PennyPearl

Cozy Sunday vibes, I can use them more often in everyday life! A fragrance that is comforting, creamy, silky-sweet.

I remember when Corakirsch drew my attention to the fragrance release; somehow everyone seemed to be looking for THAT milky-creamy scent anyway, if they hadn't already discovered it for themselves in "Blanche Bête - Eau de Peau | Liquides Imaginaires".
A week before Christmas, I was sitting at the hairdresser on a Saturday morning, the color had to set, and I ordered it blind!
How atypical for me, but you knew how quickly it would sell out again at Navitus.
Then it was a long wait.

I already have the "Venom of Love | Navitus Parfums" (a beautiful sweet oriental cherry for me) and recently the "Baklava Royale | Navitus Parfums", which I expected NOTHING from and had the worst fears that it could be an oriental honeycracker, which thankfully didn't turn out to be the case.
So now the "Lost In A Dream | Navitus Parfums" arrived; here, too, I no longer had any expectations, as it had long since been torn to shreds at Fragrantica with the accusation that it smelled too much like "Milk | Commodity", which I don't know, and where were the promised pastry notes???

About the fragrance:
The sweet mandarin evaporates very quickly and I then smell strongly "Replica - By the Fireplace | Maison Margiela" without that blatant autumn smokiness, but I perceive cinnamon chestnut with marshmallow sweetness;
the bright spicy-sweet creaminess of "This Is Her! | Zadig & Voltaire".
The fragrance consistency is more liquid like the Cleopatra bath from tetesept, but less sweet, but warmer and spicier due to the cinnamon.

I can guess what is meant by the croissant accord, but it lacks the crispy butteriness that characterizes this pastry; the café-croissant snack time vibes that many naturally expected (me too) are missing, because the scent is not gourmand for me. Perhaps it's more like a brioche bun dipped in latte, "pastry-like" without being really edible.
No one would sit next to you and say, "Oh, you smell like pastry and coffee!" Nevertheless, it develops sweet and creamy, but not really blatantly laconic, although the Cleopatra bath milk vibes go in that direction.
I find the "Blanche Bête - Eau de Peau | Liquides Imaginaires" to be similarly creamy, but I'm glad that the "Lost In A Dream | Navitus Parfums" does NOT have that harsh "dirty mustiness" and baby bottom vibe that I unfortunately noticed from time to time with the "Blanche Bête - Eau de Peau | Liquides Imaginaires".

However, I can understand that many people are disappointed, as it is precisely these pictorial accords in fragrance pyramids that raise (false) expectations, such as croissant, ice cream, banana bread, almond cream, etc.
The environment doesn't really notice specific fragrance notes or fragrance accords anyway; often, when I wore something sweet, people around me commented on it with "Hmmm, vanilla!", although the fragrance might say chocolate, cotton candy, marshmallow or something similar.

For me, the fragrance didn't fail, although I was prepared for the worst. I liked "This Is Her! | Zadig & Voltaire" earlier and the "Replica - By the Fireplace | Maison Margiela" was too smoky longer term for me, although it's well made, I like milk baths too :)
So I find it very comfortable to wear!

After 4 years, my partner and I traveled to Dubai at the beginning of November;
in 2019, we were only there for 3 days in summer in combination with a trip to the Seychelles, where we had to stop over in Dubai anyway.
This time, with more bearable temperatures, we wanted to spend 9 days in Dubai, see more, experience more, get to know Abu Dhabi, eat in the Global Village and marvel at the replica countries, which is very reminiscent of Las Vegas, eat at the Marina (thanks @Connie for the great restaurant tip!), lie on the hotel beach, enjoy a great view from "the view" on the Palm Jumeirah; there have been a lot of new things since we were there in 2019!
We were welcomed with 33 degrees and realized; before November it would have been just too hot for us.

I was determined to test some fragrances from the Carolina Herrera Collection in the Dubai Mall, which were launched especially for the Middle East, and was already fixated on the Gold myrrh before the trip.

The fragrance begins with aromatic spicy myrrh, warm night air wafting through the desert, fine sugar trickling onto myrrh trees. The dry floral seems to be immortelle, the immortelle flower. The air is aromatic-herbaceous-sweet, you think you can hear the cicadas chirping in the Mediterranean region.
Powdery soft.
The dry, smoky, sweet and spicy smell that I also noticed in the alleyways of Dubai's souks; the souk in Al Fahidi, where the old Dubai has been somewhat artificially recreated, the tourist souk in the old town of Deira and in the chic Madinat Jumeirah souk, which is part of the luxury hotel complex with a view of the Burj Al Arab; tourists crowded outside to get a good photo with a view of the Burj Al Arab. The souks there have nothing to do with those in Tunisia, Egypt or Salalah (southern Oman); although you are also approached and goods are advertised, it feels more like a game there, a reproduced behavior that you expect from the Orient (my partner was still totally annoyed and wanted to run through the narrow streets; at least in Deira).
The smells there: spices, dusty light, dried flowers, steaming incense burners everywhere (especially in Madinat Jumeirah, where perfume and oud oils are presented by smartly dressed people on virtually every corner, many stores of the Taif Al-Emarat brand, male salespeople in suits in front of them).
So the "Gold Myrrh Absolute" also combines these oriental vibes without being overwhelming (I did get a headache in the Madinat at some point), the "Gold Myrrh Absolute" somehow also refers to nature, the desert, heaven and earth.

As it progresses, I smell mainly vanilla-cocoa powder-myrrh, as already described in my statement, the vanilla becomes more and more pronounced, very smooth, gentle with a slightly spicy twist. All in all, it reminds me of "Armani Privé - Magenta Tanzanite | Giorgio Armani" in a finer, sweeter and less dry version.

Shopping at Sephora in the Dubai Mall was not a pleasant experience; it was packed, with jostling customers, too many sales assistants and lurking security staff. At the private Carolina Herrera Collection stand, "Gold myrrh Absolute" was the only fragrance in the range not on display when a saleswoman came straight up to me and took it out of the cupboard to test it.
I didn't like the "Bronze Tonka | Carolina Herrera" at all; pungent oud, chemical like nail polish remover. The "Gold Incense | Carolina Herrera" was quite good at first, but very intense. So I made my way to the checkout, there weren't any samples. I was glad when I was able to leave Sephora again.

And so later we sat outside on the terrace of "Joe's Café" with a view of the Burj Khalifa and down to the Fountain Show, people with cell phones everywhere, me happily with my Sephora bag next to me, a plate of seafood pasta in front of me.
What remains of Dubai; the German-speaking guide from Egypt, who showed us the Grand Mosque, the Etihad Tower, the pompous presidential palace and manically tried to make emigration to Dubai palatable; crying newborns on the plane; women in hot pants and low-cut dresses at JBR, Dubai's party cancun; the best falafel and hummus with chilled Moroccan mint tea at the "Arabian Teahouse" in Al Fahidi sitting under lanterns; how my partner was addressed by name by the hotel staff and his butt was carried behind him while I was hardly noticed; a Dubai Starbucks cup (how extremely many Starbucks branches there are everywhere in Dubai!) and "Gold Myrrh Absolute".
A lot of sun saved in my head, while in Düsseldorf rain and 8 degrees in the evening awaited us, the prospect of waves of colds and Christmas.

Some time ago I got the rest of a bottling of this fragrance from a dear perfumer and did not really like it; or was somehow disturbed; milky creamy chords that reminded me of Cleopatra's milk bath and a reference to "Love Tuberose | Amouage", coupled with a dirty component (I think in my statement I described it as "on dirty paws hobbles a rabbit in").
I threw the bottling away, I did not like, bottling was almost empty anyway.

Nevertheless, I got the urge the other day, yet again to participate in a sharing; why, that's hard to explain, it was probably an irrational impulse that I followed there or just FOMO :) I guess I had the impression to have written it off too early and to miss something after all.
So thanks to a fresh bottling tested again.

Again I perceived milky creamy chords, minimal coconut, probably caused by the "white creaminess", but completely without that exotic sweetness of a coconut. In general, I find him not particularly sweet.
The scent is reminiscent of a cream bath, velvety body lotion & shimmering silk, but all with an interesting twist that makes it special.
"Love Tuberose | Amouage" I found to be staid, well-behaved, ladylike, one-dimensional, this fragrance on the other hand actually has something mystical about it and fits the idea of unicorns, fairies, gnomes, white witches.
An enchanted forest at the onset of winter.

This "dirty", which I perceived more intense at the time, is probably due to the tuberose-jasmine combination, in the new bottling I do not perceive it as so dirty, it is still located in the area of "interesting" and "quite pretty", instead of "unwearable creamy-dirty", as last time.

That so many but simply perceive him as a plain "sweet Raffaelo" or uncomplicated, even blindbuytauglich, I can not understand at all.
As for the rating, I'm still not quite sure.

Comment of my partner, whom I previously told nothing about the fragrance: "Hmmm, you hurt yourself badly in the forest and fall into a beautiful sea of flowers; something is beautiful, but something is also strange! Very ambivalent!" so it goes me yes also with the...

Actually, I never came into contact with Shalimar.
Like a bugbear, the women in my family avoided Shalimar, which I always thought was a shame as a child, because I found the bottle so beautiful and opulent, majestic.
"He just smells disgusting," my mother judged rigorously when I once asked her why she did not even want to buy the perfume.
Also my grandmother was never interested in this fragrance, however, she has never been too parfum-affin.
In addition, I must say that my mother loves fragrances, for hours she moved with me and my sister earlier through the perfumeries, however, she has always preferred rather floral, clean or powdery fragrances; so for a long time White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor, Burberry Weekend, Love Chloe Eau Intense and currently also Narciso Rodriguez Poudree were considered her favorites.
I picked up as a child that Shalimar is an oriental fragrance and since we traveled a lot, I directly imagined Istanbul or Tunis, places where we vacationed among other things, and found the fragrance all the more exciting.
For years, my mother belly danced, but heavy oriental fragrances did not get on her skin.
Even the classic Chanel No. 5 she never liked; but when my grandmother wanted to have the so gladly, but treated themselves only reluctantly extravagances, my mother gave her the perfume for Mother's Day: "Then we give her the stinky stuff times. She only wants to have it because it is so famous."
(so she was probably right!)

I myself have only the flanker "Shalimar Parfum Initial | Guerlain" tested at the time cursory in the perfumery and found him probably not worthy enough to buy, in any case, I no longer remember him, but gave me probably also not much effort in testing.
I like woody and sweet-spicy vanilla, also find vintag vibes charming, but rather in the powdery fragrance direction.
With this new Shalimar, I was afraid of an austere, too stale smell.

At first, I actually smell a lot of retromäßiges, which reminds me of some then fragrances of my mother, although she wears nothing oriental; perhaps it is bergamot, which was present in many perfumes, however, I find it here quite mild.
Something soft accompanies the fragrance in parallel, perhaps this is already the vanilla paired with green spice? An unsweet, spicy vanilla, in which one should of course not expect a sweet gourmand like Lira.
A little bit reminds me in some facets of the drydown of "Danger (Essence de Parfum) | Roja Parfums" , in which I also smell retro elegance and a "greenish vanilla".
Smoky I also perceive, a little suede bag, but yet more the smoke.
Minimal makeup bag towards the end, which for me would have liked to be more present.
The vanilla asserts itself more at the end, a multi-layered vanilla, dark, leathery, in between finer and delicate, without ever smelling artificial.
Nevertheless, for me (unfortunately) no vanilla overdose is perceptible, and as soon as the vanilla shines in full glory, it also fades again...

I call this fragrance experience the "Baccarat Rouge Principle"; I understand Those who like to wear it with style and class and also those who find it too "shalimary", yet still too bulky; although I have never consciously smelled the original Shalimar, I can imagine what bothers some about the new vanilla Shalimar: it's just not a sweet, creamy, or powdery vanilla drone like we probably mostly like to think of it, it's just an old, relaunched classic that has an interesting vanilla to offer in the drydown.
You have to be aware of that and that's why I did not blindly buy the bottle ;)

My friend does not like him, by the way, when I let him smell after 30 minutes; he found him too "wiry" and said: "In the first moment actually quite nice and then he shoots you in the bulb and I have to think of washing up liquid. But there is no vanilla in it!"

In comparison, he liked "Black Tie | Celine" very well, "which has something, I can imagine well on a woman. The is also rather vanilla and softer than the other."

For me, the "Shalimar Millésime Vanilla Planifolia | Guerlain" is not a great love, but I understand those who like to wear it.
So no bugbear, but together we probably do not come, as great as I would have found it.

After I found "Gris Charnel | bdk Parfums" absolutely great and also had to buy it quite quickly, I "Velvet Tonka | bdk Parfums" also beautiful and "Tabac Rose | bdk Parfums" well done , but not as my personal must-have felt, I was of course also very nergierig on Rouge Tuxedo, which seems to be quite popular.
I expected to like it very much.

I have to think of a sweetly intense, exotic floral body oil on opening, when it also gets skin-toned quite quickly and reminds me of a Rituals boy lotion (Sakura might be getting there because of the cherry blossom vibes), accompanied by a bright tobacco note.
In general, Rouge Smoking reminds me a lot of good skin care products like shampoo, body lotion and body oil, quite airy and delicate and pleasantly creamy.
I don't perceive the cherry per se overly clearly, but I can sense it, thinking more of cherry blossoms and artificial cherry gum, which I don't find bad in itself.
Also, it smells a bit like what the Em Eukal cherry bonbons from the drugstore taste like.
As it progresses, it gains dense sweetness, but remains true to its first impression.

Associations of the disreputable Parisian entertainment district Pigalle awakens this fragrance to my sensation not; some time ago I had a hotel room there near the neighborhood with my friend and found our hotel room quite charming and fitting; baroque vintage kitsch, lots of red plush, a whirlpool, artfully old-fashioned lamps.
Montmartre was within walking distance around the corner, the Moulin Rouge glowed red.
My friend could barely walk out the door alone without being accosted by prostitutes or offered drugs, the shop windows offered sex toys and lingerie.
Rouge Tuxedo does not reflect the frivolous, risqué and flamboyant of this neighborhood, although the history/inspiration of this perfume presents itself that way (although it does become a bit more beguiling in the drydown).

I will gladly use up the bottling and also test him further.
I had imagined him something like "Café Chantant (Eau de Parfum) | Nobile 1942" due to some note matches and the Parisian flair that both exude (cherry, vanilla, heliotrope), but I actually favor "Café Chantant (Eau de Parfum) | Nobile 1942" , which I find more intense, cherry powdery and expressive.

Bie water drop contact Rouge Tuxedo develops a little the sultry strong almond note of "Blu Mediterraneo - Mandorlo di Sicilia | Acqua di Parma" ...