Post-Jubilee blues

Following our four-day weekend to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (which by the way,  was great save for the depressing grey and wet weather) I feel that this working week, which was only three days long, felt more like thirty three days. It's funny how that works sometimes - perhaps its the mental idea that the week will feel short, but in reality one tends to try to squeeze five days work into three, in my experience.

The good news is that it is weekend again! As with last week, I have felt myself slip into a bit of a perfume slump, feeling less motivated to write about perfume. I'm sure it will pass. I've worn some perfume and particularly enjoyed the new Mahon Leather by Floris (more to come on the Floris line next week). I also revisited Frederic Malle's Un Rose, which I am fairly certain is still my favourite in the line. 


I ended the working week by wearing Delrae's Panache. It's a really good perfume. It was created by Yann Vasnier, who has done some great work with Divine in particular, and is essentially a slightly spicy floral woody-musk, with vetiver, amber and honey to round it off. The wood is oak, which is a nice twist on the woody theme. Panache is one of those perfumes that improves with each wearing, I think. When I first smelled it, it was nice but hardly blew me away. As I wear it more, I've come to appreciate its understated sophistication. While it is quite floral, it is nicely balanced and easily gender-neutral.

Whatever you get up to this weekend, have a good one!

Scent of the day - things are looking rosy

Today I'm wearing two fantastic rose fragrances, one of which I've reviewed in some depth before, namely Un Rose by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle. The other is Paestum Rose by Eau d'Italie. Both are wonderful, but quite different. Un Rose starts off bright and realistically rosy, but then quickly segues from the flower to a velvety, dark and heady mix of rose essence, truffles, civet and some sort of sexual earthiness. It really is a show-stopper and if you like Rose, then I don't think you will be disappointed. This is possibly, along with Vetiver Extraordinaire, my favourite of the line. 

Paestum Rose never quite delivers a full-on rose note, at least not to me. It's all about rose, for sure, but it is a deeply woody, aromatic take on rose, conceptually brilliant in my opinion. Although not anything like potpourri, it does remind me of dried rose petals rather than the flower, but in a very good way. I've sampled a good few rose fragrances in my time, and Paestum Rose smells like no other. Also brilliant.

I'm not sure why, but I woke up this morning and for some reason was just craving the scent of roses. These certainly hit the spot today.

Image credit - http://media.picfor.me

A rose by any other name

Having written about Rose 31 yesterday, I felt the urge to try two more rose-focused scents. I'm a sucker for roses - I love them both as a flower in my garden and on my skin, but although I adore the purity of a rose in nature, when it comes to perfume, I prefer a bit of a twist, a dark shadow over the brightness that this note often evokes.

So first up is Rose Poivre, by the Different Company. Having browsed through some reviews, it seems there is a view that this has been reformulated and that the current version is not as skanky as the original. I don't know - I'm almost certain I must have a sample of the later version. Rose Poivre opens with an alcoholic blast, perhaps a smidgeon of citrus and then the rose quickly asserts itself. This is not a fresh rose though. It is quite dry and earthy and reminds me of being in a rose garden, soil freshly dug, with the rose bushes full of buds, not yet quite open. As the top notes fade, there is a rather aromatic accord, almost like potpourri, but not sickening in any way. Then it becomes spicier as cumin kicks in and this is quite a powerful cumin. Its vaguely animalic to me, a bit like dusty rugs or furs. It does sweeten a bit but the rose never asserts itself like one might expect. It's in the background, but as the scent progresses, the rose stays more like dried rose petals, aromatic and I never feel that that potpourri smell is too far away. Far into the dry down Rose Poivre still retains a hint of spice and cumin and stays subduedly dusty. I must say, I really like this one. It is unique in my opinion and I like how it never follows that rose route one might expect. It is slightly offbeat and has a hint of beast about it and I can highly recommend trying this if you are looking for a rose with a thorn and a twist.

On my other wrist is Un Rose, by Frederic Malle. This is parfum strength and it shows. It has great tenacity and lasts on my skin for ages. This perfume surprised me though. it starts off citrusy, with what I perceive to be a very brief prickle of aldehydes. Very quickly a gorgeous rose note seeps through, bright and pure. This phase is uplifting and powerful and excuse the hyperbole, but feels radiant to me, like warm sunshine. There's a sappy greenness here too, like a bruised stem and bud. Then the scent does an about turn. Just as you think it might stay joyful, a rounded sweetness emerges and the rose deepens and loses its youthfulness. It only increases in richness now, becoming spicier and resinous. There is meant to be a truffle accord in here. My association with truffle is a mushroom-like smell, peppery, a bit like fresh olive oil, so I don't quite know if I'm identifying it here. Perhaps the smooth, earthy richness I refer to here is meant to be that accord, I'm not sure. Into the drydown and the fragrance hums along like a Rolls Royce. There is a slight sourness, which could be the wine-dregs accord Edouard Flechier was trying to achiever. Is there civet in here? The richness of this perfume and its depth seem to hint at this, although looking at the notes I see Castoreum is listed. Perhaps this is it. In any event, I am moved by Un Rose. It truly is also unique and shows great depth and imagination by Mr Flechier.

Well, you may ask, which one of these would I buy? If I had the money, I would buy both. I think they both are unique and interesting and could appeal to either sex. I could see Un Rose perhaps appealing more to a woman and cumin-phobes might not appreciate Rose Poivre. So if I had to choose between the two? Without hesitation I would take Un Rose. It is da bomb!