Bath water blues and perfume prattle

In the deep and dark December (to sort of quote Simon & Garfunkel) our boiler nearly packed up. Typically it occurred on one of the coldest days of the winter, with snow thick on the ground and icicles hanging from the gutters. The boiler man came round to fix the problem, which ironically turned out to be something as mundane as a slightly loose connection and having to bleed the radiators. In the event, he also adjusted the thermostat, with the result that we now have very close to boiling water on tap. Energy efficiency and high gas bills aside, this can also be a blessing and a curse, as we found out tonight.

I was giving my two daughters a bath, as we do every evening. Lately my older daughter, Hannah, has got into the habit of putting in the plug and starting the water running. We haven't really thought twice about this. On this occasion she turned on the hot water tap and left it running, until it had got up to some serious heat. My other daughter, Daisy, must have taken a plastic cup and held it under the tap and in the process spilled it over Hannah's chest and arm. I say must have, because I had my back turned, so didn't notice anything until Hannah started screaming blue murder. We immediately ran some cold water and put some cold flannels over the burn areas and then got some special burn cream from the chemist afterwards. To cut a long story short, she seems to be fine and there is no obvious sign of swelling, blistering or broken skin, which we are hoping is a good thing, but we will monitor her closely over the next twelve hours or so, just in case.

I'm not really sure what the point is of writing about this on my blog, save to let some steam out. I was extremely angry with myself for losing concentration and not paying enough attention to what my children were doing. Part of me (my inner critic, damn him, as Josephine would say) was saying that these things happen and that I shouldn't beat myself up too much, while another part of me was cursing myself for negligence and for taking for granted the safety of my children. Whatever, the bottom line is that accidents can happen so bloody quickly, especially where children are involved, and also illustrates how easily a parent can lapse into bad habits and just assume their children can handle certain situations. I'm just very thankful that it wasn't more serious. I mean, Hannah or Daisy could have slipped while leaning over to reach a tap and could easily have fallen into the bath of near-boiling water.

So on a happier note, I did wear some perfume today. I tried Parfume De Rosine's Twill Rose and DSH's Cuir et Champignon. I will probably write about these in more detail at some point but for now I can say that I like Twill Rose, although it is slightly underwhelming. I would have preferred more dirt/skank/whatever from it, but it smells good and is perfectly wearable. Cuir et Champignon is the second DSH which doesn't fade from my skin within the hour (the other is Vintage Patchouli) so that counts as a major positive in my book. The mushroom accord in this is startlingly realistic and goes so well with leather. Who would have thought? Brilliant!

On the samples front, I still haven't purchased any. Every night I sit at my computer browsing the various sites, umming and ahhing over what to buy, but like some cold-war president with his finger hovering over that red button, I just can't bring myself to click the purchase icon. Damn... perfume purchase impotence - that's a first for me.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Parfum D'Habit

Following on from yesterday's post, today is all about Parfum D'Habit, another men's favourite over at Basenotes. I struggled to find a comprehensive list of notes for this perfume. One source listed leather, bergamot, patchouli, incense and amber, while Luckyscent listed bergamot, blackcurrant, vetiver, leather and patchouli. A lot of folk at Basenotes mention a sandalwood note too. I suspect that in reality a combination of these two lists would be reasonably accurate.

Parfum D'Habit opens with quite a potent, slightly animalic twang. This might be blackcurrant, which can smell a bit pissy, which with a good dose of patchouli, could create this impression. In a weird sort of way, there is something about this perfume that in my opinion is not miles away in feel from L'Artisan's Al Oud, without the oud and perhaps a bit more stripped down. Once the animalic note disappears, Parfum D'Habit becomes mostly a leather fragrance, kept slightly green by the vetiver, and ever so slightly powdery and earthy by the patchouli. This perfume also is a kissing cousin of Eau des Iles, I think. Not so much in the actual smell, but more in the overall gentlemanly, quite refined feel. A lot of reviewers describe Parfume D'Habit as a powerhouse fragrance, and while it is no wilting flower, it strikes me as fairly linear and subdued after the opening.

The leather is not overwhelming, being neither smoky nor tarry. Like I stated yesterday, like Eau des Iles, Parfum D'Habit is refined, sophisticated and very well done. But, it lacks something, at least for me. I find it overstays its welcome on my skin and save for the opening, is a bit too refined. I wish it would bare its teeth a bit more. While Parfum D'Habit and Eau des Iles receive a lot of the praise over at Basenotes, I personally prefer Route de Vetiver, which is a little more unpredictable and rough-and-ready, which is more to my taste.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Eau des Iles

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier is one of those perfume houses that is often admired, but more elusive than one might think. There were rumours that they were closing down, but Luckyscent got them back in stock (albeit a fairly limited range) as did Les Senteurs in London. 

Eau des Iles is quite a strange perfume in my opinion. There is a green coffee note in it that while ingenious, is also slightly offputting for me. The notes include galbanum, coffee beans, myrtle, tarragon, ylang-ylang, incense, vetiver and patchouli. If from these notes you are thinking 'earthy', then you'd be correct, but not in a dirty, earthy way. The earthiness smells like dust and plant life to me. The opening is a very strong coffee and herbal concoction, and quite floral. The herbalness initially made me think that there was lavender in there, but this is probably myrtle. The initial phases are also very green and even a bit sour. The greenness comes from the galbanum, no doubt, of which there is a hefty dose here. The sourness might be from the vetiver.  As the opening fades the very realistic, freshly-brewed-coffee accord is replaced by what for me is the smell of the actual coffee bean. If you've ever smelled a coffee bean that is only lightly roasted, or perhaps not at all, then you'll get what I'm trying to convey. This green coffee note persists for some time, although it does soften to become green and woody, with an undertone of patchouli and what I perceive as a powderiness. Patchouli can smell a bit powdery in my experience and this is the effect I get with Eau des Iles. 

Like quite a few of the fragrances I've sampled in this line, Eau des Iles strikes me as quite gentlemanly and refined, even perhaps ever so slightly fusty. I do like this fragrance, but it seems a bit too conservative for my tastes, albeit very well done. This is highly rated on Basenotes, but for some reason I don't find it that groundbreaking - it smells quite traditional to my nose. Not that this is a bad thing, but just not what I'm really looking for in fragrance at this stage. Some might say that Eau des Iles is a bit quirky, and I do get that to an extent.

Overall though, I would certainly recommend that you sample this. While quite masculine, as ever I see no reason why a woman should not give this a go. 

Image credit - http://www.ausliebezumduft.de/

Amouage Reflection Woman and Man

I've tried a lot of Amouage perfumes over the last few years and while Reflection Man was one of the first I sampled, I have never tried the Woman's version. Reflection Man is one of those in the line that seldom seems to garner much attention, yet I actually enjoy it a lot. It's a bit of a slow burner, without that signature frankincense, but it dries down to a lovely combination of cedar, vetiver, patchouli and sandalwood. The notes include red pepper berries,  rosemary, bitter orange leaves, orris, jasmine, neroli, cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver. The opening borders on being an aquatic, which is not appealing, but just as you think this is going to be run-of-the-mill, the heart reveals an interesting combination of iris and jasmine and then the lovely dry down. Amouage is not afraid of using florals in its men's perfumes, but the effect is quite restrained here. I wouldn't say that Reflection Man is my favourite in the line, but it is very decent and worth sampling for a different take on Amouage. 

I have mentioned it before, that is that I quite often enjoy the Woman's 'version' of an Amouage fragrance more than the Men's. Case in point being Lyric in particular, and to a lesser extent Epic. Although I am slowly changing my mind about Epic. It is growing on me with each wearing. Reflection Woman's notes include water violet, freesia, tropical green leaves, magnolia, ylang-ylang, jasmine, amber, musk, cedarwood and sandalwood. You might notice the heavy presence of florals here, and this is possibly the most floral Amouage I have tried. I know Gold is quite heavy on the florals too, but I find the combination in Reflection Woman quite off-putting. This is definitely a case of my preferring the men's version to the woman's, without a doubt. I hate to say this, and it is a matter of opinion of course, but Reflection Woman is the least enjoyable Amouage fragrance I have tried, and this is coming from a fully-annointed acolyte of the line. It does strike me as far more marine-like than the men's version, and stays that way. Whereas Reflection Man moves away from this feel into a more appealing iris-and-woods with a light floral touch, Reflection Woman never quite achieves this, preferring to stay near whatever grows and flowers at or near the pond, dam, lake or whatever it is in this case. Incidentally, I do love the bottle, pictured top left. It is gorgeous.

Image credit - http://www.ausliebezumduft.de/

Byredo Baudelaire

Judging generally by comments on a number of sites, Byredo receives a fair amount of criticism. I haven't tried a lot of their perfumes, but I do think that Baudelaire is quite decent.

It opens sweet, woody and warm, with a mix of comforting spices. The notes, as far as I can gather, include juniper berry, caraway, black pepper, hyacinth, incense, leather, papyrus, patchouli and black amber. The spices to me don't smell particularly peppery, and while no sweet notes are listed, the opening feels ever so slightly gourmand to me. Again, while not listed, I soon detect a smoky vetiver note. In fact, had I not read these notes, I would have gauged this perfume as a smoky vetiver scent. Perhaps this effect is caused by a combination of juniper, incense and patchouli. I don't really know. The heart continues in much the same fashion, slightly green, a bit smoky, a bit tangy and a hint of leather joining the fray. Baudelaire smells very good, no doubt about that.

In the dry down the smokiness does fade away, leaving what to me smells like a vetiver and patchouli accord, not unlike what I smell in Le Labo Vetiver 46 or ELDO's Fat Electrician. At no point do I detect the floral hyacinth, nor is the black amber particularly evident. I'd say that Baudelaire strays towards masculine, with its earthy patchouli, leather and what I think is vetiver, but I don't think a woman couldn't wear this by any means. Overall I think this is a very good fragrance and certainly enhances Byredo's reputation in my opinion. Having said that, I'm not sure I would buy a full bottle of this. It's very nice, but falls just short of being special, I think.

Image credit - http://www.ausliebezumduft.de/

Sample heaven, or hell?

I don't know about you, but I have collected a sizable collection of samples over the last four years. It's become a bit of an obsession you see, although I suspect I'm not the only one to suffer from this malaise. As much as I love sampling perfume, it does become a double-edged sword after a while. 

There are two issues as I see it. The first issue is storage, or the lack of it. I would guess that my collection now numbers well into the hundreds, and as you might appreciate, even though sample vials are not that big, two to three hundred-plus little vials, some carded, some loose, do amount to something quite big. Part of the storage issue is how to categorise these perfumes, and how to catalogue them. As they all look pretty much the same, it can be a nightmare to locate the one I am looking for. I currently store my samples in a large, multi-tiered plastic box with a snap on secure lid, to keep the smells in. Within each tier is a plastic tray with little compartments, a little like an old fashioned printer's tray, if you've ever seen those. It works well, but as I said, if I'm in a hurry, and want to find something specific, it can be time consuming.

The other issue is usage. I haven't done an exact calculation, but even at this stage in my perfume journey, I would estimate that should I choose not to buy another sample ever again, it would still take me at least two years to work through what I've got. Although I am not a huge collector of full bottles, I still own at least 15-20 at last count, and those would probably take me another six years to work through, I reckon. So, I have enough perfume to last for what I would conservatively guess the best part of a decade! And in reality I am nowhere near stopping yet, oh no...

So what is the point of this post? Well, nothing really, except it serves to illustrate just how quickly this little 'hobby' of ours can spiral out of control! I still love doing this though, and as I collect more stuff, I think I am far more open to sharing this with others. I haven't really got into proper swapping yet, but I think I should start being more generous, perfume wise.

Do any of you have a perfume dilemma? How many samples do you have, and is it as much a nightmare storing and cataloguing them for you as it is for me?

Ooh, I've just thought of another 'complexity' in my shallow little perfume life - I'm always taking samples out of my storage box, so I keep loads at work in my desk drawer, some in my suit jacket pockets, and who knows where else!

Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum

Well, I tried the new Jimmy Choo perfume that was launched here in the UK today (I think). It is described as a fruity chypre. The opening is in my opinion horrendous, a cloying fruity mess that evokes all the ubiquitous horror of the woman's mainstream modern fruity-floral or fruitchouli (take your pick). 

Luckily the rest of the fragrance turns out to be ok. I stress ok. This is, again in my opinion only, a very average, very ordinary, very been-there-done-that perfume. I have smelled worse, a lot worse, but that's all I can really say about this perfume.

Jimmy Choo brings nothing new to perfume, and neither offends nor compels one to explore further. Am I being harsh? Perhaps yes, but to call this a fruity chypre? Come on. Jimmy Choo is to Guerlain Mitsouko as a Renault Twingo is to an Aston Martin. (Apologies to Renault Twingo owners). Pass....

Image credit - http://talkingmakeup.com/