Posted by Erin
on
26 May 2008
The dessert course has never been among my many vices. I can track a fresh bowl of heavily buttered popcorn from several blocks away, but the Triple Brownie Blackout cake has never called my name. Of course, I like chocolate — those people who claim not to like it always make me suspicious — but it must be very dark, and in fact, I will happily eat that 98% cocoa solids stuff with the consistency of chalk. Unfortunately, I do still drink pop, although I blame the carbonation there: I choose mineral water when it’s available. I love traveling in the U.S. because of the wide availability of brewed, unsweetened iced tea. (In Canada, if you are foolish enough to ask for an ice tea, you will likely get a syrup-based product out of a drink gun. If you can finish it, you are a better person than I am.) When I am cajoled into a dessert, ice cream or coffee bar by one of the many sugar-addicted members of my family, my first question to the server is always: “Which option would you say is the least sweet?”
This is usually my first question to a perfume sales assistant, too. I self-identify as a lover of bitter, salty, herbal and spicy smells. Looking over my fragrance collection, however, I am forced to contemplate the possibility I have been deluding myself…
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Posted by Robin
on
5 November 2007
In introducing their new Egg Nog fragrance, Demeter made the claim “If you love Egg Nog, you’ll love Demeter’s Egg Nog…and if you hate it, maybe you just haven’t had GOOD Egg Nog”. I am in a different bind: I can’t remember what egg nog really tastes like. I haven’t had it in years. I don’t think I ever liked it, but honestly I’m not even sure.
So this review won’t follow the usual Demeter pattern of yep, it smells just like its name. Demeter Egg Nog smells like sweet egg-y milk, reminiscent of their Condensed Milk scent, and as with the Condensed Milk, it reminds me of flan or egg custard. In this case, a flan spiked with a healthy dose of holiday spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) and vanilla.
There is a splash of rum in the top notes, but it doesn’t last. The rest of it lasts for a surprisingly long time for a Demeter though, and it maintains its spicy kick well into the dry down. Like last week’s Un Crime Exotique from Parfumerie Generale, it would make a perfect fragrance to wear on Christmas morning. Unlike that one, it is cheap enough that you could buy a half dozen of the small splash bottles for stocking stuffers…
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Posted by Robin
on
27 August 2007
Ok, so anyone who reads Now Smell This regularly already knows I love iris. Prada’s new Infusion d’Iris is only the latest in a long list of iris fragrances that make me swoon, and I’m still mourning Chanel’s 28 La Pausa, which I adore but refuse to buy inasmuch as it is just too costly for such an ephemeral experience.
But I don’t love everything iris. Angela recently wrote a lovely appreciation of Le Labo’s Iris 39, and I was very glad she did because I had nothing nice to say about it. And while I get the idea behind Frederic Malle’s Iris Poudre, I have no desire to wear it. Same goes for Dior’s justifiably lauded Dior Homme.
Iris Ganache, which was added to Guerlain’s L’Art et la Matière range (see Cuir Beluga, Rose Barbare, Angelique Noire and Bois d’Armenie) earlier this year, sounded like it might not be my sort of iris…
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Posted by Robin
on
30 May 2007
I like candy, but in general, I’m a chocolate kind of person. I love dark chocolate, the darker the better, but I’m not a snob about it: I also love Hot Fudge Pop-Tarts, and several other treats that might more properly be called “chocolate food product” than “chocolate”. Fruit candy doesn’t interest me at all — to eat or to wear as perfume — so the recently released Demeter Jelly Belly Collection didn’t seem like likely to wow me, and by and large, it didn’t. The fragrances are based on Jelly Belly recipes, which call for popping a specific group of flavored jelly beans into your mouth to produce the desired taste effect.
Not surprisingly, my favorite from this set is Hot Fudge Sundae, the only one of the 6 that isn’t particularly fruity. Here is the jelly bean recipe…
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Posted by Robin
on
8 May 2007
This month, Demeter introduces the Jelly Belly Collection, a new set of fragrances inspired by Jelly Belly jelly beans:
Eating one Jelly Belly jelly bean at a time is yummy, but Jelly Belly aficionados know the pleasure of combining different flavors to create “recipe” combinations for new gourmet taste sensations. Devised with definite flavors and proportions in mind, Jelly Belly jelly bean recipes provided the inspiration for creating the Jelly Belly Collection by Demeter Fragrance Library.
There are six fragrances…
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