Adventures of Barbarella

Shalimar Parfum Initial Review

Ah, Shalimar. The sole mention of the name is so evoking! You can't touch it. It's one of those fragrances that makes the wearer inherently cool in front of perfumistas.

Shalimar is one of my mom's signature scents, she guards it zealously. I imagine we all have women in our family who wear it. It is the "First Oriental", and one of the most famous scents in the world. I love it, in theory. But the few times I've tested it, it didn't go how I imagined. I feel like I spray it on but I can't reach it. Shalimar, in my head, is gorgeous and has no boundaries. On my skin however, it's an old bar of soap. I get whiffs of something I like and that is strangely addictive- that bar of soap is scented with something that I like, but I can't get to it.

Is it the powder, is it the bergamont, is it that essences smelled different 200 years ago? I don't know. Whatever it is, it's frustrating.

Fast-forward to Shalimar Initial, which is a loud blast of that scent that I couldn't get to, right from the beginning. With a little dirty thrown in there.  I don't want to say that it compares to Agent Provocateur or Vivienne Westwood Bodoir, but it has that spirit, that is a little sweaty and wouldn't be quite right on a bright Summer morning.

Fortunately, it is nothing like I thought it would be, given the premise of a "Shalimar for a 17 year old". It's not that I think that a teenager's selection should be limited to "fresh" and "fruity floral"- I myself was more interested in Philosykos when I first started smelling things- and it's not that I doubt the good taste of the younger generations, but this doesn't strike me as a particularly "young" fragrance. It's pretty powerful, has a lot of character, it's not approachable or easy to wear (not significantly so), and I don't think it is standard enough that everyone will like it. Which is a good thing.

So what does it smell like? If you're familiar with Shalimar, take away the soapy edge and the powder, intensify the sweetness of the citrus, vanilla and the tonka, and add a dirty stocking. Parfum Initial starts with a certain effervescence. Sweet citrus, lemony. Flowers come in...sandalwood, patchouli. Very charming. Sophisticated, but Shalimar is still more elegant, opens more sinuously. Parfum Initial I would say, is a modern interpretation, but not a dumb one. I love Parfum Initial, although a part of me wishes this was a little bit more like Shalimar.

If you have no idea what Shalimar is, try it, if only because it's a big part of history.

I agree with others that this is less fine, less detailed, and more to the point. Warmer, fleshier. If Shalimar is a tall tower carved in ivory, in your oriental estate in India, this is the girl sitting inside it.

 

ha I captured a rainbow on a spritz of Eau De Ciel

Miss Dior Cherie 2011

I've never been a fan of Miss Dior Cherie; sales assistants have been shoving it up my nose since the day it was released, and to me it just smelled like mint- strawberry gum.

The EDT however- completely different scent. They got rid of that artificial aftertaste, and it was all caramelised popcorn and flowers. I loved the EDT. I'm not alone when I say, we've been waiting for Dior to come to their senses and realise that the EDT is so much better, and just tweak the EDP to match it.

Well ladies and gents - that's just what they did.

I won't attempt to produce a comparison between this and the original one; I don't know how they compare, the original was a nightmare of strawberry syrup gone bad on me. This is a completely different story. As for how it compares to the EDT: the base is the same, the EDT is fresher and has an obvious popcorn note that I don't quite get in this one

Sprays: I'm doing fine with my usual two, smells more than enough for most of the day. As I've said before, I don't like leaving a trail, i only want those who lean on to smell me.

So what does it smell like? Well, may I present the notes:

 (as listed on the sample slip):

Italian Mandarin Essence
Egyptian Jasmine Absolute
Patchouli Essence

I like how they didn't dare to put an ethnity on the Patchouli. It is SUCH a sanitised patchouli, I can't even tell it's patchouli. And did you notice they're not marketing that foul strawberry anymore? Interesting for a scent that was ABOUT strawberry when it came out.

More:

Top: sparkling citruses
Heart: Rose Damascena, intense jasmine, patchouli
Base: vetyver, sandalwood

I'll go through the end result: There's a candied citrus opening with lots of mandarin/orange. It's not acidic at all, it's like one of those homemade sugar coated candy jelly sweeties made from real fruit. It quickly settles to sweet flowers, and yes, I'm pretty sure there is still some strawberry. It dries down to a flowery mix of candied petals that stay fresh and, I guess, laboratory sandalwood.

I don't really smell the patchouli. Patchouli to me is an earthy mossy smell and there's nothing earthy about this scent at all.

Finally, let's discuss the campaign:






Why are they marketing this with Natalie Portman wearing a little black dress? Why is Sophia Copolla directing it? That's like getting Stella McCartney to make Britney's tour outfits and hiring Gwyneth Paltrow as her body double.

Miss Dior Cherie is a girly, frilly, pink, cheesecake-pose kind of thing- the previous ads were wonderful and everybody loves them. They could have really gone for it with Portman, she's such a perfect Lolita. Not a sterile portrait shot wearing a black dress..That is soo Vanity-Fair cover in the most boring sort of way. There's nothing grown-up about this scent, and that is the whole point.

 

"L'Agent" by Agent Provocateur. Fragrance review

It's funny with Agent Provocateur. It's one of those houses that is so big and commercial, that you almost expect bad things from them. They aspire to be kinky, elegant, sophisticated, and somewhere along the line it goes wrong. Their clientele is stuck up, their models are either socialites or Russian escorts (it's a fine line), and they sold out last year. The depraved tone of the campaigns can be hilarious. The whole plot is a little cheesy and pretentious.




I'm compelled to review them positively though, because I do love a lot of their products, even if the more racy designs have to be worn very carelessly, kind of like if you put on a different color sock by mistake in the morning. Outstanding analogy.

Moving on.

I am a huge fan of Agent Provocateur, the original fragrance. It is dynamite. It really is sex in a bottle- and that sounds offputting to the extreme worded like that, but I mean it in a good way. Agent Provocateur is definitely night-wear, and worn before bed it would keep me awake.

The new one, L'Agent, that I am now getting to, is different. Very very different. But brave too! I jumped of excitement when I tried it. Wow! All out there with the dry rose petals, pepper, incense. Oriental? I don't know about that- then again I'm too blonde for orientals, I never liked them, I haven't experimented with them, I might now know what I'm talking about...- To me and my limited experience, it's an oldfashioned musky floral, really. It reminds of a lot of things but it's more beautiful.



It's wintery, it is sexy, it is not particularly sweet but it could easily be a comfort scent, like a cup of pure, bitter cocoa. I envision a boudoir with red velvet furnishings, a heavy brocade dress on the carpet, a poutpurri on the dressing table and an incense stick burning next to it. That's what it smells like to me. Slightly stuffy in a way, as if the room hadn't been aired for days, and as if there had been quite a few women in it, each wearing different scents. Women, not girls. It could have been produced decades ago.

Finally: It's quite potent, but wearable. I'm enjoying wearing this with casual clothes.

I'll let you know what the male population thinks. That will be Review Part.2: "Action or No Action: Cut to the chase: What you really wanna know"

Quoting from Fragantica.com so you can get a better idea of the notes:

Top opening bursts with pink pepper, davana oil, rosewood, ylang-ylang and angelica. Amazingly powerful and tempting heart blends floral notes of Bourbon geranium, May rose, Sambac jasmine, tuberose and osmanthus. The base includes the darkest and most enigmatic ingredients of patchouli, sandalwood, amber crystals, tonka bean, labdanum, myrrh, black incense and musk.

Agent Provocateur is available in 50ml EDP here
L'Agent is available in 100ml and 50ml EDP here

 

Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose Fragrance Review

"Lipstick Rose" is, in it's austerity, possibly the prettiest name in the galaxy of fragrance. Modest and evoking all the coquetry and playfulness of a pinup. I heard of this scent on its release, far before I became interested in "smelling" at all, and it was so out of my reach and yet so bloody magnetic to me, I haven't forgotten it ever since.

The descriptions you'll have read: "a powdery, violet-scented tube of lipstick", "almost a novelty scent (...) To use Andy Warhol's words, this is "a deeply superficial" perfume", "theatre, backstage, lots of powder, excitement"

So a few months ago, one gray ol' day I come across the words again "Lipstick Rose", and it turns out I'm living in London and the possibility of testing it is a reality. So dressed up in my favourite posh girl attire I head out, get to the shop, refuse the paper slip and spray some juice on my wrist directly.

BANG. I get slapped on the face by a cloud of chalky violets. Immediately, I felt cheated on, and all that I had read about this character broke down to reveal an artifice that I really did not approve of. It was cheap, it was insolent, it broke my heart.

Rule #1: Don't get close to Lipstick Rose, she bites.

Now, I am rather obstinate and when I get my eye on something, I am inflexible! Not content with being let down, I went right back the next day and sprayed it on again. That is when I decided I didn't care for it. I forgot about it at that point, and instead of burying my nose into my wrist, I lived with it that evening- and that is when it started doing its magic, colouring the world around me and building the fantasy that I had read about. And it was wonderful

Of all the fragrances I have experienced, Lipstick Rose is different. You will not like it if you smell it up close. You will abhor it, you'll choke on it. I feel I'm being simple if I say that it's the silage that touches me -it's not that- it's that for some reason, this doesn't develop any flavour until it's floating around you. Once it's there, I've caught whiffs of all the different notes and pink visions it contains, but on my wrist I've seen nothing.

So what is it? It is a waxy, violet-flavoured lipstick on a desk with loose powders and pink roses. It is not dainty; it is modern, quite warhol-esque, and it is unnerving. This is one that I admire and respect, and need to be dressed for (and my clothes will smell of it for days).

There's a lot of wax and a lot of powder, I love both, I can never get enough wax! It is also independent and will not become a skin scent a couple of hours later- it is what it is, it's not so much a part of your body, as a part of your costume. And that's why it's a "tricky" one for me. A high dose of this one when you're not in the mood is disastrous, (I would say the same of any vibrant violet fragrance), I wear it with constraint and it would bother me if others didn't. Sometimes a sniff out of the bottle is enough.

Truly genius though.




If you found Lipstick Rose very, very strong-minded, Drole de Rose by L'Artisan is a similar, softer take on powdery rose and violets. It starts green and powdery, but the dry down is almost identical, just a lot more timid.

Chanel 19

"Striking and admirably dissonant portrait" "Haughtly and immune to sweetness, with a somewhat antiseptic air, this extraordinary perfume appeals to anyone who has ever wished to know what it is to be heartless"

Tania Sanchez

Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf

I am embarrassed to announce that after my very documented peregrination of niche houses I've ended up enjoying a sample of Flowerbomb. I never really paid any attention to this. Until recently, I knew naught of mainstream scents. I really like Viktor&Rolf though, so the fact that this is mainstream doesn't entirely put me off.

It's very sugary. Don't ask me how it compares to others in its league, Sarah Jessica Parker, Juicy Couture, Vera Wang and the like- I have no clue, bear with me. All I can say is that this smells of candyfloss and flowery vanilla and it does not smell cheap. Similar to MOR Marshmallow actually, minus the powder.

It's quite a delicious composition of sweetness, very creamy and well-rounded, and definitely a gourmand. I can see how people say it's missing something because it's not a big personality scent- but I don't think it's missing anything since it's nothing in particular to begin with; it's just pretty. I never liked candy growing up, but I can now appreciate it in small quantities.

The target demographic for this seems to be a young consumer; I find it quite pointless to categorize scents into age groups. I guess this wouldn't be the signature power fragrance for a woman in her fourties, but it might well be her comfort scent. Sometimes one wants a bite of cake. Flowerbomb is perfect for those days.




On the same(?) line, I did test Fantasy by Britney Spears this week too, it is one of those *fantasy* scents that in my head and in theory, I love, to the extent of telling people I love it. I read about it and I love it, in all its tackiness. It turns out, it flops on me. Total fail. If somebody had a pineapple cocktail, cupcakes and a milkshake, and then threw up; that's what Fantasy smells like and I couldn't wait to wash it off.

Chanel n.19 Fragrance Review

Chanel n19 is a ray of light to me. It's a cool white floral, powdery green scent. If it were a colour it would be a sunny white. It isn't as green as others because it has that powdery musky sweetness to fall back on, but it is by no means an opulent flower bouquet either, and I don't detect aldehydes in this one.

N.19 is feminine, bright and quiet, stays in the background and doesn't make you smell "of" something. Which is why it's such a perfect throw-on, everyday scent. I can't imagine one circumstance where this one would be obtrusive. In the mornings when I'm not quite ready to smell anything, it doesn't interfere with my senses; in Summer it's light and in Winter it's comforting; and it's surprisingly sensual for evenings. 

If I were reading this I would be bored out of my mind and would now look for the following clarification: When I describe this as "fresh" and "light" (two words I abhor in fragrance reviews, they alienate me immediately) it is in contrast to the type of  fragrances I go for: heady grand bouquets, power vanillas and candied roses. This one, although "lighter" because it shines through you rather than decorates you, is as special as the best and a beauty in it's own right.

I had to google the notes, I can't tell them apart, they melt into each other like a sunrise: Galbanum, hyacinth, neroli, bergamot, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, orris, narcissus, ylang-ylang, oakmoss, cedarwood, iris, vetiver, sandalwood, leather, musk. From these I notice the rose and iris on a woody base the most, but they are so transparent I could hardly affirm they are rose and iris and vetiver.

 

Vanille Havana (Vanille Absolutament)

I googled the new name of this juice and got nothing - that wasn't a very successful change of name! Rebrands are always difficult, especially when everybody is so enamoured with the original.

Vanille Havana doesn't really smell of what the word evokes to me, therefore I think the new term is a more suitable choice. It is a special vanilla, skillfully adorned with spices. Warm spices with a base of vanilla would be an equally correct description. I wouldn't say it is heavily spiced because it is not intense, but that's not to say that it isn't spicy; it is. It is aromatic and transparent. What floats around you is a cloud of smoky vanilla milk, like a chai latte.

It has a warmth to it that makes it beautiful for cold Winter nights, and that's when I crave gourmands the most. Much has been said by perfume aficionados to elevate it outside of the cliche - god forbid - gourmand vanilla territory, and I agree that this is not a generic vanilla (and i can't think of it as being in the same category of "generic department store smell", none of the L'Artisan line is), but it smells pretty edible to me.

Is it grown up? Well it can be but it is not a serious scent, and it is nowhere near the solemnity, grandeur or elegance of what I expect from a perfume classified as "grown up", so it's confusing when people tell me how grown up it is. Passage d'Enfer is grown-up, Vanille Havana, less so.

What I reckon I'm missing in the mix is a flower; I like my floral vanillas. This is coming from the point of view of a regular girl who likes fragrances and might be way off beat, but that's my reality.

All this said, I enjoy this scent and appreciate it for what it is, I like wearing it because it's very comforting; I have to be in the mood for it and sometimes I feel like it just sits on my skin and it's not "me" - spice is rarely "me".