Perfume Reviews
Jul. 19th, 2016 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34Emma and I tested some perfume tonight. I haven't tested anything in quite awhile (despite having an enormous stash), and my nose has atrophied as a result. I had a hard time distinguishing individual notes in what we tested tonight. Oh, well. Only thing to do for it is to practice more often! :)
This is not what we tested tonight but another chip at the backlog of perfumes we tested ages ago.
Kumiho: A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger.
Emma was not interested in this one; frankly, her initial passion for testing perfumes has steadily waned over the last year. I think she was more interested in the BPAL marketing than the actual scents. I'm hoping to get her interested again by regular testing; she has a really good nose when she's not being 13. LOL
I love Kumiho. It's in the same family as Bath and Body Works White Citrus and BPAL's Embalming Fluid, and Envy, Phobos, and Whitechapel. It wears nicely: a lovely, spicy ginger. It's not as fleeting as Embalming Fluid. It's perfect for layering with the perfumes I've listed here.
I like it enough to eventually get a big bottle.
Eden: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood.
Emma thinks this smells only of coconut, which she despises (both to eat and smell).
I think it is very reminiscent of Bread and Butterfly but without the eau de plastic baby doll head. Back when we tested this, I did so before reading what notes it contains and was able to identify the following notes with no prompting: toasted coconut and almond. I was very proud and wrote yay in my notebook. LOL This is why I've got to start testing again; I had gotten rather good at picking out notes, and now I feel as if I'm starting over again to a certain extent.
Not a keeper.
Strangler Fig: Rooty, woody, with deep green tones.
Emma thinks it smells fresh and strangely of chocolate. She likes it okay but not enough to wear.
When I take a whiff, I also smell boozy chocolate which I do not like at all. Over time, I like it a bit more; a green leaf smell emerges along with some sort of wood, maybe cedar.
Josh thinks it smells like sandalwood and patchouli; he is not a fan. Not a keeper (the perfume, that is; I'm keeping Josh).
Rumpelstilzchen: Firewood and ash with an oddly otherworldly blend of patchouli, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, tonka, vetiver, and myrrh.
Emma: "Oh, yuck. This smells like Iago."
Me: "Oh, yuck. This smells like cedar and gasoline."
So, a noxious mixture of Iago and Antony.
Take away musings from tonight's testing session plus typing up these notes:
1. I can almost always tell how much I will like a BPAL by the color of the perfume in the vial. The darker the perfume, the more probable my distaste. I have almost universally liked the lighter colored perfumes we've tried because they are based on white musks, citruses, and teas.
2. I should not despair that my nose is entirely gone. When I went to an upscale shopping area in Atlanta with my friends a few weeks ago, one of the stores was burning a Diptyque candle. I instantly gagged and thought, "That is some jasmine, there," and I was totally right. LOL
This is not what we tested tonight but another chip at the backlog of perfumes we tested ages ago.
Kumiho: A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger.
Emma was not interested in this one; frankly, her initial passion for testing perfumes has steadily waned over the last year. I think she was more interested in the BPAL marketing than the actual scents. I'm hoping to get her interested again by regular testing; she has a really good nose when she's not being 13. LOL
I love Kumiho. It's in the same family as Bath and Body Works White Citrus and BPAL's Embalming Fluid, and Envy, Phobos, and Whitechapel. It wears nicely: a lovely, spicy ginger. It's not as fleeting as Embalming Fluid. It's perfect for layering with the perfumes I've listed here.
I like it enough to eventually get a big bottle.
Eden: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood.
Emma thinks this smells only of coconut, which she despises (both to eat and smell).
I think it is very reminiscent of Bread and Butterfly but without the eau de plastic baby doll head. Back when we tested this, I did so before reading what notes it contains and was able to identify the following notes with no prompting: toasted coconut and almond. I was very proud and wrote yay in my notebook. LOL This is why I've got to start testing again; I had gotten rather good at picking out notes, and now I feel as if I'm starting over again to a certain extent.
Not a keeper.
Strangler Fig: Rooty, woody, with deep green tones.
Emma thinks it smells fresh and strangely of chocolate. She likes it okay but not enough to wear.
When I take a whiff, I also smell boozy chocolate which I do not like at all. Over time, I like it a bit more; a green leaf smell emerges along with some sort of wood, maybe cedar.
Josh thinks it smells like sandalwood and patchouli; he is not a fan. Not a keeper (the perfume, that is; I'm keeping Josh).
Rumpelstilzchen: Firewood and ash with an oddly otherworldly blend of patchouli, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, tonka, vetiver, and myrrh.
Emma: "Oh, yuck. This smells like Iago."
Me: "Oh, yuck. This smells like cedar and gasoline."
So, a noxious mixture of Iago and Antony.
Take away musings from tonight's testing session plus typing up these notes:
1. I can almost always tell how much I will like a BPAL by the color of the perfume in the vial. The darker the perfume, the more probable my distaste. I have almost universally liked the lighter colored perfumes we've tried because they are based on white musks, citruses, and teas.
2. I should not despair that my nose is entirely gone. When I went to an upscale shopping area in Atlanta with my friends a few weeks ago, one of the stores was burning a Diptyque candle. I instantly gagged and thought, "That is some jasmine, there," and I was totally right. LOL
