Perfume

Armani Privè Ambre Soie by Christina Nagel for Giorgio Armani 2004

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Post by Poodle

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Armani Privè Ambre Soie by Christina Nagel for Giorgio Armani 2004

Armani Prive Ambre Soie Giorgio Armani FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Ginger, amber, patchouli, pepper, cloves

Ambre Soie is a perfume that has a little bite to it. It opens with a burst of amber and ginger. It’s more about sharp, fresh ginger than the dried one used in baking. I can smell the black pepper too. It’s not what I’d call sharp but there’s almost a warmth or heat to it in the opening. As the ginger fades the pepper becomes more evident. Pepper is one of those notes that is sometimes a deal breaker for me. I don’t mind it in this although I will say it’s not my favorite part of the perfume’s development. It gives a warm feeling to the perfume and I can imagine reaching for it on a cold winters night. A night like tonight for instance, where as I’m sniffing and writing, the wind is howling away and the wind chill is well below freezing. Somehow just the word Ambre in the name makes me feel like it will take the chill away.

Armani Prive Ambre Soie Giorgio Armani Freezing Paddock GeographyPhoto Stolen Geography.org

There’s a dry, spicy feeling to Ambre Soie before it all seems to mellow and soften. This is where I begin to really enjoy the scent. It becomes a touch sweeter as the amber really emerges with a spicy patchouli note. The patchouli hums along quietly and never veers into moldy decay like some patchoulis do. Amber scents can be sweet and almost cloying at times. Ambre Soie has a sweetness to it but it doesn’t cross that line. It doesn’t list incense as a note but as it wears on me it becomes more of an incense and amber scent. Somehow, up close, I smell menthol too. At this point it’s very cozy, like a warm blanket.

Armani Prive Ambre Soie Giorgio Armani Sarah Ackerman FlickrPhoto Stolen Sarah Ackerman  Flickr

I would say it could easily be worn by a man or a woman. I would wear it but some women might find it leans a little too masculine for them. I think that’s the pepper that gives it that little edge. It’s more of a scent to wear when you plan on snuggling up to someone special rather than wearing it to the office. It only lasted a few hours on my skin with minimal projection after the first hour. On my clothes though it lingered well into the next day. I’m sure both these factors could be adjusted based on whether you were to dab or spray and how much you applied. Also bear in mind my skin eats perfume and I’m using a sample vial.

While I enjoy Ambre Soie I don’t think I need a bottle of it. It’s not quite love.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and The Scented Hound
You can find Armani Privè Ambre Soie at big department stores.
Surrender To Chance starts at $4/.5ml

What scents warm you on a cold winter’s night? Have you tried Ambre Soie? What’s your favorite amber?

Moon Bloom by Hiram Green 2013

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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Hey APJ! Happy New Year.

Through the miracle of modern technology, Portia introduced me to Hiram Green by email, and invited him to send me a sample of Moon Bloom. Oh yes, I was excited. This would be a first for me, having a perfume sent specifically to be tested and written about. But what if I didn´t like it?

I am sat here sipping my Matcha latte (my current addiction), with my nose glued to my wrist wondering what on earth I can possibly add to all that has been said already about Moon Bloom. I will have to assume that some of you are reading about Moon Bloom for the first time.

Moon Bloom by Hiram Green 2013

Moon Bloom Hiram Green FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tuberose absolute, jasmine absolute, ylang-ylang, coconut, leafy greens, tropical spices, resins

Moon Bloom is an all natural fragrance. Tuberose absolute, jasmine absolute, and creamy ylang ylang, mingled with coconut, leafy greens, hints of tropical spice and resins. It is extremely feminine and drop-dead gorgeous; hypnotic and narcotic. I wore it up a mountain. Sub-zero temperatures along with snow add to the beauty of this very desirable concoction. It´s luminous, visible in the darkness. It is a fragrance for the winter solstice.

Moon Bloom Hiram Green Denmark Solstice FotoPediaPhoto Stolen FotoPedia

“Natural fragrant materials have the power to stimulate the senses in ways a synthetic cannot duplicate.” Hiram Green

The perfume hugs the skin like a cloak, staying close for at least six hours. I cannot recommend it highly enough if tuberose and perfection together is your thing. The bottle too is as perfect as the perfume within it.

Further reading: About Hiram Green – Olfactoria’s Travels and Smelly Thoughts
Hiram Green has €135/50ml, and a €25/5ml TRAVEL SIZE. Just like all perfume houses should do. (Note – folks outside of the EU do not pay sales tax, so it comes in at a lower price.)

There was no need to worry. I loved it. You know how you can tell? I would not have written about it otherwise.

With a million thanks to Hiram Green for giving me the opportunity, and encouraging me to look further into natural perfumery.

Have a nice day.

Bussis
CQ

New Years Resolutions 2014 (The Fragrant Version)

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Post by Gabriella

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Happy New Year perfumed peeps!

Today I want to share with you three fragrant wishes for 2014, or more aptly, three good things I started to do last year and want to continue.

New Years Resolutions 2014 (The Fragrant Version)

1. Sharing my perfume hobby more with friends and family.

Case number one: My Mum. Mum’s been faithful to Giorgio for several years now. It smells great on her and she likes it, but can’t really smell it anymore. Several attempts to get her to try other things have usually been met with much protest. So, when I gifted her with some samples on a recent visit to Sydney, I fully expected them to lie unused in her dresser. Not so. When we went to stay with my parents at Christmas, she happily announced that she was wearing Aurora Nomade by The Different Company. She then proceeded to be utterly charmed by Beyond Love By Kilian and Manguier Metisse by Parfumerie Generale and Cocobello by Heeley. She’s loving it and she’s still going….

Mitsouko FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Case number two: a family friend, Miss L, who asked me to help her find a new perfume several months ago. After some time sniffing, testing and sample gifting, my brother announces at Christmas that she’s hit the jackpot. The chosen one is “the Guerlain with the Japanese name”. “Ahhh, Mitsouko!” Mr M proclaims (I’ve taught him well people). Miss L wanted a bottle of the EDP but couldn’t find it anywhere and contacted me in desperation. I had a partial bottle that was lying around unloved that I happily gave her. She was thrilled and I haven’t felt better about a perfume experience for a long time.

2. Exploring more scents on the very masculine end of the spectrum.

I’m as girly-girl as they come and so are my perfume tastes, mostly. I realise that it’s a no-no to speak of a gender divide in perfume, but I have not smelt enough (or reviewed enough) scents that lie in what I deem to be the more masculine camp. This was prompted this was Mr M’s request for a fourth scent for Christmas. He has Autoportrait by Olfactive Studio, Pour Homme by Paco Rabanne and Antaeus by Chanel and isn’t going to be wearing Fracas or even something more unisex anytime soon.

Autoportrait Olfactive Studio FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

I chose Bois du Portugal by Creed. It smelt great on me, great on the card, and even my Mum loved it. But it was a disaster on him: waaaaay too sweet and too much lavender. The whole exercise made me realise that I haven’t smelt any of the masculine Amouages, Knize Ten, most Chanels for men and lord knows what else. In 2014, I want to rectify that.

3. Cull more of my collection

After many impulse buys and hence a few bottles lying around untouched, I have finally realised that there’s a huge distinction between the perfume I want to wear most of the time and the perfume I want to experience, wear on the odd occasion, or write about. This hobby certainly doesn’t mean I have to have 30 bottles that get worn once a year, it’s about enjoying what you have. And in saying that, sometimes less is more. So, full bottles only for the ones I regularly use and samples or decants for everything else. I really would like to get my collection down to eight or ten bottles and the rest is going to be sold.

Osswald boutique Vogue TumblerPhoto Stolen Vogue Tumbler

So, what do you think of my list? Do you have any perfume goals or wishes for this year? What perfumes do you want to buy or experience this year?

With much love until next time!

M x

L`Eau De Monteil by Germaine Monteil 1995

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Post by Azar

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Hello APJ,

In early December one of my young piano students wanted to try playing the Christmas classic “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson. I rummaged through my semi-organized music library for an easy version but all I came up with was an old collection of Anderson’s own piano arrangements. The student took one look at “Sleigh Ride” and immediately decided it wasn’t for her. (She obviously was not yet convinced by my mantra “Fear No Musical Score”.) We looked at the other pieces in the collection and when I played a little bit of “Forgotten Dreams” (1954) we both knew we had found a good match.

Later that evening I looked at the music again. Every piece seemed to be a distillation of a memory. As I played “Forgotten Dreams” I found myself as a child in the 1950s, sitting in front of an old radio, listening to Leroy Anderson’s music. A sudden “fast forward” brought me to the mid 1990s when several of my piano students were learning to play the same music. With these ’90s musical memories came a recollection of fragrances I’d worn at the time. I recalled not only the scents but also the bottles, the boxes and where I had purchased them. While playing “Forgotten Dreams” one fragrance in particular came to mind:

L`Eau De Monteil by Germaine Monteil 1995

Forgotten Dreams

L`Eau De Monteil Germaine Monteil FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Spices, orange blossom, sea notes, jasmine, powdery notes

Most perfume related sites and blogs list the creation of L’Eau de Monteil as either 1995 or 1996. I could swear I’d purchased a bottle a couple of years earlier than that. I couldn’t find any information on the perfumer who actually created the scent. The designer Germaine Monteil died in 1987. (I’ll be telling her story and reviewing more of her fragrances in an up-coming post).

Once again I went rummaging around, but this time in my even less organized perfume storage. I discovered my stash of L’Eau de Monteil, including three full 15 ml pure perfumes, one partially used 50 ml EDP and one full 100 ml spray still sealed in the box. It seems that L’Eau de Monteil had been a favorite!I picked up the used EDP and gave myself a generous blast and then dabbed on some pure perfume for good measure.

L`Eau De Monteil Germaine Monteil Azar#3

Again I found myself time traveling, but not to the 1990s, as I would have expected, but to my childhood in Florida and to a dark and eerily quiet, semi-tropical garden. I found myself crossing a bridge over a pond (or was it a stream?) the banks crowded with plants that I called “elephant ears” (.). The air was thick with the odors of moving water, jasmine, wet earth and sweet rotting leaves. The smell was at once fresh and spicy, earthy and very aquatic. This combination of scents was unique to this particular garden in 1957. I did not encounter the same fragrance again until I discovered L’Eau de Monteil sometime in the mid 90s and rediscovered it in late 2013, thanks to the music of Leroy Anderson.

L`Eau De Monteil Germaine Monteil Azar#2

Thousands of fragrances and pieces of music are created every year. It is inevitable that most of these and the dreams that inspired them will be lost or forgotten. That being said, it is wonderful and strange how one memory leads to another and yet another. I am forever amazed how music and fragrance can “fold” time and space (a memory from the sci-fi classic “Dune”) and return us to events and places of long ago to remember and relive our “Forgotten Dreams”.

Ebay and Amazon seem to be the only places left to find L`Eau De Monteil, you can still grab a BNIC 100ml for under $100

L`Eau De Monteil Germaine Monteil Azar#1

L`Eau De Monteil GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have TWO winners:

Who will each receive:
1 x 2ml decant of Germaine Monteil L’Eau de Monteil
1 x 2ml decant of a “mystery” fragrance
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

AND

Do you have a perfume memory that you would like to share or a forgotten moment that came to life because of music or scent? Please leave comment to be eligible for today’s give-away

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie L’Eau de Montiel GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2ou #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Thursday 16th January 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or some other more fun way at the discretion of Azar, our host for this giveaway
The winners will have till Sunday 19th January 2014 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Photos Taken by Azar unless otherwise stated.

Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille by Isabelle Doyen and Camille Goutal for Annick Goutal 2011

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Hiya all you lovers of fine fragrance,

Annick Goutal has been covered a lot on APJ, see under the sign off for other APJ reviews, life story and stuff about this extraordinary woman and her daughter who now carries on the Annick Goutal tradition, and has done under a few owners. It must be hard to work under such conditions and try to keep a multinational brand as true as possible to your beloved mother’s vision, which started out so small, French and independent.

Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille EdT by Annick Goutal 2011

Isabelle Doyen and Camille Goutal

Mon Parfum Cheri, par Camille Annick Goutal fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in the text:
Top: Indonesian patchouli, plum
Heart: iris, powder, violet, heliotrope
Base: patchouli

Plum and patchouli? Who’d have thought it would smell this good? Plush and plumped over a bed of the fluffiest and most powdery accords ever, I mean EVAH! Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille is a beautiful modern perfume that nods heartily to history and gives us a full and throaty sensuality while remaining perfectly composed and restrained. Both innocent and alluring, like a girl/woman of a past era on the threshold of knowing. Still coltish but blossomed and ripe. Do you remember the early Julia Roberts, young Katherine Hepburn or even Cameron Diaz? They had a fresh exuberance that was self possessed, sensual and completely at ease. Being beautiful and unusual can sometimes give people an ease that even genius or the most moneyed can never attain. James Franco has it a little bit too and Brad Pitt fair oozed it. This is a fragrance for people who want to smell like that

Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille Goutal Julia roberrts Alifia♥ FlickrPhoto Stolen Alifia♥  Flickr

What do I smell exactly? A clean patchouli with no dust or rasp, plum that is ripe but unsweet in the modern sense of sweet in perfumery, green and rooty iris/heliotrope/violet powder (I find it hard to distinguish the difference and they all add up to one scent) and down the back I hardly even notice the patchouli though I know it’s there, I get more resinous sweetness than I expect from patchouli.

Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille will have you softly fragrant with a low sillage, it’s nowhere near a skin scent but it won’t intrude on your work colleagues or dinner either. Should someone be lucky enough to come in for a hug then they will receive a fragrant reward.

Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille Goutal plum WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

For a Goutal EdT I get about average fragrant life of 3-4 hours. Apparently the EdP survives longer but I like the short ride with Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille so I can wear something else after lunch or before going out. I didn’t mention how much I love the plum coloured bottle and will be4 greatly saddened by the regimentation of bottles that has been put into effect by Pacific Amore. GRRRR! At least we will be able to tell vintage at a glance.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Candy Perfume Boy
FragranceNet has $75/100ml before coupon
Surrender To Chance starts at $3/ml

Loads of love to you and yours,
Portia xx

Annick Goutal (1948-99) on APJ before. We have done days of:
Annick Goutal Biography,
Eau de Sud/Songes/Mandragore,
Eau d”Hadrien/Eau de Camille/Ce Soir Ou Jamais,
Passion/Un Matin d’Orage/Ambre Fetiche,
Mandragore Pourpe,
Songes,
Grand Amour,
Rose Splendide,
Nuit Etoilée and
Duel

 

 

L’Eau Par Kenzo Wild by Aurélien Guichard for Kenzo 2011

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Hi All,

You may remember the very lovely Emma Kate who wrote for APJ for a while and did a bunch of LIVE Video Sniffs with me. She moved to another Australian city for work recently and gave me a bunch of her unloved frags. This happened to be in the bunch and I had totally ignored it till the other day. The heat was making me scratchy and the bottle looks a little like a melting ice cube. PERFECT!!

L’Eau Par Kenzo Wild by Aurélien Guichard for Kenzo 2011

L`Eau par Kenzo Wild Kenzo FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, green lilac, wild mint, bois de roseau
Heart: Jasmine, amaryllis, lotus, Guinea pepper, white peach
Base: Vanilla, musk, Virginia blue cedar

This is a fresh, fruity, cool scent that is both sweet and tart. Nothing extraordinary but extremely cologne-ish with a sweet twist. I smell nothing natural and it is probably quite cheap to produce. The minty mandarine water opening, the peachy amorphous white flower bouquet has a hint of stem and bell pepper and it ends on a woodsy note that doesn’t really smell like anything particular, but is synthetically non intrusive. What I feel when I wear L’Eau Par Kenzo Wild is clean. Imagine it’s summer, you are hot and sweaty, L’Eau Par Kenzo Wild is like shaving/waxing your legs, having a beautiful soak in the pool afterwards and then slipping into fresh cool 100% Egyptian cotton sheets with the overhead fan on low. MMMMM Perfect.

L`Eau par Kenzo Wild Kenzo julien haler FlickrPhoto Stolen julien haler Flickr

I tried to find somewhere for you to buy L’Eau Par Kenzo Wild but though I could find the Homme version everywhere the Femme is SOLD OUT! I tried oodles of online sites and nothing. You may be lucky enough to find it on Ebay. Don’t worry if you can’t though, there are a million others quite similar. If you don’t have it you’re missing nothing. Having said that, it’s not going out in my cull.

Further reading: Pink Sith

Sorry for introducing you to a winner that I can’t even find online.

Portia xx

M’Eau Joe No.3 Hollywood Whiskey by Kedra Hart for Opus Oils 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Hey Hey Happy Huffers,

Last year while in LA for the Perfume Posse ScentSation Bus Tour our last fragrant stop of the day was Opus oils. Kedra Hart was there and boy is she a knockout. We sniffed and laughed, it was fun, we shopped and then we finished the day on the bus. I bought a bottle of Isis and today’s frag…

M’Eau Joe No.3 Hollywood Whiskey by Kedra Hart for Opus Oils 2013

M’Eau Joe No 3 - Hollywood Whiskey Fragrance Opus Oils FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Limnophila aromatica, whiskey, saffron, cognac, rice flower
Heart: Tobacco, honey, rose, violet, dark chocolate
Base: Amber, vanilla, tobacco, musk, moss, woody notes

The opening is FIERCE!! Do NOT put your nose near wet fragrance unless you want it completely burned out.

Once the initial screech has flown M’Eau Joe is extremely unusual. Sweet and green, a little nasty and very boozy. There is a something that feels awkward and it is hard to decide if I’m smelling gorgeous or disgusting. You know when you haven’t drunk alcohol for a while and then someone gives you a drink, or you buy one, and that first sip is both repellant and mother’s milk. I find it especially with white spirits. By the end of the first glass though it is delicious and you want more, right? So goes M’Eau Joe No.3 Hollywood Whiskey, I think it may be the Limnophila aromatica which is a plant from Asia used widely in Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai dishes with a green/sweet scent reminiscent of lemon and cumin that gives this incredibly unusual and most interesting hue to the other accords.

M’Eau Joe No 3 - Hollywood Whiskey Opus Oils Flaming_cocktails WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Sweet, honeyed tobacco and booze, the amber is very soft in the dry down on me and it’s mainly about the vanilla, tobacco and booze right to the end, around 5-6 hours tops. I adore M’Eau Joe No.3 Hollywood Whiskey and I wish that I found it more wearable on a daily basis. When I do grab it and spritz I get a splendid, thought provoking, good freaky fragrant ride. Nothing I own smells like it, sadly that is also its downfall. I must be TOTALLY in the mood for a journey, need to have the time and space to follow the story and be wowed by the development, time to really take note. Those times are few and far between lately and M’Eau Joe has been sitting in the frag cupboard for too long. I will make a concerted effort to give it more skin time this week…..

M’Eau Joe No 3 - Hollywood Whiskey Opus Oils Cheroot_Cigars fotopediaPhoto Stolen FotoPedia

Further reading: Perfume Posse and EauMG
Opus Oils has a huge range of ways to buy <<<JUMP
Surrender To Chance start at $6/ml

Are you a whisky or tobacco in fragrance fan? What are your favourites?
Portia x

Lolita Lempicka EdP by Annick Menardo for Lolita Lempicka 1997

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Hello Fabulous Fumies,

This is a fragrance I have long loved, every now and then I would spritz it in the department stores and never purchased it but often looked at it for a purchase but would be tempted away by something else, something newer or more towards the top of my list. I haven’t even owned a decant, and nowadays it’s extremely affordable at the discounters. Weird. The bottle is great with its fun pumper and I love the lilac so I bought a bottle for my BFF Kath a while back and today I’m stealing it off her to write a review.

Lolita Lempicka EdP by Annick Menardo for Lolita Lempicka 1997

Lolita Lempicka Lolita Lempicka FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Anise, violet, green ivy
Heart: Licorice, almond, orris, iris, cherry, amaryllis, heliotrope
Base: Tonka, vanilla, white musk, vetiver, praline

What everyone else says about Lolita Lempicka EdP is not the way I smell it. It opens sweet sugar and almond, with a fizzy drink like Fanta bubbling over it. It’s fun, frivolous and totally fabulous. I don’t get any ivy or violet at all and cool rooty or even carroty iris seems nowhere to be found., not as I know it anyway. I do get the praline, vanilla and some resins through the heart and base though which offers some sweet depths, some heft that plays counterpoint with the lovely PEZ like fizz of the higher notes. I don’t really get a great change through Lolita Lempicka EdP but it gradually slides into the base without losing anything, just changing scent volumes. I think I need to spend some more time with Lolita Lempicka EdP, I’m sure it has some secrets hidden that only repeated wearings will unravel.

 Lolita Lempicka Fairy Floss Wikipedia
Photo Stolen Wikipedia

I am no great fan of Angel but I am a fan of Lolita Lempicka EdP, it is a calmer, prettier and less strident good time, there is still the candy floss vibe but without the headache inducing size. Yes they have both become cliches but I think that Lolita Lempicka EdP is still an extremely viable fragrance choice. I get excellent projection and sillage, scent life is really good at over 5 hours before it has faded to a sweet nothing.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Now Smell This
Fragrance Shop has $22/50ml
My Perfume Samples starts at $2/ml

Have you spent any time in Lolita Lempicka EdP? Great fragrance, I’ve had such fun wearing it the last few days.
Portia xx

 

Melissa – Pretty Name, Pretty Scent – A Wonderful Essential Oil

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Post by Suzanne R Banks

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Melissa – Pretty Name, Pretty Scent – A Wonderful Essential Oil

Lemon_balm WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Melissa is also called lemon balm. It belongs to the same family as lavender, marjoram, peppermint, sage, patchouli, rosemary, thyme, oregano and more. You can see how the leaf looks similar to some of the other herbs too, and it’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart just from a photo.

Like many plants that create essential oils, Melissa extract is used in Naturopathy extensively for calming nerves and anxiety. This is what the essential oil is good for as well. It has a lemon scent but is more refined than lemongrass, more subtle than lemon and more delicate than any lemon scented eucalyptus or tea tree.

And once again this plant has an interesting history in healing through the past centuries. The standout landmark for this lovely plant is traced back to the Carmelite Monks of France during medieval times, but this magical herb is recorded as far back as 550BC with the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus – and ancient Greek city now in Turkey. Then we have the founders of modern medicine talking about this herb; 40—90 AD with the Greek physician Dioscorides, and with the Roman naturalist and philosopher of the same time, Pliny the Elder. Thank goodness there are really brainy people who have looked back through ancient records and delivered the information to us.

So it seems as though this gorgeous little herb has the healing powers of the universe within its little green leaves.

Back to the Carmelite monks……… or was it the nuns of another Carmelite origin in the 1200′s? Melissa has been noted way back to the 800′s as a herb of great healing properties, and it seems as though the healing water made with melissa originated in the 14th century (or even earlier) but became more well-known when the Carmelite friars were granted patents by the kings Louis IV, V and VI of France under the name “Eau de Melisse de Carmes”. During these times the herb water was both drunk as a tonic and used as a cologne to wash away the stench and dirt of the streets – and the stink of the general population who did not wash frequently! The balm water also contained other herbs and was used as a panacea. Both original recipes of Benedictine and Chartreuse (the liqueurs from monastic origin) contained melissa but not sure if they do now

Chartreuse Jeremy Brooks FlickrPhoto Stolen Jeremy Brooks  Flickr

Chartreuse – a lovely green herbal colour with over 100 ingredients

Our beautiful melissa lost favour as more herbs and plants were discovered for healing but it is still prized in Naturopathy and Aromatherapy today as a soothing balm for the emotions. In Aromatherapy we use melissa for –

* uplifting emotional states in depression

* soothing anxiety

* on the skin as an anti-viral – topically for cold sores

* vapourised in a room of sickness to help with nausea and to limit the spread of a virus (it seems that a lot of the lemon scented plants have a great anti-viral effect and I’ve always recommended vapourising lemon in the home if you have a sick person to reduce the spread of the virus or bacteria)

* on the stomach to reduce cramps

Melissa officinalis WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Melissa – also called balm and lemon balm – is best used to soothe the soul, mental anguish and to inspire happiness. Just take a whiff straight from the bottle.

It is a very expensive oil so you will probably find it in a 3% dilution ready to use straight from the bottle as a perfume, anointing oil and skin treatment for lesions.

I hope you love melissa as much as I do!

————————————————————————————————————————————–

Happy blending and remember to use your intention when you are creating your formulas.

Suzanne R Banks

Suzanne R Banks Blog
Suzanne R Banks Aromatherapy
Suzanne R Banks FaceBook

copyright suzannerbanks 2013

Tilleul by Olivia Giacobetti for D`Orsay 2008

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Hiding in the back of my perfume shelf I found a fragrance I haven’t worn for years. TILLEUL D’Orsay. I’d forgotton how lovely it was. I originally bought it as it reminded me of honeysuckle, fresh freesias and lily of the valley combined, but in a way smelt far more natural and less sickly-toilet-sprayish than a fragrance with these ingredients would usually smell. (I find frags of these flowers often smell cheap and nasty)

On revisiting it I now realize its got plenty more to it and is put together incredibly well.

Tilleul by Olivia Giacobetti for D`Orsay 2008

Tilleul D`Orsay FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lemon blossom, angelica, watermelon
Heart: Cyclamen, linden blossom
Base: Acacia tree, bee wax, hay, black locust

Tilleul by D`Orsay is light and sparkles with a waxy floral, citrus-like, smell, especially straight from the bottle. Tileul is Linden blossom, mixed up with lemon blossom. It is fresh, pretty and bright. Summery to me.

Once sprayed, there’s gusts of watermelon, maybe slightly green, which surprisingly I am liking, considering I’m not a big one for fruity fragrances. The waxy undertones seem to be beeswax and I think this makes the whole combo tolerable, and not too sweet for me. The dryness, touching on powdery, could be hay , or grasses. I am still reminded of honeysuckle, but it’s almost like that smell has been re-constructed with the use of other flowers/ingredients, rather than containing any actual honeysuckle.

Tilleul by D`Orsay honeysuckle WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The other factor leading me away from thinking it’s honeysuckle is a floral, citrus green note. A muguet? Perhaps not lily of the valley, or freesia as first thought, but cyclamen, a flower I consider to be quite underated. So often the pots sit flowering in peoples homes and no one stoops to smell them. Such a pretty scent, but so so faint, usually. Not here. Here it is amplified and enhanced by its co-ingredients.

If you like mimosa/acacia/floral green fragrances like L’Occitane Eau d’azur – this will be a hit for you – but far more natural and not as heavy on synthetics like calone, which gives me a nasty headache. This is a well balanced scent.

Tilleul by D`Orsay was first created in 1915, so there is definitely a beautiful vintage feel to the scent, and combination of ingredients is very “of that era”. Very French. In 2008 it was reformulated by Olivia Giacobetti, which might be why also I am getting a good whiff of freesia perhaps, as she was the nose behind Ofresia for Diptyche. (which is also very nice, but VERY VERY SWEET…and seems to get sweeter in the bottle over time). I love so many of her mixes, and seem to building a little collection/shrine to her over time.

Tilleul D`Orsay The_Quarrel_of_Oberon_and_Titania WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

It’s a fresh green floral. It’s summer. Tilleul by D`Orsay is green watermelon!!!! Too much would be a bit sickly for me, but today- a hot 32 degrees in Byron Bay, a light spritz and I am off to the beach DEFINITELY smelling better than those in my way!! (someone should open a perfume shop up here!!)

Further reading: Confessions Of A Perfume Nerd and Now Smell This
Parfum1 has $75/50ml
The Posh Peasant starts at $3.50/ml

have you revisited the back of your cupboard lately- found anything you like?? Tell me more!!

Ainslie Walker