• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources

4 Perfumes for a Summer Afternoon ~ Anya’s Garden Strange Magic, Mendittorosa South, Euphorium Brooklyn Butterfly & Fitzgerald and Guislain Nuit a l’Opera

Posted by Kevin on 9 August 2017 10 Comments

What to do when it's hot as hell outside and laziness is an option? I decided to stay in a cold room, sip a cocktail (watermelon and lime juice with tequila), and climb (no sweat generated) my perfume sample "mountain." I found some fun and interesting fragrances that go well with this crazy weather.

Anya's Garden Strange Magic

listed notes include Aglaia odorata, orris, gardenia, chamomile, white champaca, ylang ylang, white ambergris, Clerodendrum philippinum ("Cashmere Bouquet"); 15 ml, $125

Anya's Garden Strange Magic

Strange Magic is strange indeed! The first time I tried Strange Magic, Anya's Garden's PR (with its floral descriptions of the perfume) was fresh in my mind. The fragrance I smelled was "off-the-charts" different. By the time I tried Strange Magic the second time, I had forgotten what it was made of and approached it simply: "What does this smell like?" My grandmother made sensational coconut custard pies, full of cream, fresh coconut, nutmeg, vanilla, sugar and butter; the custard was nestled in flaky, rich crust and the tops of the pies were covered by a dome of glistening meringue (we're talking at least eight-inches/take-out-some-of-the-oven-racks high). Strange Magic smells like all these things to me: a dense, semi-sweet, spiced "custard," coconut, browned meringue, pastry. Though Strange Magic is not marketed as a gourmand scent, it's one of the few food-y perfumes I can wear happily — and recommend to men. Strange Magic won't give you a headache or a toothache, and it's not juvenile in style.

Fitzgerald and Guislain Nuit à l'Opéra

listed notes include natural bergamot accord (blend of bergamot essential oil and linalyl acetate naturally derived isolate), pink pepper, jasmine sambac absolute, orris butter, alpha ionone natural isolate, Indian sandalwood, benzoin resin; 30 ml Eau de Toilette, $140

Fitzgerald and Guislain Nuit à l'Opéra

Sacramento, California-based Fitzgerald and Guislain (boy, there are lots of California perfumeries these days) created Nuit à l'Opéra just for me (well, not really...but it's the type of perfume I crave during hot weather). The fragrance smells of citrus blossoms and fruit, jasmine, a genteel touch of dry orris and violet, and benzoin (an ingredient that helps Nuit à l'Opéra go from bright citrus to "sunset" citrus, gold-tinged and deep). Though I've loved wearing Nuit à l'Opéra on searing days, I think it will be perfect in autumn as well. 

Mendittorosa South

listed notes include bergamot, basil, cyclamen, jasmine, “Dry Cleaning Cover,” Philadelphus flower (mock orange), Australian sandalwood, white sandalwood, green Hazelnut, bread note, woods, carrot seeds, Amyris wood; 100 ml Eau de Parfum, $175

Mendittorosa South

How could I resist trying a perfume with "Dry Cleaning Cover" in the notes list? (I notice Twisted Lily has removed that ingredient from its description, though Mendittorosa's website keeps that laundry-esque ingredient in place.) And what is a dry cleaning cover? The flimsy plastic wrap that's a menace to dogs, cats, children and sea life? A translation error?

South has done some washing up: giving a strong-armed lather and rinse to all its ingredients: the fruits and leaves are limp, mock orange is rain-rinsed, sandalwood is bleached. What saves South from becoming an ordinary/clean laundromat scent is the aroma of baker's yeast, and the yeast cake addition seems inspired: it's a great match for the sandalwood, carrot seeds, unripe hazelnut, even the flowers. South is like a retro laundry day...there's soap for sure, but the damp laundry is hung over shrubs, on the lawn, on tree limbs to dry. If you love "clean" perfumes and have a soft spot for a hint of high-quality white musk, give South a go. This one lasts forever and a day on skin; just TRY washing it off — the irony!

Plus: there's not a hint of anything "dry cleaning cover" to be smelled. Un mistero! 

Euphorium Brooklyn Butterfly

listed notes of violet, lilac, lavender, geranium, marigold, wild mint, laurel, hyssop, milkweed, scarlett sage, armoise, clover, grasses, moss, brook water; 50/30 ml Eau de Parfum, $180/$120

Euphorium Brooklyn Butterfly

There's a great story behind Butterfly:

Situated on the migratory path of the Monarch butterfly’s incredible journey from Canada to Mexico and back, the butterflies discovered the rich flora on Greenpoint’s [in Brooklyn] water’s edge for themselves, establishing a marvel of nature with seasonal clouds of butterflies signalling the start of summer in this otherwise grey industrial corner of New York City.

Butterflies are sustained by a wide variety of colourful and fragrant nectar flowers and weeds of all types. Most unique is their relationship to the milkweed plant. Highly toxic to most animals, claiming the lives of horses that forge on milkweed, the butterfly is able to utilize the milkweed’s toxins to protect itself. With an ability to safely ingest the toxins and move them to their exoskeleton, the butterflies themselves become toxic to predators to defend themselves and also lay eggs to become larvae on the milkweed plants to protect the next generation.

This year we ignored the front garden at my house and it was taken over by milkweed. The plants, at their peak, scented our part of the neighborhood and stopped traffic. On the best days of their bloom, you could hear what sounded like swarms of bees and hummingbirds feasting on the blossoms. Butterflies abounded (but no Monarchs in this part of the world).

Butterfly, the perfume, does not smell like milkweed (look to Astier de Villatte Eau Chic for that amazing scent). Butterfly goes on smelling of minty geranium, lavender leaf, mint, armoise (artemisia), tangy fresh grass and sage. This is a heady mix; a herbal/vegetal mix no flower can compete with (I smell no violet, lilac, marigold...let alone "brook water"). Still, if you want a pungent herb perfume (as in herb garden, not spice rack), sample Butterfly.

Euphoria Brooklyn offers a Butterfly Seed Set (8 ml perfume and seeds, $50); "Curated to sustain butterfly life and habitat, a seed packet contains a variety of seeds including; milkweed, butterfly bush, lavender, violet, marigold, mint, sage and a variety of nectar flowers."

Thanks to Florida (Strange Magic), California (Nuit à l'Opéra), Italy (South) and Brooklyn (Butterfly) for helping me through a heatwave. Everyone, enjoy the rest of your summer (why all this talk of Labor Day so soon?)

Note: top image is Celia Thaxter's Garden, Isles of Shoals, Maine by Childe Hassam [cropped] via Wikimedia Commons. Lower pie image via Wikimedia Commons.

Possibly of interest

Carine Roitfeld George & Sebastian ~ fragrance reviews
Hermes H24 ~ fragrance review
Quick Sniff / Cheap Thrill ~ Fragonard Bigarade Jasmin fragrance review

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: anyas garden, euphorium brooklyn, fitzgerald and guislain, mendittorosa, natural perfume

Advertisement


10 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. caffeinequeen says:
    9 August 2017 at 5:01 pm

    Oh, Kevin, what a cruelty to give a description of that pie when I have nowhere nearby to purchase one! (No doubt vastly inferior to your grandmother’s recipe, of course, but needs must.) Strange Magic sounds right up my alley; I’ll have to track it down.

    Log in to Reply
    • Kevin says:
      9 August 2017 at 5:36 pm

      CQ…indeed, I’m craving something sweet, too!

      Log in to Reply
  2. nozknoz says:
    9 August 2017 at 8:07 pm

    Kevin, I loved reading about all these different indie perfumes! Here in the DC area we’ve had some exceptionally decent weather recently but I’m always ready to lift a glass to AC!

    Log in to Reply
    • Kevin says:
      9 August 2017 at 8:21 pm

      noz: I bet you are! Just thinking of DC in summer just made beads of sweat form on my brow! Here it’s a nightmare: smoke-filled air and 90 (humid) degrees. Ick.

      Log in to Reply
  3. Amy says:
    9 August 2017 at 8:53 pm

    Am I correct in reading Nuit a l’opera as the winner here, if you had to pick one Kevin? I’ve been pining after Butterfly for some reason and might just order that sample, although don’t know what I’ll do with the seeds. Thanks for the review, as always.

    Log in to Reply
    • Kevin says:
      9 August 2017 at 8:58 pm

      Amy: AH…that’s a tough one…Strange Magic and Nuit à l’Opéra are neck and neck.

      Log in to Reply
      • Kevin says:
        9 August 2017 at 9:01 pm

        PS: I will say Nuit à l’Opéra is more of an “every day” scent; Strange Magic is a ‘special occasion’ scent for me since gourmands appeal to me most in cool weather. (Though Anya’s Garden may want to add: “This isn’t a gourmand!” HA!)

        Log in to Reply
        • Amy says:
          9 August 2017 at 9:36 pm

          I realize I was reading my own preferences into this, as I generally don’t like gourmands!

          Log in to Reply
  4. cazaubon says:
    10 August 2017 at 6:23 am

    That pie sounds fabulous! As do both the Strange Magic and Nuit à l’Opéra scents. Thanks for the eclectic review.

    Log in to Reply
    • Kevin says:
      10 August 2017 at 10:03 am

      Cazaubon, you’re welcome!

      Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

Browse by…

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

From NST at Twitter

  • @Counselor_Gal44 I don't always, but I really like these bottles so I hope I like at least one of this set!,
  • "Estée Lauder to close Rodin Olio Lusso" (cosmeticsbusiness) https://t.co/sXJcxxYlHW,

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

24 April ~ swapmeet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy

Shop for Perfume Online
Perfume Shopping in New York
Perfume Shopping in London
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books
Fragrance Awards

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2021 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.