Vea91

The phone rang. She opened one eye and reluctantly glanced over at the nightstand - damn, it was already so late. Tired, she rolled off the bed; it was hard to keep her eyes open. Outside, it was dark, the wind howled, leaving a feeling of cold - great - she thought - another lousy day.

She had to hurry, or she would be late again. On the other hand... oh well, there’s always something happening in New York, she would come up with an excuse. To lighten her mood, she made herself hot cocoa. But as always, in the rush, the fridge was empty, no milk. Whatever - she thought and just drank it with hot water. It tasted dark, bitter, and slightly dry, but it warmed her up nicely. She needed something stronger, so she made herself a coffee to go in her favorite thermos cup with the cheesy Starbucks logo. Of course, the sugar was also empty, damn it - she cursed in annoyance - what a great start to the day.

It was always the same: get up, get ready, run to work. The same hustle every day. But today had a bit more comfort than usual. The combination of cocoa and coffee sweetened her morning; too bad the milk and sugar were empty, she could have used them. Whatever - she thought - and popped an apricot praline into her mouth. Kind of funny - she thought - somehow it fits New York, cocoa without milk, coffee without sugar, and an old praline with an apricot kernel that still saves the day.

A little spritz of musk perfume, and off she went into the rainy, dark morning of her city, another day full of hustle, stress, coffee, and little sweet moments, because you always make the best out of the pile of problems that confront you here. She smiled and energetically slammed the door of her apartment.

A very boring bottle with quite a special content. That’s how one could describe this scent. What starts as a bitter, dry cocoa develops beautifully into a juicy dried plum or apricot dipped in the finest dark chocolate. Despite the listed milk notes, there’s nothing lactonic here, but the scent definitely radiates a milky quality. Over time, a addictive musk base unfolds, but the impression is anything but gourmand - the composition is a perfume from start to finish, it’s not an edible gourmand, but a perfume through and through. In the background, the bitter note swings like in an aftershave, those are the bitter coffee beans that add more spiciness to the scent. Through this development, the fragrance leans slightly masculine and could just as well be worn by men.

All in all, a wonderful scent, starting ordinary and becoming an unusual discovery that unfortunately won't leave my mind. Fits well with autumn and winter and very well with a city like New York.

She was completely confused and flustered. The visit to the Pemberley estate unexpectedly ended with a reunion. Her heart raced wildly. How could Elisabeth have guessed that Mr. Darcy could be so lovable? Instead of the proud, haughty, and frog-like young gentleman, he was so different with her and her relatives. Even the servants spoke so lovingly about Mr. Darcy that Elisabeth slowly began to doubt her own judgment. Had she judged him unfairly? Her heart skipped a beat when she thought of him. He smelled sweet, warm, with a hint of leather in the air; he must have been riding before they met. She couldn't stop thinking about him. His eyes, his stature, something was so different from last time. Gently, she applied her patchouli oil to her wrist. She needed to distract herself and think of something else. But nothing helped. It was already dark, but she needed fresh air to clear her mind. Elisabeth opened the window; the sky was clear tonight, and numerous stars shone brightly. A breeze brushed her cheek, filled with the jasmine scent from the nearby bush. She had to think of Pemberley again, the magnificent gardens full of noble plants, the sweet scent of vanilla wafting from the estate's huge kitchen where pastries were being prepared. And once again, she became aware of how high his status was. Why then did she not want to stop thinking about him? She usually had a good grasp of her mind.

But nothing seemed to help; she slowly realized that she had been wrong. He was not as presumptuous and arrogant as she had convinced herself; he was different. She went to bed with joyful anticipation of their next encounter.

The Saddle is a very special fragrance. What starts off spicy and strongly reminiscent of Shalimar Eau de Parfum gently evolves into something sweet, with a very noble patchouli note lingering in the air. This scent seems timeless yet is entirely modern. The notes intertwine so well that a scent impression arises, reminiscent of an old leather suitcase, but the magic lies in the fact that there is no leather here; it is merely the interplay of notes. Over time, the fragrance becomes warmer, with subtle floral nuances, but the main players here are definitely vanilla, patchouli, and benzoin on amber. Warm, sensual, this fragrance evokes a heartbeat. There is something animalistic, emotional present. Like the heartbeat of a love-struck heart, longing, or the desire of two people yet to find each other. A slight tension hangs in the air, a spiciness of a different kind. And yet, the scent is very feminine. It softens, lasts long, but the sillage is very close to the skin. Very intimate.

This fragrance doesn’t strike the heart immediately; it develops. You start with a divided impression, rating it first a 6, then a 7, then you spray more and more, it rises to an 8, and then ultimately to an 8.5. Like budding feelings that grow larger and larger, the scent envelops you. What a wonderful discovery. It transports me so much to the Regency Era that I feel the urge to read Pride and Prejudice all in one go again. If only I had the time for that....

I don't have particularly pronounced or exclusive tastes when it comes to fragrances. Yes, over time, more and more niche perfumes have found their way into my collection, but I still love my designer scents. However, one cannot deny that the more you know, the more you want to learn. There is never enough when it comes to new fragrance discoveries, so the house of Perfumer H did not pass me by.

As a gourmand lover, I have a certain hesitation regarding "special" niche fragrances; I want to test everything, but just because I prefer sweeter scents, I don't want to evaluate a fragrance from a direction I have no clue about. I felt the same way about the Perfumer H house. What if I don't understand it? What if I can't recognize the beauty? Doubts plagued me, but curiosity won out, so off I went - and the samples were already organized.

First, I watched a video on YouTube, and there I saw this woman, very fascinating, simply dressed; she seemed to speak so lovingly about her fragrances and her concept that I was completely engrossed in her narrative. The video showed how a glassblower made the bottles; it was not some typical promotional video that slowly gets on your nerves, no overwhelming advertising bombardment, but a well-made report about the idea, the manufacturing process, and the concept. Lyn H especially talked about how proud she was of two of her fragrances, Ink and Smoke. I had concerns about Ink, but Smoke intrigued me right away.

Time passed, my samples arrived, and I waited until I finally had time to sit down and calmly test these fragrances. First up was Smoke. I sprayed it - the scent was fine, had no overwhelming sillage, it lay so lightly on my skin and melted away so quickly that the puddle was gone before I could blink. I inhaled - at first, I noticed the incense, not a piercing, suffocating one, but a noble, fine, elegant incense. What started as spicy and herbaceous slowly became warmer and sweeter. I thought, this has been done a hundred times, hundreds of incense fragrances, why did this one smell different? How can a fragrance truly represent what it is named? The scent was indeed like smoke, a light, balsamic cloud that carried me away from my stressed daily life into some daydreams. So light, so warm, so delicious. I felt a bit slowed down, lingering with my nose in the crook of my arm. I breathed in and out...in and out... Like a fine veil that warmed me, relaxed me, and above all, was meant just for me. Very well done, dear Lyn H. Now I have no more hesitation and will soon test much more of your works. Thank you for the beautiful experience :)

Each of us has in our hearts THE time of our lives, when everything was bubbling, we were young and full of energy, going out every day and living our lives by the motto Carpe Diem. For me, this time was not school, which by the way was rather the most hated time of my life, but university. For the first time, learning was fun in my life, because I didn’t have a hundred pointless subjects, but actually made a conscious independent choice about what I wanted to become and learn, and for the first time, I became a nerd. But not just that, I also met like-minded souls who later became my best friends. Here, I blossomed. I studied in a university town, and there was always something happening. The city was bustling, parties, countless restaurants, every day we went out on the town, sometimes for drinks, sometimes for food, sometimes just for a walk.

Autumn was particularly magical, new semester new luck, after the summer one was really well-rested, with no exams in sight, and one was excited about life.

This fragrance reminds me of that time when we went out. Usually, around this time, there was always something happening, either the wine village, or autumn live music nights, or later the Christmas market. My friends were true fashionistas, one of them always wore something made of leather, be it a jacket, leather dress, or leather boots. Just us together, me the gourmand cat smelling of cocoa, my friends in leather, and the one with her woody unisex scents, the holy trio, out and about, slightly tipsy and just in a good mood. Hours of conversations, laughter, a lot of nonsense in our heads, that was my time that I like to remember.

The scent has such an aura that makes me sniff it again and again. Incredibly deep, yet gourmand with a touch of leather. It reminds me of two beauties I recently discovered, La Capitale and Venom Incarnat, but here it’s not leather on berries and sparkling wine, but leather with cocoa, chocolaty patchouli, and vanilla. Fruitiness is also present, as well as a fine gentle oud that, veiled in the background, gives the fragrance its depth. Like an addictive city cocktail, drunk in a leather armchair by a cheeky young woman, what a wonderful scent!

After a while, it becomes sweeter but also deeper, patchouli gives a feeling like very sweet dried fruits, but the oud prevents it from becoming cloyingly sweet. Vanilla surrounds everything and together with amber makes the juice warm, almost boozy like good whiskey. There’s something in the background that creates a smokiness, I have no idea if it’s myrrh or tonka, but it smells really good. I can very well imagine this on a man, but for me, it’s more feminine.

As for me, I was transported back to my university days and have to think that I need to see my friends again. At our next meeting, I will wear this beauty.

Here it is again, another review of a brand that is mostly hated with prices that are far too high. Why? Because it happened again, I couldn't resist and had to smell it.

And it started off so well. I tried some Bonds, found some wonderful scents, became curious, and searched for more on Parfumo. That's when I noticed this beautiful bottle with the fine name Nolita - named after North Little Italy, a part of New York.

As it often goes with the hunt for fragrances, when there are no samples available, curiosity grows even more, despite the bad reviews, especially when the ratings are sometimes good and sometimes bad, I felt the urge to form my own opinion about the scent. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything on Parfumo and ordered a way too expensive sample elsewhere.

I was so excited when it arrived. Quickly unpacked, sprayed, and... Bäääääääh, what is this? Hairspray, piercing synthetic notes, children's perfume, yes yes I read all of this here, yet I was surprised and slightly annoyed. Is that really it? But no, of course not. After numerous tests, I should know better, Bonds are not easy fragrances, they need to be tested, explored, they are very fussy and moody. So I did it, with a slight tendency for self-torment, I kept trying the scent over and over again. And what can I say, it was a disturbed trip :)

This fragrance has a lot going on - sometimes it spat out the Schauma apple shampoo from my childhood, sometimes it smelled super authentic like freesia, as if from the flower shop. When it was hot, the jasmine flowers came through as authentically as in my Ashore. Then the synthetic notes were back, sometimes hairspray. Then again flowers full of mandarin pieces, sometimes it was mandarin juice. And again and again the beautiful base full of clean musk and noble woods came through.

With this fragrance, I feel clean, freshly shampooed, girly, younger, just cheeky and flirty. The synthetic notes fade quickly and the flowers come: sometimes lily, sometimes jasmine, sometimes freesia, sometimes all together, sometimes this way, sometimes that way, a young moody lady who hasn't quite found herself yet. The bottle design fits the scent very well.

I was also transported back to my youth, feeling like the Nolita again, not yet formed and not quite decided. I found it nice to briefly give up the control and pressure of adulthood with this fragrance.

And what can I say, it does something to you. Naturally, you want to have such a little water with you. It is definitely a love at second sniff.