Author: Old Herbaceous

Perfume Chat Room, July 2
by

Perfume Chat Room, July 2

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, July 2, and here in the USA, it is the start of the long Fourth of July holiday weekend. We are back home after a long road trip that included two weeks in New Hampshire so we could visit my elderly father-in-law in the assisted living residence where he lives. It was a joy to see him every day! We stayed in a little rustic lake cottage, the kind with plain wood paneling and no insulation, which was very nostalgic for both of us, having spent many happy times in childhood in such cottages. This one had one bedroom, one bathroom, living room, tiny kitchen, and a small screened porch. It was very cozy and comfortable, but wow! that bathroom was TINY.

I brought home some balsam pillows and have enjoyed sniffing them to my heart’s content. I don’t know of any manmade fragrance that quite captures the real scent of balsam fir. We also brought home a large jug of real maple syrup (I won’t use any other kind) and various other maple sugar treats. Since we drove to New Hampshire, we made several stops along the way — Antietam, site of a famous Civil War battle, on the way north; and on the way south, Gettysburg, site of the three-day battle (July 1-3, 1863) that turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the Union and later President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and Biltmore, in Asheville, North Carolina, the famous Vanderbilt estate that looks like a French chateau.

It’s good to be home, though! We’ll spend a quiet Fourth of July here with our kids; I do hope to see some fireworks this year, as most were cancelled last summer. Do you have any special plans, if you’re in the US? And for everyone — what are your favorite “outdoorsy” fragrances? Do you know of any that smell like real balsam?

Perfume Chat Room, June 25
by

Perfume Chat Room, June 25

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, June 25, and we are enjoying unusually cool, dry weather. My husband and I are also indulging in a bit of second-career fantasy/brainstorming, revolving around the sudden appearance on the market of a beloved local nursery business. Maybe I’ll follow in the footsteps of Diane St. Clair, the very gifted founder and perfumer of St. Clair Scents, and combine farming with perfumery! I do love several of her fragrances, like Gardener’s Glove and First Cut. In fact, since I wore her Pandora yesterday for the “community project” at Now Smell This, I think I’ll wear First Cut today, since we were recently in New England and saw the “first cut” of hay.

What scent are you wearing today? Do you ever have second-career or side-hustle daydreams involving perfume?

Perfume Chat Room, June 18
by

Perfume Chat Room, June 18

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, June 18, and we have been having some post-lockdown adventures! Most importantly, we have been able to visit my husband’s elderly father for several days, going over to the assisted living facility where he lives for a few hours every afternoon. Since our kids are young adults, they are holding down the fort at home. We are in New England, the part of the US where my husband and I both spent parts of our childhood and that feels like “home” in so many ways. Staying in a rustic lake cottage surrounded by the scent of balsam trees and other vegetation brings back a lot of happy childhood memories! Not to mention the distinctive sounds of loons, which takes me right back to childhood and earlier vacations when our own children were very young.

We also went to a big restaurant the other night, for the first time in over a year. People here are literally giddy with happiness at the ongoing return to normalcy. As we waited for our table, a total stranger turned to me, beaming, and said “Isn’t it wonderful to be in a crowded restaurant again, full of happy people?” Yes, I said. And it was. This particular restaurant is by the side of a lake, with most of the seating in a huge screened porch that runs the length of the building, so we enjoyed plenty of fresh air circulating as well as a gorgeous view.

Since I’m partially on vacation (working remotely most mornings, taking off most afternoons), and it’s easier to focus on fragrance when I’m more at leisure, I brought with me a box full of fragrance samples to try, but I haven’t pulled many out yet. Mostly I’ve been enjoying the smells of New England summer, which are so different from the smells of a Southern summer. Have you been trying any new fragrances lately?

Perfume Chat Room, June 11
by

Perfume Chat Room, June 11

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, June 11, and we are still processing a very enjoyable wedding weekend just past! It was the wedding of our nephew (also our godson), in Baltimore, and we had such a wonderful time! I was able to see my two sisters for the first time in a year and a half (last visit was October 2019), as well as some cousins. My kids spent the whole weekend with all their first cousins on my side of the family, and it was a joy to see how much fun they have together. We spent part of Saturday poking around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, which has grown so much in the thirty years since my husband and I were last there, and we ate wonderful crabcakes. The wedding itself was beautiful, as were the bride and groom.

I wore Sonoma Scent Studio‘s Champagne de Bois, from a travel spray that was a kind gift from Undina, and it was just right — thank you, Undina! I am so glad that Sonoma Scent Studio has been revived by a new owner with the original fragrance lines. Support the independent artisan perfumers! They’ve had a tough year. Last weekend was a tonic for the spirit. I’m an introvert and quite a homebody, so I haven’t minded most of the past year in terms of working from home, not going out, etc., but it was lovely to be able to gather, and socialize, and even dance.

Have you been on an airplane recently, or a large gathering?

Scent Sample Sunday: Delina Exclusif
by

Scent Sample Sunday: Delina Exclusif

On our way home from a family wedding, I stopped in an airport boutique that had a wall of designer fragrances, mostly to see if there might be a tester with something appropriate to spritz before our short flight. To my surprise and delight, there was a separate display of Parfums de Marly, including an actual tester of Delina Exclusif! I had been wanting to try Delina or a flanker, but wasn’t interested in making a special trip to a department store for that purpose, so this chance encounter was most welcome.

Delina Exclusif was launched in 2018; the perfumer was Quentin Bisch, as for the original Delina in 2017. Fragrantica lists its notes as: Top notes are Litchi, Pear and Bergamot; middle notes are Turkish Rose, Agarwood (Oud) and Incense; base notes are Vanilla, Amber and Woody Notes. The fruit notes are very noticeable at first spritz, in a good way. The litchi is the most prominent of the opening notes, with its sweetness and that of the pear note balanced by tart bergamot. The rose is immediately apparent, and it seems very natural and lush. The oud and incense are not strong, but they are detectable, and one of my daughters who doesn’t like oud commented on it. Some commenters have detected a resemblance to Montale’s Intense Cafe, and I see that. The drydown of Delina Exclusif is lovely; the vanilla and amber dominate but are grounded by some woody notes. The scent lasts for hours, 12 or more. I could still smell hints of it on my wrist a good 18 hours after applying it. What lingers is a slightly gourmand ambery vanilla, sweet but not sugary. Be advised — if you don’t care for rose-based fragrances, you may not even want to bother trying this one, because it is ALL about the roses, even with the companion notes. The floral arranger at the launch party certainly captured its spirit:

Floral arrangement of pink roses in shape of perfume bottle
Delina floral display; image from Basenotes.net.

Some have posited that the original Delina is more of a spring and summer fragrance, and Delina Exclusif more suitable for fall or winter. I understand that, as the flanker has some spice and warmth to it, but I think it is a year-round fragrance. As others have noted, this is a really beautiful fragrance, the major drawback being its price, around $289 or more for 75 ml. 

Overall, Delina Exclusif is a beautiful, modern rose — elegant, warm, sexy in a wholesome way. I still prefer Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if, but if you want a rose that will certainly work well in colder weather, Delina Exclusif would be a contender, if not for its price. As it is, I’ll stick with Ta’if in most weather and Intense Cafe when temperatures are cooler.

Have you tried any of the Delina line? Flankers or other products?

Perfume Chat Room, June 4
by

Perfume Chat Room, June 4

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, June 4, and I had a facial yesterday for the first time in years. I rarely get facials anyway, and of course getting one seemed unthinkable for the last 15 months. But we have a wedding to attend — in person! — this weekend, and my skin was looking dreary, so off I went. What an improvement! No miracles here, just nicely exfoliated skin with lots of healthy oil massaged into it, including my neck and arms. All the products smelled wonderful, too.

I mostly use unscented skin products, so as not to interfere with whatever fragrance I’m wearing, and also because unscented products are supposed to be healthier for daily use. I’m quite partial to products from The Ordinary company, though I don’t use them as regularly as I should. I am religious about wearing sunscreen every day, though. Do you have any favorite skincare products, scented or not?

May Melange Marathon: Thank You
by

May Melange Marathon: Thank You

I pondered and pondered what would be the subject of my last May Melange Marathon post today. How could I pick one out of so many lovely scents? How to choose? It has been easier when I’ve focused on a single note, like muguet or rose — that limits the candidates quite a bit. But this year, when my May Marathon has been a somewhat random mix of “May flowers”, the selection is more difficult.

So instead, I am writing to express my thanks to the many perfumers whose work has given me and others so much pleasure, especially during this past year of pandemic. Trying fragrances and writing about them has been a welcome distraction from the turmoil of 2020 and even into 2021. I am especially thankful for the independent perfumers who have labored through the most difficult economic times I can remember; the independent perfumeries who have done the same; the reviewers, posters, and bloggers whose work I admire and enjoy; and especially the readers who are kind enough to read my blog and others, and who form a supportive community worldwide.

So thank you, in no particular order, Diane St. Clair, Sarah McCartney (and Nick!), Liz Moores, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Jeffrey Dame, Pissara Umavijani, Christi Meshell, Shawn Maher, Jean-Philippe Clermont, Undina, MMKinPA, Neil at The Black Narcissus, Victoria at Bois de Jasmin, Robin and the community at Now Smell This, Portia Turbo and Jin, Megan In Ste. Maxime, Sam Scriven at I Scent You A Day, Tara at A Bottled Rose, The Candy Perfume Boy, Wafts From The Loft, Bloom Perfumery, Perfumology, LuckyScent, Krystal Fragrance, Tigerlily, Indigo Perfumery, CaFleureBon and all its writers and editors, Colognoisseur, Mr. Cologne 76, Sebastian, American Perfumer, Scent Trunk, Fragrantica and all its writers and editors, and so many others I’m sure I’ve left out. I appreciate you all!

Featured image from Dreamstime.com.

May Melange Marathon: Beautiful Magnolia
by

May Melange Marathon: Beautiful Magnolia

This is one of the few new 2021 fragrances I’ve tried this year. I was excited to get a sample from a kind sales associate, because I love the scent of real magnolias, especially the pink ones that bloom in my neighborhood, and I hoped this might resemble it. Sadly, it doesn’t. Beautiful Magnolia doesn’t live up to its predecessor, Beautiful, either, unfortunately. To my nose, it smells like a pleasant but nondescript flanker of Elizabeth Arden’s Sunflowers, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one. It’s pretty, and light, and it may do very well in some markets, but it’s not really for me, and I think its price is too high.

Fragrantica classes Beautiful Magnolia as a “floral aquatic” and lists its notes as follows: Top notes are Magnolia Petals, Lotus and Mate; middle notes are Magnolia, Gardenia, Solar notes and Turkish Rose; base notes are Musk, Cedar and Sandalwood. What I smell are: a bit of citrus, a bit of unnamed white flower, a hint of mate, white synthetic musk, and something slightly fruity. What I don’t smell are magnolia, lotus, gardenia, rose, or wood. I think the bit of citrus I smell is supposed to be “solar notes.” I can’t say much about dry-down, because Beautiful Magnolia doesn’t seem to have a true “drydown”, it just fades away, humming the same few wordless notes as when it entered the room. It is a very linear scent.

What a disappointment! I don’t often write reviews of scents I don’t care for, and this isn’t a “dislike” for me, it’s just that I expect better from Estee Lauder, a brand that has created so many memorable and classic scents. What I do dislike is the price for what Beautiful Magnolia is — $128 for 100 ml. I also dislike its recycling of the name “Beautiful” — the original Beautiful was a gorgeous 1980s floral, and even reformulated, it is so much more interesting and lovely than this. Comparing the two is like comparing artificial plastic flowers to the real thing. They may serve a purpose, and even be likeable, but they’re not on the same level.

Artificial magnolia flowers
Real magnolia flowers; photo by Deena on Pexels.com

Every spring, I eagerly await the blossoms of the pink magnolias. Some years, I am bitterly disappointed because a late frost comes along just as they’re about to bloom, and ruins the flowers. Nothing can be done about that; you just have to wait another year, until the next spring and the next magnolia flowers come. It’s a missed opportunity. That’s how I feel about Beautiful Magnolia. As Luca Turin once wrote about a different fragrance, “Encore un effort!” Please!

Do you have any recent fragrance disappointments? Or unexpected delights?

Featured image from: https://thewiltedmagnolia.blogspot.com/.

May Melange Marathon: Lady Day
by

May Melange Marathon: Lady Day

This week, all the gardenias in my garden and neighborhood seem to have popped open, and the air is full of their fragrance. The flowers themselves are, of course, lovely — some are like perfect little waxy white roses, others more like simple daisies, with fewer petals. So I thought I should look out a gardenia fragrance for a post this weekend.

The one that came to hand is Maria Candida Gentile’s Lady Day, which was named for the singer Billie Holiday, who regularly wore gardenias in her hair. I bought it some time ago when there was a big sale. It comes in extrait de parfum concentration. I like it, but for the life of me, I don’t smell gardenia!

The only notes listed are galbanum, gardenia absolute, and Peru balsam. I do smell galbanum, but it’s not the note I’m used to calling “galbanum.” Here, it is less green and more — I don’t know! There’s a strong herbal tone, but it doesn’t “read” as green to my nose. I guess the absence of what I think of as gardenia could be caused by the fact that the perfumer used gardenia absolute, not an accord meant to suggest gardenia.

I don’t know what to think about this one! Its overall scent reminds me of something but I just can’t remember what. Do you have any favorite gardenia scents? I keep seeing Elizabeth Taylor’s Gardenia at places like T.J. Maxx, but I’ve never tried it. Lady Day is nice, to my nose, but it doesn’t seem like a true gardenia. I’m stumped!

Perfume Chat Room, May 28
by

Perfume Chat Room, May 28

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, May 28, and it’s the start of the Memorial Day weekend here in the US! I don’t have any big plans but wow, it’s such a relief to have so many of us fully vaccinated so we CAN make plans. What a contrast to Memorial Day last year, when the pandemic was really accelerating and little was known about prevention or treatment. This Memorial Day, I will be remembering the many Americans and others who died from COVID-19, as well as those who have died in the military service of our country, the original purpose of our Memorial Day.

On a more cheerful note, today I am testing one of Chanel’s Eaux: Paris-Venise. I like it a lot so far! Have you tried any of the Eaux? I know Undina has, including the newest one, Paris-Edimbourg. (It feels so weird to spell Edinburgh that way). Or, what else are you sampling this weekend?