my occasional musings on life, love, art, perfume ... what else is there?

7.19.2006

On Edgy Comfort Scents

I've recently been wallowing in a wealth of new-scents-to-try, thanks to Suki of cognoscented (http://cognoscented.blogspot.com/ )... I've carefully sniffed and I've taken notes, a lot of good that does.

I've come to the conclusion I'm not an analytical perfumista. I hope I can still hang onto the label of scent-lover.

I'm just one of those illiterate gallery-goers who doesn't know art, but they know what they like.

What I've recently liked are Les Néréides Imperial Opoponax (sweet myrrh, amber, vanilla, sandalwood, benzoin, citrus) and Guerlain L'Instant (citrus, magnolia, amber).

What I also like, but have found to be acquired tastes, are Les Néréides Patchouli Antique (patchouli, vanilla, musk) and Vivienne Westwood Anglomania (cardamom, coriander, green tea, rose otto, nutmeg, violet, vanilla, amber, leather).

Look at all those notes for Anglomania. Old Vivienne really takes you for a ride ... because you are going to be able to isolate each and every one of them. I'm not kidding. Speaking as someone who can appreciate a smorgasbord, I promise there's something for everyone in Anglomania. If you don't like what you're getting right now, wait a minute and something else will show up. Until, after a while, we're all sitting down to tea.

Of these four,the two I like best can be labeled "comfort scents," although L'Instant, to me, has a bit more edge with its citrus/magnolia component, a kind of sharpness before it settles into a soft, not-so-sweetness.

Imperial Opoponax is also a bit edgy for a comfort scent, in that there's a subtly dry bitterness to the myrrh that's almost entirely enveloped by the amber/ vanilla/sandalwood triumvirate.

Supposedly Seattle is going to join the rest of the country's heat wave in the next few days (We're gonna hit 90! Maybe!). The four I've described above will be perfect for rainy autumn. I need to dig deeper into Suki's box and see what's good for sweltering in.

3 Comments:

Blogger priscilla said...

LOL...As a fellow scent lover (an amateur one at that) I often compare myself to someone who, in the company of a bunch of wine connoisseurs, ends up extolling the virtues of white zinfandel in the box. :)

6:46 AM

 
Blogger Kyahgirl said...

mmmmm, yum, comfort scents. That Imperial Opoponax sounds really appealing. I have only tried a few Les Néréides scents but have liked them. In particular, there was a vanilla one that really struck me because I never understood the appeal of heavy vanilla until I found that formulation.

In the Imperial Opoponax, is there a lot of sandalwood in the drydown? I have developed an intolerance for a lot of wood in the base of a scent.

7:12 AM

 
Blogger WinterWheat said...

Now you've got me wanting to try Anglomania. Can't wait for fall. Just came back from a wedding on an island in Lake Superior, where it was 100 degrees. No kidding. We were there 2 years ago over the 4th and it was 50 degrees. How does a person PACK for a visit to such a locale???

Yesterday I finally invested in a replacement bottle of Luctor et Emergo after putting it off for months. I would consider it an edgy comfort scent too, if only because it takes a secure adult's edgy sense of irony to wear a perfume that smells like Play-Doh.

7:40 AM

 

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