Friday, April 3, 2009

Three for spring that won't break the bank (and a drawing!)





Spring? Huh, you say? Spring? It’s snowing/raining/flooding/freezing. But don’t fear, my pretties, it will come. Trust me on this.


I’ve been shopping. Stocking up on all those “Eaus” our usually hot springs and miserable Georgia summers demand. In big bottles, too. Here’s what I’m thinking: once the Burghers of Brussels are successful in removing any ingredient that might cause a rash in one of ten thousand of us, such as hydroxycitronell (are they joking? Hydroxycitronell?!) as well as oakmoss and who knows what else, many of our beloved summer scents are going to smell like a melting popsicle and probably last about as long. So I’m hitting the online discounters for (I hope) their older stock in full bottles. Some of these are surprisingly inexpensive. Here are a few:

O de LancĂ´me: suggested by Helg from Perfume Shrine. I asked on Perfume Posse if anyone knew of a citrus that might last. After the laughing stopped, Helg suggested this one, among others, as a lemony citrus with a little green bite. This has been around since the early Seventies, although it has been reworked. (Bottle purists be advised: it does come in a hard acrylic bottle, which I assume has to do with the low price.) And it does last, especially for a citrus, even on me. I’m thinking: work, gym, walks, lunches, wear it wherever I want. A decant in my handbag, as with all of these: the modern equivalent of smelling salts on a July day. Notes include the usual citrus fruits plus petit grain, jasmine, honeysuckle, basil, rosemary, coriander, oakmoss, cedar, sandalwood and vetiver. On me, the citrus notes predominate.

In Love Again (YSL): Okay, this isn’t news. It’s a Jean-Claude Ellena, from 1998, relaunched in 2004, and I’ve heard it described as a rehearsal for Un Jardin sur le Nil. But the surprise, at least on me, was the drydown. I sprayed it on a T-shirt, went to sleep in a cloud of sweet grapefruit, and work up in a garden of subtle berries and flowers. Okay, the name is kind of dumb, but the fragrance is really nice! Notes include grapefruit rind, grapes, bilberry (which I believe is from Australia), tulip tree flower, water lily, blackberry, sandalwood and musk.

Silences (Jacomo) Read Helg's review here. I can’t add much to it except to say that this is one of the most unusual scents I’ve ever experienced: mossy, dark, intense bitter green. Helg says that this one came out just before the release of Opium, and, as all the other companies fell all over each other trying to duplicate Opium’s success, it was mostly forgotten. I’ve never tried the vintage Vent Vert, unfortunately, but I bet this one is in the same ballpark. My husband describes it as “sultry.” If you like dark greens, get this while you still can; it’s ridiculously inexpensive on the online discount sites.

(Note: there is some confusion about the versions; there was a reformulation at some point. The most recent version features, according to Jacomo's site, narcissus absolute, iris “from Florence,” rose, blackcurrant absolute, galbanum, calendula, Bulgarian rose, lily of the valley, oakmoss, ambrette, sandalwood and vetiver.)

If you’d like to receive samples of these three, three mills of each, in a sprayer (c’mon, I’m not going to tell you how inexpensive these are and then send you a lousy 1 ml vial) leave me a comment and I’ll do a random drawing. Deadline is Sunday, April 19, midnight US E.S.T.


Narcissus photograph by Keith M. Borow. All rights reserved.

23 comments:

bookishredhead said...

Okay, you should start getting cuts from the perfume companies. I really want to try Silences now. I remember liking Opium when I was a kid, but my mother telling me in no uncertain terms that I was NOT to try and wear it until I hit 40 - which of course made me want to wear it all the more. So, I can only imagine how much I will love Silences and its yummy deep green smells. And, if I keep to my mother's warning I'll only have to wait three more years to wear it.
How time flies.

Unknown said...

Ooh, I would love to try these!

lady jicky said...

I do not know that Silences but my "must have " for spring is champs elysee and summer heat = diorella!

Anne said...

Dark green in summer is my fav. Silences sounds amazing!

Anne

Anonymous said...

yes please! they sound fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Oh yay please enter me!

Charlotte Vale said...

I'd love to be entered in the draw. Silences has been on my to-try list for a while, and the others sound very refreshing too.

EileenS said...

All three sound great. I've been eyeing the Silences but you've now added the other two to my list. Of course I'd be interested in samples of these!

ahsumaker said...

All three sound appealing the way you describe then, and none were on my radar before. I'd love to try them, please count me in.

ScentScelf said...

I've already gone ga-ga for the power of Silences, and talked at length in my blog. Suffice to say, between the power of galbanum, and the darkish but still threaded with green overall aspect, Silences soothes me and at the same time begins a spring awakening. Personally, I agree emphatically with it as a spring scent choice.

I'll have to go back to my mini of O de Lancome; had seen your exchange with Helg, and made note of it. I wonder if the new IFRA regulations will affect this one, too; Luca Turin mentions the citrus in Eau de Hadrien as an ingredient that will have to go. (How can it be EdH without???)

In Love Again I don't know at all...thanks for the introduction!

Seeing as I have 2 out of 3, keep me from the draw; best of luck to all who are trying!

Anonymous said...

I've been wanting to try Silences for a while now, would love to be in the draw. Thanks!
Nika

Ines said...

I am actually very interested in Silences after reading about it, so please include me in the draw. :)
(it is not available in Croatia as far as I know)

Perfumeshrine said...

Glad you liked all three!!! :-))

Thanks for mentioning me too. I wouldn't want to ruin others chances of course, so I am not entering the draw natually, Just wanted to say that hydoxycitronellol had been estricted for quite some time (not new) but also lots of other LOTV synths are restricted too. And it's a pity because LOTV was used as an "open the bouquet" accessory note, very often.

Kathryn said...

I'd love to try them, too. Please enter me in the draw. Thanks!

rachaelg said...

count me in, thanks! your review of silences reminds me why it's been on my 'to try' list for years. I'd love the chance to actually do so!

March said...

Hey, thanks for the link, doll! I feel like spring will NEVER BE HERE. Tomorrow's post is whining about just that. :) I am not a Silences girl, but I will retry O. You've made it sound tasty.

Olfacta said...

Hello everybody -- Usually I respond to each comment, but have been having computer meltdowns (in the midst of switching to a Mac, my old Windows-based laptop crashed and I mean kee-rashed as in "see ya!" -- guess it was jealous). Anyway I have to straighten out a lot of stuff now. Nice to hear from all of you!

Mark Evans said...

ooh, an opportunity to try another JCE fragrance as well as the intriguing sounding Silences. I'll have to come out of lurking for this one!

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Curious to try these. . . hope I win the draw!
-- Gretchen

Flora said...

I would love to try these, please put me in the draw. I used to love O de Lancome but I have not seen it in years, is it still being made?

Aparatchick said...

All three sound interesting, but Silences sounds particularly good.

Natasha said...

Please enter me in the drawing I'd love to try these this spring. It's finally here today in NY! Thanks

Tara

Anonymous said...

Oooh, these sound perfect for summer! Please enter me in the drawing :)