Perfume + Clothes

[lunabee34]

executrix sent me back-to-back packages of clothes and perfume. I am thrilled!

On the clothes front, almost everything she sent me worked: an adorable tan jacket, a beautiful pashmina, a sex-ass black wrap dress that I wore to teach today with a big chunky necklace my mom made (I had to wear a tank top underneath so as not to detract from the majesty of Achilles' love for Patroclus, but that's pretty standard for wrap dresses anyway; I meant to take a picture to post and forgot, but I will the next time I wear it), and a purple cardigan that's a little too long in the sleeve but looks nice with the sleeves cuffed.

And on the perfume front, my friends, Exec sent me a full bottle of Tom Ford Santal Blush. A. Full. Bottle. Of. Tom. Ford. Santal. Blush.

Let that sink in.

I have been wearing it every day since it arrived.



Notes according to Fragrantica: Top notes: Indian spices, cumin, cinnamon, carrot seeds and fenugreek. Heart: jasmine, ylang-ylang and rose. Base: sandalwood, cedar, benzoin, musk and oud.

When I googled the notes and saw jasmine, my heart just sank. Jasmine is my death note. I can't abide it. I looked at that beautiful bottle and was more than a little verklempt at the thought I might not be able to wear it.

Lest you all die of the suspense, fortunately, I don't smell the jasmine at all.

Santal Blush reminds me a great deal of Chanel Sycomore, my personal fave. The note they share is sandalwood. It also reminds me of Chanel Coromandel; I can't get a good sense of what's in Coromandel. Fragrantica says amber, incense, benzoin, wooden accords (maybe this includes sandalwood). Basenotes also lists jasmine.

Huh. Maybe it's just BPAL's jasmine that makes my nose want to die.

Anyway, Santal Blush also reminds me of Josh's preferred scent--Fresh's Cannibas Santal (Top notes are brazilian orange, plum and bergamot; middle notes are patchouli, rose and cannabis; base notes are musk, dark chocolate, vetiver and vanilla.)

I was reading all the comments on Fragrantica, and someone suggested layering Santal Blush and Sycomore, and I did, and it was the best thing ever!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this perfume so hard. It has such staying power and I'm very careful not to spritz too much because it packs a punch. I love catching little wafts throughout the day as I'm working or doing things. At the gym, I kept getting lovely little hints as I lifted weights. Very motivating. :)

This is also interesting in terms of helping me pin down what are my go-to notes; I already knew I was nuts for vetiver, but I think I need to add sandalwood to that list.

On that note, does anyone have any sandalwood focused perfumes to recommend?

ETA Maybe benzoin is also a possibility since it's listed for a couple of these scents. What is that anyway? It sounds like a medicine a Beat poet might abuse while on the road.


I also put in another BPAL order, so that will be fun when it arrives. I'm looking forward to getting back into perfume testing.

Comments

[elfin]

Benzoin's a tree resin. It's used in a lot of incense, and is sort of sweet/spicy with vanilla. It's one on my fav notes.

Santal Blush sounds amazing. I need to try it sometime.

[lunabee34]

Oh, cool. Based on that description, yes, it probably is one of the notes I really like, too.

Have any recs for perfumes that feature benzoin?

[elfin]

My absolute fav, Terre d' Hermes is one. Sensi Jewel from Giorgio Armani is another good one. Thanatos is the only BPAL I can think of that really features it.

[lunabee34]

Cool.

I will stick that in the file.