have I missed this carnation?!?! (off to grab credit card and get me somma dat!):@)

  • Victoria says:

    I find Escentric01 pleasant, but I wish that it had more spark.

    I also love the painting! Great choice!

  • March says:

    Sargent and Whistler are probably my favorite portrait painters. That particular Sargent is a little off his usual path but it’s just so lovely. I could see the Escentric being the sort of thing that might just go “poof.” I am always interested in the wide range of lasting power on different people.

  • March says:

    Robin and violetnoir — I only got three wearings out of my Shalini (FYI it’s so expensive they only sent 1/4 of the usual little vial.) I am staying away from it. It’s got trouble written all over it, particularly since the one I’d REALLY want is the fancy bottle for $900… it was stunning, really, but I am not the White Flower Queen, so its charms are a little lost on me. Also, oddly, it was pretty short-lived on me (2-3 hours?) and things usually hang around on my skin.

  • March says:

    Robin — the Escentric 01 is unique for the first 45 minutes or so — a “solar” incense? … I actually was contemplating getting some more. After that, lovely though it is, it is not sufficiently different from some of my other incense fragrances (Armani Prive Encens, for instance) to tempt me to buy.

  • amy says:

    Love the Sargent, thank you for that

    Share your opinions 100% on the Malmaison, the Creed FdTRB and FM Une Rose.

    The Escentric 01 is a unique and wonderful fragrance, unfortunately it is yet another one that goes *poof* on me

    And if Lust = Rasputin’s Armpit,
    then Boudoir = Catherine the Great’s.

  • March says:

    Katie — I would love to find another carnation, please send me some!

    The Malmaison is perfect, in terms of wearability. The sort of thing I could wake up and put on without thinking. I mean, today I’m wearing Etro MdeM and regretting it, it’s too much for my head, you know? (Of course I can’t wash it off, it won’t go away). I have a large spray bottle of Malmaison on the way here.

  • March says:

    Marina — I love the Serge Bois, there is just something in there that doesn’t love me. Rasputin’s armpit, baby… it’s weird about Lust, I read your review and it sounds great! But all I got was this intense, unbelievable BO.

  • violetnoir says:

    I totally agree with you on the Mona di Orio’s. What a disappointment. Nuit Noir and Carnation dried down rather flat and smell like drugstore fragrances. Lux (oh how I love that name!) is pretty, but not pretty enough for the price.

    I would love to try Shalini, but I am “afraid” I will love it so much I will have to have it…and it’s way-ay-ay too expensive no matter how amazing it is. :-ss

    Hugs!

  • Robin says:

    I am still trying to make up my mind about Escentric 01. It smells like the start of a really great perfume, but is missing that something that would send me running for my credit card…

    NOT going to even try Shalini.

  • Katie says:

    You know what else is a fun carnation? Mon Classique de Morabito. It’s a mix of freesia and carnation, actually, and super girly and pretty. I will try to remember to make up a sample of this whenever I get around to sending you Cola, too.

    Malmaison is such a classic, and I’m so glad you found it.

    I weep that you couldn’t find anything to love in the dreamy Lust, but “Rasputin’s armpit” has got me doubled over – hee!

  • Marina says:

    I’ve been nodding in agreement and gasping in shock :-)Mostly nodding though. The only shocking paragraph was that on Lust and Bois d’Anything. These are my favorites!! :((