Jicky

I ordered a bottle of Guerlain Jicky edp (100 ml). I've been meaning to get a bottle for a long time.  I never see the edp on sale anywhere, and suddenly everyone seems to have it.  Per the batch code, it was made last year.  Luca Turin, in The Little Book of Perfumes, says that 2011 version "seems punchier, more animalic, richer than the 2007 version."  It is really nice.  I'm glad I finally got it.

With Habit Rouge edp and Mitsouko, I'm finally getting some Guerlains I like.

Theorema

Last week, Robin of Now Smell This was wearing Fendi Theorema all week and there was subsequently much discussion in the comments about the scent.  Which got me curious.  So, after a perfunctory Google, I found that Beauty Encounter was actually selling bottles of it! It was discontinued so long ago and I have never seen it available in recent years.  So... combined with the recent talk and my new-found love of Mandarine-mandarin (which The Non Blonde described as "a butchy and more sombre version of Theorema"), I grabbed a bottle.

Anyway, it arrived yesterday.  It is very nice.  I am surprised, however, how short-lived it is.  This may have added to its discontinuation, although Fendi discontinued their complete line at the time.   EDIT:  I gave it a full wearing a few days later, and it had respectable longevity on me.  I wore it to work and could still smell it wafting off me the following morning, some 12 hours later. 

Also, continuing with my movie free association -- Pasolini's Teorema, in which Terrence Stamp manages to seduce an entire household!  -- and this perfume.

Well, along with Theorema, I ordered Guerlain L'Instant de Guerlain pour Homme Extrême.  It was very cheap, so I figured, why not?  It's popular as hell for some reason.  I can't say I'm all the more impressed by it.  Something about it smells cheap.  I'll give it a few more wearings just to be sure.  If I decide I don't like it, I'll give it to one of my nephews.  It seems pretty popular with the young'uns.

Perfume photos from Fragrantica.

Orders and Purchases

I've ordered... but they haven't arrived yet:

Guerlain Habit Rouge eau de parfum.  I've been meaning to get this for a while now.

EDIT:  Arrived 31 May.  I'll have to compare this to my Beau Cavalier sample.  Sweeter than I remember.  Still, this may be the first Guerlain that works on me.

The Different Company Osmanthus.  

EDIT:  Arrived 5 June.  The lid unscrews.  This is remarkable only because the lid of Oud Shamash does not do this.  Is this an older bottle? Are the Collection Excessive bottles somehow different? The box was certainly more elaborate.  I've been looking online for discussions about the bottles and caps, but haven't found anything.  Even on the Different Company web site. Which is odd. Also, the box Osmanthus came in is black and grey.  I see there are also boxes with flowers on them from pictures online.  

Serge Lutens El Attarine.  My first bell jar, really, if you don't count Borneo 1834 or Muscs Koublaï Khän (I bought the bottles separately, either empty or with only 15 ml inside).

EDIT:  Arrived 4 June.


I bought today at Barneys:

Aedes de Venustas soap.  I already have the perfume, so I thought I would give the soap a whirl. I was also given a 12 ml bottle of Byredo Oud Immortel.

re-Giveaway

I gave Janet the Amaranthine and Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune -- which didn't smell like cat pee on her at all.

I had a  bug infestation problem with my condo, and I am in the midst of cleaning up after the extermination.  This is all very stressful.

Gave Away....

Yesterday I gave away my bottles of...

Amaranthine and Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune to Gisela at work.  She liked them both.  She was confused why I was giving them away. I told her that I really liked Amaranthine, but that it just didn't work on me.  The Guerlain, well, it smells like urine on me.  She didn't get that on her.  She may pay me for them.

Mugler Cologne to Brian at work.  It was actually the Open Sky untitled one that I got.  Anyway.  I hate it. Brian said he really liked it.

My 50 ml girly bottle of Mandragore and my 15 ml mini of Myrrhe Ardente to Janet.  She likes them, but it is a shame now that it is finally getting warm, because these work better in the cold.   I still have bottles of these in my collection, though.

I'm kind of sad to see Amaranthine go, but, really, I would never wear it. If Gisela didn't like it, I would have given it to Janet to see if she would have liked it.

I may be going to Japan on Saturday.  I have a week off.

Yet Newer Things

I just got:

Kenzo Jungle pour Homme, just because I like Jungle L'Éléphant. I have had the pour Homme in my Amazon.com shopping bag for the past two years, waiting for the price to drop and I sort of never pulled the trigger.... well anyway I found it elsewhere at a lower price so I got it.  What's it like? I dunno.... I think it is for cooler weather than now.

Clinique Aromatics Elixir, just because.  Do I like it? I dunno.  I think once again it might work better in cooler weather. We're in the end days of the heat, I think.  I've been meaning to get either a bottle of this or of Aramis 900 at some point.  Anyway, the bottle is kind of small.  I remember being in some department store or Sephora and trying it and Tamio saying, Why would anyone want to smell like that? and thinking, I need this.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune mainly because I wanted something more substantial than Osmanthe Yunnan in the heat and I like grapefruit and I heard it was good.  Yeah yeah I know I know.  I've had a poor record with Guerlain.  And then there are the stories that it smells of cat pee.  Well, maybe more  human pee. Not really, but in the back of my mind are the stories that Jackhammer's back room is furnished with a big bathtub for water sports, so now that whole goddamned image is stuck in my head.  I'll give it another try tomorrow. The perfume, not water sports.

Well, all three came in the mail yesterday and I briefly tried them, so they are all clashing.  I was wearing L'Artisan's Al Oudh today to boot. I have one more on order, and it hasn't come yet.  Again, now is not the time of year to maybe be wearing it so I will hold off judgment when it arrives. Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chéri, par Camille. It is on its way by pony express or something.  EDIT:  This was finally delivered today (15 August 1012).  Very nice!!

Afterchristmas

Well... I got my sister one of those L'Artisan amber balls. I gave my mother Ninfeo Mio. I gave my other sister Diptyque's Pomander room spray. What did I get? My mother gave me a box of coffee cups (for a Keurig machine).

I bought myself Annick Goutal Mandragore Pourpre, which finally came today. I got the woman who works in the office of my apartment building Guerlain Samsara, which is what she wanted. It just came today.