SOTD: Ava Luxe Figuier

A recent post about figs on My Perfumed Life reminded me that I'm still unreconciled with fig perfumes. I do love Parfumerie Generale Jardin de Kerylos, though apparently not enough to actually buy it when it comes down to that or something else. Diptyque Philosykos is sugar-sweet and rather boring to my nose, and other figs rarely work much better for me.  So today, when rummaging through the sample stash, I chose Ava Luxe Figuier.

I like it, but I don't love it. It's not as sweet as Philosykos, but it's still a little too sweet. It has a powdery note, which is normally a negative to me, but in this case I like it - it's a nice powder, and it adds texture and makes the fragrance less fruity.

But I'm still a one-fig girl - Jardin de Kerylos is it. And I continue to puzzle over why others like most of the figs when I'm so very halfhearted about them. And why no one but me seems to read Philosykos as sugar sweet. Sometimes I imagine that my nose is the olfactory equivalent of partially color blind, and I find myself wishing for a smell-related test like those visual tests for color blindness - like this one - to find out if my nose is normal or not.

Meanwhile, I'm going to longingly stare at pictures of Jardin de Kerylos. Because my perfume purchase schedule tells me that I'm not allowed to buy any more perfume until, I believe, January of 2012.

Heh.

Image: By Jules. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Ava Luxe Figuer (Very quick sniff)

I was going to try another over application experiment today, but the scheduling (that is, ensuring that no one would be around to be drowned) didn't work out.

So instead, a very quick sniff of Ava Luxe Figuer. Sadly, I have the same response to this that I have to other figs. Pretty, sweet, fruity, coconut, lovely scent, no interest in owning it.

So the search for my fig continues. Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea was wonderful at the first sniff, but started to cloy very quickly. Diptyque Philosykos has nothing to complain about, but it just doesn't excite me. I do have a sample of Parfumerie Generale Jardin de Kerylos; I'll give that a try soon.

Review Roundup: Can't find any!

Fig Roundup: So instead, I round up articles on fig from Perfume-Smellin' Things and Perfume-Smellin' Things again and Perfume Posse and Perfume Posse again and Now Smell This and Now Smell This again and Now Smell This a third time and Memory & Desire.

Photo: By Kolya Pynti. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Ava Luxe Moroccan Mint Tea

I love this.

It's no longer available in the form that I'm wearing. I don't know if it's available at all.

I failed to buy a full bottle when I had the chance.

Grumble.

Ava Luxe is the creation of Serena Ava Franco, a well-regarded independent perfumer whose wares are less available than they were a few months ago. Her storefront has changed and is selling only a selected group of perfume oils, instead of the large variety of perfumes that were once available. This has resulted in much whispering and hand-wringing about the future of a number of well-loved scents, including this one.

To me, this smells like Corsican mint, a scent that I love. The mint note is dominant and quite strong, making me think of essential oil of the herb, rather than watery refreshing visions of ice and mint leaves. And that's just fine with me, especially in winter where too much light freshness doesn't smell quite right. Some reviewers find that the tea note overtakes the mint as the fragrance develops, but this isn't true for me - for me, it's mint and more mint from beginning to end.

Again, fine with me - lovely mint, worth sniffing your wrist all day. If Ava Luxe brings it back, I'll correct my mistake and buy a bottle.

Review Roundup: Basenotes and MakeupAlley.

And posts about Ava Luxe on Perfume Smellin' Things and Indie Perfumes.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons