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Browsing by author: Kevin

Imaginary Authors Bull’s Blood ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 7 May 2014 33 Comments

bull

Here’s the blurb about Bull’s Blood* by indie perfume house Imaginary Authors (yes, the “authors” are from the world of make-believe, no need to google them or search on Amazon for their works!):

Devante Valéreo was raised in a dusty Spanish village on the Balearic Sea. He fondly recalled going to the bullfights with his father, an ex-picador, and credited those early experiences with inspiring his most popular novella, Bull’s Blood. The book’s lurid tale of seduction garnered obscenity charges against the author. Though the charges were rejected by the court, a ban on the sale of his works persisted for a number of years.

A fixture in Barcelona, smoking cigarillos and writing in the cafés and bars into the night, Valéreo disappeared as a fugitive in 1967 after a highly publicized bar scuffle with American sailors, one of whom later died from his injuries. ‘A man who has killed,’ he wrote in Bull’s Blood, ‘is a man who knows passion.’

Really? I’m pretty sure I know passion, and I’ve never killed anyone — yet (Valéreo, I assume, “wrote” pulp fiction). And the bullfighting connection with Bull’s Blood? I could do without it…

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Diptyque Eau de Lavande & Geranium Odorata ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 30 April 2014 45 Comments

Diptyque Eau de Lavande and Geranium Odorata, labels

Have you ever met people who give in to middle age a little TOO easily? They relish gray hair, embrace flab, “simplify” their wardrobes by banishing all colors except navy, white, black, gray and beige. They repeat the phrase “age appropriate”: when getting a haircut, choosing a perfume, or buying jeans (“Should I even be WEARING jeans at my age?” they ask). Tiresome. If I could accept aging in such a way, my life would be (might be?) easier. But I can’t! I’ll fight the creaks and leaks and cracks of time every step of the way.

Diptyque has reached middle age and settled into a slower and lazier rhythm with ease. The lively, fun-loving, unusual, quirky perfume company I used to love…is now resting in a La-Z-Boy recliner (those dull new Diptyque bottles!) and seems to have banished all “color” “pattern” and style from its new perfume offerings. A blandness has settled over Diptyque; two new examples of middle-aged Diptyque are Geranium Odorata and Eau de Lavande…

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Hermes Terre d’Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 24 April 2014 21 Comments

Terre d'Hermès Eau Très Fraîche

All my adult life, I’ve been employed in offices where perfume was adored by my co-workers. (Yes, my passion for fragrance sometimes fueled this interest.) As I wore new perfumes each day, stocked up on samples of rare and unusual and hard-to-find colognes, almost everyone in my office wanted to smell what I was wearing, give me their on-the-spot reviews, serve as “second-skin” guinea pigs, and enjoy all the samples I gave them.

That atmosphere vanished last winter when I began working in a place where few people wore perfume (and nobody had any interest in it). Though there was not a “no-perfume” office policy, I immediately started wearing light, citrus-y perfumes at work, perfumes that didn’t extend their reach far beyond my person. I’ve been preparing for summer by making a list of possible new perfume candidates for office-friendly wear. Hermès Terre d’Hermès Eau Très Fraîche shot to the top of my list.

I like original Terre d’Hermès (2006), but I’ve never bought a bottle…though I’ve come pretty close…

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Union Gothic Bluebell ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 16 April 2014 16 Comments

bluebells

Spring is literally “in the air” where I live. Being outdoors is like walking in a fairy tale perfume land — I breathe in the scents of viburnum, hyacinth, scented tulips, clematis, magnolia (several species are in bloom), narcissus, lilac, English laurel (hey, perfumers, do make a perfume smelling of this beautiful floral note…I’m begging!) Frankly, I’d rather be outside than writing a perfume review!

Since Robin is living it up in Barcelona this week, I’ll take a mini-vacation myself by writing a short review of a perfume that’s perfect for this moment: Union Gothic Bluebell.

Union describes Gothic Bluebell in romantic fashion…

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Grandiflora Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine & Magnolia Grandiflora Michel ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 9 April 2014 25 Comments

magnolia blossoms

I grew up in Virginia, and I wonder if there’s a state with more magnolia grandiflora trees? (Mississippi…Alabama…Louisiana…South Carolina…I know you have your share!) When I think back, it seems every house, regal or modest, every college campus, farm, mall, gas station, had its own magnolia tree…or trees. Magnolia grandifloras are from an ancient family — they were Earth’s first flowering plants; magnolias are beautiful in many ways: they produce heavy/stiff leaves, ‘lacquered’ dark green on one side, suede-like, sometimes “furry” and brown, on the other; gem-like fruits; noble seed heads — not to mention their huge, glorious-looking (and heavenly scented) flowers. No matter their location, parking lot or plantation, magnolia grandifloras are grand.

I’m betting one of the first floral smells to imprint itself on me was magnolia. How else to explain my writing a piano composition in seventh grade titled Magnolia Whispers? (My piano teacher made all her students write an original piece of music for our annual recital.) I even illustrated the sheet music with tiny drawings of magnolia blossoms. (I wish I could attach a soundtrack to this article so you could get a good laugh.) I never wrote a musical ode to other favorites — gardenias, roses, poppies or marigolds…magnolia reigned supreme…

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