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Browsing by author: Jessica

Lush Sikkim Girls ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 29 March 2013 23 Comments

Lush Sikkim Girls

I’ve been a Lush customer for over a decade, and I’ve followed the various permutations of the company’s fragrance line with interest, from B Never Too Busy to Be Beautiful to Gorilla Perfume and everything in between. Lush’s latest fragrance line has delighted me so far; as Robin has said, Mark and Simon Constantine continue to produce “unusual, well-crafted and reasonably priced perfumes whilst seemingly paying no mind to the conventions that rule the rest of the fragrance industry.”

Sikkim Girls is described as “subtle, seductive, heady, exotic, floral…frangipani, jasmine, vanilla and tuberose conjure up exotic climes and heady possibilities.” Its name comes from an anecdote related by the musician Sheema Mukherjee: Mukherjee met a café owner in Darjeeling who claimed that his son-in-law had been lured away by two “Sikkim girls,” unlikely sirens who entranced him with their feminine wiles despite being fully, even modestly, dressed. Its white floral notes, appropriately enough, are traditional but surprisingly heady, not to mention quite long-lasting on the skin…

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Olive & Oud Soaps ~ scented body product review

Posted by Jessica on 15 March 2013 19 Comments

Olive Oud Bonfire soapOlive Oud Emerge soap

Olive & Oud is a small but very satisfying line of handmade, botanically fragranced soaps. I tend to be very particular about soap — its texture, its scent, its appearance — and very few brands inspire me to repurchase their wares. However, I tried and enjoyed two bars from Olive & Oud so much that I’ll be going back for more.

These soaps are made using the cold process method; they are crafted from a base of olive oil, organic and sustainably grown palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and castor oil. They’re lather-y yet moisturizing, they’re cleverly tinted with natural pigments, and they have sophisticated, subtly blended fragrances.

Bonfire in the Snow soap (above left), which is off-white with a stripe of indigo and charcoal, combines cool and warm sensations in its ingredients…

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Charenton Macerations Christopher Street ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 10 March 2013 17 Comments

Christopher Street atmosphere

I can rarely resist a New York reference in a fragrance or a beauty product. Charenton Macerations is a new independent fragrance line created by Douglas Bender, a New York resident who has worked in various aspects of the fragrance industry, and its first scent is inspired by an old and storied New York location: Christopher Street, one of the best-known by-ways of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Christopher Street was developed in collaboration with perfumer Ralf Schwieger. Its composition includes top notes of alcoholic lime, bergamot, bitter orange, leather and tobacco; mid-notes of cinnamon, clove bud, “Dance on Skin,” orange blossom and Poet Carnation; and a dry down of incense, moss, musk, myrrh and patchouli.

As the Charenton Macerations website mentions, Christopher Street has been “home to merchants and misfits, Beatniks and Bohemians, dissidents and protesters” over its three centuries of existence. It evolved from colonial farmland into a site of shipping and trade, a crucible of modern art and literature, an epicenter of the sexual revolution, and a key location in the gay liberation movement. Although many of its long-loved bookstores and cafés are now closed, a few reminders of its history still stand, all with their own distinct olfactory profiles…

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L’Artisan Parfumeur Caligna ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 1 March 2013 29 Comments

L'Artisan Parfumeur Caligna

When acquaintances who want to know more about perfume ask me for recommendations, I often suggest a visit to a L’Artisan Parfumeur counter. L’Artisan was the first “niche” fragrance house I ever experienced, back in the 1990s, and it’s still one of my favorites. Lately I’ve been watching with interest as L’Artisan has been highlighting certain long-standing aspects of its brand identity, perhaps re-asserting its rightful place in an increasingly crowded market. Since late 2012, for example, the company has been “telling the story of French perfumery” with its “Grasse Collection” of candles, scented gloves, and — starting now, with Caligna — fragrances.

Caligna “draws inspiration from the spiritual home of fragrance” — the countryside around Grasse — and its name reportedly comes from the word meaning “to court” or “to flirt” in the Provençal dialect. L’Artisan describes Caligna as “a woody, aromatic fragrance” with notes of clary sage, fig, jasmine marmalade accord, lentisc (the shrub that produces mastic resin) and pine needles; it was developed by perfumer Dora Baghriche-Arnaud.

All of Caligna’s notes are inspired by the landscape and vegetation of Provence, and it’s a refreshing take on the region, free of any clichéd lavender-sachet associations…

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Agent Provocateur Petale Noir ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 15 February 2013 24 Comments

Agent Provocateur Pétale Noir advert

I’m definitely not someone who purchases fancy, expensive lingerie (and that is all you’ll know, and all you need to know!), but I do like Agent Provocateur’s fragrance line. It’s a relatively small product range, and the fragrances all seem to be targeted at the over-25 demographic, two refreshing changes from the current norm. Maîtresse has been my favorite since it was released, although I also like and respect the original Agent Provocateur’s saffron-rose chypre effect.

Now we have Pétale Noir, “a deep floral scent with a hint of oriental mystique” and top notes of mandarin, water lily, bergamot, violet leaves, hyacinth and magnolia; middle notes of rose otto, rose absolute, ylang ylang, muguet, orris, osmanthus, neroli, cassis blossom; and base notes of ginger, leather, sandalwood, vetiver, tobacco leaf, amber, musk and sandalwood. Agent Provocateur’s description for this fragrance warns us that its “soft petals make way for dangerous prickly thorns.” However, I experienced Pétale Noir’s development in reverse: for me, it begins as a modern chypre, with dark rose framed by vetiver and patchouli. It’s not a skanky-dirty rose, but it’s more roughed-up than most florals you’ll find at the average department store…

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