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!

The penny drops

Don't you find it is weird sometimes how you can test a fragrance for some time and be so not in love, then come back to it a few weeks later, or in a different season, and find your perception of it has totally changed? This has happened to me recently with two perfumes, Papyrus de Ciane by Parfumerie Generale and Fat Electrician by ELDO. When I first tried these in the summer I sort of liked them, but definitely wasn't blown away. Having tried them again this autumn, they are so much nicer. So what's up? Is it a change in my skin chemistry? To me this is part of the magic of perfume. I like to be surprised and I'm even happier when I move from lukewarm to hot. I can sort of understand Fat Electrician. I tend to appreciate vetiver scents more in the autumn, although I'm not entirely sure why. Papyrus de Ciane surprises me more - I would have thought this would fit far more into late spring/summer wearing, with its green, slightly mossy feel. Instead it comes alive for me late in the season, where a slightly more woody facet reveals itself.

Are there any perfumes that have surprised you like this?

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.