Arcana-Shiver

PERFUME: Shiver Perfume Oil

COMPANY: Arcana

AVAILABILITY: Valentine’s 2011 part of The "Shiver Ensemble" series

The "Shiver Ensemble" is a series of four perfumes that play on the mystery and magic of words, evoking the movement from winter into spring as the cold and darkness falls away to reveal new life. And as a symbol of that life - honey, a note all of these perfumes share.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: An armful of pale flowers: tuberose, royal jasmine, jasmine sambac, white osmanthus, gardenia, muguet, and narcissus; honey, chilled peppermint, and smoky frankincense.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: From the decant I get a lot of peppermint which I love especially in spring!

WET ON SKIN: Sweet honey, peppermint and pale flowers.

DRY DOWN: The flower notes are so well blended that it’s difficult to take them apart. I get gardenia and muguet the most. The peppermint note stays quite a while. The frankincense it’s lovely here. Light and smoky pairs very well with the honey note. 

FINAL THOUGHTS: I really like this but I wont need any more than my decant. All in all, it’s very easy to wear. It would be perfect for a hot summer night like the ones we have here in Greece!

A care package from Nadja!!!

Hi guys!!! I ma so sorry I haven’t updated my blog for a while…  I am moving out in a couple of weeks to live with my boyfriend and I have so many things to do! I am so excited! 

A couple of days ago I got a lovely package in the mail from Nadja from La Domna blog! Even before I opened it I could smell an amazing smoky aroma. Immediately I imagined Nadja all dressed up with that gorgeous outfits that she usually wears smelling incredible! 

All these scents are new to me and not only the perfumes but also the companies. So she sent me:

The owl moon from Midnight gypsy Alchemy

Black lace and Cabaret from Black Baccara

Thestral from Nevermore Body Company

Cake Or Death from Sarawen Perfumes

Children of the night from Deep Midnight Perfumes

Caliph’s Beloved from Alkemia

Honey and Moroccan fig from flourish

The Dodo from BPAL

And a Colin solid perfume from Sweet Anthem.

All these were very carefully placed in a small box and she had put a tape in every single one to prevent leakage. I wish I was so well organized too!

She also sent me a tar soap from her home country and some tea which actually I am drinking right now! These small touches made this parcel so special! Thank you Nadja so much!!!!  You made me feel so special!

Spirit & Shadow - Arcana

PERFUME: Spirit & Shadow

COMPANY: Arcana

AVAILABILITY: Limited edition scent, still available at Soap box company.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Worn leather with 3 vanillas, propolis, marshmallow cream, rata honey, and a faint whiff of warm linen.

BEFORE I SMELL: Vanilla, leather, and marshmallow! You know I love all these notes. I am so excited!

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Very sweet leather dipped in honey.

WET ON SKIN: The honey is stronger and the hint of propolis makes this more interesting. I wish it was more apparent as I love propolis scented products in general. On my skin this is a leather scent and I can feel it’s presence for hours. The vanillas are sweet and I can smell a milky note too. What is more, if this had a taste it would be a honey dipped cereal.

DRY DOWN: The full dry down of this perfume it’s after hours . Then, it’s all vanilla with a hint of linen.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I really like this. I still have a half decant left and a little goes a long way with this so, I don’t know if I will buy a full bottle soon. An image that came to my mind when I first sniffed this was a leather jacket thrown to a Candy Land! All in all, this lasted almost 10 hours to my skin, that’s fantastic staying power!

I have yet to find an Arcana I don’t like!

The Phoenix At Midday-BPAL

PERFUME: The Phoenix At Midday

COMPANY: BPAL

AVAILABILITY: BPAL Anniversary 2011

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: The blazing fires of nona hora: blood orange, mimosa, gingergrass, golden amber, saffron, tonka absolute, pomegranate, neroli, and bourbon geranium. This Phoenix embodies vitality, ferocity, determination, passion, and strength of will.

I wore this today because I had a job interview and I really needed determination and strength of will. Not that it was my dream job but anyway. The funny thing is that when I arrived to the office for the interview I never entered… It was in a neighbour with a very bad reputation and even if it was only 2 o’clock in the afternoon I was feeling so uncomfortable I decided to leave…. I could see only prostitutes, “red light” houses and junkies around me. Well, I am so glad I am home!

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE:  Red musk isn’t listed but I think I can smell it here. As well with the bourbon geranium (and lately I love that note!) and the Neroli. It’s very complex and every time I put the decant close to my nose I smell something else.

WET ON SKIN: This is a red colored oil by the way, very pretty!  Wet in my wrist is very juicy blood oranges and gingergrass. I continue to smell bourbon geranium.

It’s a citrusy blend but not a tart or a fresh one. The amber, the saffron and the tonka make this richer  and they give another dimension to the fruits.

The floral notes here are very faint except from the bourbon geranium.

DRY DOWN: Pomegranate and oranges. I am getting the light spice from the saffron and a hint of tonka. It stays that way for hours.

SERAPHIM-POSSETS

SERAPHIM-POSSETS

AVAILABILITY: Available all year round!

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Five vanillas (most of them fat and buttery vanillas cut with lean and sharp vanillas) and are blended with six different ambers which give the hypnotic part to the whole.

I bought this unsniffed when it first came out in 2010.  If I remember correctly, Possets had an offer that time when with every two bottles you could get one free  So, I chose this one because how you could go wrong with vanilla and amber?

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Sweet and buttery vanilla, an alcoholic note and lots of Amber!

WET ON SKIN: This is full of comforting base notes.  I love the buttery French vanilla here which is not sickening sweet but it’s definitely a little bit sugary. The amber gives a perfumy element and makes the perfume deep. It’s like you smell a cat’s neck if she was wearing a perfume lol!

DRY DOWN: I could smell the amber notes all day long and I asked myself Why I don’t wear this more often? Possets amber it’s different from the Bpal’s one but I really like both of them.

FINAL THOUGHTS: If you have one million Vanilla-Amber scents you may want to pass this, but if you don’t and you enjoy that notes try at least a sample. I love that combination  and I layered with an Amber body oil that I had from Crater Lake company. This was more perfumy and it had a floral note as well. The combination worked very well!

IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU WILL LIKE:   Philtre #5 Embrace from Arcana. Not the same scent but the combination of buttery vanilla and amber exist in both of them.

WHITE BLUEBERRY- HAUS OF GLOI

Haus of Gloi released some Reverie  perfume oils and whipped soaps in addition to their Spring line. You can find them here. If any of these sounds good to you, buy it now because they tend to sell out quickly. Last year I bought samples of all of them but only Mango Sticky rice made it to full size.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Blueberries awash with white vanilla sugar, cream and a sprig of white thyme.

Unfortunately, we don’t have blueberries in Greece. I have tasted them though and they are delicious! I wish we had more berries here. Not that this was relevant with the perfume! Lol

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: Tart Blueberries and thyme. I love thyme in perfumes. In small doses it can lift a blend to a whole new level. I want to make a blueberry- thyme soap someday… I have to test it out!

WET ON SKIN: Now the vanilla and cream are more apparent but in the same time I can still smell the blueberries. This blend isn’t heavy at all. If you are afraid of the thyme note, don’t be! It isn’t very herbal or savory in the blend.

I would say that it gives a “fresh” tone to the whole composition.  

While I was in the bus today and the whole trip lasted 1, 5 hour, something that usually takes 45 minutes! I felt so good smelling my perfume the whole time!

DRY: Fresh whipped cream and blueberry!

FINAL THOUGHTS: It lasts on my skin and it’s lovely. I finished my imp but I can’t decide if I want a full bottle or not.

IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU WILL LIKE:   Possets- Blue Pepys. The same blueberry note but with marshmallow.

CHANTILLY CREAM-SOLSTICE SCENTS

NOTES: Whipped Cream, Peach Nectar, Vanilla & Yellow Mandarin EO

Another sample from the Solstice Scents spring update! 

From the sample: I can detect a tiny bit of mandarin. Peach and cream are the heroes here. The vanilla here goes a little bit “fake” but in general smells very juicy!

Wet:  Sweet peaches in a simple syrup with a dollop of cream on the side.

Simple and fruity stays hours on the skin.

This morning I put it on a friend of mine who loves sweet blends and she loved it.

As for myself, I think I will continue wearing my lemony Chiffon.

IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU WILL LIKE: Lathers and Lights PUMPKIN WENCH