awesome | Pomelo girl thoughts

Updates!

Posted on March 2, 2016 by elemonated

Busy bee be real. Lots of things that have happened in the past week or so, so let’s start from the top!

1) I got a job! I work for FindSpark in Partner Sales and Community Development. Yay meaningful work! I’ve already done a bit of little things here and there during my training including this blog post: 5 Quotes from Shakeshack CEO Danny Meyer to Inspire Your Professional Journey

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and more importantly, I’d like to push the FindSpark Fashion Conference happening this Saturday from 10AM-5PM! Read More

L’Air du Desert Marocain vs. Lonesome Rider

Posted on February 21, 2016 by elemonated

Took me long enough.

I’ve written about LADDM before:

Tauer L’Air Desert Du Marocain

Wet: oak, amber, vetiver, cedar, balsamic vinegar

Dry: vetiver, cedar, coriander, amber, jasmine, balsamic vinegar

Mr. Chokkattu’s first love, and the one he wears the most often, LADDM is a dark, woody, smoky, slightly sweet thing with a low voice and dark hair. It starts with a sharp balsamic over a dark base, and then evens out, and as per the name the resulting fragrance is dry, hot, and slightly sweet. I really like this one, and Mr. Chokkattu only let me borrow this one because he has another sample of it.

New impressions:

L’Air du Desert Marocain is still Mr. Chokkattu’s favorite (though A La Nuit is edging in), and fortunately I am not at his freezing place trying this on, but I still think this could benefit from a bit of heat, at least to give it context.

Sweet sun-dried grass and hay, powdery amber, hot, warm cardamom, basil, singed cedar and oak bark and ashes and incense, all on a bed of jasmine. Read More

Happy Valentine’s Day!(Carnal Flower)

Posted on February 14, 2016 by elemonated

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you have as lovely a one as I will with someone special!

First of all, it’s freezing where I’m writing this. Mr. Chokkattu’s new landlord sounds like a cheap bastard from all I’ve heard of him and seems to be illegally turning off the heat wherever he feels it would save him money. This is coming from a household that tries to keep the heating and cooling to a minimum, and regularly has to turn up the heat or up the air conditioning for guests; what I am experiencing is worse. I had my feet on a radiator for a while and that radiator has been shut off for god knows why.

Anyway, all this to say that this is not the optimal temperature for Carnal Flower, and I know this, so while I’m going to write my reactions based off of how I feel now, I’ve had Carnal Flower for a while and I know it’s an entirely different beast when allowed to bloom in say, 80 degree weather when driving to the beach, as I have worn it in the past.

Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, for those who may not know, was composed by Dominique Ropion. Mr. Ropion has concocted other potions for Frederic Malle, as well as Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Dior, Armani, Givenchy, Gucci, JLo, Kenzo, a regular crap-ton for Lancome, YSL, and the creator of Thierry Mugler’s Alien and Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb. His career has been a pretty veritable success, and I’m sure if we measured perfumers the way we measure musicians, he would have hit platinum or double platinum or whatever the distinction above that is by now. Read More

Wrap-Up Wednesday! (Fragrance)

Posted on February 10, 2016 by elemonated

Oh the things that have been going on in the fragrance world!

1.
mguerlainpersefume Read More

Parfums de Marly: Oajan, Lippizan, Kuhuyan reviews!

Posted on February 2, 2016 by elemonated

Parfums de Marly is another one of those fun contemporary fragrance houses that liken to old traditions; as far back as Louis XV’s prestigious horse races, and as front-facing as the MySpace-esque format and music on their web page. But that’s not a knock; the page has a clean, intuitive look, and I appreciate it over the many companies who believe it should be as difficult and stylistic as possible to learn any information on their pages. I do wish the waltz they’re playing didn’t stop so abruptly before starting over.

Anyway, I have heard good things about this brand, and hope to one day also try Herod and Habdan, as well as see their take on women’s fragrances!

Warby Parker Home Try-On take 2

Posted on January 20, 2016 by elemonated

The first box of choices didn’t impress me a ton but I got an e-mail about their Spring 2016 line and there was a pair in an ad on Facebook that I felt the need to have so…a second box it is! Photo credit to Mr. Chokkattu, bonus credit goes to my new Yesstyle convertible scarf.

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6 Kickstarters that deserve your attention

Posted on January 15, 2016 by elemonated

I was browsing Kickstarter the other day after watching a video on the Japanese maker movement, reading some of my backed projects’ updates, and flipping through Penpal, a Kickstarter-funded horror novel I discovered and backed a while back, when I realized that I have never written anything about Kickstarter itself.

Imaginary Authors: Stories III (Every Storm a Serenade)

Posted on January 11, 2016 by elemonated

I’ll preface this to say that when Mr. Chokkattu got Every Storm a Serenade in the mail, it also came with Cape Heartache and Yesterday Haze and Yesterday Haze had leaked all over everything. Mr. Chokkattu, who is not a big fan of fig, was not pleased and we tried to scrub it off our hands and off the other bottles and were unable. The other samples still smelled ostensibly like Yesterday Haze for a whole week, and it stuck to our hands for hours afterwards. Mr. Chokkattu also reported his clothes smelling like it the next day. So for all of you that really like fig and woods, but were concerned about longevity, don’t be. Yesterday Haze is a great fig. Get a bottle, have fun.

I have a lot to say about this one. Every Storm a Serenade is Imaginary Author’s “traveling by ocean” aquatic scent (read: woody) in comparison with their Falling Into the Sea aquatic scent, which is more “at the beach” and not a little soapy in execution. And Falling Into the Sea lasts an awful lot longer, which is unfortunate because I’m not that fond of Falling Into the Sea at this temperature, and like Every Storm much better.

Quebec City Day 3

Posted on January 4, 2016 by elemonated

Last day mainly consisted of eating brunch at a super adorable place called Le Lapin Saute, visiting a frozen waterfall, and driving home. A sad parting from an adorable city with awesome people.

License plate summary of my trip.

Quebec City Day 2

Posted on January 3, 2016 by elemonated

DOG SLEDDING.

DOGS.

I LOVE DOGS.

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THERE WERE SO MANY TODAY AND THEY WERE ALL SO ADORABLE.

Also, dog sledding is incredibly exhilarating. It makes you feel powerful and strong and the cold air rushing past your face while you ride through trails with your team is just perfect. I highly recommend it. Don’t be afraid to be in control either! I “drove” for two straight hours, then a break, and then Mr. Chokkattu drove the last hour back to the compound, and our path guide was about as big as I was. We managed just fine, though being a lighter weight has mild disadvantages (kids, for example, just by weight should not be given control of the sleds, as the family we road in a group with showed by constantly falling behind and falling off their sled. They were great sports about it though!)