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Browsing by author: Kevin

Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee & Bombay Bling ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 16 November 2011 18 Comments

The new Paris-based fragrance line Neela Vermeire Créations has released three perfumes inspired by India: Trayee, Mohur and Bombay Bling (all developed by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour). Mohur, a neon-bright, rose-focused scent, doesn’t appeal to me, but I enjoy Trayee and Bombay Bling. Trayee smells “serious,” even studious, while Bombay Bling is full of cheer — a great pair! The Trayee “type” will earnestly discuss Chola art and the meaning of nirvana, while Bombay Bling guzzles fruity cocktails, gossips and screams with delight while watching Devdas… for the fifteenth time.

Trayee

blue ginger, elemi, cinnamon, ganja effects, blackcurrant, basil, jasmine, cardamom, clove, saffron, sandalwood, vetiver, incense, patchouli, myrrh, vanilla, cedar, amber, oud and oak moss

Trayee starts off with strong saffron and “green” medicinal aromas; as it dries, this opening accord conjures the scent of “leather.” Trayee is a well-blended fragrance and you have to strain to smell ginger, blackcurrant and cardamom — but they are there. In Trayee’s base (my favorite — and the longest lasting — part of the fragrance) rich cedar and oud notes appear alongside touches of piney elemi and dark, smoky tobacco-‘marijuana’…

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Penhaligon’s Juniper Sling ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 9 November 2011 25 Comments

Louise Brooks, Penhaligon's Juniper Sling

Penhaligon’s new Juniper Sling was “inspired by London Dry Gin and the gin-drinking Bright Young Things of the 1920s.” Nancy Mitford, Cecil Beaton and Evelyn Waugh were B.Y.T. in England, and let’s throw in some Americans, too: Louise Brooks, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong will do. How far we’ve dimmed — “our” bright young things include the Kardashian sisters, Justin Bieber, Prince Harry and Pippa (not to mention hoards of reality TV cringe-inducers). Much less depressing to talk about perfume!

Juniper Sling* does smell, upon first sniff, like a fragrant bottle of gin — there’s “booze,” citrus, angelica and vibrant cardamom (the opening is the best part of the fragrance). Under those head notes floats transparent iris and light-smooth leather…

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L’Occitane Immortelle de Corse ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 2 November 2011 45 Comments

L'Occitane Immortelle de Corse

On paper (literally), L’Occitane’s new Immortelle de Corse* fragrance smells an awful lot like real, almost “pure,” immortelle. As I sniffed a blotter spritzed with Immortelle de Corse, I thought: “Nice…simple immortelle,” but when I put Immortelle de Corse on my skin, it smelled completely different, much more interesting and complex.

Immortelle de Corse includes notes of rose, black tea, benzoin, iris, musk and (natural) immortelle. Immortelle de Corse starts off with the scents of maple syrup, honey and black tea leaves (the ‘tea’ is very fresh and floral in character, and it lasts and lasts); there’s also a hay-dried straw aroma that intensifies and becomes a tad musty (pleasantly musty)…

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Marc Jacobs Bang Bang ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 26 October 2011 31 Comments

Marc Jacobs Bang Bang

My favorite Bang Bang can be heard here. (Perhaps you’d like to listen as you read this review?) Marc Jacobs Bang Bang was released in August, and compared to the splashy debut of Bang, didn’t even merit a drum-roll, let alone a double-bang. I’ve seen no Bang Bang advertisements in magazines and the fragrance seems to be available only on the Marc Jacobs website in the U.S. — not in any major department stores.

Recently, a Nordstrom perfume sales person told me original Bang was a flop with consumers. (Clerk: “It didn’t smell good. We’re not stocking Bang anymore…and there’s a new Bang?”) All this surprised me — a Nordstrom perfume counter employee dissing a fragrance? Bang, such an original, pert, fun fragrance, a dud?

Bang Bang was developed by perfumer Yann Vasnier and lists notes of lemon, fennel, cardamom, sage, patchouli, sandalwood and cashmere musks.* Ignoring the advice I give others, I bought Bang Bang…unsniffed…

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Keith Urban Phoenix ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 19 October 2011 55 Comments

Keith Urban Phoenix

Keith Urban, judging from photos anyway, seems an unpretentious, casual-comfortable type of person. I don’t know much about contemporary country music or Urban but after smelling Phoenix I feel we have at least one thing in common — a love of desserts. If Urban had input in Phoenix’s development, and didn’t just slap his name onto a “made-by-committee” fragrance, the man has a major sweet tooth.

Phoenix was developed by perfumer Loc Dong and features notes of blackberries, cognac, plum, suede accord, dates, dark chocolate, fir balsam, musk, cashmere woods, tonka bean and “amber gourmand.”

Phoenix starts with boozy aldehydes, leather and cocoa (smelling quite a bit like the Thierry Mugler A*Men “Pure” fragrances), and segues into a sheer suede-plus- “blackberries macerating in sugar” note…

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