Following my review of the three Neela Vermeire fragrances last week I am very happy to announce that I am hosting a very exciting giveaway of not one, but two sample sets for two of my very lucky (and rather wonderful) readers. Each sample set contains a 2ml sample of all three Neela Vermeire fragrances; Trayee, Mohur and Bombay Bling!
For my impressions on the Neela Vermeire fragrances please click here.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know that this week I have been wrestling with two rather large, and rather annoying University assignments. Those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter, well, shame on you!
Unfortunately, a large amount of University work isn’t conducive to much blogging, therefore I thought I would take this opportunity to ask you all a question that has been at the back of my mind for quite a while now:
How can I make this blog better?
Talking about another Vivienne Westwood scent (Anglomania) last week as part of the ‘Gone, But Not Forgotten’ Series led me to drag out my bottle of Boudoir which has been lurking somewhere in the back of my ‘purgatory drawer’ – a fate that awaits those perfumes of mine that no longer have a place in my collection.
When I gave Boudoir its first spritz in what must be at least a year I was shocked, why was this in the purgatory draw? I like this! My biggest problem, it seems, is that I have a short attention span, I can only concentrate for a maximum of about five minutes before being distracted by something shiny or basically anything other than the task at hand (a problem that was recently brought to my attention by my boss, who very politely mentioned that my time management skills left a lot to be desired) and this is true with perfumes, I do tend to love something for a while before I get bored and want something new. I guess you could call me a ‘fragrant magpie’ of sorts.
Anyway, enough about me, on to the fragrance! Boudoir was Vivienne Westwood’s first fragrance and was released in 1998, it is classified as a ‘Floral Chypre’ and is the only Westwood fragrance that seems to have stood the test of time, Libertine, Anglomania and Let it Rock have all since fallen by the way side and have lost their places as part of the Westwood collection.
Neela Vermeire is a new Parisian based Niche line that explores the history of India through three vibrant and colourful fragrances. Each fragrance has been created by the very talented Bertrand Duchaufour and is representative of a particular period in India’s history, they are as follows:
Trayee
Vedic Period
Mohur
Moghul British Raj
Bombay Bling!
Modern India
With her first three fragrances, Neela Vermeire offers a festival of colour, fragrances that showcase exotic ingredients and smell as vibrant, lively and diverse as the country that inspires them.
“This diversity has inspired Neela Vermeire to create and dedicate the first trio of fragrances to India – her native country – while living and working in Paris, her adopted city and perfume capital of the world. Neela’s education in social sciences and training in law, may not have any direct connection to perfumes but her formative years in India have had a great and lasting impact on her “olfactory development.” [1]
“Pure, unadulterated love at first sniff.”
Like many others, I was lucky enough to receive a sample set of By Kilian’s entire L’Oeuvre Noire line through the By Kilian Facebook page. I have already tried a couple of the scents from the line, I’ve also reviewed two (Sweet Redemption and Back to Black) and my thoughts so far are generally very positive.
The L’Oeuvre Noire (The Black Masterpiece) collection consists of 10 fragrances and “evokes a Faustian atmosphere that casts an iniquitous alluring spell, pervading the spirit and senses, while transporting the soul to nirvana. Inspired by a search for perfection, the poetry of Rimbaud and Baudelaire, as well as the lyrics of modern day poets like Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dog. The Black Masterpiece ‘By Kilian’ is revolving around ingenues, artificial paradises and Parisian orgies.” [1]
This week I gave each sample a quick spritz to see which one I would review first and there was one that instantly stood out – A Taste of Heaven (Absinthe Verte). When I say it stood out, I mean that I literarily died and went to heaven, and if this is just ‘A Taste of Heaven’ I cannot wait to experience the whole thing.
“This may be death by chocolate but what a way to go…”
Thierry Mugler’s latest collection of limited editions ‘Le Goût du Parfum’ (The Taste of Fragrance) has proved to be one of the best collection of flankers ever released, Mugler has taken the signature of four of his perfumes (Angel, Alien, A*Men and Womanity) and has added a taste enhancer that either adds or amplifies a gourmand facet, this is where haute cuisine meets haute perfumery.
For more on the series please click here.
Angel is Thierry Mugler’s flagship fragrance, she is already infamous for being the first gourmand oriental and one of the first perfumes to use a chocolate note. For Angel Le Goût du Parfum, Mugler has used a taste enhancer of pure cocoa powder (what else?) to emphasise the chocolate notes, the end result promises to be “more gourmand than gourmand” [1] – and it is!
Angel Le Goût du Parfum is a worthy addition to the Angel lineage and whilst it doesn’t replace the original, it does fill a particular void in my collection – a true chocolate fragrance.
“Anglomania is quite a blowsy scent, a fact that is only emphasised by the quite, erm, ‘breasty’ advertising image.”
If you had mentioned the name Bottega Veneta to me a month ago I would have stared at you blankly and wondered who the hell you were talking about. My interest in fashion is more of a passing interest, I can appreciate excellent design and I have a good few fashion books for my coffee table (despite the fact that I don’t actually have a coffee table, sad I know) and I’m more than slightly addicted to Project Runway, but I would never describe myself as a fashionista, hence my somewhat unfashionable ignorance of Bottega Veneta.
So, for those of you, like me, who aren’t aware of Bottega Veneta (which is Italian for ‘Venitian Workshop’), they are an Italian luxury goods house that specialises in leather goods [1]. Like many fashion and luxury goods houses they are diversifying their brand and stepping in to the world of fragrance, every house needs a fragrance these days and if you don’t have one then you are quite behind the times (see Louis Vuitton, although they are going to release something next year).
Their first fragrance, “Bottega Veneta, the Eau de Parfum, evokes the suppleness and sensuality of the house’s renowned leather goods” [2] and is described as a “leathery floral chypre”.
BREAKING NEWS: THE CANDY PERFUME BOY IN TUBEROSE LOVING SCANDAL
OK, OK, so the fact that I love tuberose is hardly a scandal, in fact it is hardly news at all (see The Candy Perfume Boy’s Guide to Tuberose), what is news is the fact that until very recently I had never really paid attention to a tuberose fragrance that goes by the name of ‘Scandal’.
As you probably know, tuberose has a bit of a reputation, she is the bad girl of white florals, she wears bright red stilettos, stays out all night and doesn’t give a damn what you think. So if I love tuberose it is pretty shameful of me not to have paid attention to Scandal, but I do have an excuse, the nearest place I can try Scandal is London and whenever I visit the ‘Old Smoke’ I tend to have a list of about a million things that I need to try, I have tried Scandal but only in passing. Thanks to the lovely Vanessa from Bonkers About Perfume I have had the opportunity to spend some time with Scandal to see what makes it so scandalous.
Scandal is one of three original perfumes created by “fragrance specialist, historian, perfumer” [2] and the man behind Harrods’ Haute Parfumerie – Roja Dove, the others being Enslaved and Unspoken (great names all round). Scandal was released in 2007, and as the name suggests, this perfume is a shocking floral.
Oud is the latest addition to Mona di Orio’s Les Nombres d’Or collection, which focuses on creating perfumes centred around a single note in an intelligent and creative way. The fragrances within the collection are; Oud, Vanille, Tubereuse, Vetyver, Musc, Ambre and Cuir. The names may lead you to think that these fragrances are typical, single note scents, but that is far from the truth, each one is very much a composition with an interesting take on the eponymous note.
Les Nombres d’Or
“Seven sensational yet easy, relaxed fragrances from the Mistress of Perfumery.
Inspired by the ancient aesthetic theory of the Golden Ratio, Mona has created a suite of eaux de parfumss which have all her signature notes of glamour, mystery and romance but which are constructed with with the ultimate luxury of classic simplicity.” [1]
Oud in particular has received a lot of positive hype in the perfume blogosphere since it’s release earlier this year. Enthusiastic reviews from the likes of Olfactoria’s Travels and Eyeliner on a Cat, bloggers who’s opinion I hold in high esteem, had raised my hopes for this scent and I couldn’t wait to make my merry little way across to Les Senteurs in London to try it.
The Candy Perfume Boy 