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Friday, March 03, 2006

Perfume Review: Satellite Padparadscha

Padparadscha, the first fragrance launched by Satellite, a French jewellery line created by Sandrine Dulon, was named after the rare pink-orange sapphire, a symbol of purity. It is a spicy-woody composition with notes of cedar, sandalwood, juniper, pepper, amber and musk. It starts on me strangely reminiscent of the doughy Bois Farine, only in this case this is a very spicy Bois Farine. Within second all the doughy-ness and with it any similarity to L’Artisan’s scent is gone; Padparadscha gets darker, spicier, and acquires a wonderful balsamic, almost leather-like undertone that I enjoy immensely. At this point, its resinous, ever so slightly medicinal darkness actually reminds me of yet another scent, this time Idole de Lubin.

Unfortunately, the fragrance loses intensity very quickly; fifteen minutes into the development, it more less turns into a straightforward cedar scent on my skin, with but a hint of amber and less than a hint of pepper. It is an enjoyable, attractive, versatile, very wearable perfume. If you are looking for a fairly spicy and “exotic” woody scent for everyday wear, look no further. If, like me, you are a “bois junkie” who requires increasingly intense and more and more unique offerings in this genre, Padparadscha might leave you unsatisfied. That balsamic, vaguely leathery top note does tempt me to buy a full bottle, but I will most probably not yield to this temptation.

Padparadscha is available at Luckyscent, $65.00 for 100ml.

*The image is from satelliteparis.com.

On Monday- Cococabana by Parfums de Nicolai.

18 Comments:

Blogger tmp00 said...

Interesting what individual chemistry will do: on me this starts out hot and bothered with heavy cedar with animal undertones, and ends up with the amber smell of tanned skin; salty and alive. On me it lasts for at least 12 hours, radiating heat. Anything that makes me radiate heat is a good thing.......

If you ever come to Los Angeles, you should go to the Scent Bar on Beverly Blvd (the brick-and-mortar store of LuckyScent.com). They would adore you.

11:52 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

T,
The Scent Bar would be my first stop if ever I get to go Los Angeles :-)
I can't say Padparadscha was bad on me, in fact, it was quite enjoyable. But I would love to experience what you experienced with it. I want animal undertones and heat. :-(

8:31 AM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Patty,
If your problem with Idole was that it did not have enough "oomph", than this one (to me, at least, but do read T's comment above!) is even "tamer". Was that the problem?

8:32 AM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Christina,
You know, I love Idole. I have no problems with intensity with that one. :-) Padparadscha though left me a little unsatisfied. It showed such potential in the beginning...

9:13 AM EST  
Blogger lilybp said...

I have to say, just to confuse things further, that this had more "oomph"--and more spice--on me than Idole. It also seemed less sweet and lasted longer. For all these reasons, I think I'm ending up liking it better. (I do like Idole, but it is very soft and short-lived on me). Ah, the wonders of chemistry!

11:15 AM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Judith,
That's what makes it so fascinating to read reviews and comments, isn't? And that is why it is also important to always try the scent on one's own skin, regardless of reviews and comments LOL

11:26 AM EST  
Blogger Victoria said...

This one was so arid dry on me, not even the mere hint of sweetness. As an amber lover, as well as loving spicy scents, this one left me cold.

11:50 AM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Victoria,
This makes the two of us then :-) I get just a hint of the kind of sweetness that amber sometimes has, in the earlier part of the drydown, but it is just a hint. I don't know if it sweetness I am missing here or I'd like more spices...but I am missing something.

11:56 AM EST  
Blogger lilybp said...

ITA with your comment about testing on skin; I am repeatedly surprised by liking scents I thought I wouldn't (I ususually find this out after they are discontinued:), and vice-versa.

After my shower, I put this on again, and now the spice in it is reminding me of that in IUNX Splash Forte (a scent that I like a lot, but that I seem to remember you don't). I may try them together, splashing first and pap-ing second, and see whether that ups the ooomph:)

12:08 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Judith,
You are right, I am not a big fan of Splash Forte.:-) I think it is a scent that would have been better off as a potpourri. I am sorry, don't hate me for that, please! :-)

12:34 PM EST  
Blogger lilybp said...

I could never hate you! And as you always say, more for me then(Although not a lot more, since it's discontinued:)

12:40 PM EST  
Blogger Caitlin Shortell said...

I'd like to try this, but Victoria F made me extremely curious to know what a Russian speaker's association would be with the perfume's name. Do tell, Marina.

1:02 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

I am a little upset about IUNX being closed, there were some scents I still haven't sampled. Now I never will. Oh well...

1:03 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Cait,
Hee hee. You know what, I haven't even thoguht of that. I wonder if V.had the same thing in mind, but the name made me think of "parasha", which is a prison slang word that basically means a dish made god knows out of what ingerdients, which looks extremely unappealing. :-)

1:08 PM EST  
Blogger NowSmellThis said...

I liked this much better than you did, M. Would agree with J that it has more oomph than Idole, although I like both scents.

1:16 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

R,
Why don't I get oomph! I want oomph! :-)

1:20 PM EST  
Blogger mireille said...

I was so relieved when you said it lost the dough immediately. I don't even mind it being short-lived as long as it isn't breadlike ... I'm so intrigued by this and Idole ... behind the curve, aren't I? xoxo

8:21 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

M,
(So nice to see you here!)
I haven't heard anyone else say they get any "doughy-ness" from Padparadscha, at any point. That might be just my skin chemistry's quirk. And even then the "doughy feeling" is gone within seconds. :-)

9:40 AM EST  

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