Weekend musings

This is the best weekend we have had in England so far this year, at least weather-wise. Warm, sunny weather prevailed, after weeks of rain and cool weather, so it was with great joy that we spent most of the time outdoors.

On Saturday Hannah, my older daughter, was invited to a friend's birthday party, held at an indoor play centre, of all places. Luckily they had an outdoor play area, with seating, which is where we spent most of the time. Afterwards we went back to the host's house (we know the family well) for a BBQ with a few other families, and spent a lovely evening enjoying good food, hospitality and wine. We only got home at 10.30, which is very late for the kids and fortunately they were so so tired that they slept until 9am the next day, which is unheard of!

Today the weather was even better, if that could be possible. We spent the morning in the park, playing, had a lunch at the park cafe and then some ice cream. The kids splashed about in the paddling pool at home in the afternoon, followed by another BBQ. It's the first time I've got it out of the shed this year and it is looking very rusty and uncared for. Fortunately the rust and grease from 2011 was burnt off and 'sterilised' and the meal itself was very nice.

I didn't wear much perfume this weekend. In fact, I only wore perfume once, yesterday afternoon, being ELDO's Fat Electrician, which is a vetiver-focused fragrance. I find that in the heat, especially when playing around with children and so forth, perfume disappears from my skin faster than the government with my taxes.

On a general theme, I thought I would quickly list some of the books and music I've been enjoying recently:

Books:

  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

  The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (creepy, but compelling)

  Fab, an intimate life of Paul McCartney - Howard Sounes

Music:

  Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - pretty much everything

  Bon Iver - Bon Iver

  George Harrison - Everything Must Pass

  PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

  Rolling Stones - almost everything, but particularly Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed

So, that's it, my exciting weekend!

Scent of the Day - ELDO Antihero

I am seldom left without an opinion (or a strong one) when it comes to ELDO's perfumes. There are some I like and some that, quite frankly, I don't.

Trying Antihero today, I should state from the outset that a lavender-dominant perfume has to have something different to attract me - if I want the true smell of lavender, unadulterated, I would prefer during the summer to stand next to my path lined with lavender bushes in full bloom.

Two lavender perfumes that I do really enjoy both are by the same house, Serge Lutens, namely Gris Clair and Encens et Lavande. I also quite enjoy Caron's Pour Un Homme and Jicky.

Anyway, Antihero smells very lavender-y straight from the vial. The opening is also very much dominated by lavender, to the point that the perfume smells nose-searingly of the essential oil. After that, it smells a bit synthetic. I gave the perfume time to settle down, then when I smelled it again, I was struck by a smell that quite frankly smells like halitosis. I kid you not, and it is the first time I have smelled such an accord in a perfume; not a welcome one, mind you. I thought this would be a deal-breaker, unsurprisingly, yet this bad breath phase only lasts a few minutes, following which Antihero softens to a musk-and-lavender base that is not a million miles removed from Pour Un Homme actually, without ever smelling exactly like it.

I have to say that Antihero is a strange fragrance. I need to try it a few more times to see if that bad breath note comes back...

Scent of the day - Etat Libre D'orange Rien

Like quite a few people, probably, ELDO's range of perfumes tend to be hi-or-miss with me. One thing I can state though, is that the line seldom fails to elicit some sort of reaction, irrespective of the risque names and packaging, which is a good thing.

Although this is only the first time I've tried Rien, I have to say that straight off the bat it is likely to be a hit. A hard-hitting, slightly smutty leather and patchouli perfume, Rien is definitely not a wilting flower. Personally, it was just the sort of tonic I needed today to perk up my olfactory senses. I can sense that Rien is a perfume that could wear me if I'm not careful or in the wrong sort of mood, but so far, I love it.

At this stage, I don't want to say much more about Rien, other than it contains a lot of leather, patchouli and what has a feel of civet, balanced with sweeter ambery notes and some florals. However, to me it is not really feminine and I didn't feel uncomfortable wearing it. I suspect if you love patchouli or leather, this may just be right up your alley.

Etat Libre D'Orange - Putain de Palaces

I've had mixed success with the ELDO line of fragrances. Of the ones I've tried, they've all struck me as quite synthetic, a little offbeat without really charming me. It's unlikely that I would have ordered a sample of Putain de Palaces. In fact I didn't. I ordered a batch of samples and this one was included in error. The name, depending on one's point of view, could be enough to deter, particularly if Secretions Magnifique was anything to go by. P de P actually turns out to be a gorgeous, sexy, feminine fragrance with enough hint of sex to be alluring in the best of ways. The name is quite misleading. Although there is an overt sexuality here, it is not an all-flesh-bared sluttiness, but a subtle behind-closed-doors seduction. The notes for P de P include violet, rose, leather, lily of the valley, mandarin, ginger, rice powder, amber and animalic notes. P de P opens with a strong violet note, dry and powdery. In fact, violet is never far away throughout the duration of development and if you are not a fan of violet, you might not like this, particularly the opening. I detected an interesting doughy note, with an undertone of green, which I think is lily of the valley. Once the top dissipates, an amber and green violet accord wells up, slightly sweet yet fresh. At this point the demure, slightly withdrawn lady takes off her silky gown, revealing her earthly delights. A bit risque, I know, but P de P does start to become quite sexual, without my ever being able to pin down exactly what it is that makes it so. For some reason the mixture of violet, powder and a slight leather note reminds me of the smell of woman, and underwear, and maybe makeup or soap, but in a clean, just-washed-but-ready-for-bed way.  It's wholly feminine, and in a way I felt like an impostor wearing this, but it was too distracting to stop. 

I can't say I detected much (if any) rose, ginger or mandarin. I think the rice powder with the violet, amber and whatever animalic notes they have put in here creates that smell of warm, feminine, slightly aroused skin. The dry down does soften as the violet and leather fade, leaving an ambery, even slightly milky accord. Every now and then there is a waft of violet and that alluring seductive, sensuous body note. Although I'm emphasizing the sexuality of this perfume, it is not by any means sex-on-wheels, at least not obviously so. It is quite sophisticated, even elegant in many ways, but has just enough of something faintly disturbing to make it interesting, like all good perfumes do. I find this incredibly sexy and feminine and highly recommend it. P de P veers well over the gender line, making it something that I would struggle to wear to work, but damn, it still smelled good on me, so I'd hate to know (actually I'd love to know) what this smells like on a woman.

Image credit: www.fleurofengland.com

Etat Libre D'Orange - Fat Electrician

The picture to the left is not the one used for the Fat Electrician marketing, but as I'm in a silly mood, bum cracks it is. Speaking of silly, perhaps I'm just a grouch, but I do find a lot of the ELDO marketing a bit silly, bearing very little relation to the fragrances themselves. Having said that though, how many perfume ad campaigns actually do? 

Fat Electrician is primarily a vetiver fragrance, one which evolves on a more oriental theme, with a nuttier, rather than grassy or earthy opening. It brings to mind Luten's Vetiver Oriental and Hermes Vetiver Tonka. The heart is still a fairly nutty, slightly sweet vetiver. As it dries down a smokiness creeps in, which might be a combination of opoponax and myrrh, but  I don't really know. At the end of the day I feel slightly disappointed with Fat Electrician. It has received a lot of favourable reviews but I just thought it would be a lot edgier and possibly might bring something new to the vetiver genre. To my nose it comes across as slightly gentlemanly, a bit staid and stodgy really. It's not that it isn't a good fragrance, it is, but I was expecting more, given ELDO's reputation for innovation and I kept waiting for the twist, or weirdness, which didn't come. Perhaps this says more about my warped expectations rather than ELDO's skill, as this is a good quality vetiver fragrance, but I still think I'll stick with some of my other tried-and-tested vetivers.