Penhaligon’s Vaara

Last one of this set. It’s been really fun trying out all of Penhaligon’s interpretations of womans’ fragrance, and I didn’t think I’d like this company anymore than I did but this set was delightful and now I own at least a little bit of 7 of their fragrances, which is crazy! The only other quantities I have to rival it is my number of L’Artisans and Annick Goutals. I love Serge Lutens as well, but I have like nothing sample or FB-wise relative to the number of fragrances I could have.

Alright, no more daydreaming. Let’s get on with the last one, shall we?

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Vaara

  • Wet: mimosa (the drink), honey, fruit juice, sweet rose
  • Dry: sweet rose, peony, magnolia, iris, saffron, honey, sandalwood, resins

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Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a good Christmas and did something as relaxing as a nature hike with your family…

…risky as eating raw oysters at a Chinese buffet…

And I hope you spent time with friends…

And ate some bangin’ food :3

ZOMGSmells: Dr. Zomg’s Fulminator Argentine review

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 😀