Nushka
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Nushka
Dolled-up rose
I've wanted to give this one a go for a while! I mean, look at that pretty bottle. Completely useless trinkets, like most coveted things! Luxury is not supposed to be practical anyway.
Without looking at the notes or other reviews, my first reaction to this was - hang on a minute, it's so familiar...The rose was somehow channeling "Roses Musk (Eau de Parfum) | Montale" , except better - dolled-up but not vulgar.
The peach note and the musk gives off a rubbery tone that reminds me of the smell of new dolls. A very pleasant, if somewhat "synthetic" scent. I mean, if you are looking for a natural rose freshly picked from a wild garden and still covered in morning dew and insects, this is not it. Nevertheless, it is adorable and very wearable. I will not get a full bottle, but I'm happy with my decant and will wear it on days I'm feeling especially cute!
Without looking at the notes or other reviews, my first reaction to this was - hang on a minute, it's so familiar...The rose was somehow channeling "Roses Musk (Eau de Parfum) | Montale" , except better - dolled-up but not vulgar.
The peach note and the musk gives off a rubbery tone that reminds me of the smell of new dolls. A very pleasant, if somewhat "synthetic" scent. I mean, if you are looking for a natural rose freshly picked from a wild garden and still covered in morning dew and insects, this is not it. Nevertheless, it is adorable and very wearable. I will not get a full bottle, but I'm happy with my decant and will wear it on days I'm feeling especially cute!
French drama
It smells a bit like my favourite shop that sells French rose soap, and I'm so happy someone has (unbeknownst to them) bottled that exact smell! Yet, the perfume has much more emotions in it, and a whole story unfolds when I smell it: a beautiful, if sad, very very French rose full of drama.
Earthy tones plant the decor: an old manor, aristocratic yet slightly damp.
There's a hint of medicinal notes - because the inconsolable dame needed valerian root drops to calm her down- which is pleasant and soft, lending a green tone to an otherwise lush rose.
Like most drama scenes, this one ends in a big bouquet of red velvety roses. Tears have dried, the calming medicine has been drunk, and only the big red roses remain as a sign of atonement and appeasement.
In short, an elegant and quite unique rose! I am very happy to have a small decant and to have made it's acquaintance.
Earthy tones plant the decor: an old manor, aristocratic yet slightly damp.
There's a hint of medicinal notes - because the inconsolable dame needed valerian root drops to calm her down- which is pleasant and soft, lending a green tone to an otherwise lush rose.
Like most drama scenes, this one ends in a big bouquet of red velvety roses. Tears have dried, the calming medicine has been drunk, and only the big red roses remain as a sign of atonement and appeasement.
In short, an elegant and quite unique rose! I am very happy to have a small decant and to have made it's acquaintance.
4 Comments
Vanilla Valhalla
People! I have died and gone to heaven! Like, a combination of all heavens ever known to man. The Da Vinci's golden ratio drawing flashes before my eyes along with all depictions of heaven combined, I see a rainbow and at its end - golden gates, and a garden, where among delectable fruit trees walk deities of all cultures and religions.
Without exaggeration - this juice is incredible. THE best vanilla ever. It has everything - the sweetness of vanilla, the tartness of fruit, the bitterness of leather, all perfectly measured out in ideal proportions.
On first spritz, I get fresh and juicy, fruity notes blending into a tangy sweetness and the softest, lightest animalic notes. My nose could not tell between the flowers mentioned in the pyramid here, to me it smells like a slightly bitter bubble-gummy tuberose. The vanilla is syrupy and thick with fruit, like date syrup, with a slightly milky or creamy undertone (think "figgy milky", not "European pastry buttery"). This all lays over the thinnest, most exquisite fine leather. I had no idea oud could be this beautiful!
The composition is linear, you hear all the notes at once, which marks it as an Arabian type of composition. This is not a criticism, rather a defining characteristic. Although the notes are all there, all at once, the fragrance is iridescent and alive.
Sillage is very very good - my husband smelled it from three meters away and immediately said "something smells really good" - before I even had the time to ask him; and that's coming from someone who rarely comments my fragrances unprompted!
I am drunk with this fragrance, it's unlike anything I've ever smelled before. I am all out of adjectives and descriptions to tell you about how beautiful it is - it is indeed unisex, as much as angels and gods are genderless, as this perfume is truly heavenly!
Without exaggeration - this juice is incredible. THE best vanilla ever. It has everything - the sweetness of vanilla, the tartness of fruit, the bitterness of leather, all perfectly measured out in ideal proportions.
On first spritz, I get fresh and juicy, fruity notes blending into a tangy sweetness and the softest, lightest animalic notes. My nose could not tell between the flowers mentioned in the pyramid here, to me it smells like a slightly bitter bubble-gummy tuberose. The vanilla is syrupy and thick with fruit, like date syrup, with a slightly milky or creamy undertone (think "figgy milky", not "European pastry buttery"). This all lays over the thinnest, most exquisite fine leather. I had no idea oud could be this beautiful!
The composition is linear, you hear all the notes at once, which marks it as an Arabian type of composition. This is not a criticism, rather a defining characteristic. Although the notes are all there, all at once, the fragrance is iridescent and alive.
Sillage is very very good - my husband smelled it from three meters away and immediately said "something smells really good" - before I even had the time to ask him; and that's coming from someone who rarely comments my fragrances unprompted!
I am drunk with this fragrance, it's unlike anything I've ever smelled before. I am all out of adjectives and descriptions to tell you about how beautiful it is - it is indeed unisex, as much as angels and gods are genderless, as this perfume is truly heavenly!
Her Royal Highness
Demure and classical to the point of almost boring, this fragrance is as flawless as HRH Elizabeth II's manners (who was rumoured to have worn this perfume since she was a young girl).
Everything is carefully measured: a touch of aldehydes, a smidge of peppery carnation, a taste of sweet violets, but at the heart of it - of course, a rose. To top it, a polite, barely-there sillage and medium longevity. Pretty? Yes. Superficially. The appearances are kept, the fainting ladies caught mid-air.
Do not get me wrong: you might love it, if this type of thing is up your alley.
However, imagining it on the elderly monarch creates as much of a dissonance as the colour pink on Dolores Umbridge: something is just not quite right. The violet becomes too sweet, the powder - too stuffy, the rose and good manners - too stiff... It's not just posh, it's the pearl-clutching, judgy, "let-them-eat-cake" oblivious, privileged scent of the ruling class, and I cannot get this image out of my head. HRH Elizabeth II's ghost appears out of thin air and grins at me from under one of her bright hats every time I'm wearing this.
So, I grab on to my darned petticoats and my less-than-perfect manners and clumsily run towards more lively, admittedly less well-behaved but more interesting roses. Buh-bye,White rose, toddle-oo!
Everything is carefully measured: a touch of aldehydes, a smidge of peppery carnation, a taste of sweet violets, but at the heart of it - of course, a rose. To top it, a polite, barely-there sillage and medium longevity. Pretty? Yes. Superficially. The appearances are kept, the fainting ladies caught mid-air.
Do not get me wrong: you might love it, if this type of thing is up your alley.
However, imagining it on the elderly monarch creates as much of a dissonance as the colour pink on Dolores Umbridge: something is just not quite right. The violet becomes too sweet, the powder - too stuffy, the rose and good manners - too stiff... It's not just posh, it's the pearl-clutching, judgy, "let-them-eat-cake" oblivious, privileged scent of the ruling class, and I cannot get this image out of my head. HRH Elizabeth II's ghost appears out of thin air and grins at me from under one of her bright hats every time I'm wearing this.
So, I grab on to my darned petticoats and my less-than-perfect manners and clumsily run towards more lively, admittedly less well-behaved but more interesting roses. Buh-bye,White rose, toddle-oo!
Do you even lift, bro?
A very prominent scent, like a punch in the face.
This is the second Courrèges that punches me in the nose, the first one was "La fille de l'air", which, ironically has nothing neither girly nor airy about it.
I spritzed a tiny bit on my wrist and unfortunately ended up scrubbing it off. Even scrubbed and washed, it's too loud for me. Nuclear bergamot, banshee patchouli. Too loud, too sweet, too sour - just way, way pushy.
I still smell a quite manly bergamot, and a slightly vintage patchouli. The whole thing does not smell appealing to my nose, it reminds me of forgotten vials at the back of drawers that are so old the writing has peeled of; but you're brave, so you open up the dried cork and there it is: something that used to be perfume 20 years ago, that concentrated scent of old juice (not off, just very very potent)...
The notes are like swole bodybuilders in a tiny lift, taking up all the space and making me melt into a corner and just get out of there, out into fresh air, asap.
I guess Courrèges and I are just not meant to be...
This is the second Courrèges that punches me in the nose, the first one was "La fille de l'air", which, ironically has nothing neither girly nor airy about it.
I spritzed a tiny bit on my wrist and unfortunately ended up scrubbing it off. Even scrubbed and washed, it's too loud for me. Nuclear bergamot, banshee patchouli. Too loud, too sweet, too sour - just way, way pushy.
I still smell a quite manly bergamot, and a slightly vintage patchouli. The whole thing does not smell appealing to my nose, it reminds me of forgotten vials at the back of drawers that are so old the writing has peeled of; but you're brave, so you open up the dried cork and there it is: something that used to be perfume 20 years ago, that concentrated scent of old juice (not off, just very very potent)...
The notes are like swole bodybuilders in a tiny lift, taking up all the space and making me melt into a corner and just get out of there, out into fresh air, asap.
I guess Courrèges and I are just not meant to be...
