Ylang ylang

Mood Scent 4 Unsung Heroes Perfumes

It is Mood Scent 4 time again! Where Portia (now on A Bottled Rose), Sam (I Scent You A Day) Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I write about a joined subject each month, linking fragrance to mood or occasion. This time we picked unsung heroes! Those brilliant perfumes which undeservingly don’t get the attention they deserve.

We have returned to the new normal in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As some parts of town are too crowded mouth protection needs to be worn in certain streets, markets but not everywhere on the streets. Still a bit strange and getting used too. We were planning to go to Spain in this period but we are staying closer to home visiting the Southern part of The Netherlands, Limburg so I am a bit in a holiday mood for this article too. Back to Unsung Heroes again with Ruth Mastenbroek Amorosa!

Ruth Mastenbroek Amorosa Eau de Parfum – Zest For Italian Life! 

Notes: Galbanum, Violet Leaf, Watermelon, Tuberose, Jasmine, Tiare, Ylang Ylang, Vetiver, Patchouli and Amber Year: 2012  Fragrance Family: Floral

Ruth Mastenbroek Amorosa is an unsung perfume hero which surprisingly hasn’t gotten much attention online. Ruth Mastenbroek is a long time perfumer, former president of the British Society of Perfumers and trained chemist. She started her own perfume brand in 2010 and has created fragrances for brands like Jo Malone (the famous grapefruit candle is her creation) before starting her own brand.

Amorosa was the second fragrance Ruth Mastenbroek launched for her brand. Meaning ‘a woman in love’  in Italian, Amorosa was inspired by her love for Italy. It is a luxurious and classic baroque floral fragrance. Full of abundant creamy flowers (tuberose, jasmine, ylang ylang and tiare), sweet juicy summer fruits, contrasting green fresh garden leaves with a surprising modern twist by the added refreshing watermelon note.

Ruth Mastenbroek created this fragrance celebrating life and happy time spent in her holiday home in green hilled Umbria, Italy. The innovative use of fizzy refreshing watermelon makes this a very interesting Eau de Parfum. It took me several wearings to appreciate the fresh aquatic note combined with the rich classic bouquet of flowers but it was definitely worth a wait. Amorosa is a must try for (White) Floral fragrance lovers looking for something slightly different and original. Wearing Amorosa adds a sparkle to the day and feeling of zest for life.

Ramon Monegal The Essentials Collection Mon Patchouly – Happy Ibiza Jasmine 

Notes: Indonesian Patchouli, Oak moss absolute, Frankincense, Geranium bourbon, Egyptian jasmine and Amber accord.  Year: 2009 Fragrance Family: Mossy Woods/Chypre

Mon Patchouly is another unsung heroes which undeservingly does not get a lot of attention. Although called My Patchouly this is more a fragrance for non patchouli lovers, as it is full of ethereal jasmine. This fragrance stays away from the usual wet earth scent the patchouli leaf is known for and focuses on its lesser known ethereal floral side. Mon Patchouly smells like little sweet sugared jasmine flowers dipped in bitter chocolate powder with some green piney frankincense. I get a gourmand touch as well of very light creamy coconut and whipped cream. This is not a night blossoming faecal* (smelling of excrements and found in small traces in indolic floral oils like jasmine absolute) jasmine but an innocent happy white jasmine flower.

Mon Patchouly is part of The Essentials Collection which was the first Collection to be launched in 2009 when Ramon Monegal started his own perfume brand after working for his family owned perfume and make up brand Myrurgia. The heavy perfume bottle is called Inkwell, not very practical but a beautiful design of Ramon Monegal nonetheless.

Nicolai Parfumeur Juste Un Reve – Cocktails On An Exclusive Tropical Island  

Notes: peach, coconut, jasmine, ylang ylang, tuberose, sandalwood, vanilla Year: 1996 Fragrance Family: Floral Fruity 

Juste Un Reve meaning just a dream in French, is another perfume which does not get a lot of attention. It is slightly reminiscent of tropical floral fragrances like Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess but more elegant plus added sweet fruits. If Bronze Goddess was a summer dress it would a short white cotton dress to go to the beach. Just Un Reve would be an elegant satin silk long dress to go for evening cocktails in an exclusive holiday resort on a tropical island.

Tuberose flowers and tropical lush ylang ylang are very well blended by perfumer Patricia de Nicolai with  light coconut and sweet ripe velvety peach. Juste Un Reve makes an excellent summer holiday fragrance even if you are staying home. I have finished 2 bottles of this fragrance which only shows how much I love this.

Over To My Mood Scent 4 Pals
These are my 3 picks for Unsung Heroes. Have a look on Sam’s blog on I Scent You A Day, Megan’s  Megan in St. Maxime and Portia on A Bottled Rose to read their surprising picks.

I Love To Hear From You
I hope you enjoyed my Unsung Heroe picks which are slightly holiday oriented as well. Hopefully you are able to stay safe, centered, positive and healthy with everything happening around us. Please leave your choices for unsung heroes in my comments or your thought on my choices. I love to hear from you!

Disclosure: all photographs were made by me. The jasmine flower (called Biznaga) on the second photograph was handmade and based on the floral tradition in Malaga, Southern Spain to make these flowers by hand. You can read more about the Biznaga here.  The Amorosa bottle is an older model. The fragrance comes in other bottles now.

 

How To Pick The Perfect Summer Scent

 

With summer in its way other fragrances might be more appropriate than the ones you having been wearing during wintertime. It can be a good moment to start wearing other more suited summer fragrances like tropical florals, refreshing citrus or beach fragrances.

Try exotic flowers

Try fragrances with exotic flowers like ylang ylang, tiare, tuberose or fragrances with milky coconut undertones. The combination of tuberose and coconut can be found in Killian Beyond Love. Another more creamy tuberose is the budget friendly but discontinued Madonna Truth or Dare. The recently released Dusita Le Douceur de Siam is a beautiful tropical creamy rose ylang ylang fragrance and very well suited for summer. Tiare and coconut can be found in the recently discontinued but still available Guerlain Terracotta Le Parfum, Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess and Nicolai Createur Juste Un Reve.

Freshen up with citrus 

Another good choice is to freshen up on hotter days with fragrances which contain lemon, neroli or bergamot.  Heeley Oranges and Lemons Say The Bells of St. Clements, the natural and organic April Aromatics Ray of Light or the longer lasting Le Galion Whip are excellent choices if you like lemon in a fragrance. The refreshing Annick Goutal Neroli Cologne or Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Neroli are good choices when you are looking for a neroli scent. The zesty green Martin Marghiela Untitled L’Eau is my personal favorite for those very hot days with notes of lemon, mint and mandarin.

Go to the beach

Salty fragrances like Laboratorio Olfattivo Salina give the impression of being at the seaside which can be very suited on those warmer days. If you like the scent of sun lotion you can choose Nicolai Createur Musc Monoi which was inspired by the scent of Ambre Solaire sunscreen lotion.

Do you have favorite summer fragrances? Which one is your favorite?

Further reading: read my reviews of Laboratorio Olfattivo Salina, Madonna Truth or Dare.

Disclaimer: all fragrances mentioned in this article were my own acquisition, all photographs made by Esperessence

Do you have favorite summer fragrances? Which one is your favorite?

How to prolong your summer with perfume

Photograph: Esperessence Sail 2015 in Amsterdam

Photograph by Esperessence Summer 2015 Amsterdam

Fragrance  can help you get through a clouded rainy autumnlike  day by inviting summer in and adding a holiday feeling to your day.

  1. You can use a fragrance you would normally use on a warm summer day, for example a more calming tropical floral perfume
  2. Use an uplifting stimulating scent, a cologne or cologne style fragrance
  3. Wear a fragrance which makes you feel like you are on an actual beach

Tropical floral perfumes can contain the tropical tiare flower, frangipane or ylang ylang. Or they might not actually contain tropical flowers but give the impression that they do. According to Jennifer Peace Rhind the scent of frangipane is said to impart inner peace, release tension and bring comfort. Research demonstrated that ylang ylang increases calmness. Examples of perfumes which contain tropical flowers are Ormonde Jayne Frangipane and Guerlain Le Terracotta. Nicolai Juste un Reve evokes containing tropical flowers.

Uplifting fragrances can be a fresh eau de cologne or a fragrance from the citrus family containing for example lemon, bergamot or bitter orange. Eau de cologne or eau de cologne type fragrances are my favorite refreshing Atelier Cologne Trefle Pur or Hermes Eau d’Orange Verte.

Drawing by Rene Gruau

Drawing by Rene Gruau

Another option is a fragrance which makes you feel like you are on an actual beach. Like 4160 Tuesdays Sunshine and Pancakes. With its  sweet citrus stimulating opening Sunshine and Pancakes was meant to evoke a British summer beach day in the seventies according to Luckyscent. I find it to be one of the most stimulating and uplifting fragrances I know. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess is another fragrance which makes you feel like you are on a beach the moment you spray it with its sun tan like coconut scent.

To help you prolong your summer feeling you can use a tropical floral, a citrus/cologne type fragrance or a perfume which evokes the feeling of a  beach. This can be opposite to what you might wear normally on a rainy more autumn like day but I find it works to add an uplifting or very calming feeling to a day depending on my needs at that moment.

Do you use fragrance contrary to weather or season ? If so, tell us about it !

Disclosure: all fragrances mentioned are my own acquisition either full bottles or samples