Ummagumma

Continuing with my love of Bruno Fazzolari scents, I picked up Ummagumma (30 ml). I was expecting it to smell sort of like Cadavre Exquis, but no. It is sweet but not that sweet.

It does have chocolate, but the tobacco and leather kind of cut it. To be honest, I've never been much of a Pink Floyd fan, so that part doesn't really resonate with me (reminds me of my troubled teens).  I did get the poster as well!

I finally got a bottle of Comme des Garçons Jaisalmer (50 ml). I was not expecting to like it much and it is actually quite a beautiful incense.

It's really weird but the staff at Barneys always seems to steer me away from Comme des Garçons, so I ordered it online.

I got a travel size of Frédéric Malle Monsieur. (10 ml).  It kind of reminds me of Comme des Garçons Luxe: Patchouli, although not quite as interesting. I guess extra added levels of patchouli don't make that much of a difference. 10 ml will last me quite a while.

I did get another but I want to devote more space to it, so I'll have another post.

Nuit de Bakélite

Well I went out and got a bottle of Naomi Goodsir Nuit de Bakélite (50ml). This is amazingly good. I sometimes feel weird wearing tuberose, but this works really well for me.  It may be my favorite new fragrance this year.

 I've since taken out my other tuberose scents to compare.  It may be my favorite.  I've since ordered a  10 ml travel size of Carnal Flower.  I don't think I'd ever go through a whole bottle. I may go through one of Nuit de Bakélite, though.

As a gift with purchase I got a 10 ml bottle of Memo Irish Leather  It's ok.

Hype

Some things I got kinda recently.

I've been curious about it since I first read about it a couple of years ago,  and I rather liked Cadavre Exquis, which perfumer Antonio Gardoni worked on with Bruno Fazzolari, so I got a bottle of Bogue Maai (50 ml).

It's good, but I'm not quite so nuts about it as hype would have it.  I'll have to give it more time. Interesting creepy-crawler cap, though!

Reverting to my honey hunt, I also got a bottle of 4160 Tuesdays Dirty Honey (30 ml). As honeys go, it's ok.  While I keep typing "Dirty Hiney", well, not really.  I had high hopes for it, though.

Finally, I got Hermès Eau de Rhubarbe Écarlate (100 ml).  I loved CDG's Rhubarb and Aedes de Venustas's first perfume, but this one is a bit sour for me. Nice red!

Addendum:  I also got Frédéric Malle's iris hand cream, which smells great! I love Olivia Giacobetti and am glad to see something recent by her.  I suppose there are enough irises out there that it didn't warrant a perfume release.  It's a nice one, though.

Honey Hush

I stayed in Nagoya for the last three weeks of February.  While there, I ordered a bottle of Ginestet Botrytis (100 ml), despite my initial misgivings, in my quest for yet more honey. To be honest, I really haven't had time to test it very much, but it was not what I was expecting.  Certainly not oversweet, from what I can tell, but rather heavy (despite being an edt), and not particularly honey-like.  Again, I'll have to try it more later.  Not all that girly, though.

I also got a 3 ml bottle of Madini Oils Musk Gazelle,  Again, I've not had much time to spend with it.

Barneys is having their spring bag event. Patty was texting me as my flight taxied on the runway at O'Hare, and told me to pre-order so that I could get the man bag.  So I ordered a bell jar of Serge Lutens Tubéreuse Criminelle (75 ml). It really doesn't seem overly tuberosey, and I think I will be able to pull it off, especially dabbed.

Last month, Gaia at the Non Blonde wrote in a post that Miel de Bois had been reformulated, and that the new one didn't cut it.  Ever since, I have been on the lookout for an old bottle of it (it was originally released in 2005, and, I think, was changed to the exclusive line and reformulated in 2010).

While at Barneys last week, I was talking with the sales assistants, and one of them had an old export line bottle (50 ml). Turns out, she really hates it.  I already have a bell jar of it, and really love that version. She out of the blue said she would give her bottle to me! I offered to trade it for my Vaporisateur Tout Noir with 30 ml of Fourreau Noir, which I had received as a giveaway from the Serge Lutens site (the other 30 ml I gave to my sister Janet for Christmas.  I already have a bell jar of Fourreau Noir). So, yesterday, when the bag event had officially started and I could pick up my Tubéreuse Criminelle, we exchanged perfumes.  I am so happy about this you just don't know!

The 50 ml bottle (which the batch code on it dates to 2006) and bell jar juice definitely are different! I have only sprayed the export line version and only dabbed the bell jar version.  Therefore, a true comparison would have them applied in the same manner.  I'll do this at another date.  I had too much stuff on that I was trying yesterday.  I kinda sorta have a date tonight (some young'un who lives a few blocks south wants to meet me after he is done with work), so won't be doing the comparisons today.  (UPDATE:  young'un cancelled!) The sprayed MdB is still going strong on my arm 12 hours later and definitely is more acrid than the newer version.  I do think I love them both and glad I was able to get this!!!

The man bag from the bag event was really generous this time out.  Included was a 50 ml (?) bottle of Ulrich Lang Nightscape, which I still haven't tried. I was able to get samples of Frédéric Malle Monsieur. and The Night, which I guess I can order for $800 for 50 ml! We shall see!!

I did order a bottle of Demeter Beeswax, which still hasn't arrived. I'm not expecting a whole lot from it. But it was cheap.

UPDATE:  Beeswax arrived today (14 March), after a weird mixup with my mailing address.  Not great, but certainly better than that horrible Tokyomilk thing.

I've Been Getting a Lot, Lately

Sunday I went to Barneys.  I figured I would get something, since I haven't been there since the bag event.  There was something going on and if you spent $250 you got a $25 gift card.  So, I got Frédéric Malle Une Fleur de Cassie, 50 ml, which I had been meaning to get for a while.  Last year when Mr. Malle came to Barneys I almost got it, but it smelled sour on me.... I ended up getting a candle, which I gave to my sister for Christmas.  I'm sure she didn't care that it was signed by Mr. Malle.... But candles are lost on me.  But I digress.

This may be an odd choice right when the weather is warming up.... There was nothing else there that grabbed me. The SA talking to me (Andy was off) was pushing Le Labo on me and, well, no thanks.

I also ordered Serge Lutens L'Eau Froide, 100 ml, and it finally was delivered today. The price was half off on Amazon, and I figured, why not?  It is stronger than L'Eau Serge Lutens, but doesn't have that interesting ironing board note.

I think I'll chill out for a bit.. at least until my credit cards are paid off.

Ashley who worked the L'Artisan stuff at Barneys is no longer there.... There is someone new named Bonnie, whom I haven't met.

Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle

I went to Barneys today on the way to a doctor's appointment.   I had a $22 gift card and was prepared to walk away with something cheap, either L'Artisan's Mandarine or Comme des Garçons 2 Man.  Instead, I got a 50 ml bottle of Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle.

Spend! Spend! Spend!

Image from Frédéric Malle.

Barneys Bag Event

I went with Sara and her friend Shannon for lunch and then over to Barneys to shop.  Sara wanted these Christian Louboutin shoes which the Louboutin boutique didn't have in her size, so they suggested Barneys.  They didn't have the ones she wanted, though.

From there we went, natch, to the basement to buy perfume and cosmetics, since it was yet another bag event.  I ended up getting:

Serge Lutens Santal Majuscule. I had tried this another time and wasn't too keen on it.  I liked it much better this time around.  I also wanted to try out Vétiver Oriental, only to discover that it is now only in the bell jars.

Frédéric Malle L'Eau d'Hiver.  I had gotten a sample last time I was there, and liked it a lot.  I was also able to try the new Dries Van Noten perfume, which is very nice.  They only had a tester, but Christina said they would be carrying it. 

I also tried Byredo's Seven Veils, which I liked pretty much, and Bullion, which was nice, but at $280 kinda pricey. 

Newer Things

On Saturday I went to Barneys. I got Comme des Garçons Eau de Parfum.... the new one. 100 ml. I also got Frédéric Malle's Café Society room spray. Last Thursday night, I was reading Basenotes, and in one thread, someone had bought a bunch of L'Artisan fragrances on Fragrancenet, for very cheap! I checked it out, and ended up ordering Méchant Loup and Thé Pour un Été, both 100 ml, each for less than $50! Anyway, the bottles arrived today. Both are the old bottle design, so that may be good, an older vintage. Very quickly after I ordered, a lot of the L'Artisans were out of stock, or the price had doubled or tripled!

Went to Barneys

Today I bought Serge Lutens Arabie. I used to hate it, but it is really nice this time of year.

I also got Frédéric Malle's Notre Dame candle.

Another Bag Event

Yesterday, Barneys had yet another bag event. So, I got L'Artisan's Traversée du Bosphore and the Frédéric Malle Coffee Society candle.

Naoki is visiting. He may go home tomorrow, maybe Tuesday. Depends upon flights.A short visit. I went to Japan on Monday, got stuck in a typhoon when I got there and none of the trains were running in Nagoya. It took me 6 hours to get to Naoki's house from the airport. I didn't have enough money for a cab, and the cash machines were closed. Naoki (who is a civil engineer) was working because of the flooding, and couldn't give me a ride. So at 1230 am he finally was able to drive me home, but then went back to work.








Image from L'Artisan Parfumeur web site.