Tamagucci

After reading all the comments here, I'm scratching my head - how do I even begin? Hm..... Delicate topic. Not that I have particularly many points of comparison.... Ahem.... I mean ........ My ** doesn't smell like that. And I don't want it to smell like that. Actually, I don't want it to smell like anything at all. I could tolerate a hint of yogurt scent. Maybe with a bit of lemon. But not that! And if it did smell like that, I would go to the gynecologist and ask for an antibiotic;-) *Clears throat*..... Okay, we've clarified that now. Now that you all know me inside and out, everything feels much more relaxed. Don't you think? :-D

Now to Agent Provocateur:

I'll ignore the pyramid for now. I can smell all sorts of things in perfumes - but not the ingredients.

The top note makes me hold my breath at first. It reminds me of a nice, wet ............ pee diaper. Yikes. I had already been warned: “You have to get through this - but it's worth it.” But there's something else. Something wonderfully sweet. A scent of life. A little earthy, a little sweaty. But not really unpleasant. Or actually it is. But why do I keep sniffing? My nose is glued to my wrist. I don't want to. But I can't help it.

Slowly it gets a bit warmer. Cozier. We come to the heart note. The pee diaper disappears. Or rather - it dries up a bit. When I hear the word “animalic,” I always used to think of a stable full of orangutans. But what I smell is not animalic. It is human. However, not female human. It's a hint of male essence. The concentrated testosterone that lingers in the bedroom after a long night. We are exhausted and indulge in a little sleep....

When we open our eyes again, we are filled with deep happiness. We come to the base:
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! There is everything that does our soul good. Woods, flowers, elegance. Still a bit of masculinity.

Yet I don't really stand by this scent. I wear it rather rarely. Like a dirty secret. The best of all lovers that you actually want to hide because you feel a bit ashamed of him - even though the other women are almost pale with envy. The bad guy among perfumes, who always gives us heavenly pleasure.

Do you actually know what an Agent Provocateur is? The classic example is the American policeman who poses as a client and tries to persuade a woman to have sex for money. At first, she says no. But he showers her with charm and arguments. He keeps putting more bills on the table - until she can no longer resist. At some point, she says “Yes.” She goes to his room, takes the money, and is immediately arrested by the supposed client. That's exactly how this perfume is. It smells somehow forbidden. But you still can't resist.

When Jean-Baptiste Grenouille first revealed his human perfume in public and the whole village went out of control, resulting in a massive orgy in front of him - for which the people later felt terribly ashamed............... he must have truly worn “Agent Provocateur.”

I had decided to be rather cautious with it and that this scent is not necessarily suitable for everyday wear. But one morning I came into the office and the fantastic and elegant scent of a colleague's perfume was in the air. Wonderful. I immediately asked her for the name. The sillage was fantastic. I would never have recognized it. It was Agent Provocateur.

The scent is wearable. And it is suitable for everyday use. It just makes us a little dizzy in the head;-)

I once mentioned that I don't like American fragrances. Why not, actually? The perfumers are often the same as those behind my beloved French scents. And yet, I always find them to be extremely synthetic and oddly smelling. The first perfume from Donna Karan was also the first perfume that I experienced as "smelling like plastic and gasoline." And to my surprise, I wasn't alone in this opinion. Why is the American market full of such scents? I almost think it has to do with my fellow countrymen (sorry, Fellas). Americans love everything that smells synthetic. In America, everything somehow smells like plastic. Creams, candies, clothes, and food - just think of spray cheese.....*shudder*. That Americans love this smell became even more apparent to me when I purchased "Coco Mademoiselle" in an American department store. It smells different. Somehow strange. From one hand to the other, the direct comparison - different. More synthetic. With a hint of gasoline.

I must admit that the American perfume industry has produced a few hits, but they all have one thing in common. They are a touch "too much." You have to apply them sparingly.

Aromatics Elixir is the ultimate hit among these fragrances. It only shares with the other Americans that it is very intense, very synthetic, and it turns very quickly. That's why I eventually switched to buying only the 10 ml bottles. But AE is still THE perfume for me. The quintessence. Unfortunately, I am not able to pick out individual essences. It smells noble and fine. No frills, nothing recognizable to me in terms of fruits or flowers. It simply smells like perfume.

My boyfriend hates it. He says you can smell it on every corner, and especially the older ladies always smell of it. He is right about that. However, for me, the emphasis is on "ladies." Imagine a proper lady. She is very well-groomed. She wears a fur coat and a large hat. On her finger, she has a huge rock, and she carries an elegant handbag. She stands out immediately. And she is definitely wearing Aromatics Elixir. If she ever feels like an oriental scent, she might also wear Opium. Recently, I was in the supermarket and could smell that a woman who had just walked through that aisle was wearing it. Later at the checkout, I spotted a lady just like the one I had just described. I knew immediately that it was her.

The sillage of this fragrance is unmatched. Even when the wearer is long gone, the scent is still there. If AE is a bit too much for you, you should try "Aramis 900."

But none of the ladies ever wore the scent as well as my friend Inga. It was her signature scent. When I entered a room where she had been, I didn't think, "someone just wore Aromatics Elixir," but I immediately thought, "Inga was here!"
She had a phenomenal method of applying it. She never sprayed it directly on her skin. Either she sprayed it upwards and let it rain down on her, or she sprayed it directly in front of her and simply walked through the mist. No woman I have ever met in my life smelled as good as Inga. She was the epitome of femininity and elegance.

Since Inga lost her battle with cancer, I can no longer wear Aromatics Elixir. I feel like a third-rate copy. It feels like treason. It will never smell as good on me as it did on her. When I stand at her grave, I feel like I can still smell the fragrance. It has burned itself into my brain in connection with this wonderful woman.

For Inga - miss you!

I was damn curious about this scent. I really didn’t expect much. But I was eager to see what L'Oreal would use to lure in the teens.
So, while out shopping, I stopped by Dougi and sprayed it on generously.
The pyramid doesn’t even come close to describing this scent. The only things I can identify are mandarin (but only later) and vanilla (which is immediately noticeable). The fragrance has an astonishing development. But let’s start from the beginning (I’ll skip the terms top, heart, and base since they’re not really clear to categorize):

Right after spraying, it smells quite warm and vanilla-like. But the scent is too subtle to grasp properly. At first, it reminded me of various warm summer fragrances like "Teracotta" by Guerlain. On the way home, I kept sniffing - but it’s not tangible. Not at all. It smells like something, but perfume is something else. So I forgot about the scent for a while. About an hour later, it came back to me. I sniffed again - and immediately held my breath. Goodness, what is that? Fish. No way, right? Okay - let me define my thoughts on the fish smell. I didn’t express it very well in my comment on Womanity. When I say fish smell, I don’t mean the penetrating stench of a not-so-fresh fish that you really shouldn’t eat anymore. I mean more the smell of fresh fish. Anyone who has been near a fishing port in the Mediterranean knows what I mean. That salty-metallic-sour scent. Not necessarily a stench that would make me want to run away. But also not something I want to wear on my skin.

I took a deep breath and sniffed again. Salt. A sour, metallic salt note. At first, I wanted to wash it off immediately, but I decided to wait and see what else would come.

Half an hour later, I dared to sniff again. Sunscreen. 80s Delial sunscreen. However, it’s more like a sunscreen that has been sitting in the cupboard for a bit too long. The salt is gone now, but the sour note has remained. Along with the sourness, there’s now something rancid. I suspect this scent still has a few surprises in store.....

After another hour, I sniffed again (yes, I had to sniff directly - the sillage is practically non-existent. Just a side note...). Now, something bitter joined the sourness. This smell feels so familiar. What was it again? And then it hit me. 70s, elementary school. The girl sitting next to me had orange fingers. In fact, many kids had orange fingers. It was the stuff they used to smear on kids' hands to keep them from biting their nails. What comes back to mind after over 30 years.... Scents evoke memories;-) Luckily, I never had to taste that stuff. It was said to taste extremely bitter. But the smell was sweet-sour-bitter, and what I had on my wrist smelled exactly like that. Alright, I give up - this isn’t going anywhere.

A full 5 hours later, I sniffed again - not expecting anything - at my wrist. And now this scent evoked a rather pleasant memory. I’m on vacation. I spent the whole day at the beach, swimming in the sea. Many hours ago, I applied a few layers of sunscreen, from which a shiny oil layer formed on the water's surface in a small spot. My skin has gotten a bit too much sun. And despite all the sunscreen, it’s totally dried out from all the salt in the sea. My skin is not only dried out, it’s also sticky. It was a very hot day, and I sweated a lot. The sunscreen did its job, by the way.

I finally returned to the hotel and looked forward to a loooong, cool shower.

If someone wanted to capture exactly this scent, Opium Vapeurs de Parfum would be a masterpiece. It should have been released in August when the teens returned from their first vacation at the sea, which they spent without their parents. After all, they fell for a nice Southern boy there, and the scent brings back those memories. However, the price would have to be halved. Because the little money that young girls have available goes to lip gloss and Lumumba during vacation.

But I think that wasn’t really the inventor's intention. The "reinterpretation of the famous classic," according to Dougi, has nothing to do with Opium and therefore doesn’t deserve to carry the name "Opium." The price is an absolute outrage.

I probably don't need to describe the scent anymore. Unfortunately, it's only hard to come by now, and the sellers on eBay are incredibly outrageous. Recently, I had a run-in with one who sells such rarities for 200 euros and more, even though they are ancient and no longer usable.

Here’s the news:
Balahe is back. As a reissue. You can recognize it by the white cross on the packaging. Anything that doesn't have this white cross is old rubbish.
And the best part: I bought it at my favorite perfumery. 30 ml, 45 euros.

You probably won't find it in the chain perfumeries. But the small private perfumeries have it or can order it.
So please don't buy the completely overpriced junk on eBay.

Now, as promised, here’s my description of the reissue.

For someone who doesn't know the scent, it’s very hard to describe. Balahe has something incredibly magical and alluring. It is heavy and subtle at the same time. It caresses and captivates.
I'll start with the very old version from around 1985:
Shortly after spraying, it smelled incredibly sweet and heavy, but still had a fresh note (as if there was a tiny drop of "Cool Water for Men" in it). After a while, it became very warm, soft, powdery, and vanillic.
At some point in the 90s, it was reformulated. It wasn't necessarily worse, but that fresh note was gone. It was only sweet-powdery, a bit in the direction of "Loulou." Still, it was quite perfect, and I was constantly complimented on it.

The reissue today has that fresh note back. When you spray it, it hits you hard at first. It is incredibly intense. Therefore: use sparingly! And maybe don't reapply it in the office. After about 15 minutes, it becomes warm and soft again. And it lasts forever on the skin.
It smells optimal after about an hour - and it stays that way for many hours.

A few weeks ago, I was in my favorite perfumery (whose selection is miles away from the Douglas bestseller list) and told the lady there that I had actually been looking for something comparable to Balahe for years. She dryly replied, "We have Balahe." I was close to collapsing....

By the way, the men are like that too. In a positive sense. For 25 years, the guys have been glued to my neck when I wear it. More than with any other scent :-) It acts like a magnet.

Back to the "junk" on eBay. Even if you want a vintage scent, I advise against buying it. Because these fragrance rarities are usually so old that they have long gone off and are no longer usable. No matter how they were stored. I've had some bad experiences with that. After a certain age, they smell more like vinegar or Maggi than anything else. And it would be a shame to spend up to 200 euros on it - as some sellers would like. But you can also find the reissue with the white cross on the packaging on eBay. Unfortunately, usually much more expensive than in the store.

By the way: In these small specialty perfumeries, you usually also get decants. Ask for a decant and try it out at your leisure. Then you’re playing it safe;-)

... and in the end bought it at the department store for 10 euros. So many people asked me about my extraordinary scent.

And then something terrible happened. This fragrance was no longer available. But then -yay- it was back again. Only in a different design. I bought it immediately and the disappointment was great. Unfortunately, the manufacturer is now different and now it smells like cheap aftershave. Such a shame! The stuff was really elegant!