Lisa Fong, Artemisia Natural Perfume
Belle Starr EDP
This is a really pleasant perfume. I gave it the toughest test in my arsenal -- I wore it to the gym on a humid day. It lasted through a couple of hours of -- well, you know what a gym smells like.
Right away, I knew it contained a high-quality jasmine, a little rose and bergamot, but I have to admit that I’m not sure I’ve ever smelled, for example, karo-karounde absolute, so I had to hit the books for some of the ingredients in this scent. Another that caught my attention was rooibos absolute, about which I knew nothing.
Karo-karounde is the product of a flowering shrub, with a jasmine-like, but woodier, spicier scent -- aha! The secondary jasmine! Rooibos, usually used as a tea, is faintly woody and sweet, with fruit/berry undertones. The other ingredients are more common in perfumery, bois de rose; lotus, carnation -- perhaps as natural essences, perhaps not. These are, of course, botanicals.
The result is a lovely floral, very feminine and pretty. Like all the botanicals I’ve tried, it is made better by body heat; I sprayed this on a card, and found it to be much greener, and cooler, but then put the card against my skin for a while. All the floral essences came to front and center. I smelled great. My workout companion said it reminded her of a Chanel perfume.
Ms. Fong named this scent after another outlaw with an undeserved bad rep -- Belle Starr, whose skill at riding and, er, leadership qualities won her censure as a “sex-crazed hellion with the morals of an alley-cat…” Well. How about that.
Very nice jasmine-centered scent, wearable anywhere, good longevity.
Ingredients (the ones on the IFRA’s proposed restricted-substances list in red italics) are:
Red cedarwood, ginger, bois de rose, bergamot, karo-karounde absolute, carnation absolute, jasmine grandiflorum absolute, tonka, lotus concrete, rooibos absolute and cepes absolute.
