Dior

Mood Scent 4 Jewels In The Crown Perfumes


It’s Mood Scent 4 time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia, (on A Bottled Rose) , Samantha  (I Scent You A Day), Megan (Megan In St Maxime) and I write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked jewels in the crown, those treasured perfumes we can never be without.

I hope you started the new year well with everything that is going on in the world and manage to keep (relatively) calm, safe and positive. Not to mention healthy! We are in our second lock down at the moment in The Netherlands, most shops are closed and celebrating Christmas with a few family members on a schedule who got to visit when which was a bit strange. But I was very glad to be able to visit some of my family members including my dad and sister.

Back to perfumes again. In this article I have included 5 favourites from my perfume collection which can still be bought online or in a shop, so you are able to try them too if you like, starting with glorious Amber/Oriental Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan 

There are several perfumes I can’t be without and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan is definitely one of them. Ambre Sultan is filled with warming benzoin, resinous labdanum, sweet vanilla, topped with spices and herbs found on the Marrakech souk (market). This warming fragrance gets a lot of wear during wintertime each year. Ambre Sultan is very well blended, not one specific note sticking out. If I could only have one amber fragrance it would be Ambre Sultan. Notes include coriander, amber accord, oregano, bay leaf, myrtle, angelica root, sandalwood, patchouli, benzoin and vanilla. Ambre Sultan is said to smell after the markets or souks in Marrakech, Serge Lutens Moroccan residence. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Hermes Caleche 

Soft, clean and floral Caleche is another elegant perfume jewel I can’t be without. Named after a special type of light carriage, Hermes Caleche invokes a feeling of Parisian sophistication with timeless classic brown satin dresses, expensive leather Hermes bags, exquisite hand sown silk scarves, pearl necklaces and the softest dark brown leather gloves. Caleche was created by master perfumer Guy Robert in 1961 as an elegant easy to wear refined fragrance.

It features notes of aldehydes, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, gardenia, iris, ylang-ylang, oakmoss, sandalwood, cedarwood and vetiver. .(Continue Reading After The Photograph)Hermes Eau d’Orange Verte 

Another jewel in the crown is Hermes Eau d’Orange verte. Eau D’orange verte is an extraordinary uplifting scent adding sunshine and light to grey rainy days. True to its original name which was Hermes Eau de Cologne, Eau d’Orange Verte smells very much like a cologne focussing on freshly squeezed bitter orange tree leaves.

Hermes Eau d’Orange Verte was created in 1979 by French perfumer Francoise Caron. According to official Hermes training material Eau d’Orange Verte features notes of petit grain lemon, mandarin, bitter orange tree (bigadier) leaves and peppermint. Some online sources mention oakmoss and patchouli as well. This fragrance has been in my collection for 20 years, back in the days when I wore the same scent every day. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Guerlain Shalimar 

Guerlain Shalimar is one of the perfumes I can’t be without either. It is one of the perfumes which feel custom made to me and I reach for on many occasions. Sparkling green Bergamot lemon. smooth floral Rose and Jasmine, seductive balsamic Opopanax, comforting Vanilla, powdery Iris and Tonka Bean make Shalimar very soothing and relaxing. Shalimar feels like one of those fragrances which suit any occasion or mood. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Dior Miss Dior original 

Miss Dior has many faces nowadays but I am referring to the perfume from 1947 which is now very well named Miss Dior Original. Created by perfumers Jean Carles and Paul Vacher this classic masterpiece is another jewel of the crown. It has probably been changed many times in the meantime.

Some people might find Miss Dior Original too nostalgic for their taste which I can relate to as this was created in the “New Look” period of Christian Dior, at the end of the 1940ties. I rather like this elegant perfume which feels like wearing a made to measure exquisite dress, impeccable red lipstick, a well powdered face, some black eyeliner and a stylish large designer hat.  Personally I am glad we don’t have to wear these dresses anymore but have the choice to wear what we like and still get a glimpse of this elegant period by scenting and wearing Miss Dior Original. A bit of nostalgia after all!

Notes include: Aldehydes, Galbanum, Clary Sage, Gardenia, Bergamot, Narcissus, Iris, Carnation, Lily of the Valley, Orris Root, Jasmine, Rose, Neroli, Oakmoss, Leather, Vetiver, Patchouli, Labdanum, Sandalwood and Amber accord. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

These are my top 5 Jewels in the Crown picks. Have a look on Samantha’s blog I Scent You A Day Megan’s blog  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose,  to read they choices too!

I Love To Hear From You
I hope you are able to share your favorite perfumes you can’t live without and let me know what you think of my choices too.

Disclosure: All photographs were made by me and are meant as creative expression. The perfumes on the photographs were all bought by me. Some fragrances are sold in other bottles now.

 

Mood Scent 4 : Inner Teen Perfumes

Its Mood Scent 4 time again! Sam (I Scent You a Day), Megan (Megan in St. Maxime), Portia (Australian Perfume Junkies) and I write about a different  theme every month. This time we have chosen to post about Inner Teen Perfumes. Which perfumes make us feel like young teenagers again? Fragrances we used when we were teenagers ourselves or perfumes which make us feel like we are in our teens again?

 

When I was a teenager in the eighties I wore perfumes like Diorella, Lancome Climat and Estée Lauder White Linen. Diorella is the fragrance I associate most with being a teenager. I bought a “vintage” bottle of Climat a year ago but it does not remind me of the scent I used to wear at all. White Linen or Climat are not exactly fragrances I would suggest for teenagers nowadays but we had a lot less to choose from in those days as some of you well know!

Diorella!

I wore Diorella with much joy when I graduated high school in 1985. The year of films like St Elmo’s Fire, Back to the Future and Jagged Edge. Diorella extrait was a very generous gift from my aunt and it still makes me feel like a teenager even though it has been drastically changed removing its dominant fruity melon accord in more recent releases.

Diorella is an uplifting fragrance with Sicilian lemon, bright light clean jasmine over a vetiver and patchouly base. Natural jasmine flowers can smell of rotting and decay in the evening in the Mediterranean but the focus here is on it’s clean scent during the day. Perfumer Edmond Routniska interestingly added an almost rotting contrasting cantaloupe melon accord. Diorella was released in 1972. Edmond Routniska also created Frederic Malle Le Parfum de Therese in the early fifties (for his wife)  Le Parfum de Therese was released to the public in 2000 and some bloggers say it is rather similar to Diorella. Honestly I find it rather different but who knows how it smelled when it was first released in 1972? I would love to know Diorella how it was originally intended.

Notes: lemon, peach, basil, bergamot, melon, green notes, honeysuckle, jasmine, violet, rose, carnation, cyclamen. Oak moss, vanilla, clove, sandalwood, vetiver, musk, patchouly.

Moschino Cheap and Chic I Love Love

Pure careless joy in a playful coloured bottle. This fragrance uplifts me everytime I wear it and the blue and red bottle with a toylike spray brings a smile to my face every time I use it. Starting with a bright citrus accord, full of juicy pomelo and sweet candy like lemon, it changes into a warm woody base. Although pomelo or grapefruit is very dominant, it never gets sour and is extremely uplifting. It does disappear rather quickly on the skin though. I love love was released in 2005 and created by perfumer Olivier Cresp, it is said to be rather similar to Dolce Gabbana Light Blue (which he created too) but with a brighter citrus top and as a bonus it is much cheaper too. They do share the same DNA but I love love is much more prominent on my skin especially its bright pomelo opening.

Notes: grapefruit, red currant, lemon, tea rose, cinnamon, musk, cedar wood

Parfums MDCI Péché Cardinal

Parfums MDCI (MDCI)  Peche Cardinal is a young, joyful and pretty fruity floral fragrance. Wearing Péché Cardinal makes me feel innocent and playful. It was released in 2008, meaning Cardinal Sin in French and created by perfumer Amandine Clerc-Marie.

Peche Cardinal was the first perfume with a dominant tuberose note I enjoyed wearing. The tuberose is fresh green and innocent before showing us her more lush or even carnal side. Péché Cardinal can be slightly caleidoscopic as she changes from sweet peach liquor to creamy tuberose and a lighter coconut.  It makes you feel like a young teenage girl feeling very pretty in pink (I am referring here to the 1986 film Pretty in Pink with Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCartney, a film I enjoyed watching in the eighties).

Notes: Davana, peach, coconut, blackcurrant, tuberose, prune, lily, cedar, sandalwood, musc.

These were my three choices! Have a look on the Sam’s blog I Scent You A Day, Megan’s  Megan in St. Maxime and Portia’s Australian Perfume Junkies to read their picks for inner teen perfumes! I am very curious, aren’t you?

What are your favorite inner teen fragrances? Did you wear them when you were a teenager? Which fragrances make you feel like a teenager again?

Disclosure; photographs of bottles were made by me.