Sa Majeste la Rose - Serge Lutens

I seem to be on a bit of a rose spree right now. Possibly, it has to do with the weather, I remember I was into roses at this time, last year, as well. Few raw materials gives me such a width of visions as rose scents. There are so many fragrances, yet they all manage to be so different. There are freshly sprung morning roses, complete with dew drops and a garden. There are pale pink shabby chic/country living/dainty teacup roses that are very nice indeed but somehow lack a lower body. There are the smoldering incense roses. Heavyweight Middle Eastern roses. Dark roses. Blood roses.

One excellent rose scent is Serge Lutes Sa Majeste la Rose. This is an almost rose soliflore (is there a technical term for "almost soliflore", I'd love to know), smelling first and foremost of rose with a skeletal background of other notes adding context and spine.

The intro is rose and rose alone. When applied super light it smells very natural, like smelling a rose on its stem in a garden. At the same time heady, innocent and sweet. But whenever wearing more than a single drop another facet comes out to play. Suddenly the scent toggles between its original pretty rosyness and something oily and metallic. The effect is the same as the picture on the right. Just as you either see the beautiful young girl or the old woman, but not both at the same time, I either get the pretty side or the metallic side of Sa Majeste la Rose, but not both. I find this type of olfactory dynamics very interesting, it makes me think of the mad genius stereotype. A person who's brilliant in some ways but also ravinly insane in others.

But oily metal is not something that should be done in excess, and fortunately it does fade, after a while. As Sa Majeste la Rose develops a luxurious honey note reveals itself. The honey somehow warms and opens up the rose, removes every trace of innocence. At this point we've got a sultry, sexy little thing, someone waiting in anticipation for her lover to arrive. And he sure does. As we're moving toward the dry down a note of gaiac wood emerges. I interpert it as very masculine and absolutely gorgeous. First time I noticed it I immediately assumed that it had to be something a male coworker was wearing. Which was odd, as I'd never noticed that any of them wear perfume before, ever. Who'd have believed they'd this good taste? Then I realised it was all me ;)

So, I enjoy Sa Majeste la Rose a lot. It's great for summer and it manages to sport just the right amount of interesting backdrops while still staying in the "lighter rose" category. A great feature is that it comes across very differently depending on how much is applied. It can be perfectly appropriate for work if applied lightly and more suited for ... other occasions when using more.

Offical notes: Moroccan rose absolute, gaiac wood, clove, white honey, musk

Le Labo - Gaiac 10 + help needed with ideas about good workplace scents

As time goes by, I'm not on maternity leave anymore but I've started my new job now. The shift to everyday working life has been easy but there are things I haven't gotten used to yet. One of them is not being able to dab on perfune whenever I like. Where I work "strong perfumes and scented candles" are not allowed. I've even signed a paper saying that I acknowledge this. I think the scented candle part is hilarious. In order for them to mention it, there must have been a "scented candle incedent" at some point in the past. Just thinking abou this makes me smile. The perfume part of the deal, though, I've choosen to interpret this as it's ok that I wear scents that are discreet and do not have a big sillage.

My choice of work scent for the first week has been Le Labos Gaiac 10. It's a very nice, uncomplicated scent. It starts out woody. I don't know what real gaiac wood smells like, but the woody note I get from Gaiac 10 is a green one, it reminds me of a lighter take on cedar and I do get a hint of cumin to go with it that I haven't seen mentioned by anyone else. The wood stays for approximately 2 hours and after that there is a straight forward and skin hugging musk. The musk scent remains for hours and hours, I've put on Gaiac 10 before leaving in the morning at 7 a.m. and still being able to smell the musk when I've gotten home around 6 p.m.  It's listed as a masculine but I only find the beginning to be a tiny bit on the masculine side. The musk part feels very unisex.

As a work scent Gaiac 10 is a very good one. It stays close to the body so it's unlikely to annoy anyone. I only get it when sniffing my wrist directly and, to be honest, if any perfume foe at work would do that they will just have to live with getting whatever perfume I've choosen to wear...  Another thing about Gaiac 10 that I like is that the musk packs just enough dirtyness to keep itself interesting but not enough to make me feel all inappropriate.

I'll have to work, day in, day out, for many many years now. Therefore I'd love to get some ideas of other good workplace scents, discreet but not boring, please. Any ideas, anyone?


Image: Fragrancita.com