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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

You gotta have friends, part 3

Divina of Fragrance Bouquet was kind enough to send me a grab bag of all sorts of different things to try, a grab bag that I will try to do justice to in the breadth and depth of her choices, varied and interesting as they are...

Two were by Diptyque, best known as purveyors of house scents and candles here in the states. L'Eau Trois is a light juniperry little thing with a wonderful hint of dirt and a divine hint of musk, while Vinaigre starts off with a carbon-copy of apple cider vinegar before burning off to a pleasant woody scent. Neither are terribly long lasting or terribly dense but I really liked both of them; I can imagine that the Vinaigre especially as something that would be wonderfully refreshing on a hot day.

Two were by Jean Louis Scherrer, one his eponymous women's fragrance which starts with a blast of dirrrty vetiver before settling into a delicious slightly minted bower of white flowers. There was also something called "Immense", which is immensely odd. The opening is just bizarre: a strange buzzy quality with a woodiness to it, like a fine wood pipe used to smoke crystal meth. Then it gets to a berry stage before settling into white pears and woods. The pear is done very well, it really smells like white pairs and vanilla. I don't need to, but you be my guest..

Armani Prive Bois D'Encense was included. It starts off soapy on me, before coming into a clean, churchy incense that gets stronger and more wonderful as time goes on. I like it a lot, but here in the states it's part of a 4 scent gift set that retails for an eye-popping $740. I like it, just not that much..

Etat Libre Charogne was in there as well. We all know that I find this house kind of puerile; I was not expecting to like a scent that was named "Carrion". Starting bubble-gum sweet it quickly loses it's Bazooka Joe opening and deepens into something wonderfully, disturbingly sexy. The rot? It's in there, a bare trace of that Human Existence accord, zinc, funeral bowers and incense from the service. I am shocked that I loved this; it's gorgeous, it's weird. It's gorgeously weird, and I think it has to be mine.

The last two in the package were two by L. T. Piver. The lovely and wonderfully feminine Heliotrope, which combines that flower with sheer jasmine and a touch of Farnesiana's milky almond goodness, while Cuir de Russie starts off smelling like an ashtray- the best ashtray you could imagine. Cary Grant's ashtray. The one he shared with Randolph Scott when they were roommates. You want to move into that ashtray. It adds in orange peel, honey and spiced woods to a surprisingly refined leather for something that's described as "the leather smell of Cossack riding boots". It's refined, it's classic, it's old-school elegance and I think it has to come live with me very soon!

Many, many thanks to the kind and lovely Divina for the generous package; I hope I did them half justice, and you've given me ideas as to what to send you in return!

26 Comments:

Blogger elle said...

I *love* L'Eau Trois and the original Scherrer. I would not have thought to sample Charogne, but looks like I will absolutely have to now. And heliotrope, Cary Grant's ashtray and refined leather? I raced over to ebay before even bothering to comment. Looks like Escentual is the only place to get it, though - blessedly, the price is quite decent. I remember reading great things about this a couple of years ago on MUA, but they failed to make the critical mention of Cary's ashtray.

9:45 PM EST  
Blogger kamala said...

oooohhh, Charogne and Cuir de Russie sound amazing! i'll add those to my disgustingly long "samples to try" list. i've got a sample of Chanel's Cuir de Russie on the way - how do you think the two compare?

btw, you've infected me with your love of leather scents - i was liking leather notes pretty well until i tried Dzing! - and now i just can't get enough!

hmm, Heliotrope sounds good, too. *addstogiganticlist* :-)

10:44 PM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

I was interested by all of them and really thrilled by at least three.

Charonge was really interesting, but I am not sure I'd give myself a generous spritz and go to the office,

Cuir de Russie? Oh yes, any time any place...

10:51 PM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

kamala-

I haven't tried the Chanel- I'm almost scared to! I love leather scents and have problems resisting them when they're good and Chanel is almost always wonderful

10:55 PM EST  
Blogger kamala said...

oh crap, i thought this was marina! usually if it's not, the name's listed right under the title.

i'm so sorry, tom - but now i know you love leather scents, too!

i know what you mean about the chanel. before i recently got obsessed with perfume, i only wore chanel - my skin chemistry seems to love chanel scents.

11:17 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh bother.

*adds Cuir de Russie to To-Try list*

You know, I'd managed to write that one off for some reason. Until now. So much work, so little time ...

12:12 AM EST  
Blogger Vireo Perfumes said...

You live my fantasy alternate life getting those grab bags! How wonderful!

1:11 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

kamala-

I'll take the compliment being confused with Columbina! I am usually less literate, less informed and more dependent upon the semicolon and the run-on sentence...

1:22 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

divalano-

tell me about it.

But then you live in NYC; the nexus of sniffatude..

1:24 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

knidovan-

I just started in commenting on others blogs and it went from there.

There's room and he waters fine, jump in!

1:29 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Naturally I have now added Cuir de Russie to my "must try" list - I am going to have to live to be a very old woman to get through that list! The Armani sounds fab too, but I do balk at spending nearly a month's rent on perfume. Not that there is anything wrong with that....

1:53 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

did you know Vinaigre isn't actually a perfume? It's meant to be some sort of all-purpose liquid - hair rinse etc. It sort of mystifies me, maybe it's more of a French thing, having a multi-purpose (yet really non-speicifc) scented, but non 'perfume' liquid like that. It is quite intriguing, though.

4:24 AM EST  
Blogger rosarita said...

Love to start my day being smiled at by the divine Cary Grant...they just don't make 'em like that anymore.

4:45 AM EST  
Blogger lilybp said...

I really like Charongne as well (also--though it's completely different--Rossy de Palma from this line). Also quite fond of Piver Cuir and Scherrer, though I haven't worn either of them in a while. Must do.

7:38 AM EST  
Blogger benvenuta said...

Vinaigre de Toilette is not a perfume - it`s a vinegar for cosmetic use :)

9:32 AM EST  
Blogger Divina said...

Tom, I am so happy you liked the package and you found two loves in there as well! I am greatly pleased you enjoyed Charogne - due to its name it was bound to get a lot of flack and I am glad you confirmed my estimation of it as a fabulously sexy scent :) As for Cuir de Russie, yes, it is absolutely wonderful, no doubt. *hugs*

PS: Scherrer 1 is a masterpiece ;) Give it a chance :)

9:47 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

flora-

I balk as well...

11:36 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

anon-

I saw that on their website, but I thought I would still review how it smelled.

I could use a big bottle of that actually, cider vinegar is great for your hair and the final drydown on that is yummy..

11:38 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

anita-

No, they don't. No matter how many times someone writes (Insert Name Here) it the new Cary Grant.

11:39 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

lily-

I am going to have to go to Bendels when I am in NYC next and investigate. They aren't on their website. How early oughts of them. Grrrr.

11:40 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

benvenuta-

Yep. And I could use a gallon or so of it it's so refreshing!

11:42 AM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

divina-

I loved that package- I felt like I was being given a wonderful quiz!

I liked the first Scherrer, it was Immense that was a no-go for me. Not ghastly, just sooooo not me.

Thanks again for the treat!

11:44 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love that you love incredibly strange scents--that way I don't have to. Charogne sounds quite "interesting," and I really (really really) can't wait for your take on the Tom of Finland scent. Talk about leather. Although I do think it'll be less cossack, more...well, nevermind.

1:14 PM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

billy-

you are forcing me to buy s decant...

1:39 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Been checking out Charogne a little myself, and wondering too...

Hugs to you, hunk!

2:22 PM EST  
Blogger tmp00 said...

I want to read what you think of it- one thing for sure, it's not huggy!

7:45 PM EST  

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