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Browsing by category: perfume talk

Montale Red Vetiver ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 28 June 2017 33 Comments

roses

As I write, it’s 95 degrees Fahrenheit/35 degrees Celsius in Seattle. On scorchers, I usually opt for colognes they make me feel refreshed and clean. Apparently, most of my citrus scents are too hot to work today (even 10 sprays result in only minutes of refreshment). I don’t want any “sugar” in my perfume on hot days, and cumin and grapefruit are risky (“That man needs a shower!”) And I’m not interested at all in the army of white musk-infused citrus scents on the market that remain on skin till Kingdom Come; the last thing I want today is to be reminded of a steamy laundromat.

My hot-weather choice? I often opt for a vetiver-focused perfume; vetiver makes me feel clean and “cool.” Too bad my latest vetiver purchase (Etro Vetiver) is a failure in this oven-like heat; it disappears from my skin in under 10 minutes. So, thinking of that old phrase — “fight fire with fire” — I turned to a new vetiver fragrance: Montale Red Vetiver…

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Imaginary Authors Saint Julep ~ fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 27 June 2017 103 Comments

Imaginary Authors Saint Julep brand image

On the outskirts of Clarksdale, Mississippi, at the end of a secluded dirt road sat a small ramshackle church. It was not a place of worship but rather where many went to seek refuge during impoverished times. […] It was a distinctly secular place where locals who knew where to find it could share moonshine, socialize, and dance their troubles away. They called their ramshackle juke joint Saint Julep and the oral histories compiled within paint a picture of that magical place where “the smiles was always free and salvation had the distinct smell of sweet mint.”

That’s presumably the imaginary blurb from the imaginary back cover of the imaginary book that inspired Saint Julep, the latest fragrance from indie brand Imaginary Authors. The notes — sweet mint, tangerine, Southern magnolia, bourbon, grisalva (amber molecule), sugarcube and crushed ice — are an obvious nod to the mint julep, and it’s hard to believe, but I’ve never tasted one. Since I assumed it was something heavy and dark and sweet, I likewise expected Saint Julep to be heavy and dark and sweet.

Wrong again. Never judge a book by its cover…

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Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 26 June 2017 55 Comments

Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir

My coworkers Brigid and Aimee have worked together for years and are good friends. When they see each other, one will often say in a sultry voice, “Oh, hi” like she’s pretending to run into her high school crush by the locker, when in fact she planned the “accident” all morning. It’s alluring, theatrical, and goofy — over-the-top in the best way — and it cracks me up and warms my heart every time.

This is how I feel about Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir. It’s a dense, sparkling amber-woody fragrance that is to perfume like chocolate volcano cake is to dessert, a marvel of too-muchness I find hard to resist…

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Top 10 Summer Fragrances 2017

Posted by Robin on 23 June 2017 93 Comments

I love summer. Yes, I’ll complain about the heat like everyone else, but I’d rather bake than freeze any day. Plus, the fruit! Even if you don’t like summer, you have to admit that the abundant variety of fresh fruits (that haven’t been flown in from another continent) is worth a little extra sweat on your brow. Here are 9 reasonably new-ish (all came out within the past 5 years, and most of them within the last 2 years) fruit fragrances to help keep you feeling cool and lighthearted, plus one veg, because you have to have your veg…

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Kai Rose ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 22 June 2017 8 Comments

Kai Rose

Kai by Gaye Straza recently launched a new feminine fragrance called Kai Rose, a flanker to the brand’s original Kai. Kai was launched way back in 1999 (!), and if you participated in any perfume message boards, perfume swaps, or perfume meet-ups in the following decade, or even received a “gift with purchase” bag from Barneys during that time, you no doubt encountered a perfume vial tagged with Kai’s green-and-white logo…

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