SOTD: Lancome Sikkim (Quick sniff)

I've mentioned the Lancome La Collection, purchased so that I could smell Climat. I also loved Mille et Une Roses. Today was my first sniff of Sikkim.

I can't make up my mind.

According to Perfume Posse, the notes are aldehydes, ylang ylang, bergamot, galbanum, gardenia, thujone, carnation, jasmine, narcissus, orris, rose, amber, castoreum, leather, moss, patchouli and vetiver. Whew.

I loved the top notes - aldehydes and galbanum and a mix of florals. This phase was old-fashioned, yes, but the kind of old-fashioned that qualifies as a compliment. Stylish. Vintage suit. Utterly assured. The stylish aunt, the one that you aspire to be when you get older, and then you realize that you could wear her scent right now. This is the closest that I've come to appreciating the value of aldehydes, rather than just tolerating them for the sake of other notes.

But in a few minutes it shifted and became the bad kind of old fashioned - headache inducing powdery aldehydes. A powdery aldehyde carrying a beautiful note can be a glorious thing; one carrying nothing is just olfactory noise. Sikkim dropped the galbanum and flowers on the floor at this point, and became noise.

I lost track of it at that point. Three or four hours later, I remembered to sniff again, and found that it had quietly improved. The powder is soft and pillowy now, and it's accompanied by something sweet and smooth - the narcissus? The gardenia? That's all dusted with a veil of moss, enough to keep it from being girly-pretty.

So, a lovely beginning, a headache-inducing middle, a quite nice end. I still can't decide.

Review Roundup: Now Smell This and Perfume Posse and Fragrantica and Yesterday's Perfume.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.