As I remarked on here not too long ago, we seem to be in the middle of a Big White Flower Moment in perfumery. Two recent favorites of mine – Amaranthine and Nuit de Tubereuse – have been built around white flowers (jasmine and tuberose respectively). Even Kim Kardashian’s gotten into the act, with a mass-market jasmine/gardenia/tuberose that, while I won’t be rushing out to buy it, ain’t half bad in my opinion. If Kim Kardashian leads the general public away from sugary, mass-market gourmands into a sultry, sophisticated, skanky white flower fandom, I’d be eternally grateful.
So when I heard that Olivia Giacobetti, a perfumer whose work I much admire and usually enjoy, was doing Vamp à NY for Honoré des Prés, I was all over it. Giacobetti and tuberose? Along with some mouthwatering early reviews – Octavian, for instance, called it like a “nectar of gods” on his blog. Uhhhkay… sign me up. Where do I type in my credit card info online? Wait, what do you mean, I can’t have it in the U.S. until September?!? Vamp is the first fragrance I really wanted to try from this organic-botanical-perfume house; the previous releases sounded both fleeting and not especially interesting to me.
Accusations of dullness or poor lasting power won’t be leveled at Vamp. It starts big, with a piercing top that is intensely sweet and syrupy on the skin. It reminds me of the brown, barrel-shaped root beer candies of my childhood, evoking in a larger sense the candy shelf at the drugstore. In a botanical scent, this stage has a peculiarly synthetic quality to my nose — it’s just sooo much and so odd, with its root beer, banana Runts and vanilla-caramel Sugar Daddy. It shifts and becomes more recognizably “rum” – a boozy note that is still intensely sweet and makes me think of a fruity rum drink, something made with coconut. Eventually the next phase arrives, which is tuberose overlayed with a powerful shellacking of a combination of two smells: specifically, a giant tub of greasy, movie-theater popcorn popped in tropical oils, along with a hint of coconut tanning-oil. And there the fragrance stays.
I tried Vamp in various situations, hoping for something different. I tried at 74, 84 and 94 degrees. I tried it with lotion, without lotion, on alternate Tuesdays, before showers, early, late, after showers, under the quarter-moon, at the solstice, and standing on one foot. I tried it until Hecate came wandering up to me in my bedroom yesterday, watched me glare at the traitorous atomizer, and said, what’s wrong, mommy? Ew … what’s that smell?
Honoré des Prés Vamp à NY will no doubt be a raging, ravishing torrent of tantalizing tuberose to everyone else on the planet. Here are the links to the original reviews on Grain de Musc, 1000 Fragrances and today’s new review on Perfume-Smellin’ Things. The first two reviews, written by folks who know more about raw materials than I ever will, are positive bordering on ecstatic. I wonder what Marla on PST will think.
Note: I got my sample of Vamp from Grain de Musc, along with a bunch of other people who I think are over there giving their mini-reviews in comments on a special blog post on Vamp today.
Well, well. I think Nuit de Tubereuse is fascinating but on-the-edge-of-unwearable Weird (at least until it gets to the drydown, which I like a lot). I get a lotta earthy-mildewy stuff in there, and there’s not nearly enough tubey to suit me.
But I’m going through my Vamp sample at an alarming rate, and loving it. It’s very sweet – a ton of coconut – but I confess I rather like that trashy-fun aspect of it.
you’re somewhat of a scent twin for me, so i will put this one on the back burner. and thanks for trying it under so many conditions – that was funny.
Heh, being Australian I don’t have many of the associations like ‘root beer’ (which always sounds slightly lewd according to our slang lexicon!!!) or circus peanuts.
What struck me about this was (a) how lightly transparent it smells and (b)the same slightly ‘artificial’ note in there for a while as others have remarked.
But I have realised tuberose can simply do no wrong for me…and I also like sweet and coco-tropical, being old enough to have slathered on the tropical tanning oils and thus associating that smell with wonderful hot and steamy holidays!
If I didn’t already have about ten tuberoses I would definitely buy this, love that it is all natural.I hope it is a smash hit for them.
Had to comment to see what gravatar I get!
WiniF! You are a crazy mad green tomato bunny! Kinda goes with the mistake bringing rabbits Down Under turned out to be, eh? ;)
Isn’t it funny that people are getting “artificial” out of a natural? Love that, in a way. I remember the coconut flavored, erm, scented oil that my friends would slather on. On me, it was like accelerating the heat under the frying pan. The sun smiles at me, and I start to pink up.
I’m hoping this one is a hit, too.
Ha! Much later checking in than usual, but there is much to be enjoyed here. Love the various takes.
Here’s the dope from my angle, telegram style, since I already mangled more complex thoughts once in my blog entry:
HIGHLY REMINISCENT OF SONGES STOP MUST ADMIT THAT PERSONAL TUBEROSE CONQUERS ALL OTHER OLFACTORY IMPRESSIONS LIKELY AT WORK STOP NO ROOT BEER NO POPCORN JUST INTENSE TUBEROSE CLOUD STOP NEEDED A DOSE OF CHYPRE AND A STIFF GIN AND TONIC WHEN DONE STOP
The weird thing is, I like Songes. Plenty like. I guess there’s only room for one in that spot of my perfume heart. The good thing is, I respect what Giacobetti has accomplished, and you are right; nobody should be complaining about lasting power here.
I really wish I was getting what some of you are getting. For me, this scent is about 90% overwhelming pink bubblegum, with that buttery note floating in and out. There are a few nice moments…a dark rummy phase, something caramelly and deep for a bit, but no white flowers at all, no resins… I really wanted to like this one. The Love Coco is nice, but not full-bottle nice.
On the other hand, I am becoming seriously addicted to both Nuit de Tubereuse and Manoumalia. Win some, lose some.
See, you have the perfect attitude about this. Vamp turned out to be too sweet (buttered bubblegum!) but yes, if you’ve got NdT and Manoumalia, well, life’s good.
That’s right – life’s good. Looking forward now to trying out the majmua, and other attars.
Btw, never did try layering NdT with Timbuktu or Dzongkha, partly because I’m getting a lot of that vegetal, rooty, incensy stuff now with NdT. But layering Timbuktu and Dzongkha – tried that yesterday, and it was heavenly!
I got the root beer on the opening, but not the popcorn. I also get a massive dose of root beer from PdE Aziyade, shortly before the cumin comes in and rips up the place.
I am still firmly enamoured of my 2 fav tuberoses: Manoumalia and TC. I get more vetiver out of Manoumalia than most, it seems, and le Criminelle is the perfection of a finely-cracked whip to the nostrils. I don’t see Amaranthine, NdT, or Vamp coming close to replacing either of my top picks, and to be honest, I couldn’t see myself wearing out more than 2 bottles of tuberosity in my life, so no FBs for me.
[-(
Nope, given your two favorites, the others aren’t going to touch them. And, well, I agree. Much as I admire tuberose, Carnal Flower and NdT are plenty for me.
Another one here who loved this review. I’ve learned over the years that you and Angela at NST are probably the closest to me in perfume likes/dislikes. Tuberose (and the other tropical florals excepting jasmine) I love to smell in a vase and THEN WALK AWAY. They are too sweet and cloying to smell all day.
I chuckled at your root beer reference… several years ago I did a simple aromatherapy blend for a bath – ylang ylang and maybe lavender and bergamot. I can’t really remember the other two, but I’m definite on the ylang ylang. It was dead on root beer! I never did that blend again!
Oh! So maybe it’s the ylang, i’m pretty sure there’s ylang in here! Dang, I can’t believe I forgot the list of notes. Shame on me, I’ll go find it.
Now, I am WILD for Nuit de Tubereuse, but somehow it’s not overwhelmingly tuberose on me.
I’m so enjoying everyone’s comments that I wish I could join in! But tuberose is, alas, my “gaaack! wheeze! where’s some aspirin? phew! choke!” downfall. I wish it weren’t, especially when y’all make it sound so appealing. And Madea, congrats on having been acquired by a kitten (we cat “owners” know how this thing really works). Mine slept nested in my hair when she was little, something of an inconvenience when I had to go to work…
Okay, YOUR gravatar is excellent! It’s sort of elephant-bug.
And now you won’t have to worry about getting any of these scents.
cum bat.
She is
And what is my new freaking gravatar all about? It’s repulsive.
England 1-0 Slovenia. 27 minutes in. Just so as y’all know.
Yes, I KNOW. I don’t know what the score is now, but the Cheese is downstairs cursing like a stevedore at the television. The twins are learning all sorts of new words.
USA top of the group. Un-freaking-believable. Erm, I mean, well done.8-|
But, of course (flag-waving emoticon here, followed by smirking chimp).
Lessee ….
**== :(|)
Where’s my apple pie emoticon?
Yesssssssss!!! Also makes Cheese a lot more <:-p as opposed to 8-x
Plus, we wuz ROBBED. That gravatar looks like something from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Run away!
Hey, Lee, your grumpy, scary gravatar is still more people-friendly than the bare-all, Britney-getting-out-of-a-taxi tomato that I got! I encourage you to make a gravatar of your own like I did(there’s a link at the bottom of the page)….
Doll, I kind of liked that weird tomato. But your goat is nice too!
It’s not a goat, it’s a unicorn on steroids.
Hm ….. %%-
8-x :(|) and :p
I don’t know what’s up with the emoticons.
You don’t like your gravatar? (bats eyes)
You must drive your children insane.
my children were already insane!
March-are you the only one the emoticons favor? :o:((>:d<@};-[-o<^:)^
[-(
Well, clearly, yes.
:d :d/ 😉
Or ………. perhaps NOT. :”>
I just spent the last of my discretionary simoleans on the Handbag of My Dreams and was terrified I was gonna have to rob a bank to buy Vamp.
Thank you March, for saving me from a life of crime!
xo >-)
Handbag of your dreams?????? OH!!! Do tell!!!
It’s a vintage-y Choo (have we reached that ADD point? where anything over 5 years old is ‘vintage’? – perhaps ‘pastpastpastpast-Season’ would be a better description.
I saw this bag on the arm of a very distant acquaintance and have dreamt of it since. I dreamt of it in blue but got it in French Grey, which is way more eleganter! :-D It’s winging its way to me as I type this.
Other bags must leave to make room – but I’m just fine with that.
Murray stays, of course. Murray 4-Evah!
xo >-)
And I’m happy that you’re happy. 😡
Wonderful! Hmmm…now if only PP could add a feature that would allow commenters to post pics. ;-) The site would surely blow up on that one…
Enjoy your purchase, A!!!!
I don’t think this is you, to be honest!
This sounds so NOT me! Like Havana Vanille – when I asked Lydia Oh, Lydia about it, she gave me such a funny look…and said (in her wonderfully wonderful way)
Wellllll…..um…are you Sure? This is…..um I don’t think this is One For You.
And she wuz right!
I’m always very grateful when something comes along which most other people rave about then I smell it and go “wha???” Pounds saved for stuff I love. I have sampled this once and agree it is sweet. Being English I don’t get the root beer/candies references but I do register buttered popcorn. It made me think of HdP’s L’Animale but with more tuberose. Incidentally I don’t think Manoumalia has tuberose in it though I could easily be wrong. I’m looking forward to your review of that one, I have a feeling it will be a March special…
That Manoumalia is … something. And as I’ve already obliterated Animale from my memory, I can’t help there. That buttered popcorn note is jarring, slightly rancid …
No, not tuberose, fagraea. With hints of coconut, gardenia, some spice and a hint of vetiver. Love.
I’m no fan of Manoumalia, yet I’m liking Vamp. Where Manoumalia smells like tropical flowers and rubber (not in a good way) on me, Vamp goes green and creamy. But it takes some patience. It starts with a burst of slightly rummy (almost unpleasant) tuberose on my skin and at first I thought that it would be a scent to be admired for its composition, but not worn, at least by me. As it dries down though, I find that it turns into a compelling floral, with that strange green/banana facet and the buttery note that I adore in a good tuberose.
Still, Carnal Flower is my go-to FBW tuberose. But I don’t mind owning a small decant of this. Maybe I’ll wear it to work and see what happens. :d
Re-evaluating. I spritzed some of this about an hour ago and the longer I have it on, the more I like it. I don’t think I gave it my full attention the first time I tried it. It may be FBW for me. :x
Carnal Flower is my reference tuberose, for sure, although at the rate I’m going I’ll need my own bottle of NdT. And I’m glad you’re liking the Vamp so much! Clearly it’s working for many.
HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!! I’m SO glad I came here to read your review first, because I thought I was going crazy! And then that picture at the top appeared and everything was well again..
So…I kept putting it on and it kept saying, “rootbeer.” I sort of turned that note around in my mind thinking, well, what is rootbeer, anyway? Sugar, sasparilla root, spices. Maybe it’s some combination of rootiness and spices that reads entirely differently if your didn’t grow up with A&W? So I could sort of get past it, to the flowers, thinking that way. But sweet for sure. After the rootbeer it gets much better for me. I don’t mind the buttered popcorn note in tuberose (I’m one of the three people on the planet who like it in Guerlain’s Mahora) But it’s still sweet. Intensely so. In fact, it reminded me of a sugary version of Songes, without the bitterness that Songes has to temper that sweetness (and I know how much you love Songes, *insert green nauseous guy here*).
Every now and then I could catch a whiff of something that smelled like the raw tuberose I know and love. And then everything was sweet again.
I do like the dry down, and the lasting power is tremendous. It was on my skin the next morning!
And coming back to add: I’m not an expert on naturals but I’ve spent some good time with them, and I associate the rootbeer note with balsam.
Thanks for the root beer reference. And imagine how I felt. I threw it out there, I can only be honest, but it’s nice not to be sitting here on the bench all by myself. And I wouldn’t even object to the root beer if the rest of it weren’t so ungodly sweet at the same time.
Re your comment about growing up with A&W, and Denyse’s comment above — the cultural references are always interesting. If you didn’t grow up drinking rootbeer, it would just be an interesting combination of scents, broken down as you did it.
Uh, yeah, that lasting power. Eventually I buried it under something else, I just couldn’t take it any more.
I love root beer but don’t get that, though I do get aaaaallllll the sweet.
Mm. Sweet in a good way? Or a hit-the-shower way?
In a this ain’t for me kinda way.
Strange enough, on a respray just now, I’m getting rubbery root beer…
It’s better than that Bas de Soie Serge number, which went hyacinth face powder to iris and earth to calone.
Okay, wow, remind me NOT to try the Serge … :-& hyacinth and calone, that’s just wrong.
Gee, and hyacinth face powder + iris + earth + calone seriously starts to get me all hot and bothered. Oh, Serge can seduce!
Uh, you can have my share, Joe.
Dangit, where’s that comment from Denyse?
Oh, thank gawd I changed my mind about that split.
I was one of the lucky sample giveaway winners and I already commented on Graindemusc blog but I have to say it here as well: Vamp a NY smells like: MDCI’s Peche Cardinal meets Fracas throws in some sugar and sets the whole thing on fire. The Vamp smells very “ripe” to me – maybe the combination of peaches and booze and even thoguh it is too sweet for me I love the cozy warm drydown.
You are either the second or third person to mention Peche, which I find fascinating! I was not wild about Peche, which was almost mind-blowingly sweet and cloying on me. Vamp doesn’t smell alike to me, except for the degree of sweetness … hm. I wonder if my root beer-banana is your boozy peach? 😕
Well, at first I thought I was crazy for linking Peche and Vamp. But the first day I wore the Vamp my sister who wears only Peche and no other perfume at the moment, asked if I was wearing Peche so I guess we might both be crazy. I haven’t compared the Vamp and Peche at the same time but I guess the end result or the blurry idea of how Peche smells was one of my first associations. And I wouldn’t know about root beer because where I live this drink is not even present on the market. So yes, maybe your root-beer banana is my boozy peach :)
Furriner said up there that he did a side-by-side and is now not finding them so similar, but I think we’ve sorted it out. And yes, only Americans (?) familiar with this strange beverage root beer could come up with that smell-association anyway! IT’s delicious stuff, by the way.
Oh March!!! So happy you said this cause I was beginning to think I was off my rocker. You say root beer barrels, I somehow associated VaNY with those fluffy, orange-colored, marshmallowy, super sweet circus peanuts! I haven’t had one of those since I was a child, but the sweetness in VaNY suddenly popped the image into my head. Now I need to go search out those peanuts. Peanuts, popcorn, sounds like a circus. And I also totally got that synthetic thing you mention. I was thinking, wait a minute, this is supposed to be a “natural” perfume. Why am I getting synthetic?
Well, I admit my nose might be tainted cause I happened to test it out at the same time I was testing NdT. And NdT turned out to be instant LOVE, have to have it, want to be doused in it. Comparing the two, VaNY seemed stomach churningly sweetish, while the NdT was sweetish with a big dose of vamp.
I’m laughing reading this, because circus peanuts could have been substituted. I was trying to come up with the right candy combo, and circus peanuts were in there at one point. And now I feel a little less uncomfortable about my whole FAIL on this. I have no reason to doubt it’s botanical — Octavian would have said something about it — but gah, how can you make something so cloying and plasticky?
NdT has turned out to be my summer love affair. My decant sits next to my computer and almost every day I’m wearing it at some point. 😡
Or caramel corn. I think I get caramel corn. Maybe that’s the rum note coming in and I’m confusing it with caramel. It’s all too Coney Island, without the Cyclone.
See, yes. CONEY ISLAND. Okay, so she’s embraced NY! But it’s still not a small I want to wear … any more than the smell in the subway right now (are you having the heatwave we’re having?)
You could roast a chicken down there. I really want that chicken emoticon back. They are not on strike, you’re totally lying and mad with power. Absolute Quing corrupts absolutely.
hey! (insert lightbulb emoticon, since they are on strike for the alien here)
if you put Vamp on one arm and Dzing! on the other…you’d have the whole Circus experience!
just a thought…
xo >-)
>:p
Musette, you are now this completely bizarre Christmas tree. Your gravatar, I mean.
I’m probably a bizarre Christmas tree in real life, too! Ya nebber know. I envy Madea’s aqua thingy – I love that color!
This is all getting to be a bit too much for me to handle…circus peanuts, dunked in root beer, rolled in dung, hung on a crazy Christmas tree. :-s
…shoot, forgot that the emoticons were on strike…
That’s what I said — Christmas on Mars.
Well you make it sound so nasty, I must give it a try… :o
I am playing in the tuberoses-ordered Tubereuse Couture to split, wore Cedre yesterday-and still come back to my One True Tubey Love-Carnal Flower. A dear friend gave me some of the body butter-oooh, ha!
Did I make it sound nasty? 8-| Sigh. I tried so hard with this one, but it will not love me back.
Man, Cedre!!! It’s going to be 98 today, that’s what I’m wearing! Thanks!
CF body butter must be astonishing.
Wait. You can seriously pull off Cedre in 98 degree heat without hurling. :-&
That was meant to be a question, btw.
Without TOTALLY HURLING?
YEAH, BABY.
Because …. I am Quing.
omg I can’t believe that actually worked! Aren’t you glad you taught me how to do that?!?
;))
People looked at me funny, though. I wore it to the pool. I think it warded off the mosquitos. In the sense that it killed them dead in midair.
Yeah, I could see Cedre warding off mosquitos. Kind of like Jardin en Med. I like both of them. Seriously, though, at 98 degrees, Cedre would be making my gasp for oxygen. And congrats on the bold text thing. I
wasn’t sure you were up to the taskalways knew you’d be great at that!Louise: I’m still kind of kicking myself for not jumping on your Couture — that’s some great stuff and perfect for summer.
And what the heck is up? March is the only one who has the Super-Hero Isis Powers to get emoticons to work???
It’s my QUING powers.
Has that gotten old yet? Probably. :o)
I’ll see your QUING and raise you a pair of squirrels.
I’ll take your squirrels and throw down a pair of … monkeys?
:(|)
I love Couture. It’s not CF or TC, but it’s a really nice tubey, nevertheless. Perfect for certain occasions.
I know who that friend was. She made me look at it in her 800 pounds of luggage that we had to schlep all over midtown.
What is this with tuberose and bananas? Amaranthine smells like Banana Split on me – bananas, milk/cream and chocolate….. I think I’ll stick to Fracas for the five seconds every other year when I feel like donning tuberose….
Banana is a pretty common element to get in jasmine frags (I think they share some of the same scent-molecules?) And I think that, with the direction OG took this particular tuberose, in a more tropical setting, with the rum and etc., you can get banana. To me … honestly I felt the banana was some sort of corruption of the rum + vanilla.
“five seconds every other year”….. ;))
That sounds like me!
Oh, Rapp, I thought you loved The Ma-whore-ah??!
Either one of y’all want my Ma-whore-ah mini? I actually thought it was gorgeous for four hours – and then it went all Freddy Krueger on me.
Uh. That third paragraph of yours is something they surely wish they had had marketing concoct for the press packet, no doubt. b-(
Tell us how you reeeeeeeeally feel! LOL. I love it! Hey, isn’t there someone on one of these blogs who’s always getting “buttered popcorn accord” from Carnal Flower or Fracas or some other big tubey? (actually, I just did a search on buttered popcorn on NST and the results are pretty funny and wide-ranging)
I should send you a dab of my favorite Eau de Root Biere: AdP Blu Med Mandorlo di Sicilia. I actually kind of like the stuff, but I always scratch my head and say, “Bitter almond, eh? Whatev…”
So I’m not salivating over this, but my dang decant of NdT better get here soon! I wants me some Mango Luvvvv!
Yeah, baby. I read that and think, why are the job offers not rolling in? I can do this with one hand tied behind my back…
I get buttered popcorn in things periodically. Usually it doesn’t bother me, but I didn’t like it here — the rest of it is so sweet, it’s just … oh, it was not quite a scrubber, but close. I am gratified to see that at least I am not the only commenter who got something weird/sweet/synth, like giant candy.
Oh, I love Mandorlo!!! There’s my review on here somewhere. It makes me think of birch beer. I haven’t bought a bottle, mostly because I can’t imagine reaching for it regularly, but it’s a riot. I do very much like one of the others — Mirto or Cypress, I can’t remember which.
Have you tried the NdT yet? I love it so much it’s ridiculous.
Oh!
I thought you meant you couldn’t imagine reaching for a bottle of birch beer regularly!
oh.
xo >-)
ps. am I the only one who gets powdered sugar donuts from Manoumalia?
I could totally reach for a bottle of birch beer regularly, if it weren’t for the calories! I try to stick with water…
Powdered sugar donuts from Manoumalia? Uhm. Hmm. No. I am afraid that it’s starting to turn on me. When I was imagining the smell of it last night I started to feel ill.
Oh for Pete’s sake! You are unbeleeeevable!
I guess my synthetic candy experiences were too few, or go too far back, for me to get any of those impressions. Experience always informs connotations! But maybe Olivia *was* playing with those ideas, who knows?
As you said, my personal experience with the Vamp was indeed ecstatic, and clearly the sillage has that effect as well because I’ve seldom gotten so many spontaneous compliments on a fragrance.
D, I’ve only browsed the comments here and on your post … certainly it’s hard (at least for me, and I assume for most amateur blogsters) to escape the connotations of youth when we smell things. Goodness, that first twenty minutes are almost unbearably sweet to me. So far I’ve seen others mention bubblegum, Peche, and circus candy peanuts (another sweet.) I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a disaster on my skin, and am disappointed, but after Amaranthine and Tubereuse I can hardly curse the perfume gods for bad luck, I’ve had my share of winners! I think I must amp up the sweetness in this one.
And connotations is NOT the English word I’m looking for, but I can’t come up with it now. :-w
Due to my Manoumalia fiasco, I’m giving up on tuberose. I smelled a really great earthy something which was almost immediately overpowered by the scent of white flowers in dirty hair. Thankfully, it was all over within five minutes, and I smelled nothing at all.
The carrot one does sound nice. I’ve always liked Fleur de Carotte.
Hehe. And stay tuned for my Manoumalia review next week. :d
If the carrot one’s anything like Carotte I’d love it, but then I already have Carotte and can’t see that I need both.
I can’t wait. I’m already finding a place to hide.
The problem is that it *doesn’t* smell like Manoumalia (which isn’t tuberose, anyway, so why should it?) so if you don’t like Manoumalia you might like Vamp.
I really like it a lot, find it gorgeous, although, truth be told, I am not an expert on tuberose. The first thing I thought when I sprayed it on was MDCI Péché Cardinal. Upon closer inspection they aren’t all that close, really, aside from the tuberose. I think I like Vamp à NY better. I’ll have to spray it on after work tomorrow to be able to write a coherent description. I don’t get the popcorn in tropical oils, but then, Péché Cardinal always reminded me of cling peaches on corn tortillas.
Hm, did you drop by Grain de Musc? You are the second person to mention Peche. I’m not seeing it … although it’s a Peche-like level of sweetness to me …. I love your descriptor of cling peaches on tortillas! There’s that funky musk that gives the tortilla/dog feet smell. 🙂
I haven’t stopped by Grain de Musc yet, the post wasn’t there before I went to bed.
When I first sprayed on Vamp à NY I thought of the Péché… so I immediately sprayed some on as well…. and then was, like, er, no, they don’t smell at all alike. So I agree with you there. Just was my first reaction.
But that’s always a fun experiment, isn’t it? I’ll think, oh, this is just like such and such!! And I spray it on and then … well, not so much. But you’re not the only one who came up with Peche.
I was shocked when I found the sweet smell of bubblegum. Oh my.
To be fair, every third time or so, I get the very distinct smell of jasmine tea. But still. Lots o’ bubblegum.
I can’t say I hate it, or even that I dislike it. Early on, I looked into a bottle (hot damn, that’s not bad of organic!) but, though I know I’ll finish my sample, I’m not sure I need to own the smell of bubblegum. I still cannot wait to smell the carrot one, though
Eric, you know, out of all of them, that “I Love Les Carottes” was the one I was most curious about for some reason. The dumb@ssed name, I assume. That always can reel me in. Can’t wait to hear someone report on it.
I just said this to Eric, but OG did the L’Artisan Carotte, did you try that one? I think Denyse compared them? The L’A Carotte is allegedly d/c’d but the bottles are easy to find, it’s WONDERFUL. And not fleeting on me, for sure, but they almost never are. Carrot is a great, refreshing summer scent, unsurprisingly. I hope I get to compare them.
Thanks for bringing my L’A Carrote lemming back from the dead. I figured, “D/C… fuggeddahboutit.” It caught my eye wayyyy back. Sigh. Suppose I’ll have to scare up a sample at some point.
And you’re welcome! 8-| Seriously, though, I just saw another bottle at our local boutique at Tysons. It’s not hard to find … well, a LITTLE harder, now that they’ve gotten rid of many of the boutiques. But vintage Chaos it ain’t. Still, I’d try a sample first, maybe you’ll hate it.
Gum was on my list of descriptors. Not bubble, something fruitier like Juicyfruit. I would have loved jasmine tea. 🙁
I read somewhere (either Grain de Musc or Octavian) that the carrot one reminds a bit of the L’Artisan Carrote — damn, is it Carotte?) — that Giacobetti also did, which is a great frag.
Wow, so what happened to me with Nuit de Tubereuse (everyone loves it except me), happened to you with Vamp! I’m so sorry, isn’t that just rotten when that happens? Everyone’s having a great time at the new perfume party except…you. I know that feeling! I really love Vamp, though, and I got a lot more Asian spiciness and less sugar than you did. My skin just sucks all the sugar out of fragrances, Lolita Lempicka smells like dry, austere spice and woods on me. Well, you can send your sample of Vamp on to me, I’ll sure use it!
Hey, I see I still have my weird little Sheela gravatar, you know I’m growing kind of fond of her….
What the hell izzat? It looks vaguely obscene.
She gets the dirty gravatars. I can’t imagine why. 🙂
Oh, everyone was starting to like that dirty little tomato, and now I’ve gone and changed it to a classy mountain goat!
I thought it was a Tyrannosaur skeleton!
xo >-)
The tomato or the goat?/:)
the goat! the tomato sort of looked like a tomato. I guess?
but the goat is tiny and b/w, which gave me the idea… and I can barely see as it is….
Is that a Christmas tree for aliens?
Your dirty tomato and the elephant bug someone has on here are my hands-down favorites. I do think that whoever put together the collection is some sort of pervert. Although who am I to judge?
Pervert is right. What’s that appendage coming out of Musette’s middle?
I thought it was an extremely butch unicorn.
I haven’t gone to read your review! I am having Quite The Week over here, kids going in 15 different directions with cobbled-together camps. For the amount of transporting, it would be easier to have them underfoot all day … Hecate is grounded again. Sigh. I need to stick some sort of GPS device on her. Like those on-star things you can use to find your stolen car… where were we? oh what is THAT gravatar you’re sporting now? It’s not the one from yesterday!
I’m sure mine would be grounded, too, at this point (no school) if I didn’t send them off for long hours at the karate dojo!
At the Nuit de Tubereuse party….that was me sulking over in the corner ….it hated me too. Vamp was sounding so intriguing until the oily buttered popcorn was mentioned. I’m still itching to get my mitts on a sample (too much curiosity) but I’m reserving the corner at the party for a good sulk.
Buttered popcorn I don’t mind, but not at this level of sweetness, and not with rum.
By weird coincidence, Eden Botanicals sent me a sample of their tuberose absolute today, so I got to try it for the first time, and you know what? Buttered toast! I kid you not. Denyse says it’s the lactones, those naughty chemical bunnies….
Hm. I like lactones in some things, like Rush, and Rush is sweet. But the buttered popcorn is not working for me today…
I thought he was on his honeymoon. His 4th honeymoon…
No, you won’t get an argument from me, for once :o I do not like the opening. Once it settles into the tubey-popcorn-pina colada phase, I start feeling a bit more friendly-like toward it, but I keep hoping for something a bit more along the lines of Manoumalia (I can see you making that face, missy:*oh yes I can) and wishing they’d hold the Jiffy Pop :-<
Holy crap! TOTAL EMOTICON FAIL.
The emoticons are on strike. They’re objecting to Patty’s gravatar change (the gravatars are unionized.)
All right, so on some level you’re getting at least some of the tropical thing I am … gah, I wish it didn’t smell so palm-oil-y or whatever that is. And that opening is almost unbearable.
Manoumalia I’ve retried and am reviewing next week, most likely. 🙂
Isn’t it awful when something everybody else loves smells vile to/on you? I used to be very into BPAL, and the ones everybody loved were always hideous on me.
I’m typing one handed, as I somehow aquired a kitten yesterday, and she’s decided the only place to sleep is my arm, curled into my chest. Not that I mind much…
:d
Hey, congratulations on being a new mom! <:-p And ... well, I'll live. Actually just glancing through these, it looks like a couple of folks feel the way I do.
awww! congratulations on the new furry baby. They instinctively know to lay all over you at the computer though….I often type with one hand while 8 lbs of big furry baby occupies the other arm, lap, chest and flaps tail over the keyboard….it explains a good portion of my typos…but not all. ;)