Balenciaga Florabotanica

Florabotanica is a new Balenciaga release from 2012. After their Balenciaga Paris release, I had to give this one a try. If for nothing else than its beautiful bottle design.

Florabotanica

Florabotanica

In Bottle: A nice rose, tame and green and fresh. Not fake and overly sweet.

Applied: Balenciaga’s fragrances tend to excel at being understated and Florabotanica seems to be heading in that same direction. It’s sold as a fragrance for a younger audience, but doesn’t patronize them by loading itself up with fruits and a cheap-smelling rose. The rose in Florabotanica is well-mannered, having a fresh green spicy kick to keep it on the ground. The dry down is a nice grassy amber with a prominent rose. I get an impression of Juliette Has a Gun’s Lady Vengeance with a little less concentrated prettiness and more girlish charm.

Extra: Florabotanica was released in 2012 with Kristen Stewart as the campaign figurehead.

Design: Love the bottle design. Bold, modern and fashionable. I was somewhat questionable about them using Kristen Stewart as the face of the fragrance, but I love everything from the styling to the photography to the campaign itself. It’s stern and not at all silly.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Mint, rose, carnation, amber, vetiver.

The thing Florabotanica reminds me of is preppy clothing. It makes me think I’m shopping in some teenage store where all the teenagers play water polo, have stables of horses, and have parties on their yachts. I don’t know why it makes me think of this but the fresh, screaming clean rose just sort of fits the imagery. It’s not Lady Vengeance as I think Juliette Has a Gun’s rose fume was a little more likeable but Florabotanica is a good, pleasant addition all the same.

Reviewed in This Post: Florabotanica, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


M. Micallef Aoud

M. Micallef’s Aoud is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and I got a hold of a little deluxe sample courtesy of Jeffrey Dame from Hypoluxe.

Aoud

Aoud

In Bottle: Fresh, woodsy with a little bit of sweetness. Masculine, but not so overtop masculine that a woman wouldn’t enjoy wearing this.

Applied: The aoud lends a very nice, mellow and well-rounded golden type of scent to the fragrance and it’s the aoud that really carries the rest of the scent. Layered beneath the aoud is a fabulous spicy incense that drifts around the heart notes in delicate little veils of lightness. At the bottom is a soft patchouli and a sweet coat of honey. I think what really ultimately what makes Micallef’s Aoud so awesome, it’s the fact that it’s a masculine scent but it doesn’t throw it in your face. It’s slow, complex and subtle but extremely effective and completely wearable.

Extra: Aoud was originally released in 2003 and is described as a masculine oriental woodsy fragrance.

Design: Aoud’s bottling harkens to a bit more familiar territory with me as its style is what I saw first years ago from Micallef and it’s what I identify their packaging with the post. It’s a lovely circle bottle with a touch of modern and plenty of style.

Fragrance Family: Oriental Woodsy

Notes: Rose, aoud, sandalwood, cinnamon, saffron, clove, patchouli.

I really quite like Aoud, and I’ve had a few that were quite strong and quite classical and Micallef’s Aoud hits that sweet spot with me where I can enjoy a strong note, but would really like it toned down sometimes.

Reviewed in This Post: Aoud, 2013, Eau de Parfum.


Lalique de Lalique

Lalique de Lalique was released in 1992 with a limited edition version released in 2012 that I can’t seem to find anywhere.

Lalique de Lalique

Lalique de Lalique

In Bottle: I get a sweet, creamy fruits with a pleasant soft and sweetness in the background with a layer of equally sweet florals.

Applied: Chevrefeuille starts off with a rather strong fruit showing that mellows out fairly quickly into a stronger wave of florals with the sweet fruit opening still hanging on well into the mid-stage where the florals become a touch dusty like a wave of light powders. I get plenty of jasmine with a delightful introduction of clove that adds a bit of edibility to the fragrance as it rolls into the end where a vanilla musk and dusty sandalwood pick up the scent to carry it the rest of the way. The entire fragrance is very soft and easy to wear and very modern while at the same time having a classical edge.

Extra: Lalique de Lalique (or just Lalique) was released in 1992. A limited edition version of it bottled in a fancier way was released in 2012 as a part of its 20th anniversary. It’s nearly impossible to find the limited edition version anywhere as a result. Lalique is an old perfume house, their earliest fragrance dates back to 1931.

Design: Beautiful design, usually I don’t go for things quite as embellished as these bottles, but they are made in a way that makes them eye-catching and luxurious. The limited edition bottles are also very beautiful.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Pear, blackberry, iris, rose, jasmine, clove, cassis, sandalwood, vanilla, white musk.

I do really like Lalique de Lalique, though it’s not the kind of thing I would go out of my way to hunt down. The bottle, though, makes it really hard to resist.

Reviewed in This Post: Lalique de Lalique, 1999, Eau de Toilette.


Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin

Getting stuffed up and being unable to smell any fragrances due to allergies is no fun. And during that time, I kept trying to get fleeting sniffs of La Fille de Berlin in the hopes that my sense of smell had come back. Finally, I can say today that I can–indeed–smell with no allergy yuckiness getting in the way.

La Fille de Berlin

La Fille de Berlin

In Bottle: Peppery, dusty rose with a hint of dirt, like someone dropped a bouquet of very aromatic roses in a mud puddle.

Applied: I know the above description doesn’t make it sound too great, but it’s actually a rather fascinating experience. I get a lot of pepper from this and rose tends to amplify in my nose anyway. So La Fille de Berlin feels like two strong notes or rose and pepper battling it out with each other and I have to say, I think the rose is winning. The scent changes very little from my first impression of it, to the midstage where as I wait a while and start to pay attention to it, the musk or as I like to call it, “that muddy smell” comes up a bit more. La Fille de Berlin is certainly an interesting trip, I was delighted when my sense of smell started to clear past the rose and I could get a bit of something else, but I wouldn’t say this fragrance appealed to me.

Extra: La Fille de Berlin was released in 2013, and translated into English means, “The Girl from Berlin”.

Design: Designed similarly to most other Serge Lutens bottles, the packaging is beautiful, simple and elegant. I have always been a fan of the Serge Lutens’ packaging looks.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Rose, violet, pepper, musk.

The rose and peppery kick aren’t really what I’m after so I feel fairly neutral to this in that I don’t love it or dislike it. I had been intrigued by mostly the name without having read about any of its notes.

Reviewed in This Post: La Fille de Berlin, 2013, Eau de Parfum.


Dior Dolce Vita

Dolce Vita is a vibrant little number that I kind of wish I had more of. It’s bright, peppy and classical all at the same time.

Dolce Vita

Dolce Vita

In Bottle: Sweet, almost pastry-like with a strong peach/apricot and cardamom showing initially.

Applied: Dolce Vita goes on reminding me of a peach pastry. It’s got to be the–well–peach, and the spices that make me think of the jammy fruit filling in a danish. The pastry feel doesn’t last for too long before I get a hit of sandalwood with a pretty strong sweetness. Dolce Vita is sugar and woods with a tablespoon of cinnamon sprinkled over it. The sandalwood is quick to settle down but the sweet cinnamon fruity floral thing has bigger plans and sticks around on the fragrance for quite some time. Dolce Vita has good staying power on me, I barely noticed when it slipped from its sweet fruity floral middle and nestled between a nice tame cedar and a soft, lilting sweet vanilla base.

Extra: Dolce Vita was released in 1994 and was composed by Pierre Bourdon of Cool Water fame.

Design: I really like the bottle. It looks like it came from an earlier time than the 90s and it has a nice feel to it too. It’s a good looking piece that has 90s elements to it, but at times can feel like it came from an earlier era. Hard to describe, but overall, I like it.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Grapefruit, bergamot, lily, peach, rose, cardamom, cinnamon, apricot, magnolia, heliotrope, rosewood, sandalwood, cedar, coconut, vanilla.

I had to take a couple of tries to figure out if I truly liked Dolce Vita or if it was just a fad I was going through. I do really like it, it’s nice and well-composed and thankfully still available to boot.

Reviewed in This Post: Dolce Vita, ~2004, Eau de Toilette.


M. Micallef Parfum Couture Denis Durand

One day, I say to myself, I’ll have enough saved up that I don’t have to reinvest in my business so I can drop it on a full bottle of M.Micallef’s Ylang in Gold. The more I try of that, the more I fall in love with it. But the story for M. Micallef’s fragrances are often favorable. Most of the offerings from their line are great, and the vanillas are just to die for. I’m excited every time I get to try a new scent and this time it’s Parfum Couture.

Parfum Couture

Parfum Couture

In Bottle: A strong tangerine showing with a kick of cinnamon and plenty of sandalwood.

Applied: My favorite moment is the opening, crisp tangerine, tart with a spicy cinnamon kick. The fragrance is quick to roll into the mid-stage with a very tempered rose and orange blossom that layers itself beautifully over the aoud. I know a lot of people might be worried about the “animalis” note in this, but I honestly didn’t get very much, a little hit of castoreum and a pinch of musk and that was it. The entire progression from opening was very smooth with a prominent woodsy showing in the midstage as well as the end stage. It sweeps into a bit of patchouli with a warm clean amber at the base. Very nice, fairly well constructed, I was worried about the woods when they showed up early, but they behaved very nicely with the rest of the fragrance.

Extra: Like all Micallef bottles, Parfum Couture beautifully hand-decorated and is available on Luckyscent!

Design: I’m really digging the design for this bottle. A cool, modern shape wrapped in beautiful and delicate lace with a golden hang tag. Really nice, simple but at the same time dressy and fashionable.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Floral

Notes: Cinnamon, tangerine, aoud, rose, animalis, amber, sandalwood, patchouli.

Lovely scent, nice and smooth and well-behaved in a beautiful bottle. I’m still in love with Ylang in Gold, but this is still very nice.

Reviewed in This Post: Parfum Couture Denis Durand, 2013, Eau de Parfum.


Demeter Greenhouse

Demeter’s Greenhouse caught my eye because, well, as of late I’ve had this strange urge to build a greenhouse, grow some tropical flowers and spend some quiet time among plants. Then one of my neighbor’s children will fling a baseball into our yard and probably smash the whole thing up. That is when I realize we need a fence before a greenhouse. So, in lieu of the real thing, I reach for Demeter’s Greenhouse.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse

In Bottle: As tangental as I was in that introductory paragraph, Greenhouse gets to the point a bit faster. Unfortunately that point seems to be, “I smell fake!”.

Applied: I’ve been in a few greenhouses growing up. One of my cousins has one in his backyard where he grows vegetables, fruits, flowers and other things that make me jealous because the best I’ve done is a couple of spindly trees and a sick looking fern. Some of my favorite smells is the scent of humidity, moist earth, green leaves with a faint aroma of flowers. That’s not what I get from Demeter’s Greenhouse. I get a synthetic green herbal shock with a dollar store level floral note in the background. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s not greenhouse either. There’s a bit of moistness to the fragrance, but it’s really quite off from the greenhouses I’ve been in. I suppose it’s hard to capture the essence of something that could have such widely varying characteristics, and really, I’m not taking away points because bottled Greenhouse doesn’t smell like my cousin’s greenhouse. I’m taking away points because something in this smells really synthetic. While not unpleasant, I can’t agree that this is a greenhouse.

Extra: It wasn’t until my recent move and discovery that not every living plant I touch immediately turns brown did I discover that I actually like gardening. Or at least, I would love to garden. Fence first. Garden after. Real greenhouse someday. In the mean time, Demeter’s Greenhouse isn’t going to cut it for me.

Design: Designed simply just like every other Demeter fragrance. Nice simple bottle, not high end or luxe in anyway. For the price point this is pretty much all I expected and if nothing else, the bottles are reusable.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Florals, green notes.

I might be ragging on Greenhouse a little too much. Really, it’s okay. Pleasant if I were to push it a little. But to me, it’s by no means a greenhouse smell.

Reviewed in This Post: Greenhouse, 2012, Cologne Spray.


Hermes Bel Ami

I’ve been on a chypre bender lately, wanting something full-bodied and classic once again. Enter Hermes Bel Ami, which inspired an hour-long look at some new Hermes scarves.

Bel Ami

Bel Ami

In Bottle: Now, it should be noted that I have the newer formulation of Bel Ami, so this isn’t a true vintage chypre. It’s one of those “modern” deals. But Hermes did a good job with it, sweet, deep, masculine and woodsy.

Applied: Sweet upon application with a nice bergamot and lemon opening. The spiciness is only a hint in this fragrance. What I’m getting the most out of it is a deep, rich leather scent with a hint of animal and a big dose of earthiness from the orris. There’s a pleasant touch of cedar in the background that doesn’t overwhelm but is in there enough to give the fragrance a hint of woodsiness. The herbal notes probably lend a tempering effect to this fragrance as it’s more of a blast of leather than anything else. I can see where the chypre construction in this lies and it’s fabulous, but it isn’t quite what I’m looking for. Still a really great, strong, masculine scent with a very interesting composition and a great sense of projection.

Extra: Bel Ami was released in 1986 and has, unfortunately, been reformulated a few times, I suspect. Still, it smells pretty good for having been tinkered with over the years.

Design: Bottled simply, and somewhat reminiscent of some other Hermes bottles. Looks classical and functions pretty well. No one is going to immediately notice this bottle, but it’s a joy to look at it nonetheless.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Mandarin, sage, bergamot, lemon, cardamom, patchouli, orris, carnation, basil, jasmine, cedar, leather, coconut, vanilla, oakmoss, vetiver, styrax, amber.

So Bel Ami isn’t really my thing. I don’t go crazy much for this much leather as it tends to smell too bold for me. But it is still a very well constructed fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Bel Ami, ~2000, Eau de Toilette.


Farmacia Ambra Nera

Another sample from the truly awesome, Steve from The Scented Hound. Ambra Nera is a parfum concentration amber scent that smelled pleasant from the sampler vial.

Ambra Nera

Ambra Nera

In Bottle: Smooth amber with a blast of eucaluptus and a hint of patchouli and touch of cypress.

Applied: The first thing I got from Ambra Nera was the eucalyptus, followed by the amber and a nice sense of warmth. The cypress rolls in during the midstage giving the scent a touch of woodsiness without being too overwhelming, the fragrance as a whole takes on a slightly green feel near the end of the mid-stage as it rolls into a lovely powdered amber with a hint of sweetness. Very pleasant, exquisitely sophisticated, and rather surprising as I was expecting something a bit more bold from this, but its softness is very appealing.

Extra: Ambra Nera was the brainchild of Farmacia SS. Annunziata dal 1561. It’s available on Lucky Scent.

Design: Pretty simple bottle, but gets the job done. Looks nice, simple and modern. Nothing garish on this so it can sit anywhere and suit just about any style.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Cypress, eucalyptus, amber, benzoin, vetiver, vanilla, patchouli.

Very pleasantly surprised with Ambra Nera, I enjoyed the subtle sweetness of the amber and its nice soft progression.

Reviewed in This Post: Ambra Nera, 2012, Parfum.


Histoires de Parfums 1804

Okay, no more silly celebrity stuff for the time being. I went a little crazy for Histoires de Parfums. Gimmicky as the concept might seem sometimes, I can’t deny for a minute that it hooked me. So I went and got a few more years from the line.

1804

1804

In Bottle: I really didn’t expect the pineapple to be quite so prominent, but it’s just about the only thing there on first sniff.

Applied: Yep, pineapple. Very tropical, quite sweet with a juiciness to it that I want to attribute to the peach. The pineapple note is very strong and quite loud. I rather like it as it screams holidays and summer at me. Strange because I expected something entirely more subdued from 1804, still feminine, still fruity but not screaming fun and sun like it is right now. All confusion and expectations aside, 1804’s pineapple opening is pretty delightful. It’s sweet and girly and fun. It rolls into a mild floral bouquet with a sweet and clean finish at the end. I was looking for the spices the whole time, but they never made themselves known. Not elegant, but not at all bad. I quite like it.

Extra: 1804 was inspired by Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, who might be more recognizable by her pen name, George Sand.

Design: Designed in the same way as most other Histoires de Parfums bottles. I would love to have a full set of these, lined up in a neat row. I would finally be able to pretend I’m some sort of chemist with impeccable taste.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Pineapple, peach, gardenia, jasmine, rose, lily-of-the-valley, cloves, nutmeg, sandalwood, patchouli, benzoin, vanilla, white musk.

Probably not an instance where I’m dying to throw money at it, but 1804 remains a very pleasant, very feminine fragrance. If I had a hankering for pineapple, I think it would be the first thing I go for.

Reviewed in This Post: 1802, 2012, Eau de Parfum.