Samples frustration

As some of you might recall, I ordered a whole bunch of samples from The Perfumed Court in September. 22 September to be precise. About 10 days later I received the first lot of samples, which was great. I didn't think 10 days was necessarily unreasonable coming from the USA to the UK. Then a few days later I received an email stating that because one of my other samples still wasn't in stock they would send the rest of the samples rather than delaying any further. That was on 3 October. On 8 October I received about six emails stating that my order had shipped. I presume each email related to a separate shipment, or perhaps not. I really don't know. Well, it is now 15 October and I still haven't received anything.

I hate to be picky and come across as a moaner, because I usually am not, I promise you, but I do find this delay a bit unreasonable. I ordered about 20 samples and to date have only received 9 of them. Now I know the people who run The Perfumed Court do it mostly part time (I think) and that they are each based in different parts of the USA and thus stock is not located in a central location, but still, I think this service is just a bit tardy, considering I did part  with close on $100 more than three weeks ago and so far I have less than 50% of what I paid for.

I'd be interested in finding out what your experiences have been, if any. I'd prefer if you emailed me rather than posted here, because my intention is not to bad mouth The Perfumed Court, but I do find my experience with them a bit patchy. Still, I do like what they stock, which is a fantastic select of often hard-to-find stuff.

Weekend roundup

Well, it's weekend again here in the UK, and another mostly unseasonal one its been. It still hasn't turned very cool, although the nights are drawing in very quickly now. The clocks turn back on the 30th and it is almost Halloween! I can't believe how fast this year is going. Again...

Perfume-wise it has been good though. I've worked through my Serge Lutens samples and was also very pleased to encounter Tubereuse Criminelle. The only one I haven't written about yet is Iris Silver Mist. I'll have to save that for another week.

As the weather is so strange and unseasonal, I don't really know what to try on. Just when I think it is cooling down, the days will end warmly, with some humidity. I don't really want to wear any citrus or light perfumes now, but at the same time I don't feel quite ready for the heavies. 

My wife is running a 10km race for charity on Sunday, in London's Hyde Park. She's getting very fit and I do envy her. I wish I would get off my arse and start getting in shape. Well, there's always next week...

So, two questions:

• what perfume to wear during change of seasons?
• what perfume would you wear to a sports event, assuming you are merely a spectator?

Have a good weekend.

Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit

I think folks might be getting a little tired of my Serge Lutens week. I'm almost finished, I promise. Rose de Nuit is the last one. 

I am a great fan of rose fragrances. I've tried a good few and Rose de Nuit is one that I've wanted to sample for a long time. One of my all-time favourite rose perfumes is Une Rose by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle. It is dark, fleshy, complex, rich, sexy and just plain brilliant. It's perhaps no surprise that Rose de Nuit ticks a lot of boxes for me too. Like Une Rose it is so much more than simply a rose fragrance. I love the start, am not so sure about the middle and am sucked in by the dry down. Rose de Nuit, like Une Rose, shares a warmth, complexity and sophistication, hinting at roses, but in a very roundabout way. It starts quite fresh and rosy, then quickly morphs into something altogether darker, becoming woodier, suffused with a sweetish rose note. I love this phase. 

In the heart it smells a bit more leathery, with a note slightly like varnish and lacquer. I find this phase ever so slightly synthetic. In the dry down Rose de Nuit becomes much earthier and fleshy, hinting at carnal pleasure. It is not particularly dry on my skin, which other writers have suggested and at this point it reminds me most of Une Rose, when it reveals a fleshy, animalic and almost wine-like note. It is a stunning perfume.

Like Santal de Mysore, which I wrote about a few days ago, it is one of those perfumes that elicited a 'wow' moment for me, which is a good sign. As with Santal de Mysore, I tried a wax sample of Rose de Nuit a couple of years ago and again, it bears very little resemblance to the actual perfume, except for the extreme dry down phase.

Although I love Rose de Nuit, I still think it comes a very close second to Une Rose, which is still my favourite rose fragrance of all!

Image credit - http://www.sniffapaloozamagazine.com/

Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle

I was in Fenwicks, one of my local department stores yesterday, when lo and behold, on the shelf I saw Serge Luten's Tubereuse Criminelle. I knew that this is the time of year when one of the good uncle's non-export perfumes is made available as a limited edition to the general public outside of Paris, but I didn't realise that this year is the turn of this wonder.

Now, I should mention upfront that I struggle with Tuberose as a note. I find it very often to be too feminine and floral for me to pull off successfully and I feel self conscious. Nevertheless, I decided to take a risk at lunchtime, knowing full well that I had to return to the office, not an environment for sillage-crazy tuberose. Well, I was amazed. The opening of Tubereuse Criminelle astounded me. I can honestly say that I have never smelled anything like it. I was not prepared for the pungent, intense shock of a note that smells so strongly medicinal. To me this note smells like TCP, an antiseptic that I knew from my childhood. Others have described the opening as smelling like diesel, gasoline, winter green, Deep Heat and camphor. I can understand how this perfume could evoke all those aromas. 

Tubereuse Criminelle smells quite sinister to start with. Just underneath that medicinal note is something fleshy,almost decaying. It is almost the perfume equivalent of minty mouth freshener just, barely just, covering up the smell of bad breath. Of course, I am not suggesting for a moment that this is what Tubereuse Criminelle actually smells like. If this seems gross, its not. It's brilliant, possibly the most compelling opening I've ever experienced in a perfume,.

The tuberose gradually comes to the fore, tinged with orange blossom, but it never gets too sweet, luscious and overwhelming. It stays quite spicy and dry, probably from the cloves and what I think might be a touch of coriander. Luckily for me Tubereuse Criminelle never becomes too feminine and I didn't become self conscious about wearing it.

This is a slightly abstract concept of tuberose, one that I am enchanted with, rendered almost, but not quite, sexless, which is saying a lot when tuberose is involved. If there is another tuberose perfume that does this for me too, it is Nuit de Tuberose, by L'Artisan.

As much as I am blown away by the underlying beauty and subtlety of Tuberose Criminelle, I am most spellbound by its ugly duckling opening. I would happily buy a bottle just for that.

Image credit - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/ and/or Perfume Shrine

How the time has flown...

I can still remember the day clearly. My wife and I flew to the UK on 9 October 2001, about to embark on an adventure (not through time and space) and a new life in England. We had two suitcases and enough cash to last us for about a month, if that.

Ten years on, we are still here, and now own a house (well, actually the bank owns it, more or less), have two children, furniture and a hell of a lot more 'stuff' than could be fit into two suitcases.

Are we better people ten years later? I like to think so. In a way it feels like I've fit more into a decade than I did into the first three decades of my life.

This is a perfume blog, but I'd like to dedicate this post to England, and its people, who've made us feel welcome and offered us a life of opportunity.

Serge Lutens Encens et Lavande

I'm on a bit of a Lutens bender, as you may have gathered, as I work my way through some of the non-export samples I got from The Perfumed Court recently.

Encens et Lavande was the one I was most doubtful I would like. It's a bit strange, because a few years ago I used to love the smell of lavender, and in fact I still do - the front path of our garden is lined with lavender that blooms magnificently in summer, scenting the air when it is hot and attracting lots of bees and bumblebees. I suppose for me the reason why lavender can be a bit off-putting in perfume (aside from the cliched old-granny associations) is that it can overpower and dominate, at the expense of other notes.

When I ordered this one, I was very interested in finding out how it compares to Gris Clair, another lavender perfume in Lutens' lineup and, funnily enough, the only full bottle in his line that I happen to own. Although I do like Gris Clair, the lavender note in it can become a bit overbearing and cloying at times, particularly in warmer weather. It is also a curious juxtaposition of warm and cold, sweet and herbal. Gris Clair is an austere scent, but in my opinion very well done. I can understand how it does have its detractors though.

The opening of Encens et Lavande left me feeling a bit dismayed. The lavender is strong, pungent and almost oily. It really does smell like you have just mangled the flowers and stems, letting the essential oil drip into a bottle, unadulterated. In a way, I do admire this, and is typical of Lutens ability to shock or jolt the senses, particularly in an opening. Just as I thought this was going to be a no-no for me, the incense seeps through into the composition, tempering the lavender and created a wonderful yin and yang of the resinous, pungent lavender, and a warmer, woodier, yet smoky incense. I haven't seen a lot of notes listed, but two additional ones mentioned are amber and clary sage. As the fragrance moves into its heart and dry down, the amber manages to sweeten the composition, but not too much, still allowing the more resinous incense and lavender to play against each other, while the sage adds a slight herbalness that manages to come across as aromatic rather than too green.

I read a review somewhere that said Gris Clair moves from light to dark, while Encens et Lavande does the opposite and ends up as a fairly warm and comforting scent. I would concur with the opinion. I wouldn't ever say that it ends up warm and fluffy, but it feels like one is enveloped in a warm, snug blanket, sat in front of a subsiding fire in winter, with a smell of slightly sweet herbs mingling with smoke from glowing embers , although I must stress that this is not really a smoky fragrance. 

Although I could and would wear this in warmer weather, I can really see myself wearing this mainly in the cooler months and I can't wait to try this over Christmas. It's a bit weird, but actually I would say this one veers towards masculine, if only because lavender is so often used in men's fragrances (which makes me wonder why lavender is then so often thought of as an old lady smell?).  Another winner from Lutens and I am so glad I've managed to sample this excellent perfume.

Image credit - http://fimgs.net/images/perfume/

Bleu de Chanel revisited

The best thing about Bleu de Chanel is its slick and sleek packaging and bottle. Millions was spent on the marketing campaign last year and by all accounts it has worked; this along with the juggernaut Chanel brand has catapulted Bleu de Chanel into the heady realm of one of the most successful and popular men's fragrances of the last twelve months.

Well, frankly, I clearly am not one of those who view Bleu de Chanel thus. When I wrote about it more than a year ago, I felt that it was a boring, generic and uninspired perfume. Twelve months on my opinion hasn't changed. I wore it again today and I can barely recall a single thing about it, other than it must be the most yawn-inducing dreck ever put out by Chanel. There's nothing bad about it, there's nothing good about it. It's telling that the only thing that stands out for me is the packaging. Although I've never cared much for Allure and its flankers, they are a damn sight better than Bleu de Chanel. If this is the way Chanel's mainstream perfumes are headed, I think I'm going to head in the opposite direction.

Image credit - http://www.mimifroufrou.com/scentedsalamander/