floral

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Magnolia

magnolia edges
Micro Borsari 1870 bottle with Scandinavian folk-art graphic, and blue bow.

Vintage bottle from the La Collezione Borsari 1870.

There’s a fresh lemony zest to magnolia, a little more creamy/waxy than roses, spring rather than summer. I can find it in the middle of L’Instant de Guerlain, and at the opening of J’adore.

This baby sings in big white full bloom, with an oddly pleasant sour civet and traces of vetiver holding it in place–what research I found indicates it was released in 1970, and those were trendy bases then.
Lasts for decades, in a marvelous retro way.

The Muddy Magnolias are amazing!

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Impressions de Giverny

Impressions de Giverny edgyThis one bombs an apple orchard with flowers–exploding petals everywhere–big fat magnolias, roses, white lilies, orange blossoms,  ylang ylang, tons of neroli.
White musk takes over after fifteen minutes with a metallic edge that somehow cheapens the flowers, like a vase made from aluminum, then everything fades to a lick of ambergris on the skin.

I’d like it more as a candle.

I dreamed of a pilgrimage to Monet’s waterlily garden, like all impressionable teenage art students–

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Vitriol d’oeillet

Vitriol D'Oeillet edgyOpens feminine, ylang-ylang sweet prom corsage, then nutmeg and carnation bouquets–

–but after an hour it turns masculine. Pepper and cloves dirty up the soapy pinks and give it bite, close to the skin, for another hour.

It’s suave and sporty, in a summer afternoon crisp linen shirt kind of way.

I love this wistful summery afternoon song– this February has been dull and gray here.

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Bal à Versailles

Bal à VersaillesA golden oldie from 1962–and proof that ladies of a certain age can still hold their own–classy, fun and sexy.
(Elizabeth Taylor wore it!)

Opens with lovely roses and neroli, then gets almost fruity with the creamiest jasmine ever. After it warms up with sweet benzoin and balsam, civet slinks in with vanilla and stays within arms reach for days.

That same year saw the release of Joan Baez In Concert, with this song that caught the ears of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

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Passiflora

passiflora
A stack of black capped mini Nest bottles, the one in front with a labe illustration of a passionflower.

Bright wet loud green floral, but clumsy.

Lily-of-the-valley after they’ve been beaten by rain storms, hothouse tropicals bruised by the automatic sprinkler–
But then it goes overboard, into silage territory: a florist’s trimmings bucket and watermelon rind compost and fermented cucumber pulp.

Doesn’t come out of clothing until washed in hot water.
If it were less heavy-handed I’d enjoy the weirdness of it, in an I Am Trash kind of way.

This Passiflora (a folk band out of Costa Rica) is not clumsy at all.

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Acqua di Mughetti

Acqua di Mughetti edgy
Borsari 1870 micro bottle with pale blue ribbon and label with a night sky and moon.

Pure Lily-of-the-Valley, first released in 1920.

The first notes are clean lemony florals, then the tune centers on delicate sweet white flowers with a creme fraiche texture.
Settles into gentle soap aldehydes at the end.

This might be a soliflore, but I get a tiny hit of orange blossom that curbs the usual green edge under the lily bells.
Lasts a pretty two hours close to the skin.

Another Lily-of-the-Vally.

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Pleasures

pleasures
Mini bottle with clear ball cap and yellow eau.

Lovely rosy cranberries, fresh and juicy at first hello.
Then it gets brilliant with an unusual spicy-sweet, warm floral–
Karo-karounde is an African bush related to coffee, with rich blooms said by the Perfume Society to smell like jasmine and chocolate. L’Artisan Parfumeur features it at the heart of Timbuktu.
–I get a lot of pink pepper and curry-plant from it, maybe even nutmeg.

The guy says it smells like cilantro.
I think he’s catching the green edge of the lily-of-the-valley, and maybe some of the sandalwood at the base.

Doesn’t project as much as the other Estee Lauder foghorns I’ve tried. Misty florals stay within personal space, with sweet spicy roses on the skin, for most of the day.

Pleasures came out in 1995, and Joan Osborne released One of Us. Prince covered it best.

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Umabel

UmabelA gorgeous balm scent that feels so lovely–I put it on my elbows, my knees, the back of my hands–anywhere the skin is rough in the winter.

The stick goes on like velvet, warming up peachy sweet with a hint of citrus, and stays a few inches above the skin for several hours. Finally soaks in with sugared iris and some rosy sandalwood.

Would make a nice first perfume for a kidling.

This piece is comforting and sweet, too.

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Saint

saintMovin’ to the country,
Gonna eat a lot of peaches
—Presidents of the United States of America

(That song is stuck in my head now.)

Last year, Scentbird sent me a few things to sample in nice purse spray decants. Saint by Kat von D was one of the most fun.

There’s a fun vampy feel to it–a 1950’s burger joint date in the spring–wood paneling dash, a drive under blooming fruit trees with the top down, ending in a peach parfait with two spoons–but there’s some smoke in the sugar, and the flowers lean toward musk, keeping it from being silly.
Nice.