March 21, 2008

Layering Fragrances - An Accidental Experiment

I had received an official spray sample of Cedre by Serge Lutens. It is an excellent scent and it's a very heavy EdP. It's heaviness is much like the other Serge Lutens perfume I have tried, Ambre Sultan. Not sure if this is the signature style of Serge Lutens himself. The only personal account on his part that I've read is from The Emperor of Scent and from that he's very stuck up on high end things but he doesn't like getting attention called to it. (Serge has a red-marble toilet seat, very expensive and when Luca Turnin commented about it Serge's scoffed response was, "Bah, oui...".)

Last evening I was enjoying the Cedre very much so. I had to restrain myself from ordering a bottle or even another small sample of the stuff. My budget's tight already and I have hundreds of other samples to sift through. This stuff is gooood. Would be really awesome had I had this for the cool bleak winter.

Couple of hours later it was time for bed. Usually I grab something soothing to put on with lavender. I'm not a very good sleeper, problems with getting to sleep but staying asleep I'm very good at! I can't remember why but I grabbed my mini of Obsession and sprayed it without thinking. Nothing's calming about that fragrance , I thought. Oh wait I had Cedre on already! Ooops, wait a minute what's that lovely smell? Actually, what are those lovely smells.

Obession (Calvin Klein if you've been living under a rock) and Cedre go together like rum and coke. Both are good separately but when mixed together you get something even more pleasant. I had only sprayed a little bit of Cedre (the rum) and a fair amount of Obession (coke). Hey, it worked, by accident. Sadly, I no longer have anymore Cedre to try this again though maybe in my travels I'll have another opportunity.

March 17, 2008

February is a Boring Month and the Grey Market

I've always disliked February. It is such a boring month. Not much happening and it's always bitter cold here in Pennsylvania. I got a bit of cabin fever once or twice. It didn't snow much here but I felt run-down a few times.

During this boring month I had swapped, purchased and tested a bunch of fragrances. I've been taking my time with them instead of hastily reviewing them before taking it all in. I've learned a few things.

Those sample vials/phials aren't meant to be dumped on your hands and splashed on. Causes terrible rashes. That may sound like a huge 'duh' but sometimes you never know these things!

Speaking of rashes I got a bad one from some what I believe to be fake Creed Green Irish Tweed. It smelled watery and lacking. Most people have claimed that a fake Creed always smells off but I had nothing to compare the sample I had to. I got it from PerfumeBay which isn't all that great to begin with.

Another thing I learned is the grey market has touched nearly everything in the US. Maybe it's just me but I think it seems like stealing. Basically someone along the line of sellers takes a fragrance, scratches off its serial number and resells it at a discount. I had to return a few bottles I purchased because I didn't trust where they came from. I didn't claim they were fakes and I told them

I started Chandler Burr's book The Emperor of Scent last month and am still reading it. So far it's good. The perfume industry is full of crazy people. Really cutthroat. Most of the book is the science behind Luca Turin's ideas. Most isn't lost on me as I have studied chemistry to a good degree however the biology is somewhat lost on me when they talk of receptors and protein strings. Other than the science, really good book. It's in good humor, too. There's occasional swearing in it which I don't mind since it gives the book a human element to it.

As far as new fragrances that are awesome in my opinion that I've sampled from last month, I've like the entire line of Frank Los Angeles. Also the bottle of 1805 by Truffit & Hill is very pretty.