Tuesday 1 November 2011

Perfume Precis

I've been going through quite a few samples recently, following my purchases from The Perfumed Court (finally) and my visit to Les Senteurs in London.

I thought I would summarise my experiences of these. Some I have written about in detail, others hardly touched upon at all. As some of you who read this blog know, I went on a bit of a Lutens bender in October, sampling some non-exports such as Iris Silver Mist, Encens et Lavande, Tubereuse Criminelle, Santal De Mysore, Rose De Nuit and Boxeuse. Of these, the two that really stood out for me were Santal De Mysore and Tubereuse Criminelle. Not that the others weren't good, although Boxeuse was my least favourite and the most humdrum of the lot, for me anyway.

I've also tried Jules by Christian Dior and an oud by Ajmal called Dahn Oudh Al Shams. Even I am getting sick of the whole oud thing, not that Ajmal is a newbie niche line getting in on the oud bandwagon. Damn oud indeed...

I dabbled with Ungaro I, II and III. I and II impressed, III not so much. Not surprising then that III is the only one still in production. 

On to the CB I Hate Perfumes. I don't want to say much here. So far, not impressed at all, but I will revisit these and see if I form a different opinion down the line.

Francis Kurkdjian beckoned, so I ordered all the perfumes in the line. I haven't written about them yet, but suffice to say that Cologne Pour le Soir was my favourite, which drums home the fact that I still need to pluck up the courage to buy a bottle of the Absolue, which is my absolute favourite.

On to the Les Senteurs stuff. I've tried a couple of ELDOs, Tom of Finland and Like This. Both were really nice and different to some of the others I've tried in the line. I was underwhelmed by Amber Precieux in as much as it reminded me strongly of Montale's Blue Amber at times, but I suspect I need to try it more, because I think there is a lot more to it. At the risk of making snap judgments, I did not take to Andy Tauer's Pentachords Auburn. Yuck, yuck, yuck. It smells like a synthetic musk-in-the-laundry-gone-wrong mess. Sorry. Oh yes, and Bois Blond by Parfumerie Generale. Hmm, not bad. Not sure if I'm falling in love, but decent.

So, we are now in November and last night my kids went trick-or-treating as Halloween brought October to a close. I'm looking forward to November. I feel like my perfume writing has picked up again and as my busy period at work draws to a close I feel almost renewed.

I'll leave you with a picture from last night! .....




2 comments:

  1. I hope you do not mind if I start with your kids' picture - it's great! I love the costumes and the make-up portion of those especially (your wife did a great job!). A cat costume grab my attention: not only because I like cats but also because this was mine almost impromptu costume for the office party for which I won in Best Nose/Ears category.

    I haven't tried most of the perfumes you mentioned (some - yet, others - don't plan to) but from what I've tried I agree with you on Tauer's excercise and CB IHP, Bois Blonds and Like This. Unlike you, I think I'm falling in love with Boxeuses which is really unfortunate taking into the account their limited availability. But I still have a couple of ml left in a generous sample sent to me by a friend so I have time to decide.

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  2. Undina, thanks for commenting, as always. My wife did do a good job. (I was going to take the credit for a second but thought otherwise). I like your office - we didn't do anything, then again, we are boring accountants!

    I'm glad you like Boxeuses. I'm not sure why it doesn't appeal to me all that much. I prefer Cuir Mauresque, but that's not to say its better.

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