interesting | Pomelo girl thoughts

Zoologist Perfumes Review: Beaver

Posted on December 11, 2014 by elemonated

Zoologist Perfumes
Beaver

Wet: water, musk, cedar, gasoline
Dry: water, lemon (probably the linden-blossom, which apparently smells like honey, which smells like sugared lemons to me), iris, leather, musk, cedar

In human behavior, a down-turned wrist is a secret untold and a sign of defiance, and an upturned wrist is surrender and vulnerability. When my wrist is turned up towards my face, the scent opens up and I get a lot of floral and cedar chips floating on the water. When I turn my wrist around, the water, musk, and leather are what dominates. The castoreum is very apparent, which is fun, and it’s definitely not a super clean scent. I regret putting it on my clean wrist, and not going out to find someone sweaty at the gym to put it on. It could make B.O make sense.

Zoologist reviews coming soon!

Posted on December 9, 2014 by elemonated

This picture’s from the company’s Instagram!

Zoologist is a new perfume company started by Victor Wong in 2013 in Toronto. Their aim is to capture the many facets of different wildlife and to turn those facets into something interesting and beautiful. I got this pack over the weekend and am excited to share my thoughts on the scents soon!

I first heard about the line on Reddit, and I’m all for trying out new things :3

According to the website:

“Beaver Eau de Parfum opens with a breath of linden-blossom and fresh air, trailed by a redolent infusion of castoreum and iris. A whisper of vanilla interweaves with earth and smoke. Finally, crisp cedar wood and ash emerge, bathed in warm amber.

Using a base of synthetic beaver musk, also known as castoreum, Zoologist takes a modern approach to a classic ingredient, creating an elegant and subtle unisex perfume perfect for those who adore this powerful scent.”

“Panda Eau de Parfum is a fresh green fragrance that combines the delightful scents of bamboo and zisu leaves to send you on an unforgettable aromatic adventure. Your journey begins at a quaint Sichuan pepper farm surrounded by mountain streams and then leads you through a forest of osmanthus flowers as you finally make your way into a cozy garden filled with juicy mandarin trees and blooming lilies. Panda is a scent ensemble that will truly awaken and rejuvenate your senses”

“Rhinoceros Eau de Parfum establishes itself with a dry, slightly boozy rum note, like heat shimmering on the still savannah. The air crackles with lavender and sage. A warm breeze carries the scent of leather and rich tobacco. In the distance a rugged, dignified behemoth contemplates the vast expanse while amber, vetiver, smoke and sandalwood drift on the horizon.

This substantial and captivating scent blends the traditionally masculine and high quality notes of leather*, vetiver, cedar, bergamot and sandalwood with the more mellow rum, tobacco, lavender and agarwood. The result is a musky, well-balanced, enigmatic and alluring accord.”

I’m probably most excited for the Rhinoceros and the Panda. And I can’t wait to spray certain people with it…

Coffee

Posted on October 18, 2014 by elemonated

Because I, and many of my peers, colleagues, and supervisors all over the world drink this black gold everyday, all day, and are chemically and behaviorally reliant on it for our daily functions…

The happiness and pride these people take in their coffee feels so much more genuine than the, at times hostile, song and dance the coffee geeks and small-batch packagers that I live around do. At most, the people around me teach me something about coffee in their weird, myopically western way.

Also, to balance out this anthropological episode, I bring you

So be careful with your intake and try to get your body’s worth of sleep!

Chocolate: three ways

Posted on June 26, 2014 by elemonated

Damian Allsop’s Water Chocolates

Having used and shaped chocolate in the past, this is intriguing to me because water was usually the bane of my existence. I can’t even imagine what the process would be to keep the chocolate from separating into an unappetizing grainy mess. It’s apparently about 10% less fat than regular chocolate, and I believe the chocolatiers when they say the process makes eating the chocolate a lot more of a pure chocolate taste experience. I wonder if it’s genuinely creamy, or if it’s more of a hard candy texture. Obviously, I really, really want to try it ;D

I was also looking into some Latino literature and was thinking I would start reading Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Defying preset roles and destinies, growing the nerve to stand up to crazy people, and expressing oneself through food, complete with recipes? Sounds fantastic. In fact, a lot of Latino literature seems to include something food-related, generally as a mood indicator. I think that this common device, which, don’t get me wrong, is used in a lot of literature in a lot of cultures, is interestingly blatant. It’s very clear what Rebecca’s lime-eating tic in One Hundred Years of Solitude is supposed to indicate (though I’m sure there’s subtext in there that I haven’t yet examined), and Like Water for Chocolate creates a story where for a while, the biggest indicator of Tita’s emotions are her cooking (according to Goodreads, haha.) Antonio in Bless Me, Ultima is picked on for eating traditional Mexican food at school, an obvious indication of the difficulties of trying to stay true to both your roots and your leaves. It’s so clearly intertwined with descriptions of culture, it’s fascinating.

And of course, we return to modernity: chocolate chicken.

Have you seen how incredible chocolate fried chicken looks?

Unfortunately, it’s on the other side of the country, so I guess I’ll build up my Type 2 Diabetes some other way. Sigh.