Eau des Merveilles

I got a small (1 oz.) bottle of Hermès Eau des Merveilles.  I like Ralf Schwieger pretty much, and was curious.  I have good results usually with Hermès.

I dont know why, but I was expecting this to be sweet.  Not even.  It's rather nice, dry: citrus and the sea. Interestingly, Bruno Fazzolari's horror movie homage, Room 237, smells nearly identical, although the listed notes are very different.  Hmmmmm.....  (EDIT:  I asked my building manager if she thought they smelled the same.  She preferred Room 237 and said it was more feminine and sweeter. Eau des Merveilles smelled masculine to her. )

I also got a bottle of Claude Montana, Montana Black Edition, which was very cheap, and smells it.

I also got a rather large (150 ml) bottle of Bvlgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Bleu, which is not nearly as nice as the Thé Rouge, which has been discontinued.

A House Divided

On Now Smell This today, the community scent of the day project is A House Divided, or to wear two scents by the same house.

I chose Serge Lutens Santal de Mysore on one wrist.  On the other, I'm wearing Santal Blanc, a recent purchase.

I was in Barneys a couple weeks ago and just happened to try this on and was surprised how much I liked it.  I ended up ordering it directly from the Serge Lutens web site.

Comparing the two, I think I prefer Santal de Mysore.  It smells more like true sandalwood.  I'll have to wear Santal Blanc alone to get an unbiased opinion.  Compared with Santal de Mysore, Santal Blanc smells more of sandalwood with white musk.

I suppose I could have worn Santal Majuscule..... but I don't think it smells of sandalwood at all.

Powdery Honey

My experience with Francis Kurkdjian has not been a good one.  My first foray into this whole perfumista thing was when I heard rumors that  Davidoff's Zino -- which I had worn monogamously for 20 years  -- was being discontinued, in 2009. I started researching replacements.  I came across Davidoff's Silver Shadow, which sounded like a reasonable facsimile. Boy, was I wrong.  Instead, Silver Shadow proved a dud.  The biggest problem for me is/was that it is extremely powdery.  Disappointed, I researched further, discovered this whole goddamned world, and here I am today, with a collection of well over 250 bottles.

Every since the Silver Shadow fiasco, I have not trusted Francis Kurkdjian one single bit. Nearly every scent created by him that I've tried has also contained this annoying powderiness.  Granted, I have not tried everything he has done. It's just not me, I guess.

In 2010, a year after Maison Francis Kurkdjian was established, he came out with Absolue pour le Soir. I recall being impressed by its skank, in contrast to others I had tried in the line. I had a sample sitting around for years, but never thought about getting a full bottle.

If you've been following me this year, you see that I have been on a honey hunt, and, well, Absolue pour le Soir has a strong honey note, hence its skank. I heard rumors of the perfume's demise, and thought I should probably get a bottle, which I did.

As you'd expect, this is very sweet.  I don't get the skank I recall from when it first came out. It also is every bit as powdery as every other Kurkdjian I have ever tried. My original sample, which is "vintage", as the boys on Basenotes like to say, smells the same, so there are not any reformulation issues that I know of. I do like it, but am again put off by its powderiness. Truth be told, I was aware of its powderiness prior to purchase. I probably should be wearing this in colder weather anyway. It's probably the only Francis Kurkdjian I'll ever shell out for.