My New Favorite Diva Orange Blossom: Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense

Once you love a note, you start to see the holes in your collection for that note, and you start to search for the variation you want. You become obsessed with finding the perfect "fresh", "gourmand", "woody", etc., for a particular note. Of late as you know I have been in love with jammy/gourmand roses. Before that I was basically looking for a marshmallow/gourmand orange blossom which I found in Au Pays de la Fleur d'Oranger Neroli Blanc Intense Eau de Parfum. As for my everyday radiant orange blossom, it has been Elie Saab's Le Parfum. For an excellent take on a creamy incense orange blossom I pick up Lorenzo Villoresi's Dilmun. Anyways, my point is I like orange blossom and it has occurred to me that I don't have a big voluptuous orange blossom scent in my collection. Well, it actually didn't occur to me until I sampled Elie Saab's Le Parfum Intense* and boom there it was hole in my collection I was made aware of. I don't have a shoulder pad wearing diva orange blossom that is for the evening or being the center of the party.

We should back up a moment though and discuss Elie Saab's Le Parfum, which is a modern vibrant orange blossom that has Francis Kurkdjian's signature smooth musk and crystalline glow all around it. It is orange blossom on hyper-drive and is utterly modern, I love it, and always feel put together when I wear it. What I also love is the cedar basenote that Kurkdjian implements in its drydown it keeps the scent away from the ever overused modern patchouli drydown you can find everywhere these days. The cedar also makes the scent never go into the territory of over sweet. It is bright and modern but at the same time no slouch, on the other hand it is pretty ladylike.

Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense is the less ladylike variation, it is frankly the variation of Le Parfum on the prowl. Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense is about going into the sweet territory thankfully Kurkdjian recognizes is what he wants from the use of sweet, it is heady and drenched. This is a not a gourmand sweet but rather Kurkdjian has dunked his orange blossoms in honey and liquid amber and thrown a few chewy dried apricots in. What you get is a heady narcotic white blossom variation on the original Elie Saab Le Parfum, Intense is still radiant but the cedar has been toned down, and role of honey has been heightened and amber has warmed up the scent. The scent is no longer about silk but instead velvet and brocade.

Try Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense if you like Elie Saab Le Parfum, Au Pays de la Fleur d'Oranger Neroli Blanc Intense Eau de Parfum, or Serge Luten's Fleurs d'Oranger.

*Can we all be honest that Francis Kurkdjian is great perfume creator but good god, his creations no matter the designer or himself for that matter, have some of the most confusing names for their flankers.

first image from fragrantica.com
second image Guy Aroch

Nebras, old-fashioned in the best possible way.

So you hang around enough perfume boards and eventually you begin to hear about that cheapy perfume that is profoundly good. In this case that cheap wonder is Al-Rehab's Nebras. I first ran across it when randomly seeing comparisons of it as a dupe to the rather infamous Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood but then I started to read about the differences,  it was not nearly as "skanky" or overt as Boudoir, a bit cleaner. I was hooked by the possibility, I like Boudoir once it gets to the drydown unfortunately that is hours later after a long time of a rather disreputable middle that I can never quite get comfortable in. So I ordered it for a song, seriously your mouth will drop once you look up the price of it on Amazon.

So how does it compare to Boudoir, well they are definitely siblings, but Nebras is not a dupe of Boudoir. I can say that if you like Boudoir give this a try or if you wanted to like Boudoir but found it a bit jarring try this. So how is it?

Nebras starts off with a lovely bloom of sweet spiced aldehydes. The effect is pink and vibrant, very fuchsia like in my mind. Quickly the aldehydes give way to a floral bouquet of rose, lilac, honey, and narcissus all spiced with clove and nutmeg with a lovely base of powder. This is probably the sexiest stage because beneath that powder is a definite animalic musk that gives the scent the quality of warm powdered skin against skin. As the scent unfurls hints of incense come forth but the powdered honey spice remains eventually the drydown comes it is a bit cleaner, the musk more accentuated, and the powder stepping just slightly more to the background. The projection is excellent for an oil and so is the strength. I frankly cannot wait to try this scent in cooler weather, I found it to be a bit much in the dry heat of a California summer, but I have enjoyed wearing to bed at night, waking up to the remnants of it a lovely morning luxury.

Try if you like: Vivienne Westwood Boudoir, Robert Piguet Baghari, Yves Saint Laurent Paris.

The lovely image above is from Retronaut. Also how gorgeous and perfect is Sophia Loren in that image?

Comfort and Joy: Ombre Rose L'Original by Jean-Charles Brosseau

This is the idea of what a pink rose should smell like. Now if you are a rose lover you know that roses have many differing scents some smell edible, others are lemony, some are very spicy, the scent of roses vary a great deal.

What makes Ombre Rose by Jean-Charles Brosseau so interesting is for myself it is what a pink rose should smell like, it plays with the idea of color and it's coordination with scent.  Ombre Rose is not an intensily rosy scent, there is rose there, but it is not the dominant character, but there is no real dominant character to this scent rather it is a cast of notes that works wonderfully well with others to create in my mind what a pink rose smells like just based on color.

The opening is a ylang-ylang rosewood tinged powder that reminds me of the wonderful original scent of Nivea lotion, this is then followed by a powdery heart that has tinges of the delicious powder used in Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum but much cleaner and less over the top. Finally it drys down to a warm musky powder with hints of cinnamon, vanilla, honey, and rose. Overall this scent is excellent for powder fans and floral lovers.

Image provided by J'adore Photography

Over the top radiance: Elie Saab Le Parfum eau de parfum

Orange blossom is the note that always catches my interest, it is the giant white floral I love, but then again I think I love it because it is a giant white floral that can be done so delicately. And if I were to be really honest it is also the white floral blossom that marries well to my favorite vanilla notes. Another attraction for me is the edible gourmand quality to it reminding me of exotic flower scented desserts.

So how does Ellie Saab's first fragrance fit into my love of the orange blossom, it is big and radiant, sure there is a honey note, but at no point am I thinking to myself, I would like to take a bite of this. No, this fragrance of modern renaissance princess. She is utterly aglow and has a crown of flowers in her hair. There is a sweetness to the scent but it is not just sweetness underneath is a horned section trumpeting the flowers and the earth with cool patchouli and cedar. The musk and honey creating a buzzing to it that makes the scent radiate, its a garden in late spring in area where summer comes early. It is quite frankly a sort of center of attention scent which sometimes is exactly what you want.

Give it a try if you love the orange blossom note in Narcisco Rodigruez eau de toilette and wish there was more of it.

Image courtesy of Aisle Perfect and is from the Hamda Al Fahim Spring 2013 collection

SOTD: Bvlgari pour Femme

A couple weeks ago there was the question of joyous/happy scents going around the perfume community, I could not come up with one (what can I say I'm some one who usual goes with comfort and sensual scents), but today I realized that I do have one: Bvlgari pour Femme. There is something joyously yellow about this scent, it reminds me of blooming yellow mimosa and acacia (although it does not smell like either of these). There is a nectourous quality it smells of jasmine tea, honey, and bizarrely for the first time this morning I realized that I smelled a hint of juicy sweet bartlett pear in it. What is unique is that with a heart of powedery rose and violet, it retains crystilline nectar quality at the same time.

image provided by artnet.com

Tea Party with the Artist's Daughter, Lois by Wilson Henry Irvine

What to do with slightly old strawberries

The truth is quite often I buy berries I forget about them or in the case of raspberries I hyperventilate so much about the actually recipe I want to use them in that I wait to long and they begin to mold. Berries are my favorite fruit but I happen to go nuts fantasizing about what I am going to do with them and then let to much time pass. Then their are the berries that are still edible but the texture is too mushy and they look a little bit funky this really applies the most to strawberries, but I found a recipe that utilizes slightly old and funky strawberries perfectly; I originally got the idea from Gourment, but have adjusted it to my liking:

Strawberry Lassi
1/2 pound strawberries (cleaned and trimmed and sliced in half)
1/4 cup honey (adjust too your liking)
a pinch of ground cardamom
1 cup of yogurt

Put strawberries, honey, and cardamom in blender and puree until smooth. Then add yogurt and blend, until well blended. Serve and enjoy.