What’s Floating in my Perfume?

Have you ever taken a look at your bottle of perfume and noticed some white stuff, dust, or specks floating around in it? Ever wondered what the heck that stuff is?

Me too.

As near as I can tell and presume, the following scenarios may be possible:

1. Your perfume was improperly sealed thus allowing dust or other impurities into the juice, thus producing that residue that now resides with your fragrance.

2. The bottle was not cleaned properly/enough prior to pumping the perfume into it and the residue is a result of those leftover impurities.

3. Your perfume bottle is refillable (ie. the sprayer comes off easily) and the lack of a factory seal has allowed impurities to sneak their way into your juice.

4. The components used to make up your perfumes are reacting poorly with one another and causing the residue.

5. Your fragrance is counterfeit and has been composed of poor ingredients that are reacting badly with one another, the counterfeit uses dirty water, or has been contaminated with some unknown residue.

6. The fragrance was not properly preserved or fixed by the manufacturer and that debris you see in the bottle is yucky bacteria.

As you can see, regardless of what might be happening inside with your juice, you should probably dispose of it or demand a refund. If you purchase a bottle of perfume with residue be it dust, weird white stuff, or sediment, you need to take it back and get the store to exchange it as you can’t be sure what that stuff could be.


Victoria’s Secret Plumdrop

When people ask me to name my top three favorite fragrances at the moment, I tell them this: #1. Spirituese Double Vanille. #2. Plumdrop. #3 Chanel Allure.  Which then prompts them to say, “What was that about number two?” I love Plumdrop by Victoria’s Secret. It’s a competent, wearable, likable, well-done fragrance and I am not afraid to admit it. Plumdrop

In Bottle: Creamy, soft fruit. Fairly non-descript on the fruit part. It’s like a vanilla bean milkshake with a heap of whipping cream a sprinkle of icing sugar, mixed with plums, a little coconut and topped with jasmine.

Applied: The linearity of this fragrance makes it hard to really review its fragrance life as it pretty much has one smell that it sticks to and does fairly well. So is it a top note, middle note, or base note? I don’t know, guys. I don’t think it matters. It has one smell. Pretty much what you smell in the bottle is what you get on skin. On paper, it’s a fruity floral with an added dollop of creaminess. That creamy, milky feel this fragrance has is what sets it apart from the generic fruity floral that tends to focus on the sweetness. Plumdrop is sweet, but it’s main priority is smelling like a really good milkshake. Plumdrop has a fairly decent life on skin as its creamy fruity floral scent is a nice captured essence for a spring day, or even a hot summer day. It’s lovely, girly, highly versatile. It would be hard to offend someone smelling like this because you just end up smelling like a fruity milkshake anyway. And sometimes, you just want to smell like a fruity milkshake without having to think about it. Fun, easy, and a little bit different.

Extra: Plumdrop is a member of Victoria’s Secret’s Beauty Rush line. To call it a perfume wouldn’t be exactly right. It’s not even really a body mist. It’s one of these new fangled innovations called moisturizing body mists. Victoria’s Secret calls Plumdrop and its concept similar brothers and sisters, Double Body Mists. You have an oil layer and a watery colored layer that contains the fragrance. Before using, you shake the stuff up to combine the two layers and spray it on for moisturizing properties and scent. I am a lazy person and I can get behind this 2 in 1 routine.

Design: Plumdrop comes in a plastic cylinder with two layers of product; an oil layer and a colored water and fragrance layer. Plumdrop is a light, pastel purple color. Prior to use you should shake this up because as experiments have revealed, the oil only layer does not smell good. The sprayer nozzle is a nice metallic material with a plastic cap. For a body mist/spray moisturizer the packaging is pretty good.

Fragrance Family: Fruity

Notes: Plum, milk, sugar, honeysuckle, violets, vanilla.

Those notes are approximations only. I was actually wrestling with whether or not this counts as a fragrance, and for a fragrance review blog. But hey, it’s got a scent, so why not?

Reviewed in This Post: Plumdrop, 2009, Oil and Body Mist.


Do Fragrances Make You More Attractive?

Let me put this up front before we go any further and you get angry with me. This article isn’t going to tell you about a magical perfume or fragrance that will attract the opposite gender. No such thing exists.

Pheromone infused fragrances don’t work. Perfumes that costs hundreds of dollars that claim to seduce the man or woman of your dreams do not work. And no matter how much you slather yourself in the stuff, it won’t instantly turn you into a magnet for the opposite gender. Actually, slathering yourself in any perfume is a surefire way of annoying other people and make them want to put lots of distance between you and them. Sorry.

The truth of the matter is, perfume is not a magical love potion. There’s no special formula or secret agent that instantly attracts people. Well–almost none. Luca Turin said it best:

“The question that women casually shopping for perfume ask more than any other is this: “What scent drives men wild?” After years of intense research, we know the definitive answer. It is bacon.

Well ladies and gents, here you go and good luck.

On a more serious note ,wearing a fragrance for the purpose of attracting people to you is a bad idea. In the first place, there is no guarantee that what you smell like will appeal to other people. Everyone’s taste in what they like to smell is different. Even the most benign of fragrances used in soaps and shampoos are offensive to some people. It bears repeating that you simply don’t have a catch-all answer.

Secondly, there’s no guarantee that the people who like how you smell are necessarily the kind of people you want to attract in the first place.

Finally, what if the stuff stinks to you but you keep hearing your friends rave about how girls/guys love smelling the stuff? Why wear something you hate?

Think of this way, people come in from all walks of life with all sorts of different and clashing opinions with all manner of preferences that trying to find something to appeal to a specific gender is a useless exercise. So instead of asking, “What scent drives women/men wild?” Ask, “What do I want to smell like and what do I like?”

The bottom line is this; wear what you want and forget about what anyone else thinks. If you don’t overdo it, then spray yourself in whatever makes you happy.


Lacoste Essential

After a month of unsuccessfully trying to find a magazine with fragrance inserts I was handed a booklet filled with gold. Lacoste fragrance samplers make me deliriously happy. Those free sample vials stores used to give out like candy? They are practically an extinct species now. These days we get cards with pads of perfume soaked cotton mushed between two layers of sealing. But I’ll take what I can get. Essential

In Bottle: Fresh. We’re talking men’s shower gel scented fresh. Not surprising as Essential is marketed toward men and this smells predominantly like the very inoffensive (and very successful) shower gels, soaps and shampoos that are billed as sporty and sold to men who don’t want to smell like a bucket of pink candy. I can dig it.

Applied: Essential starts off with a quick blast of aqua soaked herbal citrus. Clean and brisk, like splashing a huge handful of cold water in your face in the morning. After it wakes you up, it reminds you of what has to be done that day. Smooth bergamot blends in with the spicy, faintly floral sweetness of the heart while maintaining that wonderful initial fresh blast. The dry down is a green, faintly sandalwood, wet affair with freshness splashed all over it. Essential is not new or interesting or exciting. It’s a good standby, a great office fragrance, and as such it has high versatility.

Extra: Some of the funniest things I’ll read are perfume advertisements. The people who make the marketing campaigns for fragrances surely have to know how the product works? The little sample card that Essential came on claims that the fragrance has, “patented Time-Release Technology”. I didn’t know you could patent evaporation.

Design: Essential’s bottling reminds me a lot of Guerlain’s Vetiver. Probably because they’re both rectangular, simply designed, and the juice for both of them are green. No complains from me here, though I do find that gripping the bottle is difficult for someone with small hands like me.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: Tangerine, bergamot, tomato leaf, cassis, black pepper, rose, patchouli, sandalwood.

I prefer Vetiver as a men’s fragrance over Essential. Essential just smells normal, kind of generic. It’s good for office wear and if you’re looking for something easy to wear, this is it. But I could get the same effect from Platinum Egoiste too with a touch more class. Or I could just bank my money on Guerlain’s Vetiver.

Reviewed in This Post: Lacoste Essential, 2010, Eau de Toilette.

Disclaimer: The fragrance sampler vial reviewed in this post was provided to me for free. I am not in any way receiving pay or compensation for this review. This review was written based upon my personal experience and opinions of the product.


Donna Karan Liquid Nude

Cashmere Mist is one of the most popular Donna Karan fragrances. It was released in the early 90s (1994, I believe) and has been sold with much popularity since. Liquid Nude is the brand new 2010 flanker to Cashmere Mist. Liquid Nude

In Bottle: Light and floral. Reminds me of clean linen and fresh sheets with a hint of cleaned up sandalwood.

Applied: Floral top notes that lend a very feminine edge to this fragrance. It has quite a nice display of florals set against a seemingly always present perfumed sandalwood. The fragrance evolves into a clear and very floral jasmine mid-stage that lends to a nice airy clean linen-like scent. This smells like good soap and I can sort of see the connection to the original Cashmere Mist as this is set in a nicer, more modern stage than the original. It also smells a little bit younger too. The dry down is a pleasant smooth white floral with a bit of lingering warmed sandalwood mixed with a light vanilla. Pretty much the one thing you can take away from Liquid Nude here is that it’s a very good, very clear and clean floral and creamy woodsy fragrance.

Extra: Donna Karan has other fragrances with her name on them including the very popular DKNY Be Delicious line which is a big hit with younger women.

Design: I don’t know if “elegant” is quite the word I want to use here but the design of this bottle is slick and nicely designed. It reminds me of a variety of things but mostly, it’s a close interpretation of the original Cashmere Mist bottle in a nice shiny pinkish tone with the swan shape toned down and smoothed out.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Orange flowers, pink cyclamen petals, lily of the valley, sandalwood, ylang ylang, Moroccan jasmine, labdanum, jasmine, white amber, skin musk, suede, tonka, benzoin.

I’m actually not much of a fan of Cashmere Mist or this particular incarnation of it. It reminds me of the perfumes I grew up smelling and I suppose my nose is a bit dulled from it by now.

Reviewed in This Post: Liquid Nude, 2010, Eau de Parfum.


Thierry Mugler Angel

Angel is one of the most widely imitated fragrances. It’s introduction in 1992 changed the fragrance world. It became incredibly popular and still remains popular as people still rock this scent up and down high school hallways, fashionable city streets, and unfortunately for the rest of us , on the elevator. Angel

In Bottle: Beware of your first smell of Angel as your first impression will likely be something to the tune of, “Oh God! What is that horrible smell? Get it out of my nose! Aaaah!” Your second smell will yield an intriguing, jarring mix of bitter, spicy patchouli blended with rich, warm chocolate and some fruit.

Applied: Angel starts off with a typical citrus burst that disappears to lead you in on a roller coaster ride of gourmand thrill. The patchouli wastes no time on me to get straight to the point. It comes out of the gates, announces itself and drags the rest of the fragrance in. What I get is a mish-mash of sugary fruit. The chocolate is quick to come up with its creamy, warmth. The candy-like sweetness of the caramel mixed with vanilla is always present in Angel. Like a syrup cloud hovering over an outdoor chocolate fashion show. What? Too weird? How about the idea of dipping your chocolate bar in caramel and vanilla extract and then dropping it on the lawn? The dry down doesn’t come in until hours later when you’ve had just about all you can of the chocolate and sweetness. Where upon drying down you get more chocolate, sugar and patchouli. Hope you liked the ride.

Extra: Angel is strong. Mercilessly strong that its introduction in the 1990s could have been pushed up a few years into the Powerhouse Era and people would still say it’s strong. Go easy on this one, folks. You will be smelled from a mile away. And if you do happen to put too much on, avoid crowded elevators.

Design: Angel comes in a variety of bottles, concentrations, flankers and other products. The most iconic and instantly recognizable is the slanted star bottle design shown above. If you don’t like that one, there are many more. Most Angel bottles have the added bonus of being refillable too.

Fragrance Family: Gourmand

Notes: Bergamot, patchouli, chocolate, vanilla, caramel, red berries.

I wrestled with whether or not this fragrance could be considered a classic. Considering its iconic rise to fame and its still firm grip on popularity, I decided to just hand the label over. Not to mention the fact that it’s so instantly recognizable to so many people.

Reviewed in This Post: Angel, 2008, Eau de Parfum.


Guerlain Vetiver

Guerlain’s Vetiver is a classic that’s been reformulated over and over. As near as I can tell, the old and new versions smell pretty similar. I have only tried the new version on my skin. Vetiver

In Bottle: Lovely green and clean with earthy notes that spells fresh rain, leaves, and woods.

Applied: Green and citrusy clean. Lovely wet scent that ushers in the woodsiness with a nice elegance. One of the things I tend to notice with BPAL (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab) fragrances is their dirt note is very pronounced. Fantastic for those who like more earthy scents but I prefer what the dirt in Vetiver is doing, lending a small essence of itself without being pronounced. I smell it’s there but it isn’t overpowering anything, in other words. The cleanliness of Vetiver is a fantastic feature as the fragrance shifts into a beautifully balanced dry, clean, spicy and woodsy fragrance. As the scent ages the citrus disappears leaving that clean dry spice and wood to mix with a pleasant light smokiness. While I’m trying to separate these notes, I’m not having an easy time. Vetiver is a masterfully balanced fragrance that makes it difficult to pick out individual notes and frankly, when a fragrance is this well balanced, I don’t care enough to pick the notes out of it. Just take it for what it is, a clean masculine scent that’s been referred to as a classic for good reason.

Extra: Vetiver is a type of grass that smells dry, green and grassy. Guerlain’s Vetiver came out in 1961.

Design: Presented in a lovely glass bottle with alternating clear and frosted glass stripes. Vetiver’s bottle is functional, pleasant to look at and easy to hold.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, mandarin, neroli, coriander, vetiver, cedar, tobacco, nutmeg, pepper, tonka bean, capiscum.

If you were planning on picking up a bottle of Vetiver, definitely go out of your way to test it out first. This fragrance smells very different on the skin than it does on paper.

Reviewed in This Post: Vetiver, 2008, Eau de Toilette.


What Does Princess Leia Smell Like?

Or more specifically, what does Slave Princess Leia smell like? Well, you’ll soon be able to find out because the Star Wars Shop has a bottle of this women’s perfume on pre-order. I can’t say I’m interested in a full bottle but I am highly curious as the scent. I just don’t know where one would track down a decant of such a fragrance.

According to the Star Wars Shop, the Slave Leia parfum‘s notes include a “mix of cashmere woods, musk and night-blooming jasmine”. Funny, I didn’t know they grew jasmine in space.

For the men out there, you can get a bottle of Eau Lando which is said to smell like “mandarin warmed with incense and lotus flower, exotic woods, dark violet and sensuous musk”. I can’t help but sit here chuckling at the bottle though. It’s wearing a cape for goodness sake.

Going by this same vein are the Star Trek fragrances which have actually been out for a while. The choices in that line include Tiberius which is said to smell of “citron, black pepper,  cedar,  warm vanilla, white musk and sandalwood”.  It doesn’t sound half bad. There’s also Red Shirt (green mandarin, bergamot, lavender, leather and grey musk). And a large variety of others such as Ponn Farr (named after the Vulcan mating ritual, I’m not kidding), Sulu (can’t find the notes for this one), Khan (limited edition and smells of citrus, bergamot, vetiver, smoky ambergris scent) and I assume others I haven’t yet heard of.

Strangely enough, these gimmick fragrances are harder to track down and purchase than most niche fragrances. Who’s niche now?


Discontinuation: BPAL Aug 12

I think this information might prove useful or informational to some readers who may not know where to find this. You can always read new updates from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab on their news page, but here is the most recent discontinuation of General Catalog scents from BPAL as of August 12, 2010:

  • Hi’iaka
  • Jester
  • The Lady on the Grey
  • The Mock Turtles Lessons
  • Queen Mab
  • St Germain
  • Tempest
  • Yvaine

You will no longer be able to put in an order for these scents but these can probably still be purchased on the secondary market.


Bleu de Chanel

Bleu de Chanel is the latest mainstream release of men’s fragrances by the house. If you’ve been following Chanel’s fragrance releases, you might notice they’ve taken a few steps back from their classic style of fragrances and have gotten a bit more mainstream and mass market. Bleu de Chanel is just another indication of that. Bleu de Chanel

In Bottle: Smells like Cool Water by Davidoff. Also smells like Bath and Body Works’ Dancing Waters scent. Heck, while we’re still here let’s throw in a dash of Lacoste Essential. Yeah, I just compared a Chanel to Cool Water, Essential, and Bath and Body Works.

Applied: The truth is, Bleu de Chanel does one thing very, very well. It combines every aquatics based sporty men’s fragrance together to form this  amalgamation of sport men’s fragrances. If you own a bottle of Bleu de Chanel, you could conceivably replace every other bottle of aquatic sporty men’s fragrance you own. It’s just that generic. Bleu de Chanel opens with a sweet, sharp, clean aquatic note that reminds me immediately of aforementioned Dancing Waters, Cool Water and Essential combined together. Let it dry down a bit and it will evolve into a mixture of Dolce and Gabanna Light Blue pour Homme and Acqua di Gio. In truth, it’s got a fresh, spicy, woodsy mid-stage with an aromatic backing. Fairly on par for the course. The last act  is a woodsy base with citrus dashed in there for good measure. Also not particularly fascinating but highly wearable.

Extra: Hard to believe that Bleu de Chanel came from the same house that made No. 5, No. 22, No. 19, Coco, Coromandel, Sycamore. But times change and while a lot of perfumistas are going to be disappointed with Bleu de Chanel, this fragrance is a sign of the times. I hope that Chanel sells Bleu de Chanel very well. I hope it draws in a new following of perfume lovers but keeps the classics around and releases some some fragrances reminiscent of Chanel’s long heritage of sophistication.

Design: Bleu de Chanel is bottled in a gorgeous dark tinted glass rectangular bottle with a metallic cap that’s reminiscent of their Les Exclusifs line of fragrances. My favorite part of this fragrance is honestly the cap. I’m a sucker for magnets, what can I say? The quality of the packaging is excellent, as should be expected with Chanel, and the design is simple but very nice.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Aromatic

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, grapefruit, aqua, peppermint, pink pepper, nutmeg, ginger, jasmine, cedar, vetiver, patchouli, labdanum, frankincense.

I know a lot of perfume lovers are hating on Bleu de Chanel right now. I don’t blame them. I’m just as disappointed with this release as they are. But beneath the disappointment Bleu de Chanel is a pleasant, well-blended, easy to wear fragrance. It really does combine a good proportion of the aquatic sport men’s fragrance genre together to make a coherent and ultimately well-composed scent. I do highly recommend people who are looking for a really good aquatic sport fragrance to give Bleu de Chanel a sniff. It’s a good scent. It just doesn’t smell like a Chanel should.

Reviewed in This Post: Bleu de Chanel, 2010, Eau de Toilette.