Hi friends – a quickie today. Cinnamon inspired me to try ELdO Story of Your Life because her review made it sound like something I’d love, and also: so, so weird. Which is funny, because LuckyScent (where I procured my sample) has a whole paragraph devoted to this fragrance that is all about the bliss of mundanity, the quotidian pleasures of the everyday routine, which include waking up and falling back into bed in your lover’s arms with orange flowers and “enveloping caramel” and buttered bread (oof, sounds messy, what about the sheets?) drying down to a delicious skin scent blah blah blahbitty blah you get the picture.
Notes from LuckyScent’s website: Citrus essence, davana, benzoin, laurel, orange blossom, brioche, rum, cocoa, patchouli, vanilla, amber wood, Orcanox (which is a woody / musky / powdery base and not the smell of killer whales, sadface.)
crumbs in the sheets, ugh
Given all that, it’s so weirdly not gourmand at the open that I checked the label a couple of times. I guess it’s the citrus/laurel giving “fancy guy cologne”? A little sharp and fresh, a little bitter.
I said, huh, that’s … odd, and gave it a bit to settle and develop. Then we wander into the kitchen (feeling a bit peckish after a tumble in the hay, I suppose) and into the buttery brioche territory and maybe some hot cocoa? Vanilla, amber … I adore that part which continues well into the drydown, all bready goodness with the sharpness of sourdough, but the window’s open to the terrace and there’s some laurel shrubs out there.
Do I want a bottle? No. Decant? No. I’m not even convinced I like this. Buuuuutttttt I’m now well into my vial of it (Carolyn got one too, or maybe it was a mistake) and I’ve dabbed it on almost every day because it’s so weirdly compelling. Good thing I don’t hate it because it lasts approximately forever on my skin; I can smell it on the back of my hand right now, 24 hours and multiple handwashings later.
Are there any scent samples you’ve used up, trying to decide how you felt about them? Or maybe something you were fairly certain you didn’t even like but couldn’t stop wanting to sniff and repeat the experience? Try explaining that to someone who isn’t mad about fragrance.
images: pexels
OMG! You KNOW how I feel about sheets!
You try bringing dome buttered bread into my bed. Caramel? I will CUT you ( but not on those D. Porthault Trousseau ones – I’m still trying to get the skin- tinge off the Lisa Galimbertti woven cotton… sweaterfloyd! Why are white sheets such a pain?!
It is fun!
Oops – that was meant for March. Should have had another coffee this morning.
Ha! I figured it out, no worries. I’m grateful to have so many fragrant opportunities, even the weird or unpleasant ones.
My reactions to scents tend to be more immediate, cut-and-dried, like YesAthousandtimesYes or No, never! Haha. Rarely do I hem and haw over a scent, sampling and resampling. The drydown is what usually disappoints me. Example: Fracas.
I’m always interested in the waffle … although I’m not sure I’ve ever fallen in looooove with something I initially disliked. The drydown on Fracas disappoints? Just add more 😀
Yep! Spritz until you get put off the bus!!!
Tom Ford Black Orchid, eponymous Moschino & Dior Homme.
Not exactly used up samples but I’ve had more than one bottle of each, been a little obsessed that love seemed just out of reach & sold them on.
BO for that female BO note, it makes me feel like I’m wearing someone else’s knickers! BTW I’ve always wondered how Gwyneth got her nose up there. Sorry random mind wandering.
Moschino I loved in theory but was way too curvy & cinched in for me to feel comfy in.
Turns out I needed to find the right version of Dior Homme to actually wear. The current Intense version is the one I can wear & I do love.
BO I had a bottle of, it was so out there and nuts when it came out. But it never felt right on me, so eventually I decluttered it. So glad you found your perfect version of Dior Homme.
Ah, yes. I was trying to think of what else works but doesn’t on me and the only thing I could come up with is Masque Milano Madeleine. I gaga-ed over this and even bought a 10ml size but I can’t get myself to wear it very often. It smells good (more of that cereal, bready, etc, thing). This is much harder to wear than your garden variety gourmand.
Why have I not tried that one? I bet I’d love it. But you raise the good question of: do I want to actually wear it on any kind of regular basis?
I’m not sure about this one at all. Not that your description isn’t wonderful- it’s explaining it ways that I grasp. But this just seems.. weird. Like one of those dreams you have in the morning when you’ve awakened at 5am and said to yourself “I’m not getting up”. Like your neighbor is cooking breakfast and the smell invades your dream- suddenly you’re in a diner and you smell the toast. But the diner is in the middle of a rose garden by the ocean. And your neighbors car alarm goes off and wakes you before the shirtless cook, who looks like a 1984 Blair Underwood can give you your bacon.
Hey when you swing by LuckyScent you can give it a test drive — I think your description is spot on hahaha. I think it IS weird, and I’d be fascinated if it wasn’t weird to/on you.
Um. Bacon AND 1984 Blair Underwood???
I’m climbing in that dream!
The answer to your two questions at the end is “Yes”. It’s the weirdest thing and unexplainable. I know that there are some that are eluding me, but one I remember is Masque Milano Petra. My first impression was a no, then later a maybe, then later a yes It was a crazy back and forth, back and forth, with long breaks in between and ultimately a no. The most recent one is TF Black Orchid. My first reaction was, so not me, but I kept wearing it and sniffing it and wanting more. (Sounds like drugs.) Guess there’s a me that I don’t know well and yes, I’m getting a bottle.
I fell head over heels for BO when it first came out, it was so different! I had a bottle but never wore it, always felt like it wore me, so it got sold on. But I really enjoy that yes/no/ugh not sure! process, I think it’s fun. Fragrance is a drug for us.