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Ellis Brooklyn Myth Review

Posted on by elemonated

I think it’s that citrus-y and herbaceous bergamot on top of the cassis that makes this one almost scrumptious, or at least very tangible on the tongue.

Myth is “Bergamot, cassis and jasmine petals makes a first impression before lingering with patchouli, liquid musks and white cedarwood.”

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It doesn’t matter that pineapple and mango and melon aren’t listed as notes. Whatever the cassis was supposed to provide turns into a way more tropical fruity note. Like a mango or melon Hi-Chew. Myth smells like a twist on a mimosa with the brunchiest, Instagram-friendly accouterments: sunshine, lily petals strewn around the base of the glass and a few thrown in the glass itself for good measure, served on a coaster because the wood for table that was chosen doesn’t actually hold up to the function it was purchased to serve. Read More

Ellis Brooklyn Fable Review

Posted on by elemonated

Neroli is the essential oil of the orange blossom drawn using steam distillation from the bitter orange tree. Orange blossom also comes from the bitter orange tree, from the same blossom, but via enfleurage, which is the application of fat solids to pull out fragrance compounds from an item. Petitgrain is from the same tree but is made from steam distillation of the twigs and leaves. (Thanks Jessica Murphy from NST and Perfume Professor for that info. Also shout-out to Brooklyn Brainery because even when I look through the list of classes in their email newsletter like “I am not free for ANY of this” I’m still like “what is shibori even though” and “maybe I should start wool-working and also make a puff representation of my dog.”)

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You’re so lame mom, please don’t.

I’m not the biggest fan of neroli. Most of the purer forms of it remind me too much of Froot Loops and I just don’t have any fun memories that would make the smell of neroli as significant to me as it is unique. During sniff-tests I’m usually standing next to neroli lovers, lovers of the Italian coastline, lovers of the Spanish coastline who are smiling and talking about their grandparents and their past trips and trips they want to take and saying absolutely nothing, smiling with them, appreciating the fragrance as objectively as I can, and swallowing down cereal jokes until that part of the conversation is over.

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Penhaligon’s Vaara

Posted on by elemonated

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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Ormonde Jayne Rose Gold

Posted on by elemonated

I snagged this one up during Ormonde Jayne’s promotion celebrating the British team’s 67 medals in the Olympics! Too bad the US crushed that number with 121 medals and China edged you guys out at 70 as well, though Great Britain did get more gold medals.

Details aside, everyone did well this year at the Olympics and everyone had something to celebrate in Rio. Except, of course, for Ryan Lochte’s teammates who had to face the consequences of their (and his) actions while Mr. Lochte celebrated getting the hell out of Rio in business class and out of the clutches of Brazilian law enforcement; for a little while at least.

But I digress.

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Guerlain Myrrhe et Delires

Posted on by elemonated

Okay so I disappeared again for a month. Whoops! I’ve been working hard for money to afford books and perfume remember? I’ll post some of the fruits of my labor later this week.

I received a decant of Myrrhe et Delires as one of those fruits.

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Guerlain Myrrhe et Delires

The little cap on top of my decant smells like what violet candy tastes like to most young people: violets, vanilla, resin, and soap.

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Penhaligons Equinox Bloom review

Posted on by elemonated

Mr. Chokkattu, being the wonderful, amazing, and very attractive young man he is, gave me a bottle of Penhaligon’s Equinox Bloom for our one year anniversary even though he should have saved his money now that he has to pay rent, gas, and internet and left the frivolous spending to the girl who can save a little under half her tiny paycheck and still have enough to eat hipster-priced foods and ask for tea instead of water.

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Photo and formatting credit to Mr. Chokkattu

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Barcelona 1.2 (Museo del Perfum)

Posted on by elemonated

It’s been one busy week since I’ve been back, but I think I’ve finally gotten back into the swing of things and I’m just hoping I can keep my energy up. I will probably be making tons of lists and setting alarms as well as calendar events this week just to keep track of everything. And it certainly doesn’t help that I haven’t gotten used to organizing and paying attention to several calendars at once.

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Anyway, on the first day in Barcelona, we were walking down Passeig de Gracia and we came across Perfumeria Regia which, if you didn’t know, has a backdoor mini-museum of very old perfume bottles that you can ask to see for about €5. I only wish it was more a museum and less of a fairly unorganized (though it does seem to go by years? Except the Chinese stuff is strewn about the room, and most of the bottles don’t have dates next to them) not well-lit, dusty, hodge-podge of someone’s probably meticulously gathered collection. It’s just doesn’t seem very dignified to toss around history like that. It was more a tome than a museum which is a shame.

That being said, I tried to take as many decent pictures as I could with my afraid-of-the-dark camera phone and then edit them to color correct (though a lot of the yellowness/warmth is native to the room) and make sure the bottles are highlighted!  Read More

Happy Valentine’s Day!(Carnal Flower)

Posted on 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