nutty

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Moon Bloom

Moon Bloom bottle test paper, decant vial, and mother-of-pearl moon brooch.

Moon Bloom is ridiculously decadent, an indulgence of white flowers with that indolic reminder that flowers are sex organs.

Opens with fresh sharp green, like the first cut of a thick plant stem, of big florid tuberose and jasmine, then gets even lusher with a hint of spice in sweet cream, and fleshy coconut.
That’s all in the first five minutes, and where it stays for two days, melting slowly down into the skin.

There’s a roughness to it, making one aware of the quality of the raw materials (the way a really good olive oil has a heady earthiness, or how heavy dupioni silk bends light) that easily justifies the top shelf cost.

I’d consider springing for a bottle, if I weren’t already cheating on Fracas with Love Tuberose.

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This whole album is is decadent–

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White Sandalwood

Pile of Nest square minis, White Sandalwood–with a botanical drawing label–in front.

Almond nutshells and work boots.

Nest is hit or miss with me–though I love their pretty little bottles. White Sandalwood leans masculine with fresh cut wood and an earthy leathery note, and dry almonds–almost toasted, but not gourmand at all–and I like it.
A little lasts a long time–too much explodes with Hypnotic Poison strength Sharpie marker. Pair with jeans and a flannel shirt.

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Turn it up and let off some steam.

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Almond Cookie

almond cookie edgesA blast of sweet powder out of the bottle, with a bit of white flower–what I imagine vanilla orchids smell like.
Then marzipan–the strong stuff that reminds you of cherry stones and the secret hole-in-the-wall bakery with the amazing almond danishes.
It morphs back to powder an hour later, with huge sillage that lasts forever.

The Cookies backed up Little Eva and Ray Charles, but had several hits of their own, including this one.

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Interlude

interlude
Cobalt blue Amouage mini on sheet music.

This one is a little bit genius.

First breath is sangria and smoke, a quick break between acts on the side door sidewalk of the theater, then sticky honey sweets to soothe the throat as the lights flicker–Places, please!–and meanders back to leather and walnut-wood seats and gaslight.

Stays close, and lasts on the skin with benzoin and incense for ages.

This is one of my favorite interludes-

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Art Color Love

art color love edgy
Sample vial with bottle cut-out test paper strip.

Lighthearted and young.
This girl wears bright sundresses and statement shoes and laughs at everything.

A joyful projection of watermelon taffy with a toasted coconut accord close to the skin.

There’s a champagne feel, too–a sparkle in the gourmand sweetness–that’s quite charming, like an innocent twist on Mugler’s Eau de Star.

This song always makes me happy. This  fun cover is by Haddy N’Jie.

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Benevolence

benevolence edgy
Paper House of Sillage jeweled cupcake testing strip and fresh baked cupcake with yellow frosting and baker’s pearls–with decant vial stuck on top like a candle–that tasted nothing like the perfume.

A hard liquor splash of orange flower water spiked with amaretto, made clever with spice, then a dump of vanilla sugar heavy enough to hurt the head.

This smells like that sassy chef at the corner bakery who drinks on the job and sets aside cupcakes for the cops who give her a ride home.

(This is what happens when you watch that Baking Show while testing House of Sillage.)

This is a good tune for mixing batter–debuted in 2012, same as Benevolence.

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Lost Cherry

lost cherry edge
Grainy pic of cerise Lost Cherry photo, decant vial and my reading glasses, which I lose at least once a day.

Well named–there’s absolutely nothing virginal about this stuff.

Maraschino stem teasing over a powder puff of musk, cyanide sweet foreplay for hours, ending in a melting dish of Ben&Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream.
Pure sex.

This song is also pure sex.

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Velvet

velvet edgyVelvet takes the roughest wool sweater and turns it into the smoothest silk.

Opens with almond, coconut and clove, but immediately blends into hot chocolate, with a faint whiff of patchouli rising with the steam.
Half an hour in, rose blooms with an intriguing hit of root beer. Eventually settles into vanilla and sweet woods, with a cool blue ambroxy undertone, and the most comfortable sillage ever.

So well named, and perfectly unisex. This stuff could turn alpha stock market bulls into teddy bears, and the sharpest battle-axes into kittens.

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By the Fireplace

Maison Margiela promo card touting “Burning wood and chestnut” and spray sample with amber l’eau.

Sweet roasted nuts. (TWSS.)
Nice. I’d burn the candle in November.

Edit – 8/30/21

Talking to a cosmetics savvy friend the other day about Replica–By the Fireplace is her favorite of the house.

I still have the same reaction to it, that it’s lovely, but I want the smoke and heat of a candle to cut through the sweetness. The spice is nice, and the cashmeran dries it out, but the chestnuts get swamped by the vanilla, and they’re the most interesting facet of the fragrance to me.

Lasts all day in socially distant space with long trailers.
On the caramel top of unisex.

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Mushaboom by Feist is sweet and a bit nutty.