Calisson meets Loukhoum: Kayseri by Abdul Karim Al Faransi Maison de Parfum

Sometimes someone makes an awesome perfume discovery and shares it. Finding Abdul Karim Al Faransi's perfumes is very much courtesy of the Facebook group Facebook Fragrance Friends.

Kayseri may be the ultimate wallet friendly and interesting Loukhoum scent you have been waiting for. Although, lets take a moment to reminisce about the time when Loukhoum scents were a big fad in the fragrance community, yup it was the early 2000s and everyone was talking about Luten's Rahat Loukhoum, Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum, and Montale's Mukhallat. For those of us obsessed with gourmands it was like a new frontier because this was a gourmand that featured roses and nuts prominently. Fast forward a few years and well the trend fell to the wayside. There are still those of us who enjoy the idea of a loukhoum inspired fragrance but the thing is most loukhoum scents have a clobber you over the head aspect frequently.

What if someone created a scent that featured the rosewater powder nutty goodness of loukhoum at its heart but instead of blasting you with powder decided to introduce a completely different element at the beginning, in this case the melon almond French sweet, calisson. If you are not put off by this idea then you need to try Kayseri. Kayseri starts with a sweet candied melon note, not overbearing, but most definitely there, it is very unique and somewhat reminds me of the beginning of Providence Perfume's Provanilla, this melon is most definitely of the cantaloupe* variety. It's a clean and sweet and not going to burden you and as time progresses it transforms to delicious rosewater loukhoum scent. Al Faransi's loukhoum note has accents of lemony rose and at moments I could swear it hints at a tiny smidgen of violet in there too. The beauty of Kayseri is instead of pummeling you with sweet powder as can frequently happen with a loukhoum scent Al Faransi has made a loukhoum that is slightly water-colored. The earthy quality of the melon note lightens it and adds a gentle spicy quality and it all sits on a bed of gently sweetened musky woods. Kayseri is easily one of the most wearable loukhoum scents I have encountered. Most interesting is there is a depth of layering to it that I have not really encountered in most loukhoum scents and much less in oil based scents.

Try Kayseri if you like Loukhoum scents, Sonoma Scent Studio's Lieu de Reves, or Rose Absolue by Yves Rocher

*Fun fact many melons in the cantaloupe family are called muskmelons. Considering Al Faransi specializes in musk scents how appropriate is it that use a muskmelon note in their scent?

Kayseri image from Alfaransi.com
Calisson image from Butterbadge
Loukhoum image from Splendidtable.org 

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

The simplicity is your best friend: A beautifully refreshing fruit salad

Sometimes simplicity is just the best way to go, I made this, this morning to go with my toast, and had to share:

Simple Berry Melon salad:

handful of blueberries (I suspect any berry will do, but these are perfect because they don't break easily)
Quarter of a melon (I used casaba melon which is really similar to honeydew, but what ever you have) cut into chunks (no rind)
a drop of orange flower water (I suppose if using a strawberry watermelon combination the more appropriate choice would be rose water)
a sprinkle of suger (just to bring the juices out)

mix all together and enjoy the refreshing beauty of it. The blueberries and green flesh of the melon looked gorgeous together. The orange blossom water added a light touch of floral but overall was not apparent, but added the little extra oomph that made the salad so lovely.

Watermelon

After yesterday's visit to the Livermore Wine and Honey Festival I had a craving for watermelon and to be up front about it watermelon is my favorite melon*. Now plain watermelon is wonderful by its self, but I have a very simple way of making watermelon the epitome of hot summer eating.

Recipe:
Take slice of water melon
squeeze a lemon or lime over it
sprinkle a little salt on it (well how ever much you like
Next get some good chile powder and sprinkle over it ( I like to do mixes some time and add a little cayenne or chipotle powder) or if you want get some good hot sauce Valentina or Cholula are excellent for this. Now eat.

*There is nothing quite like the wonderful sweet crunch of a watermelon out of the fridge and the refreshing sweet taste.
*In Sicily it is common to sprinkle watermelon with fennel seeds and salt
*Yes this variation on watermelon is directly stolen from my Mexican boyfriend which is then stolen from the great street food snack of jicama, cucumber, and watermelon sliced put into cups then sprinkled with salt and chile powder and then a squeeze of lime.

So the question is how do you like your watermelon?

And for own psychadelic amusement watch the video watermelonlove
Watermelon Love
Incredibly bizarre and erotic.