I tried this before, and was unimpressed.
But I just saw a post about Theorema on I Smell Therefore I Am, pointing out an olfactory relationship between Un Crime Exotique and Theorema. And I've always seen a relationship between Sushi Imperiale (which I've always adored), Theorema (which I now adore) and Un Crime Exotique (which was a "meh" for me.) So I figured it was time to try Un Crime Exotique again to see if I love it now.
Oh, yes. Oh, my. How could I have sniffed this before and not fallen in love?
Most people say that this perfume smells of gingerbread; I say that it's a precise rendition of pfeffernusse. Those spicy little holiday cookies, with the powdered sugar or, sometimes, sugar glaze? They're almost a perfume in a cookie. More anise than gingerbread, more cinnamon, altogether just a little darker. Here's that same scent in a bottle. As I wear it, I feel as if powdered sugar should be gently raining on me.
Review Roundup: For The Love Of Perfume and Now Smell This and Sweet Diva and The Scented Salamander and PerfumeQueen and Nathan Branch and SmellyBlog and MakeupAlley and Basenotes.
Edited to expand the Review Roundup.
Photo of star anise: Arria Belli. Wikimedia Commons.
As if I didn't have enough to do on Christmas Eve, with a house to clean, fresh cinnamon rolls to be made for Christmas morning, and three children to wrangle... I'm posting comments on your blog again.
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the way, I'm enjoying your posts very much. (Did you do NaNoWriMo? I see your badge over there... This was my second year with it, and it was tons of fun but it just kills my December, I get so far behind.)
Re: Theorema - I like it, I like it very much. It just hasn't fallen over into outright love. I do love Organza Indecence, but Theorema always makes me think that it's missing some vital ingredient... still not sure what, even after several testings.
I adore both pfeffernusse and gingerbread - may have to test UCE and your fave SI. (Regarding gingerbread, my take is that Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille smells more like it than Bois des Iles. Yet I love BdI, and TV is nice but dull.) Oh, and fruitcake, I love that too - but that's Mauboussin, all dried fruit-spicy-woodsy goodness, with the dense creaminess of a good cream cheese icing played by its tonka-benzoin base.
Well, I'm glad you're posting. Surely there's time while the cinnamon rolls rise or something, right? (Mmm, cinnamon rolls...)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yep, I did NaNoWriMo, and at roughly word thirty thousand words finally found out what my novel is about. So I may outline it and start it completely from scratch for the next NaNoWriMo.
I felt that way about Theorema too - something missing, that is. I think it was Bois de Copaiba that somehow made me love Theorema. Even though I don't love Bois de Copaiba at all. I just respect it as something that I'm not ready for.
Yes! Try them both! (UCE, SI) You might find them to be a little redundant with each other. I shouldn't be considering owning them both, since they're both "spicy winter holiday scents", but I love them both so much. I quibble by saying that Sushi Imperiale is also spicy _drinks_ - people compare it to Dr. Pepper - but that's just rationalizing. I just Want. (Well, and I have Sushi Imperiale, so it's UCE that needs the rationalization.)
I love Tobacco Vanille, but I feel no particular drive to own it - I haven't even gotten around to buying a decant. So apparently I don't love it that much.
Bois des Iles is on my list to try, and I have higher hopes now that I love Cuir de Russie - I was wondering if I was just not a Chanel person any more.
Hmmm. I may have a sample of Maboussin. I didn't "get" it. Sounds like I should try it again. I think I had it mentally classified as floral and tried it in the warm season.