Beyond the Spritz: Cinnamon Orange & Shea Soap by Pamela Soap

I'll say it now I love bar soap. I mean shower gels are nice but for some reason bar soap remains my favorite still. On the other hand cheap bar soap is not a favorite of mine and I believe is the number one reason bar soap gets a bad rep. The Cinnamon Orange & Shea Soap by Pamela Soap is the perfect example of why handmade bar soap should be held in esteem. I found Pamela Soap because I went to my very local and very tiny Farmer's Market and saw their stand. I was even more thrilled when I found out that the soap being sold was being made so close to where I live. Well I dithered about and bought one of their soaps as a Christmas present and then I bought two soaps for myself. I spoke to the very nice husband of Pamela, the soap maker, who was the sale's rep for the day, and got to learn about their soap and overall it was a very nice experience.  On the other hand the real proof of how good the soap is in the actual use of it.

The first soap I have used so far is the utterly winter perfect Cinnamon Orange & Shea Soap. This is a cinnamon scent supported by lovely soft haze of orange. The cinnamon in this scent smells of real cinnamon not the fake awful stuff that causes headaches and makes me question my whole liking of cinnamon. Nope, this is type of cinnamon that has real layers, it reminds me a bit of my current cinnamon, Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's, open this cinnamon up, and you smell all the complexity that cinnamon can have from floral notes to herbal notes.. The cinnamon used in the soap has hints of lavender, rosemary, and cedar in it, the scent is very warm and natural. Supported by all of this is light soft orange.

Okay, I said I would not do too much of a review of the actual qualities of the product, but as a long time bar soap user I feel like I can actually bring a little clarification to this discussion. I use all my bar soaps with a Japanese style wash cloth to get the best lather and longevity out of my soap. I highly recommend. On the other hand if you are finding that your soap is leaving a film on you and this includes also your shampoo and body wash it means you have hard water. I have hard water and this is also why I am so in love with Pamela Soap, Pamela is making a artisan natural soap that is able to handle hard water. I am left with with clean, soft, and not overly dried skin with this soap. If you have hard water you will understand that this can be incredibly hard to find in almost any cleansing product and even more so in natural products.

First Two Images are from Pamelasoap.com
Third Image from AuthorityNutrition.com

When Immortelle was the "It" note: L de Lolita Lempicka pure parfum by Lolita Lempicka

It you stay perfume enthusiast long enough you will find two things 1) Over time things you bought randomly or cheaply or both will sometimes become perfume treasures and 2) you will go through a few "It" note trends. L de Lolita Lempicka pure parfum encompasses those two experiences easily.

Currently in my perfume stash I have two bottles of L de Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempicka one in the original eau de parfum strength and the other in the pure parfum strength. These are both the original version before the reformulation and then the eventual discontinuation. I'll be honest I am still in shock that L de Lolita Lempick is not in production, it is excellent gourmand, and yet Lolita Lempicka seems to have never figured out what to do with it. It had only one flanker and then it was gone. Currenlty L is selling for a lot of money on ebay if it is original the pre-reformulated version.

 L de Lolita Lempicka is the perfect example of the perfume cycle, originally released in 2006 as the first new perfume from Lolita Lempicka it was never quite marketed right. The visual is a mermaid and the bottle a fun blue ocean hued shaped pebble with an oceanic motif. I love it, but inherently it probably confused many because inside is the ultimate gourmand mixture of vanilla, cinnamon, and orange all on a bed of maple infused immortelle. This is not a typical tropical beach scent but rather a beach scent for craggy coastlines or coasts that know all too well cold winter storms, it is sunny in that it is the bright light with brisk winds. I reminded of French coastline in Normandy and Brittany and you are eating an delicious buttery pastry of some sort.

More confusing to the average perfume buyer is the immortelle note, now this is probably the most likable immortelle you will meet but L has that heaviness of immortelle that probably takes awhile to get used to. Immortelle right around the time L was released enjoyed a brief moment in the spotlight, we in the perfume community were wanting salty maple laced notes and immortelle could provide that. L is the only mainstream release that I can think of and since then that featured immortelle but not much has happened since its release in mainstream perfumery with the note.

The scent was created by Maurice Roucel and is not completely original, it bares quite a bit of resemblance to his other creation Frederic Malle's Musc Ravegeur, the difference of scents was that L was more vanilla forward and used immortelle where as Musc Ravegeur was about musk and vanilla with spices and featured a more fougere quality. The thing is they are both examples of very modern perfumery, neither of them go through many changes on the skin but rather keep a constant reverberation of vanilla and spice going. Nothing wrong in that though because frankly they just smell really good.

L de Lolita Lempicka in the pure parfum version smells a great deal like the eau de parfum variation. the main difference being a tiniest hint of patchouli and hints of cocoa in the drydown. The citrus is more tampered down and thus the vanilla, cinnamon, and immortelle are the main stars. The lasting power is incredible and it is a scent truly meant for cold weather.

First Image from The Perfume Base Line
Second Image Ransom Mitchell

The Variations of Orange: Monserrat by Bruno Fazzolari

Do you need to smell something that smells close to the sublime moment of a seed sprouting in soil? If so you need to get your hands on Montserrat by Bruno Fazzolari.

This scent is for me that strange juxtaposition that citrus ripens in the winter. We consider the scent of citrus to the scent of summer at times but add cloves and you think winter. Montserrat does not go into clove combination but rather it plays with the idea of citruses out in the cold fields of spring and winter in California. In fact under the layers of grapefruit you smell the green buds of citrus about to bloom. Yet, what I love more is that he is able to capture the scent of citrus as you pick it from a tree the dry earthy green scent of the break between fruit and branch.

This scent is heightened with the intriguing note of plaster which appears in the dry down. With addition of this note Fazzolari creates a full image in my head. Think white walls of old farms houses in the countryside think in the style of Italy or Spain, especially the ones that may have a courtyard, and in that courtyard are citrus trees.

There is a strange beautiful quality of lushness and austere-ness in this scent. The grapefruit and citrus notes verdantly singing and yet the addition of earthy notes of carrot seed and plaster keep in grounded in a cooler contemplative mood.

Try if you like: Orange Sanguine by Atelier Cologne, Concentre d'Orange Verte by Hermes, and 4711.
image from Riochico

An old love found in an unexpected place: Fresh's Fleurs de Chocolat Lucia and Boots Botanics Organic Facial Oil

When I was in college one of my first forays into the world of gourmand fragrances was Fresh's Fleurs de Chocolat Lucia, a now long discontinued scent. The scent of it was coco powder, milk chocolate, orange, and almond milk. Strangely no patchouli.

 I had not thought about the scent in years until yesterday when I put on my Boots Botanics Organic Facial Oil and suddenly I realized what I was smelling, Fleurs de Chocolat Lucia. And like that the scent of the facial oil sent me down my olfactory memory to my trip to Italy where I had sprayed Lucia happily on myself, how appropriate I had felt at the time taking Lucia with me to Italy, and still think that it was an excellent choice. The culinary joy of Italy fitting well with the scent of Lucia.

 In some ways Lucia was my foray into niche, at the time Fresh was consider an indie company, and gourmands had not become quite so ubiquitous. Lucia will always be associated with that moment in my early twenties of first love, Italy, and my burgeoning interest of seeing perfume as an art and something to be collected and admired. I am glad I now have a way of visiting that discontinued scent and my Italy trip.

image Alphonse Mucha

SOTD: Osmanthe Yunnan

So I finally got my order decants from Fishbone (by the way she is awesome). I ordered a decant of Hermes Osmanthe Yunnan unsniffed she reduced the price heavily and I could not pass it up (this is also my first Hermes from the special collection). So this is an interesting take on osmanthus, starts off with the smoky tea note that definately has an anamalic musk note going through it. Enter the freesia and orange which when intertwined give this fragrance a hint of pine, and finally the lovely osmanthus in all its leather apricot glory. This is a bit of a smoke and mirrors fragrance with its opening. Interesting I have some Peet's Osmanthus Yunnan tea and well I am going to have to get that out.

Music: Never The Same by Supreme Beings of Leisure (oh how I love pandora)

Quote of the Day: I'm too shy to express my sexual needs except over the phone to people I don't know. -- Garry Shandling

image provided by artnet.com

image: Jeune Fille au Turban Orange by Tamara de Lempicka