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Since I don’t wear rings…

Link | Posted on by elemonated

Since I don’t wear rings…

When I get married, I want this. I’m not all that into sparkles at all so diamonds just don’t hold appeal for me. On the other hand, The Box is all of the metaphor and symbolism and emotion-triggering that I would want in a sentimental gift from someone I would want to be with forever. Every scent would be a reminder of a moment we had or would have together. Plus, with so many scents, I likely won’t run out of them before I can pass it to my child and explain to them mommy’s weird obsession with smelly things!

This isn’t the only collection that would make me happy. There are so many awesome fragrance blends and single accords out there that any small collection would likely get me excited. Smell is one of the slowest-processing memories we make, it lasts longer. Any scent that makes an emotional impact sticks with you. I don’t think that many people can say the same about a sparkle.

Unfortunately for me, and the guy whom I may marry one day, it’s really expensive. More expensive than a lot of rings for sure. If it was a wedding present from my parents or a bunch of friends pooled together for it, that would be alright too, heh 😀 *winknudge*

(Also, you can totally get me gift certificates in the meantime :D…)

Surrender to Chance – April

Posted on by elemonated

April
Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist
Wet: baby powder, lotion, vetiver, carrots?, tiny bit of pepper
Dry-down: baby powder, carrot juice, sandalwood, musk
From far: baby powder, sandalwood

2/16/14

It honestly just smells like Vaseline lotion to me. Like all I can think of is putting Vaseline Intensive Care all over my hands and having the pleasant but slightly medicinal smell follow me throughout the day. I’ll try it in a month and see how I feel then, but it’s just…I mean, it’s nostalgic in a way, but in a way that makes my hands feel a little greasy. I’m so damn confused.

4/20/14

All of the notes I got were the same and it’s still…weird. It’s less like lotion and more like I’ve been peeling carrots all day (and I know what that smells like since I just did that the other weekend for an event!) and it’s just odd. Not entirely unpleasant, just not anything like something I would wear for any reason. Ah well. Win some, lose some, right?

The Surrender to Chance site just in case you forgot 🙂

Surrender to Chance – March

Posted on by elemonated

March: CB I Hate Perfume Black March Water

Wet: cut grass, wet leaves, moss, sandalwood?
Dry-down: cut grass, moss, pink flowers, rain, orchid
From far: Nothing really; the floral notes
Lasts: Not long at all. It’s gone within an hour for the most part

This is so interesting. It starts out like taking a drink from a fountain with rain and twigs and leaves in it or walking through the woods during, well, March, on a cloudy day. I don’t even think I can get over it; it’s so delightfully fresh. It’s almost like I’m sinking my teeth into the ground and instead of tasting disgusting the way eating dirt really does, it tastes like what I feel like it should taste like. It’s how dew or rain on a head of hair should smell.

It legitimately makes me feel happy in such cold, unforgiving weather. And then it fades into a liquid flowers smell, as if you took a bouquet of mostly honeysuckle and orchids and a rosebud or two and submerged them in water. A little like what rosebud tea would smell like if it were mixed with violets and a peppercorn or two (and now I have to go make tea. Thanks a lot, designers at CB.) The end scent has a lazy, warm, sunny element to it, as opposed to the beginning’s chilly, cloudy day.

Honestly, I’m in love, and I’ll have to stash this for a rainy spring day. I see this being worn by someone wearing a navy or red trench coat, holding a non-descript umbrella, wearing some knee-highs boots on a wet road. If this all sounds overly pretentious and poetic, I apologize. These are just the images that have been making an appearance in my head.

No seriously, it’s kind of insane how much I like this. I keep sniffing it and audibly sighing.

I’m done now, I swear.

ZOMGSmells: Dr. Zomg’s Fulminator Argentine review

Posted on by elemonated

Just got my ZOMGSmells package of 2ml bottles of Spice Hypatia and Vory vs. Zarkony; two of my absolute favorite scents of theirs! But this post is not about those, no sirree. Holly and Ariel also included three squees I haven’t tried and I’m really excited to try them!

Dr. Zomg’s Fulminator Argentine
Squee 1
Wet: nutmeg, clove, cardamom, pepper, orange, myrrh,
Dry-down: sage, candied violet, orange, myrrh, sage
From afar: nutmeg, clove, cardamom, orange
Longevity: This is an essential oil mix so it’s going to last quite some time just on principle.

I really like how it starts out. Really spicy and rich with a lift from the orange and a powdered sugar type sweetness from the myrrh. I didn’t get any sage, though I would have wanted to. It’s fairly sweet and tasty at this point and I would probably wear it to class.

I didn’t quite enjoy how it dried and ended. It lost the majority of its deeper cardamom qualities and the cardamom’s settled to a base note with the myrrh and orange on top and it creates this fake grape smell that I don’t really enjoy. At one point the sage pops up and makes the fake grape scent a little more interesting, but for the most part, all I can smell is Sweet Tarts ground into a powder. Although strangely, this is only when I push my nose up close.

From a distance, the cardamom and orange reign over the other spices and is back at the balance I liked. Though as it fades again, it reverts back to fake grape. What is this sorcery??

Overall an interesting scent. I would have considered wearing it to class at the beginning, but it’s too sweet and powdery for me. It’s a fun and sweet scent, and candy fiends who are into pressed sugar candy would probably enjoy it a lot 😀

Surrender to Chance! (More perfume reviews!)

Posted on by elemonated

Surrender to Chance is an online fragrance decant and sample selling website that has some great ready-made sets for certain occasions or off of note preference, time of day, and other characteristics! I just purchased their 12 Months of Scent sample pack and I’m stoked to share my feelings on them :3

Let’s get to it!

  •  January: Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Women

Wet: pine, dill, cucumber, vetiver, pepper
Dry-down: pepper, pine, wood, jasmine, amber
From afar: pine/wood, violet, jasmine, amber
Lasts: Medium length, three obvious hours and then it fades off.

It’s very fresh and dry and soothing. It’s what I’d think of sophisticated without being too “old.” It may be a few years more mature than myself though, but that’s perfectly fine. It’s spicy, and I like the vetiver a lot. It’s actually fairly masculine for a feminine fragrance, and that suits me just fine. It’s almost less sweet than the Versace Blue Jeans for Men, which is my go-to day scent.  It’s definitely more mellow and more flowery than Blue Jeans.

I’m a big fan now. I think it’s flirty, but flirty in the awesome conversationalist, half-smile, bedroom eyes sort of way. It gives off an air of intelligence if that makes any sense. It seems like it would translate well to a business office or to a low-key night out.

  • February: Jo Malone Blue Agave & Cacao

Wet: musk, the chocolate, vanilla
Dry-down: taro, cardamom, bubblegum
From far: nothing really; musk and bubblegum
Lasts: Medium length, two obvious hours and then only when you’re really up close

It’s definitely sweet, and quite interesting. I only get the cacao at the beginning when it’s wet, and then it’s completely overtaken by other lighter and sweeter scents. Fragrantica says this should start with citrus, but I can’t detect any on my skin. It smells like warm bubblegum or taro bubble tea. It’s a pretty bouncy, fun smell, and a little like a slightly dusty room on a hot day.

It’s a nice scent. It’s fun and tasty and cute, and I can definitely see someone with a non-confrontational and cheery personality pull this off. It’s too sweet for me right now in the winter, but I would consider wearing it to the beach. 

Prada Candy L’eau Review!

Posted on by elemonated

My roommate uses the Prada Candy L’Eau and she’s a little apprehensive of the day when she actually has to shell out for an actual bottle it since all she uses now are the little samples of it she’s been hoarding. She let me try a bit and I thought I’d finally update with another fragrance review since it’s been so long 😀 

Wet, I get lychee in cooking sugar, and at first it’s actually quite similar to Hanae Mori Hanae Mori with its fruity and flowery bursts. It is, however, lighter and there’s a bit of violet that I get that I really like. It doesn’t open up my palate like Hanae Mori Hanae Mori does either. Fragrantica says the top notes are citrus-y, but I don’t really get that at all. It’s more like the citrus acts like the citrus when making apple cider; it doesn’t speak for itself, but it does add an important layer that lifts the entire scent.

As it dries down, I mostly smell cooking sugar (not quite the caramel listed on Fragrantica) and this faint, rubbery off-note, probably a side effect of the musk, that disappears fairly quickly. I get a lot of vanilla, and the scent really gets creamy and round.

After a few minutes, it smells like cooking sugar, vanilla, wildflowers and violets, and musk. It’s now much less fruity and much more mellow than the Hanae Mori Hanae Mori. It does actually make me feel a little hungry because it’s such a sweet scent. It’s been about an hour and I can still smell it on my wrists while I type even though I’m a good foot and a half away from my keyboard.

It’s very sweet and feminine, and a rather tasty scent, and if that appeals to you, definitely check it out. I can’t say it’s particularly sassy or flirty. I think it’s even a little too saccharine, without a lot of contrasting or sparky notes, for its name. Candy evokes a cute, innocent cheekiness for me; Prada Candy L’Eau was strong on the cute and innocent, lacking on the cheeky. Still, my roommate wears it contrastingly with moto jackets and acid washed pants and pulls it off splendidly!

Versus Blue Jean by Versace for Men

Posted on by elemonated

Fragrance review #2: Versace/Versus Blue Jeans for Men

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I prefer scents marketed towards guys much of the time, and the Blue Jeans is no exception; in fact, it’s one of my favorite day time I’m-trying-to-be-a-sophisticated-business-chit scent. I generally find the ones marketed towards women too sweet or smell too old for my baby face, and they don’t seem to work on my skin as well as some of the spicier male scents do. I will, however, do a review soon on the female-marketed scents I enjoy eventually, because they definitely do exist!

Now, Blue Jeans is a little weird at first, soapy on first open, with a weird, light sprinkle of violet sugar on top. There’s a hint of wood, but it’s mostly an odd lemon pepper flavor with the floral sweetness up top. It smells a little like mixing Sprite and Dr. Pepper.

On my skin, it’s immediately peppery, woody, musky, and citrus-y. It dries down into a woody floral on me with a spritz of lime and it’s quite interesting and distinctive. The sandalwood comes through as a touch of sweetness. It’s really quite nice. I’ve found that it lasts fairly long on my skin, up to 6-7 hours or so. I wear it basically every day and am thoroughly happy with it!

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Odoro Perfume Review

Posted on by elemonated

http://odoroperfume.storenvy.com

Odoro is a new perfume company based in Columbus, Ohio. They reached out to /r/fragrance on Reddit a few weeks back and I decided to take the initiative and try them out, and I was not disappointed.

I only purchased three samples, but they actually sent me six in total. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it and the extra scents are lovely and fun 😀

Vanille Lune: Right out of the bottle it smells like a sweet floral vanilla, very tasty. It’s very subtle on my skin, but the vanilla obviously puts its foot forward immediately, followed by a rich buttery caramel, and what seems to me like a touch of lavender. Very, very pretty.

Jacinthe de Bois: Out of the bottle I get an almost coconut-like creaminess. On my skin it ripens to a honeysuckle-honeydew combination, and actually reminds me of an interesting macaron I had once that was flavored with violet with banana buttercream.

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