Lancôme - Ô de l'Orangerie

Sundress

Doesn't everybody love a sundress? A sheer, pretty scrap of nothing that you can throw on and feel completely comfortable on a hot day is a wardrobe staple. Not into dresses? Think of a well-worn, soft linen shirt. Ô de l'Orangerie is like that - a sheer and casual veil for summertime.

Released this spring, Ô de l'Orangerie is the 3rd flanker to the original Ô de Lancôme. It opens with sunny orange blossom and a brisk orange peel. The heart is a light clean jasmine and the base notes are soft and almost undetectable. In general, Ô de l'Orangerie stays a pretty, lightly orange, slightly sweet jasmine on my skin.

Unfortunately it doesn't stay too long, but at only C$54 for 75ml, one could afford to re-spray often.


House: Lancôme
Nose: ?
Notes: orange zest, orange blossom essential oil, orange blossom absolute, jasmine, benzoin, cedar

Byredo La Tulipe

Life is a bowl of tulips

It's a cold and rainy April day, perfect for contemplating my lovely vase of tulips. They were a gift from my old office. I start at a new office on Monday. Spring is a good time for new beginnings and tulips are my favourite spring flower. Beautiful, cheerful, delicate but strong, tulips don't have a strong floral smell, but they do have a soft, clean smell, like a vegetal musk.

Byredo La Tulipe was created to reflect the soul of the tulip, not just it's smell. It starts green and fresh  - not sweet but slightly peppery. The rhubarb is noticeable later as a sour-cherry note; it makes me think of the bright reds and pinks of tulip petals. The base is a cool clean musk with a hint of earth.

Overall, La Tulipe gives the impression of freshness, clean shoots and pink buds growing on a cool wet day. My only criticism is that it doesn't last long, but that means I can spray liberally.

House: Byredo
Nose: Jerôme Epinette
Notes: Rhubarb, Cyclamen, Freesia, Tulip, Blonde Woods, Vetiver

Photo of tulips, mine.

Byredo Green (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)

Green Milk

Byredo is a Swedish fragrance house, founded in 2006 by Ben Gorham. Byredo manufactures all its perfumes in Sweden and has a vision based on craftsmanship and fine materials. The noses of the house are Olivia Giacobetti and Jerôme Epinette, who did Green.

Even though Byredo just became available in Toronto in February, at Holt Renfrew, there was a previous Canadian connection. Ben's dad was Canadian and he lived in Oakville and Toronto. Green was inspired by Ben's memories of his father's scent, an "overdose of green notes," a combination of green beans and Geoffry Beene Grey Flannel.

Green is an unusual combination of bitter green notes and sweet, milky-powdery notes.  It opens with a blast of bitter green and orange blossom. After a couple of minutes this becomes the smell of green stems and fresh cut flowers. The smell is much like walking into the cold room of a florist - the damp, sweet and green smells of freesia and cut stems. As Green develops on my skin, a soapy aspect becomes noticeable. It's half creamy, half powdery-sweet.

The effect reminds me of milkweed and the sticky, milky-white sap that seeps out when you break its leaves or stems. The smell and feel of milkweed are vivid memories from my childhood, from early pinkish flowers, through fat green pods, to dried husks filled with downy fluff and seeds. As a result, I find the wearing Green very innocent and comforting.

House: Byredo
Nose: Jerôme Epinette
Notes: Orange petitgrain, sage, jasmine, rose, honeysuckle, violet, tonka, almond, musk

Diptyque Jardin Clos

My Secret Garden

As the days get warmer and the sun returns to Toronto, we all smile a little more. Green shoots that will soon reveal brightly-coloured blooms are just starting to push their way out of the dark soil but it will still be a month before the our branches are covered in blossoms. I want to wear Spring flowers now, like narcissus, lilacs and tulips, but especially hyacinths. These flowers are sweet but not too sweet. They're "thick" smelling to me, like their waxy petals, but they also have dry, green, spicy, and metallic edges to them.

Diptyque Jardin Clos is inspired by the smell of a walled garden in the Spring. After a lightly-sweet and dewy opening, the rich diva smell of lilacs and and the sharper green-spicy smell of hyacinth are laid over a bed of leaves, moss and a touch of the woody, earthy smell of cedar.

Jardin Clos doesn't seem to get a lot of love in the blogs. This first time I smelled it I wasn't impressed either. I think the smell of hyacinth is a difficult one to love. But this year I put it on and it was exactly the right thing.

Jardin Clos smells like the springs of my childhood, full of rubber boots, pussy willows and puddles and hours spent exploring the wilds of woodlots and back gardens.

House: Diptyque
Nose: Yves Coueslant and Christiane Gautror
Notes: watermelon, white lilac, blue hyacinth, leaves, moss, cedar, musk

By Kilian Cruel Intentions

Tempt Me

Cruel Intentions is my new obsession, I've had it on all week and I can't get enough. The perfumer is Sidonie Lancesseur, the same nose who created another favourite By Kilan perfume, Incense Oud. "Tempt Me" is an apt name, as I am seriously tempted to get a full bottle.

My new love came as a surprise to me. The sample card and web site told me that Cruel Intentions is about lemony bergamot and the "warm, enfolding, balsamic notes of oud." I've never been passionate about bergamot or oud. But wearing Cruel Intentions is like a twisting story that reveals hidden layers as you go along.

It starts with a fleeting citrus splash, but blink and I miss it. Some light orange blossom is there but almost immediately I smell a dark medicinal wood that leads to the heart of the perfume: smoky wood, bitter green papyrus, and dark earth.

As I wear Cruel Intentions, another side to it grows stronger: something sweet and warm. The base is made of warm animal notes (civet and castoreum), smooth sandalwood, and sweet vanilla. This side of Cruel Intentions is cuddly and sexy and just... hot DAMN! The genius is the way these two sides, the smoky-bitter heart and the sexy-sweet base, are held in balanced tension. A pale, twisting ribbon of floral notes laces the whole thing together like a corset.

Now, if there are two things that I love, it's bitter papyrus and sexy "critter-y" notes like civet. In Cruel Intentions I get to have both. Like a fairy tale where the dangerous, cruel, (yet devilishly-handsome) villain turns into a sweet and passionate lover who hangs around the next morning and cuddles. As if I am Little Red Riding Hood and I can have both the wolf and the woodsman.

House: By Kilian
Nose: Sidonie Lancesseur
Notes: Bergamot calabria oil, orange blossom oil, violet accord, centifolia rose absolute, agarwood, Indian papyrus oil, gaiacwood oil, Haiti vetiver oil, sandalwood, styrax absolute, castoreum absolute, vanilla absolute, musk

Tommi Sooni Tarantella

New Vintage from Down Under

Tommi Sooni is a fairly new Australian perfume house working in the style of  traditional French perfumery. All its perfume bottles are hand finished and packaged. It currently has four perfumes; Tarantella was the first.

Tarantella is an floral leather chypre with a vintage feel. It immediately made me think of the classic perfume by Germaine Cellier, Jolie Madame. It has that same elegant feel.

Tarantella starts with aldehydes and green galbanum. The heart is a classic bouquet of rose, orris, jasmine, where you can't really smell any of the flowers distinctly, but it smells divine and like money. The florals are kept from being sweet by the dry-spicy smell of marigold and bay.

The chypre base is my favourite part of Tarantella. It's detectable right from the beginning, a smooth leather with wood and heaps of moss. When I wear it I can't stop sniffing my wrists, I love that dry moss and soft leather so much. Another perfume by Germaine Cellier it brings to mind is Bandit, but the leather in Tarantella is smoother, more the "inside of a handbag" kind.

Tarantella is a must-try for all chypre lovers, or vintage lovers. It would suit a strong woman or an elegant man.

House: Tommi Sooni
Nose: ?
Notes: Aldehydes, galbanum, orange blossom, French marigold, Sicilian mandarin, Frangipani, muguet, jasmine, orris, Anatolian rose, bay laurel, clove, Patchouli, amber, leather, moss, sandalwood, intense 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