Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess

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I want to believe that we aren’t smack-dab in the middle of January and that it’s going to be summer soon and I’ll have time to build that planter box I always wanted in the backyard to start a vegetable garden. But the truth is, we are smack-dab in the middle of January and to ease the winter blues a little, I tested out Bronze Goddess that Undina from Undina’s Looking Glass very kindly sent me.

Bronze Goddess

Bronze Goddess

In Bottle: Coconut, with a smooth floral and a hint of jasmine. Very nice and very summery. Just what I wanted.

Applied: Coconut top note with a lovely citrus backing it up. The citrus mellows out as does a lovely soft jasmine note flows in. The coconut is taken away from bubbly, girly, silly coconut scents and given this grown-up edge that reminds me of something expensive and the jasmine with the tiare notes really help give it that sophisticated feel. I get the suntan oil comparisons some people have for this, but suntan oil tends to be more one-dimensional and Bronze Goddess definitely has more going on than coconut. Bronze Goddess reminds me of clean, fresh linens, coconut, and a tropical holiday. It dries down with a more mellow coconut note and a classy white musk with sandalwood that keeps the fragrance away from “teenaged girl coconut” and more in the territory of “grown-ups coconut”, heck, I almost smell the salty sea air and the beach sand in this.

Extra: Bronze Goddess was an Estee Lauder limited edition and disappeared in 2011. If you want to get your hands on a bottle, some discounters still carry it, eBay has it, but otherwise, you might have to wait and see if Estee Lauder brings it back at some point.

Design: Simple and lovely. The design has this tropical, summer, beach vibe to it that’s very appropriate. It’s clean and bells and whistles free with a warm color palette. Just the way I like it.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Floral

Notes: Mandarin, bergamot, jasmine, tiare, orange blossom, magnolia, myrrh, amber, vetiver, caramel, coconut, sandalwood.

I really like Bronze Goddess. It is the quintessential smell of summer and the tropics to me. It’s light, it’s pretty, and it makes me happy! What doesn’t make me happy is the fact that it’s discontinued and really needs to make a comeback.

Reviewed in This Post: Bronze Goddess, 2011, Eau Fraiche.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Ambre Precieux

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Steve from The Scented Houndsent quite a surprise as I discovered a sample of Ambre Precieux in the package of decants. I have something of a weak spot for well done Oriental fragrances and I had to get into sampling this one for myself.

Ambre Precieux

Ambre Precieux

In Bottle: Myrrh and lavender with a bit of balsam. No amber yet.

Applied: A beautiful waft of very well blended myrrh and lavender. The opening gives the fragrance an almost incense feel to it. The balsam rolls in for a bit to deepen the fragrance and as the wearing goes on, the lavender gives way to a wonderfully spicy and warm amber fragrance lightly sweetened with vanilla. Don’t let the word ‘sweet’ throw you off, the sweetness is only a touch and merely adds a layer of complexity. Ambre Precieux reminds me of cold days in the winter where I’d spend some time with the window cracked open slightly and a heavy blanket covering my shoulders while I read. I don’t know why I liked doing this, there was just something comforting about the crisp air and comfy blanket like there’s something similarly comforting about Ambre Precieux. It’s like a familiar blanket, old but loaded with sentimental value. Anyway, the fragrance dries down to a beautifully complex warm and spicy amber.

Extra: Ambre Precieux was launched in 1988 and was composed by Jean-Francois Laporte and if I’m to understand correctly, was slightly modified sometime in the last few years as all older fragrances tend to be. I haven’t smelled original Ambre Precieux, but I love this version.

Design: Ambre Precieux sits in a brilliant red flacon with golden cap. Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier have always done a good job on their packaging and anything red will catch my eye. I love the richness of the color and how nicely it ties in with the fragrance itself.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Myrrh, lavender, nutmeg, vanilla, amber, Tolu balsam, Peru balsam.

Hours later and I’m still sniffing my wrist. I do have to say, this is one amber that I’m going to have to consider getting a big bottle of.

Reviewed in This Post: Ambre Precieux, 2012, Eau de Toilette.

Balmain La Mome

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Ambre Gris by Balmain was one of the first perfumes I ever reviewed for this blog. Back then I was still in my “Oh gosh! Fruits and flowers are so good!” phase. I’ve since grown a bit in terms of taste (or at least I like to think I did) and while I still love my flowers, my clean smells, and my fruits I’ve also warmed to Ambre Gris enough to be excited about La Mome rolling out of my sampler box for a try.

La Mome

La Mome

In Bottle: Roses, violets and an undercurrent of amber.

Applied: A flash of sweet raspberry that opens the fragrance under a fruity, sweet pretense. The rose is quick to fall in and I’m glad for that because I think I’ve had my fill of raspberry for a while. The rose has a lovely soft and classic affect mixing beautifully with an amber note that sweetens and warms the fragrance. I get violets the longer I wear this, giving the fragrance a bit of dusty appeal like I’m wearing a fine fragrance and just dusted myself down with some violet powder. This reminds me of fancy windows for some reason. Windows with intricate little patterns in the glass. Windows that lead to an exquisite sitting room. It’s deceptively simple because this is a much more complex scent than the seemingly easygoing violet, rose and amber mixture.

Extra: A little bit of research yielded an explanation for the naming convention of this fragrance. La Mome means “The Kid” which is a dedication to Edit Piaf.

Design: I love the design of this bottle. Balmain does very well with its packaging. The juice, the color of the juice, down to the materials and the style of the bottle, and the weight of the whole thing are meticulous. I love everything about it, up to and including the little tassels.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Pink pepper, raspberry, freesia, rose, violet, myrrh, iris, opoponax, amber, musk.

Sometime I should sit down and take a good sidelong stare at how my tastes in fragrance have changed over the past two years. I went from a pretty uneducated lover of fruity florals to a pretty uneducated lover of everything else too. I never would have thought a little hobby blog could take me this far.

Reviewed in This Post: La Mome, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Snake Oil

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Snake Oil is one of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s most popular fragrances. In fact, I can probably safely venture that it’s the most popular fragrances. Many people love it, and even those who aren’t within the BPAL folds tend to say that there’s something about Snake Oil that makes it special. Snake Oil

In Bottle: Here’s the thing about my bottle of Snake Oil. It’s been “aged” for two years so it smells different than a fresh bottle. Mine has a deeper vanillic quality to it, layered on top is an incense like smoke note, a jolt of cinnamon and clove, and a little hint of woods.

Applied: A bit of medicinal spice to this, I swear it’s a cinnamon and clove mix with some other spices I can’t identify. There’s a bit of an incense going on, smoking up the fragrance a bit and making the smooth vanilla scent that’s hidden underneath these opening notes. Snake Oil lasts a ridiculous time on me, and I can often wait most of the day for it to turn into something else. But as you keep wearing it, you’ll notice the spices and the smokiness level out a bit and dense, warm, vanilla fragrance will waft up. The vanilla in Snake Oil isn’t your sugary ice cream vanilla scent. It’s got a bit spiciness and sophistication to it. It draws with it a woodsy sort of note that I want to say smells a bit like sandalwood or some other sort of powdery, perfumed wood. The more you let Snake Oil wear on your skin the more vanilla and less spicy it will get until it turns into a lovely creamy, warm vanilla fragrance with a hint of some clove-ladden spice and wood in the background.

Extra: So there’s a practice amongst BPAL fans who adore Snake Oil. What you do is get some of the stuff and leave it hanging around for a bit. That’s it. You leave in a dark corner of your fragrance chest, cupboard, drawer, sock, what have you, and pull her out periodically to test. Many people have reported the vanilla becomes stronger and sweeter. If you like the spices and the woods then perhaps “aging” Snake Oil is not up your alley. It’s still an interesting experience to compare a fresh vial of Snake Oil to an older one.

Design: Snake Oil, aside from having a fancy label that makes it look like it actually came out of a tonic peddler’s wagon, is bottled in the same amber glass vials as the other Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents.

Fragrance Family: Spicy

Notes: Cinnamon, clove, ylang-ylang, frankincense, amber, sandalwood, vanilla.

Please note that I’m only guessing at the notes list above based on what I think I’m smelling in Snake Oil. The official word on the BPAL website says that Snake Oil is “a blend of Indonesian oils and vanilla”. So we at least know for sure there’s vanilla but the rest of the notes list I’ve got is only a guess.

Reviewed in This Post: Snake Oil, 2009, 5ml Bottle.

Etat Libre d’Orange Fat Electrician

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With a name like Fat Electrician, how can I not be curious?

Fat Electrician

Fat Electrician

In Bottle: Dry, dry, and more dry. Strange how a fragrance can smell dry but that’s the definition of Fat Electrician in the bottle.

Applied: Smells a bit like baked earth. You know when you were little and made mud pies, then had to leave them outside when your mother called you in to wash up for dinner? Then you’d come back the next day and your mud pies were now pounds of dried earth? That’s what this smells like upon application. And–if you never made mud pies as a child–then the closest comparison I can make is drought-ridden badlands. Fat Electrician smells like parched earth and I can’t get over how weird that is. Weirder still is unlike some other bizarre scents from Etat Libre d’Orange, this one can be wearable. Especially as it ages on the skin and turns into this creamy smoky scent. Like someone burnt their breakfast toast as they were heating up their milk in the morning. Add that to the bizarre dry earth scent and I know it sounds so strange and discordant but Fat Electrician is wearable! I can see myself wearing this on a weird day. It’s wigging me out a little–though in a good way.

Extra: The one thing I can always count on with Etat Libre d’Orange is their strange mixture of scents. Some of them could be flops. Some of them are hits. But at least I can say I’ve yet to be bored by an Etat Libre d’Orange scent.

Design: Bottled in much the same way as their other fragrances. A well-made, nice-feeling glass bottle with a special label affixed to represent the scent. Fat Electrician’s symbol is an amusing crack at utility repair professionals. And that’s about as eloquently as I can put it using my meager language skills.

Fragrance Family: Earthy

Notes: Vetiver, olive leaf, myrrh, opoponax, vanilla.

I just realized how funny it was to describe this scent as “earthy” while I look at its symbol. Just Google it, it’s a cute joke.

Reviewed in This Post: Fat Electrician, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Il Profumo Macadam

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Macadam is like one of those orientals you can’t believe is an oriental. It’s a lighter, airier version than the likes of CK Obsession or Opium. It works so well on the skin in such a subtle way.

Macadam

In Bottle: A play up of light jasmine with a background of something deep and sweet and sensual.

Applied: The opener is a fantastic little floral bit that hits on green but doesn’t ever reach the point where you might classify it as clean or fresh. It’s a dewy green that complements the jasmine in this fragrance very well as the scent ages with a light floral heart mixed with a sweet coat of light amber and deep myrrh. Now, my description probably makes this sound like it’s quite a trip back to the 80s with the oriental explosion but the fragrance is actually rather subtle, it’s personal and one of the easiest to wear orientals I’ve encountered. The dry down is a hit of warm amber, patchouli that reminds me a bit of moss for some reason, and sandalwood.

Extra: Il Profumo is headed  by Silvana Casoli. The company has a boutique in Italy and online.

Design: Very simple bottle and design. Rectangular glass, silver cap with a slight lip for visual interest and grip. Nothing special about the design which helps when you’re trying to just focus on the perfume.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Jasmine, peony, pitaya, white rose, amber, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood.

I really like Macadam and and it’s light, interesting oriental personality. It’s extremely well blended and plays well on the skin. If you want a different oriental than the mainstream offerings, check this one out.

Reviewed in This Post: Macadam, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Sonoma Scent Studio Incense Pure

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Sonoma Scent Studio is one of those awesome independent houses with an excellent selection of fragrances that are magnificently well-blended. I’m a big fan of independent perfume houses, and am happy to see them doing things their own way. The mass market and even the niche market can sometimes be restrictive. So independent is the way to go.

In Bottle: Incense Pure is like a sniff of incense heaven. It’s heady, it’s sophisticated, it’s sensual and deep. The first smell out of the bottle or vial is like an invitation you can’t refuse.

Applied: Incense Pure starts off with an airy but very detectable blend of–well, incense. The myrrh really gets me. Makes me grin from ear to ear even. Incense Pure isn’t like most incense fragrances I’ve tried. This one is tempered, easier to wear, still absolutely lovely with that oh so distinctive incense fragrance but it’s tempered a bit by a woodsiness that digs itself up and bunkers down. There’s a lovely sense of sensuality about this fragrance too and a hint of ambery musk infused with a gorgeous vanilla. This isn’t your sweet, synthetic vanilla either. The incense seems to do wonderful things to vanilla, bringing out its spicy personality instead of relying on vanilla’s surface sweetness. There’s even, to my delight, oak moss in this! And the oak moss does wonders to give the fragrance a beautiful mossy green undertone. As if the incense wasn’t enough, it gets me twice with the oak moss too.

Extra: Sonoma Scent Studio offers Incense Pure in a variety of sizes and for some very reasonable prices considering the quality of the ingredients. You can read up about Incense Pure on their website.

Design: I have a sample of this fragrance, but the bottling looks quite nice. The shape of the bottle is clean and neat. A tall squarish bottle with a gold cap. Keeping it simple is always a plus in my books.

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Incense

Notes: Frankincense, myrrh, labdanum, cistus, oakmoss, Indian patchouli, sandalwood, cedar, ambergris, orris, angelica, elemi, vanilla absolute.

If you’re a fan of incense, you really should try this. Even if you’re not sure whether or not you’re a fan of incense, you should try this. It’s quite the excellent experience.

Reviewed in This Post: Incense Pure, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Yves Saint Laurent Opium

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It was bound to happen one day but we were all hoping it wasn’t this soon. Opium has been (quietly) reformulated into a shadow of its former self. So it is with this review that I bid goodbye to an old classic and an icon of oriental fragrance. Opium

In Bottle: Heady, rich, deep and spicy. Opium is not a time waster. She’s a woman of drastic sophistication and daring. Often referred to as sexy and mysterious. This fragrance opens with a big spicy kick followed by a huge wave of thick resinous amber.

Applied: Cinnamon and amber upfront as Opium’s opener flares instead of rolls. This fragrance announces its presence with a capital A. You want a powerhouse? Opium’s your gal. She’s no meek, slinking fruity floral girl in a white dress. She’s decked to the nines in diamonds and blood red pumps. The ambery cinnamon scent sticks around in the background giving Opium a smooth and punchy background while the heart notes of powdered jasmine, rose and dark myrrh flood the middle. Opium’s a strong and long lasting fragrance that you’ll struggle through if you don’t like it. The heart sticks around for a very long while before the dry down of deep, dense woodsy patchouli and myrrh base join that ever present spice and amber with the faded floral hearts. Even then it takes Opium a long time to completely fade with its mixture of base notes.

Extra: It takes a while to love Opium. A fragrance fanatic or an individual born into the era when Opium reigned would find it easy to appreciate this but someone young and inexperienced coming into the scene needs to be gently introduced. I got myself acquainted with Shalimar before I could brave Opium. And I’m glad I had a classic bottle to do it with. The new Opium is a slightly damaged affair. It smells younger, but more vapid. Like its missing some of its daring in exchange for modern ease.

Design: The most well-known bottle of Opium (at the moment anyway) is a thin pretty glass flacon with the signature Opium colors and designs on it. I’ve always though the bottle was beautiful and I was happy to note that Opium’s sprayer nozzle (unlike its flankers) was metal.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Mandarin orange, bergamot, lily of the valley, jasmine, carnation, myrrh, vanilla, patchouli, opoponaux, amber.

Opium was quietly reformulated in and around the time its new bottle (the current look) was released. Quiet reformulations of old fragrances is not a new thing. It happened to many fragrances and will continue to happen due to industry regulation changes, materials availability, and a slew of other consequences that a fragrance lover may never come to terms with. Thanks for a good thirty years, Opium.

Reviewed in This Post: Opium, ~1990, Eau de Parfum.

YSL Opium Fleur Imperiale

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Still working up to my ultimate appreciation of Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium. I decided that since I wasn’t able to work myself up to Opium yet, I should start with Opium Light, as I call it. Otherwise known as the limited edition Summer Opium Flankers that feature Fleur Imperiale. Opium Fleur Imperiale

In Bottle: Definitely Opium based but the original fragrance has been reduced from its big flashy self to a lighter pleasant base for a layer of clean and sheer woods.

Applied: Neroli and Jasmine make a first impression as the Opium base matures and sticks around for the mid and dry down stages. Over Opium there is a nice, dusty sandalwood that covers the fragrance in a clean twang. The rest is handled by dry osmanthus and cleaned up myrrh. At its heart, this is a more flowery version of the original Opium. Carnation is used sparingly in this giving the fragrance a bit of floral spice. Not a lot though so if you were concerned about it, don’t be. Fleur Imperiale smells exotic. Like a nap under the shade of a tree in a desert  palace. It helps that Fleur Imperiale is a dry, warm, clean scent as its approach on dry down is a parched but beautiful myrrh-backed, golden vanilla amber.

Extra: Great introductory fragrance to Opium, the classic. Even though this is a flanker one wouldn’t venture to purchase a flanker if they didn’t like original Opium. I urge you to try the summer limited editions, however. Particularly Fleur Imperiale and Shanghai. They are toned down and more sheer. Great for anyone hesitant and anyone who wants to come to understand and appreciate Opium for all its earthy, spicy goodness.

Design: I love the design on this bottle. It’s shaped like Opium with pretty red flowers on the glass. My major complaint, however, is the plastic sprayer and plastic cap. Okay, the plastic caps are common and I should stop raging about those now. I can dig that. But a plastic sprayer? Come on. Every time I go to spray this stuff, I’m worried the plastic sprayer is going to somehow break or worse yet, break off. The plastic sprayer just feels and looks cheap. I’d like a hardware upgrade (too late for that) but other than that, Opium Fleur Imperiale is a pleasant thing to behold.

Fragrance Family: Floral Oriental

Notes: Mandarin orange, neroli, bergamot, carnation, jasmine, apricot blossom, amber, patchouli, vanilla, osmanthus, woods, myrrh.

I was very  impressed though a little disappointed by how similar Fleur Imperiale and Fleur de Shanghai are. There is a minor difference though as Imperiale is decidedly warmer and lacks the gentle sweetness.

Reviewed in This Post: Fleur Imperiale, 2006, Eau de Toilette.

Balmain Ambre Gris

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I don’t hate ambergris despite how often I make fun of it. I just find a lot of ingredients (or former ingredients seeing as many of them are now synthetics for very good reasons) to be amusing. Who thought up extracting musk to make fragrances? And how did they come to that conclusion anyway? Similarly, the story of the first chunks of ambergris discovery must have been simultaneously awesome and hilarious at the same time.

Er, anyway, Balmain’s Ambre Gris captures the essence of the note and it did it a little too well. wnqwqf45

In Bottle: Sweet with a musky, spicy, woodsy base that goes into the back of my throat and gets caught there. I get golden, warm and cinnamon in this but it’s definitely not gourmand. I don’t want to eat this at all. The musk is distinctly telling me not to and I’m going to oblige. It just smells fascinating.

Applied: Sweet, spicy and powerful. Ambre Gris packs a big punch as it throws itself in all directs around application spot. This stuff is potent and you do not need a whole lot of it to project yourself. The musks in this fragrance and the sweetness are trying really hard to convince me that this is what real-life ambergris sitting on a beach smells like. There is a very, very minor saltiness to this but I had to work for that one. Ambre Gris is golden, warm, and a bit racy. It’ll also last, and last, and last, and just when you’ve outlasted it, you’ll get a whiff or two and think again.

Extra: Ambergris comes from whales. More specifically, it’s a regurgitated waxy, greyish lump of substance mostly used in perfumery after appropriate aging. Most ambergris in fragrances these days are synthetic, in that they’ve had various compounds mixed together to simulate real ambergris due to a wide barrage of ethical, legal, rarity and expense issues.

Design: Presented in a grey tinted glass bottle, Ambre Gris is topped with a golden, ball-like cap. The cap reminds me of a golden inverse golf ball. I’m fairly indifferent from the look of the fragrance itself. It’s easy, functional, the golf ball cap is a pleasant element.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Pink pepper, cinnamon, tuberose,i mmortelle, myrrh, smokey woods , benzoin, white musk, ambergris.

Interesting how I couldn’t pick up on the tuberose but now that I know it’s in there, I did get that slick, slightly floral up-your-nose-and-around-the-corner tuberose kick. Or I could just be making it all up.

Reviewed in This Post: Ambre Gris, 2009, Sample vial.