Perfumista tip ~ how to make fragrance last through the day

Posted by Angela on 27 February 2012 162 Comments

Perfume’s persistence can be a blessing or a curse. It’s Murphy’s Law among perfume enthusiasts that the fragrance we loathe the most will be the one that wears through a night’s sleep and a shower, and clings to our coats through two thunderstorms and a dry cleaning. Conversely, the fragrances we love never seem to last long enough. Sure, I like to wear more than one perfume a day, but it would be nice if a perfume could soldier through a full workday without my having to rummage for a decant for a midday boost.

So, I loaded an atomizer with Guerlain Vol de Nuit Eau de Toilette and experimented:

The baseline

One spray of Vol de Nuit Eau de Toilette alone lasts about four hours before I really have to press my nose to flesh to smell it. It’s lovely enough to be worth it, but no one except me, with effort, can detect it after lunch…

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Chopard Casmir ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 20 February 2012 74 Comments

Chopard Casmir advert another Chopard Casmir advert

A few weeks ago a coworker asked, “You like chocolate martinis? I’ve got a great recipe for one.” To me a martini should be nothing but glacier-cold gin and a wink of vermouth, but I wanted to be friendly so I smiled and nodded. He started in on the recipe. “You take Godiva liqueur, Kahlua, Vanilla Stoli, and a little Baileys….” He ended by suggesting a garnish of a Hershey’s kiss. It was all I could do to keep my lunch down.

A few days later I searched the kitchen for something sweet. It was raining out, and cold, and I wanted a taste of something almost too rich to eat. Just then, my friend’s chocolate martini — a tiny one, for sure — would have been perfect.

That’s how I feel about Chopard Casmir. A daily diet of Casmir would burn out your nasal hair and leave you (and your bus mates) on the verge of nausea. But when the taste for something over-the-top rich and sweet hits, it’s hard to beat…

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Roberto Cavalli for Her ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 13 February 2012 58 Comments

Roberto Cavalli for Her advert

Gosh, I hate to do this to you. Roberto Cavalli discontinued all its old fragrances, and released Robert Cavalli for Her as part of its new partnership with Coty. Somebody needed to review it. Somebody needed to give you the heads up on the alluring contents of that gorgeously shaped amphore of a bottle. Sadly, I don’t like Robert Cavalli for Her much at all.

So, we’ll make this a short review then go on to a game. Perfumer Louise Turner developed Roberto Cavalli for Her. PR materials call the fragrance an “exuberant” and “sensual” floral amber with notes of pink pepper, orange blossom absolute, and toasted tonka bean. The Macy’s website adds Mirabelle plum. The fragrance opens with a fizzy, pretty combination of what smells to me like peach mixed with honeysuckle. So far, so good. Not original, maybe, but juicy, fresh, and warm. This is the first impression that sells a thousand bottles.

After fifteen minutes comes the deal breaker…

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Guerlain Attrape-Coeur & Vol de Nuit Evasion ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 6 February 2012 82 Comments

Guerlain Guet-Apens Guerlain Attrape-Coeur

The archetypal image of Valentine’s Day is a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Done right, the box is wrapped in lightly padded vermillion satin, and the chocolates are rich and silky smooth — no grainy cherry filling here. Of course, next to the box is a lush bouquet of fragrant flowers. It’s romantic, timeless, and sure to melt the coldest heart. To me, its perfume equivalent could only be Guerlain Attrape-Cœur.

In 1999, Guerlain released Guet-Apens Eau de Parfum as a limited edition and named Mathilde Laurent as its nose. The fragrance was reissued in 2005 as Attrape-Cœur, this time credited to Jean-Paul Guerlain. (I’ve also seen Maurice Roucel’s name tossed in as a contributor to Attrape-Cœur.) In 2007, Guerlain released an Eau de Toilette formulation in duty free shops and named it, oddly, Vol de Nuit Evasion. (To make it even stranger, Vol de Nuit Evasion was packaged in a L’Heure Bleue/Mitsouko bottle, but labeled with the classic Vol de Nuit parfum logo.)

In French, guet-apens means “ambush.” I think Attrape-Cœur (“heart catcher”) is a more fitting name for the fragrance…

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Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 30 January 2012 110 Comments

Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia

When looking for a perfume, many people say they want something “sexy” or something “fresh.” Perfume houses are hip to that, and tend to market their wares with smoldering starlets or oceans and dew-tipped garden flowers. (That is, unless they can play both sides and put the starlet on the beach.)

The popular sexy fragrance is easy to define. Start with a friendly fruit note, add amber, vanilla, and maybe patchouli, toss in a shot of jasmine and the obligatory rare jungle orchid, and presto: sexy perfume. A clean fragrance can take a few different approaches. It can be citrusy (many colognes), ocean-like (Issey Miyake Eau d’Issey), fizzing with steamy aldehydes (Narciso Rodriguez Essence), or soapy (take your pick of the Clean line). It can finish with cool wood or vetiver, or — more likely these days, it seems — a wave of laundry musk.

Giorgio Armani has raked in good money selling fresh fragrances. Acqua di Giò, both the feminine and masculine versions, have been best sellers since the mid-1990s. Acqua di Gioia is the brand’s latest try for the “fresh” vote, and it plays up both the ocean and laundry musk angles of clean…

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Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Perfumista tip ~ how to make fragrance last through the day

The baseline

Chopard Casmir ~ fragrance review

Roberto Cavalli for Her ~ fragrance review

Guerlain Attrape-Coeur & Vol de Nuit Evasion ~ fragrance review

Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia ~ fragrance review