Madonna Truth or Dare

Madonna's Truth or Dare perfume has hit my fair town at last, and I felt I had to have a sniff. If truth be told, Truth or Dare is rather good as far as celebrity fragrances are concerned. I'm not an expert in this 'genre' but while I liked Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, I think Madonna's perfume is a bit more daring and unusual, by these standards.

Truth or Dare was apparently '15 or 16 years in the making'. If I'm being honest, Truth or Dare is a nicely-done mainstream tuberose fragrance, but fairly light on the tuberose and I struggle to understand why it would take the better part of two decades to conceive of this idea, but perhaps I'm being unfair. There is something about it that reminds me a little of Honore des Pres' Vamp a NY, but only superficially. It too smells a little fleshy, a little bit like coconut. If anything, Truth or Dare has a rubbery note in it, to my nose at least, which if I understand correctly is a facet of tuberose.

I actually think Truth or Dare is a very decent perfume. It isn't groundbreaking, particularly original or daring, but having said that, it doesn't smell like other celebrity scents out there and thank the Lord it isn't a fruity floral.


Well done Madonna.

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!

Hermes Voyage D'Hermes Parfum

In a post of mine in March, here, I mentioned that Hermes had released a parfum version of Voyage. Well, I tried the parfum version for the first time today and I have to say that in my opinion the original perfume wins hands down. It isn't that the parfum is bad, but to my mind it deadens the notes that made the original a curious, yet compelling pastiche of the Hermes aesthetic. The original was fresher, lighter and more vibrant - usually not the sort of things that appeal to me, being a fan generally of darker, stronger compositions, but it worked.

The parfum smells sweeter and more leathery to me, although various fragrance sites state that the parfum version brings rose and amber to the original. I think it is the amber that makes it sweeter and heavier. Perhaps I should try it when the weather is cooler, as it may appeal to me more. As I said above, it isn't a bad perfume by any means, but I prefer the original.

Scent of the day - ELDO Rien

Whew, today was a scorcher here in the United Kingdom, which, reading between the lines, means that we got into the low twenties (celsius). On this muddy isle, a day in the twenties means shirts off, skimpiest skirts on, sandals and general bizarre behaviour. Not for nothing the old saying 'only mad dogs and Englishmen enjoy the midday sun'. Or something like that!

Today I revisited Rien, a perfume that is rapidly becoming my favourite ELDO fragrance. I've only worn Rien in cooler weather, but on a warmer day, woah! It becomes one of the skankiest, seedy, sultry and most kinky perfumes I've encountered. It's essentially a floral, spicy leather fragrance, containing a melange of hard-hitting ingredients including incense, patchouli, styrax, amber, mousse de chene, labdanum, iris, rose, leather, cumin, black pepper and aldehydes. 

I am fairly certain that Rien is a sillage monster, which is why I only dabbed a tiny bit on each wrist. It was still very prominent and full of character, and bloomed in the warm weather. But oh, what a wonderful perfume in my opinion. It is complex, sensuous and with the aldehydes even has a hint of vintage about it. I find Rien a very sexual and sexy fragrance. It just smells like passion and lust to me.

This comes highly recommended.

L'Artisan Dzing

Today I wore L'Artisan's iconic Dzing, a perfume of genius if ever there was one, in my humble opinion. I can't believe that I wrote about Dzing more than two years ago, here. It feels like just the other day. 

Reading my review on 13 May 2010, I don't think much has changed. Dzing still smells and wears pretty much like that. It still amazes me how Dzing manages to convey the smells of the circus. Who needs Demeter or CB I Hate Perfume? One thing that strikes me now is how musky Dzing actually is. It has loads of musk in it, which with the leather creates a distinctly animalic accord, not sexually animalic to my mind, but of animals in an enclosure. Amazing.

If I'm not mistaken, I read a while ago that L'Artisan had or were thinking of discontinuing Dzing. I don't know if that is  true, but if it is, that is a real shame because Dzing is one of the most innovative and compelling perfumes I know.

Weekend - back to basics

This weekend I made a point of wearing two perfumes that I actually own. To call this post 'back to basics' is possibly an insult to Hermes Terre D'Hermes and Gucci Pour Homme, as neither is basic or simple really. They are both, to my mind, examples of what can actually be achieved in the mainstream perfume market. What makes me rage inside, sometimes, is why more of these sorts of perfumes aren't released. I think what I mean by back to basics, is returning to something I usually take for granted, and shouldn't.

I've owned a bottle of Terre D'Hermes for about four years now. I wrote about Terre a couple of years ago and mentioned that I seldom wear it these days due to a negative association I have with the fragrance. It isn't Terre's fault - I wore it on a day when I was very stressed, going for an important job interview and every time I've worn it since, it reminds me of that stress and tension. As time passes, those association are fading and I was able to wear it this weekend with some pleasure, and realised all over again what a great fragrance it is.

Why, you may ask. What makes Terre so good? I can think of a number of reasons, but one simple reason is that it smells like no other perfume on the market. As simple as that. It doesn't smell generic, it doesn't smell like it has been done before. For me, that is enough to state that it is one of the few modern mainstream men's classics out there. In simple terms, it smells of orange, mineral vetiver and bleached woods, but it goes together so well.

What about Gucci Pour Homme? Well, sadly it is now discontinued. The one Gucci men's fragrance that I actually like, and I bought the very last bottle at Hoopers, one of our local department stores. I'm sure it can still be had at certain fragrance discounters, but I imagine it will become quite scarce over time. Gucci Pour Homme is essentially a calm pepper, woods and incense perfume, with some sweetness in the dry down from the amber accord, but I would call it a very woody smelling perfume. While I wear it happily in the day, whenever I spray it on, it feels like it should be worn out for the evening. It just smells sophisticated and complex enough for a special occasion. 

I know both of these fragrances are for men, but irrespective of gender, I would seriously recommend you try both if you haven't before. Terre is easy to find, and a best seller for Hermes, but you may need to search a little harder for Gucci Pour Homme.

Hermes Rocabar

I was at my local Fenwicks department store today, who are celebrating their beauty week. I saw a few weeks ago that they are now stocking Rocabar, which I haven't personally come across before, but they didn't have a tester until recently. I've tried Equipage numerous times but Rocabar has eluded me (I'm still on the lookout for Bel Ami, but I am not convinced I will find it here in the UK - if anyone from the UK is reading this, a heads-up would be appreciated).

Anyway, today I tried Rocabar for the first time and I have to say that I really enjoy it. Released in 1998, the notes according to Basenotes are juniper berry, cedar needles, lavender, nutmeg, cinnamon, cyprus, atlas cedar, virginia cedar, balsam and vanilla. Reading these notes, one would be led to believe that Rocabar smells intensely woody and piney, with spices and an oriental twist in the base. I don't personally think that it wears as woody and piney on skin as I thought it would. And I'm grateful for that. I am not a massive fan of very piney fragrances and Rocabar's coniferous accords are well balanced with warm spices and a slight sweetness-and-resin from the balsam and vanilla. 

Many Basenotes reviews complain that Rocabar is too sweet and cloying. I don't know where that comes from, because on my skin it is not very sweet at all, as the woods and spice tone down most of this and it is very well balanced. In fact, I think it is the use of vanilla and balsam in the base that makes Rocabar so enjoyable, particularly as this stops the piney accords from dominating. I have to admit that Rocabar does smell a tiny bit dated - it smells more like a very well done 1980's perfume than something released only two years from the new century, yet is not forceful and hairy-chested. It smells smooth and classy, no surprise coming from Hermes, who do understated luxury very well indeed. I think Rocabar is fantastic, and I'm so glad that I've finally tried it. Highly recommended wearing.


I should point out that the Rocabar I tried is no longer in the bottle pictured top left. It is now in the slimline Hermes bottle common to the main range, for example the 'Un Jardin' perfumes.

Image credit - http://www.basenotes.net/