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.

Saturday, KFC and the slow-burners

So, Saturday is almost over, for me anyway. MY DIY project has commenced, albeit much slower than I anticipated. It doesn't help getting stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the industrial estate where the hardware store is based (B&Q, for those of you in the UK). At least I now have the wood I need to make the new roof and floor of the Wendy House, and various shelves for our own house. MDF, chipboard, plywood, you name it. I have it all stacked up in a corner of our dining room (I am a romantic at heart) and a grazed finger for my troubles. Oh the drama.

Tonight, continuing with the romantic theme, my wife and I ate KFC for the first time in about a year. What is it about that place? Do you enjoy KFC and junk food? I don't particularly, and it freaks me out going there. A clandestine guilt falls over me, furtive glances left and right to check that none of our neighbours spots the tell tale red and white packaging as I return home with the takeaway. Was it a guilty pleasure? Not really, it tasted ok but laced with salt and other preservatives, I think. It was cheap though, which is probably why so many people eat there.

So what does any of this have to do with perfume? Absolutely freaking nothing my friends. But hey, its Saturday and I have nothing better to talk about. I did wear some perfume today. I tried my samples of Ineke's Field Notes from Paris and Frederic Malle Noir Epices. Neither of these has worked particularly well for me in the past. I'm not really sure why. Both are very decent perfumes but just don't interest me all that much. Today went better though. I appreciated more of the tobacco in Field Notes, which goes well with all that Orange Blossom, while the pepper in Noir Epices was less severe than usual and I got the full chypre effect for a change, rather than the pepper mill in 3d technicolour. Perhaps these two are slow burners and starting to grow on me.

What are you wearing this weekend? Are there any perfumes that intellectually (or otherwise) you think ought to appeal to you, but for some reason just fall short of the mark or fail to impress? 

Ineke - Field Notes from Paris

Image credit: Deviantart.net Springtime in Paris by Isismas

Fragrance notes: Bergamot, Orange Blossom, Coriander Seed, Tobacco Flower and leaf, Patchouli, Cedar, Tonka, Leather, Beeswax, Vanilla.

I'd read a number of favourable reviews of Field Notes from Paris; many noted the prominent orange blossom note, and others described it as an urbane, cosmopolitan fragrance. I approached this with no heavily preconceived ideas. I first tried it on a paper scent strip at Liberty in London and it haunted me for several weeks before I finally got a sample from First in Fragrance in Germany. On first application this opened quite sharp, aldehydic even, with a twist of orange. The orange blossom dominates the first phase, and its quite a floral, heady accord. I get spices and herbs and a slightly flowery note that could well be the tobacco flower and coriander doing a tango. Into the heart the fragrance sweetens and I get the tobacco and a bit of patchouli coming to the fore. I find it quite hard to describe the tobacco note - its definitely not a pipe tobacco, but doesn't really seem like a cigarette either. The orange blossom stays fairly prominent throughout and for me, the fragrance stays relatively linear from here on into the dry down. It might just be my untrained nose, but I never really detect the beeswax or the cedar. The dominant notes are tobacco and orange blossom, but I don't find this a warm, comforting scent. The quality seems very good and its well constructed, but it almost seems too cerebral for me, like its trying to make some sort of intellectual statement, but its not on my wavelength. In the end, this fragrance just isn't me and I could never see myself purchasing a full bottle. However, this is just my opinion and I am sure that it could work wonderfully for others. I shall try this again in the summer, when perhaps the heat will bring out different facets and who knows, perhaps I will warm to it.

The picture I used above is Springtime in Paris, incidentally not so much because this fragrance evokes spring in Paris for me, but rather just because it is springtime in Paris right now and I wouldn't mind being there! I can see Field Notes from Paris having a lot of fans. It is unisex, but (perhaps somewhat presumptuous of me) I can see this being more popular with the ladies.