MoodScent4 Project

Mood Scent 4 🎄 Christmas Gifts Galore 🎄

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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 scented gifts for the upcoming holidays.

As many of us are spending a lot more time inside and washing our hands I picked soaps and scented candles as gifts. This year has been an exceptional year for many of us. Some will have more money to spend than others. Local shops and small business can use all the help they get from us. Because of this I chose scented products from local or small fragrance businesses starting with the UK based company Olfiction and their new Boujee Bougies Scented candles.

Boujee Bougies Scented Candles

Scented candles Boujee Bougies were recently launched by Pia Long, Nick Gilbert and Thomas Dunckley from Olfiction. The candles intend to be novel and fun by telling a different story from what we are used to. There are two sizes of candles available:  large 220 grams and mini’s 60 grams and come in 5 different scents, green Succulent, fruity rosy Queen Jam, leather Cuir Culture, futuristic floral Hellflower and golden frankincense Gilt.

The small size candle is an excellent gift and great way to try this collection. There is a very informative podcast (FumeChat) about the candles and the stories behind them well worth to listening to. I haven’t tried the candles yet but ordered a set last week and can’t wait to smell and gift them.


April Aromatics Vanillicious Eau de Parfum

April Aromatics perfumer Tanja Bochnig just launched a new gourmand fragrance called Vanillicious Eau de Parfum. Vanillicious was introduced earlier as a lighter version in the gourmand collection. It is an ode to the natural vanilla pod which has a more leathery even slightly dirty scent compared to what we normally know as vanilla from sweet vanilla ice cream.

Vanillicious is slightly powdery, leathery but woody as well. It smells as if a vanilla pod was soaked in an old wooden barrel of rum, the vanilla pod was taken out after absorbing the boozy rum and old oak wood. The fragrance is soothing, placing you with both feet on the ground. As an avid lover of vanilla perfumes it was love at first sniff as it doesn’t become cloying or overly sweet. I would recommend Vanillicious for lovers of vanilla fragrances. Smaller 15 ml bottles are available online which will make an excellent gift for the holidays if you have a bit more to spend. Longevity of this Eau de Parfum is excellent as it can be scented on skin for almost 24 hours!

Werfzeep / Werf Soap

The Dutch Soap brand Werfzeep (literary yard soap) has been making organic and artisanal soaps since 2009. All soaps are handmade in the centre of the city of Utrecht. Depending on the season a different soap is introduced. At the moment they have a autumnal soap with star anise, sweet orange, cinnamon and fennel. One of my favourites soaps is Tayyibah, a spicy soft scrub soap full of clove and coffee which makes your bathroom smell of Christmas.

These soaps are excellent for people with sensitive skins as they only use plant based materials and very affordable costing around 7 euro for a bar of soap. For my Dutch readers: Werfzeep can be found at the organic store Ecoplaza as well so you don’t have to pay for shipping. I have given a lot of these soaps to friends as they are all natural (some of the herbs, roots and flowers are hand picked in a nearby forest or in their garden) and a (soft) delight to use. Did I mention the quality of the soap is excellent?

I found a lot of artisanal local brands selling hand made soaps on Instagram in the UK and US. It is well worth the effort to look around for local hand made presents there if you can’ t order Werf Zeep. Perfumers Bruno Fazzolari  (US based) for example and Ayala Moriel (Israel based) sell artisanal soaps as well.

Oriza L. LeGrand Soaps

Other winners are Oriza l. LeGrand soaps which offers a fine soaps selection as well. They can be ordered online on their website. An exquisite set of 3 soaps is available for 30 euro which you can split. Each soap is wrapped in a beautifully decorated paper and these soaps are of high quality as well. I loved their violet scented soap, a scent you will not find in your local drugstore. The soaps on the photograph were bought by me some years ago so you will find other packaging in the stores and online.

These are my Holiday Gift 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 their choices too!

I Love To Hear From You
There have been some troubles with leaving comments before.  I hope you are able to share your gift ideas as well and let me know what you think of my choices.

Disclosure: All photographs were made by me and are meant as creative expression.

 

Mood Scent 4 Golden Oldies

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It is Mood Scent 4 Time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia, (on A Bottled Rose) , Samantha  (I Scent You A Day) and Megan (Megan In St Maxime) write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked Golden Oldies, those classic perfumes we hold fond memories of and have been with us for some time. Or those iconic old school classics which are well worth to try.

This time Samantha is with us again fortunately, although she is in her second lockdown in Wales as is Megan in France. Luckily we are not in lockdown in The Netherlands but things are fairly restricted and restaurants/cafes are closed. Portia is lucky to be more free to go outside, living in Australia. These are exceptional times for many of us to navigate. Back to Golden Oldies again, starting with iconic Jean Patou Joy.

Jean Patou Joy

‘Joy is a floral bouquet based on a very rich accord of two natural notes: jasmine and rose.’ Jean Patou

According to Jean Kerleo, former in house perfumer of Jean Patou and Osmoteque founder, Joy was a simple combination of jasmine and rose. It combined the richness of Bulgarian Rose and jasmine from Grasse. These two materials were used to create a very rich floral bouquet. Joy was launched in 1930, one year after the stock market crash of 1929 to become an icon in modern perfumery.

Two years after acquiring Jean Patou in 2018, LVMH has sadly decided to discontinue all Jean Patou fragrances. This is not very surprising. As Dior (which is part of the LVMH) launched a perfume in 2018 called Joy.  If you want to try Jean Patou Joy, 1000 or Sublime (another golden oldie love) grab a bottle from a discount store while you still can, otherwise you will have to visit the perfume archive Osmoteque in Versailles to smell one of these fragrances. I don’t know how these  ‘newer’ versions smell though and if they were reformulated to be a shadow of their former selves.

Personally I haven’t worn Joy as much as I have Jean Patou Sublime. Joy feels like wearing a very precious dark brown long mink coat, rich and luxurious to be enjoyed in the past but not from this era any more. Sublime however was created in the late eighties by Jean Kerleo and is reminiscent of this period when I was a student just living in Amsterdam. 

Hermes Caleche

Notes include aldehydes, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, gardenia, iris, ylang-ylang, oakmoss, sandalwood, cedar, vetiver.

Named after a special type of light carriage, Hermes Caleche invokes a feeling of Parisian sophistication with classic silk dresses, expensive leather bags, beautiful handmade silk scarves and soft leather gloves. Created as an elegant easy to wear fragrance by Guy Robert, the newer Caleche which is now sold in the shops, has a become a more agressive aldehydic soap floral but still a refined fragrance. Soie de Caleche (the bottle on the photograph) was launched in 1992 and meant as a more easy to wear version to appeal to a younger audience. Both feel elegant and luxurious.  Caleche was launched in 1961. As a little side note: Kelly Caleche is a completely different fragrance from Hermes.


Puig Aqua Lavanda Colonia 

Notes include Lavender, Rosemary, Spike, Petitgrain, Bergamot, Clary Sage, Geranium, Musk, Tonka, Cedarwood and Moss

Aqua Lavanda (lavender water in Spanish) is very well known in Spain as many grew up with the soap bars and eau de cologne from this scent. Large plastic cologne bottles are sold in Spanish supermarkets (or online) for a song. Which doesn’t make the fragrance particularly attractive. One wouldn’t expect such a masterpiece to be sold at this price in these large plastic dishwasher like bottles. But no wonder Aqua Lavanda is such a fabulous fragrance. Aqua Lavanda was created by master perfumer Jean Carles! 

These are my 3 picks for Golden Oldies Perfumes. 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 their choices too.

I Love To Hear From You
There have been some troubles with leaving comments before.  I hope you are able to leave your choice for Golden Oldies fragrances. Those fragrances you love to revisit from long gone era.

Disclosure: all fragrances were bought by me and all photographs were made by me as well. The two ads were found online.

Mood Scent 4 Made For Me Perfumes

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It is Mood Scent 4 Time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia, (on A Bottled Rose) , Sam  (I Scent You A Day) and Megan (Megan In St Maxime) write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked Made For Me, those perfumes which suit us perfectly and feel as if they were made for us personally. Due to personal circumstances in the family Sam had to skip this month, my thoughts are with her and her family.

One of the Made For Me fragrances is Guerlain Shalimar. It is one of the perfumes which feel custom made, like a pair of shoes where the hard black rough leather took some months to get soft and comfortable as Shalimar took me several months to appreciate when I first started wearing it.  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. Although Shalimar was made in 1925 it feels custom made for me and I like to wear vintage dry body oil in the evening before going to bed.


April Aromatics Ray Of Light is sunlight in a bottle on dark rainy days. Ray of Light feels custom made on those grey days as it ticks all the right boxes to uplift me with bright crisp green lime, sweet vibrant yellow lemon and bitter green accents reminiscent of the leaves of the lemon tree. These citrus fruits make this a very uplifting fragrance for those days when you could use some encouragement. Ray of Light is an all natural cheerful fragrance made by Berlin based perfumer Tanja Bochnig.

Angela Flanders Cashmere Noir is another fragrance which fits like a glove. It feels as if it was made especially for me as it contains all my favourite notes; sweet heliotrope, powdery iris, resinous tolu and warming strengthening cedar wood. Cashmere Noir is straightforward  and feels like wearing a soft light grey comfortable cashmere sweater on colder autumn days.

These are my 3 picks for Made For Me Perfumes. Have a look on Megan’s blog  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose to read their choices. I hope Sam is able to write next month and wish her and her family well.

I Love To Hear From You
There have been some troubles with leaving comments before.  I do hope you are able to leave your choice for Made For Me fragrances. Those perfumes which feel as if they were specifically made for you. I love to hear from you.

Disclosure: All photographs were made by me. The perfumes were bought by me as well. I was lucky to win an April Aromatics Sample set several years ago on a Facebook contest.

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