Author: kira a. gold

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Echelon

echelon edges
Paper test cut-out of graphic black/red/green label on a frosted bottle, decant vial, and notes including, “Grace Jones could wear this.” and “Grace Jones could wear whatever the *redacted* she pleases.” (She once answered what perfume she was wearing with, “Body odor,” so maybe the Strangé scene in Boomerang isn’t too far off?) (Echelon does NOT smell like B.O. at all, unless you sweat black jelly beans.)

This one opens strong and sweet, the hot edge of licorice biting with teeth.
Musk takes over.
Musk takes over the whole house.
Then it turns to hardwood–glittery resin and deep heavy mahogany.

I like sweetness of it, but the second I invite him over he’s gonna swallow my furniture in one big gulp and write his name over mine on the lease.

Kimberly New York is a new brand with a marvelous collection using organic ingredients–one to keep an eye on.
(Jay-Z has his own scent brand, but I’ve always loved this song.)

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Get A Room

get a room edges
Scentbird decant spray, and paper test cutout of Confessions of a Rebel cube bottle, on notepaper with scribbles--“Shiny, Lemon Pudding.”

Scentbird asked me for some write ups. This one was an extra in the samples they sent.

Get A Room glitters on the skin like cheekbone highlighter, and opens that bright, a juicy twist of citrus that immediately turns sweet and creamy and seductive, a kiss of lemon custard shared with a lover.

It soon brightens to fresh iced tea with sugar, a few inches off the skin, and stays there, dreamy and light, with a pinch of mysterious herbs and a flirt of vanilla all night long.

I want to spray my pillowcases with it.

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Another dreamy one.

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Minotaure

Minotaure edgesDavid Bowie wore Minotaure.
So of course I had to know what the Goblin King smelled like.

Paloma Picasso’s only masculine opens with a sharp and spicy fizzy lime pop, then eases into fruit candy–the fancy jelly slices with sugared edges. The sweetness turns floral, then herbal, bubblegum slowly drying down to brooding cedar.
Sandalwood talc and vanilla tonka powder settle above the skin, shimmering all night long, both comforting and seductive, sexy Stardust indeed.
Fades into the collar and cuffs with androgynous amber, and leaves songs stuck in your head–You remind me of the babe–for days.

My favorite Bowie song is still China Girl.

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O, Unknown!

O, Unknown edge
Imaginary Authors discovery set sample spray and bottle cutout test strip with woodcut mountain and crane illustration.

I get amber and salt, then… nothing.

A page turning, old paper, perhaps.
Half an hour later, a faint powdery sweetness develops, but it’s not exactly pleasant.
After two hours watery smoke sits under the skin.

The “book cover” is pretty, though. I’d have that as a poster on my wall.

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A good song for when you feel a bit salty:

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Bubblegum Chic

bubblegum chic edge
Decant vial and test paper cutout of bottle, on scribbled notes.

Opens with a monster slap of jasmine in the face, and Juicy Fruit gum that lasts for several jaw chomping hours. Then it then settles into a skin deep Nutra-Sweet musk, artificial sugar with a bitter note underneath, and an oddly pleasant waxy note of Ivory or Dove soap.

This one should be worn as an accessory to guy-liner; pretty-boy panache with a hidden hard edge.

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Poetry

poetry edges
Grainy photo of sample vial on test paper printed with green labeled bottle.

Bright tropical sweet fruity candy out of the vial–the whole roll of Island Fruits LifeSavers at once.
The guava-papaya-coconut morphs slowly, a few feet off the skin, with a sweet woodsy note of apple stems and apricot pits, then a brief turn of sharp green banana, before settling into warm peaches on the pulse points for a couple hours.

This would make a great first date perfume–fun and friendly, but offering only a cheek to kiss at the end of the evening.

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My favorite poem ever is The Song of the Wandering Aengus by W. B. Yeats. Richie Haven’s version is the sweetest.

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I Am Trash

I am trash edges*(sigh)*
“Les Fleurs du Dechet” sounds so much prettier, but…

I Am Trash is found object art, a lovely re-purposing of unwanted scraps into elegance.

The opening is shocking–orange rind and a vodka note of fermenting potato parings, but then apple peel quickly takes over and blooms into bruised rose petals, and it’s suddenly gorgeous.
The flowers stay for an hour or two at arm’s length, then fade into a sweet woodsy musk that lingers comfortingly on second hand sleeves all afternoon.

I love the cleverness of it.

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Enchanted Forest

enchanted forest edgyHappy Merry to me.

Vagabond Prince’s Enchanted Forest is exactly that: dark balsam fir woods and tangles of black currant shrubs and wine and roses.

The first spray turns one into a wayward elf, dressed in flowers and drunk on berries. The acid bite of the fruit slowly softens with benzoin, sweet on the skin, and lofty on clothes for hours.

I feel like I’m the heroine in an epic fantasy novel saga wearing this stuff.

This is an enchanting take on a Ukrainian Midsummer folk song.

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Jimmy Choo Man

Gray rectangular mini bottle with silver cap on a motorcycle jacket and lavender sprigs.

Rather nice fruit-chuli, in a motorcycle pants and pineapple LifeSaver way.
The lavender lingers, but doesn’t turn to soap.

I have to wonder at that leather note, though. There’s a shoe salesman vibe that makes me conscious of my fallen arches and scuffed toes.

This one is a bit fruity and edgy at the same time. Also came out in 2014.

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Fleur Defendue

fleur defendue edgy
Lolita Lempicka apple bottle in yellow and gold.

Opens loud and long with green violets and absinthe, then hovers jealously over the skin with almonds and cherry musk for hours.

The wormwood coats the almonds, making them weird and witchy, with long bitchy fingernails.

Alluring, but odd.

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Here’s a fun cover of one of my favorites, also a bit odd and bitchy.