Scent of the day - Prada Amber Pour Homme

I wore Prada's Amber Pour Homme today. I've tried it a few times before, but I have to admit that despite the enticing notes, Prada's perfumes haven't done very much for me. There is a note that all their perfumes seem to have, mainly in the dry down, that just doesn't appeal to me.

Anyway, Amber Pour Homme has notes of mandarin, bergamot, cardamom, patchouli, tonka, vanilla, saffron, suede, vetiver and orange blossom. In theory, this combination ought to have me in raptures, as these are all notes that I love. In practice, the fragrance dries down to an over-sweet amber that promises a lot, but just doesn't deliver.

In fairness, I don't think it is a poor fragrance, but I wish that it was a bit drier, with a touch of smoke and more resinous. When I wore it, I had a steaming cup of coffee next to me and I suddenly thought how nice this fragrance could be if Prada perhaps added a shot of a coffee note to the original. It certainly smelled very good with the coffee aroma close by!

In closing, I should perhaps state that I do prefer Amber Pour Homme to the Infusion d'Iris, which is even sweeter and more cloying on my skin.

Sunday Star - Orange Star

Apparently the earth is extremely close to the moon at present and it looks up to 30% bigger than usual. The 'supermoon' as it is being called, is actually a full moon known as a perigree full moon and is about 356,400 kilometers from earth, rather than the usual 384,000 kilometers and causes higher than usual tides.

That's all good and well, but is only exciting if one can actually see it, which here in the UK, with our present weather, is remote, considering the grey, drizzly skies! Anyway, moons aside, today was more of a star day for me, as I wore Andy Tauer's Orange Star, which while I found perfectly easy to wear on a hot summer day, works equally well on a cold and wet day. In fact, it was just the tonic to lift the mood, with its peppy orange accord. As some of you who have tried this will know, Orange Star is no ordinary citrus scent, with the zesty and sweet mandarine and clementine balanced by a rich and vibrant ambergris, tonka bean and vanilla accord. It is a curious, yet brilliant fragrance, in my opinion and nothing else smells quite like it. 

The strange thing is that the smell of Orange Star actually reminds me of a scent from my childhood, which I can't quite place. It makes me think of summer days and swimming pools for some reason, without any obvious connection, but what I do know is that it makes me feel happy. Very happy.

A Serge Saturday

Following on from Borneo 1834 on Friday, today I thought I'd remain in a Lutens mood and wear Amber Sultan by Serge Lutens.

I don't have much to say about Ambre Sultan that I haven't said before. It is still my favourite amber perfume, what I call my gold standard. Having said that, the recent Opus VI by Amouage is quickly moving up the rankings! What I especially like about Ambre Sultan is that it is not a sweet and powdery amber, my least favourite. Rather, it is herbal and dry, and complex too - continually evolving. The herby opening can be quite weedy at times, in the literal sense of the smell of weeds, but I love Lutens openings with a twist, so this doesn't put me off.

I don't find Ambre Sultan a particularly cozy and comforting amber. I find that it is easy to wear in all seasons, without ever becoming cloying, which some of the sweeter ambers are prone to doing in warmer weather, in my opinion.

Another great perfume by Serge Lutens.

Scent of the day - Serge Lutens Borneo 1834

Today was chilly and drizzly in England, or at least where I am. I don't know what it is about weather and perfume, but for some reason cooler, damp days often make me want to wear patchouli perfumes. I wouldn't say that patchouli is necessarily a comforting, cozy note. In fact, patchouli can often be quite a challenging note. However, Borneo 1834 from Serge Lutens manages to make patchouli cozy in my opinion, without sacrificing any of the 'integrity' of the characteristic patchouli accords that patch fans know and love.

I wrote about Borneo 1834 a long time ago, in April 2010, see my review here. In many ways, my opinion of the fragrance hasn't changed. It still starts with those cocoa and camphor notes, then sweetens ever so slightly, then slowly seeps into a gorgeous, rich and smooth woody patchouli dry down, smelling plush and polished. I emphasise the words plush and polished, because to me Borneo does evoke the smell, feel and even 'vision', albeit olfactorily, of a room filled with old, polished furniture or panels. And perhaps that is where the comfort of this scent arises - to me being in an old room filled with beautiful, polished furniture, is comforting.

I've worn Borneo a lot over the last two years, and every time I wear it, I am struck by what a brilliant perfume it is. It really is. To my mind it is one of the masterpieces in the Lutens line and one of the best patchouli fragrances out there. Even if you aren't a massive fan of patchouli, I would recommend that one at least tries it. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Attar Bazaar Mysore Sandalwood

I received a sample of Attar Bazaar's Mysore Sandalwood oil courtesy of Cymbaline, who I met recently in London.

I had never heard of Attar Bazaar and was interested to find out after visiting their website that they are based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They have a host of interesting oils, ranging from rose  to sandalwood to musk, and a lot in between.

The Mysore Sandalwood oil, according to their website, is a very high-grade oil and judging both by what I smelled on skin and the reviews I have read, this is very true. Like most oils, the sandalwood takes some time to warm up on skin, but when it does, the most gorgeously smooth sandalwood aroma wafts up. The oil is quite linear, and does not evolve that much, but I wasn't expecting that anyway - I was interesting in smelling unadulterated sandalwood - and what one gets is a very contemplative, woody accord, with just a touch of pepperiness and perhaps a little smoke. 

After smelling this one, I am now really keen to try a few others from Attar Bazaar. Do any of you have any experience of this company and its products, and if so, what do you think?

Image credit - http://www.attarbazaar.com/

Diptyque Boulevard 34 Saint Germain

I only recently encountered Diptyque's Boulevard 34 Saint Germain, which is stocked at my local Space NK store. I vaguely remember seeing some reviews of this fragrance about a year ago, then it all went quiet. 

The '34' range (I can't be bothered to write out the full name again) was released to celebrate Diptyque's 50th birthday and is meant to 'recreate' the smell of the Diptyque shop, in the sense of a nod to each of the signature styles of perfume over the years, including fig leaf, blackcurrant, rose pepper, citrus, geranium, tuberose, woods and eucalyptus. Pictured top left, the bottle is really gorgeous, in my opinion, and has a stunning black bakelite magnetic lid. Very chic and tasteful. Also very unusual is the atomiser tube, which is covered with a sheath that is meant to resemble Diptyque's candle wicks.

So what about the fragrance itself? After wearing 34 today, I had a look at some of the reviews in the blogosphere and was surprised at the luke warm response to it. Two in particular felt that it was a flat and unimaginative perfume that had too much of everything 'Diyptyque' and nothing to make it stand out as innovative. People felt this was disappointing considering this perfume is meant to be a celebration of the Diptyque heritage. While I can see some sense in these opinions, I must confess that I think 34 is a really good fragrance. True, it isn't groundbreaking, but it does what it says on the tin, which is to present a perfume typical of the chic and sophisticated Diptyque style, with a nod to the heritage of the house. 

The most notable characteristic of 34 to me is how spicy it is. Having only recently tried Viktor and Rolf's Spicebomb, I am struck by how similar they are in the first half of development, except that 34 is a bit more refined and a touch more spicy. The spices smell like cardamom mainly. I really like this spicy phase, but it is the dry down that is gorgeous in my opinion. It ends up as a smooth, woody fragrance, almost leathery at times, with a hint of smoke and spice, perhaps even a smidgen of tobacco. If that isn't good, then I don't know what is. 

Image credit - http://www.amandarijff.com/

Happy May Day

Happy May Day to everybody. If you're wearing Lily of the Valley today, then I hope you are enjoying it.

I'm not, because I don't have any Lily of the Valley perfumes in my possession, funnily enough, or not.

May Day started grey, dank and miserable here in the UK, but thankfully it brightened up considerably to the extent that by evening time, it was glorious. Now I am hoping (praying?) for a good summer.

In keeping with May Day traditions (not), I wore two great perfumes by Serge Lutens, Rose de Nuit and Santal de Mysore.

Image credit: http://www.ukstudentlife.com/