Lust and Lush, the Accord of Rose and Peach: A Review of Four Scents and A Tackling of Two Classics

There are four words that peaches and roses share in the vocabulary description regularly: full, lush, lust, and ripe. It makes utter sense, if you wanted to take two symbols from the fruit and flower kingdom that had equal status in arena of sensuality these two would be it. Maybe it is fate that together they are one of those perfect pairings, like rose and oud, or gardenia and coconut. Today's review will be long and consider it a long view* of the combination of peach and rose.

There are two legendary perfumes that reign in the court of peach and rose perfumes: the 1979 classic that first became legendary for being a disaster but has now become considered a masterpiece in the history of rose perfumes, Guerlain's Nahema. The other legend is modern baroque at it its finest and was released in 1990, Lancome's Tresor.

I am not a perfect expert on the formulations and vintages of Nahema. The concentration I have is the eau de parfum of the modern formulation. After looking at various posts from lovers of Nahema most have commended it still has its original skeleton especially in its current reformulation.

Nahema is most definitely a full grown adult perfume. The opening is the game of chairs, you are getting all of the notes, and as it settles notes they are getting eliminated for the winners. Your beginning is strange confusion pink powder puff roses contending with cold green spices and aldehydes. Held from afar you will smell lovely delicate rose held close and suddenly you will smell rooty hyacinth and clove, it's rather trippy. As it settles the peach note begins to ascend and the peach is smothered in enough spice that I am reminded of Mitsouko thankfully the rose starts entering the winner's circle at this point and I don't need to worry about Mitsouko. What then follows is the melding of peach and rose. I can't help but think of a baked peach crisp that has lashing of tart roses and a splash of cream, there are spices accenting it, but this isn't gourmand. The rose here is lushly pink and powdered with hints of tart and yet at moments you suddenly will get get green. What makes Nahema so interesting for me is the game play of pink and green, at moments I think I am getting a fruity pink rose with powder hinting at a lipstick rose combination but then suddenly there will be a strike of green, it is an amazing balancing act. Eventually the green recedes along with the spices, what then happens is the love song of peach and rose on a bed of vanilla. This is an exquisite balance in my time with rose scents I can tell you one thing: frequently the rose will be overwhelmed by the other notes, yet in Nahema the rose note remains til the end. The ending of Nahema is shockingly delicate and rather pure, the triad of rose, peach, and vanilla keep up their sonorous song till the end.

The next scent to enter the arena of the peach and rose combination is Lancome's Tresor. Tresor is Tresor, it is a scent that dominated the romantic arena once it entered the field. To my nose it is like a combination of Nahema and Yves Saint Laurent's Paris, the peach of Nahema meets the powdered uber-feminine violet rose of Paris. Further connecting its heritage to Paris is the sandalwood drydown of both Tresor and Paris. The current formulation of Tresor sadly does away with its peach scent very quickly and what I get is mainly a combination of violet accented rose with hints of lilac and sandalwood. The woody dry down for this is rather intense and it feels like Lancome has stripped the legend of its once voluptuous peach beginning.

As I researched Nahema I found a question that constantly reappeared in conversations "Is there anything like Nahema?" Well, there is no dupe but I can say there definitely two rose perfumes currently being made that are most definitely of the same lineage as Nahema and part of me suspects were inspired just a bit by Nahema.

If you love the fruity peach moment in Nahema then I am going to implore you too seek out A Wing & A Prayer's Summer Afternoon. Summer Afternoon starts with gorgeous minted geranium rose, it's cool and vibrant. As the scent settles a light clove note enters but before the clove** can become too much the sweetest lovely combination of peaches and roses enter. The peach in Summer Afternoon is just a bit candied but intertwined with the roses it creates something akin to a peach rose preserve. What I particularily like about Summer Afternoon is that Jane Cate anchors the sweet rose and peach with an effervescent fir and rosewood with just the tiniest hint of vanilla, the light evergreen bottom truly allows the peach and rose to be both fresh and sweet.

If you love the Mitsouko spiced peach moment in Nahema then I am going to suggest you seek out DSH Perfume's La Reine des Fleurs. The vanilla too much for you in Nahema? Ever wanted a Mitsouko that was accented by rose? Then La Reine des Fleurs is definitely worth your while. La Reine des Fleurs is darker take on the combination of peach and rose. Far more subdued, it is a scent firmly grounded to the earth with a more prominent notes oak moss and patchouli these two notes push forward the spiced peach note. It definitely leans into chypre territory.

*Yes, this is most definitely the history major in me coming out.
**I should be honest I love the scent of cloves but find that frequently on my skin in does weird things, if it seems repetitive that I mention the strength of the clove it's only because I have clove weird skin.

First image from fragrantica.com
Second image 'Salomé' by Paul Antoine de La Boulaye. (1849 – 1926)
Third image from www.lancome.at
Fourth Image 'White Rose in a Glass' by Piet Mondrian
Fifth image from fragrantica.com
Sixth image from Miho Hirano
Seventh image from www.dshperfumes.com
Eighth image Hellen Van Meene

Pop Culture Fun: Rebecca Bunch and Valencia Perez of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I'm not even half way through Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and I am seriously in love. It's insane, absurdly smart, creative, funny, heartbreaking, cringe inducing, and showcases some obscene talent. It's good.

Rebecca Bunch is about five million contradictions, she is probably best thought out portrait of someone with some serious issues, who is very smart, but also makes so many terrible terrible choices. She is the best example of I can think of right now on television of hilarious and heartbreaking. Can mental illness be funny, yes, but nuance is rarely applied with social commentary in a combination with s much biting madcap humor as depicted in the character of Rebecca Bunch.

Rebecca has the fatal flaw of deeply deeply wanting to impress and please everyone she wants in her life, except for the very few that get her aka Paula or Heather. Her intense desire to be wanted frequently involves her being willing to use all of her advantages to various extremes. So the first scent pick for Rebecca is Lancome's La Vie Est Belle, if there ever was a scent trying so damn hard and trying to have it all this is it. This scent is Rebecca to the ninth, when she is at her most manic in competition and trying to win Josh Chan's heart.

If Rebecca was more honest with herself she might choose something that is not La Vie Est Belle because she might have to admit certain qualities about herself. I rather think she would be far better in the more eccentric gourmand of Carner Barcelona's Tardes.  Tardes, a strange concoction of almond, cream, fresh watery celery, and fluffy musk. The scent is intelligent but charming and has a certain edge of rambunctious just like Rebecca when she isn't flying all over the place trying to be so damn pleasing. I think Rebecca is a gourmand wearer, she need a comforting scent but she doesn't quite get that about herself.

At the other end of the spectrum and Rebecca's nemesis, is Valencia, Josh's girlfriend. Valencia is played as the classic pretty mean girl but is able to be shown as having her own needs and desires that are not to be considered foolish. She does have all the right reasons to be wary of Rebecca and her overtures
towards Josh.

What is perhaps the most amusing thing is that like Rebecca, Valencia has a vision of herself that is not quite reality. In her head she is a zen yoga instructor who is peaceful. Her obvious choice of perfume is Sage Machado's Onyx a "spiritual" mix of tobacco, coconut, and musk. It is the obvious choice of hot chicks who love "spirituality" it is very Southern California. Valencia represents the classic Southern California "hottie" the woman who loves yoga, pilates, juice cleanses, and chia seeds and is perfectly in control of her super-toned body. She is supposed to be easygoing and sweet with hints of health food store.

Valencia is sharper than her scent of choice, she might not be as bookish as Rebecca, but this woman has aspirations and has started her own yoga studio. She also can see through Rebecca's delusions and overtures. Valencia should be wearing Lucy B's Royal Green Fig and Vanilla Woods. Royal Green Fig and Vanilla Woods is a simple but attractive sharp green fig scent, it is bohemian enough to fit Valencia's ideas about herself but sharp enough to show the intelligence beneath her choices.






First image from hulu.com
Second image from Herald Review
Third image from Fragrantica.com
Fourth image from Fragrantica.com
Fifth image from Cxg.wikia.com
Sixth image from Luckyscent.com
Seventh image from Beautycollection.com

Serenity and Spring and Tackling A Classic: Climat by Lancome

It took me about 8 years to appreciate this scent and yet yesterday I had one of those total zen moments when your perfume is exactly what you need for the day and matches the beauty you see in the day. This does not happen often. Climat, I finally get you. I couldn't get you in my mid-twenties and maybe I needed a terrible drought to appreciate you but damn yesterday you were the perfect embodiment of what my heart needed to get through the day.

Climat is an example of family of perfumes that has taken me a very long time to appreciate, a green floral emphasized with aldehydes. This scent smells classic and it is very classic in the sense that it has no sweetness. Climat probably works for me because it does not feature the signature green note that most green perfumes use: galbanum. Yet, there is no mistaking Climat for being anything else than a green floral scent.

Climat is stepping into a cool green spring forest. There are lush green hills, a creek in the background, cool dark damp earth, and lily of the valley and narcissus blooming. Below all that is a warm civet accented musk, on me this is all very clean and warm, but for others I can see this is either where the scent plays nice on you or becomes something else. The beginning of Climat is aldehydes, thankfully not too pungent or nose searing, in fact they are fairly gentle. You then enter a perfect melange of woods, narcissus, and lily of the valley. This melange stays around for quite awhile with the florals slowly leaving, what then enters the dry down is a mossy mix of musk and woods with a good dose of vetiver. It is an incredibly clean and earthy scent, I want to say soapy, but this is not the traditional soapy, this violet earthy soapy, there is a very mineral like quality to the dry down which I attribute to the mix of earthy and clean.

The variation of Climat I am reviewing today is from Lancome's La Collection release from my understanding there is a great deal of variation in the releases of Climat so try with caution. This one is by many considered the best of the recent releases because it is especially close to the original offering.

Try Climat if you like Trefle Pur by Atelier Cologne, Balenciaga Paris by Balenciaga, or Au Dela - Narcisse des Montagnes by Bruno Fazolarri (I actually have a theory that Climat Inspired this scent).

First image from Fragrantica.com
Second image 'Dreaming of Pomegranates' by Felice Casorati

Scenting th Women of Mad Men: Rachel Menken

We end Friday with my favorite woman to appear on Mad Men, sadly we have not seen her on the second season of Mad Men, the astute Rachel Menken. Rachel is the woman Don Draper at one point said he was ready to leave his family for, but unlike other women Rachel is sharp enough to see reality of Don Draper, and know better than to go down that path. Rachel is probably the one woman Don truly respects, because she will call him out on all of reprehensible things he has said and done and she is also the one who understands him the most. Scenting Rachel was the hardest choice, at first I thought of Chanel's Bois des Iles, but the reality is that scent is too soft for her. But then I smelled Lancome's Magie a beautiful strange mixes of melancholy violets, potent jasmine, and gorgeous amber, and I thought that is Rachel. It is beautiful and wistful but utterly full of vitality, I thought it fit this unique and independent woman.

image provided by http://tv.yahoo.com/mad-men/show/39828/photos/3

SOTD: Climat

Quote of the Day: Life is a long lesson in humility.-- James M. Barrie
So the blistering heat of last week has melted away into a refreshing coolness (actually cool enough that I don't have my bedroom window open). Today I am going with the cool earthy aldehydic scent of Lancome's Climat, it has a peppery vetiver drydown that you would never expect from the cool water aldehyde opening.
Some scent observations:
-Must de Cartier in pure parfum, I forget that it really does have a nice note of leather in the dry down.
-Thoroughly enjoying the scent of Johnsen's Lavender Chamomile baby powder, really theraputic.
-Neutrogen's new UltraSheer Dry-Touch Sunblock has the most incredible scent not beachy at all, but rather cool and refreshing, crushed green leaves and waterlily, I was really impressed putting it on this morning.

Continuing the water theme here is Bjork's Oceania (she is so wonderful!):

image provided by artmagick.com

image: The Water Nixie by Herbert Draper 1898

video uploaded by dancedanceToki

SOTD: Mille et Une Roses

So it would appear that I had disappeared, well I did basically a week after suffering a horrifically crappy flu. I have not been this sick in a very long time. For two days i was a wonder who barely got out of bed and well the dishes that piled up were not a pretty sight. Luckly I had a sweet boyfriend (with his own insane schedule) that took the time to provide sustenance and medicine and very sweetly flowers. Yesterday I received my package of Cuir de Lancome; which may be one of the most short lived fragrances on the market, it appeared to be out for a month, and then was taken quickly off the market due to it being to expensive to be made. Ironically around Christmas time I ended up getting a bottle of Mille et Une Roses, which in its wonderful packaging ended up including a little pamplet describing all the fragrances in Lancome's La Collection series, and lo and behold it has the deliciously hilarious blurb description of Cuir de Lancome, which never actually officially reached US soil or US Lancome counters. Until about a week ago when parfum1 (no affiliation) got it and it appears also that beautyencounter (no affiliation) is also stocking it, but have no idea when they got it in. Well with my still horribly stuffed up nose my observations of Cuir de Lancome is that it is no scent for casual events or spring weather, I won't be wearing it for a while except for late night sniffing. So I instead have opted for the voluptously angelic Mille et Une Roses which is a part of the lovely La Collection with its most ridiculous description blurbs.

Quote of the Day: Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. -- Douglas Adams, "Last Chance to See"

image provided by artnet.com

Naked Angel Thinking (2004) by Anita Klein

SOTD: Stella Rose Absolute

I remember when I first smelled Lancome's Mille et Une Roses I was reminded immediately of Stella Rose Absolute. Yet as time has progressed I can see their differences very easily. Mille et Une Roses is a softer gentler scent meant to envelope one in serenity and dusk, where as Stella Rose Absolute is a wilder harsher scent, the bergamot adds a noticiable tang that remains through out the scent and amber used is darker, this scent never sweetens like Mille et Une Roses. Stella Rose Absolute is the woodsier and fey sister to Mille et Une Roses delicate dusky angelic quality.

Image provided by artnet.com

Self Portrait as not Dead Yet by Julie Heffernan 2007

SOTD: Mille et Une Roses

Needing something beautiful for what will likely be a very long day, so I went with Lancome's Mille et Une Roses. Truly a most beautiful rose.

image provided from images.easyart.com
Gathering of Roses by Rudolph Ernst (ever since I saw this image I have thought it perfectly matchs Mille et Une Roses)

SOTD: Mille et Une Rose

So today I am wearing one of the most gorgeous rose scents out there, Lancome's Mille et Une Rose, gorgeous concoction of ambrosial rose, amber, and I most definately a dollop of airy cloud like vanilla. The is a delectability to this rose that is surprising in that it is not a gourmand, but the rose has such a wonderful "chewiness" that it reminds me of the use of rose water in middle eastern cooking for desserts.

Image above provided by artnet.com http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424759890/139600/david-kroll-egret-with-roses-butterflies.html
Egret with roses (butterflies) 2006 by David Kroll