Parfum d'Empire Azemour

Yesterday I wore Parfum d'Empire's Azemour again. My initial impressions of it, back in February can be found here. 

I still think Azemour is a very decent perfume, but find that my skin seems to eat it up very quickly. The initial half an hour is wonderful, with the oily, fragrant orange oil full of zing and zest. However, after that it dies down to a very muted, lightly spiced skin scent, at least on me. I've recently read reviews commenting on the cumin facet of this perfume and while I do detect some spice, including a touch of cumin, it is by no means a cumin-fest on me. Having said that, I have a high tolerance for cumin and love cumin-heavy perfumes such as Declaration and Kingdom, so perhaps it is just me.

What I need is an Azemour Intense, me thinks...

A midsummer night's nightmare

The 20th of June was the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. Forget about new-age druids dancing around Stonehenge, the bright rays of sun skimming the horizon. Forget about elfin characters and pixies gliding through verdant glades. Instead, if you live in the UK, the midsummer night's dream turns swiftly into the midsummer night's nightmare, as the wind howls across the land, threatening to tear up trees in full leaf and rain floods southern villages and summer music festivals. That's Britain for you.

Now that I've vented my spleen, frustrated at our lack of summer, I don't have anything more exciting to say, other than today I wore no perfume at all. It happens occasionally, especially when work hits its peak and for some reason, I can't bear to wear anything when I'm in a bad mood.

The good news is that I am not really in such a bad mood. It's Friday night and and at least we have a weekend to enjoy!

Scent of the day - Teo Cabanel Alahine

Teo Cabanel Alahine is a gem of a perfume, a sample of which I received kind courtesy of Cymbaline. 

I've read quite a few reviews of Alahine in the past and most describe it as a cozy, feminine amber-and-ylang perfume. I have to say that while it does possess warmth from the oriental-style amber, it does have a resinous 'tang' to it that is almost incense-like at times. I think it is a wonderfully balanced perfume.

I don't know what it is about Alahine, but it possesses something that reminds me (but nothing really alike) of Serge Lutens' Feminite Du Bois, but with less cedar-plum facets and more ylang-ylang and resins. There is something common to both though and I can't quite place it.

While Alahine is feminine, I have to say that I feel I have no difficulty in managing to wear this. At no point do I feel self-conscious. Today was a cooler, rainier day in England and Alahine felt very well suited to such a day. I see it as more of a cooler weather fragrance.

Scents of the day - DS & Durga Petitgrain and The Different Company Sel De Vetiver

Today was one of those rare days in England - a warm sunny day. I needed cheering up this morning, so sprayed Sel de Vetiver on one wrist and DS & Durga Petitgrain on the other. 

I've reviewed both these beauties before, so don't aim to say much here, except that I think Sel de Vetiver is an absolute modern classic. One of my all-time favourites. On a warm, slightly humid day, it sings and hums along, feeling refreshing without ever smelling like a hackneyed marine scent from the nineties.

DS & Durga Petitgrain hits it out of the park as well. It is a citrus scent that has excellent longevity and lasting power. Another thing I love about it is that the petitgrain smell lasts for the duration - it does moderate of course, but it still manages to retain an element of that zingy, slightly bitter petitgrain smell, lightly sweetened and rounded off with woods. Gorgeous.

Department store stinginess and Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire

I mentioned last weekend that while in London I popped into the House of Fraser store in Victoria, found they were having a Father's Day special and bought a bottle of Habit Rouge (very nice by the way). 

While paying for my purchase, I asked the lady behind the counter if she had any Guerlain samples she could throw in. She looked at me hesitantly and then said she could give me some Dior or Chanel samples instead if I liked. I replied by saying that I had tried a lot of Chanel and Dior in the past and was keen to try a few more Guerlains (very politely of course). Eventually she disappeared, rummaging through the drawers, only to re-emerge and state that they did not have any men's Guerlain samples. I replied by saying that I was perfectly happy to try some of the lady's samples. She disappeared again and at long last presented me with my package and said she had put some samples in the bag. 

Once I was out the store I looked in the bag, to discover two samples. One of which was actually a night cream or moisturiser of sorts. So make that one perfume sample. Namely, La Petite Robe Noire. Before moving onto the perfume itself, I have to say I was disappointed with the attitude of the sales assistant. I know I only spent £40 in the store, but honestly, could she have not spared a couple more samples, particularly as I asked her nicely? One would think these stores would want loyal, returning customers and go out of their way to please. When I was in the department store, I could literally count ten customers. There was more staff than paying customers. Could it have hurt to perhaps give me a smile, a thank you for purchasing and perhaps even make an effort? I know I sound a bit cynical and grumpy, but still.

Moving back to La Petite Robe Noire (the little black dress), I can't help but feel hopelessly underwhelmed by the perfume. To me it smells like a candied fruitchouli - it could have been released by half a dozen far less venerable houses than Guerlain. Unoriginal, too sweet and frankly disappointing. I don't expect to always encounter the Guerlinade, and I can understand Guerlain's need to modernise and move with the trends (no easy task for a house with such history and pedigree) but a boring dumb fruity cocktail is not the way to go in my opinion.

Layout change

I have been experimenting with some different blog layouts recently (not live) and am now trying something quite different to what I have used before.

I'd appreciate it if regular users (or otherwise - always happy to have new visitors) could provide me with some feedback on how easy it is to navigate and read generally. I'm not the sort of person who tinkers much with the visuals of my blog - anyone who has followed my musings for the last couple of years will know that I seldom bother with bringing in all the pictures and poetry. This is possibly down to laziness as much as anything else!

Today I did not wear any perfume. In a strange way (pathetic, I know) I feel slightly bereft and out of sorts. Could my perfume passion actually be an addiction?

Enjoy the weekend everybody.


Update:


Ok I haven't had much feedback, but irrespective, I am finding it difficult to navigate my new layout, so it is a change back to the old, with a slightly new background. I had high hopes... Sob.

Bex London

I mentioned just the other day that while at Les Senteurs in London, I picked up a couple of samples from the newly-released Bex London range, SE1 and EC2.

According to Bex London's website, the founder of the line is Rebecca Goswell, and the four perfumes (SE1, EC2, N6 and W1X) were developed by Francois Robert, the nose behind Lanvin Vetiver, Mary Greenwell Plum and a number of Rosine fragrances and the son of the recently departed great, Guy Robert. As the perfume names suggest, each perfume has been named after a well known London post code. 

SE1 is meant to evoke the spice trade. SE1 is an area south of the Thames River, encompassing a fairly wide area, but includes some very well-known sites including the London Eye, Tate Modern and the South Bank in general. The South Bank is well known for its massive array of arts complexes, including the Royal Festival Hall,  Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery. When I first arrived in London in 2001, the South Bank already had these sites, but it still felt a bit like the poorer cousin of the northern side of the Thames. Just over ten years later, and the area has a buzz like no other, with cafes, restaurants and other attractions popping up all over the place. At the far end of this strip, towards London Bridge, lies the great Borough food market. The spice trade left SE1 decades ago, but the feel of the area in some ways doesn't seem to have changed - there are still many wharves and warehouses remaining, although most of these have been converted into trendy apartments or shops. Some say that when the wind blows right, one can still smell the spices delivered here over the centuries.

EC2, according to the advertising, is meant to evoke the rejuvenated artistic feel of London's East End. This may be true to an extent, but if one looks technically at this post code, most of the area it encompasses is actually the eastern half of the City of London, such as Barbican, Broadgate, Liverpool Street and the oh-so-trendy Shoreditch (or perhaps not so trendy anymore - fashions and fads change regularly). It is only on the far east and northern stretches that the district seeps into grittier (and rejuvenated) but really artistic areas like Hackney and Bethnal Green. Most of EC2 pays homage to the Bank of England, futures and the suited high life.

Anyway, so what do these smell like?

SE1 has notes of bergamot, citrus, cardamom, pimento, amber, seamoss, driftwood and Tahitian Vetiver. It opens, unsurprisingly, with quite a shot of citrus notes. They aren't industrial-strength citrus fortunately, so SE1 manages to avoid the cliched mens' cologne territory. As it develops, it becomes essentially a woody-vetiver fragrance. The vetiver note is not particularly strong, but has a hint of the vetiver in Vetiver Extraordinaire. SE1 is perfectly decent, and I enjoyed wearing it. I think it is a perfect fragrance for the warmer months, with its light, slightly dry woods, vetiver and light spices. To be honest though, it is hardly groundbreaking, and at £80 for a bottle (ok, not massively expensive by today's standards - £175 for a bottle of Kurkdjian's possibly over-rated oud perfume anyone?) I want these sorts of pricier perfumes to have a bit more 'wow' factor possibly. Still, as I said, not a bad perfume at all and it must be said that the tone of the perfume does capture the mood of water and wooden wharves quite well.

EC2 has notes of lemon, lime, grapefruit, juniper berry, bay, nutmeg, cedar, tonka, black pepper and amber. I found EC2 to be a bit more complex that SE1, probably due to some stronger spices and the sweeter base notes. I have to say that it was my favourite of the two. Like SE1, it ends up essentially as a spicy woody fragrance, with hints of oriental accords. It is certainly not sweet though, and the juniper and bay lend it a slightly aromatic feel that at times makes it smell like it is going to teeter over into bay rum territory, but never does. Les Senteurs says that it is a modern fougere, and thinking about it, I suppose it could be actually. Although I like it, I am not in love.

So I think these perfumes are worth seeking out, and I haven't managed to smell the other two yet, so can't comment on those, of course.