Two rose scents of the day

For some reason I've been on a bit of a rose kick recently, as you might have gathered. Perhaps this follows from my posts on rose last month, which made me think a bit more about roses.Anyway, today I wore Ormonde Jayne's Ta'if on one wrist and Guerlain's Nahema on the other. Ta'if is hard to peg down. It is a rose fragrance, obviously, but it has more going on than just that. I can't quite figure it out yet. It is quite a sweet rose perfume, without...

Annick Goutal Rose Absolue

Those of you who read my blog from time to time might be aware that I love a good rose perfume. Recently I tried Annick Goutal's Rose Absolue, which is a splendid Rose Soliflore perfume, containing six different types of roses, namely Bulgarian Rose, Rose de Mai, Turkish Rose, Damask Rose, Egyptian Rose and Moroccan Rose.As one might expect from the notes, Rose Absolue is about rose, rose, rose and...

Michael Edwards French Feminine Fragrances

I've just finished reading this marvelous book and what an eye opener it has been. I thought I knew a fair bit about the general history of perfume, but Michael Edward's masterpiece has brought home to me the true artistry of the perfumer and how it evolved over the 20th century. I plan to write in more detail about this book, but one thing that really stands out for me is what passion drove these perfumers and very often the fragrance house...

Sunday scent of the day - Tom Ford Grey Vetiver

Do you ever wear a perfume that smells perfectly decent, has a good following and reputation and should tick all the boxes, but ultimately never does? Well that is my experience with Tom Ford's Grey Vetiver. I wore it today and like the other times I've worn it, it smells fine. However, it is forgettable on my skin because it just doesn't do anything. It doesn't offend, it doesn't excite, it isn't different enough to stand out. That's perfectly...

YSL M7 and Jazz reincarnated

This is probably old news for many of you but this week I was having a look at what is on offer at Boots, the chemist, which stocks a fairly decent range of mainstream perfumes and was surprised to see the new bottles of M7 and Jazz. M7 is now called M7 Oud Absolu and the bottles have changed dramatically, to look like something partly inspired by the Lalique Encre Noir bottle (subjective, I know...

Scent of the day - Guerlain Vol de Nuit

Thanks to the generosity of Cymbaline, I have a sample of Guerlain Vol de Nuit in extrait. I tried it for the first time yesterday. Like a lot of the older Guerlains, I find it has a very vintage feel, for want of a better word. Vol de Nuit has been described as a very green fragrance that becomes quite sweet and powdery. In the formulation that I have (dabbed from a vial) the greenness does...

Scent of the day - Parfum d'Empire Azemour

I am fairly late coming to the latest from Parfum d'Empire. However, courtesy of Cymbaline, I have been trying a sample of this on and off for a few weeks. The reviews have been very positive in general and I must say, it is a very nice fragrance. I especially like the top and middle notes, when the orange is oily, fragrant and suffused with a salty spiciness that is quite beautiful. As it dries down, it becomes fairly sedate, but is still a...

A return to old favourites

Yeah, I know what you're probably thinking. You've read this before. Every now and then I post about how I've gone back to trying perfumes I actually own, rather than just get a quick fix from the latest craze. But you know what? It's a valid point and the reason why I do this. The message is - its good to wear perfume one actually owns. After all, why did I buy full bottles of these in the first place?Now I know that some of you (perhaps many of...

Saturday scent of the day

It was a blustery and fairly cold day here in England. I wore Alexander McQueen's incomparable Kingdom. The opening is fresh and slightly seductive, far more suited to a warm summer day, I think. However, once the cumin and woods kick in later on, it hums along nicely, even on a late winter day.Wearing Kingdom reminds me how good this fragrance really is. A great Saturday pick-me-up!Image credit ...

Incense part 2

So, following on from my previous incense post, I aim to list and briefly describe some incense fragrances that stand out for me. Like I said in my roses post, this is not even remotely a comprehensive list and very subjective. So, drumroll, dim the lights...Incense Pure by Sonoma Scent Studio - Brief review here. If you like your incense unadulterated and uncluttered, Incense Pure may be just up your alley. I certainly love it. Like a lot of seemingly...

Perfume literature

Yesterday I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Michael Edwards' "Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances" from the library. I had to reserve it, as it was out on loan for months, somewhere in deepest darkest north Kent, of all places.I know I could have easily bought it from Amazon, but I am one of those people who still loves libraries and there are few thrills greater to me than paging through a well-read book that scores of people...

Weekend roundup

It's been a funny old week here in England. Eventually the cold weather did arrive, after a boring and mild winter and we woke up on Sunday morning to six inches of snow, much to the children's delight. We spent a good part of the morning taking them sledging, which they loved. Until their feet got wet inside their wellies, following which there were many tears and wailing! In the afternoon we built a snowman and thus the weekend faded into the working...

Incense part 1

Kicking off the second in my series on perfume notes, I thought I would collect a few of my thoughts on incense. I should make it clear that while in most cases when I refer to incense, I generally mean Frankincense, the term incense is quite encompassing and can refer to any number and combination of resins, wood, leaves, and gums, including some of the more well-known ingredients such as myrrh,...

Congratulations Persolaise!

It's always nice to see a fellow blogger and perfume fanatic receive recognition for his or her work and in this case congratulations must go to the irrepressible Persolaise for his Jasmine Award from the Fragrance Foundation UK. He won the award for his article or guide to shopping for perfume in London. Well done my frie...

SOTD - air freshener

I don't usually like to venture into the realm of the loo, particularly when it comes to loo odours, but is there anything more irritating than the smell of toilet or air freshener? Now, I know it is very much a personal thing, but to me the smell of air freshener, especially those cheap ones, has that most peculiar ability to ingrain itself into one's nose, olfactory memory, clothes and anything within a building's radius of the loo. Now,...

SOTD - Amouage Dia Man

Readers of my blog will be no strangers to the fact that I love Amouage as a line and in particular, Amouage Dia Man. I've written about it a number of times.Today I wore Dia again, but what made it even more special on this occasion was that I was wearing it sprayed from a bottle that was given to me by a very kind perfume friend. You know who you are and I do appreciate it very much! Thank you.I...

A domestic detour...

Some of you who follow my blog might be aware that my niece, Kirsty, was over from Australia visiting us last month. My older daughter, Hannah, also celebrated her 5th birthday. Set out below are a few photographs from this happy time, which I thought I would share.My wife Wendy and the cake she made for Hannah. Note the icing!Daisy on her way to to pre-schoolThe 'gang' having breakfast at Woods,...

Friday bits and bobs

Some of you might be aware that Europe is in the grip of a big freeze this week. Parts of Eastern Europe in particular have dropped to well below 20 degrees C, while even the French Riviera has received some of the white stuff, with Marseille looking more soused herring than Bouillabaisse! Here in England, we are really only on the fringes of it, but even Blighty has felt temperatures of around freezing, with snow forecast this weekend. It's...