Bluewater and Kiehl's Musk

I mentioned yesterday that we were going shopping for Christmas presents. So we set off at sparrow fart for Bluewater, which is a very large shopping centre/mall in North Kent. For those of you not familiar with the UK, and Kent for that matter, Bluewater is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, stranded between major motorways such as the M2, with a 'tantalising' view of the Queen Elizabeth bridge, otherwise known as the Dartford crossing (over the Thames river). I stand corrected, but I think Bluewater is built in a hole (a very large one mind you) that was once a quarry, and is shaped like a triangle, with a major department store at each corner (House of Fraser, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer). 

Anyway, enough about the history and geography of Dartford and north Kent. The shopping itself turned out to be less tortuous than I had feared. We got there early and managed to escape before the real crowds arrived at lunchtime. And we managed to come away with real presents! Yay!

While I was trying to find a loo in John Lewis I passed the Kiehl's counter and decided to try Kiehl's Musk. (Original Musk). I've tried this one a few times before and have come to the conclusion that it is the second best thing to Muscs Koublai Khan, which is no mean feat. While it is not as overtly animalic and complex as MKK, it does have a bit of skank, at least on my skin. It is possibly more floral and less dry than MKK, but in my opinion definitely shares the same gene pool, perfume-wise.

Basenotes list the notes as bergamot, nectar (what?!), orange blossom, neroli, ylang-ylang, rose, lily, tonka, white patchouli and musk. I must confess that on my skin I don't detect a lot of these notes, individually, especially the orange blossom and neroli. Musk is definitely the dominant note, from start to finish.

At £45 a bottle, I am sorely tempted to buy a bottle of Kiehl's Musk. I think it is a very good perfume indeed and very reasonably priced.

Image credit - http://www.kiehls.co.uk/

Friday scent of the day

I know its December when I get my first cold of the winter. I woke up this morning with a tight chest and a slightly sore throat. I hope it doesn't develop into something more serious. I hate to talk about health, but since I had pleurisy last year my chest has never been quite the same and I tend to get chest infections a lot easier than I used to. This coming from someone who for about ten years between 1996 and 2006 could count the number of colds he had on one hand!

Anyway, so far my sense of smell hasn't been affected so I happily wore L'Artisan's Al Oudh today. I know this one tends to divide opinion. I personally love it and as someone who likes cumin, I have no issues with Al Oudh at all. It is a deep and complex perfume that felt just right for today.

Tomorrow we are off to start doing some Christmas shopping. Wish me luck!

Scent of the day - Parfumerie Generale Bois Blond

So, it's the first of December already. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. Sometimes I wish I could hit that pause button on the remote control of life and just slow things down!

Today I wore Bois Blond by Parfumerie Generale. Luckyscent lists notes of cereals, grass, galbanum, cedar, hay, blond tobacco, musk and amber. Bois Blond is instantly recognisable as a PG creation. For example, if you have tried Coze or Aomassai, you will recognise that Bois Blond is part of the same family, albeit a toned down, slightly less gourmand version. 

Bois Blond really does live up to its name. It is woody, grassy and hay-like, infused with slightly sweeter musk and tobacco notes. It really is a very good fragrance, but for some reason I don't feel particularly inspired or moved by it. I can't deny that it is well done nevertheless and it could just be my own tastes that lead to me reaching this conclusion.

Puredistance

At the beginning of this year (March) I was contacted by Puredistance, who offered me a sample of their more masculine offering, M, to review. After my review I posted a link to it, and went on with life. See here for the original review.

Recently Puredistance contacted me again and asked for permission to have my article published in a book that they are making available as a PDF on their website. I was slightly taken aback, albeit safe in the knowledge that this is a marketing tool of sorts, not down to the sheer brilliance of my writing!

Now, I want to assure you that I am not writing this to brag, but to provide an example of how perfume companies can use the internet, blogs and electronic media to their advantage, but also to the consumer's.

When tuberose ain't so good

There are a couple of tuberose perfumes I've discovered recently that work quite well for me, namely L'Artisan's Nuit de Tuberose and Serge Luten's Tubereuse Criminelle.

However, today I encountered tuberose in its worst and deadliest form - worn by a woman with abandon. I work with this woman, sweet lady that she is, but she has no idea. She sprays on tuberose (and I don't know what perfume it is, I'm too afraid to ask) like others use Bodymist and leaves a trail from Kent to Katmandu. Even worse, try sitting right next to her for two hours in an over-heated room, in the most boring meeting ever invented by that twit, The Grey Accountant.

Hmm, you get my drift, I'm sure. If I had the money, I'd buy her bottles of the L'Artisan and Lutens...

Scent of the day - two from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz

Today I sampled DSH's Gingembre and Cardamom & Kyphi. Both of these strike me as quite simple constructions, but not inferior.

Gingembre I like because it doesn't conjure up foodie associations for me. While it smells like ginger, it isn't too sweet and confectionery-like, nor too zesty-zingy. Once the ginger fades, it smells to me like a mild amber. Nice.

Cardamom & Kyphi is a little strange. It has a very realistic cardamom opening note, but once that fades it smells almost waxy to me. I still think I like it though. It is different enough that I haven't smelled anything else quite like it.

Favourites revisited

This past week was ever so slightly unusual for me in that I did not try anything new. Instead I wore some of my older favourites, which, thinking about it, is no bad thing.

What amazes me about these perfumes (why does it amaze me, it makes obvious sense really) is that each time I wear them, the memories and associations they evoke come flooding back and I always get that sense of "mmm, now I know why I love this so much".

Starting with Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan, I realise that to me it is still my amber gold standard. What I like so much about Ambre Sultan is that it is complex and smells of more than amber, although amber is the star note. It never turns powdery on me, remaining fairly dry and herbal, and I love that. Like almost all Lutens I can think of, Ambre Sultan lasts and lasts - apply it at 8 in the morning and you will still smell it clearly at bedtime, and faintly the morning after.

On to L'air du Desert Marocain and I can't help but marvel how Andy Tauer manages to create perfumes so powerful and long lasting. A word of warning - if you encounter a Tauer you don't  like, watch out, because you will still be smelling it the morning after. His perfumes have stellar lasting power. Even so, this is a wonderful perfume, full of complexities. 

Finally, Guerlain's L'Instant for Men. I own a bottle of this and every time I wear it, I know I can justify this purchase. If you want to know what a quality, mainstream men's fragrance smells like, try this. L'Instant seems to get overlooked - I hardly ever read about it. I think it is wonderful.