Back in the saddle

[lunabee34]

I fell out of the habit of testing perfumes (although not of wearing them, thank goodness) this past spring when Fi got ill and stayed that way for so long. It wasn't any direct consequence of her illness; I think I just got depressed. My arm also started bothering me during that time period, and some other health issues were manifesting, and I stopped doing a lot of things that I enjoy (like reading books, wtf; I legit quit reading books I wasn't teaching for a whole semester; I don't think I've ever gone so long without reading a book in my life; I usually read at least one, sometimes 2-3 books a week).

But I've made a BPAL order, I've got a fair amount of scents still waiting to be tested, and a huge backload of write-ups to post. So . . .



Etat Libre D'Orange La Fin du Monde

Fragrantica: The fragrance features popocorn, carrot seeds, cumin, sesame, black pepper, freesia, vetiver, sandalwood, ambrette (musk mallow), iris, styrax and gunpowder.

Emma likes it; she thinks it smells like orange coffee. Josh thinks it smells like gross, powdery popcorn. I think it smells like a sweet, powdery orange-carrot combo. Not a keeper.

Eau D'Orange Verte--Hermes

Fragrantica: inspired by the odour of moist, rose-scented morning undergrowth . . . . It was devised as a burst of citrus touches, with orange to the fore, amidst zests and leaves, lemon, mandarin, mint and blackcurrant buds. Its complexity is revealed in a unique vapor composed of oak moss and patchouli.

Emma thinks it smells like oranges and mint; she doesn't like it much (although to be fair, she hasn't liked many of the traditional perfumes we've tried; half the time I think it's more the novelty of the marketing that's getting to her with BPAL rather than the scents themselves). Josh likes it; he smells orange, green moss and patchouli. I find it somewhat similar to Chanel Eau de Cologne (which I prefer), but Eau D'Orange is less bergamoty and reads much more masculine to me. It has a pleasant sour note that I like in addition to the orange peel/bergamot citrus scent.

Velvet Moon Bathery's Velvet Gypsy

Notes: Eqyptian musk, golden pear, sweet patchouli, black opium, pepper

Honestly, I think this vial was so old that any scent contained therein had disintegrated long ago. LOL But I must report all! For science!

Somnus by BPAL

You may not remember that I absolutely despised Somnus when I tried it. From that review: Josh and I absolutely despised Somnus while Emma was fairly ambivalent. She smelled lavender, lemon zest, and something flowery. For me, it started with sharp lavender, and then it almost seemed like there was something rancid underneath the lavender; finally a whole garden full of tea roses where something had died in a secret corner emerged. I’m pretty sure that the note I found so unpleasant is chamomile; I can’t drink chamomile tea because it smells vaguely like vomit to me. Josh found Somnus cloying and too floral.

This was one of the earliest scents I tried, and turns out, the jasmine is what was killing me, not the chamomile. I had gotten the imp in a swap and had no idea of its age. When I was sent a fresh frimp in our last order, I decided to try it again. Folks, this newly minted Somnus was even grosser than the older one. Such strong flowery poop! Bleck, bleck, bleck. Clearly jasmine smells good to many, many people or it would not be an ingredient in so many perfumes, but it mostly horrifies me. I wish I knew where I could smell an actual blooming flower and see if that smells gross to me.


I've got like a bajillion imps I'd like to swap, so my next project is to get that together for my next review post.

Comments

[wendelah1]

I love the scent of jasmine, and it's a good thing I do. People grow it outdoors here so it's everywhere.

I love so many florals.

[lunabee34]

I don't know whether I would like actual flower or not. I suspect I would. For example, I adore real gardenias; I grew up with gorgeous gardenia bushes surrounding our house and my mom constantly floated blossoms in her Mikasa bowls on the dinner table. But gardenia in perfume is an instant headache for me.

I do like florals when they are actual flowers; floral perfume is more iffy for me in terms of sweetness and cloyingness.

[china_shop]

Given your last post, when I saw the subject line of this one, I thought it was going to be about something else entirely. ;-)

[lunabee34]

Ahahahahahhahahaha. No. Nobody is getting in that saddle for quite some time.

Everybody had been downplaying the recovery so much that I think Josh is surprised by how sore and achy he still is. Poor baby. But he's totally okay and on the mend.

[synecdochic]

All of BPAL's jasmines turn into ROTTING CAT PEE on me. Sounds like you might also be lucky enough to have the same thing happen to you. :D

[lunabee34]

Yes! Every BPAL I've tried with jasmine in it has been a disgusting adventure in poop and sweet-smelling dead things. LOL

I had a similar reaction to Guerlain's Apres L'Ondee and a lesser similar reaction to Guerlain's Shalimar. Shalimar has jasmine listed as a note; Apres L'Ondee does not, but I've seen many reviews on Basenotes and etc. saying jasmine is a note. I think I'm going to ask rydra_wong if jasmine is a note in that one as it's one of their favorites.

On the other hand, I just recently discovered that Chanel Coromandel (an old fave) and Tom Ford Santal Blush (a new fave) also list jasmine as notes, and those two smell amazing to me, so clearly it doesn't always smell rotten and terrible.

IDK

Maybe there's different ways of making the jasmine smell? Does jasmine from other perfumers besides BPAL ever work for you?

[synecdochic]

I haven't tried anything but BPAL in years, honestly! But yeah, many differnt ways to make the smell :)

[lunabee34]

Okay cool. That's what I suspected.

[rydra_wong]

Hrm. Jasmine's not an overt note in Apres L'Ondee, to me or on my skin. But it's there in at least tiny amounts in a huuuuuge number of perfumes, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's in there and if some people's skins bring it out more.

Perfume Shrine says it's part of the "Guerlinade" accord that's in most of the classic Guerlains:

http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/history-of-guerlinade-accord-original.html

[lunabee34]

Ooooh, cool. Thank you.

I suspect that it might be the jasmine I am reacting to then.

More experimentation necessary!

[kore]

Yeah, it doesn't happen to me, but I know a lot of people who have the BPAL jasmine just go rotten on them. (What happens to me is her green note goes rotten on me, which knocks out a lot of stuff.)

[lunabee34]

Oh, noes. :( That green note is in EVERYTHING!

[tasyfa]

Jasmine is one of the few florals that actually works for me - it smells good on me, and I'm not allergic to it. (I *am* allergic to rose, which knocks out a LOT of floral fragrances, and the majority of mainstream fragrances altogether.) I don't think I've tried any of BPAL's jasmines, though, as they tend to be combined with other notes that I'm either allergic to (lavender, here!) or just don't like.

I didn't like La Fin du Monde either. At some point I need to properly test my Etat Libre d'Orange imps. One of my favourite UK e-tailers does a thing every so often where they offer a goody bag of a full suite of samples for a particular brand for a price, which amount can then be used as a voucher off a full-size purchase. I took advantage of it when they did that for Etat Libre d'Orange so I have a set of imps for I believe all of their fragrances. But I rush-tested so that I could use the voucher before it expired and haven't revisited them much since.

[lunabee34]

Oh, noes. A rose allergy would knock so many different perfumes out.

That is a seriously cool idea for a goodie bag and a great way to keep people buying from that site. Just based on your cursory sniffs, are all the Etat Libre d'Orange scents as out there (for lack of a better term) with the popcorn and carrots?