woody

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Chinatown

chinatown
Bond No. 9 sample sprays and bottle shaped cut out tester with red cherry blossom design, and a fortune cookie.
[The best way to make a friend is to be one.]

Peach blossom candy and fortune cookies, creamy tuberose sharpened with cardamom, and a bite of sandalwood on the bottom.

There’s a voluptuous mystique to it, gorgeous but with an edge, the sweetheart next door with a femme fatale secret.

Elusive on skin and lasting on silk.
I love it.

I loved Chinatown, too, all the crazy smells and the languages and the colors, the shops with fish and spices and trinkets. The restaurant with the sweetest old man who taught me to eat with chopsticks when I still needed to sit on a phone book to reach the table–

I had to have the big bottle.
Iconic, star shaped, that might be a woman in a hat–a red reverse of the other side. (With a white paper parasol and take-out box in the background.)

Deee-Lite is also from New York. This song always makes me happy.

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Land of Warriors

Land of Warriors edgy
Decant vial on paper test printed with Land of Warrior’s red bottle with black and white painted horses.

Leather motorcycle gear in the sun.

Animalic asphalt, and a marvelous tomato leaf–this guy goes off-road, too. A bit of sour fruit and herb-y flowers round out the long ride.

I love the way the vibe switches back and forth from urban to rural.

Chevelle’s Take out the Gunman came out in 2014, too. A good driving song.

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Cloud Collection

cloud collection 1 edgyThe Cloud Collection perfumes are lava lamp groovy, with separate liquids rolling around in the bottle. One is advised to shake it for four seconds (shaking a lava lamp is not suggested, though the result is the same) until it turns cloudy, before spraying.

Spicy-tart sea buckthorn at the opening, and leather, then thirty minutes later the berries turn sweet and creamy, with a smooth oud-y base.
The fruit lasts on the skin for three hours–about the time it takes for the perfume salad dressing to separate again–but the sweet woods project much longer and louder, and linger on clothes all day.

zarko cloudThe scent lives up to the novelty of the liquid. The seaberry (which I love in tea and candy) is unusual, a berry version of the lemon custard in Aqua Allegoria Teazzarro; and the base is rich as any Fort & Manlé, with twice the longevity.

I’ll wear this one a lot this fall.

Farveblind is is also weird and fun and Danish (like Zarkoperfume).

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Sunny Side Up

sunny side up edgy
Paper test cutout of yolk-yellow capped bottle, and sample spray.

Wakes up with a snap of nutty sandalwood, then jasmine and vanilla, but not too sweet. Lasts thru lunch hour then fades to a silvery metallic floral musk on the skin.

Hip and fun and would pair well with coffee.
(I’m more of a tea gal, though.)

This was France’s 2017 Eurovision hit. Good to get one moving in the morning.

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Bojnokopff

bojnerhoffOr: Mr. Bojnokopff`s Purple Hat.
This is what nefarious charlatans who make devil’s deals for true magic (that always backfire and involve a twirled mustache) smell like.

Lavender and bittersweet chocolate on a cedarwood stage lit with vetiver gaslight, and lasts longer on silk than on skin.

I always fall head over heels for an elegant villain.

So the story behind this one is of an illusionist in 1897, Russia, the same year of Rachmaninoff’s disastrous debut of his first symphony.  It opens with some serious mustache twisting.

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Nirvana Bourbon

nirvana bourbon edgy smallThis is quite well done. They’ve bottled the charred oak distillery spirit, complete with caramel syrup and age-softened musk.
Doesn’t last terribly long, but it’s reasonably priced, so have another shot.

I would find this one sexy on a guy, too–especially the older silver fox with good vintage.

This laid-back Nirvana cover sounds like it’s had a good whiskey on the rocks.

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Cedre Atlas

cedar atlas edgesLight Blue Lumberjack, by Chainsaw & Gabbana.

Opens with a splash of lemony cassis tea, then peaches. Twenty minutes in the cedar develops, spectacular sweet woody pines–summer forest floor with wild berries, rather than winter yule tree–that lasts an inch above the skin all day.
The amber and vetiver on the bottom are very sheer, and surprisingly faint on clothing.

It’s actually quite nice.

Love this tune by Vetiver (with guests.)

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No 3

no 3 edgyI love this one–sunshine and sky and water.

SG79 STHLM’s No 3 has a lot in common with D&G’s Light Blue, but sweeter, stripped of the chemical musk, and ginger replacing the artificial roses.
Lemon zest opening with green apples to the core, and the prettiest cedar at the base.

Lasts two hours a few inches above the skin, and the afternoon on clothes.

My favorite folk duo, also from Stockholm.

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Breath of God

breath of god edgy
LUSH turquoise soap shingle and a printed photo of the bottle with the original label–rainbow curlicues reminiscent of Japanese woodcuts.

This one smells oddly like…
artisanal breakfast?

Toast that’s had a burnt crust scraped off, peppery citrus grilled on a cedar plank, melon on the side.

It’s like a savory gourmand–but it works, in a honeymoon morning, cabin-in-the-woods kind of way.