////// The door in my wardrobe*

// In search of the perfect perfume #2

Posted on | December 10, 2009 | 2 Comments

This autumn has been the autumn of sampling fragrances for me  — and indeed I have done some great discoveries. I can’t recommend Perfumed Court enough, their service of small decants of almost any fragrance imaginable is utterly helpful — and they ship fast!

During these testing times I have concluded that the basic fragrance types that act well on my skin and make me feel good are mostly amber based, woody and spicy, use florals sparingly only lighten up the composition, have good longevity but stay close to the skin. I don’t like to intimidate others with my enthusiasm to perfume. Many scents I like seem to be unisex scents (not that I do care too much about the labels in here), that might be partially due to that fact that many scents go towards their sweet notes on my skin — those that are sweet to begin with can be sickeningly so after wearing them for a while.

Two absolutely favorites so far are these.

as

Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens. This is such a great woody, spicy amber, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. The opening is relatively strong, woody and almost medicinal — the scent of an old apothecary — but it rounds rapidly to shimmering, spiced and smoky-woody amber scent that stays close to skin — and is absolutely delightful, heart warming, unforgettable, maybe even sexy but not in most straightforward or obvious way. There is something quite barbaric but beautiful in this scent, it is empowering and teases the imagination.

etro

Etro Ambra, quite different but great as well. This is light, but has great longevity. It starts beautifully with burst of bitter citrus, more like the peel than the fruit itself, some spice and distinct aroma of fresh fir needles, the round sweetness of amber and vanilla lingering below. I really love the opening, it is so uplifting. The drydown is quite simple and very soft amber with amazingly beautiful, smokily caramelized vanilla in absolutely non-cloying form, and some very rounded and soft, slightly resinous wood.  There are some floral notes in this, but they never steal the attention. Sophisticated, playful and very feminine on me (although this is unisex scent, too).

I would love to add some other Serge Lutens scents to my wardrobe as well. I’m quite drawn to very animalic Muscs Koublai Chan — this is very skin chemistry dependent, but on my skin the dirty musc and civet notes are very pleasant, resembling a summer skin with odour of sun, salt and healthy outdoor life, the scent of the natural soap from morning shower lingering below the outdoorsy skin aroma. The muscs are wrapped to beautiful smoky (incense?) notes, very sophisticated powdery rose accord and amber.

Another great one is Douce Amere (the only of these directed to women), faithful to it’s name, a bittersweet blend of wormwood root (that really smells like anise to me), cinnamon, some white flowers and again the beautiful, smoky type vanilla. Contradictory and beautiful, and probably less sweet than you could think from this description.

And oh, another, very strange and meditative one is Gris Clair, the weird combination of lavendar and amber, with some strange milky and bitter notes backed up with beautiful aged wood and smoke. I definitely like the lavendar aroma, but usually the lavendar perfumes tend to be dusty and powdery at their base, ladylike but old fashioned, or very traditional cologne type scents. Serge has definitely taken the granny out of the lavendar in this one…

I’ve also discovered the delightful scent of oud wood, but have sampled so few fragrances containing it that I can’t really name any favorites yet. Although Tom Ford version is quite fantastic…

And no ugly bottle design in sight, phew… …I prefer my fragrance bottles simple and clean lined.

Images from Luckyscent and Fragrantica.

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Posted on | December 10, 2009 | 2 Comments

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