What I Used This Summer: Sensuous Products & Yummy Discoveries

We're on the last day of summer, calendar-wise, and Labor Day weekend is upon us so my mind was cast to what happened in the previous months.  It was a summer filled with everything: much needed languor, some necessary stress, moving around a bit, lots of projects, learning new things such as macramé, refreshing my Italian and hot, hot, hot temperatures soaring for days on end (those of you in the US will sympathize and those of you in Western Europe will anathematize). That last bit naturally posed its own little limitations.

Thinking of what made the cut during these past few months, I came up with products, scents, foodstuff and sensuous little touches which brightened the long days and soothed the hot nights. Here's my personal list. Feel free to share your own in the comments!

via livia-momentsoflife.blogspot.com

Dr.Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap
My reader Rosarita recommended this as a relief from the heat when I was complaining I was too hot to even consider continuing breathing (it felt that way) and asked for recs. Two words: it works! Tingling and cooling.

Guerlain Lys Soleia
The best feminine release from Guerlain by Wasser so far. A tropical fantasy of lily and sand dunes warmed by the sun.

Selin Limon Kolonyasi (traditional Turkish cologne)
Because there's something into old traditions that stands the test of time. The most refreshing touch after any activity, kept in the fridge for maximum effect.

Calone isn't totally incongruent with the sea...
Numerous times while swimming in the sea I noticed the faint whiff of watermelon in the distance (replicated by the fragrance industry in the synth Calone which defined the "marine" scents of the 1990s). At first I thought it was vacationers bringing their typical feta and watermelon treat in tupperware on ice-blocks for midday snacking. Then it dawned on me: the sea water does have a watermelon reminiscent component, or rather the fruit has a sea-like nuance (which explains its perfect pairing with the salty cheese). Amazing; it made for a renewed interest in seeing the nuts & bolts of marine perfumery, a very complex segment of the industry.

via hugo.com

Burberry Beauty Sheer Summer Glow
Most bronzers are either too dark or too orange-peach for my coolish skin (which naturally reddens in the sun and then attains a golden tint which fades quickly unless upkept). This limited edition collection of 4 shades in British-cool colors is perfect for managing the dosage for an optimum natural effect. Add mascara and a lip balm you're set for the day.

Ramon Monegal Mon Cuir
Best perfume discovery of the year so far. Dry and sophisticated powdery leather fragrance. To die for; there are no other words. Review coming up!

Ayala Moriel Etrog Oy de Cologne
Etrog is Hebrew for citron and citron is a delightful thing that remains inexplicably under the radar in most commercial perfumery. Light, tangy with pommelo, natural, with an aromatic, oleaginous background, Etrog Oy de Cologne is a scent to see you through hot summery noons and to brighten darker autumn dawns. Review coming up!

collage via pojkfroken.blogspot.com

Hermès Eau de Gentiane Blanche
Total abscence of flowers and fruits. A scent of solid white rock like a volcanic island emerging from the sea. Perennial summer fav. It feels as if Jean Claude Ellena conceived it on the island of Milos.

Bergamot spoon sweet on classic cheesecake
An unusual twist to the classic recipe that provide welcome tanginess and bittersweet nuances.

La Via del Profumo Tawaf
Hypnotic and mystical jasmine like never before, allied to Arabian tradition resins. Review coming up!

Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan mixed with simple white musk (Lutens's own Clair de Musc isn't a bad choice for this, but you can experiment with any clean musk really, a hint of white flowers in the mix is best)
An experiment (at a ratio of 1:3) that proved sometimes an intense, deep amber can fit even a heatwave. I know people use this oriental in the summer thanks to its herbal, aromatic top note which cuts the sweetness, but trust me, we were talking 105F/40C here...no laughing matter.

Jasmine Gin Fizz iced tea
Using jasmine-infused tea instead of soda in the classic recipe makes this super-easy and very cooling.

Roger & Gallet Vetyver Eau de Cologne
Delectable vetiver scent; light, smokey, with a hint of tobacco and hay underneath the citrus top. I'm cursing the day they discontinued this.

Mirto Lavender cologne
Greek pharmacy stand-by cologne that is sublime. Review coming up!

via rcakewalk.blogspot.com

Sour Cherry Jelly
Just use any red-fruit jelly mix and substitute water with fresh sour cherry juice. The result is more than the sum of its parts and garners compliments from everyone tasting it.

Etro Royal Pavillon
A tender and musky floral combination of jasmine, mimosa and ylang ylang with a mossy segment from 1989.

Ambre Solaire Golden Protection with Monoi SPF 30
Ambre Solaire is a European golden standard in that tropical floral scent we associate with South of France and Capri beaches. This year's edition is even more seductive, infused with a subtle monoi scent that just screams for sensuous application even when not on the beach.

Annick Goutal Musc Nomade
When I wanted to simulate "no perfume" skin, yet sought that indefinable aura that metallic vegetal musks only can render on the wearer. Tripy!




Farewelling summer with this song clip: "Summer rendez-vous upon your body" by Greek group Δυτικές Συνοικίες (i.e.Western Neighborhoods)
"the whole island a pebble by your feet,
the whole wide earth your embrace".

What did you use this summer? What did you discover?

Fragrance For the Day

If you're the type to co-ordinate your fragrance to the weather (and the mood it produces as a result) you might get a kick out of the new Fragrance Forecast feature of Lifestyle Mirror which matches scents to the weather forecast for New York City.

Curated by yours truly, this is today's prediction, while the week is full of participations by eminent colleagues such as Patty White of Perfume Posse, Mindy Yang of Min New York or Barney Bishop of Fragrant Moments.
Hope you have a lovely day wherever you are!

pic via pinterest

Diptyque Le Sablier, 34 Boulevard Saint Germain solid perfume, Do Son Eau de Parfum: new scented products

In staging the sensory and the poetic, Diptyque and Sébastien Servaire present a singular and unique object, coupled with a patented innovation that reinvents the ritual diffusion of perfume inside: le sablier, a device which diffuses home fragrance and resembles... an hourglass.

Priced at 110 euros for 75ml of fragrance, Diptyque's Sablier isn't cheap but it can fit a recharge of the same quantity for 34 euros thereafter. The scent offered is 34 Boulevard Saint Germain, a fresh, green and spicy scent named after the Diptyque address in Paris. The home fragrance comprises atypically green notes, humid moss, crumpled blackcurrant leaves, fig leaves dried in the sun. Spices, as can be felt on the markets of Damascus. English garden flowers,in all their freshness. And finally, woods and balms, rich and dreamy, exotic, milky and comforting. The result? A fragrance that belongs to no olfactory family.
[Let it be said in passing that there is also a Home Fragrance spray in the above mentioned scent for those who prefer the spraying action as well as a hanging on the door knob "perfumed palette".]

 The 34 Boulevard Saint Germain scent is also now offered in a solid perfume form in the by now familiar black canister that all Diptyque solids are offered for using on the skin.

 Additionally, Do Son, a tuberose floral of untypical ethereal character inspired by a resort in Vietnam, is given a new interpretation in Eau de Parfum concentration (and in the new oval shaped bottle design), boosting its longevity and radiance, unfolding tuberose's mystery on a bed of berries and flowers.

 [news via Diptyque with comments by me]

The winner of the draw...

...for the package of assorted samples is none other than Michael (posting at 11:36). Please email me, using the Contact, with your shipping data so I can have this in the mail for you soon.

Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic participation and the kind words for the work on this site, rest assured I have taken notice of your requests for upcoming articles and please stay tuned for the next giveaway soon!

Perfume Quotes: "You have to feel like it's your own skin sweating perfume"

"There (should be) space between you and your perfume. It shouldn't be obnoxious and it should blend in a way that it almost gives you the feeling that it's your own skin that smells that way. I think that the intimacy between your perfume and your skin is very important. I envision my perfume of being, in a way, a no make-up make-up concept. You have to feel like it's your own skin sweating perfume. I love that idea." [It personally reminds me of concubines being fed raw musk to emit a pleasant scent when caressed in the distant past and of the swallowable perfume pill launched recently]

 Thus describes perfumer Francis Kurkdjian the two-plonged affair between perfume and wearer, a propos his newest perfume duo under Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Amyris for Women and Amyris for Men, disputing another famous perfume quote in the process too: "(Coco) Chanel used to say that you could put perfume wherever you want to be kissed. It doesn't work; I have tried. It gives a nasty taste when you eat perfume and it's the most horrible thing ever. No one wants to be kissed that way. I love to quote her sometimes but not that. Instead, put it next to where you want to be kissed."

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Perfume Quotes 

[quote source] [pic source]

Robert Piguet Petit Fracas: new fragrance (1st Fracas flanker) & The Pacific Collection trio

The year was 1947. Perfume maverick Germaine Cellier created Fracas, the landmark tuberose perfume against which all others are measured up to till this day. In 1999, Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics, current owner of the Piguet fragrances liecence, enlisted perfumer Aurelien Guichard to re-introduce Fracas on the modern market after a fallow period, with a slight reformulation, working on the original formula.

The legendary white floral is now accompanied by its first flanker for the first time, Petit Fracas, a lighter, more youthful interpretation of the 1999 reformulation with cocoa. Aurelien Guichard is the nose again.
Notes for Robert Piguet Petit Fracas: Bergamot, mandarin, pear,jasmine, tuberose, gardenia, musk, sandalwood and cocoa.  Petit Fracas will be available in September 2012, 100ml/$150.

The same perfumer also developed a trio of scents called The Pacific Collection according to The Perfume Magazine, named Blossom, Chai and Jeunesse. Please consult the link for more info as well as the official Piguet website (linked through the banner above).

[info via Robert Piguet press, release rephrased by me, first to report was The Perfume Magazine]

 Tuberose plus chocolate? Stuff of dreams or nightmares. We'll see...