Deep Green: Bella Basura by Haught Perfumes

There is something deliciously modern and vintage about the perfumes created at Haught Perfumes by Jarekhye Covarrubias. They almost always start very fun and modern and yet frequently morph into the lovely tasteful classical. I don't usually encounter this combo in perfumes so it was nice to see someone playing with these ideas.

I am not the sort of person who usually wears green floral fragrances, I most definitely admire the ideas they convey, but frequently when I try to wear them I run into a few issues. Bella Basura joins the very small cadre of green florals I can wear (the others I can wear are Le Temps d'une Fete by Nicolai, Phenomene Verte II by Lalun Naturals, and Climat by Lancome).

Bella Basura starts with a big bitter blend of lime and bergamot beneath it I get hints of basil and spices enough that for a moment there is a hint of mossy freshness that reminds me of good clean soap scent.

Yet, before anything mundane can happen smoky creamy jasmine incense note enters. This is my favorite stage. I didn't realize I could like a green florals until I realized that they could have green creamy incense notes, Bella Basura is one of those few scents that does that, yet before you go running to the hills thinking that this scent is going to get vanillic it never does. No, Bella Basura reverberates a constant bitter green, it's like a good amaro in the summer.

Bella Basura reminds me of the things I have always wanted to appreciate but never quite could, Jarekhye has tempered the green notes that frequently cause me so many problems, and made a green scent that is wearable for me. I am in fact reminded a bit of the classic Vent Vert by Balmain but made more wearable. The dry down is a consistent bitter green with the citrus and jasmine weaving back and forth there is a smoky blend of olibanum and vetiver that reverberates through out it.

Try Bella Basura if you like Vent Vert by Balmain, A Scent by Issey Miyake, or Jasmine White Moss Private Collection by Estee Lauder. 


Disclaimer: I received the sample from Haught Perfumes.

First image from Haught Perfumes
Second image 'Tropic (Tortuguero)' by Ben Blatt 
Third image 'Dahlia" by Inside A Black Apple

Green Citrus Goodness: Lo Mejor di Mi by Mario Tomas

The beginning of Lo Mejor di Mi immediately makes me think of perfect bittersweet green limes which have been heightened with bittersweet green herbs. It is one of the best and most interesting takes I have smelled on citrus in awhile other than Bruno Fazzolari's Monserrat. It is just so zippy and refreshing. Entering the citrus party is cucumber which amps up the refreshing qualities and reminds me of those lovely cucumber waters you drink in the summer. I could  swear there is an earthy note of really good tequila thrown into the cocktail too along with hints of galbanum. It is a happy green opening worthy of sniffing for awhile, in fact I kept on finding my nose buried in my wrist constantly while wearing this perfume.

Within this perfect summer mix is pomelo* or a mix of blood orange, grapefruit, and bergamot which is all creating the scent of pomelo. The scent of Lo Mejor di Mi is so refreshing, I am a bit dumbfounded, you want to keep smelling it and feeling like you are in a sunnier and happier place.
  I know not very descriptive but Lo Mejor de Mi doesn't necessarily evoke a location for me so much as it really does pull off the great promise of aromatherapy and makes me feel happier. The closest quality I can describe it as is a cafe with a garden and there is a fountain in the courtyard. Birds flutter in the trees and there is lively conversation but it isn't loud. The scent is a combination of chill and happy, an utter rarity to find in a perfume.

As the citrus leaves the stage in walks a dry down of clean creamy musk with hints of earthiness from the violet, iris, patchouli and fig. The musk is deliciously creamy and yet not too sweet and thankfully utterly devoid of detergent qualities.

* If you haven't smelled pomelo I highly suggest in late winter/early spring you get your hands on a pomelo. It will be a pain to eat but the scent of pomelo is one of the most layered citrus scents you will ever come across it frequently reminds me of the scent of jasmine, lime, and grapefruit all rolled up into one. There is a heady floral note in it that I have not smelled in other citrus.

Try Mario Toma's Lo Mejor di Mi if you like Diptyque's Philosykos, Atelier Sud Magnolia, or L'eau de Kenzo Amour by Kenzo.

First image from theguardian.com
Second image from fragrantica.com

Tropics with No Vacation In Sight: Elle L'Aime by Lolita Lempicka

I'm in school this summer. I've been able to chug away easily for the most part in my program since it began last fall but taking classes in the summer is officially a drag.  One of the things making it such a drag is I currently have one of the world's most overly verbose instructors.

What taking classes in the summer has meant the most though is that I have had no real vacation in awhile. I have had a week off between quarters and that has been since last December/January. Currently serving as one of my vacation getaway scents is Lolita Lempicka's Elle L'Aime. A scent that seems to have not reached the US fragrance counters with much ado. What that has meant is that online you can get an absurdly excellent price.

Elle L'Aime is maybe a perfect beginner scent for those of us leary of tropical scents. It is tropical no doubt but thankfully it is not overly heady or overly sweet. It starts off with a sweet lime and coconut accord that is perfectly blissful, in fact it is gone to soon. Then comes a rather lovely sweet creamy white flower heart with hints of ylang ylang (as you know a favorite of mine) just clean enough that it won't feel heavy in the heat. Finally the scent lands in a mix of creamy florals and woods. It is a shock that Elle L'Aime has  a good and unique dry down, the mixture of florals and woods creates a much more sophisticated scent than expected. Christine Nagel and Serge Majoullier are able to work some serious magic with undoubtedly very synthetic ingredients smelling surprisingly natural in the drydown. Christine Nagel's taming hand of heady florals can be seen in this scent also.

Overall Elle L'Aime suffers from the fact that the marketing of scent seems a bit juvenile and well the bottle leaves something to be desired. It is a polished take on an everyday tropical scent which you would think would have a fairly large audience here in the US considering how popular Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess is or the many other tropical scents that are well loved here. Yet, Lolita Lempicka seems to have at some point given up on the American market.

Try Elle L'Aime if you like Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess, the original Bath and Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena, or Serge Luten's Datura Noir.

First Image From: Argent du Buerre
Second Image: Johanna Burai

Cool tea for a hot day: Oolong Infini by Atelier Cologne

This starts with tea although I would not call it an oolong scent, years ago I worked in tea and coffee, and my favorite teas were oolong at the time (still a favorite of mine but my tastes expanded) and I can't remember smelling a tea quite like this. No, this is closer to a darjeeling, with lots of citrus while the listed notes say bergamot, I think is smells more lime like. The next part of it is a light musk with hints of neroli, vetiver, and melon (not calone style melon) think the green rind part of melon that is a bit grassy. It is cooling and refreshing and that is about it which in a heat wave is about as much as I can ask of a fragrance without wanting to knock myself over the head with frying pan for choosing something too heavy.

It also reminds me of Bvlgari Pour Homme Soir another tea scent (which is easily unisex in my opinion).

Will this scent knock your socks off no, but it is light, office friendly, and in a heat wave prone area is the perfect refreshing cup of cool tea when I can't have tea and can't cool down.

photograph by Jason Schmidt

Paperback Romance or Vanille Insensee by Atelier Cologne

You know when you smell something so unlike what you expected that it really throws you, that is Vanille Insensee by Atelier Cologne for me. I had heard comparisons to Eau Duelle by Diptyque, but this is so unlike Eau Duelle I'm not even sure where to begin, the only likeness I can think they share is the use of a unique opening for a vanilla fragrance, but where as Eau Duelle ends up smelling like the little sister of Guerlain's Spiritueuse Double Vanille on me, Vanille Insensee is something completely different.

What first catches me is the incredibly dryness of it, no one is going to say way too sweet, then the lightest dusting of dry lime peel, and then the heavy but strangely light dose of cedar, and then a dry wispy jasmine kicks in, sure there are hints of vanilla, or more like vanilla dust swirled in there but the jasmine and cedar really take hold with a dry effusive musk. What it reminds me of in the end is the scent of paperbacks and fairly old ones, with the discoloring at the edges. What makes it all the more unique is that this is still recognizably a vanilla scent but so utterly strange.

This is not a scent I would choose to wear for one it uses a dry jasmine note that I have found constantly disagreeable on my skin (the jasmine note used in the original Nanette Lepore) on the other hand this is perfect for a weird olfactory experience. This could easily be worn by either sex.

A dry erudite vanilla, so bravo Atelier Cologne for creating something I did not think possible, seriously if you are vanilla lover and need to smell a unique take on vanilla try this.

Try if you like: Diptyque Eau Duelle, Prada Infusion d'Iris, The Scent of Departure Istanbul.

image by Alexander Korzer-Robinson