End of the Year

A few weeks back, I ordered a couple of things, which came last week.

First, I got Serge Lutens Five O'Clock au Gingembre.  I was thinking it was close to Tea For Two.  However, they really don't resemble each other much, with the Serge being more along the lines of Daim Blond than I remember....

I was really in the mood for tea, so I also ordered Gucci Pour Homme II, which I remember being a nice tea scent.  However, I was very disappointed with it when it arrived,  It smells a lot more chemical than I remember it.  Maybe it's been reformulated.  Sadly, Gucci Pour Homme (I) is nowhere to be found. I do have a sample of that.

The Gucci bottle is kind of impressive.  You could probably kill someone with it, it's so heavy. A murder weapon in a Peckinpah film (I'm thinking of the use of the telephone at the beginning of The Naked Kiss).

From another store, I ordered a travel set of Amouage Gold Man, which was relatively cheap.  The one ounce of juice will probably last me a lifetime.  Gold still has that opening which could peel paint off a wall, but I've always liked the drydown a lot.

I also ordered Epic Man shower gel, which was really impressively packaged.  I never would think of giving someone shower gel for a gift, but the packaging is so nice I might do that in the future. I should have gotten some Christmas presents along those lines.  Now it's too late, alas, to order online in time for Christmas.

This is the bottle, which is kind of nothing special. The box, however, is very heavy, almost a piece of wood.  The box below is for Gold, but it looks similar to the Epic Man box. The colors are a bit different.

Maybe I'm easily impressed.

New Acquisitions

I had gotten a 50 ml bottle of Annick Goutal's Mandragore several years ago from CO Bigelow at Woodfield (now closed, alas) for $20.  It was in the "girly" bottle most Goutals come in.  I really like Mandragore.  Oddly, for a citrus scent, I prefer it in the winter.  It doesn't have a whole lot of longevity, but I do like it very much.  I recently bought a bottle in the "manly" bottle, just because I think it is nice.  I'll give the remainder of my 50 ml bottle to Janet, who has used hers all up!

I also ordered a 50 ml bottle of Amouage Memoir Man.  So, after Epic Man and Tribute, my third Amouage!

Mandragore photo from Nordstroms.  Memoir Man photo from Basenotes. 

Amouage Tribute

After a two-month wait, my bottle has finally come! It was on backorder forever.  I was just getting ready to plunk down another $300, as the 30 ml bottle was in stock.  But then, I got home and there was a note on my door that a package had been delivered.

I'm kind of afraid to open it, since there is talk of reformulation.  I was able to find my teensy sample from a few years back, so I should be able to compare the two.    Hope it's as good as I remember.  Fortunately, I didn't break the $300 threshold in buying this, as I got a 20% discount! If I had gone beyond $300, there pretty much would be no turning back.

Yet Another Bag Event

Today I had lunch with Sara Dornacker from work.  We went to The Cheesecake Factory, where another co-worker, Laura Marshall, works.   Sara is, I guess a regular there.  Anyway, I am still stuffed.

Afterwards, we went to Barneys.  They were having their fall bag event.  So, yes, I bought some stuff.

First, I got Comme des Garçons Ouarzazate, from their Incense Series.  I'm meaning to get all five, eventually.  It's not as show-offy as others in the series, but I like it.  It probably would have been better in the summer, and it has been getting colder and colder, lately.

Next, I got Serge Lutens Louve.  I had a sample of this, and tried it recently.  I don't think a lot of people like this one.   The Perfume Guide only gives it two stars.  I do think it is very nice, especially now that it is getting colder.  I may have more words on this later, after I have worn it more.

Barneys in New York has begun carrying all the non-export line in what they call "cloche" bottles.  (The Serge Lutens web site calls them "flacons de table.") Prices are roughly twice what they are in Paris.  I guess that is to be expected.  I ordered five samples from Surrender to Chance (my first order since they broke away from The Perfumed Court):  La Myrrhe, De Profundis, Boxeuses, Iris Silver Mist, and Fourreau Noir. I figured I wasn't about to blind buy a $300 bottle of perfume, and these were the ones I was most interested in.  Surrender to Chance also sells empty bell jars for, like, $9.  So I got one for Bornéo 1834, which I have in the export line spray bottle.  Muscs Koublaï Khän and Borneo 1834 seem kind of perfect if they were in bell jars.  I figure I can decant my bottle of Borneo into the bell jar.  I had bought a 15 ml decant of MKK in a bell jar a few years back from the Perfumed Court, but I never decanted my 50 ml export version into it (they do smell the same).  The MKK bottle's label was kind of smudged when I got it.  The Borneo bottle is in perfect shape, though... so I think I will go through with it.  If I like other non-export scents, and they are not exporting them soon, I may plunk down eventually for a cloche bottle.  Why not?  The cloche bottles are 75 ml.

I also got a 1/4 ml sample of Amouage Homage.  I haven't tried it yet (nor have I tried the Lutens decants). I was looking for something else today, and I found my sample, or what's left of it, of Amouage Tribute.  I'll hang on to it until my bottle comes (it's currently on backorder), considering all this talk about reformulation.

Sara was acting very conspiratorial with Andy at Barneys, and she ended up buying Nuit de Cellophone, which I thought an odd choice.

26 September 2012 EDIT:

Sara smelled very good in Nuit de Cellophane.  It actually was a good choice for her.  Beautiful.  I guess I pretty much ignored it previously because it was a floral.  I still don't think it would work on me.

While I had been at Barneys, I tried Bois de Violette.  I'd like to try it more.  I have Féminité du Bois already, but it really does smell different from the Shiseido version (of which I have a 1 ml sample somewhere).  I think Bois de Violette smells more like the Shiseido version.... although, I would have to compare them.  Anyway, more research!

I tried my sample of Homage, and, to be honest, was kind of disappointed.  I gave my sample, for what it is, to Sara, because she liked it. I hope I am not disappointed with Tribute whenever it arrives. I'm saving the remainders of my Tribute sample so I can compare it with the bottle when I get it.

In the past few weeks this month I bought a full 100 ml bottle of Safran Troublant.  I already have a 15 ml version from the Les Épices de la Passion coffret... but it is headed towards dry.  Beauty Habit was having a sale, so I thought, why not?

I went to Mertz Apothecary in Lincoln Square last Saturday.  I was going to go downtown, but I figured it would be a mob on the weekend.  Anyway, it turns out that there was some German festival going on in Lincoln Square, so that was a bigger mob.  I ended up getting Mousse de Chêne by Outremer (L'Aromarine).  It was a cheapy.  I also ended up getting that Santa Maria Novella iris toothpaste.

I also ordered Ineke Gilded Lily, using my coupon from having bought the sample set several years ago.  They honored it!!! What sweeties! Anyway, I'm liking it more and more.  As usual, the bottle and packaging are beautiful.  I was noticing they have these limited scents through Anthropologie, and there is one called Angel's Trumpet.  I wonder if it is at all similar to Evenings Edged in Gold, which also contains the angels' trumpet note.

Last but certainly not least, I ordered a 12 ml bottle of Amouage Tribute, which now gets my most expensive ever bought, although I did not pay the full $350 price for it.  I shopped for the first time at MinNY.  I'll let you know how my experience goes.  Because of the price, I am sure I'll be extra touchy.   I've heard nothing but good things about them, though. The last time I wore Tribute was from a tiny sample while I was doing census work.... and I can't really find my sample anywhere.  So I've been thinking all summer I was going to get this, and today buckled down and ordered.  There have been posts on Basenotes to the effect that Tribute has been reformulated.  Don't know if this is true or not... we shall see! I'm thinking it's the same kind of talk as Creed batch differences. I'm hoping it will smell like I had smelled it.

Home again

Just got home this afternoon. Snow, pretty much for the first time this season, so everyone in a panic. I had a few hitches on the way home.... ANA said my ZED tickets were only good for 3 months, so I had to buy a ticket to Tokyo. I need to look into this. I thought they were good for a year. I got business class on the way home. So that will cost me about $150 or so, as well.

I got home around 6 pm, and my bottle of Epic Man was awaiting me. Four Seasons was having a 20% off sale, so I actually paid less for this Epic Man, which is 100 ml, than I did for my 50 ml of A Taste of Heaven. I don't feel so guilty.

L'Artisan is having a sale, so I ordered bottles of Poivre Piquant, Piment Brûlant, Passage d'Enfer, Mûre et Musc Parfum, and Tea For Two. They were all 50% off. I haven't gotten them yet, and they may not even have mailed them. They all seem to be discontinued. The first three in the 50 ml size. And maybe the MeMP, which maybe was only a limited edition anyway. [EDIT They were out of the Mûre et Musc Parfum, so I didn't get it.] The shocker is that they may be discontinuing Tea For Two. I thought it was pretty popular. Why would they discontinue it?

I thought I would give the Mûre et Musc a try. If I don't like it I can give it to someone as a present. I have the edt, which I like. Passage d'Enfer is a funny one. I always feel like I can't smell it for the life of me. I figured I would pop for half off... again, I can give it away because no one else seems to have this problem. Piment Brûlant and Poivre Piquant I only have in 15 ml size at the moment, and they are going to run out at some point. Currently, I have a lot left of these (although my Safran Troublant is running low). Tea For Two, of course, I already own. Either I will have this as a backup or give it to Tamio for his birthday this year, since he is clearly to cheap to buy one for himself!

My father also sent me $100 by USPS! That finally showed up. So maybe tomorrow I will go shopping for more!!