The Perfume Challenge

[txcatx]

Do you have a box full of perfume vials and/or a vanity covered in perfume bottles? Are you the Goldilocks of perfume, just looking for the perfect signature scent? Do you want an opportunity to post daily about how your perfume of the day smells oaky and smoky with hints of blackberry and currant, like a cigar in a whisky barrel rolling through a Mediterranean orchard on a breezy summer morning?

If you answered yes to any of the above, or you just want to hop on board for the ride, join us for a 31 days of perfume challenge starting January 1st! Some of us from the 25 days of lipstick challenge wanted to continue the fun and exploration, and since many of us have so many perfume samples, we thought this challenge would be perfect. If you don't have 31 perfumes or hate everything that doesn't smell like Meyer lemons and fresh goat cream, that's fine--we're just aiming to use the neglected perfumes we have laying around and incorporate them into our perfume rotations.

And if you want more perfume vials, there's no better time than now to take a peek at Sephora's samples section.

Edit: Anyone can join in at anytime! We're here to support, live vicariously through, and encourage everyone in their olfactory adventures!

[lyravega]

Trying the new Etat Libre d'Orange, I Am Trash, The Flowers of Waste, today. This is actually very pretty. Not that I really expected something smelling like trash, but you never know with ELDO ( and after Secretions Magnifiques ). 😉 

More about it, for those who maybe don't know what this fragrance is about, and why "trash":

Spoiler

"The perfumer Etienne de Swardt selected to realize his fragrant concept is Daniela Andrier of Givaudan. In an interview, Mme Andrier said that the worst thing for her is "the smell of anything dead – dead flowers, garbage; whatever is no longer alive", adding that she loves beautiful smells "because they talk about life." Consistent to that, she has created a delightful fruity/woody scent that indeed celebrates life by being itself (partially) reborn out of industrial by-products. The intention behind the fragrance's creation was none other than to showcase the subjectivity of what's considered "all used-up" and "unwanted", and celebrate a steadily growing ethos of responsible use of natural resources.

This refreshing, yet ambitious, concept for Etat Libre D’Orange I am Trash was realized by using as creative tool an innovative upcycling extract process achieved by Givaudan. This process makes it possible to distil for a second time ingredients already used once (in perfume making or elsewhere), thus extracting perfume oils that reveal a different facet of the respective material. Six of the ingredients of Etat Libre D’Orange I Am Trash are upcycled, most notably the Apple Oil (derived from fruit waste of the juice industry, destined to become animal feed), the Rose NeoAbsolute (extracted from apparently exhausted rose petals, distilled for a second time), and the Cedarwood Atlas NeoAbsolute (product of a second distillation of cedar wood chips, before they are turned into fuel)."

It's very fruity at first, then very woody later on, with slight floral hints, and green undertones. The opening is a fruit basket of juicy, fresh, tart apples, bitter oranges/citrus, and creamy strawberries. Quite yummy. And sparkly. It, for some reason, makes me think of Remarkable People. Not that they are similar. They are not. I think it's about that "sparkly" moment these both have.  

There is a very ELDO rose in there ( not your usual/typical rose, but more edgy, dying, yet beautiful rose ), as well, but just in hints and traces. Very nicely blended in. Soon after, the whole thing morphs into woods, and becomes much more sharper and more masculine. There's a very prominent and sharp cedar, and some warm, creamy sandalwood, too. Also, I am picking up something smoky. Barely there, but there. The scent is mainly woody from there on, with the rest of the notes in the background. I really like how all the notes are blended and how beautifully they all complements each other. Really beautifully done. 

But... this becomes a skin scent on me very quickly, which is surprising to me after all those sharp woods. But! I am making dinner right now, and there's a lot of sharp aromas and strong spices all around, so it is possible my nose is just confused. Maybe I should've waited and tried it some other time. But, as you could imagine, I was way too curious about this concoction. Sooo... yeah. I will have to test The Trash again, and soon. Just to make sure what is really going on there. Because, I am really liking this. Maybe not the largest bottle worth, but if they come out with smaller size/s eventually, ( there are smaller sizes! I didn't even see that. ) maybe. Maybe. Just not if it becomes so quiet so fast. 

[pocketvenus]

@lyravega, I just ordered a sample of this last week! Was bracing myself for a Secretions M level of difficulty ha ha. Thank you for such a detailed description, I'm really looking forward to trying it now 🙂

[lyravega]

@pocketvenus I wasn't really expecting SM, but I was not expecting something this pretty, either. This is... almost too pretty... for an ELDO. If you know what I mean? At least on me and to my nose. It's kind of... shocking. 😄

[pocketvenus]

@lyravegaha ha yes, while I enjoy the house, pretty is not how I would describe an ELdO

[Titian06]

@lyravega - This one sounds nice!

[Titian06]

Hi, all!  Today I'm wearing Versace Eros.  It starts out with a sweet gourmand-type vanilla (but not overpowering) followed by wood, cedarwood, according to the description.  The vanilla didn't last very long, which is fine with me.  The cedarwood is still noticeable after an hour.  It's an OK scent, so I'm sure I'll finish the sample. 

[lyravega]

@Titian06 Pour homme, right? Pour femme is citrusy anyway, if I remember it right...? I really like the one for "men". Not on me. But, on Hubby... mmm.... 

[Titian06]

@lyravega - No.  This is Eros, not Pour Homme.  I have Pour Homme in the "travel" size for myself.

Eros notes:  mint oil, lemon, green apple

Tonka bean, ambroxan, geranium flower

Madagascar vanilla, vetiver, oak moss, cedarwood 

[lyravega]

@Titian06 Yeah, Eros. That's the one I had in mind. I just said "pour homme" because it's for men ( officially ). Or it used to be. There's "pour femme" version, as well. And then there's Versace Pour Homme. Oy! 😛 I was not talking about that one. I had Eros for men ( pour homme ) in mind. 

[Titian06]

@lyravega - In that case, yes, this is the men's version.  Sorry for the misunderstanding!

[lyravega]

Nah, totally my bad, @Titian06 . I unintentionally made a mess out of it with the "pour homme" part. Darn Versace and all the pour hommeS. It's actually his fault! There. 😄

Anyway, I really love that one my hubby. It just smells soooo good on him! On me... not so much.  

[pocketvenus]

I believe that anyone who becomes obsessed with perfume, particularly those who maintain a strict budget like myself, eventually starts making a list of white whales. Difficult to find or discontinued Moby D*ck-ian perfumes you build up in your mind and chase, fragrant phantoms in your imagination, haunting you when you least expect it.

For me, one such fragrance has been Bvlgari Black. Its pyramid hit all the notes, quite literally. I love smoke, woods, rubber, jasmine. And then there were the descriptions. Innovative and modern yet wearable. Complex and perfectly balanced. Scintillating, smoldering, daring, original. More CdG than CdG, more L’Artisan than L’Artisan. Black has been described as all of these things and so much more.

In my mind, Black began to take on mythical proportions. I read reviews as if they were travelogues from Atlantis. I imagined the burning asphalt of Nasomatto’s Black Afgano, but with subtlety and grace. The effortless cool of CdG’s Black, but something more innovative and daring. The patent-leather insouciance of Etat Libre d’Orange’s Rien, but without its brattiness. You get the idea. Black was HG, the Alpha and the Omega.

Of course I've had Black sightings in online stores and flash sales over the years. I’ve always known samples and decants were readily available. But I never bought it. I told myself this was because of prohibitive shipping costs but the truth was, I was avoiding the crushing disappointment of getting what you want and finding you don’t really want it afterall. What’s more valuable? A wonderous fantasy of the most perfect fragrance, THE Platonic Angelus Novus ur-fragrance, or 40 bucks plus shipping for the real thing?

Well, I came across a tester of Black today. I hesitated. They say you should never meet your idols. But it was time to kill a god. So I sprayed my wrist, and inhaled.

Black is good. It starts off innocuously, but give it time to breathe and that smoky, rubbery, synthetic accord starts to come alive. It’s nothing like the acrid smoke monsters I often flirt with, burning a black swath through the air with cade and birch tar. In fact, there’s a transparency to Black that contrasts well with the smoke. It’s also a lot less cerebral and approachable than one might expect. It's the vanilla, which manages here to impart a soothing quality to the composition. The jasmine seems gentle, the leather becomes friendly. There is an attractive warmth to Black that reminds me that synthetic arts can in fact be very human, kindly even. This is a fragrance for urban types who do not find cities intimidating or overly exciting, but rather, welcoming and familiar.

After 4.5 hours, Black dries down to a warm vanillaic wood skin scent. My chief complaint is that Black seems weak overall and does not last very long. I also would personally prefer something more aggressive so I'm not really in love with the scent.

So there we have it. What was once limitless potential has been met with finitude. Although it was not a total disappointment, it’s strange to think that the chase for Black is now over. One white whale down with countless others to go 🙂

[Titian06]

@pocketvenus - I love your story!  Your writing is wonderful!  I'm sorry this white whale wasn't the perfect catch.  Now you can put the energy you would have put into this one into the next.  Have fun!  

[pocketvenus]

@Titian06Thank you! I'm glad I still liked it 🙂

[lyravega]

@pocketvenus I really enjoyed reading this! What a beautiful story! You put your quest of catching your white whale into words so effortlessly and beautifully. I agree about better not meeting your idols. Well, that would be wiser anyway. But! But, I also loved: "it was time to kill a god". Couldn't agree more. And heck yeah! I love "killing gods". ( 😄 ) And diving head first into it. Just so they can't hold me under their spell anymore... Sometimes it's just really, really unbearable... 

[pocketvenus]

@lyravega, sometimes you just have to break the spell! 💗

[MissPuff]

@pocketvenus I SO enjoyed reading this 🙂 I could FEEL the epic quest through the screen and while I'm glad you finally caught your white whale, I'm also sad that the unknown is now known! I imagine it's like finally talking to your perfect high school crush and realizing he's a bit of a dud 🙂 Hot dud, but still a dud.

[pocketvenus]

@MissPuff, lolol yes, exactly what it's like 😛 Although I wouldn't call Black a dud 🙂

But yeah, it's sort of risking the situation like when famous people get on Twitter and you're like...

[lyravega]

Aroma M Geisha Amber Rouge's turn today. 

( Tobacco Leaf, Vanilla, Clove, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Japanese Incense, Amber )

O-o-o-k. I am not even gonna try as the scent makes me nauseated. This just smells like wet socks to me. One of those fragrances that literally make me gag. Very unpleasant to my nose, and I don't even know why. I like most of these notes.

In short, here's what Luckyscent says about it: "This is a beautiful, complex fragrance composed of seductive sensual spices and woods. It is mellow yet racy, smoky and appealing. It is a gentle, irresistible red flame conveying the meaning of vivacious sensuality held in check... but just barely." Yeah... no. 

[Titian06]

@lyravega - This is exactly why I have to do a sniff test regardless of how great the notes are!

[pocketvenus]

@lyravegaall those notes sound great to me too. Nothing "clashing." This is why I can't blind buy!!