Sequoia

Actually, I didn't want to write another review on this just living in the past...

But some fragrances just define a time and it's hard to judge them without a dose of nostalgia. Of course Cool Water Woman was part of my 90s too. So were Eurodance, pacifier chains and video tapes. Some things have survived, some things you just don't want back at all.

Today, on a whim, I tested Cool Water Woman for the first time in years. Of course I recognized it. And of course, memories came up.

But that's where it remains, because today I would find the fragrance unwearable for me. Today it is a mystery to me how I could perceive Cool Water earlier as aquatic. The freshness is rather fruity-fresh with a floral-woody base after all. I find it very synthetic - and that's what bothers me so much about it today that I wouldn't use it anymore. Yet it is still quite uncomplicated, discreet and pleasing - a fragrance out of fashion for U30er.

For me, Cool Water will not make a comeback. I would also not come back to the idea to put on Buffalos. But it was nice to sniff it again.

Even though I've been dreaming about leaving my own four walls for a few days for months - I only started thinking seriously about a summer holiday today. And it was not wind, waves and sand that did it to me, but the mountains. Rugged cliffs, sunny meadows and clear mountain lakes.

Even as a child, after a hike on a beautiful summer day, I loved to cool my feet afterwards in a mountain stream or the resort's treading pool filled with mountain water: that stinging cold that leaves you absolutely refreshed and relaxed afterwards - wonderful. The fountains with ice-cold clear water in hollowed-out tree stumps were always a highlight, too. At home there were yes rather fountains with the sign "no drinking water"...

"Silver Mountain Water" moved in with me last summer as a blind buy. Even then, the longing for vacation was already great - at least great enough that the name piqued my interest. The fragrance components also seemed appealing to me, so some of the holiday cash was invested in olfactory holiday sensations. I was not disappointed: "Silver Mountain Water" actually has something of a mountain stream about it. It seems fresh, even pungently cool. In the background, I even perceive something "tree trunk well".

Unlike the holiday refreshment, however, the pungent coolness lasts here, is not just a splash. This is not a cuddly scent, but rather distant, fresh and well-groomed. Sometimes it even annoys me, especially when the scent tends towards classic aftershave at times. But especially in the summer I find this coolness also for me absolutely suitable for everyday use.

Today, I don't care about everyday wear while looking at hotel deals and resorts. "Silver Mountain Water" puts me in the right mood.

What has landed in the perfumeries in recent years as "Black Edition" of fragrance classics... For me, "Aromatics in black" has so little to do with "Aromatics Elixir" that it deserves a fresh name. And I really do mean "deserved", because it's really a well-balanced fragrance that deserves more attention.

After a very fleeting bitter-citric prelude the jasmine comes into play very quickly, but it doesn't glow and doesn't beguile. Here the jasmine remains matt, almost subliminal and grounded. In the course of the hours the scent becomes even more matte, almost a little mystical.

Strangely enough, I don't feel "Aromatics in black" to be gloomy at all, more like casting a veiled glance at your environment: not really smoky, not cool or fresh enough for fog, maybe disco fog. It is a soft focus and flatterer. It remains soft, but perceptible throughout the day. And despite the bulky name, the fragrance is definitely wearable during the day.

For me, it rang in the first feelings of autumn today, although I'm still in the mood for a few late summer days.

If this perfume had been launched this year: I would have left it on the shelf. The whole outfit is miles away from my booty pattern. The flask of bling-bling in turquoise-gold. Well, the turquoise is nice. Roberto Cavalli was never my taste before. And the name "Paradiso azzurro" rather hinted at aquatic or fruity-sweet.

All in all, not a candidate this summer for the corona-related rapid test (quickly slide the test strip under the mask) or blind purchase.

But it felt like eternities ago that you could get clever advice in the perfumery - with a big scent sample. So I simply let myself be convinced of his inner qualities.

"Paradiso azzurro" is a pleasant summer scent for the not so hot days: a little fresh citrus at the beginning, then jasmine and wood take over. The jasmine is not really heavy, but soft and sluggish

If it is supposed to be a paradise, then it should be a Mediterranean one. I could imagine summer holidays in Tuscany like this - although I have never been there before. Azzurro is then also heaven at most. No sea breeze in sight.

The fragrance is not close to the body, but it remains discreet. However, I do not perceive it any more relatively quickly. Overall the impression is rather casual and has nothing to do with the golden bling-bling presentation.

Even if "Paradiso Azzurro" will certainly not be my signature, this year I like it. Maybe because it suits home office and wanderlust better than meetings.

For me, a "boudoir" is a lady's room, a retreat, warm and cosy, with a large dressing table and coat stands. And this fragrance fits the theme perfectly: warm, feminine, powdery, a little pompous, but more suitable for hours of retreat. No scent of a woman ripper, rather something to cuddle up with.
When "Boudoir" moved in with me, it didn't fit in with the times: what young woman had a room at the end of the 90s that would pass for a boudoir. The term has been outdated for decades. And also the fragrance itself was already rather old-fashioned at that time. In the late '90s, a fragrance with aldehydes... rather not mainstream. Also otherwise the smell was rather conspicuous - body near was something else.
I already liked the perfume - despite the aldehydes at the beginning. Nevertheless, I rarely wore it because I hardly saw the right opportunity for it. As a young woman, I was more interested in going out than in retreating.
In nostalgic moments I still like to think of the light amber-coloured liquid - no comparison to today's pink content. Today "Boudoir" as a winter scent would perhaps suit me quite well - perhaps... But it is probably even further out of time and space today than in the late 1990s.