still putting this together…

no. 44 sunday madeleine - leitmotiv

Punches you in the face with tonka bean (with some pretensions toward citrus or orange blossom or something). I need to find something astringent to pair it with to get a real Amaro Montenegro vibe going.

miss dior cherie - dior (christine nagel)

The proper one, pre-reformulation. I don’t wear it as often as I wish I did – perhaps I’ve aged out of it? It seems a little like false advertising in a way. I might like it better if I carried a travel atomizer to reapply after lunch; the longevity’s nothing admirable.

black orchid - tom ford (givaudan)

I always felt guilty when I wore this and got in an elevator with other people in the morning. It isn’t exactly a shy and retiring scent. But perhaps a presumptuous sillage is the price you pay for such a length of wear.

Black Orchid used to mean a lot to me. It represented, somehow, the self-presentation of an Actual Adult when I was back in college (the second time) and hungry to feel that way. Now it’s a bit more complicated. I used to wear it and my wool coat and feel sort of mature and urbane and now I just am the things I was reaching for it to signify.

tuca tuca - lush (simon constantine)

The vetiver and violet in this are sort of repellent. Like modern art–does not seek to be pleasing.

l’essence - balenciaga (olivier polge)

Originally this is what I’d wanted, with Tuca Tuca as a cheaper substitute–but now I have both, its more polished presentation of the same violet-and-vetiver isn’t nearly as compelling. I don’t wear very often. Violet has a strange alienating note that I’ve not been in the headspace for.

vanillary - lush

I like vanilla with bourbon and vanilla with tonka bean. This is the latter, and far less prone to remind of horrible candle scents. It is lethal, overapplied, but really nice as the day goes on with just hints of it left. I have gotten Accidentally Uncomfortable Commentary about smelling delicious with this.

candy - prada

When I first smelled this on a sample in a magazine in a coffee shop, I thought it evoked a sci-fi anime stripper. I have no regrets. Benzoin benzoin benzoin baby!

l’heure bleue - guerlain

Let’s be honest, I almost never wear this, because it’s overpowering on skin. Eventually I hope to figure out a way to have it on a scarf or something… The first Guerlain scent to use aldehydes so really a piece of history, not that mine’s vintage or anything.

waltz no. 14 - tokyomilk

Linden flower has a special place in my heart. There’s something of clover here, too.

mure - solinotes

Not quite a fresh enough blackberry in my mind–it lives between the Victoria’s Secret berry and a berry liqueur when I’d hoped in my mind for the greenness that often is managed in raspberry accords.

liquirizia e mandarino - speziali fiorentini

This is the summer spritz you wish your 14-year-old would wear instead of… Well, what do the teenagers wear now?1 In my day proper it was the Victoria’s Secret sprays; when I was young it had been Calgon. Excellent over some unrelated heart or basenote accord.

energetically new york - zara

Done by Jo Malone. I read that it was a Santal 33 imitator and was interested enough to blind buy (cardamom??). Unfortunately unlike with Santal 33 I get this junipery pencil shavingsy dryness to the Iso E Super note, and it all comes off very male, so I don’t wear it much. Maybe I’ll get some mileage out of a light application in hot weather?

special mention

declaration - cartier (jean claude-ellena)

Terre d’Hermès left my life and Declaration entered it: I am a woman drawn to Iso E Super and I shall not deny it. While I miss the rich orange, cardamom is truly wonderful.

This is Bunny’s post for Ally about Getting Into Perfume and it has fantastic links.

  1. Really do drop me a line if you know the answer here; I’m somewhat aghast realizing I don’t know. My best guess these days would be those Sol de Janeiro sprays… not too different from Victoria’s Secret I suppose. ↩