Springtime is here

 photo by Elena Vosnaki

The Scent of Spring : A Collection of Top Spring Perfume Lists, Spring Images & Facts about Spring Fragrances

Perfume Shrine: Spring Clean: Two in One Mar 13, 2015 ... However I have composed a few articles of pertinent nature, which might come useful for those of you in search of new spring fragrances, for a ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Springtime awakenings: Green Fragrances ... Apr 3, 2014 ... Among fragrance families, only "green" scents are classified through a visual connotation, specifically a color coding. You could argue that ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Spring Floral Fragrances: Delicate Beauties ... Apr 5, 2012 ... Spring Floral Fragrances: Delicate Beauties Yielding Under Your Caress. Legend wants it that the goddess Flora created violets out of the body ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: A Glimpse of Spring Amidst the Snowzilla Jan 25, 2016 ... In an effort of some welcome diversion of spring-time thoughts, before any floral prints ...Spring Floral Fragrances: Delicate Beauties Yielding . perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Scents that Sing Spring: Top 10 fragrances Apr 16, 2010 ... So my personal Top Spring Scents for this spring (fragrances I am wearing with much gusto and utter glee) are: Amaranthine Penhaligon's ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Wedding Bells: Perfume Ideas for Choosing the ... Jun 26, 2012 ... In perfume terms, that means your signature scent might be a little too .... I wore Une Fleur de Chanel for my spring 2000 wedding, and it fit ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: The aromata of Greek Easter & a Recipe Apr 22, 2011 ... The awakening of spring, which sheds its pagan archetypes shining upon everything, is walking hand in hand with the tradition of a pious ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Season Specific Fragrance Wardrobe & "Rotate ... Apr 15, 2011 ... (as reported by Beatrice de Gea in The Wall Street Journal) "When spring arrives, women may want to tone down perfumes so they aren't ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Spring Anticipation-a Joint Project from Two Sides ... Mar 4, 2008 ... Where I live spring has already come and it's raining sunray upon ... Under the smart recommendation of Vidabo/Lou from Perfume of Life, I am ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the ... Mar 15, 2009 ... Spring is univocally here as you can see and my mind wanders on avenues of floral and greenfragrances that like a breath of optimism ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Perfume Shrine: Interview with Dr. Joachim Mensing, Fragrance ... Apr 1, 2013 ... Interview with Dr. Joachim Mensing, Fragrance Psychologist: How we Choose Fragrance andSpring Perfume Moods. “Fragrance and ... perfumeshrine.blogspot.com

Sunny Fragrances to Beat the Winter Blues

There are some occasions in the lagging days of winter, eternally stuck someplace between middle & end of February, when the snow keeps piling up at the front windows and the birds fly down-spin over the yard, which can exasperate even the bravest of brave souls. Although my own native winters are mild & sunny, with only the occasional snowfall, white flakes not sturdy enough to pile up and withstand the coming out of the sun the next day, every time I have been away from home into a northern European country or in the windy winters of Down Under beside the lapping of the cold ocean, I got a taste for what it must feel like to always be cold, always rubbing one's nose when outside to stop it from getting numb.

The scented world around seems sleeping, with the indoor smells gaining momentum, but perfume can provide an intentional, on demand change of one's landscape: How exquisite a pearly aldehydic floral seems on an ice-cold day and how bright & dreamy does a floriental, full of the sunny rays that warmed the petals of its tropical flowers...

My picks for instilling a sunny disposition and banish those winter blahs comprise a list of perfumes which are noted for their optimism, sheer joie de vivre, indulgent nature and easy wearing; in two words, uncomplicated happiness! Fragrances to remind you of the coming of spring and to put a spring in your (still mutton-wearing) step! After all, in Turkish tradition the end of February marks the end of winter's cemre: Cemre are 3 fireballs coming from heavens to warm the earth for the coming of spring; the first appears on February 19-20, the second between February 26-27 and the third falls to ground on 5-6 March...Spring is just round the corner!
And if you're gifting someone to cheer them up, consider a bouquet of chocolate hearts for a perfect gift hamper accompanied with an elegant floral perfume for a striking impression.

10 Fragrances to Beat the Winter Blues for Men/Women:

Patricia de Nicolai Le Temps d'une Fête
The perfect hyacinth-ladden green floral to evoke spring, full of crushed leaves & grass; a fragrance so beautiful and cheerful that it will make you spin around and around humming Mendelssohn's Spring Song even when getting down the Christmas decorations.

Ayala Moriel Les Nuages de Joie Jaune
Described as "drifting in yellow clouds of happiness", this is an all-natural soliflore fragrance built on the yellow pom-poms of mimosa and the honeyed goodness of cassie. As light as air and as joyful as the first bright, sunny day in late February. [availability]

Annick Goutal Songes
Someplace in the tropics, languorous women with Gaugin-esque physiques pick up cananga odorata (ylang ylang blossoms) to render their sunny essence which finds its way inside this summery potion of liquid sunshine. A floriental full of the suntan and solar notes of salicylates, fanned on a vanillic and woody base.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic
These succulent Mediterranean flavours, combining almost as in a fruit salad, benefit from the spicy zing of the basil note. An easy, piquant scent which lifts the mood anytime.

Profumum Victrix
The Latin sounding name hides a masculine cologne of earth and wind, where the laurel, the greens and the coriander conspire to give notions of open, endless prairies under a dog-toothed sun.

Molinard de Molinard
Fruity floral in the best possible sense. If you like Amazone and just didn't know where to look to to find a similar fragrance, look no further. This is has the happy ambience of a warm summer evening spent at an outdoors cinema in Sicily or a Greek island, all paved with gravel, with thick jasmine & honeysuckle vines climbing its walls, watching Cinema Paradiso.


Hermès Concentrée d'Orange Verte
This lime-laced cologne is simply the best masculine/unisex cologne to lift a lagging mood or a weary spirit. The hesperidic touch is enough to get you out of bed as sure as a good Robusta.

Patou Câline
The greenly fresh aldehydic sophistication and malleable primness of Patou’s Câline remind me of Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, after her European trip in which she becomes a proper “lady”, almost unrecognizable to those who knew her as merely the chauffer’s daughter to the rich family. [Full review here.]

Lancôme Miracle So Magic
A surprising entry in the Miracle flankers stable, this is composed by Annick Menardo and although it diverts from her smoky, dark path, it bears a remarkable affability without insipidness: the green sweet smell of clover fields opens up on an endless vista in front of you as wild-flowers zoom into focus. Just lovely!

Hermès Iris Ukiyoé
Its detractors call it "Yuck! Away!" but don't let this parody on the Japanese-alluding name deter you. Notes of an aqueous hydrangea and a lightly spicy grape-like accent bring forth the fantasy of the iris flower, instead of the familiar rooty-violety root. Spring-like! [Full review here.]

And of course anticipating some of the upcoming fragrances for spring makes one dream a little bit and withstand the last throes of cold better. Catch them up here!

And you? What are your favourite fragrances to come out of hibernation? Tell me in the comments.



Spring Song by Felix Mendelssohn from "Lieder Ohne Worte".
Painting "The Promise of Spring" by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
Molinard pic via Perfumes.bighouse.blogspot.com. Goutal bottle via thefragrantelf.livejournal.com

Tocadilly by Rochas: fragrance review

There is a French expression "mettre en valeur" which roughly translates as to highlight, to draw attention to one's best features. This is what Tocadilly by Rochas does; an ethereal scent that highlights the flowers of spring I love ~lilac, wisteria and mimosa~ beautifully, yet transcends the genre of floral. The feeling I get, when I sort this out of my perfume wardrobe at the first hints of spring, is just like the interplay of cool and warm one experiences upon imprinting their breath "fog" on a wet window pane.

Tocadilly by Marcel Rochas is a floral which launched in 1997 amidst a sea of aquatics and marines. It was said that it represents the younger sister of Tocade, an intensely rosy vanillic fragrance by Maurice Roucel from 1994, yet I do not perceive the kinship of spirit that should tie them in such a close relationship. They both have the same design of flacon, nevertheless, created by bottle designer Serge Mansau; but to Tocade's red packaging hues Tocadilly conterpoints blue-green-purple tones and the aura of the scent is complimentary.
Perfumer Christopher Sheldrake (currently at Chanel) is best known for his oeuvre under the wing of Serge Lutens composing a sumptuous line of persuasive orientals and opulent florals. In Tocadilly those preconceptions are shed and Sheldrake reveals a light, lacy touch that is capable of creating diaphanous effects which do not lack staying power or diffusion. The composition is segmentated into interesting facets of aqueous, fruity, floral and lightly ambery-powdery, fusing into a playful, cheerful and tender composition that is above all soft.

Three years before the modern aqueous lilacs of En Passant (2000), realised by Olivia Giacobetti for éditions des parfums Frédéric Malle, Tocadilly had captured this unholy allience between "clean" and "dirty" (Lilacs naturally have an anisic spiciness/powderiness recreated through anisaldehyde and heliotropin in fragrances, as extraction is so uneconomical/unyielding*; yet they often also possess an animalic undercurrent like pollen dusted on impolite feminine parts, especially the mauve-tinged blooms). The watery impression of Tocadilly is less "marine" than En Passant and the yeasty note is absent completely, rendering a must-try for both lovers and haters of En Passant.
The unusual pear note comes from the flavour industry and was contemporarily explored in Annick Goutal's Petite Chérie. Yet in Tocadilly it's not as easily decomposed and the absence of intense sugary lappings helps along, focusing instead on the almost pollen-like aroma of wisteria and lilacs. The mimosa is detectable ~and delectable, providing the emotional foil for the overall spring-like tonality which runs through the fragrance. Yet one would be hard pressed to designate Tocadilly to any particular season. It's utterly friendly and wearable in almost all settings and all climates, easing itself with an insouciant shrug of the shoulders and a child-like innocence that's not without a little mischief.

Notes for Rochas Tocadilly:
Top: cucumber, lilac, hyacinth, pear, jasmine, tiare, wisteria, mallow, mimosa and mandarin.
Heart: glycine/wisteria, coconut and heliotrope.
Base: sandalwood, musk and amber.

Sadly discontinued, Tocadilly is still available online.

*There is a fragrance that is purpotedly using a natural extraction of the flower itself, Highland Lilac of Rochester, to which we will return soon.

Photo Dreams and Cookies II via meren.org. Lilacs shot by PerfumeShrine, all rights reserved.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself

Such a Zen feeling as that of today's title engulfs my psyche as I let myself bask in the sunny goodness, lazy like a spoiled cat that has seen some winters and some springs come and go but never lost her sense of contenment, sighing at the first warm days she's finally free to chase fat pigeons on the terracotta-laid rooftops.
Spring is univocally here as you can see and my mind wanders on avenues of floral and green fragrances that like a breath of optimism promise some fresh air blown over the ashes of burnt winter thoughts; that like a re-invigorated kittie is eager for some mental stretch.

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment", said Ellis Peters, and I couldn't express the feeling in a more awe-struck way at the eternal Dionysus's return.
The following fragrances, some of which might get a full review later on, if the mood strikes, are listed in no particular order but that of making me yearn for every dawn like it's the first one.


Tocadilly by Rochas
If a spring fragrance can combine warmth and coolness like the mark of one's breath on the window-pane on an ambiguous chilly morning that will later thaw, then the armload of lilacs hiding in this fragrance's heart are just what is needed. Christopher Sheldrake worked with a delicate palette that weaves jade-greens and wisteria-mauves into mixes that blur and leave you wondering at its ethereal beauty, much like watching a dance perfomance that defies gravity. Most unfairly overlooked and making me appreciate its rarity value even more!

Snob by Le Galion
The unusual green, licorice-bittersweet aspect of estragon, among the so-called "simples", one-remedy herbs, used by Hippocrates and possibly (?) named after a corruption of the middle-French esdragon (derived from the plant's Latin specific name artemisia dracunculus, "little dragon") is reputed to help in treating bites of insects and snakes. I wouldn't dream of wishing you any occurrence in which you should need its medicinal properties, but if you are simpatico to its charms, the combination with the classical floral bouquet of rose and jasmine is producing something very close to Patou's Joy and yet a little different in a cocky way in this -by now obscure- French firm's of the 1930s offering.

Cristalle by Chanel
If a cartload of juicy lemons is smiling my way on its embarkment spot in Sicily via an architectural austere flacon then I know I am in the presence of Cristalle in Eau de Toilette. If by some fateful chance I am garlanding my hair with yellow bits of honeysuckle blossoms while drinking said lemonade at an outdoor cinema just opening its gavel-strewn lawns in May after months of inertia, then Cristalle in Eau de Parfum is winking its seductive, youthful wiles at me. The night is nostalgic and promising and I am smitten by its pedigree and effortless elegance.

Lentisque by 06310
The at once fluffy and oleaginous flavour of mastic or lentisque, a resin from a variety of the pistachio tree growing on the island of Chios in the Eastern Aegean sea is hard to convincingly capture. In this Grasse family-owned company's fragrance, the beloved culinary lentisque is blended with essences of amber seed, iris, jasmin, Turkish rose, musk, amber and vetiver to render an amalgamation of aromata that seem to hazily blur like watercolours running into each other on thick drawning paper, mixed during a nonchalant Sunday afternoon.

Flora Nerolia by Guerlain
There is nothing more March-like than the smell of bitter orange trees blossoming, their waxy white petals infiltrating the glossy green of the leaves and some fruit still hanging from the branches, like a reminder of what has been already accomplished. Guerlain captured the ethereal vapors of steam of these delicate, ravishing blossoms and married them to a pre-emptying summery jasmine and the faint whiff of cool frankincense burning inside a Greek Orthodox church preparing for the country's most devout celebration: Easter. Flora Nerolia is like a snapshot of late Lent in Greece and for that reason is absolutely precious to me.

Vanille Galante by Hermès
One of my latest infatuations, this water-ballet of lily and vanilla pod is uttely charming on skin that is coming out of hibernation like migratory habits of exotic birds which come back to nest on one's roof, their happy melodious sounds signalling the final coming of warmth. If Vanille Galante were a bird it would be a Kookaburra.

Fiori di Capri by Carthusia
If wood is the Chinese symbol of elementals for spring, then Fiori di Capri is not out of place, thanks to its distinctive oak-y vibrance beneath an intensely indolic peppery carnation and some innocently coy lily of the valley. Allegedly based on an original fragrance by Father Prior of the San Giacomo Monastry on Capri, made in 1380, the scent is just this side short of being a ticket to either the verdant Capri itself or the vertiginous heights of the Balcon de Europa in Nerja, Malaga.

Une Fleur de Cassie by Frédéric Malle
The catty-animalic pong of cassie hiding in this gem floral in the Editions de Parfums line-up is an emblem of a formidable perfumer, Dominique Ropion. Cassie flower is succulently and troublingly feminine with its intimate aura of consumed bodies and here it reveals its facets unapologetically, with a little carnation as a counterpoint sumptuously combined with vanilla and sandlwood. Wearing it makes me feel like La Veuve Aphrodissia in Marguerite Yourcenar's Nouvelles Orientales collection of short stories: the impossible alliance between passion and social conventions.

Tubéreuse Criminelle by Serge Lutens
If Carnal Flower is my default tuberose for summer thanks to its green humid airness and slight coconutty deliciousness that makes it tropical and modern to the 9th degree, Tubereuse Criminelle is just the right rite of passage worthy of a Stravinsky suite to prepare the grounds for summer and thus perfect for this transitional period. Its camphoric opening is akin to spectacular and beautiful weirdness.

Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae Roth
Pry under a delicate constellation of petals and you come face to face with something more naughty than you would ever imagine at first: the genitals of a living organism; on this occasion a flower's! The spicy, heady, at once green and floral coalescence of Amoureuse, seguing to musky perfection is unashamedly sexy and reminiscent of what spring is all about: nature's season for mating!


If you have a moment to spare the following little online test might tell you which flowers' scented style might suit you best.

What are you wearing or planning to wear this sping?


All photos copyright Helg/Perfumeshrine

Spring Anticipation-a Joint Project from Two Sides of the World

Where I live spring has already come and it’s raining sunray upon sunray on us to the delight of the inner child that wants to come out and play. So in an anthem to spring, these are the things I anticipate to enjoy in these next few months, arbitralily noted down in varied categories. The Non Blonde joined me in this list, so you might want to check it.
I hope you find them inspiring!

Art

I am eager to see the exhibition of one of the artists I follow, John Psychopedis, founder of the New Realists group using ready-made elements from advertising, cinema and press in combination with concepts inspired by History of Art and Marxist doctrine.
It opens today and will run through the end of April.(pic:"rereading Odyssey")

Books

1.The retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" is a book with watercolors by Angela Barrett. It’s filled with ethereal pictures, of which the two-page spreads in particular are trully beautiful! And while we're at it, the illustrations on this version, are also gorgeous.

2.Sometimes spring can be lenient with a little light reading, for which I look forward to French Trysts: Secrets of a Courtesan by Kirsten Lobe. It doesn’t pretend to be too serious and I deem this a virtue.

3.Les Amants Papillons (aka The Butterfly Lovers) is a French book by the children's book illustrator, Benjamin Lacombe. The visual aspect of it with its glowing colours and shadowy little corners had captured my eye the moment I stumbled upon it on French Amazon. I plan on reading it spraying Mitsouko on my clothes first.

4.Under the smart recommendation of Vidabo/Lou from Perfume of Life, I am anticipating reading a book by Carl Wilson, who explores both his dislike of Celine Dion and the wider socio-cultural phenomenon of 'taste': aptly called "Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste". Sounds like my kind of thing.

Fashion
Wearing bright, happy colours again!



{dress by Diane Von Furstenberg, from New York magazine Spring Fashion 08}

Films

1.The Other Boleyn Girl: predictably I will be annoyed by historical innacuracies, but I am sure I will love the sumptuous costumes created by awe-inspiring Sandy Powell.
The line "Our daughters are being traded like cattle for the advancement of men" gives the gist of the story. But you knew that.

Watch the trailer here:


2.Lust, Caution by Ang Lee: I managed to miss it when it aired, it’s by Ang Lee, it’s a love tale cum espionage thriller in times of peril, the actors are sooo pretty, I just want to see it…Enough with the excuses!
Watch the clip here.


Food

Good, fresh strawberries with thick, unsweetened cream on top. Yum!
Ladurée macaroons in cassis-violet flavour: someone is sending me some! I love how the fruity tang compliments the sweeter aspect and the colour appeals to me.



Fragrances to wear and enjoy

I have missed my florals...So these come out to the front of the rotation.

~Czech & Speake Mimosa: the true essence of “clean” ~trully lovely!
~Christian Dior Diorissimo: innocence and fraility of style never goes out of fashion and this is one extrait de parfum worth seeking out
~L'artisan La chasse aux papillons: another study in innocence, a watercolour of spring snapshots
~Stella Rose Absolue: for the sultrier moments, a great bridge scent from winter to spring
~Guerlain Flora Nerolia: the sentiment of walking under bitter orange trees and jasmine vines
~Carthusia Fiori di Capri: a chypre floral that emits woody hues of carnation
~Serge Lutens Tubéreuse Criminelle: a twist in the nubile hand of spring, a masterpiece of evil composition
~Serge Lutens Sarrasins: because I reserve A la Nuit for warm summer nights...
~Chanel No.22: its crepuscular tonality suits cool evening breezes when the sun melts into the horizon
~Chanel No.19: because a little je m'en fou in the mornings , donning crisp white shirts and lots of silver bangles, never hurt anyone. "L'audace a son numéro!"
~DelRae Debut: because I am smitten with its green rush
~DelRae Amoureuse: because I am smitten fullstop. I would, wouldn’t I?

Fragrances to sniff:

~Serge Lutens Five O'Clock au Gingembre: the new fresh oriental with bergamot, vetiver, ginger, beeswax, cistus labdanum and vanilla. I don’t know if it will deliver, but it’s got its own little appointment.
~Chanel Sycomore: the latest member in Les Exclusifs, reportedly a vetiver interpretation that bears no relation with the original from the start of the 20th century. Still….

Home
Fresh flowers in the house, preferably lilacs and violets: they remind me of Easter.
Diptyque Mimosa room spray: the closest to the real smell of mimosa!

Jewels

1. I love the bold look of this season: my chance to get out the trully striking pieces.
The pics shows a Dries Van Noten Tiger Eye necklace, $1,060, an amber layered necklace, $1,210, and a jade necklace on yellow ribbon, price upon request; Go to driesvannoten.be for more information. From New York magazine


2. I just knew perfume lovers would appreciate this!
Perfume tray story box by Sweet Romance

3.And this one as well….the perfect amulet against day to day evil, n’est-ce pas?
Florentina Perfume Flask Necklace by Sweet Romance

4.I am getting my Van Cleef & Arpels bracelets with the butterflies out for a stroll...


Makeup

Guerlain Parure Powder: Because I want to see just why they decided to discontinue the homonymous fragrance for this!

Nature
Butterflies flying around (caterpillars are everywhere now!)
Cats having kittens
Bitter orange (citrus aurantia) trees blossoming
Lilacs happily blooming in April (despite T.S Elliot's famous verse)
People having a spring in their step due to spring's magic
Babies squinting in the sun

Project to be undertaken next for my own enjoyment
Movies that reproduce art paintings. I got the idea and got started from this page.

Skincare

Goutal Crème Splendide with rose extracts. Smells divine!

Soap

I just bought a travel case of Roger & Gallet Magnolia soap and I am admiring it in its box, secretly opening and taking a whiff every now and then. I am already dreaming of the pink suds.

Stationery

I had never paid enough attention to my stationary and I decided I should remedy that. These hand-pierced cards look dreamily elegant and I already imagine them scented in serene Extrait de Songe.

Travel
Tuscany...hopefully soon!



For more things to anticipate this spring, please click over to The Non Blonde.


What are you anticipating this spring? I'd love to hear!

Pics personal and courtesy of Photolife, eikastikon, New York magazine, amazon.fr, garden.co.uk, Ladurée.