Humidity and What Scents I am Using to Survive It

Bay Area summers are dry and arid, except suddenly it has not been, it has remained warm but suddenly we have humidity. Real humidity, the sort that people from back east say reminds them of home. We have yet to get to the extremes of humidity, thankfully, but this different heat has definitely required approaching different fragrances. Currently surviving the humidity has required these fragrances.

-Hermes Osmanthe Yunnan, osmanthus has always bloomed in the heat, but give it a little humidity and you hit the jackpot of this scent blooming. The balminess of the petals come out. I actually used up my decant of Osmanthe Yunnan this week. Also excellent is Parfum d'Empire's Osmanthus Interdite.
-Atelier Cologne's Grand Neroli, a great cologne in the mugginess, the neroli scent fresh and dry, and beautifully accentuated by cedar and oakmoss with just a drop of vanilla to smooth it out. I suspect I will also be finishing up my bottle due to this humidity.
-Annick Goutal Les Nuits d'Hadrien, I admit I enjoy spritzing this most at night, the cooling notes of basil and cypress making sleep a little bit easier. A great spritzer on my sheets right before bed.
-Diptyque Eau Moheli, a supremely pretty ylang ylang cologne accented by a refreshing ginger. Great after a shower.
-Marc Jacobs Blush, a clean effusive peachy spiced jasmine. Every time I spritz it I think of a peach oolong gin and tonic.
-The original Ivoire de Balmain, a dry citrus chypre floral that will not take guff from the humidity. Makes me like I am wearing light crisp linen.
-Miller Harris's Figue Amere, the perfect bitter fig amaro. Salty and herbal and just right for surviving summer but especially great on balmy summer days.

Image by Alexandra Valenti

SOTD: Osmanthe Yunnan

The last two weeks have a gone by in a blur my finals week was spent in the throws of an awful cold and pain of trying to focus on getting my finals done, finally though some calm has come. The weather is perfect, I'm sitting outside right now enjoying the shadows of leaves that sway in the mildest of breezes. I think I may have finally gone past my black plague thumb of gardening, my basil and oregano seem to be thriving and the other plants as well. I can reach down and touch the basil and at the meerest touch my fingers have the scent of it; the scent of fresh basil may be on of the most aphrodesiac scents in the world with its hint of spice. 

Put on Osmanthe Yunnan today and think I might go for something creamier in a bit. Just enjoying life for the moment. 

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image: Peach Blossom with Books by Zhang Wei 

SOTD: Osmanthe Yunnan

The heat keeps on going and by now it has probably become obvious that I am a bit of a weather nut (I would consider it a major factor in my fragrance choices), instead of cooling down as it had been reported earlier in the week, it appears it will be in the 90's into Sunday. To top it off I am right now battling ants, I'm not messy, but the damn things love to attack kitchens in the hot weather. So on the way home from work today I am going to have to get some attack supplies.

Going with Osmanthe Yunnan today, this is about as close to Autumn as I am going to get because well traditionally osmanthus is celebrated in the fall, in China it is associated with Autumn and the moon festival. Still I know I will be packing up my osmanthus scents come Autumn weather, the osmanthus fragrances I have just don't have autumnal elements for me.

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image: Welcome to My Brand New Home Town by Jiha Moon

SOTD: Parfum Sacre and Osmanthe Yunnan

And no that is not some sort of crazy layering you are reading up above; I started the day in Parfum Sacre and now in the heat of the late evening I am reaching for Osmanthe Yunnan. But the best part of this heat is that I am enjoying cold slices of sweet honeyed melon, this is one of the true pleasures of summer, nothing more refreshing that cold melon in the heat. Sometimes I forget though that melon is one of my favorite fruits until the hit heats and all I want is melon. You get caught in the stone fruit frenzy of the summer, but in the end I always come back to melon, maybe because on a hot summer day it can be such restorative medicine.

SOTD: Osmanthe Yunnan

Some how osmanthus yunnan is evocative of peachy pink golds, just can't get away from these qualities.

Song: I Was Meant For The Stage by The Decemberists

Quote of the Day: Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.... -- Carl Zwanzig

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image: Nerissa by John William Godward 1906

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

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image: Jeune Fille au Turban Orange by Tamara de Lempicka