Orange You A Sweetie: Love By Kilian

I seem to be going through a mid-life crisis, but instead of flashy sports cars, I'm finding myself drawn to sweet perfumes that young girls might wear. Maybe this is just my natural evolution as a perfumista? I started my perfume obsession loving spicy, woody, and incense perfumes. It took me a while to enjoy white florals and even longer to appreciate roses. I even starting liking fruity florals that I would have turned up my nose at previously. Now here I am, four years into this olfactory hobby, and I've fallen in love with Love, a sugary sweet perfume that I would have judged as way too young for me just a short time ago.

Maybe it's the heat. We're in the middle of a hot, sticky summer in Toronto and I've always had a thing for creamsicles, that vanilla ice-cream and orange treat on a stick. Love, (full title: Love, don't be shy) is mostly an orange blossom perfume, dipped in vanilla and covered in powdered sugar. As it wears on the skin it gets  richer and more animalic. The sugar turns into caramel and the base feels thick and resiny.

I may have to save up for a bottle of Love. By Kilian perfumes aren't cheap, and I suspect that there are many other sweetie vanilla, orange blossom perfumes out these that I could try, but I do love the By Kilian line. Nothing ever smells cheap in a By Kilian perfume and the strength and lasting power is amazing. Just the tiniest drop of Love on my wrist lasts all day.

So what do you think, is my new love for the sweet perfume just the natural progression of my nose as I lose my early perfumista prejudices and broaden my palette? Or am having a second childhood? How do you feel about sugary perfumes?

House: By Kilian
Nose: Calice Becker
Notes: bergamot, neroli, pink pepper, coriander, honeysuckle, orange blossom,  jasmine, rose, iris, civet, caramelised sugar accord, vanilla, cist labdanum, white musk

Roses for Valentine's Day

Who Doesn't Like Roses?

The rose is the queen of flowers. Rose can be combined with fruity, spicy, woody, or green notes. Rose perfumes can be sheer and light, rich and hypnotic or dark and dirty. There's something for everyone in a rose. This Valentine's Day, give your sweetie (or yourself) a new rose perfume. Here are some unusual and excellent roses to try.

For the Traditionalist: Czech and Speake, Rose Cologne

Czech and Speake is a luxury English line of bath products and perfumes, They do a gorgeous rose soliflore. Nothing fancy, just a real English rose, with some green leaves up top and a hint of earthy patchouli in the base. Lovely.
Nose: ?
Notes: bourbon rose, geranium, ylang ylang, mimosa mingle, patchouli

For the Sexpot: Frederic Malle, Une Rose

Une Rose is a "master's rose." This is the whole rose bush, from green leaves, to full blooms. Even the dirt still clinging to the roots is represented by the soft and earthy "truffle accord." The heart is is rich red rose drizzled with animalic honey. The honey note is pure sex for some, but can smell a bit "pissy" to others. Not for the faint of heart.
Nose: Edouard Fléchier
Notes: Turkish rose absolute, fruit, honey, geranium, wine dregs, truffle accord, dark woods, animal notes

For the Dangerous Sweetie Pie: By Kilian, Liaisons Dangereuses

The full name for this lolita is Liaisons Dangereuses typical me. Like Britney Spears in "Oops, I Did It Again" he or she will fool you with the face of an angel but underneath, something smells not that innocent. Dangerous Liaisons starts very green with a huge hit of green leaves and grape-y fruit. As the rose note opens up, the fruit deepens into a plum pie. Underneath is all is a soft, recently slept-in bed of musk, vanilla, woods and moss.
Nose: Calice Becker
Notes: blackcurrent buds, plum, peach, cinnamon, ambrette, rose damascus, geranium, sandalwood, oakmoss, vetiver, woods, vanilla, white musks

For the Exotic Pussy Cat: By Kilian, Rose Oud

Another gorgeous rose by Calice Becker. Rose Oud is rose petals scattered on the rich woody oud. The oud feels light and airy, not heavy. It's like smoke. As the perfumes sits on your skin it gets warmer and sweeter. The spices, mostly cardamom, become noticeable.  It has an almost gourmand quality, like some kind of middle eastern toasted pastry. The rose beomes fruity like a fine red wine. Rose Oud wears close to the skin but has remarkable staying power. The next day my skin smells like candied roses and incense.
Nose: Calice Becker
Notes: rose, oud, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon

For the Sourpuss: Hermes, Eau de Pamplemousse Rose

There's always the one who says "I Hate Valentine's." Give him or her a great citrus perfume with subtle  rose note. I fell in love with Pamplemousse Rose on first sniff. It smells like a sparkling, mineral grapefruit, like Pink Grapefruit Perrier. It's only after the first 15 minutes that you start to smell sheer pink roses under the dry and tart citrus. Pamplemousse Rose would be a perfect summer scent, but it also brightens up a dreary winter day.
Nose: Jean-Claude Ellena
Notes: pink grapefruit, rose

By Kilian - Love and Tears, Surrender

First love

By Kilian is a line of luxury perfumes by, um, Kilian, the heir to "a long line of cognac makers." (Interesting, again we have a connection between perfume and an old French cognac family.) By Kilian perfumes are expensive, but they use high quality materials (you can really smell the difference) and talented noses.  

Love and Tears, Surrender was composed by Calice Becker, who also created the critically acclaimed and popular fragrances Dior J'Adore EDP, Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise, Pierre Balmain Vent Vert, Lancome Cuir de Lancome and Tommy Hilfiger Tommy Girl among others. 

Love and Tears is the latest By Kilian perfume, in a lineup that are all named with love affair themes, like Prelude to Love, Invitation, and Beyond Love, Prohibited, and Back to Black, Aphrodisiac. Love and Tears is a fresh, green jasmine soliflore that reminds me of spring and young love.

One thing I love about By Kilian is that they publish the "perfumer's formula" for each of their fragrances. Each ingredient/accord is listed, along with its measure in grams. So from the web site, I learn that Love and Tears has a Jasmine Heart composed five different jasmines: Indian Jasmine, Egyptian Jasmine, Jasmine Headspace, Solar Jasmine Accord and Water Jasmine Note.

Oh this jasmine is beautiful! Love and Tears is a hyper-realistic jasmine soliflore. It smells like fresh, wet petals. The jasmine comes complete with branches and green leaves. The petitgrain has a fresh woodiness and the galbanum (yum) is wonderfully green.

The floral heart seems to have other spring flowers as well. The notes list daffodil and lily of the valley but sometimes I also think I'm smelling lilacs. It just seems like a big bouquet of spring flowers. In the end, there's a light mossy-wood drydown with the ever-present jasmine.

Love and Tears seems to me to be the scent of that first passionate love, the one you never forget. It's the sweetest happiness and the tears when it ends. It's a gorgeous perfume and I want to wear it all the time these days, even though it's fall and I'm usually only craving spice or amber or woods about now. I may need a bottle. I think this would also be the perfect first perfume for my niece, if I wasn't a little hesitant to get her hooked on something so dear.

A recent study claims that the smell of jasmine reduces anxiety, promotes rest and is "as calming as valium." I believe it. For the past few days, I have been wearing Love and Tears to bed and I have had the sweetest dreams.

House: By Kilian
Nose: Calice Becker
Notes: bergamot, petitgrain, galbanum, jasmine, ylang ylang, daffodil, orange blossom, lily of the valley, cedar, styrax, oak moss