Monthly Archives: May 2008

Un Bois Vanille

Un Bois Vanille by Serge Lutens.. I purchased the bottle today while i shopped at ADV (see my post below on the shop).. This is a woodsy vanilla, not foodie to me, more mature.. it makes me feel like im dressed in a really smart suit. I actually walked out of the store with this one on a card, but as i sniffed it walking down the street I came back to buy. While it does not last as long as I would like, its not overpowering like my favorite loukoum can feel if I put it on before i leave the house to get on the bus. This scent is actually more woodsy to me than vanilley, the sandalwood is nice on the drydown..

Un Bois Vanille notes: Black vanilla absolute, licorice, sandalwood, coconut milk, beeswax, caramelized benzoin, bitter almond, Gaiac wood, tonka bean

Nice and sophisticated scent.. but not my signature.. yet, unfortunately.

Trinidad Charlies Original Hot Sauce

By far, my favorite hot sauce.

We found this on our trip to St. Thomas and St. John, at a store called St. Johns Spice.. (also be sure to try the jerk caramels – yum)..

This sauce is made with mango, but it is not at all sweet – in fact, its a very hearty hot sauce.. it needs to be shaken as they lay the spices on thick in this sauce.. Great on all meats, rice, beans, eggs, sheesh – there isnt much this isnt good on, if you are a lover of heat – you must have a bottle in your fridge, if you have a weak tongue, be careful – some jars are a little spicier than others… Ive gone through my 7th bottle already.. Time to give the friendly folks over at st johns spice a call – (they ship via us postal service – so you do have to wait a bit – but the shipping is cheap)

and if your ever in the Virgin Islands, be sure to take a trip there.. they will dip toothpicks into all the sauces for you to sample! mm hmm

aedes de venustas – my new favorite fragrance place

http://www.aedes.com
9 christopher street, nyc
After searching online for a place in the US to buy montale sweet oriental dream, I came upon aedes.. I am so very happy I did. I did my homework first to see what other scents they carry and it was very similar to the hard to find products on lucky scent.. So im sweatin my buns off walking in my work clothes and im on my way to the west village.. Getting a little nervous, thinking their salespeople will be snobby and uppity (something that really bothers me) but after I ring the bell at the door and come in I am greeted by smiles, and feel like I am in perfume heaven.. Everything is so luxurious and dark.. Lots of dark reds and velvet. This place is a treasure, like a secret little tucked away place that you might miss if you were just walking by. I came for the montale but they didn’t have any more sweet oriental dream.. I told the saleswoman it was very similar to keiko mecheri loukoum, she asked me the notes of it and made a few recommendations, walked me ’round spraying cards for me to try.
I ended up buying serge lutens bois vanille.. One of the owners (robert) rung me up and he was not at all snobby as you might expect of a guy who is now the it man of fragrance to new yorks celebs and such.. You get the feeling he is just very in to what he does.
The price was right on point with lucky so I was happy, plus they promised to call me when my dream came in, and gave me a very generous sample to keep me happy until it arrives. I can’t wait till they call!

Crocodile embossed italian leather calfskin desk set by Graphic Image New York

I love meat, but I also love animals, so I feel a little evil writing that this desk set is one of my favorite things.. But. It is. The crocodiled embossed leather is so smooth.. My set is in brown and other than the mac its probably the priciest thing on my desk but so worth it.. The writing part stays clean regardless of the lunches that have been spilt upon it.. It looks very homey and warm.. I have a brown tone in my office and this compliments the two Caravaggio pieces I have on the wall.. You can buy it at jennibick.com which sells a plethora of fine leather products (they have great custom leather journals) the blotter is $130 the letter tray 120, pencil cup is 48 and a nice memo holder (think of it as a large post it note sized notecard holder) is 60 and comes with crème colored note cards. Butter.

Lotus

I just put this one on and at first smell, i hate it. On the initial dab, it smelled of chemical hair relaxer, as it dried down it smells.. like.. wow, cant even identify it.. i get a mix of the drycleaners, industrial floral scented cleaner, rosewater and.. gummy bears?

Lotus notes: Egyptian lotus flower extract, hints of vanilla musks

Unfortunately, Im not a florals type so Im not really sure why i tried this one.. I keep sniffing at my wrists to see if it is getting any better, and it does seem a lot fresher, but still – rose.. yucky on me..

Ananas Fizz

I couldnt bring myself to stop wearing the Loukhoum the other day.. I really wanted to continue wearing it today, but I knew I had more scents to try so I MUST GO ON!

Today is Ananas Fizz by L’Artisan Parfumeur – Ananas Fizz notes: pineapple, citrus essence (lemon rind, bitter orange, bergamot and pink grapefruit), pure rum, cedar, precious woods, cocoa milk, lychee sap, vanilla

At first I put this on and I felt like I smelled of some cheap fruit scented body lotion.. Very citrusy at first, then you smell the cedar, and its a little too woodsy to go with the citrus.. It doesnt smell right with my chemistry, it smells like a mix of too many scents. I smell a hint of the lychee but no cocoa milk or vanilla comes out on me at all.. With all the notes, I thought this would be somewhat gourmand, but the cedar makes it (to me) much more overpoweringly woodsy! I didnt like this one at all. I think I will try and wash it off.

Loukhoum

Loukhoum by Keiko Mecheri – I might have found it!! My scent! I love this scent, its so different and like nothing I’ve smelled before. Ok, let me try to describe – Powdery at first, almond and cherry notes right after.. While I dont find myself typically liking the powder, it has a very sexy edge to it.. It is inspired by Rahat Loukhoum, a turkish delicacy.. “Turkish Delight” and it has a little bit of the rose scent that you can taste in this dessert.. I was just reading the Lion, witch and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and my favorite part – when Edmund meets the witch and she feeds him an endless supply of an enchanted Turkish Delight.. the kid is like a drug addict and he could eat it until he kills himself.. Thats how I feel about this scent.. I kept putting on more and more.. I read that the lasting power of this scent it strong, so i probably overdid it.. but wow.. It sits on my skin very nicely! I cant stop smelling my wrist.

From afar, you smell the powder, up close, the almond and cherry.. I am intrigued!

Loukhoum notes: hawthorn blossom, bulgarian rose absolute, precious woods, vanilla, Comores flowers, white almond, musk

I am very glad the Matin Calin wore off for me to try this one, its so unique, i know no one would ever smell like this so I am very very happy right now.

Matin Calin – Sugar Milk

After smelling this perfume, I realize that I hold a special place for gourmand fragrances.. sweet sugary, food smelling fragrances.. I grew up eating way too much candy, so it seems like a natural progression that I would want to smell of it as an adult. I smell condensed milk mixed with cotton candy and honeyish vanilla.. yum. It smells like I remember white rabbit japanese candy tastes (minus the edible rice paper wrapper).

Matin Calin notes: toffee milk, sugar candy, vanilla pod, sandalwood

This scent is very edible for me.. I love the creamy vanilla sugaryness of it, but it does not really last all that long.

I dont know that this could be my new signature scent – but its a nice scent for those cold winter nights watching tv all wrapped up in a blanket.

If you are a foodie, and lover of sweets – Comptoir Sud Pacifique puts out some really delicious smelling scents, and this is one of my favorites

L’eau de L’artisan

It was supposed to be 1 scent a day, but I took a shower and washed off the kai and am doing another scent this evening.. Tonight its L’eau de L’artisan – a grassy, lemony scent

L’eau de L’artisan notes: lemon, verbena, mint, basil, fresh-cut grass, seaweed

It starts out very minty, with a lemon verbana scent that follows.. very fresh and summery, but green scents sort of clash on my skin.. the lemon is a bit sugary and it sort of smells like children making lemonade in a park. A green scent i really like is Guerlains Herba Fresca.. its very grassy and minty, without the lemony scent.. If this one grows on me I’ll let you know

Kai perfume oil

Gardenia.. Really really fresh gardenia.

I liked it because the scent is very true, its smells exactly like gardenia and nothing else.. But it is a little too simple for my taste, and its a bit hollow if that makes sense to anyone but me.. Although later in the day it smelled a lot cleaner than how it originally started, I think if im in the mood for gardenia I’ll just wear my Micheal Kors.
I will keep this in mind for when I want to remind myself of hawaiian vacations