Category Archive: Floral

Going for Gold – Amouage Gold Woman & Gold Man Perfume Review

Gold

“Two of the most rich and lavish perfumes of all time.”

Gold Woman and Gold Man were the first fragrances to be released by Omani fragrance house Amouage. The house was founded by His Highness Sayyid Hamad bin Hamoud al bu Said and in 1983 Amouage hired famous french perfumer Guy Robert to create two of the most rich and lavish perfumes of all time. His brief? “Put whatever you like in it, no matter how much it costs.” [1]

Both fragrances showcase silver frankincense, an ingredient the country is famed for, and whilst they have a distinct middle eastern feel they are also undeniably french in their style. Unlike almost everything from the 1980’s, Gold Woman and Gold Man do not feel dated in the slightest, they are both timeless classics that mark an important beginning from a venerable house. They have stood the test of time.

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Uncle Serge Baffles Us Once Again – Serge Lutens Vitriol d’Oeillet Perfume Review

Carnations

I’ve had a vase of purple carnations sat in my hallway for about two weeks now, they are suitably cheerful and they smell spicy and gorgeous. The problem with carnations is that they tend to hang around. Yes, they’re very beautiful but I’m at the point where I want them to move along so that I can refresh the vase with something else.

This is also how I feel about Vitriol d’Oeillet.

Serge Lutens has described Vitriol d’Oeillet as an ‘angry carnation’ and on the Serge Lutens website the description simply says “What is it, Doctor Jekyll?” [1] These descriptions lead me to believe that my tiny spray vial was going to unleash a huge, evil carnation monster that was going to eat me and ransack my house. A little farfetched I know, but I do have an active imagination.

What did come flying out of my little spray vial was something completely unexpected; A pretty and realistic spicy bunch of carnations. Just like the ones currently lurking in my hallway.

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Shock, Horror! – CK One Shock for Him & For Her Perfume Review

CK One Shock

Ahh flankers, there is nothing within the glorious world of perfume more guaranteed to make my eyes roll. Don’t get me wrong, there are some pretty good flankers on the market, take Guerlain’s Shalimar Parfum Initial or Chanel’s No 5 Eau Premiere for example. But on the whole the majority of flankers stink (see Marc Jacobs Bang Bang), they are a cheap way of marketing a new fragrance without having to come up with a new name or bottle and tend to carry no ingenuity whatsoever.

CK One Shock for Him and for Her are the latest in a long line of flankers to Calvin Klein’s iconic Unisex fragrance CK One, originally launched in 1994. With CK One Shock they have released “Two sassy new fragrances that flaunts youth innate sense of provocation” [1] Calvin Klein has proved to be the king of flankers over the years, the majority of which have been pretty terrible so I did not approach these two with high hopes.

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I’d Like to Love You Baby – Diesel Loverdose Perfume Review

Loverdose

Diesel fragrances have always rated as ‘Not bad but Not Great’ on my scale of perfume awesomeness (which runs from Viktor & Rolf Antidote to Guerlain Shalimar BTW). They’ve always been competently put together, pleasant enough fragrances that smell utterly mainstream. This isn’t a bad thing in itself, after all there is nothing wrong with decent smelling mainstream fragrances, but as perfumistas we expect more, don’t we?

Loverdose is the latest feminine release for the Italian brand and it follows Fuel For Life as the second feminine launch since the Diesel fragrance line was completely revamped.

Loverdose is described as follows:

“Loverdose is the sexy & addictive new fragrance from Diesel. It represents a woman who is sexy, playful and irresistible. She receives an overdose of love from those around her, but she wants more. She desires pleasure, adrenaline & passion.” [1]

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Everything Changes – By Kilian Sweet Redemption (The End) Perfume Review

Sweet RI have to admit that I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to By Kilian, I have pretty much dismissed the line up until now, predominately due to the high prices (a rookie perfumista error, I know) but my financial restraints prevent me from considering über expensive fragrances, so I don’t try them just in case I fall in love, which is pretty much always the case.

But thanks to some excellent reviews by my Evil Scent Twin, Birgit from Olfactoria’s Travels I have found myself officially intrigued. I wanted to see what all of the fuss is about so I managed to blag a few samples from the By Kilian counter in Harvey Nichols.

Seeing as I’m such a latecomer to the By Kilian party, it seems fitting that I should start at the end, with the last fragrance in the L’Oeuvre Noire (The Black Masterpiece) collection, Sweet Redemption (The End).

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Sometimes I Just Want to Smell Like a Hooker – Gucci Rush Perfume Review

Belle

Sometimes I just want to smell like a hooker. I accept that this may be somewhat of a sensational overstatement, but what I really mean is that when it comes to perfume, despite loving the classics, the symphonic florals and the exotic orientals, what I really love is the trashy, brash and over the top.

Sometimes it’s great to wear something that is loud, proud and ultra girly, I also find that these ultra-trashy scents work really well on a man, I have no fear of smelling ‘cheap’.

If you want cheap and trashy you cannot go wrong with Rush by Gucci.

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Graceful Light – Elie Saab Le Parfum Perfume Review

Elie Saab Le ParfumElie Saab Le Parfum is the first perfume to be released by Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab. It was composed by Francis Kurkdjian (Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male, Narciso Rodriguez For Her and Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance etc) and is billed as a Woody Floral.

Ellie Saab Le Parfum is described as an ‘ode to light’.

From the Press Release:

“Composed as an ode to light, ELIE SAAB Le Parfum celebrates the splendor and the brilliance of radiant femininity with a floral solar woody theme. The permanent exchange between flowers and wood is what gives the fragrance such captivating resonance.”

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I Know I Shouldn’t, But I Do – Those Guilty Pleasure Perfumes

Firecracker Cupcake

We all have them, those things that we know we shouldn’t love but we secretly do. I have lots of guilty pleasures, whether they be food, fragrance, music, movies or TV shows, there are lots of things that I know are a bit naff but I love them regardless.

There are so many fragrances on the market and us perfumistas are constantly on the search for the great fragrances, the ones that smell so good we just cannot live without them. It’s a long ongoing journey and along the way we find the bad, the dull, the weird, the downright hideous and of course the guilty pleasures.

So what exactly is a guilty pleasure perfume? Well to me they are those fragrances that you know are bad because they are a dreadful celebuscent or the quality of the composition (or both) or because they are painfully mainstream, but you still like them anyway.

When putting this post together there was one fragrance that instantly came to mind….

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Perfume in Pastel Shades – Chanel N°19 Poudré Perfume Review

N°19 Poudré is the latest fragrance release from Chanel and is the first flanker to the original N°19 fragrance which was released in 1971.

As the name suggests N°19 Poudré is intended as a softer, more powdery version of the original and is an attempt by the brand to rejuvenate and modernise the image of the N°19 line.

Chanel describes N°19 Poudré as:

“A Floral-Powdery-Green fragrance that reveals a new powdery-musky facet.

The voluptuous scent of a bouquet of Iris blends with the freshness of a breeze of Vetiver roots: an enveloping, powdery fullness softened by White Musk notes.

N°19 POUDRÉ: within the smoothest, silkiest whisper lies the boldness of a legendary accord.” [1]

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Now That’s What I Call Perfume – The Best of the 80’s

Ahh the 80’s, a time of excess where everything was big; the clothes, the music, the hair and of course the perfume.

The perfume in the 80’s was loud, proud and would announce it’s arrival a long time before you entered a room, and stay a long time after you left. There were big bouquets of aldehydic florals and massive oriental spice bombs. I shouldn’t forget the HUGE jammy roses and the loud syrupy tuberoses either.

These fragrances, affectionately known as ‘Perfumes with Shoulder Pads’ by the #fumechat Tweeters are representative of the era, and whilst they may not be entirely popular today I have a real soft spot for them.

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