Weekend roundup

Some of you might have noticed my relative scarcity of posting this month. Some of this is part of my so-called new year resolution, as I have resolved not to write simply for the sake of it. Which, thinking about it, means that this post is in direct contradiction to that, as I don't really have anything that interesting to say, but I felt like posting, and its my blog, so wah!

The other reason for my scarcity is that my work has got incredibly busy again. January is usually one of my quietest working months, but for various reasons this is not proving the case in 2012. I shudder to think what June to September will be like, as that is usually my busiest time of year!

On the perfume front, I have been working my way through some samples sent to me by my generous friend Cym, and that has been a lot of fun. I plan to write about some of those at some point, but for now I shall merely appreciate them on my own skin. 

This week I've worn Ormonde Jayne's Ta'if, Aroma M Geisha Green, Aftelier Shiso and Al Haramain Sheika. They are all very interesting to say the least. This weekend I got a bit retro and loved wearing Caron's Tabac Blond and En Avion. I don't know anyone who wears Tabac Blond, but jeez, I would almost kill to smell this on a woman, it's so stunning. I also tried Puredistance 1 and Antonia's Flowers, two which I was too nervous to wear at work, for fear they would be too feminine. They are feminine, but lovely, and not as strong as I feared they would be. I can't decide which one I preferred; they both had some lovely aspects.

So, this week continues in a crazy-busy fashion, but rest assured, somewhere along the line (actually mostly along the line) perfume will feature!

Chanel Cuir de Russie

I've arrived at my final Les Exclusif sample, Cuir de Russie. I know there are more in the series, but I did not order them. I've wanted to try Cuir de Russie for quite some time, having read quite a lot about it over the years. I had a notion that it would wear a bit like Caron's Tabac Blonde, which I adore, and in the dry down I can detect similarities, if not in notes, certainly in spirit. However, Cuir de Russie if anything reminds me of Bandit, but without any green or chypre notes. It has that same feline snarl to it, albeit toned down a touch, in true-to-style chic Chanel fashion, but with the masterful presence of civet, it definitely has a rich, animalic edge to it. I actually find Tabac Blonde less feminine than Cuir de Russie, particularly with its smoky tobacco and hay notes, but having said that, Cuir de Russie is not overbearingly feminine, and I did not feel uncomfortable wearing it. The notes for Cuir de Russie are orange blossom, bergamot, mandarine, clary sage, iris, jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, cedar, vetiver, styrax, leather, amber and vanilla. For such a complicated set of notes, I find that it opens on my skin with quite an aldehydic haze and a soft, almost velvety leather note. I don't detect any citrus, but again, dabbing rather than spraying might mute these notes. There is a significant floral undertone, but the only distinct notes on my skin are iris and ylang-ylang, which Chanel loves to use. I find that at this stage the fragrance is ever so slightly soapy, but in a good way and even buttery. There is a voluptuousness to Cuir de Russie, which I didn't think I would find in a Chanel perfume and I suspect this richness is a result of the deft use of civet, augmenting the other notes. At this stage, once the leather intensifies, I feel that spirit of Bandit emerging, but as I said, with no greenness to it at all. There is a vague skankiness to Cuir de Russie, but it is subtle and just bubbling under the surface. The leather is identifiably in the Russian Leather style, but not aggressively so and I find it quite smooth. Into the dry down Cuir de Russie wears like a skin scent and to my nose even smells like skin to an extent, sexy female flesh just slightly blushed with the heat of passion. It does become slightly smoky too. Longevity is good, although it has very muted sillage for me. I really like Cuir de Russie, but I can't help feeling that it would be so much more devastatingly sexy worn by a woman. 

At the end of my Les Exclusifs sojourn, I find that overall I am probably pleasantly surprised by the quality of the fragrances I have sampled; for some reason I was expecting to feel let down. As I mentioned in a previous post, I loved Coromandel and Bois des Iles, and Cuir de Russie is a hit for me as well, although I don't feel my skin does it as much justice to it as the former two do. 28 La Pausa is good but the only one that disappointed me was 31 Rue Cambon. I know this is just my opinion and I'm sure many others would disagree with my rankings.

Image credit - taken from Grain de Musc blog

Caron L'Anarchiste

I have a troubled history with Caron's perfumes. Venerable house, almost niche, not that readily available, true to its traditions - I would have thought I'd have loved their perfume, but a lot of it has in truth left me cold. I enjoy and wear Tabac Blonde and En Avion, quite enjoy Pour Un Homme, yet Yatagan and Third Man did not thrill me at all; nor did Parfum Sacre. This is just my personal experience though. I'm not for one second saying that this is not a great perfume house, its just that I'm not moved by what I've tried so far. Which leads me to their most recent masculine release (which is not that recent at all, released in 2000), L'Anarchiste.

L'Anarchiste receives some serious love - one only has to read reviews on Basenotes, for example, where there are 45 positive and 15 neutral opinons out of a total of 70. The notes are listed as Orange Blossom, Mandarin, Cedar leaves, Sandalwod, Vetiver, Cedarwood and Musk.  On my skin L'Anarchiste does open bright and citrusy, and almost fizzy, or zingy might be a better description. It has been described as having a metallic feel and I can make this association, which I perhaps perceive as zingy. I find the opening a bit weird if I'm being honest. There is a freshness to it that is at the same time slightly "off", at least to my nose. I get notes of musk and cedar quite quickly after this, but not in a generic, department-store sort of way. I saw in the notes afterwards that cedar leaf is listed. Perhaps that is the slightly unusual cedar note I'm getting. In the heart the metallic accord fades away, thankfully, and it segues into a smooth and quite rich combination of musk and woods (cedar), tinged with a sweetness that I presume is the sandalwood. I never quite identify vetiver, but having said that, the fragrance does maintain a slight tartness throughout that tempers the musks and sandalwood, which could well be the vetiver note. There's something about the overall style of L'Anarchiste that reminds me of a couple of the men's De Nicolai perfumes, but not as rich or vanillic. In the dry down I do detect what I think of as that trademark Caron base - skin musk, smooth, rich and slightly buttery almost and its probably the last phase that I appreciate most of all.

I personally think it is the most interesting of the masculine Carons that I have tried, but its not that easy to wear, particularly the opening, for me. I'm still not convinced that Caron works that well for me, but granted, this is an interesting fragrance and definitely worth trying, although I would stress that sampling this first is probably a good idea.