Posted by Robin
on
7 February 2012
They like jasmine over at Lush. Whenever I’m feeling particularly wealthy (a rare, and entirely delusional state) I pick up some of their Jasmine & Henna Fluff Ease hair pre-treatment (about $22 for 220g). My hair most certainly needs some pre-treatment, followed by some treatment and then perhaps some post-treatment, but I buy it for the (massive) wallop of jasmine, which lasts right through a shampoo (or two). Once, and only once, I bought a very small travel size of their Flying Fox shower gel ($10 for 100 ml, which mind you doesn’t look like nearly so much product in shower gel as it does in perfume) — another decent wallop of jasmine. And then there’s the Lust fragrance, which arguably out-jasmines both the Fluff Ease and the Flying Fox, and adds a hefty dose of candy to boot.
But their best known jasmine product is probably the Silky Underwear dusting powder. I love the smell,1 but I’m not a big user of dusting powder so I’ve never bought it. I was tempted when they released the same fragrance in a solid perfume,2 but I still didn’t bite…
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Posted by Robin
on
24 January 2012
Once again, I am lacking a theme, unless you call “fragrances I tried recently” a theme. So without further introduction, here are quick reviews of Diptyque’s Eau Particulière & Eau Mage, Dear John by Lush, Meow! by Katy Perry and Soivohle’ Jasmine Summer.
Diptyque Eau Particulière & Eau Mage
Both of these fragrances are part of the limited edition Les Invités du Trente-Quatre collection celebrating Diptyque’s 50th anniversary. Eau Particulière (shown above center) is a “multi-use” fragrance from perfumer Olivier Pescheux — you can use it on your body, as a room or linen spray, whatever. It features rose, musk and mint, and it’s pleasant, but it suffers from the tendency of mint-heavy fragrances to smell like toothpaste, or in this case, mouthwash. It’s subtle (and fresh) enough that it doesn’t smell like much of anything for very long. Unisex, in 240 ml Body & Home Spray, $135.
Eau Mage (above left) is a conventional (i.e., personal) fragrance from perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin…
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Posted by Robin
on
12 August 2011
Gelsomino Nobile is the latest from Italian niche line Acqua di Parma. It’s an ‘ode to jasmine’ (gelsomino being the Italian for jasmine), and it joins the two prior fragrances — Iris Nobile, Magnolia Nobile — in what is now called the Le Nobili collection. Much is made in the press materials about the particular jasmine used in Gelsomino Nobile: it’s reportedly a “Jasmine Grandi Flora from Calabria, Italy – one of the last surviving Jasmine cultivation sites, for perfume making in Italy”, and the “green and fresh aspect of this particular type of Jasmine gives a light and airy effect”.
I have not smelled that jasmine in person, but the fragrance, developed by perfumer Michel Almairac, is very light and airy indeed; in style it is so close to Magnolia Nobile that I can recycle bits and pieces from the review I wrote for that one…
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Posted by Robin
on
11 August 2011
Of the four fragrances in the new limited edition Floral Curiosities collection at Anthropologie (all of them created by niche perfume line Ineke), Poet’s Jasmine was the one that most sparked my interest. No surprise there — I love jasmine. There are times that I wish jasmine would replace oud as the new “big” thing in niche, and then, of course, there are times that I don’t. If I ever get sick of jasmine, I might as well go find a new hobby.
Quite predictably, it was also my favorite of the four after I smelled them; in fact, I spent so little time with the others that I ought not to say anything, but I will just mention that I was intrigued with the wine-y Scarlet Larkspur as well, and anybody who shares my troubled feelings about melon might best stay away from Angel’s Trumpet. The official description of Poet’s Jasmine is right on target, so I’ll repeat it here…
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Posted by Robin
on
16 June 2011
Jasminora is the latest addition to the Aqua Allegoria range at Guerlain. You old-timers already know the drill: the Aqua Allegorias were introduced in 1999 as a youth-oriented, (relatively) reasonably priced line that was supposed to showcase particular natural materials; they generally add two new light-and-summery fragrances a year, and only those that do well hang around (they’re essentially limited editions). Some years I like them and some years I don’t, but I do own a few of them, in fact, most of the modern-day Guerlains in my collection are from this range — I own Herba Fresca, Anisia Bella and Mandarine Basilic, and if a cheap bottle of Laurier Réglisse came my way, I’d buy that one too.
Last year, if I’m not mistaken, was the first time they released Aqua Allegoria fragrances that weren’t named for specific notes. Flora Nymphéa and Bouquet Numéro 1 were mixed florals, although only the first one went into general distribution in the US. This year, they’re back to form with Jasminora, which is a light summery jasmine. It’s in what I think of as perfumer Thierry Wasser’s “young, fresh and dewy” style, in fact, it has a lot in common with Flora Nymphéa (and by extension, Idylle) although it’s very clearly focused on the jasmine note…
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