TGIF! Today’s community project: wear something beachy, or anything you think of as “a vacation in a bottle”. What did you pick?
As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you didn’t participate in the community project.
I’m wearing Kai over a very light layer of Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Whipped Body Creme. It’s a perfect antidote to the very crappy, not-beachy weather we’re having here today…
Over the past year I’ve enjoyed reading reviews of fragrances from Imaginary Authors (see Angela’s thoughts on Cape Heartache and Kevin’s on Bull’s Blood) and visiting the company website, but I didn’t have the chance to experience the fragrances myself until I saw the line at Twisted Lily in Brooklyn. A kind friend recently sent me a few samples, so now I’m ready to write a review of my own, focusing on two fragrances from the line: Falling into the Sea and Violet Disguise.
Falling into the Sea is inspired by the work of (imaginary) author Nica Galas, and includes notes of lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, lychee, tropical flowers and “warm sand” in a story of tragic summer love. I’m a person who typically avoids hot-and-sunny beaches, yet I have a long list of favorite beachy fragrances…
For many years I have been in love by the famous Ambre Solaire oil. I always wanted to create a fragrance from which I can use this wonderful smell, synonym of sunny beaches. A fragrance with a powerful sensuality that smells on your skin like a hot summer day was my main obsession! — Patricia de Nicolaï1
I’ve never smelled Ambre Solaire, the suntan oil originally released by L’Oreal in 1935 and now sold under their Garnier brand name. But most anyone will recognize Musc Monoï, the latest from French niche line Parfums de Nicolaï, as the smell of a summer vacation at the beach.
Musc Monoï isn’t meant to be a replica of Ambre Solaire,2 and don’t let the ‘monoï‘ in the name fool you into expecting gardenia…
Last month, Guerlain launched Terracotta Le Parfum, a limited edition fragrance celebrating the 30th anniversary of the brand’s Terracotta bronzing cosmetic products. Terracotta Le Parfum was developed by Guerlain perfumer Thierry Wasser and has a composition of bergamot, coconut, tiaré flower, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang ylang, vanilla and musk. It’s described as a “sun-soaked invitation to explore faraway lands,” complete with a sun-embossed label on its circular bottle.
In case you were wondering (as I was), this fragrance is unrelated to Terracotta Voile d’Eté (1999), other than the fact that both were inspired by the Terracotta beauty collection and both were (are) limited editions. Voile d’Eté was a spicy-soft blend of clove-y carnation and ylang ylang; it was lovely, and I wish I could remember where I put the splash bottle that I used to own. Terracotta Le Parfum, on the other hand, is a summery “solar floral,” and although it’s not my usual style, I’ve fallen hard for it…
The Maison Martin Margiela Replica fragrance collection has been available in Europe for a while, but it just arrived in the United States this spring. I’ve made some strategic visits to Sephora to sniff and spritz (and to request samples!), and I’m ready to share my thoughts on three of them: Flower Market, Beach Walk and Funfair Evening, originally launched in mid-2012. All three fragrances were developed for Maison Martin Margiela by perfumers Jacques Cavallier and Marie Salamagne.
Flower Market “carries the scent of fresh cut flowers in the buckets and vases of a Parisian flower market in 2011,” and its composition includes notes of crushed leaves, freesia, sambac jasmine from India, Egyptian jasmine, tuberose, rose from Grasse, peach, cedarwood and oakmoss. I inhaled Flower Market hoping for the leaves and the roses to stand out…