A Rose Good Enough to Eat – Tauer Perfumes Une Rose Vermeille Perfume Review

“Macarons – Om, nom, nom.”

Following Andy Tauer’s Rose Master Class at Les Senteurs on Thursday I have had roses on the brain. Well, to be precise I have had Andy Tauer’s rose fragrances on my brain, so this week, it makes sense for me to write about two Tauer fragrances that I have been meaning to review for quite some time – Une Rose Vermeille and Une Rose Chyprée. Seeing as I am renowned for having quite a sweet tooth and being a sucker for anything rose flavoured, I will start with Une Rose Vermeille.

Une Rose Vermeille was released in 2010 and is the second addition to Andy Tauer’s ‘Homages’ line, which also houses Une Rose Chyprée and Carillon Pour un Ange. It is described as a ‘Gourmand Rose’ and is, in my opinion, the most delicious fragrance I have ever tried – it is a rose good enough to eat.

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Blown From Polar Fur – Mona di Orio Musc Perfume Review

This week I have been listening to the new Kate Bush album ’50 Words for Snow’, a striking and beautiful conceptual piece centred around falling snow. Kate Bush is a dab hand at creating a landscape with her music and in my mind these landscapes have been reflected in two of the Mona di Orio’s creations from the Les Nombres d’Or collection. Oud is the golden, shimmering sunset depicted in Kate’s conceptual piece ‘A Sky of Honey’ from the album ‘Aerial’ and Musc is the eerily quiet snow covered landscape depicted in ’50 Words for Snow’.

On the album’s title track, Kate encourages Stephen Fry to cite 50 words for snow (it sounds absolutely bonkers, as you would expect from Ms Bush, but it works), some of the words are real, some are made up and they become completely ridiculous & fantastical as the song progresses (‘Faloop’njoompoola’ anyone?). My favourite of these snowy terms is No 47 ‘Blown From Polar Fur’ (honourable mentions go to ‘Wenceslas Air’ and ‘Bad for Trains’) and it perfectly reflects the snowy nature of Musc.

Musc is part of Mona di Orio’s Les Nombres d’Or (The Golden Numbers) collection which refers to the golden ratio, a mathematical theory of proportion that is showcased in the collection via fragrances centred around a single note, masterfully accentuated by other ingredients.

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A Festival of Colour – Neela Vermeire Trayee, Mohur and Bombay Bling! Perfume Reviews

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]

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Death by Chocolate – Thierry Mugler Angel Le Goût du Parfum Perfume Review

“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.

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Gone, But Not Forgotten Series Part 5: British Eccentricity – Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood

“Anglomania is quite a blowsy scent, a fact that is only emphasised by the quite, erm, ‘breasty’ advertising image.”

Vivienne Westwood is the epitome of British eccentricity. A self-taught designer, mother of punk and general, all round odd ball, Westwood put British fashion on the map and her mixture of shabby chic and unusual tailoring has proved to be timeless.

Dame Viv has released five fragrances (not including flankers); Boudoir, Libertine *, Anglomania *, Let it Rock * and Naughty Alice, three of which have since been discontinued. If I’m being perfectly honest the fragrances from the line have been a mixed bag, Boudoir is a great, slightly filthy chypre, Libertine is a pretty decent floral citrus (it used to be a favourite of mine until my tastes developed), Let it Rock was a dreadful oriental and don’t get me started on Naughty Alice…..Anglomania is the best and most interesting of the bunch.

Anglomania is named after Westwood’s recurring collection of the same name and the scent is intended to evoke “Asian intensity with British heritage” [1]. It was released in 2004 and was created by the great Domique Ropion (Carnal Flower, Alien, Geranium Pour Monsieur to name but a few), it does exactly what it says on the tin.

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It’s Not You, It’s Me – Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum Perfume Review

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”.

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Extra! Extra! Read All About It – Roja Dove Scandal Perfume Review

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.

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Gone, But Not Forgotten Series Part 4: Wonderfully Weird – Le Feu d’Issey by Issey Miyake

“My general impression of Le Feu d’Issey is that it’s an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ scent, in the sense that there is just so much going on, in fact, I would go as far as saying that the kitchen sink has probably been thrown in as well.”

When I first thought about the Gone, But Not Forgotten Series there were a few perfumes which I knew absolutely had to be added and some that I thought I would explore after receiving suggestions from my readers. Le Feu d’Issey is one of those fragrances that I knew had to be part of this series, but there was one little snag – I had never smelled it and it’s nigh on impossible to get hold of.

Luckily for me Perfumeland is full of lovely, wonderful and generous people and none are lovelier than the ultra-lovely Birgit of Olfactoria’s Travels who came to my rescue and very kindly donated a sample of Le Feu d’Issey so that I could review it for this series. Thanks B!

Despite being discontinued, Le Feu d’Issey was given a five star rating by Luca Turin in Perfumes The Guide and is also included in Sanchez and Turin’s latest book ‘The Little Book of Perfumes’ as one of the top 100 perfumes of all time. It also has quite the cult following and a reputation for being wonderfully weird. All of these facts have ensured that Le Feu d’Issey has stayed at the top of my ‘Must Test’ list (a list that gets longer and longer by the day) for a good few years, and when I did eventually get to try it I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

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Eau de Nesquik – Parfumerie Générale PG04 Musc Maori Perfume Review

My introduction to Parfumerie Générale has been somewhat of a baptism of fire. Up until very recently I had ignored the line completely, not because I didn’t like the sound of the fragrances, in fact I have read lots of positive reviews, there are just so many lines to keep up with and sometimes my brain has to skim over some just to keep up with the rest.

Anyway, as I was saying, I had an interesting introduction to the brand. Firstly, I received some samples from the lovely Birgit of Olfactoria’s Travels which I have been slowly exploring over the last couple of weeks. I also had the pleasure of being talked through the line by my good friend Nick who works in the specialist perfumery – Les Senteurs. Having smelled most of the scents from the line (albeit briefly), I have to say that I am really pleasantly surprised and I owe Pierre Guillaume a massive apology for ignoring the line for so long.

I hope to review a few of the Parfumerie Générale scents over the next couple of weeks, but I thought I would start with one of the most interesting fragrances in the collection, PG04 Musc Maori.

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Clash of the Titans – Serge Lutens Muscs Koublaï Khän vs Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur Perfume Reviews

As Autumn and Winter draw in, it becomes time for us Perfumistas to have a wardrobe reshuffle. We put away our lighter, airier perfumes and drag out our rich orientals, warm woody florals, mouthwatering gourmands and our musks. In autumn and winter we look for those fragrances that bring us comfort when it’s cold and those that match the colours and festivities of the cooler seasons.

Muscs Koublaï Khän (Serge Lutens) and Musc Ravageur (Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle) are two of the most popular musk fragrances on the market, in fact they have reached cult status amongst Perfumistas and love them or hate them, nobody can deny that they are both formidable characters.

Despite the fact that they are both so popular and are both musk fragrances, Muscs Koublaï Khän and Musc Ravageur are two very different fragrances, in fact the similarity stops with the ‘Musc’ in both of their names. In this review I’m going to put pitch these two ‘Titans’ head to head to see which will be the victor and earn the accolade of ‘King of Musks’.

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