Friday, January 29, 2010

SOTD: Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan (And signs of spring.)

Photo of a groundhog munching on a flower.
I've mentioned the mildly puzzling fact that I swoon over Osmanthe Yunnan in the summer, and just respond with a shrug and a "Meh. Pretty. Kinda sweet." in the winter.

I'm seeing signs of spring just now. The magnolia tree has buds, and the daffodils are showing their heads. So I tried Osmanthe Yunnan today, as a sort of test.

Meh. Pretty. Kinda sweet.

Six more weeks of winter? I'd believe a perfume over a groundhog, after all.

I am puzzled as to why I have this reaction, though. Especially about the sweet part - why should Osmanthe Yunnan seem sugary in winter and not in summer? I really need to learn more about perfume - about that whole chemicals-rising-from-the-skin thing. I want to be a more informed perfume geek. There are probably books on the subject. Hopefully at least a few that don't require a chemistry degree.

Forgot the Review Roundup! It's here.

Photo: By Reinhard Kraasch. Wikimedia Commons.

4 comments:

  1. Groundhogs think it is the same day every day, as I recall, so their concept of seasonality is bound to be flawed. I'd go with your nose.

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  2. I've only tried HOY in the fall, and it smelled like soggy teabag after half an hour, so I'm in a similar boat as you.

    I do think there is something to the seasonality of scent, though, to your wider point. I haven't been at this long enough to know if things smell differently to me throughout the year, but I do certainly know that I crave different smells throughout the seasons.

    I went back and dusted off Guerlain "Rose Barbare" and liked it a whole lot more on this try than I did 5-6 months ago. It made me want to try some other near-misses again. (When my nose clears up... Achoo!)

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  3. Love this Hermessence but never wear it when it's cold.

    I don't trust the groundhogs either and go with my senses. These days I don't need to go with my nose cuz it's so blinkin' cold out there: snow storms and -35 winds tell me it's still winter.

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  4. Yep, flittersniffer, I don't think I'd trust the weather predictions of that groundhog up there. He looks drunk on clover.

    Yeah, LCN, the seasonal thing is weird. I formed a long and rambling theory about it a while ago (you can find the post by searching "voles", of all things, in the blog), but it doesn't explain my Osmanthe Yunnan issue, because part of the theory was that in the winter you prefer the smell of things with carbs, so I should like the sugar, right? Except, well, I also theorized that we like sweaty animalic smells in winter, and Osmanthe Yunnan is about as clean as it gets. Hmm.

    lovethescents, ow! I haven't been anywhere that cold in a long time. (Well, I was on the East Coast last January, but it wasn't _that_ bad.)

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