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.

The return of summer

The weather over the past two or three days has been glorious, particularly today. Were it not for the shortening days and seeping in of russet-hued leaves, one could be forgiven for thinking it was still July or August. 

Make hay while the sun shines, the saying goes, and that is what we've been trying to do, in between school runs, work and the everyday humdrum of daily life. We ended this evening by having a picnic in the park and it was uplifting to see the children running around in shorts and t-shirts, laughing and giggling, while we quaffed a beer or two and watched the sun set behind autumnal trees. We know it won't last now, which makes it all the sweeter, albeit in a somewhat wistful manner.

Today, in the spirit of an Indian summer, I wore two perfumes that I think fit the mood of a serendipitous summer day perfectly: Ineke's Field Notes from Paris and The Different Company's Sel de Vetiver. 

Regularly visitors to my blog will probably be aware of my love for this amazing fragrance. It captures perfectly the spirit of being near the sea, or water at least, with a salty, ozone-y (in the best way possible, trust me), slightly vetiver tang that smells uplifting, bracing and yet comforting at the same time. Here is my review of it last year.

Field Notes from Paris is a perfume that I've always quite liked, but not quite fell in love with. Today it felt appropriate, with its very orange-blossom focused approach to tobacco. On a warm day the orange blossom makes one feel slightly windswept and blowsy, while the tobacco is slightly comforting but suave too. I still can't say that I am massively in love with it, but a hot day brings out the best in it, I think.

Back from holiday

Well hi folks. In some ways it's nice to be back from our holiday down in Cornwall but the week went far too quickly, as is usually the case. The weather wasn't fantastic, very windy and variable, but the north Cornish coast is very beautiful, with wild, windswept cliffs and bracing coastal path walks a must if, like me, you enjoy the outdoors.

The place we stayed at was very nice too, with both an outdoor and indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam room, and an adjoining cafe that serve excellent food. The kids had a very good time and there were plenty of facilities for them, including a trampoline and a very nice play area. Of course, they loved the swimming and we did manage to make it down to the beach  a couple of times to build sand castles. We also took the kids to the Newquay zoo and aquarium, both of which were rather nice too. Newquay is the surfing centre of Cornwall (and the UK, if I'm not mistaken) and there were plenty of surfer dudes braving the frigid atlantic waters and gales.

I mentioned before I left that I would take Sel de Vetiver with me and a few incense perfumes. Sel de Vetiver is perfect for the coast, with its salty, fresh-yet-complex vetiver tang. I wore it a few times and never felt let down. I also wore Profumum Olibanum and Andy Tauer's L'air du Desert Marocain and Gucci 1, which is, if I am correct, now discontinued, or at least rather more difficult to find than it was three years ago.

I must admit that we went to a place that had terrible mobile phone reception and we didn't bring our laptop. Therefore we had no internet connection and hence I am so out of touch with the perfume world and blogosphere. In a way I have missed it, and my usual saturation in perfume, but in another way it has been a welcome break. I still have lots to write about, but with work stepping up yet another gear, I am not sure how much time I will have to blog over the next couple of months. Nevertheless I will try to keep in touch and blog as much as time permits.

Heeley Sel Marin

Sometimes it can be risky to order a perfume sample based too much on expectation. Heeley Sel Marin is a case in point. I had read reviews beforehand, studied the notes and salivated at the thought of how good it was going to be. For some reason (why?) I thought it would be another Sel de Vetiver, one of my favourite and original takes on a 'marine' theme. I suppose both have the word 'sel' in their title.

The notes from Luckyscent include lemon, Sicilian bergamot, sea salt, seaweed, vetiver, birch and cedar. Not a million miles away in theory from Sel de Vetiver. The opening was totally unexpected, and that threw me, I think. It reminded me strongly of Apres la Mousson by Hermes, which is not what I was hoping for. I don't dislike the Hermes, but it is not my favourite in the line. Sel Marin smells swampy and brackish and not like the sea salt accord I was hoping for. There is a watery and slightly peppery feel to it, with light woods. As it progresses, it smells less like Apres la Mousson, but still not distinct enough to win over my heart. I was hoping it would smell fresher and fragrant, with an association of being by the sea, washed by an ozone-laden sea breeze. Instead it makes me feel like I'm stuck on the middle of an island, on the salt pan, away from any breeze, sweaty and humid, desperate for a drink, with only brackish pond water available. I know, that is a fairly pathetic attempt at describing the feeling of Sel Marin, but its the best I can do.

I know there are fans of Sel Marin out there and I appreciate that for you this may work brilliantly. I don't think it is a poor fragrance, but just not what I am looking for in a perfume.

Image credit - www.luckyscent.com 

Annick Goutal Eau de Sud

I find the Annick Goutal line a strange one. A lot of the feminine perfumes are rich, floral, blowsy perfumes; think Songes for example, while the masculines are mainly citrus-based, and slightly offbeat. Then you get the really odd, like Mandragore or Sables. This is not to say that Annick Goutal is a poor line. Far from it in fact, but I would say that generally speaking it doesn't float my boat. However, Eau de Sud is one that I really like. I think if you are looking for a citrus fragrance with a twist, and more importantly, one that can stand up to a bit of heat and humidity without fading within an hour, Eau de Sud might just be for you. The notes listed include bergamot, mandarin, grapefruit, lemon verbena, peppermint, basil, persian lime and woods. If this sounds very citrusy, it is, and the opening is a brisk, mouth-puckering blast of citrus, yet to me, not like a traditional cologne. The citrus fades to reveal quite a herbal heart, what with the basil, peppermint and the sort of citrusy, yet fragrant lime. In fact, later on Eau de Sud reminds me quite a lot of Eau Savage by Christian Dior; I think it might be the combination of citrus, verbena and basil in particular. For some reason I also find there is a saltiness to Eau De Sud, but not so much a sea saltiness, but the sort of saltiness you find when you lick the cut peel of a lovely, fragrant lemon. Have you ever found that with lemon? In spirit, I am also reminded a little of Sel de Vetiver, again not in actual smell, but that sensation of inhaling a humid, salt-laden breeze at the coast on a summery day.

Eau de Sud to me is a better and more interesting fragrance than the other well-known citrus in the Goutal line, Eau d'Hadrian. As I've already said, it is a citrus fragrance, but it has more going on than the usual suspects. It has enough herbs and woods to give it some longevity and interest, yet it remains fairly light and perfect for a warm summer day. While I suspect it might be favoured by men, I can't see any reason why a lady can't wear this. It is perfectly unisex and actually comes in both the masculine bottle pictured above left, and in the more usual, feminine bottle used by Goutal. I think it is a lovely perfume and highly recommend giving it a try.

The Different Company - Sel de Vetiver

Following my recent bog on vetiver, I thought I would follow it up with a review of Sel de Vetiver, by the Different Company, one of my favourite, yet eclectic vetiver fragrances. The listed notes are grapefruit, cardamom, geranium, lovage, Haitian vetiver, patchouli, iris and ylang-ylang. This note list is quite unusual, at least to me. I haven't seen lovage, geranium, iris and ylang-ylang listed together before and on paper it doesn't sound particularly appealing, but Sel de Vetiver is both an unusual and beautiful fragrance. It opens quite sweet, with a bit of grapefruit and a somewhat mineral accord. The vetiver is noticeable immediately and strikes me as more rooty than grassy, but it is fairly sheer and fresh. It does conjure up the feel of being near the ocean, like driving along a shoreline with a salt-laden breeze in your face. Or perhaps I'm just being fanciful. Sel de Vetiver was created by Celine Elena, the daughter of Jean-Claude, and it shows, using a similar sheer/minimalist style, with the use of grapefruit and vetiver in particular. Although released at almost the same time as Terre de Hermes, Sel de Vetiver is quite different in many ways and I actually prefer it, despite owning a bottle of Terre. Although fairly sheer, Sel de Vetiver is by no means a light scent and it lasts well on the skin.

The heart is particularly beautiful to me - it shimmers almost, the salty vetiver and citrus tang combining beautifully with a clean cedar and patchouli accord. It strikes me as incredibly refreshing and original, without slipping into that dreaded ozone-marine territory. In fact, smelling this, I wish that Sel de Vetiver could have been released a decade earlier to set the benchmark for what a marine fragrance should smell like. The vetiver is tempered by a floral sweetness which I thought smelled quite rosy, but I'm guessing its actually the ylang, geramium and iris in combination. Whatever it is, it combines so well with the vetiver that I find I am compelled to sniff my wrist almost constantly, which can appear a little weird, I'm sure, to my office colleagues! The dry down  maintains that juxtaposition of salty/sweet, vetiver root/mineral that is fascinating. I find it quite hard to describe exactly how this smells on the skin. To me it feels almost literally how a cooling ocean breeze would smell at dusk, as the heat of the day dissipates, the air thick with ozone and the promise of a fragrant night to come. Yes, I know that might read as a bit over-the-top, but that is how Sel de Vetiver makes me feel, which surely is a good thing.

Image credit: www.hotels-jordan-booking.com