Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2007

August 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

On Kelly Calèche, and how to deal with change……..

Recently as I’ve considered what fragrances to review, my mind keeps turning to Hermès Kelly Calèche. I’ve rediscovered this fragrance after years of finding it merely pleasant at best, and for the moment it’s the closest thing I have to a signature scent. However, the dashing review Portia gave Kelly Calèche a while ago on APJ really can’t be beaten.

I’ve realised that my mini-obsession with Kelly Calèche is because it represents a shift in taste for me. So, today I thought I’d ponder awhile on how it feels when you own enough perfume to scent a small town, but reach for just the one same bottle over and over again.

Kelly Calèche by Hermès 2007

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

First, here’s a quick reminder of the notes in Kelly Calèche EdT,

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: grapefruit, narcisuss, lily of the valley
Heart: mimosa, rose, tuberose
Base: leather, iris

The airy clarity of the fragrance is a hallmark of its creator, Jean-Claude Ellena. He has produced many works in this style, but Kelly Calèche happens to be one I especially like. What I can’t seem to deal with are dense, sweet fragrances which feel like they are gripping my skin like a tight glove. Kelly Calèche is not a gripping glove, it’s a veil.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As a chypre lover from way back, I’ve never cared for really sweet fragrances and own very few gourmands. But nowadays I can’t wear even mildly sweet fragrances. My prized bottles of L’Ambre des Merveilles (which normally I adore) and Bottega Veneta are neglected. Calvin Klein’s Obsession – the only oriental I really love – is also languishing unattended. It’s not especially sweet, just too dense. Lancôme’s Cuir de Lancôme– a masterpiece! – annoyed me all yesterday by sticking to my skin and not letting me breathe.

It’s the feeling that I’m being stifled and can’t quite breathe – that’s what I can’t tolerate. I need fragrances with lots of space between the notes. The nice thing about Kelly Calèche is that it has good longevity as well as airiness. It’s still too cold where I live for me to get out the summer colognes, but goodness I’m looking forward to that moment!

Photo Stolen Hermès

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Bois de Jasmin
Kelly Calèche is available from all Hermès stores
FragranceNet has $112/100ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP samples starting at $3/ml

So what about you? Do you know the feeling when you find yourself needing just one style of fragrance, and rejecting the rest? Do you try and resist, or do you just swing with it? How long does it last?

A side note: soon I’m off to Paris (!!!) for a week, and when this post is published I’ll likely be about to step on a plane. I’ll be replying to comments but do forgive me if I’m a bit tardy.
When I’m back I’ll have Parisian adventures to share. In the meantime, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Where Did My Scented Journey Begin….

August 19, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 7 Comments

Post by Liam

Good Evening Scentspeople!

Detracting from the norm, I wish to tell you about my experience with scent, and how my writing escapades began.

Where Did My Scented Journey Begin

When I was a wee chap I would pinch my father’s fragrances. Polo Black, Fahrenheit by Dior, Bvlgari Black – I would rock up to school with strong officious scents. Whilst my peers and teachers thought this was odd, this didn’t bother me in the slightest.

At 13 or 14, as an early and initial fan of Marc Jacobs’ style, I was thrilled when Bang (the silver bottle) hit the markets. Spice! I have always loved spice! The trio of peppercorns and the resinous notes present in Bang were distinctly different from other scents, and it had this wonderful duality going on: hot spice and cool woods. I finished that bottle and moved on to Burberry’s London (pour homme). Again, this is another spice theme. These two scents acted as a precursor to my obsession and a clear barometer of my taste. Spiced creations with rich interplay.

And then I was treated to a bottle of Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille. Warm boozy vanilla and sensual tobacco notes. Dried fruits for weight and tonka bean. An almost edible honey note…

Then, visiting the scent section of David Jones late 2013, I spritzed on Terre D’Hermes (parfum), and that was the beginning of the end. I snatched up Terre D’Hermes and wore that as an everyday scent, and journeyed into the Hermes boutique and purchased Eau De Orange Verte. This is where I began to learn the specifics of scent. I was devastated when I couldn’t figure out why this Eau de Cologne would last only a brief moment in time on my skin. This prompted intense research … I was beginning to learn about sillage, evaporation, citrus, orientals … You name it.

Fast forward to June 16 2014. The most important day of my fragrant life. From memory, the day plays out like a perfect vignette. Picture a wet and raining Melbourne day, made romantic with long coats and brollies. I had a collection of about 5 perfumes now, and was even wearing the female marketed Black Orchid by Tom Ford. But, I had yet to find something that grabbed me, and I was determined to find a scent that was truly ‘me’.

Brin de Reglisse by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermes 2004

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Hay, lavender, licorice

I walked into Hermes, went over to the Hermessence scents and picked up a bottle – Brin de Reglisse – and on first sniff my knees began to buckle. It was heaven in scented format. Everything I loved. The sun kissed smell of lavender from Provence, the caramelised spiciness of long black liquorice, a facet of coffee, and a feature of hay and caramel. Everything I loved was captured in scent. It was a study of liquorice. A snapshot of Provence, reminding me of my times in tearooms scented with lavender and refinement.

I was so thrilled by this reaction that I had to tell someone. And so, I started my blog: Olfactics. With only a year of proper experience under my belt, but indeed a lifetime’s experience of wearing scent, I felt I was prepared to tell the world what scent is to me, and how it moves me (or sometimes, fails to!).

Brin still lies close to my heart, right next to Habit Rouge and Portrait of a Lady (and… and… So many more).

So APJ’ers, what scent started your obsession?

-Liam.

Blogger at Olfactics

Hiris by Olivia Giacobetti for Hermès 1999

July 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Often on a Sunday afternoon after a busy weekend I wind down with a bath and a book. The fragrance for afterwards has to be gentle and subtle to keep me content for the evening, before a new week cranks up again. At the moment, Hermès Hiris is the perfect accompaniment to this ritual.

Hiris by Olivia Giacobetti for Hermès 1999

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, amber, iris, carnation
Heart: Iris, neroli, rose
Base: Honey, vanilla, cedar, almond tree

What works for me in Hiris is the contrast of cool and warm notes. Cool iris is dominant all the way through but is warmed and made easeful by spices (I love the coriander in the opening moments), and the subtlest touch of vanilla later on. (If there is honey in there I don’t perceive it unless it’s that touch of skin-alike sweetness in the base.) I don’t get the ‘carroty’ note in Hiris that other people notice. Earth certainly, but I smell no carrots. Hiris is dreamy and remote, but it likes you. Hiris wants to settle on your skin and stay there.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Other iris fragrances vying for our attention on the department store shelves, such as Prada’s Infusion d’Iris and Chanel’s No 19 Poudré, combine iris with gigantic quantities of pillowy white musk, but Hiris retains a dewy clarity that has nothing to do with musk. Neither the Prada or the Chanel appeal to me. Initially I loved No 19 Poudré but the musk was just too … well … dull. And I have trouble smelling Infusion d’Iris.
What bothers me sometimes in Hiris is a kind of musty soapiness. ‘Clothes washed in unscented fabric softener’ is how Luca Turin describes it, and while I would not go that far, I do see what he means, unfortunately.

Photo Stolen Hermès

I’m fine with Hiris not being a statement fragrance. To my mind Hiris is Hermès’ contribution to the 90s style of uncomplicated fragrances that seek only to make us feel clean and smell good. Thankfully it’s not as dated as many others in this genre. If the sillage is only moderate, Hiris veils beautifully. People will sense rather than really know that there is a lovely fragrance nearby.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Although the soapiness prevents me from loving Hiris, I persevere. I wear it out, wear it at home, wear it to bed. Where I live it’s winter, so who knows? Maybe Hiris will work better in warmer weather. I spray generously. It’s the best way to get to know a fragrance. Luckily I picked up my bottle at very little cost via local online classifieds, and it’s got about 60mls left, so I don’t have to be frugal. Mine’s the deep blue bottle. I’ve not seen the new one; do comment if you have compared them.

Further reading: Non Blonde and Olfactoria’s Travels
Hiris can be found at Hermès online and all Hermès stores
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Do you have a favourite quiet fragrance for those in-between times, when you just want to smell good to yourself?
‘Til next time, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Santal Massoïa by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2011

June 17, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Liam

There is no secret that I dislike gourmand perfumes: I can’t stand them! But, there’s another side of myself that secretly adores the sort of gourmand that doesn’t make itself out to be one. Shalimar and L’Heure Bleue are considered gourmands to an extent, but perhaps because whilst they themselves are totally and utterly edible perfumes (Shalimar oscillates beautifully between incense oriental and vanilla dessert amazingly), they do not actively come across as perfumes designed to be eaten. This is where my distinction is drawn. I am a gourmand loving anti-gourmand fan, who happens to love vanillas, chocolatey patchouli and milky woods when they don’t market themselves as edible.

Santal Massoïa by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords: in one line:
Massoïa wood resin from New Guinea, coconut, peach, butterscotch, sandalwood, milk sweets, dried fruits

Jean-Claude Ellena (my favourite perfumer) has treated Santal Massoïa as a meditation on the characteristics of wood notes in perfume. ““There are linear, vertical woods like cedar, and others that are horizontal, round, supple and velvet-smooth, such as sandalwood and massoïa”. Ellena grapples the curvaceous facets of sandalwood and massoïa, and bolsters it to intensify comfort, like an embrace or a soft blanket. Gone are the vertical conventions of wood found often in masculine scents, as Santal Massoïa has been scrubbed down to reveal a genderless woods fragrance, with its apparent lightness an overall illusion.

The result then is a creamy creation, round and indirectly delicious, pushing Ellena’s trademark minimalism to the very edge, described by Chandler Burr as: “maximal minimalism”. Massoïa wood and sandalwood maintain inherent lactic qualities, cradled gently in a bath of warm milk and carmel. To add complexity, Ellena adds an additional dimension of florals and fruits, taking indolic creamy white florals (jasmine, and perhaps tuberose stripped of its carnal severity) with moreish fruits, such as apricots and the sweet skin of green figs. Together, this creates an encompassing impression of coconut and dulce de leche (custard), again, this is warm, decadent and skin-like. A sort of luminism with a clear depiction of calm, and a natural stillness creating beauty.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

The sandalwood here is assertive and importantly doesn’t smell synthetic, opening with a tropical humid quality that at certain angles appears wet and nutty, with a tame oiliness. Thus, there are pleasantly pungent aromatic hits from time to time, which is nasally very pleasing and thankfully breaks the wooded monotony. Inviting yet distant, Santal Massoïa trails away with frothy lactic notes and a green fruitiness, but always pulls back into familiarity with gourmand impressions of creamy desserts and scintillating florals.

This fragrance becomes a very elegant second skin that moulds with the wearer and additionally with the seasons. It smells clean and inviting, with it smelling dense in nature but not heavy. I wear this for quiet periods and nervous moments, as I closely project a welcoming and warm presence.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Non Blonde
Hermès stores stock the Hermèssence range exclusively
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

What’s your second skin fragrance?

-Liam

Hermès – Voyage en Ikat: Mini Movie

June 14, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Hi All,

Hermès, even the name conjures images of wealth and luxury. Now the designers at Hermès bring us a beautiful tablewear set inspired by the ancient art of Ikat.

Photo Stolen Hermès

From Hermès: Inspired by ikat, an exceptional weaving and dyeing technique originating in Asia, Voyage en Ikat celebrates intermingled uses and an ongoing dialogue between East and West. More than twenty hues centered on sapphire, ruby and emerald, are enhanced by 24-carat matte gold and come to life in designs composed ‘thread by thread’.

I hope you enjoy the under 2 minute mini movie of the Hermès inspirations for their new porcelain,

Portia xx

Hermès – Voyage en Ikat

Vétiver Tonka by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2004

May 16, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Heya APJ Frag Family,

You might remember that I bought an Hermès 4 x 15ml Travel Set while on holidays. Vetiver is one of my favourite notes, not just for its amazingly versatile scent profile but also because the grass is so useful in many different ways, anyway here is one of the clever ways Jean-Claude Ellena sees vetiver.

Vétiver Tonka by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2004

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords in one line:
Hazelnut, Lily-of-the-valley, Praliné, Sandalwood, Tobacco, Tonka bean, Vetiver

I really enjoy the melange that Vétiver Tonka offers up while still wet on your skin; it’s like the whole note list wants to meet you all at once. In the first 10 seconds I smell quite distinctly the austere, dry yet fresh greenness of vetiver, the sweetness of sugared lollies and nutty sweets, creamy sandalwood and a whisper of the dewy fresh prim white floral that is lily of the valley. They all pop out in succession as if you are meeting them on a conveyor belt.

Then something interesting happens on my skin, at about the two minute mark they all decide it’s time to get friendly and create a fragrance. The beautiful slightly salty, little bit bitter green smoky dryness of vetiver is front and center but everything else then becomes a fragrant cushion that surrounds and bolsters the star.

Photo Stolen Hermès

As we go further into the heart of Vétiver Tonka the sweetness starts to really shine through. A lovely shiny patina of creamy caramel with the slightly dry bite of nuts waltz through and around the vetiver creating some very interesting fragrant formations that keep my nose fresh to the scent and my wrist lifted permanently in front of my face. Thank goodness I’m home and not out, it would be embarrassing.

It’s interesting wearing Vétiver Tonka to review rather than as my scent of the day. I am much more able to detect subtle differences in its moods, during a regular wear I get occasional wafts of sweet creamy woods that make me smile through the day but in my room on close inspection the heart is caramelised and smoky, the nuttiness shines through more too. A sweet dryness prevails to the end, very elegant and totally unisex.

Longevity is really good most days but some days I spray on Vétiver Tonka and it seems to disappear before the two hour mark. No I can’t work out why, there seems to be no defining circumstances but I have only worn a 3ml sample in the past and now this is my fourth wear since buying my 15ml four pack.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Olfactoria’s Travels
Hermessence are available only in Hermès stores or onlineSurrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

How do you like your vetiver? Dry and stark or warm and delicious?
Portia xx

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2015 Perfume Reviews

March 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 34 Comments

Hello Gorgeous APJ Family,

It’s Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances time again, my favourite seasons are Autumn and Spring, the mid seasons. I love that in both these seasons the weather can be remarkably similar, sunny and warm on one day, freezing or blustery on another, nights are cool to cold and so the overall wearings are quite similar. These fragrances are on my desk and within easy spritz reach and they only stay on the desk while they are getting regular spritz time, if they’ve been sitting there for more than a few days without attention they go back in the cupboard.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Top 10 Spring/Autumn Fragrances 2015 Perfume Reviews

Futur* – Robert Piguet: The ungreenest green ever. Sappy, sweet, green and extremely wearable all year round. Futur has been out of the cupboard and on my skin quite a bit lately and it fits any occasion.

Liberte* – Cacharel: A screaming, sizzling, BarBQ’d orange that is so sugary and ends up in a vanilla/patchouli/orange finale. I’ve loved it for years and now that it seems to be discontinued I’ve had to grab a couple of back up bottles.

Shalimar EdP* + Parfum – Guerlain: My old faithful. Shalimar fits every season, every mood and every event. From it’s citrus gelato opening to the resinous, vanilla and leather dry down I love Shalimar through and through. If I had to pick a fragrance to be my one and only Shalimar would be it.

CHANEL No 22: Yes, it’s the modern EdT. I bought it in NYC on our trip and that aldehydic zwoosh is too fabulous for words. Lasts all day, smells incredible and I feel like a million dollars from spritz to shower.

Mitzah – DIOR Prive: For those cooler nights Mitzah. Sweet, spicy, animal roses that feel like they have a whisper of oud in with the patchouli. Warm and sensual but cool enough to wear all year.

Neroli & Orchidee – L’Occitane: Another great L’Occitane cheap and cheerful fragrance! Spring has definitely sprung. I have been loving it sick but the final stamp of approval was given by Willa Zheng on Friday, she totally agrees and I trust her nose completely.

Niki de Saint Phalle: I can’t stop spritzing this glamorous green. Bright, fun and energetic. Niki de Saint Phalle is take charge with a twinkle in your eye. I think it’s the mint in the opening contrasting with the fruit and galbanum, gets me every time.

Nirvana Black by Elizabeth & James: Warm sandalwoodsy vanilla. Great price, excellent packaging. Wear this shit everywhere.

Pichola – Neela Vermeire Creations: The softest, most complex and wonderful tuberose. Surrounded by other notes and accords but it is the tuberose, sheer and clean, shorn of all its intimate, breathy and shitty bits we are left with the clearest, green herbs and spice overlaid tuberose. Beautiful, wearable and a complete divergence for the line while maintaining so many of the things I love.

Un Jardin Apres la Mousson by Hermes: That thick oily, wet, sweet, herbaceous freak of a fragrance. I find it addictive and love to lose myself in its heavy sheer wafts.

There are my current mid-season Top 10. They will probably be changed by next week but right now these ten fragrances are getting good skin time and working extremely well in the changeable conditions that the mid-seasons hand us.

What are you wearing right now? Give me a Top 3 if you’ve got one…..

Loads of love to you all, wherever and in what ever weather,
Portia x

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

* Second year in the Top 10

Eau d`Orange Verte by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2009

March 25, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Trésor

I am a self professed cologne hater, I hate colognes…or at least that’s what I like to tell myself. “I am HARDCORE” I say, convincing myself that the only potions I care to anoint myself with are those so dense with utter depth and debaucherous subversion that they practically have fangs. This is all, of course, an incredible delusion because the truth of the matter is that of all the fragrances I own it tends to be the bottles of eau de cologne that I find myself emptying first. I’ve had my fair share of undisclosed affairs with an eau de cologne, a splash of Eau Sauvage here and a another of Eau de Coq there but there is one I return to each and every time: Eau d’Orange Verte from Hermès. A true study in how a fragrance can be so much more than just the sum of its parts.

Eau d`Orange Verte by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2009

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Amalfi lemon, orange, mandarin, cassis, mint, patchouli, oakmoss

Eau d’Orange Verte opens with the most extraordinarily effulgent lightshow of photorealistic orange, so vivid in its juicy titian hue that you are left with the visceral impression of smelling a orange that has just been cut in half. I find this to be at the same time both inimitably refreshing and also a gentle act of hypnotism, leaving you entranced and transported into a dimension of glorious and gleaming sunbeams. It’s a powerful experience, mores than in any eau de cologne I have experienced.

There is an assertiveness and charisma in how Eau d’Orange Verte takes charge of your senses in its incipience but also a confident and effortless elegance. You wouldn’t imagine an orange to be the most particularly sexy note, but there is something I find so terribly seductive about this interplay of power and geniality. As the verdancy of the orange begins to diffuse the composition draws itself closer to the skin and the incredible sparkling radiance of the opening becomes a gleaming aurora of mandarin inflected with a delicate whisper velvet jasmine petals, not petals of a present reality but the tendrils of aroma encapsulated within a precious memory; blurry and fleeting but deeply beautiful.

Photo Donated Trésor

The dry down of Eau d’Orange Verte is one of silken emerald moss and the most graceful kiss of delicate patchouli, a chypre hologram; the traditional density stripped away but the spirit remaining in breathtaking entirety. It’s shortly after this that Eau d’Orange Verte finally fades into nothing and you are left with but a beloved recollection of the time you’d spent together.

The longevity on Eau d’Orange Verte is rather short. This time of year, when it is still rather cold where I reside I can get about 30 minutes though in the sweltering heat of the summertime an hour or two is not unheard of. The projection is very delicate as well, a treat for yourself and those you draw incredibly close. I urge you to give this precious little potion a whirl if you are looking to experience a proper, incredibly refined eau de cologne or just so happen to be in need of a little sunshine.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Perfume Posse
FragranceNet has $56/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples start at $2/ml

Now tell me, what are your favourite eau de colognes?

Until next time, kittens.
Trésor xx

How do you pronounce Hermès?

January 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 35 Comments

Hi there APJ,

French, the word inspires terror in speakers everywhere. Not only is the language at least as convoluted as English but their words have SEX! Pronouncing French words is bound to make all except the most intrepid, dextrous and fearless quake in their boots. When I am in France I say my very poor schoolboy French in the most obvious and terrible Australian accent so that everyone can at least have a laugh, and then get on with speaking English to me.

Photo Stolen lovemeagan

When questioned why I speak so little French I always tell the asker that I went to Sydney University (our most prestigious halls of learning) to learn Hindi and if they’d like to switch to that I can also massacre that language with an Aussie accent. Usually they are so ridiculously impressed that I would try to learn something so outlandish as Hindi that they forget to ask me to say a few words, remaining unused for so long I have only a smattering of half formed sentences and a plethora of swear words.

So here is a helping hand. A word I hear massacred quite regularly and in fact pronounced disgracefully until my friendly SA at Hermès in Sydney put me right. I made sure to OK it on my travels just to be sure she wasn’t extracting the urine (taking the piss, as we so elegantly say in Australia).

So I used to say Her-Mees. How do YOU say it? Are there any other hard ones?
Portia xx

How do you pronounce Hermès?

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

December 27, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 27 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

The other day I was in town to get shouted at by my accountant. Luckily for both of us he didn’t shout but he did get quite sober a couple of times and gave me dry looks of disbelief and incomprehension. He is generally quite genial and full of bonhomie and we did have a few laughs but still I felt like a very naughty boy. Aside from that I was lucky enough to get a motor bike parking space right in the center of Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District) and trotted into Hermès to see my favourite SA there Jean. Jean of the sexiest voice known to woman, the friendliest smile and the most elegant figure. I was on a mission, having tried (and adored) Cuir d’Ange at the Hermès store in the Bellagio, Las Vegas because my mate and co-contributor here Val the Cookie Queen had raved, it was time to get myself a sample and really come to terms with it.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Now, Cuir d’Ange is so Jean Claude Ellena, from the opening fireworks and can can girls squealing their lungs out in brand new chorus heels, slightly sweaty and a trifle tannery, their corsets silk all musty and a little dank from years of wear and poor ventilation in the store room, ripe with their yearnings and disappointments. Really, this is exactly what I smell in Cuir d’Ange’s first 15 minutes, the story unfolds and I even get whiffs of the resins they use to give their chorus shoes grip and slide. There is also something of feet in Cuir d’Ange, a worn shoe, a well loved leather jacket or a vintage leather and fur purse.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Having spent some time with CB I Hate Perfumes Narcissus I really can smell its disgustingly gorgeous ripeness, over ripe ness that has me both retching and reaching for more. It really brings that shoe/bag worn and loved feel and I am enjoying it immensely. It could even be the scent of a ballet shoe after a show, maybe the next day. Though now Cuir d’Ange has softened considerable and I think it would be only slightly noticeable sillage if I walked past you in the office, certainly hardly noticeable at all in a bar until you got very close to me. We are at about the one hour mark and I really love how this extremely soft, highly nuanced concoction keeps surprising me.

Photo Stolen MinasCeativeExpression

It’s a very circular fragrance, the notes seem to return at odd intervals, darting out and back to keep your nose on its toes. A lovely ride. You could easily wear Cuir d’Ange in a work situation and it will be killer for date night, a real stealth bomber through the movie and not overpowering for dinner. I can feel a 15ml bottle coming on, at least. I might even wear the rest of my sample on New Years Eve.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies, Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
If your city doesn’t have a Hermès store you should probably move
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Do you like the Hermèssence range? Is Jean Claude Ellena to your liking or are you meh?
Portia xx