Perfume: Words and winter and stuff

So, I was going to sniff a perfume and write about it. I rummaged through the Largeish Decants drawer, sprayed on Vetiver Tonka, and waited for words to come.

Um.

"Medicinal."

That's all I've got.

This happens. The lack of words. Comes and goes. It may be part of the season change; it's hard to tell.

Now, Vetiver Tonka has never been one of my favorite perfumes. I don't adore it and I don't hate it. That could be part of the issue.

And I suspect that it's a late-winter perfume for me, rather than early winter. Right now, I'm craving oily, animalic, smokey perfumes. I seem to recall that as winter drags on into spring, I crave scents to sweep out and sanitize all that fur and sweat and smoke. So I'll return to Vetiver Tonka in, oh, March.

Meanwhile, what are the sweaty things that I'm seeking?

Caron Alpona has that smell of freshly-bathed cat, with oranges. Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque is lions prowling around the campfire. Robert Piguet Bandit, the modern version, is musky, if far too polite, rather like a tiger got an MBA and turned up in a double-breasted suit. Papillon Salome, now, that's a a fine batch of skankiness. Daim Blonde is  a very clean nest of white fur. I suspect that I'd like to bury myself in Aftelier Cepes & Tuberose, but the bottle is too tiny for truly enthusiastic drizzling. Oh, and the thought of Tom Ford Velvet Gardenia, and MCMC Kept are appealing.

Aside from the honey in Kept, I'm not, it seems craving the food fragrances. No syrup for me yet. Not even any tea; the thought of Tea for Two does nothing for me. When I check blog posts from previous years, this appears to be off kilter; a few years ago, I was enthusing about Ayala Moriel Guilt.

Hmm.

Image: By Tomitheos. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermes Hermessence Brin de Reglisse

There are scents that I love in the real world, but don't much like in perfumes--orange blossom, for example. And there are scents that I don't much like in the real world but love in perfumes. Brin de Reglisse appears to be an example of this second case.

I don't much like lavender--I smell it as dusty and passive-aggressive. But in Brin de Reglisse, the dustiness seems to be lacquered over with a sugary coating, so that I can visualize a sweet, purple, slightly juicy lavender replacement without any toxic personality characteristics. It's partly the licorice, no doubt--I love licorice--but I'm not sure where the sweetness is coming from.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image: Gisela Francisco. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermes Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan, and falling out of scent love

When I first tried Osmanthe Yunnan I loved it. It wasn't in my top five, but I quite understood Luca Turin's very high rating, and I enjoyed spraying it lavishly. I loved it so much on the first sniff that I have a clear technicolor memory of walking away from the Hermes boutique on a sunny San Francisco day. I even considered springing for a full bottle, instead of the bitty 15ml one.

Then, I'm not quite sure when, my attitude changed to "Meh. Kinda sweet." And it's never recovered. I try it now and then in the hope of falling back in love, but, no. Meh. Kinda sweet.

I've finally concluded that the original love was not for Osmanthe Yunnan, but for osmanthus, a scent that I wasn't previously familiar with. Novelty carried me through a few wearings, but now I want more side dishes with my creamy sweet flowers.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image: By Lyzzy. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Vetiver Tonka

I like this better and better every time I wear it. But I've never reviewed it. I suspect that that's because I can't quite put words to it. It's sharp, sometimes. And sweet sometimes and edible sometimes and medicinal sometimes. Sometimes it's weird and sometimes, for a moment, it's pretty, as in girly pretty. It's fresh, but not in the girly chiffon-flapping-over-a-crystal-blue-stream way that I can hear every time a perfume salesperson says "fresh".

But other people have words, so, here's the Review Roundup: Now Smell This and  Bois de Jasmin and  Basenotes and MakeupAlley and Perfume Shrine and Fragrantica and SmellyBlog and 1000Scents and MonkeyManMatts.

(The cat? Well, there's grass in the photo. Vetiver is a grass. See?
OK, yeah, he's just cute.)

Image: By Sage Ross. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermesence Osmanthe Yunnan

A little more peace and quiet Friday, and I did put on the Osmanthe Yunnan, my Signature Scent Challenge scent, one more time.

Why only one more time, you may ask? Because on Saturday we go to Barney's and the Challenge forbids sampling. I fear that Barney's wins out over any resolve.

That is all.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image: By Palbo. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan

I used to love this one. I fully understood Luca Turin's five stars. I debated a full bottle, even though it came in tiny bottles of the kind that I always lobby for.

But now, I can't remember what all the fuss was about. It's pretty flowers and milky tea with a little undissolved sugar crunching in my teeth. It's Perfectly Nice, and no more. What happened?

But, all the same, this is going to be my scent for March's Scent Challenge, a challenge based around the horrifying idea of wearing the same scent for a full week. This is, in part, because I'm temporarily away from my collection. But the other part is my desire to rediscover what I loved about it, and surely a week is enough to let me know that?

It won't actually be a week. The challenge ends on the eighth, so I had to start on Monday, but I didn't pack the Fou d'Absinthe that I wore on Monday, and then I forgot to wear anything at all on Tuesday. See? So I'll be wearing Osmanthe Yunnan for five days, and by the end we'll see if I've rediscovered its charms, or if I'm sick to death of it.

And now I'm off to write 1,667 words. Wish me luck.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image: By Dennis.B. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Vetiver Tonka

This seems to be Hermessence week.

This time, I enjoyed Vetiver Tonka while wearing it, instead of tolerating it and longing for it the next day. This seems like progress.

That is all. Except that it's Friday and therefore nap time.

(Huh. I still haven't done a Review Roundup for this? I should correct that.)

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Brin de Reglisse

While wearing this, I kept imagining a scenario where I met Jean-Claude Ellena (admittedly, not a likely eventuality) and enthused, "Brin de Reglisse is one of my favorite bug-killing scents!"  I suspect that would fail to have the complimentary result intended.

However, to my surprise, it's true. I strongly dislike lavender, but I quite like Brin de Reglisse. I do love licorice; that's probably the key.

That seems to be all that I have to say about this scent this time, but I'll offer the Review Roundup anyway.

Review Roundup: Now Smell This and Perfume Posse and Basenotes and SmellyBlog and Fragrantica and Scented Salamander and Nathan Branch and MakeupAlley and Legerdenez and PeredePierre.

Image: By Pikaluk. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan

I've said before that in winter, Osmanthe Yunnan is no more than a sugary floral. One summer, probably last summer, it was lovely. Fabulous. I was anticipating the return of that reaction when I wore it today, but today it was no more than pretty. Sweet and pink and tea, no more. But I'll try it again soon, in the hope that today I'm mistaken.

Review Roundup: Is here.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Vetiver Tonka

There are back of the neck scents, wrist scents, and neckline scents. Vetiver Tonka, I have discovered today, is not a neckline scent. That sharp grassy note needs a few more inches to develop before it reaches the nose.

And, well, that's about all today.

Image: By Staffan Enborn. Wikimedia Commons.

SOTD: Hermessence Vetiver Tonka

I've discussed Vetiver Tonka before. It's a fragrance that I like only moderately well while it's on, but the next day, when I'm wearing something else, I badly miss it.

So I got some. (Not the big bottle, no.) And I wore it today. And I liked it only moderately well, so tomorrow will be the test of the trend. Tomorrow I may offer a proper Review Roundup; today I'll just check in and offer another kitty.

Image: By Deirdre A. Wikimedia Commons.