floral

Ineke A-H: Gilded Lily

Posted on by elemonated

Something light and happy, full orchestra!

Danny Elfman’s Sandra’s Theme from Big Fish

Gilded Lily

Wet: oregano, violet, lily, oakmoss, patchouli
Dry: lily, honey, oregano, citrus, oakmoss, powdery resin

This smells as though someone took an enormous amount of lilies and buried them in a stone garden and was immediately set on fire, and the scent is that moment as everything becomes really hot but nothing is smoking yet. It’s a very, very fleeting moment that is now preserved in my imagination by scent. The lilies are rooted in the stick labdanum and oakmoss and while it gives a nice, warm floral feeling, I really wish there was a little more dirt to round it out and make this the organic scent I was hoping this would turn into. This scent is sweet and fragrant and a little flirty, but I don’t find it sexy. This is more for the girl next door who wears fuzzy pastel sweaters and greets everyone with an enthusiastic “Hi!” Pretty, cute, and light-hearted.

Avon’s Haiku

Posted on by elemonated

This was probably my second blind buy ever, and it was because someone mentioned how gorgeous the bottle was and that it was a strong white floral. Since I agreed that the bottle was pretty enough just to decorate my desk if I didn’t end up liking the scent, I’m a sucker for white florals, and the bottle with shipping cost me like $11, I took the tiny jump and got it.

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” – Claude Monet

Avon’s Haiku

Wet: lily, yuzu, water, musk
Dry: lily, jasmine, pineapple, musk, water, yuzu

Haiku is a very girly, fruity iced drink, all cold floral notes and a slightly tart sweetness, kind of like a frozen margarita if the recipe included yuzu, pineapple, and some essential oils stripped from flowers. It’s a strong floral with a fruity bite to it, and I think it’s very approachable without being boring. It gets to be like a lotion smell when it warms up a little, which should prove very pleasant to some people. I just wish there was something dirty or salty about it. That, I think, would make this a really wonderful fragrance. I’ll take it to the beach with me this summer and find out.

Happy Lunar New Year, guys!

Baaaa.

Olfactory symbolism

Posted on by elemonated

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15638746/ns/business-us_business/t/perfumes-tied-film-do-not-all-smell-well/#.VKd0rCvF8WI

I just realized Thierry Mugler offered a coffret of 15 scents to go along with certain parts of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer in a promotion for the film (which I have yet to watch, forgive me, I’ll get to it.) I can’t. I’m a little ready to cry. Not that I would have had the money or interest back when the movie came out, since I wouldn’t have started high school yet, but the knowledge it existed and I missed it feels like a grand joke. And no one’s selling the full thing anywhere, which is to be expected.

Oddly enough, this discovery is what drove me to actually filling out applications today. I was so distraught that I was not rich or powerful enough to have this, I was determined to try and start being goddamn rich and powerful.

My priorities, ah.

I’ve always been struck by the “soft talking, big stick carrying” lilt of effective, ruthless power though, and generally wealth and power are conveyed through resins like amber or labdanum, but that signals brute force to me, not the more interesting duplicitous nature of a politician. Something that appeals to the majority, with something kind of off about it

In fact, I only discovered the coffret after searching for a realistic bloody floral (I’m not British. I mean copper, magnesium, skin, salt: blood) after a description of President Snow in The Hunger Games intrigued me. His signature was blood and roses, which would be intriguing enough, but not only can I not find an approximate for blood and roses with notes and reviews that reflect what I’m looking for, I would actually like to find a white floral mixed with blood. I’m on that jasmine kick, remember? It’s a scent reference, so I’m into it on principle. It would have been bomb to see Jennifer Lawrence at least wrinkle her nose in the new movie during those scenes, but I guess I can’t expect that much from snack food YA.

I’ll just content myself with another movie quote of her’s, probably one of my favorites from a new movie:

“There’s this top coat that you can only get from Switzerland and I love the smell of it. I’m running out of it and I don’t know what to do. The top coat, it’s like perfumey, but there’s also something rotten. I know it’s crazy but I can’t get enough of it. Historically, the best perfumes in the world they’re all laced with something nasty. It’s true! Irving loves it. He can’t get enough of it. Sweet and sour, rotten and delicious. Flowers, but with garbage.”
– Rosalyn, American Hustle

(By the way, if you haven’t seen American Hustle, I highly recommend it. It makes New Jersey relevant. Kind of.)