Quest for the Wedding Favor Perfume, Part 4

Posted by —

1

Dear readers, the last time I left you, I was feeling quite confused about which Sweet Anthem perfumes I was going to choose for my wedding favors. I felt like I hadn’t found just the right ones or the right combination and I was experiencing a lot of self-doubt. Well, this time around, I have come to a clear decision. Let’s talk about how I got there.

At last gasp, I was waiting for two perfumes to arrive that I ordered late in the game, Catherine and Joan.

Joan – notes are listed as “Beeswax, Coriander, Peony, Tomato Leaf, White Mint.” Joan is the newest introduction to the Sweet Anthem line; it was just released in April and I immediately ordered a sample. I wasn’t sure how it would go, because mint is a note that can tend to dominate a fragrance and mint is also a note I’m not always comfortable with in perfume. It usually seems too functional or aromatherapy-ish for me – much like my perception of lavender in perfume. However, Joan really surprised me. It definitely has a fresh nip of mint, but it’s blended in with green leaves. It smells very summery and green, but it doesn’t fall into the “cold bitch green” category like something like No. 19 does. It’s warmed by florals, musks, and beeswax and dries down really yummy-musky. I think Joan is a really unique perfume and one of the first mint perfumes I’ve found that works for me. I tried Joan in perfume oil format.

Catherine – notes are listed as “Amber, Bergamot, Red Tea, Wisteria.”  On Sweet Anthem’s Etsy site, she lists the subcategory for Catherine as “aldehydic.” Once I saw that, I knew I had to order a sample of Catherine, which I had inadvertently missed ordering on the first go-round. I’m a huge alde-ho (credit Mals for that coinage, I think). Catherine isn’t by any means super-heavy on aldehydes. It starts with some aldehydes, the bergamot and florals. I don’t know if it absolutely captures my olfactory impression of wisterias, whose scent I adore, but the florals are quite pretty and spring-y, not heady. It dries down into a semi-spicy amber. The red tea is what really keeps this one interesting; it adds the slightest bit of a menthol twinge (very, very slight). Honestly, this perfume smells a bit old-fashioned to me; it’s comforting, classy and reminds me of something my grandmother would have worn. I love that about it. Others probably wouldn’t. I tested Catherine in eau de parfum format.

I also tried the masculine fragrances from the range… and so did my fiancé. I asked him to write reviews of the masculines along with me, which he very kindly did (for two of them, anyway)… however, it seems he may have taken a page from the Prix Eau Faux in writing them up. Please to forgive. But I thought you still might find them enjoyable.

Peter – notes are listed as “Black Currant, Leather, Champagne, Lemon, Matcha Tea, Patchouli.” I was excited to try Peter again because I had ordered a sample when he was first released and I thought I remembered really liking him. Honestly, I sort of wonder if my sample has gone a bit off. When I tried it this time, it didn’t conform at all with my memory of the scent. It smells kind of fresh, with kinda of a lemon-champage-tea accord over spicy pine and patchouli. I don’t smell the leather at all, which is a bummer because I love leather.

Here’s what the fiancé had to say about Peter: “You. You sinking into a bubble bath at the end of a long day. Get clean. PETER from Sweet Anthem. Get dirty. You grinding your chest into a green pile of newly fallen walnuts. You, earlier that same day.”

I’m not sure I got the walnut note he got – he swears up and down this smells exactly like walnuts – but it’s definitely got a clean + fresh woods vibe that is interesting… but very not us. We tested Peter in perfume oil format.

Anton – notes are listed as “Apple, Black Pepper, Horseradish, Opium, Orchid, Saffron, Teak.” Post-testing all of these, I’m now wondering if Anton was actually the masculine perfume I liked so much a few years ago, not Peter. Anton is really a unisex scent; it’s an oriental that could be pulled off by a man or woman. It smells great. Basically, it’s the scent of baked apples + pepper + spices + woods. It’s absolutely a gourmand scent, but it doesn’t hit you over the head with sweetness. Anton’s concept, and I believe much of the concept of the seasonal series it was first released in, was the scents of the czar’s kitchen. It definitely has that vibe, and I feel like I’ll come back to it quite a bit.

And here is the fiancé’s take on Anton: “Sweet Anthem ANTON evokes one of those cooler summer days, a Christmas in July when you can sit down to a hot cider or sharply aromatic tea, with snaps of ginger on the side, simultaneously savoring the season and anticipating autumn, all the while knowing the pines will never fade. Smooth, pleasantly homey and vaguely medicinal, ANTON is a yellow oil that disappears on contact with bright yellow skin.”

Uh. Let’s just say that the fiancé had never tried a perfume oil before this wedding favor project and was a little shocked by the application process from an oil vial. I get the sense he thinks this one is NOT right for a summer wedding. I’m not sure either, although we both really do enjoy this one.

Elliott – notes are listed as “Labdanum, Oakmoss, Pine, Rain.” This will be one of the easiest reviews I’ve ever had to do. This is about the closest I’ve smelled to an oakmoss soliflore ever (alongside L’Aromamarine/Outremer’s oakmoss EDT). Elliott smells like oakmoss, oakmoss, oakmoss, and a bit of sweet labdanum on the drydown. Can I also just say that I love that this fragrance is inspired by “Seattle Grunge.” Oh, yes. Also, considering that we met discussing a 90s alt rock band, it seems appropriate for our wedding.

Unfortunately, fiancé had tested Elliott once when I somehow, stupidly, lost the frigging sample. So he doesn’t have a write up for you about Elliott. However, I just asked him and he said “it’s either Anton or Elliott for the guys, that much is clear.”

So, what did we choose? We chose 5 perfumes. I was originally going to go with four, with three feminines and a masculine, but I changed my mind at the last minute.

1. Joan – This perfume has really won me over quickly. I think Joan is a bit quirky (the mint and leafy green), but still muted enough to be likeable (musk, soft florals). It’s also perfect for summer – really perky and refreshing.

2. Catherine – Come on, you had to know I’d choose the classic floral! Seriously. I do think this is the most obviously “feminine” perfume I chose and it will appeal to those who like warm, ambery florals. Yet, it’s not as arresting as some of the other florals in the Sweet Anthem line – the florals are more of a spring-y variety and the tea note gives it a bit of a lift as well.

3. Miho – I had a feeling this one might win out. This one is probably the one I’d peg as having the most mainstream appeal in our set of five; it’s a perfect delicious summer suntan scent for a summer wedding.

4. Anton – This one I debated including because of the spicy baked apple note. However, I felt we should have something with some spice in it, and it’s also very unisex – it would be great on a man or woman. I also felt it would be kind of fair game to include two “official” masculines to give the guys some choice.

5. Elliott – This was my first choice for the guys. It’s mossy and warm. And I love the grunge inspiration.

It’s pretty hilarious that all but one of the final five came from the final set of reviews. It’s funny how these things, happen, eh? I still have a bit of a twinge about cutting Phoebe, but such is life.

If you’ve enjoyed my journey through the current Sweet Anthem main line, I’d refer you to wonderful recent profile of Meredith over at Ca Fleure Bon. Also, Meredith’s summer sweeps week is coming up, when she’ll be introducing her new summer fragrances, and maybe some special things from the vault – so check out her blog, Heartbeets, for all the updates. I have half a mind to review some of the great Sweet Anthem seasonal and vault fragrances, but variety is the spice of life, so I’ll be posting about my upcoming bloggish plans soon… stay tuned, and enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

[Fairly] Quick Hits: Jo Loves Gardenia and Jo Loves Green Orange and Coriander

Posted by —

15

I am actually ready to write what either be the last or next-to-last post (I have totally decided) in my wedding favor perfume series. However, my fiancé is going to be contributing mini-reviews of the masculine fragrances from the Sweet Anthem range, and I’m still waiting on his last review. I hope to make that post by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. In the meantime, I thought I’d review two new perfumes from a new line that pleasantly surprised me.

I have had a hit-and-miss record with Jo Malone fragrances. Admittedly, I think I have been unduly influenced by the perfume blogosphere, which tends to dismiss the Jo Malone as light, barely-there fragrances that appeal to the contemporary consumer but don’t have much interesting to say. Recently, I found a Jo Malone I really liked (Wild Fig and Cassis, if you’re curious), and I became quite curious about the new line Jo Loves. As most fumeheads already know, Jo Malone sold her eponymous line to Estée Lauder a few years back, and has recently re-entered the fragrance market with a new line called “Jo Loves.” Jo Loves debuted with four fragrances, whose names absolutely brought to mind the tenor of her original line: Pomelo, Orange Tulle, Gardenia, and Green Orange and Coriander. The fragrances are [supposedly] only available in the UK as yet, but when I saw a post on Undina’s blog stating that she had apparently requested free samples to be shipped to the US, I attempted to have two free samples sent to me – and was successful!

The two I received were Gardenia and Green Orange and Coriander; unsurprising choices as citrus and white florals are favorites of mine. In fact, Pomelo was in the running as well, but the promise of green citrus swayed me toward Green Orange and Coriander.

Green Orange and Coriander is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Delightful, green, unripe orange zest with a wonderful coriander note. There may be some other citrus notes in there as well. I was worried this scent would skimp on the coriander or greenness, or that it would be too sweet – it’s not. Now, it’s not particularly complex. Perhaps it’s not even original. It smells like what it’s called. But, I could totally imagine drenching myself in this during the summer. This may be a bit of a perfumista heresy, but in the summer, I tend to wear either light florals, citrus, or aquatic perfumes. I can’t do much else in the Austin summer. I would love to have a small bottle of this to stick in the fridge this summer. Whether that will happen, I don’t know – as I’m not sure they’d ship an actual bottle to me in the US, although apparently I snuck in under the wire with the free samples.

Gardenia was the second sample I tried. Gardenia is one of those floral notes, like lily of the valley, that has a weird rap in the perfume community. Like lily of the valley, you can’t extract a natural gardenia note (don’t ask me about the chemistry of this, please!), so perfumers must use other notes to create the impression of gardenia. Thus, a lot of gardenia perfumes often don’t suit fans of the flower, and sometimes their scent verges into the dreaded “functional products” category. Famously, Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez dissed several gardenia perfumes as “Not Gardenia” in their Perfumes: The Guide. Well, Jo Loves Gardenia, to me, smells like a real flower and not a bathroom freshener. It’s a nice white floral, and it’s not entirely clean. On this weekend’s open thread poll, Now Smell This commenter Abyss said that she’s heard Jo Loves Gardenia has a “mushroom” note; I read that comment just before testing Jo Loves Gardenia. Now perhaps I’m just incredibly suggestible, but I think that’s true: there’s a salty earthiness to this perfume that is reminiscent of mushrooms and the skanky sexiness of real white flowers. Honestly, this is NOT what I was expecting from Jo Loves Gardenia. The lovely thing is, I think you could wear this to work – it’s not offensive and the projection isn’t intense – but it DOES smell like white flowers, and not white flowers that have been run through the dishwasher 15 times before they’re suitable for Mom and Dad. There’s just a slight wink of dirtiness, and I found that aspect of this perfume quite addictive.

So, kudos to Jo Malone for her efforts with this new line. I don’t know that many perfumistas will find this line earth-shattering; but I appreciate how true to life they smell. I’m going to make an effort to sample the other two in the range, and I will absolutely try to sample the trio of mango fragrances that is due out soon – especially given my craving for mango and other tropical fruit perfumes at the moment (more on that later, perhaps).

Let’s discuss the FiFi Consumer Choice Awards

Posted by —

3

So, who else has voted in the US FiFi Consumer Choice Awards? I’d find it interesting to see what other perfumistas are voting for. You can see the Women’s nominees here and the Men’s nominees here.

My guess is that among the women’s, at least among perfume fans, that Bottega Veneta and Prada Candy will be top runners. I thought both of those perfumes were OK, but I actually far preferred two others on the list: Tom Ford Violet Blonde and Maison Martin Margiela (untitled). There were a fair number of things on the Women’s list I haven’t tried that I’m guessing I might have liked: the 1922 Lily Sanguine, the Dolce and Gabbana Velvet Collection (I don’t quite get how a whole set of perfumes gets nominated), and Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge. I’m also perplexed why the superb Oscar de la Renta L’Esprit d’Oscar wasn’t nominated and their mediocre Live in Love was – did that technically come out in 2010???

After a lot of debate between Violet Blonde and Maison Martin Margiela, I voted for MMM.

For the Men’s, it was a lot harder. I like to smell men’s releases, but I don’t tend to spend a lot of time with them. Further, it seemed like a lot of these fragrances were harder to find on store shelves in my area. I honestly haven’t smelled most of these. Ultimately, I voted for Caron YUZU, which I actually quite liked, but doesn’t seem to have garnered a lot of fans in the perfume community.

What did you vote for? If you haven’t voted, go do so! Let’s reward the companies and olfactory artists who are actually producing quality product.

Annick Goutal Petite Cherie and some thoughts on motherhood

Posted by —

10

This past week was the second full week of registration at the University at which I work; registration time is one of my busiest few weeks of the year, and into the second week it can become emotionally draining. On top of that, I came down with kind of a nasty cold at the beginning of the week, due to the perfect storm of exhaustion and allergies making me susceptible to infection. In short, I could barely smell much of last week and thus I wasn’t really working on my wedding favor project. I spent a few days wearing Outremer’s Rose, which is sharp enough to cut through my congestion, and is a wonderful scent for the spring.

I feel like I have a tremendous number of perfumes to try and think about and possibly write about at the moment; it seems I’ve made some fast perfume friends since starting up this blog. One thing I didn’t anticipate about blogging about fragrance is that, despite our community’s ongoing discussion of whether there are “too many” blogs out there, having a blog really helps you enter the conversation in a deeper way and meet more people and trade more things. It’s been a bounty season as far as collecting perfume samples and discussing perfume has been.

But personally, there has been a lot on my mind this spring. My daughter, somewhat unexpectedly, got moved up to the next class at her preschool, and I’m not totally sure yet if either she or I were really ready for the transition. While I don’t think I’ve fallen too horribly behind on wedding things, I have put a few things off for too long – namely my wedding invitations, which by rights probably should have gone out this weekend, and scheduling engagement photos, which may not even happen at this point due to budget and calendar issues. So that feels discouraging. And another thing: most of my cohort of doctoral students are graduating and leaving this town this spring and summer. I dropped out of my doctoral program after the master’s phase, and I’m so thrilled and happy for my newly minted Ph.D. friends, but there’s also a bittersweet element to their laurels. When they leave town for tenure track jobs over the summer, nearly all of my close friends my own age in Austin will be gone. And I have to admit there’s a feeling deep within me that I’ve failed; that I haven’t lived up to my own potential by churning out a dissertation about some intricacy of 17th century France. I feel, in so many ways, like a chapter is ending, and I don’t completely know how to start the next one.

Ari’s post about weekend plans and perfume got me thinking more deeply about how I plan to wear perfume for specific events and the ways it speaks to me on an intuitive level. We recently started attending a Quaker meaning. I was raised Methodist and grew up in a small country church that I deeply loved and still love, but since moving out of my parents’ home I have never really found a spiritual community that I felt completely comfortable or welcome in. The Quaker meeting seems to have potential for us and I’m hoping it’s a place my daughter could grow up feeling safe in. The last two weeks I’ve worn Annick Goutal’s Petite Cherie to church, courtesy a sample sent to me by the lovely Undina. I know this perfume is supposed to be a happy floral, and it is certainly a pretty fruity floral, but to me this perfume has a distinct melancholic aspect. Sitting there in meeting – which, essentially, is an hour of meditative silence – I’ve found myself thinking about Annick Goutal creating this perfume for her daughter Camille. Though apparently Camille was a budding young woman at the time, and my daughter is but a wee sprite, knowing the backstory of the mother-daughter relationship in this perfume has really endeared it to me. Motherhood came as a surprise to me. It wasn’t in my plans, and I had and probably still have some ambivalence about the whole adventure. But as I sat wearing Petite Cherie in silence, I felt inspired to help my daughter along in life, inspired to help her try to avoid the myriad mistakes I’ve made. I looked around for reviews to see if anyone else felt as moved by this perfume as I have – and it seems that it doesn’t have a lot of fans around the perfume blogosphere. Yes, Petite Cherie young fruity floral, and I’m not sure I really want to even get into the notes too much except to say again, yes, it’s a fresh fruity floral, so you know what you’re getting into. But I find it to be one of the best-done fresh fruity florals out there; indeed, a large number of the perfumes on the Macy’s fragrance aisle are ripping off Petite Cherie most likely. Smelling this perfume makes me want to grab up my daughter and shower her with kisses while she is still small; smelling this perfume makes me want to be the best mother I can be and the best woman I can be. And it makes me acutely aware that the minutes, hours, days, are slipping quickly by.

These are the kinds of things that compel me to wear perfume.

Quest for the Wedding Favor Perfume, Part 3.

Posted by —

2

So, I work at a university, and this past week was registration week, and it kicked my butt. So some time has passed since my last post, but I did try more Sweet Anthems this week. I also placed a Sweet Anthem order! Last week Meredith debuted a new main catalog perfume called Joan. So I ordered that and Catherine, which I was missing a sample of. So I should soon have a few more things to review. I’m basically down the men’s (I’ve had trouble getting coordinated with the fiancé to wear things on the same day) and the two that I have on order.

Emily – notes are listed as “Almond, Coconut, Honey, Milk, Oatmeal, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Yuzu.” For me, the notes perfectly describe this one. It’s a warm gourmand fragrance. I really get the impression of oatmeal from this one, but I don’t know if it smells so much like an actual bowl of oatmeal or an imaginary bowl of slighty tropical, slighty woodsy, honeyed oatmeal. If you can imagine that at all. It smells delicious and edible without being exactly foodlike. My concern for the wedding: would this be too sweet and warm for an August wedding? Plus, the fiancé isn’t a gourmand lover, which is the primary reason I’m eliminating Emily. (I tested Emily in solid perfume format.)

Madeline – notes are listed as “Black Currant, Cognac, Immortelle, Pine, Sandalwood, White Ginger.” Madeline is supposed to be in the “citrus” category. However, it’s not exactly a crisp citrus. I actually find it somewhat similar to Cordelia, which I described in my last set of reviews. As you probably gathered, the spice-pine-lavender combination of Cordelia was a bit much for me. I’ve often posted around the internetz that lavender is not a beloved note of mine; I can only think of one lavender-focused perfume that I love, and there are many that I despise. Madeline takes out the lavender and quite a bit of the spice and pepper found in Cordelia and substitutes ginger, fruit, a sort of semi-stewed citrus (marmalade, anyone?), but keeps the pine. Honestly I don’t think I’ve tried many pine-focused perfumes (the only one I could even name is Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles, which I haven’t tried); so maybe my brain is just falsely linking these two perfumes because of the piney notes. I do enjoy this one a lot and I’ve sort of had a citrus perfume in mind for the wedding. What about the pine though – how would the perfume-uninitiated react to that? I’m going to keep it in the running for now. (I tested Madeline in the perfume oil format.)

Sophie – notes are listed as “Agarwood, Amber, Benzoin, Black Currant, Black Tea, Neroli.” Sophie is a floriental that I think would be easy for most people to like. It’s not brash and it’s very smoothly blended. It’s not over the top purple-fruity although there is purple fruit there. I like the drydown very, very much. It’s smokey, really smokey, with a splash of tea and amber. I think this would be a perfect perfume for someone who has liked department store floriental perfumes and wants to upgrade and try something more unique, but isn’t quite ready for something as woodsy as say, Estee Lauder Sensuous Noir. While I admire Sophie, I’m not sure how much it speaks to me. I like woodsy-fruity scents, but could use the woods cranked up a bit (as in Rebecca or Sensuous Noir.) I want to eliminate Sophie in favor of something that speaks to me more, but I feel bad about it because I feel like this is a very widely appealing perfume. Oh well. (I tested Sophie in the perfume oil format.)

Caroline – notes are listed as “Ambergris, Bergamot, Champagne, Jasmine, Lemon, Oakmoss, Sarsaparilla, Vanilla Sugar.” This was one of the perfumes I was most familiar with from the Sweet Anthem line heading into this project. I think Caroline could potentially find a lot of fans in the perfume community, so I hope I can do it justice. Caroline is a chypre and it’s a true chypre. This scent is green through and through, but it’s also quite sweet. I do think it would possibly be too sweet for some dry chypre lovers. In fact, I say it’s downright bubbly; it begins with a burst of citrus and I don’t know if I’m imagining the champagne note, because I’m not sure I could describe how champagne smells, but I at least get the impression of champagne. As it dries down, I smell the green jasmine (though it’s low in the mix) and what I imagine is sarsparilla, which I’m only familiar with in the hard candy form, not as a soda  - I can imagine a soda shop, but a soda shop that’s been slipping some moss and green stuff into its concoctions. I love the mossiness of this fragrance; it’s not eating me alive but it smells earthy and a bit dirty from time to time. Late into the fragrance, the vanilla burns really warm beside moss and ambergris. This fragrance absolutely reminds me of soda shops and honky tonks and speakeasies; it has aspects of classic perfumery but they’re interpreted through a blurry modern vintage lens, sweetened and warmed up a bit. I really think Caroline is a feat, one of Meredith’s most distinctive perfumes. I would actually like to try it beside Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’s Pandora, which I haven’t tried but seems like it might have some similarities. I think this is a superb perfume, but I worry that it might not appeal as much to my guests. I do believe that chypres are an acquired taste; Caroline is not something that I myself could wear very regularly – I need to be in the mood for a perfume like this. Eliminated. As much as I enjoy it. (I tried Caroline in the perfume oil format. And it has REMARKABLE lasting power.)

A few thoughts as this project has worn on. I find myself second-guessing my decisions over and over again. Should I choose the things I like or that my guests like? How important is that the perfumes chosen fit the season? I have honestly been agonizing over a few of the decisions. We’ll see what happens when I wrap out Round 1. Will a few perfumes come back from the dead? Will I axe some that I thought would make it through?

And another thing. Potentially TMI but I don’t care about that kind of thing too much. Today, when applying Caroline, I got a little too much on (one of my perfume pet peeves is the messiness oils in general, though that’s not a Sweet Anthem thing, just an oil/extrait thing), and it spilled down my cleavage. Fine, I thought. I never wear perfume in my décolletage, but I know quite a few of my perfume friends do, so I’ll give a try. Well, this is embarrassing, but I tend to have really dry flakey gross skin between my breasts. And damn if this perfume oil doesn’t moisturize that skin. It feels good and looks the best it has in ages. So dry skin folks, you might dab some of this on problem areas and see what happens. I think Meredith may have discussed this welcome off-label usage on one of her blog posts, but I wasn’t even intentionally trying to test the theory. Cool, eh? I also liked the diffusion of the perfume really well when applied to the décolletage, so maybe I’ll have to try this more often. It just seems so inherently sexual to put it there that it weirds me out to do it when I’m going to work.

Quest for the Wedding Favor Perfume, Part 2.

Posted by —

5

The past few days I’ve tried a few more Sweet Anthem perfumes, attempting to narrow down to the few I’m going to use for my wedding favors. After my first post, I was concerned that I was going to have trouble narrowing down the options, but luckily I found a bit more clarity with my second set of trials. Today I took a break and gave another try to Andy Tauer’s Vetiver Dance, which I’m actually quite loving, but I think it’s a bit too butch for me. Maybe fiancé would wear it?

All of the perfumes tested today were tested in the solid perfume format.

Juliet – notes are listed as “Clove, Jasmine Sambac, Mango, Muskwood, Neroli, Pink Pepper, Tobacco.” Juliet is listed as a “spice” fragrance, but to me the predominant note is a tropical jasmine. I definitely get the pink pepper and neroli too. Juliet smells like an island breeze – not a really heavy tropical scent, but a slightly fresh one. There’s a hint of tasty mango. I like this but I don’t love it. I am waffling a bit on this one, admittedly, but I don’t think it’s going to the next round.

Cordelia – notes are listed as “Ambergris, Black Pepper, Civet, Coriander, Fir Needle, Lavender, Plum, Sandalwood.” Cordelia threw me for a bit of a loop. Looking at that note list, I would have given it a 50-50 shot that I would like this one. This is a weird scent, and I haven’t quite made up my mind about it. To start, it slams you over the head with PINE. Lots of PINE. But it doesn’t smell like Pine-Sol. There’s fruit and lavender in there too. I’ll admit that the pine start is a bit much for me. Maybe it would work better for me in fall. The drydown is spicy. Several hours in, I liked this better than the beginning, and I think it’s probably worth several wears to try to “get” it, but it’s not making the shortlist.

Rebecca – notes are listed as “Agarwood, Amber, Black Pepper, Bluebonnets, Ginger, Honey, Pear, Tobacco.” If you read these notes and know my taste, you would think I like this. And damn girl, you ain’t lyin’! This is awesome. One of my favorite of Meredith’s perfumes. It’s a sweet oud with fruity notes, but it doesn’t apologize for its oudity. I love the honey with oud; I’m a sucker for honey notes. There’s a bit of floralcy too (whether they’re bluebonnets, I don’t know, but it’s nice to think so after the AMAZING burst of bluebonnets my Central Texas home just experienced). I loved this stuff in the hot Austin spring (it’s been in the mid-80s for a few weeks already), and I imagine I’d love it even more in cooler times. This could easily be my second bottle from Sweet Anthem. I mean, I know we’re all sick of oud, but honestly, I’ve found I rather love the stuff. Mona di Orio’s Oud and By Kilian Cruel Intentions have both captured my heart recently, but I can’t afford them. I can afford Sweet Anthem (#winning). All that said – I’m not sure Rebecca is right for an August wedding in the South. I think my guests would like it, but I think it’s not the right season. So. I’m eliminating it. :(

So there you have it. I’m glad the list is dwindling – I was worried I wouldn’t make good progress. I’m not the best at sticking to long term projects sometimes.

Quest for the Wedding Favor Perfume, Part 1.

Posted by —

6

In a previous post I set up the parameters for the quest for my Sweet Anthem wedding favor perfumes. Here’s the first batch of reviews, all of feminine fragrances.

Annabelle – notes are listed as “White Amber, Jasmine, Osmanthus, Sea Salt.” Annabelle is a floral-oceanic fragrance, a genre which either seem to really work for me (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Beach Roses, Bath and Body Works PS I Love You Spring Fling) or really not work for me (Armani Acqua di Gioia, L’Eau d’Issey Florale), and Annabelle, thus far, is not really working for me, although I might give it another shot at some point. I tried Annabelle in solid perfume format.

Miho – notes are listed as “Coconut, Egyptian Musk, Lotus, Violet, Sweet Orange.” Now, this one, I like. It’s very musky from the start; the musks are warm, fuzzy, and enveloping, and there’s fruit in there too, mixed in with the florals. The coconut and violet become more prominent as the fragrance settles into its middle stages. Miho, even in solid perfume format, has great lasting power on me. I love this one and it does feel summery and tropical to me, almost like soaking in a humid, musky, buttery-floral hothouse. Miho reads as feminine to me. It’s easy to like and I think my guests would see its appeal, but I’m a tad concerned that it’s almost too “hot” for an outdoor August wedding reception. However, I think it’s in the running for now.

Phoebe – notes are listed as “White Amber, Dirt, Lavender, Maple Sugar, Snow, Tobacco.” Now, going off the notes for this one, I’m not sure if I would have guessed that I’d like it so much. I am pretty much a lavender-o-phobe; there are precious few lavender fragrances I like. In fact, the only lavender I have unabashedly loved is Andy Tauer’s Reverie au Jardin. I think a lot of lavenders smell like functional products or aromatherapy to me, and I just don’t care for them. Phoebe definitely has a prominent lavender note, but it’s delicate and floral. Upon first application, what I smell most is this delicate lavender blended with dirt. Meredith does good dirt – her fragrance Lizie (now in the Vault) is the most balls-to-the-wall dirt fragrance I’ve ever smelled. Phoebe’s dirt is far more muted than Lizie’s, but it gives the impression of pressing your nose to the floor of a lavender-strewn forest. As the perfume dries down, I smell pine and more of a mineral note, with maybe the barest whiff of tobacco. Phoebe is really nice and quite unique, and while I think it was conceived of as a winter fragrance, I feel like you could wear this in any season, plus it’s  quite cooling. Fiancé also commented that it smells really good so that doesn’t hurt. I feel like Phoebe could work on a man or a woman. I tested Phoebe in solid perfume format.

So, from this round, we’ll knock out Annabelle and keep Miho and Phoebe through to the next round.

Sweet Anthem Fragrance Catalog:

Quick impressions: MADONNA PERFUME, Bronze Goddess Capri, Austin perfume shopping news

Posted by —

0

Long title, short post.

Confession time: I love the mall. I really, really friggin’ love the mall.

There are months where I go to the mall to smell sniffies pretty much every weekend. Then I’ll go two months without making a run, but that’s about as long as I’ll go. I’m lucky to live basically across the street from a “good mall.” This mall (the Domain) has a Macy’s, Dillard’s, Neiman Marcus, Perfumania (I think that’s what it is), and a few local boutiques that carry perfume. So it’s not a bad place. Between those and the Austin Saks, which is also nearby, I have access to most if not all of the mainstream US fragrance release. (There is a Nordstorm in Austin, but it’s on the other side of the city, so I hardly ever get there – not to fear though, “good mall” is supposed to get a Nordie’s soon.)

Truthfully, I don’t spend much money at the mall these days – I just love the experience of strolling through. So here are the results of my latest mall run. CAVEAT: These are quick impressions, not scents I have tested multiple times or spent a lot of time thinking about.

Everyone who pays attention to perfume is probably aware that Madonna has a new perfume, called Truth or Dare. I prefer to refer to it as MADONNA PERFUME. MADONNA PERFUME was hyped as a sexy tuberose fragrance with a sugar caramel twist. That’s about right. The early returns for MADONNA PERFUME seem to be positive – particularly as celebrity fragrance goes. When I first put on MADONNA PERFUME, honestly I was a tad disappointed. The tuberose note is… not the best. But, tuberose is one of my favorite notes, and I’m pretty familiar with some top-level tuberose perfumes. However, as MADONNA PERFUME dries down into its caramel sugar tuberose phase, it becomes quite likeable and fun. I’m sniffing this now and thinking, I could actually wear this. If I had an unlimited perfume budget or a teenage girl to gift perfume to, I might plunk down change for it. Barring that, MADONNA PERFUME is not going to get my money. So, it’s not bad; I hope MADONNA PERFUME does well. It’s certainly far better than the other celeb fragrances (Justin Beiber, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Rihanna) on offer at Macy’s right now. Although I don’t think it’s even my favorite celebrity perfume of 2012 so far – I think I rather prefer Kate Walsh’s Billonaire Boyfriend. And it’s not even my favorite candy-tuberose out there: I really love Honoré des Prés Vamp à NY and would buy a bottle of that long before I buy MADONNA PERFUME. Finally: MADONNA PERFUME’s bottle has been controversial – chalk me up as liking it, though it looks a bit cheaper in person than it did in the ads.

I sprayed the new Estee Lauder flanker Bronze Goddess Capri on my other arm. I love Estee Lauder perfume and makeup; I own a bottle of the original Bronze Goddess, which I think is a superb perfume. Sadly, I thought last year’s flanker Bronze Goddess Soleil was dreck. Wan, citrus-soda dreck (and I love citrus, so…). Bronze Goddess Capri is maybe better than dreck, and has more character than Bronze Goddess Soleil, but it’s kind of weird to me as a summer flanker – it doesn’t strike me as a particularly summery perfume. It smells very synthetic, which I don’t really mean in a bad way – it just smells like an imaginary scent, not really anything in nature. I really enjoyed Victoria’s review of this one, but I don’t think I enjoy even as much as she did. I don’t really smell any of the nice citrus or green notes she mentioned, just intense vanilla musk, sort of a “solar” or skin scent vanilla musk, not a candied one. Maybe there’s a dollop of fake-y jasmine in there, but it’s rather buried. Perhaps I’m missing something here – I honestly wonder if there’s something I’m not smelling in this composition. Of course, as often happens with things you don’t like, projection for Bronze Goddess Capri seems to be well above average. I’m sitting here wishing I’d put on one of the Gucci Flora flankers instead of this. Bummer.

Finally, sad news about Austin fragrance shopping: I had been yapping all over the place about this new-ish store in the good mall, Atelier 1105. They were carrying several niche fragrance lines, including Santa Maria Novella, Parfums d’Orsay, and Caron (with urns!!!), as well as some high end home fragrance. Well, Atelier 1105 appears to be no more. It looked like they left in a hurry – the store was completely stripped and there was no paper over the windows, even. The close must have been quite sudden: I had recommended that NST reader 50_Roses stop by there during her visit to to Austin, and she visited them only a few weekends ago. The store’s website makes no mention of the closure. I’m a little hopeful that they’re just moving shop, but I’m also doubtful that’s the case – I imagine they had a lot of money tied up in the stock they were carrying. Plus, they seemed to have overly grand ambitions (including plans for a European antiquing vacation???) and a bit of an unclear focus for the boutique, though I had been hopeful they would pull through. It’s pretty sad, because I had been thinking of saving up for some Nuit de Noel in extrait, especially because I wanted to support a local business – and I had already purchased my fiancé a bottle of Caron’s Le 3eme Homme there for Valentine’s Day. It’s really a shame – given Austin’s emphasis on weirdness and local business and niche interests, you’d there’d be a place for a really robust local perfume store that caters to perfume fans… Sadface.

Other new-ish things spotted at the mall: Roberto Cavalli for Her, Nine West Love Fury, Gucci Flora Garden flankers.

Later this weekend I’ll be posting my first set of Sweet Anthem wedding favor reviews.

Review of Sweet Anthem Mary, and the quest for the wedding favor perfume

Posted by —

7

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that I seriously love and admire Sweet Anthem perfumes. I go way back with Sweet Anthem and with Meredith, the perfumer and proprietor of Sweet Anthem. I feel like I have not seen this indie line get much love on the perfume blogosphere, and it’s time that was changed. So let’s start at the beginning.

In 2004, I was a senior in college and sort of at loose ends with life in some ways. I spent a LOT of time on the internet trying to avoid do the work for my Nietzsche class. I was pouring myself into my social life: I fell madly in love that fall, I was trying to make the most of my time with my classmates before we scattered to the wind, and I was president of my sorority. (Let me tell you, being president of a sorority is NO.JOKE. It is a LOT of work.)

One of my dear friends from college, who was just a sophomore at that point, lived next door to me in the Pi Phi house. We were both into fantasy and sci fi stuff, we both had LiveJournals, and she recommended I join this new, massive LiveJournal group to discuss Harry Potter stuff with her. So, yeah. I became part of this huge LiveJournal group called Hogwarts Elite, and I was part of it for a few years before becoming disenchanted with the Harry Potter series and ultimately drifting away from LiveJournal around 2007.

The concept of Hogwarts Elite (hereafter HE) was to have really intelligent literary discussion surrounding the Harry Potter novels, and for the most part it held up to that mark. It was pretty hard to even get accepted to the community. Yes, I know, I was so fancypants, right?

Well, a few of my fellow Ravenclaws at HE were sniffing Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfumes. The whole thing seemed weird to me. I had a few perfumes – I mostly wore the original Oscar de la Renta, and I had a bottle of Burberry Week-End too – but the idea of “notes” or analyzing fragrance seemed totally odd to me. Honestly, I felt outclassed – like my nose didn’t work as well as other people’s.

Well, one of my fellow HE denizens and perfume sniffers was Meredith. A few years later, when I was in Austin, she was kicking off her own perfume business on Etsy and sending out stuff to her online friends. I followed her doings via her blog and then in 2010, as I fell more completely down the perfume rabbit-hole myself, I started ordering samples from her myself.

Now, this said, having known Meredith for so long, I don’t feel I can be completely “objective” about her perfumed creations, but then again, I don’t feel I can be completely “objective” about anything, so there you have it. Meredith’s business has really taken off and she now has an atelier in West Seattle where she sells her line alongside several other indie perfume lines. If I had to give a general sense of the Sweet Anthem line, I will say that a lot of the perfumes have delectable gourmand or foody notes, even many of the ones that aren’t billed as “gourmand.” If you like foody fragrance, you really should be trying this line, although there is so much more than that to Sweet Anthem, and I don’t want to pigeonhole the line at all.

Today, I’m going to review my favorite of Meredith’s perfumes (at least that I’ve tried so far), which is Mary. Mary is not part of the current Sweet Anthem stocklist, but it might pop up again during one of her “sweeps weeks” or as a future seasonal perfume. It was originally introduced for Spring 2010 I believe, and I ordered a sample oil as part of that year’s springtime set. During the most recent “sweeps week,” I ordered a large Mary eau de parfum.

Mary’s notes are listed as ”New Mown Hay, Sea Moss, Wildflowers, Daffodil, Black Cherry, Tangerine Peel.” That’s about right. Mary starts with a huge, sweet burst of cherry – if you do not enjoy sweet fruit notes in perfume, you might not enjoy Mary. I actually love fruit in perfume and (GASP!) fruity florals; however, I don’t find most mainstream department store fruity florals to be well-done or to my taste. The cherry in Mary (tee hee) is extremely realistic, and it melds with sweet spring flowers. I don’t know if it’s daffodil – I don’t seem to remember daffodils having much scent – but the floral note definitely smells yellow and sunny. It absolutely smells like what I would imagine daffodils would smell like. There may be some broom in there too? Not totally sure about that one.  The floral phase is long-lasting and glorious. The dry-down is all hay and grass; this perfume in the later stages smells very classic  and sophisticated to me. When I proffered a wrist to my betrothed, totally unbidden, that’s actually what he said: it smells classic. It does. If you are looking for a beautiful, sunny, classic floral with a intense, sweet, photorealistic cherry note on top, this is your bag. It’s definitely my bag. Honestly, I would say it’s probably one of my top 15 perfumes of all time. To me, this perfume is spring in a bottle. It’s hopeful. All the things I’ve read people say about the hopeful, springtime feel of Après L’Ondée, I feel that Mary actually embodies. I just don’t get Après L’Ondée… at least not yet. And I’m not sure I want to get all of that heartbreak, anyway. I need sunshine in my perfume – I can bring the melancholy all by myself.

Mary in perfume oil and eau de parfum concentration are very similar; to be honest, I haven’t tested them side-by-side quite yet, but I’m thinking maybe I should now. If anything, it strikes me that the oil smells even stronger of cherries, while the EDP emphasizes the floral notes more. Both are delightful, though.

So, now, in conjunction with this review, I’d like to announce a new series on the blog this spring – other than the citrus series that I already proposed and might not really get around to writing (LOL). I’m engaging Meredith to make my wedding favors for me – in the form of her solid perfume roll-ups. I’m so very, very excited, and it’s kind of a tough task to decide which scents I want to use. Here are my parameters for the decision:

  • I want the fragrances to be something that works and smells appealing outdoors in August in North Carolina. So, although I love woods and orientals, for example, I’m not sure if they’ll work in the heat and humidity.
  • I want the fragrances to be widely appealing; I’m not necessarily looking for the perfume I love the most, but what I think my guests might like the most. Honestly, I view it as an opportunity for perfume evangelism.
  • Bullet point three might really be a corollary of bullet point two, but: I want to have fragrances that will appeal to both genders.

In order to make the decision, I will be trying almost all the current Sweet Anthem line, which consists of 16 fragrances. I won’t be trying Tara, because Meredith is currently reformulating that one due to raw materials issues, so I couldn’t order a sample. I also didn’t order a sample of Anita because I was almost sure it wouldn’t work for what I want for the wedding (it’s a peppermint mocha gourmand, not exactly an “August” fragrance). And, dangit, I thought I had a sample of Catherine, but I think the mystery oil from a few years ago that lost its label is actually Corrin, NOT Catherine, now that I smell it side by side with my Corrin solid, so I don’t think I have a sample of Catherine either. Although I’m thinking of remedying that.  Well. 13 fragrances is still a lot to try and decide from. Oh, and to go ahead and make things completely unscientific, I’ll be testing fragrances in two forms: for the fragrances I had before now, I’ll be testing them in perfume oil form, and for the fragrances I ordered of samples of last month, I’ll be testing them in solid perfume form. I’ll write something about each of the perfumes I try; I’m also going to invite my fiancé to review a few of the masculines with me (though I’ll be trying them too ), so look forward to some guest writing. I’m hoping to get all of these tested and reviewed over the course of April, so it’ll be a busy fragrance month… It seems like I have a bazillion things to try right now, and I just got a generous package from Undina to boot – including mystery perfume, woo hoo!

Sweet Anthem Fragrance Catalog:

Paging Brina…

Posted by —

2

I’m still looking for Brina, one of the winners of the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume oil inspired by Ysanne Spevack. If I don’t hear from her by the end of the day on Friday, I’ll conduct a re-draw over the weekend.