I Feel Pretty

Micallef Ylang in Gold.  It’s pretty!

 

sorry for the delay – my brains slipped on the date!

M. Micallef Ylang in GoldNow, why did I put ‘pretty’ up there like that?  Well, most often we yarble on about ‘interesting’ or ‘gorgeous’ or ‘intriguing’ scents.  After all, we are ‘perfumistas’ and as such, we should be craving the bloody, rubbery, hot metal, Distilled on the Third Thursday on the Second Moon of Jupiter scents.  And we do, we do.

But sometimes we just want to smell Pretty.  One of my go-to notes for ‘pretty’ is rose, of course.  The other is ylang-ylang.  I love it because it’s both uplifting and calming, while imparting a sparkling prettiness, much like a full-skirted, polished cotton dress.   I was first introduced to the scent by my longtime facialist, Kathleen Peara, who created a very calming blend of rose, basil, ylangylang for her steamer.  When I asked her why those EOs she said ‘ because they calm your anxiety …and because they are pretty.  And this is a place where you should feel pretty”.

Which brings me (finally!)  to M. Micallef Ylang in Gold.  Described as a floral oriental (or ‘floriental’, a term I adore.  it sounds like a particularly extravagant bouquet of lilies, doesn’t it?) it’s very plush and smooth – no jagged edges…..it opens with two of my favorite scent parings: tangerine and geranium (yet another anxiety-relieving scent)…the heart is where the ylang resides, along with rose and sandalwood (a complete list of notes at the end of the post)….there is a hint of mint that helps keep the sparkle afloat for quite awhile until the musk and coconut wrap it up in a bit of confectionery schweetness.  I’m not a fan of schweet and you know I have a very tenuous relationship with musk..and coconut?  I still don’t ‘get’ beachy scents, though they get all sorts of compliments.  I figure if I want to smell like I’m at Careyes I’ll go to Careyes.  But the drydown takes quite awhile to get to that point, so for quite awhile it’s all sparkling, plush prettiness!  I wore this 3 days straight, in some of the darkest, dankest weather and it never failed to bring a smile to my face.  My book club moderator (the Non-Demon Book Club) said “what on earth are you wearing that smells SO PRETTY (serious!  she said PRETTY!).  El O, who is sick to death of perfume and would rather eat a bug than engage me in ANY discussion about a scent, even he said ‘hmm..you smell…NICE!’.   And you know what?  He was right!  And in the dark days of winter, especially these recent dark, sad days, there’s something to be said for ‘pretty’ and ‘nice’.

Another nice?  The bottle.  I know Martine Micallef gets some grief for her love of bling.  But I cannot fault her on this bottle.  For one thing, I’m a product of three of the most bling-lovin’ peoples on this planet; you hang a charm off a simple crystal bottle and I’m mesmerized (VC&A, I’m talking to YOU!)….for another, this is done with relative restraint.  The Swarovski crystal band, with  tiny hints of color against the pale-yellow juice, it’s like that one piece of blingy statement jewelry against an otherwise understated outfit.   I don’t usually cop to bottle-love…but the more I think about it, the more I’m coming to accept that, yeah…I like pretty bottles, too!      prince of wales brooch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes (from Luckyscent) :Tangerine, geranium, sage, rosemary, artemisia, Ylang Ylang, sandalwood, lily of the valley, magnolia, mint, coconut, vanilla, musk, moss

 

My review sample came from Micallef PR.

  • It IS really pretty. I was racking my brains to come up with some clever angle on a review, but there just isn’t one. It’s pretty and that’s all there is to it… and maybe that’s all there need be. Simple is sometimes best.

  • Michelyn says:

    Great review Musette and it is the perfume this year I seemed to reach for the most
    There are arty interesting fragrances that were noteworthy but at the end of the day , when its about me and not about being objective I want to smell gorgeous
    If there is a category for Prettiest perfume of the year this would be it
    The bottle is amazing
    Thanks for giving Ylang in Gold some love

  • Jen says:

    Pretty scent, beautiful bottle, lots of ylang? How can one resist. I’m in love. will get a sample STAT! thanks for the notes.

  • Dina C. says:

    This sounds so nice. I like a pretty scent, too, for days when I’m in a girly mood. I’ll have to hunt this one down and give it a sniff. 🙂

  • eldarwen22 says:

    Just what I need, another expensive perfume to want. I’m debating on Lyric or Gold right now since Santa was nice to me.

  • Ann says:

    Happy Boxing Day all! Musette, I’ve been eying this bottle since it came out. The bling is only a bit too much for my minimalism-lovin’ self, which is saying a lot. (And it sort of reminds me of one of the Estee Lauder bottles). I have loved ylang-ylang ever since the days of the Coty Sweet Earth solid perfume compacts (anyone remember those?), one of which contained the lovely ylang. So I’d better get on the stick and get a sample of this one. Stay warm everyone!

  • tammy says:

    I”m starting to think you and I are, if not Scent Twins, at least Scent Primas. You rock the smoke and leather better than me and I think I like jasmine more than you do, (although it needs to be verrah verrah dirty for me) but other than that, I have loved everything you have suggested. And of course I am a legendary bottle ho.

    So dang you anyway for liking this. Because how the heck Imma resist Pretty in a blingy bottle what also haz gold sparklies in the juice itself??? I really did not need another 250 dollar perfume to lust after, missy.

    • Musette says:

      Haw! Scent Primas, indeed! I think this is super-pretty – you can get the juice blinged-out or non-bling. I don’t have that bottle but I sure wish I did.

      I bow to your jasmine-lovin’ self. I always get theeees close to the Jazz…then something turns around and bites me.

      xoxoA