Awesomeness

I missed the old Oleg Cassini. The square frosted bottle, it's mauve color with gold detail. A time gone by.

The old stuff, the good stuff, from 1978 is in the mold of others released by top American designers of the time, such as Halston, Vanderbilt, & Blass.

Unfortunately, I've yet to find a bottle that has kept over time. A sniff of a time in American pop culture, forever lost.

Feb
16
2011

Many of the low sugar vanillas are simply too masculine for me to pull off. For instance, take any of the unisex Serge Lutens or Tom Fords that are vanilla-based -- Not only are they awful on me, but they are despised by those around me. However, I still love the dry & dark character of many of those fragrances.

Thank goodness for Vanille Absolument. For a gal who tends to favor feminine and sweet vanillas, Vanille Absolument is very wearable, even if it is not an edible cookie. I still get that dry & dark characteristic that I love, plus the tobacco is fairly prominent in the heart. In addition, there is a wee bit of spice, a tinge of floral and some rum on top - all of these accords make it an interesting and complex vanilla scent to wear.

In the heart, Vanille Absolument is a cigar - a vanilla-tinged one, but still a cigar, from the leaf wrapper to the moist tobacco to the smoke as it burns, this is cigar and a likable one at that. As a former cigarette smoker and an occasional cigar smoker, Vanille Absolument has me jonesing for more. However, it's not so overwhelming that I will jump off the wagon, so I think non-smokers and former smokers still might be OK with it.

When dry, Vanille Absolument is a vanilla skin scent on me. The balsam, tonka bean, and benzoin, coupled with the vanilla, make it noticable but soft. Overall, Vanille Absolument works with my girlie-girl chemistry, instead of against it like many of the Lutens and Fords.

Vanille Absolument is a dark, oriental vanilla. Unlike my experience with most vanillas marked unisex, this one truly is. I highly recommend it for sampling by cookie eaters, vanilla lovers ... and smokers.

I have had Geranium Bourbon on my wishlist for some time since sampling. I loved it then, and I hoped to acquire a bottle at some point. When I came across a 5g fragrance balm, I decided that was my entry into acquiring the scent. The joy of getting that purchase immediately turned into regret.

The balm itself carries an overwhelming petrochemical smell. The item says it does not contain petrochemicals. Perhaps that is true, but that is not what it smells like. It's possible that the balm's plastic packaging is the problem, or the reaction of the balm with the package. Nevertheless, the plastic packaging is a problem anyway, as it is poorly manufactured and articulated, with rough edges at the cap and thread. Who wants to run their fingers over that?

Completely unwearable and unusable. I simply can't recommend.

This floral is reported to have been inspired by Greta Garbo. I imagine that the current formula is only a figment of its past self. Although marked EdP, it wears more like an EdT or a better EdC. Nevertheless, it's easy to wear and lasts 3-4 hours on me.

Tanglewood is a classic floral - it's warm and slightly earthy & woody, nice for warmer days in autumn. As a classic fragrance, there is nothing earth-shattering or spectacular about this floral. I really wanted something to stand out to me, perhaps the mum on top, or the heliotrope in the heart, or the cinnamon and nutmeg in the base. Instead, it's simply .... pleasant. It may have been ground-breaking at one time but now it is in well-trodden territory.

The Perfume Project and Parfums Raffy both report that Crown was revived in the 1990s and re-produced some of Crown's most popular scents. Apparently Tanglewood was one of them. Eventually, Clive Christian purchased Crown, launched his own scents, and then stopped producing the Crown brand. These newer reproductions of Crown scents were dumped in the marketplace, and full bottles now run about $20 online.

Nevertheless, it's good for a cheap thrill but I'm afraid not much else, unless you are into owning a bit of history.

I love the concept of Pioggia Salata -- dewy rain and salty air. It starts off soft, moist and a bit salty. I would have bought a full bottle if Pioggia Salata stayed a linear fragrance, if only for a few hours. If only ...

As Pioggia Salata dries, the lily develops to dominate the scent. Unfortunately, this white floral accord simply ruins it for me. I'm sensitive to some white floral accords and this is certainly one of them. Moreover, what started as a truly unisex fragrance actually becomes a full-force feminine white floral in the heart.

When dry, the fragrance has a green, watery quality that borders on vegetal. It's lovely but the strong white florals are still there, albeit in a supporting role. Although marked EdP, it wears more like a dried down cologne.

Pioggia Salata could have been stellar but ends up average.