Versace Pour Homme Dylan Blue ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 31 August 2016 20 Comments

Versace Pour Homme Dylan Blue advert

Versace just released Versace Pour Homme Dylan Blue and Donatella Versace had this to say about it:

I have always believed men should be strong, passionate, proud, expressive, unafraid. I love that in today’s world, men feel able to reveal their true natures, to share their passions and their beliefs. It’s there in the fragrance, which is strong, fresh, seductive.¹

Donatella grew up in ITALY. Italian men, including those in diapers and strollers, don’t exactly have a reputation for hiding their true natures, passions or beliefs. Who put these dumb words into Versace’s mouth? She grew up surrounded by brothers! Robin Here at NST™ had another take on Donatella, using Versace’s quote “I love how Dylan Blue captures such an evocative world of Versace masculinity.” Robin: Then, I picture her closing the door of her room, laughing, and counting her money.

I don’t know Ms. Versace personally (she seems nice enough in interviews), so I don’t relish her successes…or gloat over her failures…

Read the rest of this article »

Charenton Macerations Eye, Hatshepsut ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 24 August 2016 28 Comments

Charenton Macerations Eye, Hatshepsut brand image

I’ve always loved ancient Egyptian art and history, the complex religious practices of Egyptians and the depictions of their gods (including such “gods” as the female pharaoh Hatshepsut). Call me macabre, but I enjoy reading about ancient Egyptian mummification practices and the fragrant oils used to preserve and scent important corpses big (rulers) and small (cats); I’ve written here at Now Smell This (10 years ago!) about kyphi incense. Like everyone else, I’m sometimes susceptible to advertising, so any time a perfume house releases a scent that references Egypt, I sample it in hopes it will be glorious. (Why didn’t Serge Lutens ever “go there”…with a rich, “profound” Egypt-inspired fragrance?)

Charenton Macerations Eye, Hatshepsut (which was, according to ad copy, researched at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo) goes on smelling medicinal, or “medicinal” as interpreted by a contemporary perfumer…

Read the rest of this article »

Mirus Wicked Stepmother & Driftwood ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 19 August 2016 20 Comments

Rubus sumatranus stem

I’d never heard of Mirus perfumes until I visited Tigerlily in San Francisco this July; a sales assistant insisted I sample the Northern California-based line. I was so taken with Mirus Wicked Stepmother, I included it in my Top 10 Summer Fragrances 2016 post.

Wicked Stepmother

(jasmine, lychee, orange, carnation, animalic amber and vanilla)

Wicked Stepmother reminds me of a vintage French perfume, one I could easily imagine being worn by the likes of Anouk Aimée or Simone Signoret in their heydays (both actresses could have rocked a mean stepmother — méchante belle-mère — role!) Wicked Stepmother opens with lush jasmine, spiked with a shot of something green…

Read the rest of this article »

Last Roses of Summer ~ jam recipes

Posted by Kevin on 17 August 2016 39 Comments

rose 1

As autumn approaches, my garden is preparing for one final flourish before Day of the Dead (in Seattle that’s, aptly, The End…when my last marigolds will succumb to too much damp, the few remaining roses ‘forget’ to open fully, and quince stragglers, brown, soft and vinegary, lie on the ground).

In these late-August days, I’m thinking ahead: I need to make one more batch of fig-leaf syrup (my Desert King fig tree is so happy it’s two stories high, its leaves bigger than my head) and plan this year’s assorted quince treats: savory, sweet and alcoholic. Our Russian quince tree (Aromatnaya) has so much fruit I’ll be donating some to a pig sanctuary and a weed-chomping, underbrush-clearing goat herd. I’ll also make the final batches of rose jam.

I didn’t grow up eating roses…

Read the rest of this article »

Auphorie Miyako ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 3 August 2016 30 Comments

Auphorie Miyako brand image

Auphorie is a small perfume house based in Malaysia; it’s run by two brothers: Eugene and Emrys Au. Recently, many bloggers have written (excitedly) about Auphorie’s limited edition Miyako¹ so, of course, I had to try it.

Miyako goes on smelling like a rich fruit syrup, not an ‘ordinary’ syrup, but one concocted (with secret ingredients) at a lavish Parisian restaurant for use in over-the-top desserts and cocktails. Miyako’s syrup is made mostly of ripe stone fruit — heavy on peach and apricot. Miyako’s fruit accord begins to dry rather quickly and the perfume becomes a tad talc-y before the arrival of moist osmanthus blossoms and a smooth leather aroma…

Read the rest of this article »

« Newer articles

Older articles »