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Mood Scent 4 : Weird And Wonderful Perfumes


It is Mood Scent 4 time again! A joined perfume bloggers project where we share our views on the same subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time Portia (now on A Bottled Rose), Sam  (I Scent You A Day) Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I chose to write about unusual weird and wonderful perfumes.

It has been a month since my latest blog post. In The Netherlands we have moved from the semi lockdown to a new situation where we are able to travel further away, go abroad and visit restaurants or other public places keeping the 1,5 m in mind. All is still a bit unusual. As some of you who follow me on Instagram might have seen, flowers and nature helped me to stay centred and positive. Luckily I have been able to see my 85 years old dad more as well.  I hope that those reading are able to keep their spirits up.

Back to weird and wonderful perfumes now, I chose three perfumes which all tell an interesting and unusual story. All three are anything but ordinary, because of their story or perfume notes.

BeauFort 1805 Tonnerre, (Come Hell or High Water Collection), Visit The Battle of Trafalgar In 1805

Tonnerre features notes (or accords) of lime, gunpowder, smoke, blood, brandy, seawater, amber, balsam fir and  cedar.

BeauFort was founded by musician Leo Crabtree, a current member from The Prodigy band. Tonnerre was inspired by the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Tonnerre features the scents of a complete sea battle with smoking gunpowder, scorched flesh (or blood), black wet earth, salted seawater and pungent tar. It is almost like time travelling as these are not scents (luckily!) you normally get to smell. Tonnerre is not for the faint of heart or a perfume I wear regularly on skin but I find it very intriguing as a perfume creation and olfactory experience.

Hilde Soliani Caffe Delle Vergini, Visit An Italian Cafe In the Eighties After A Night Of Clubbing

Caffe Delle Vergini features notes of ink, coffee and vetiver. 

Caffe Delle Vergini was created by Italian perfumer Hilde Soliani. She was inspired by her visits to the bar Delle Vergini in the Italian City of Sassuolo after a night of clubbing to have breakfast. Bar Delle Vergini is said to be one of the first bars to admit women in the Sixties in Italy. Which reminds me of going out in the Eighties to a Spanish disco and have hot chocolate and fried churros in the middle of the night, not exactly the same scents but you get the idea. Caffe Delle Vergini smells of ink from the newspapers in the bar, espresso coffee from the steaming coffee machine and the smell of vetiver from the perfumed men visiting this bar. Caffe Delle Vergini is not as unusual as the Beaufort Tonnere perfume and more wearable. Actually it is one of the fragrances I wear most from Hilde Soliani as I like the story behind it too. The bottle has a label with a newspaper as you can see on the photograph.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing! Visit An Old Fashioned Circus With Animal Poo and All

Dzing! Features notes of tonka beans, balsam, saffron and ginger. 

Dzing! was inspired by a live circus with notes of horse or elephant dug, hay, powdery animal fur, sweet bright pink candy cotton, used saddle leather and wood dust in the ring. From all fragrances this is my favourite weird and wonderful perfume as after a few hours it leaves a scent of used soft comfortable black leather with a cleaner aldehydic (or soap like) accent. Last week when my cat Rubio visited his cat loo he left the scent of animal dug which very much reminded me of Dzing! Luckily there is much more to Dzing! than animal poo with the used leather, powdery fur notes, cleaner soap and wood dust. Some people got candied sweet apple too. Dzing! was launched in 1999 and created by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti (who also created Diptyque Philosykos, L’Artisan Tea For Two, Frederic Malle En Passant and Iunx fragrances)

These are my 3 picks of  Weird and Wonderful Perfumes. Have a look on Sam’s blog I Scent You A Day, Megan’s  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose to read their picks and see how they are doing!

I hope you and your loved ones are able to stay healthy, calm, centred and positive during this period.

There have been some troubles with leaving comments lately. I do hope you are able to leave your choice for a weird and wonderful perfume. I love to hear from you.

Disclosure: all photographs were made by Esperessence. All perfumes were bought by me.

 

4160 Tuesdays Midnight in the Palace Garden and Advent Calendar Review

 

Alhambra 4160 Tuesdays Midnight in THE Palace Garden

The 4160 Tuesdays Advent Calendar 2015
During the last advent Christmas period I tested 25 different fragrances made by 4160 Tuesdays London based perfumer Sarah McCartney. 4160 Tuesdays had offered an Advent box with a different daily fragrance for 75 pounds. Generous 2,5 ml edp or extrait sprays were wrapped in beautiful coloured envelopes. It was a joyful and playfull way to experience a large part of the 4160 Tuesdays perfume collection. I missed the surprise of opening a new envelop with a different fragrance and tweeting about it at end of the Advent Box on December 25th. Sarah McCartney reacted daily to the tweets which was quite nice as well.

4160 Tuesdays Advent Box

Why writing about it now, after Christmas ?
At the beginning of December and the Advent period, I started blogging everyday about her fragrances but I needed more time to test her fragrances and not all were my personal taste. So I decided to test all of them and afterwards write about the ones I liked and enjoy, starting with Midnight in The Palace Garden (shortly: Midnight) from the Crimes of Passion series.

An honest remark about 4160 Tuesdays fragrances
Before I start with Midnight I have to be honest, most of the 4160 Tuesdays fragrance were not my personal taste. They were either too sweet or too edgy. But they are quite different from all other fragrances I have tried before. The perfume names at times are very funny and I love all the colors Sarah McCartney uses in her collection.

My Four 4160 Tuesdays Favorites
From the whole collection I liked four fragrances, Midnight in the Palace Garden, Centrepiece, Doe in the Snow and Paradox. I will start reviewing Midnight and might review the others another time.

Midnight in The Palace Garden Extrait Review
When I first scented Midnight, it reminded me of the Alhambra Palace in Granada. This could be due to its name or the accompanying story on the 4160 Tuesdays official website:

“Picture a moonlit courtyard, scented with white flowers and orange trees; there’s a fountain, a low table with coffee and sweets, a silk- upolstered divan and the scent of warm skin after a calm hot day.”

Notes: (from official 4160 Tuesdays website)
Atlas cedarwood and skin notes, frangipani, jasmine and neroli, sandalwood, cedarwood, 20th century wood-like modern molecules, blood orange, vanilla and coffee

Orange blossom in Jerez de la Frontera

Orange blossom in Jerez de la Frontera

Midnight starts off at my skin with very sweet oranges, as if you are drenched in oranges in a bath. Shortly afterwards  sweet orange candies with a semi liquid orange filling and sweet flowery orange peel appear. To be followed after some minutes by beautiful orange blossom flowers. This is my favorite part of Midnight. After half an hour what remains are the sweets. I did not get any coffee only a slight tobacco idea note at the start. Midnight changes over time but not surprisingly. For a pure extrait, Midnight had some projection, giving the impression of an eau de parfum as more modern extraits do. It lasted about 4 to 5 hours on my skin.

Bottomline: I liked Midnight and I have to admit I like everything from the orange tree from its blossom, twigs, leaves to its fruit. But I wish Midnight was a tad less sweet. The orange blossom note in Midnight is beautiful. If you like orange or orange blossom fragrances give Midnight a try, if you don’t, stay away from it.

Did you try any 4160 Tuesdays fragrances? If so, which was your favorite?

Disclaimer: the Advent Calendar was bought by me

photographs: 1 and 2 : made by me, 4: made by Jerez de La Frontera

Alhambra