Kymme CV

Escada Pour Homme 1993

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 1 Comment

.
Post by Kymme CV
.

Escada Pour Homme 1993

A Russian ballerina named Doris introduced me to Escada pour Homme (EPH) in 2005. Doris Vidanya to give her full moniker. I say ballerina, I mean a man painted for days (wearing LOTS of make-up), poured into a bodice/tutu and with a very, very tight black wig styled into a tighter ‘ballet bun’. See picture.

download

Side note: I should point out that I wasn’t soliciting men in tutus in the street! Doris (Grant Thomas) was a dancer with Les Ballets Trockerdero De Monte Carlo (http://www.trockadero.org/) and was in Sydney with the troupe as part of their 2005 Australian tour. I was also painted for days, but not in a tutu.

 Escada pour Homme Escada FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica Gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange, , lavender, cognac, Italian lemon, bergamot
Heart: Nutmeg, caraway, carnation, bay leaf, cinnamon, juniper, geranium, cardamom
Base: Sandalwood, tonka bean, patchouli, musk, vanilla

I liked EPH immediately. Those of you who’ve read my previous posts may remember my preferences when it comes ticking boxes. For those not up to scratch on my likes here is a quick reminder: Jacques Polge, Hermes: Terre D’Hermes + Voyage, Tiffany & Co., Slumberhouse, fresh, natural, patchouli, woody, musk, spice, tobacco, cedarwood, powdery, niche.

The early 1990s saw fresher, sportier fragrances become more popular than the headier orientals and herbals of the previous decade, but a handful of designers were still looking to update and revitalise them. 20 years later and although now discontinued, EPH still holds its own as a modern oriental that perhaps remains one of Escada’s best fragrances for men.

Escada pour Homme Escada Dragon WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

I find EPH to be sophisticated, sexy, masculine, prestigious, alluring and warm. On first smelling this scent one could forgive you for thinking it a fragrance an older gentleman might wear, but a confident demeanour will suit this well. It lasts forever on my skin. This morning’s spritz is still knocking a punch and the cognac, patchouli and musk are still coming through exciting my olfactory cilia…but there is still a refreshing citrus note on top of it all. It brings to mind good quality incense…eastern incense, not the mass produced variety.

Apart from Grant (Doris) and I, I can see Henry Cavill carrying off EPH with ease. It’s a bold, refined aroma that demands a bold, refined and elegant wearer. Those not sure of the statement they wish to make with their fragrance should probably tread carefully with EPH.

Further reading: The Perfume Critic
I can find Escada Pour Homme only at Amazon and Ebay now

Kymme CV x

Wedding Fragrance for Grooms + Photo Essay

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 22 Comments

Wedding Fragrance for Grooms

As if men don’t enough to worry about on their wedding day…right? You can imagine the poor hung over fools frantically fumbling around at the back of the bathroom cabinet on the morning of the wedding hoping they’d come across some scent Gran had bought them for Christmas eons past…can’t you? I’ve only ever had to prepare a groom for his wedding the once, I was best man for my brother and if he was an example of a typical man on his wedding day it’s a safe bet that pretty much all men fall to pieces in exactly the same way he did! He he he

I’ve been doing a little reading on the interweb to see if there were anything suggesting wedding fragrance for grooms and I was shocked, given that we live in an age of ‘metro sexuality’, that 99.9% of advice regarding which fragrance one might contemplate wearing on the day of nuptials and the exchanging of rings was directed at the bride. Many ‘advice’ rich sources even went so far as to suggest to the bride that she ‘ditch the fragrance he normally wears and buy him something you like instead’! Hang on a cotton-picking-minute! Roll back!! Remember? I clearly suggested in my opening paragraph that men cannot think for themselves. But really?

I hear you laughing already.

D&K Wedding #1

Imagine the chaos if two men were permitted to marry each other! Of course this depends entirely on which country you live in. Well this is exactly what my partner of 15 years and I did two weeks ago. After 12 months of planning we left the backward backwaters of Australia and jetted over to Las Vegas to get married. We were not alone. 35 of our nearest and dearest met us there to celebrate and share the love with us.

D&K Wedding #2

We had almost everything planned, which is no mean feat when we are in Australia and our planner the USA. We had excellent help from a few friends who bent over backwards to make it all come together and run so smoothly. My husband and I were left to our own devices and to make our own decisions (men cannot think for themselves remember) on a number of things, for example where we’d all eat and drink after the ceremony, what colour boutonnières we wanted and what we wanted to wear (very dangerous in my case as I dress for comfort, not style or fashion) and of course this included our personal choice of fragrance.

D&K Wedding #3

My husband played it safe and stayed with a fragrance he already owned and liked, but I went with something new. In my opinion one should wear a fragrance because one loves it. A fragrance can and should make you feel good, evil, safe or dangerous, attractive or aloof…it’s a personal thing right? Incidentally I’m not a fan of purchasing fragrances for other people unless I know they already wear it or have requested it as a gift. So what did we wear?

Tiffany for Men Tiffany FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

I wore Tiffany for Men on the day. I’ve often popped into Tiffany & Co. to spritz myself with his classic as I loved its powdery scent. Imagine how shocked I was firstly to find out it contained patchouli (my favourite) but secondly that Jacques Polge was the nose behind it. I don’t have a sensitive nose at all, but I know what smells good…and this is good. It’s powdery, light and very subtle – perfect for standing in front of a pastor!

Allure Homme Sport Chanel FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

My husband wore Chanel’s Allure Homme Sport. Again, this is another subtle but fresh fragrance and, once the spice from Allure mingled with the spice of Tiffany we were all spicy together! Allure doesn’t smell great on my skin, but, it’s not about me…it’s my husband’s fragrance. Chanel’s Allure Homme Sport is also pastor-friendly and wouldn’t you know it – slap me across the face with a wilted bouquet of roses – Allure Homme Sport is ANOTHER Jacques Polge treasure!

Until next time stinkers.

Kxx

PS. In case you were wondering…yes I did wear white!
David & Kymme wedding

Zombie for Him by Demeter Fragrance Library 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments
.
Post by Kymme CV
.
Greetings testers…this post is not for the squeamish, faint of heart, those who are afraid of things that go bump in the night and/or don’t enjoy eating brains! Demeter Fragrance Library has caught on to the latest zombie craze and have bought for our olfactory delight Zombie for Him and Zombie for Her (on sale for a limited time only). Ladies, gentlemen and the undead…
.

Zombie for Him by Demeter Fragrance Library 2013

Zombie Demeter FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

.
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Dried leaves, mushrooms, mildew, moss and earth
.
Being a sucker for advertising of any kind, I followed the pretty link on LuckyScents website.  (Incidentally I’d also seen a series of photos on the World of Wonder blog, but didn’t connect the dots until visiting the Demeter website).  My curiosity got the better of me, so off to SurrenderToChance I went to get me a sample.

Zombie Demeter TheWeekPhoto Stolen TheWeek
Before giving in to a very demanding Portia and giving my review, I wanted to see what others thought about Zombie for Him, so I picked on some unsuspecting victims at work where I did some blind testing.  Not only where the results interesting on a fragrance interpretation level, but it also raised a valid scientific question ie., is the female brain wired differently from the male brain when it comes to the sense of smell? I don’t mean, for example, if a plate of cheese were placed before a blindfolded man and a blindfolded woman would they both smell cheese.  The answer is of course ‘yes’, but if they were asked to describe the cheese, would they say the same thing?  This has probably been studied and results published, nevertheless I found my blinded results quite remarkable.
.
I asked five colleagues to extend their fragrance free wrists for a squirting.  I asked them to tell me, without thinking too deeply about it, the first thing that came to mind when they smelt the fragrance for the first time.  They had no prior knowledge of the name of the fragrance…the results:
.
Guinea pig 1 – immediately got salad dressing (variety unknown)
Guinea pig 2 – lemons
Guinea pig 3 – pine/forest smells
Guinea pig 4 – dug soil
Guinea pig 5 – the smell of a florist’s shop
.
So, from the results above, could you pick the girls from the boys?
.
Would it shock or surprise you to know that 3 and 4 were boys and the others girls? It did me…I thought we’d all smell the same thing.  When I told them the name of the fragrance, number 2 couldn’t wait to wash it off! I consoled her by saying that no dead bodies were harmed in the making of the fragrance!!
Zombie Demeter AmericaBlogPhoto stolen AmericaBlog
Zombie for Him is exactly what it says on the tin…less the rotting flesh and blood and guts.  I immediately get dirt, dug soil and cut grass.  The mix is not an unpleasant smell either.  It’s heavy on the dirt and dug soil, but it’s a nice earthy heavy, if you’ll excuse the pun. On it’s own it’s a refreshing daytime scent and even though it’s called Zombie, I could imagine Bill the vampire (True Blood) wearing this.  Zombie for Him, as I suspect with many Demeter fragrances, can be mixed with other fragrances…I was daring and wore it with Chanel’s Cocomandrel and it made a very enjoyable warm scent and one I will wear again tomorrow.
.
Zombie for Him is available at the Demeter site $20/30ml
SurrenderToChance starts at $4/2ml
Brains for all!
Kymme

Gothic I by Loree Rodkin 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

.

Post by Kymme CV

.

Hello readers!!

NYMag: Jewelry designer Loree Rodkin has built her empire on the corner of Goth Street and Glam Boulevard: medieval crosses, bejeweled skulls, delicate tracery earrings (Michelle Obama wore a pair on inauguration night)

Have you ever fantasized of being in a bohemian Kasbah, the air thick with incense, dancing around with careless abandon to the heavy beat of a drum…the silks tied to your wrists flow through the air with ease as you shake and bump your junk at men toking on hookah pipes. The humidity in the air adheres your sheer clothing to your moist skin as the sound of the drums intensify. No? Well neither had I until I smelled Loree Rodkin’s Gothic I Eau de Parfum! But there you are…

Anyway…I digress. So how does this EDP break down?

Gothic I by Loree Rodkin 2013

Gothic I LuckyScentPhoto Stolen LuckyScent

LuckyScent gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla pod, Madagascar vanilla, spice accord, Tunisian patchouli, Indian patchouli

Gothic I opens with an enormous sweet vanilla slap in the face, just like a vanilla custard-pie but more! This ‘vanilla’ is an exotic, deep, rich and velvety vanilla. But it’s really not that simple a fragrance. There’s a real depth to the Madagascan vanilla that comes alive once the spice starts to come through. Now we’ve got nutmeg on our vanilla pudding! The spice accords mixed with the vanilla give the fragrance a dramatic nuance.

When I first wore Gothic I hours passed before I started sensing the patchouli notes coming through. However, each time my body temperature rose a little the patchouli blend came storming through. At first I didn’t even realise it was me that I could smell! As soon as my body cooled again, back came the vanillas. I kept doing chores that kept me HOT because patchouli is my favourite scent. I’ve been wearing Gothic I all day – I’ve even been sweating it up on the veranda doing some plant repotting, and even after all the sweating I’ve been doing, there’s the patchouli. Ah!

Gothic I Girl FanPopPhoto Stolen FanPop

This is sold as more of a night time feminine scent than unisex, but it hasn’t stopped me wearing it during the day to the office. This is a fragrance that makes me feel great, relaxed and at ease. This certainly isn’t a perfume for those that enjoy florals, because Gothic I makes a statement, a big bold statement at that. If you walked into a crowded room wearing Gothic I, heads would turn and you’d be noticed because everyone would know that ‘drama’ had just arrived at the party.

Gothic I came in LuckyScents April Sample Pack. (These sample packs are great value. The 15 samples arrived nicely packaged, and at US$35 it’s a steal.) Oddly enough, Gothic I was the first fragrance out of the bag and has turned out to be my favourite of the entire sample pack. Was this a sign of the impending fantasy? Who knows, but this fragrance struck an ‘accord’ with me. Boom-tish!

Gothic I EDP appears to have had a bit of a hard time convincing the fragrance community that this is ‘nothing more than another run-of-the-mill vanilla oil with a ridiculous price tag’ ThePerfumeCritic, ‘…Gothic fragrance line is missing the gothic,’ nymag but I disagree. There’s much more to this fragrance than one might be lead to believe. I’ve not seen many online sellers of perfume carrying the Gothic range, with the exception of LuckyScent and Loree Rodkin’s own website, so maybe Gothic I has fallen foul of the critics. I hope not, but if it has, it deserves another chance. After all, tastes are constantly changing right?
LuckyScent has $140/50ml and $4/.7ml

Happy smelling!

Kymme