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Friday, May 11, 2012

Early spring scented egotrip of 2012.


Spring in Sweden can be divided into two phases. The latter is "real" spring when the trees starts getting leaves, there are tiny flowers on the ground and the air starts to warm. And there is the "not-really-spring" (yes, I'm paraphrasing Undina here :) ). A season that is winter by most peoples standards, it's just that it happens during months normally associated with spring.

When peeking at what other perfume bloggers seem to like during that fragile time of the year many seem to mirror their environment in the scent they choose, going for taut green scents and cold florals, especially roses. I've been doing the very opposite. When the view outside my window says "snow" I've been reaching for my biggest and boldest florals, compensating for everything that's not there. I'm naming this trend of mine "Escapism by Florals".

And, for "not-really-spring" of 2012, there are 3 notes I've been craving more than anything else, they are:

Tuberose - it started out when I unintentionally scented my phone with by Kilian Beyond Love. All of a sudden I wanted to cuddle that poor thing and never let it go. Then, again and again, when I went to stores to sniff perfume, and when I found a tuberose I just relaxed and thought, "Mmmmmmmm, yummy, THIS is what I've been looking for!" Tuberose has become my "relax" note. The note I "slip into" when I come home on Fridays after a hectic work week and want to get a break from any professional, responsible and serious parts of myself. Some scents featuring tuberose that I've loved to wear are Honore de Près Vamp á NY, Penhaligons Gardenia, L'Artisans La Chasse aux Papillons and Frederic Malles Carnal Flower.

Aldehydic florals - in my blog post Winter recap 2012 I wrote about how I was starting to appereciate the "aldehydic clean" note. I guess the next logical step was "aldehydic florals". So, I've been enjoying scents like Amouage Gold, Chanel 22 and Lanvin Arpege. I love how they have this old fashioned luxury feel. While wearing them I can imagine being a wealthy lady during the 50-ies whose biggest worries are weather the servants are careful while cleaning her fur coats or if she's gonna wear rubies or diamonds for dinner. It's a little fantasy I like to nuture when, in reality, my dinners mostly consist of me watching my daughter mash her fish fingers into her hair...

Peach - all of a sudden, I smell peaches everywhere. They're in the exquisite dry down of Amouage Gold Woman, they're in Mitsuko (yes, I seem to be her type, after all). Ormond Jaynes Frangipani comes across very peachy and there is Etat Libre d'Oranges Vrai Blonde. First time I tried it, about a year ago, I was expecting the detonation of a fruit bomb. That's not what I got, and I was dissappointed. Fortunately I've tried it again since and after having unintentionally prepared myself using all those aldehydic florals, I was able to approach the composision from another angle. And it's lovely! Bright and happy like a Bellini champagne cocktail - and it's a well know fact we all need lots of thos in order to get through winter ;)

And, since this is such an ego tripping post anyway, let me share my current music love, Frida Hyvönen. This is a great love song and big nostalgia trip for anyone who grew up with Dirty Dancing...




Image: staffanhuss.wordpress.com

9 comments:

  1. Hi, have you tried Hilde Solianis fragrance Io? I think it's a lovely tuberose fragrance. I got a sample pack from LuckyScent with thirteen of Hildes fragrances. I just ordered a Perfume oil with her fragrance Presenze and one with her fragrance Tulipano. The next one will be Io.

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    1. I haven't tred any Hilde Solianis fragrances but I did a quick lookup on Fragrantca and Io sounds lovely. I might very well have to get a smple for myself soon :)

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  2. Sigrun, this is quite the vain statement on my part, but because I love so many of the perfumes you named and am a huge fan of tuberose and aldehydic florals, I have to say you have great taste!! ;-)

    I'm not sure why you mentioned at the end that you thought this was an ego-tripping post (didn't strike me that way at all); I really am drawn to writing that is personal, so am thrilled that you included a video of your latest music love. That song is both sweet and funny ... off to check out Frida's other songs. Hope you had a great weekend (and Happy Mother's Day to you, mashed fish sticks and all!)

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    1. Thank you very much Suzanne, and I must say that you seem to have great taste as well (and that has nothing to do with your comment here) :)

      The ego tripping thing was just that it struck me that I'd written very little about the perfumes (except that they have notes of tuberose, peach and aldehydes) and a lot about me :)

      Frida i absolutely amazing, some songs I can recommend are London, Scandinavian Blonde, Birds and Picking Apples.

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  3. I can so relate to not-really-spring, it sounds like the Canadian Rockies and Sweden are not that far apart. This not-really-spring I found myself craving heliotrope for some reason, I've never done that before. Unfortunately, I find that if I try to wear my full-on spring or summer scents before it actually warms up, it worsens my mood. I can hear them taunting me, "It's still winter, it's still winter...."

    And it is finally, gloriously, spring here now. The trees are budding, and my mood is almost euphoric.

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    1. I'm so glad you're having spring as well!!

      Heliotrope is one of those notes I haven't gotten into yet. I've always been a bit suspicious about vanilla and heliotrope isn't that far away. But, hey, if I'm suspicious about it now it probably means I'm just about to fall for it badly ;)

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  4. I'm behind ... well, everything. But I'm here now :) Thank you for the referrence.

    I didn't realize La chasse aux Papillons had tuberose. Hm... Interesting. I liked it when I tested it. (for Suzanne if she's reading it)Maybe I'm not hopeless?

    Now about peach. Have you tried Annick Goutal's Le Mimosa? I hated it but peach is definitely there and there were many positive reviews for it - it means some people smell it not the way I do.

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  5. Yes, La chasse aux Papillons is not a tuberose soliflore, but it is in there. To me, it's just uter loveliness :)

    I did try Le Mimosa a year ago and I didn't get it at all. Sweet canned peaches and vanilla. But as I do love peaches it's a scent I'll revisit and see if my opinions of it have changed.

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  6. Great song! I have a love-hate with peach notes in fragrance, but when they are done well, I do love them. I need to retest OJ Frangipane.

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