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Browsing by author: Jessica

Les Parfums de Rosine Majalis ~ perfume review

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Les Parfums de Rosine Majalis

I had to raise an eyebrow at the most recent issue of Allure magazine, which featured an article discussing “the return of the rose” in contemporary fragrance. I didn’t realize the rose had gone anywhere, since I’ve been wearing rose-inspired perfumes most of my adult life. Furthermore, Les Parfums de Rosine has been offering rose-centered fragrances since the company was revived in 1991, so they would seem to have been ahead of this trend (?); when I first began exploring niche perfumery a decade ago, I found many scents to love in the Rosine collection. (I would have liked to include more of them in my list of 25 must-try rose fragrances, believe me; I was just trying to keep things balanced!)

Majalis is the latest launch from Les Parfums de Rosine, a “seductive and sophisticated” floriental…

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House of Cherry Bomb Cardamom Rose & Tobacco Cognac ~ fragrance reviews

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House of Cherry Bomb Tobacco Cognac

House of Cherry Bomb is a collaborative project between Maria McElroy (of Aroma M) and Alexis Karl (of Scent by Alexis), two New York-based independent perfumers. The first pair of Cherry Bomb fragrances, Truth or Dare and Rebel Angel, were both vanilla-based gourmands created for younger female wearers. Cardamom Rose and Tobacco Cognac are the first two fragrances in the line’s exclusive “Atelier collection” (available through the Aroma M Atelier in Brooklyn), and they seem aimed at a more grown-up clientele, one with a taste for unconventional (yet wearable) blends.

Cardamom Rose is “an enchanting scent to be worn in all seasons…with subtle spice, trails of Moroccan flowers and traces of smoke.” The mention of Morocco seems important here — perhaps this fragrance is meant to evoke a stroll through the streets of Tangier and the mingled scents of fruit stands, flower markets, spice shops, and smoke drifting out of cafés…

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Maria Candida Gentile Gershwin ~ fragrance review

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George Gershwin

How do I decide which perfume I’ll be reviewing for any given week? Sometimes my choice is inspired by the weather, by my mood, or by the timeliness of a new release. On the other hand, chance sometimes plays a role: last Sunday morning, I was looking over a handful of sample vials, trying to make a selection, when George Gershwin’s An American in Paris came on the radio. My eye fell on one of the samples in front of me: Gershwin, then!

Maria Candida Gentile is an Italian perfumer who trained in Grasse; her fragrances are all evocatively named and seem to contain an unusually high percentage of natural ingredients…

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Aftelier Organic Ylang Face Elixir ~ scented body product review

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Aftelier Organic Ylang Face Elixir

The weather has suddenly turned cool and windy here in the northeast, so it’s the perfect time for me to upgrade my skincare for extra moisture and protection — and if I can work a good-smelling product or two into my regimen, then all the better! Natural perfumer Mandy Aftel of Aftelier has just released a new Organic Ylang Face Elixir, which I’ve been sampling this week. It contains organic ylang ylang, a creamy floral blended with bright pink grapefruit and blood orange, both known for their toning and softening properties, in a base of seven organic oils (rice bran, sweet almond, apricot kernel, camellia, grapeseed, squalene and rose hip seed).

When I first became seriously interested in fragrance, and I was smelling as many perfumes as I could in order to define what I liked, I realized that ylang ylang was (and is) one of my favorite floral notes…

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Terry de Gunzburg Parti Pris & Ombre Mercure ~ fragrance reviews

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Terry de Gunzburg perfume bottles

If you’re a fan of high-end, luxury cosmetics, you’ve most likely heard of Terry de Gunzburg: makeup artist to photographers like Helmut Newton and Irving Penn, creative director of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté (and inventor of the Touche Eclat highlighter-concealer), founder of the eponymous By Terry makeup line. Gunzburg launched her first fragrance collection last year, and it recently arrived in the United States.

Gunzburg has said, “I wanted to reconnect with perfumes from the beginning of the century, like those of Guerlain and Robert Piguet — they were extravagant experiences. That’s not to say mine are dusty old fragrances. They’re contemporary — clean but not watery, opulent but not heavy.”1 I’ve been sampling her five fragrances one by one; today I’ll cover two of them, Parti Pris and Ombre Mercure…

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