Capsule Reviews - Lubatti Bath Oil & Do Son

Continuing the search for the perfect tuberose

Pure Indulgence Bath Oil Tuberose & Mimosa (Lubatti)

A sweet, enchanting and intoxicating fragrance. Lubatti’s Pure Indulgence Bath Oil, infused with Tuberose & Mimosa, will leave your skin feeling silky-smooth and gorgeously fragrant.

These are fleshy, almost overripe tuberoses with a hint of green. The bath oil is excellent, very well frangranced and long lasting, and can just be used to rub into your skin post-shower. The overall effect is beautifully relaxing and a little does go a long way....

Which is just as well as the RRP for this is £24 a pop. It's nice, but not that nice. I got mine from ebay for a tenner less, and am using it at such a rate of knots, that it's ridiculous. Worth it as a special treat though.

Do Son (Diptych)
A gorgeous floral blend of tuberose, orange tree leaves, roses, benzoin, iris, and white musk.

This is a pale, green tuberose, similar in tone to Carnal Flowe, if not in longevity. It has none of the bright, buttery, shininess that I associate with Beyond Love or Fracas, and as such, I don't love it. But, if you don't want that WHOMP TUBEROSE! effect then this may well be for you. Layered with the Lubatti bath oil, it has reasonable staying power too. While I don't love it, it is far less intimidating than other tuberose scents, and is certainly cheaper.

Review - Jasmin Noir (Bvlgari)

Top Notes
Green sap, Gardenia.

Middle Notes
Sambac jasmine absolute, Satin almond notes.

Base Notes
Precious woods, Tonka bean absolute, Licorice.

I will admit that when this arrived I was very cautious about it, rememebering how much I *hated hated hated* BLV II. And indeed the first spray had an alcohol roundhouse kick that left me reeling.

Capsule Review - Insense Ultramarine for Her (Givenchy)

Notes: bergamot, grapefruit, green leaves, sea water grass, rose, orchid,cedar, white musk & amber

Ok, can ANYONE tell me what kind of brain fart I was having when I put a bid in for ebay for 7mls of this?

Bueller?

Bueller?

I'm guessing it was the Givenchy thing. Silly me.

ANYHOO Insense Ultramarine for Her is a perfectly good, clean, aquatic floral. It's kind of "meh" to be honest. Too clean for me, possibly too clean for most as it has an air of Bold Fabric Conditioner about it. (I don't get this love of perfume that smells of clean clothes. I'd rather make sure I wore clean clothes and smelt AMAZING!). I don't get ANY bergamot from this, or indeed any of the musk, cedar or amber. It doesn't shine or shimmer in perhaps the way you'd expect it to given the notes.

I suspect that in the summer, in atomiser form, it could be lovely and refreshing. It also doesn't appear to dry down to anything interesting at all.

The worst I can say about it is it's unremarkable.

Capsule Review - L'Eau Ambreé (Prada)

Notes of rose de mai and amber, vanilla, citron, opoponax, patchouli

I've tried to review this fragrance three times now. Yesterday I got as far as making these notes:

Faint hint of citron wet, as it dries it opens out to a curious rose. Very soft and powdery, very understated. An evening scent, for close wear rather than a morning scent. Bad choice for me today, this won't wake me up, it makes me want to snuggle under the covers with Matt. Cosy sensuality more than anything else. It's lovely and will be interesting to see how or indeed if it progresses through the day....

After that, nothing. And it was the same the last time I wore it, AND when I reapplied it last night. But be assured L'Eau Ambreé isn't dull, instead it's incredibly subtle and soft. Not a "rip all your clothes off" dirty, but warm and sensual in a "come to bed and lets see what happens" kind of way.

I kind of love the way it's so understated, the fact that I don't end up sniffing my wrist every ten seconds. And while I probably wouldn't buy a bottle of it, I can see me using the rest of the sample as a nighttime scent.

You may possibly have been put off by the frankly terrible advert:




Don't be, it's fab :D

Review - Le Petit Grain (Miller Harris)

Sweet orange and angelica racine are fused with bergamot from Italy and Sicilian lemon, grounded with rosemary, red thyme, French tarragon and lavender. The heart is petitgrain essence and Tunisian neroli, whilst the base is oakmoss, vetiver and patchouli leaves.

Citrus scents seem to fade very quickly on my skin, so I'm curious to see how well Le Petit Grain lasts. It smells fantastic in the bottle, a huge, natural smelling orange hit (as opposed to the fun plastic fizz of something like Ma Dame). On my skin, wet, wow I still get a big citrus kick with a touch of tarragon of all things and a hint of bergamot.

This is a gorgeous scent, although the orange retreats quickly, so it lies very close to my skin. Sigh. Oh orange scents, won't you stay and play... (I think I'm going to have the same issue with Penhaligon's beautifully diaphanous Orange Blossom... *Sigh*)

Once again I've chosen exactly the wrong perfume for today. Although Le Petit Grain doesn't make me sleepy, it's the complete antithesis of the current weather. This is a spring/summer scent, full of air and light. It feels like it's battling against the all the heavy rain.

Sadly after about an hour ALL the citrus has disappeared and I'm left with a very light vetiver/oakmoss that is as warm and furry as a sleepy dormouse. It sits very close to my skin and is deliciously soft, more so than you'd expect from vetiver. Trouble is, as ever I have a lot of scents with this kind of drydown, and I really want more of that lovely citrus hit.

The basenotes ended up lasting another five and a half hours, so I can't really complain.
If citrus scents are your thing, then this is a must purchase for Spring/Summer. Truly scrumptious. If you're like me with citrus it's still worth a sample, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Review - Angel (Thierry Mugler)

Top notes are melon, coconut, mandarin orange, cassia, jasmine, bergamot and cotton candy; middle notes are honey, apricot, blackberry, plum, orchid, peach, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, red berries and rose; base notes are tonka bean, amber and vanilla, patchouli, musk, vanilla, dark chocolate and caramel.

First whiff, chocolate, then a big WHOMP of omg is that DEWBERRY? Which has always smelt of wintergreen on me anyway. I'm not a big foodie scent fan, I have to say, so this is always going to be a bit of a stretch on my skin. It doesn't smell as terrible as it did on Faun's skin, but that damn dewberry smell kicks everything else out of the ballpark for me at the moment.

Review - Knize Ten (Knize)

Top Notes
Bergamot, Lemon, Orange, Petitgrain, Rosemary .

Middle Notes
Geranium, Cedarwood, Rose, Orris, Carnation, Cinnamon, Sandalwood .

Base Notes
Leather, Musk, Moss, Amber, Castoreum and Vanilla

When my little 1ml decant of this arrived from Les Senteurs, I thought perhaps I'd found my hard limit for leather. It's very dense in the bottle, almost petrol-like.

Capsule Review - Coco Mademoiselle (Chanel)

Top :Orange, Bergamot, Grapefruit.

Middle: Mimosa, Rose, Italian Jasmine.

Base :Indonesian Patchouli, Haitian Vetiver, Bourbon Vanilla, White Musk.

Dashing out to pick Faun up from school, having just had a shower, I rummaged around in the samples bag for a quick spray of something, and came up with Coco Mademoiselle. 3 quick sprays later, as I was getting dressed, my reaction was this:

Vile. Utterly vile. Plastic fruit on me with a HORRENDOUS chemical drydown that smells suspiciously like a an alcoholic who drinks so much Strongbow all day that the smell seeps from his pores...

I'm guessing this has a lot to do with my skin chemistry rather than this being an ineptly made fragrance. At least I sincerely hope so...

Review - Bois D'Iris (The Different Company)

A woody-floral-musk fragrance from the roots of the Iris Pallida, the most aromatic lily, from the hills of Tuscany. This is the same flower that Iris Silver Mist from Serge Lutens is made from. Eight years of processing are required to extract one litre of iris absolut from 40 tons of rhizomes making it one of the most scarce ingredients in today's perfume world. With notes of iris, vetiver, bergamot, cedar, precious woods, narcissus, geranium, and musk.

Oh... hello....

I have to admit that while I've had this one in my samples box for AGES, I'd been very cautious about wearing it. Mainly because I was cautious of the geranium note, plus I wasn't sure how this floral would sit on me. Then I received a sample of Chanel's 28 La Pausa, and thought maybe it was time to give Iris a chance.

Review - La Reine Margot (Les Parfums Historiques)

LA REINE MARGOT, celebrates the amatory career of Catherine de’ Medicis’s younger daughter, the beautiful Queen of Navarre. Margot was the sister-in-law of our own Marie Stuart of Scotland. A majestic, indulgent, utterly ‘femme fatale’ of a perfume. A sumptuous arrangement of tuberoses, jasmine, leather, golden amber and vetiver.

(To the tune of BadgerBadgerBadger.com )JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE TUBEROSE TUBEROSE, JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE TUBEROSE TUBEROSE...

Review - L'Air de Rien (Miller Harris)

Created for Jane Birkin, L'Air de Rien is a sensual fragrance of great warmth with notes of French oakmoss, Tunisian neroli, sweet musk, amber and vanilla.

"I have never liked perfumes," she says. "I have always preferred to carry pot pourri in my pocket. It was an interesting exercise in finding out what you don't like. All the things usually associated with heady, dark-haired women like hyacinth, tuberose and lily-of-the-valley made me vomit when they were enclosed in a bottle so this one is much more me – I wanted a little of my brother's hair, my father's pipe, floor polish, empty chest of drawers, old forgotten houses." Vogue Interview.

I love this scent. From the moment I opened the bottle I got lost in it. In the bottle it is warm and musky, almost hay-like. Wet on the skin, I get a faint whiff of sharp neroli before my skin eats it up, and thereafter it is just oakmoss and amber. The vanilla isn't too sweet, the musk is incredibly warm. And it's a dirty, dirty, dirty scent, in best, languid, post-coital fashion.

Capsule Reviews - Tresor & Delices De Cartier EDT

Tresor - Lancome
Top: Rose, apricot and lily of the valley.
Middle: Lilac, peach and iris
Base: Amber, vanilla and musk.

UGH!!! UGH!!! UGH!!! Fruity florals are the bane of my life, I swear. This is grim on first application, then dries down to something not dissimilar to Cacherel's Loulou only not as nice. Starts of with a very brazen HELLO a la Janice Litman and never really recovers from it. Probably lovely on someone with a different skin/temperament/outlook on perfume...

Delices de Cartier EDT - Cartier
Top: Pink pepper, cherry and bergamot.

Heart: Violet, freesia and jasmine.

Base: Sandalwood, amber and tonka bean

Vile plastic fruit, such a high alcohol content that I felt my skin was burning, provoked this face in everyone that smelt it.

Thank God I only sprayed it on my foot rather than near my nose. Avoid.

Review - Elixir (Penhaligon's)

Originally posted on Dreamwidth on March 12, 2010.


HEAD NOTES
Eucalyptus, Cardamom, Orange Blossom Absolute and White Cedar

HEART NOTES
Red Turkish Rose Absolute, Egyptian Jasmine Absolute, Cinnamon Leaves, Mace and Rosewood

BASE NOTES
Benzoin, Tonka beans, Vanilla, Incense, Red Sandalwood and Guaicum Wood.

Forgive me, there's a little bit of preamble here....On Tuesday, Evil Twin and I went to the V&A to see the Theatrical and Performance costumes. To get to that display we had to walk through the Tapestries room, very low lit, very beautiful, smelt amazing in a way that I responded to on a very emotional level. I mention this because Elixir by Penhaligon's gets an almost identical response from me on first spray.

Capsule Reviews - Boucheron & First

Originally posted on Dreamwidth on March 05, 2010.

Boucheron (Boucheron)
Top Notes:Lemon, Basil, Orange Blossom, Bergamot.
Middle Notes :Tuberose, Geranium, Iris, Sandalwood.
Base Notes:Tonka Bean, Civet, Oakmoss, Benzoin.

Reminds me for all the world of Rive Gauche for the first hour, then settles into a beautiful dirty musky oakmoss. If I can get over that first hour* then this is an absolute delight.

*Please note there is absolutely nothing wrong with Rive Gauche and I wore it in my late teens/early 20s. That's why I'm not sure I could wear something like that again. YOU, however, don't have that history and should consider this beautiful classy (if a bit loud to start with) fragrance.

First (Van Cleef & Arpels)

Notes include aldehydes, mandarin, black currant bud, peach, raspberry, hyacinth, Turkish rose, narcissus, jasmine, lily of the valley, carnation, orchid, tuberose, orris, amber, tonka bean, oakmoss, sandalwood, vetiver, musk, honey, civet.

Obviously I get NONE of the fruit, but I do get a HUGE whiff of aldehydes, which for all the world reminds me of Chanel no5. The tuberose is soft and this has a wonderful soapy/powdery effect. Matt smelt it, said "you smell nice" and then jumped on me.

'Nuff said.

Review - Ysatis (Givenchy)

Originally posted on Dreamwidth on March 04, 2010.

Ysatis is a floral chypre with top notes of mandarin, galbanum, rosewood and coconut; middle notes of tuberose, jasmine, narcissus and carnation; and base notes of patchouli, sandalwood, castoreum and civet.

This is a weird one for me as I wore Ysatis in the early 90s for a couple of years. I know that really you should never go back to an old love, but sometime curiosity gets the better of you.

Review - Attitude (Giorgio Armani)

Originally posted on Dreamwidth on March 02, 2010.


Top notes: Calabria lemon and coffee absolute
Middle notes:Ceylan cardamom and lavender
Base notes:China cedar and Indonesian patchouli

OMG who stole my top notes? Neither the lemon nor coffee made it as far as my skin. Instead I get a great big hit of lavender and cardomom and an air of Grande Hotel and luggage that costs more than my laptop.

Review - Cabaret (Gres)

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Review - Vetiver Bourbon (Miller Harris)

Originally posted at Dreamwidth on February 25, 2010.

Vetiver Bourbon is a rich Hatian vetiver fragrance with additional notes of oak moss, vetiver bourbon and patchouli.

Wow. Astringent. Vetiver is one of those things that can be gorgeous or totally ICK. This is bitter, yet warm, sharp yet sweet. This is almost antiseptic yet the oakmoss behind it is musty and soothing.

Review - Fracas (Robert Piguet)

Originally posted at Dreamwidth on February 24, 2010.

Top Notes
Bergamot, Mandarin, Hyacinth, Green notes.

Heart Notes
Tuberose, Jasmine, Orange Flower, Lily of the valley, White iris, Violet, Jonquil, Carnation, Coriander, Peach, Osmanthus, Pink geranium.

Base Notes
Musk, Cedar, Moss, Sandalwood, Orris, Vetiver, Tolu balsam.

First thought, oh this must be something Beth from BPAL loves, because damn if I don't have things that smell this good already...

Followed by ARG! Lillies!!!!

Review - Alien Liqueur EDP (Thierry Mugler)

Originally posted at Dreamwidth on February 23, 2010.

Top Notes:
Jasmine (Sambac), Cardamom

Heart Notes:
Coumarin, Cumin, Orange blossom

Base Notes:
Amber (white), Heliotrope, Almond

Boozy whiff wet, then jasmine and cardamom almost straight away. This is very sweet on the skin but with a sharp whiff somewhere just behind it. Not surprisingly, bearing in mind it comes from the same stable as Angel, this shifts around a bit. That sharp smell is the almond I think, already coming to the fore. In fact, it's SO almond-y it's a bit like being pelted with soft amaretti macaroons.