Serenissima

"Forest Patchouli" is not a golden-brown, but a green-brown patchouli fragrance!
Great!

Instead of golden veins and influences, I find pine and fir needles and interesting spices in the heavy dark base and thus a very special fragrance experience:
Aromatic, spicy and balsamic at the same time.

I don't know if it is exactly these mentioned scents of Siberian stone pines and balsam firs: I just smell a wonderfully heavy patchouli scent that is so very different from what I know and love.
Pepper and grated nutmeg, well dosed, I would also suspect some cloves.

This second fragrance from the brand "Alkemia", which I was allowed to test (the first was "Book of Shadows"), also immediately captivated me.
Not only because I have learned to love patchouli in all its facets over the years, but also because it develops so differently, so mystically dark and intensely touching the senses, on my very cool, light skin.
A deep forest darkness into which the essential oils of the conifers conjure up dancing lights:
Fragrant will-o'-the-wisps over a heavy, damp patchouli base - extraordinary and beautiful!

I think it's quite good that the sillage and longevity are not infinite here.
for me, "Alkemia" stands for "snapshots in a fragrance".
Mysteries that float around for hours lose their magic:

So it's better this way: everything fits and my curiosity about the secrets of the bottlings I still have is very great!
I love mysteries in fragrances!

My choice of title alone (a song from the musical "Girl Crazy"/1930 by George and Ira Bernstein) shows:
Unfortunately, incompatible personalities have clashed here.

It happens time and again that fragrances do not meet our expectations, do not suit our skin or, as in this case, are simply too powdery for our airways, which have already been attacked by early flowering pollen.
But that shouldn't be a reason to rate them poorly or make nasty statements about them: it's completely unfair; we all agree on that!
Every perfumer puts their craftsmanship and often a little bit of themselves into their compositions; both deserve respect!
Even if we personally don't like the result: then even I tend to shut up!

But now to "Night Song":
In my opinion well acquainted with the wonderful and mostly quite opulent, natural creations of Teone Reinthal, I was very happy about the fragrance sample that ElAttarine bottled for me (thank you very much for that) and sprayed generously:
I coughed; coughed for a long time until I started to get hoarse!
Shouldn't one enter unknown terrain and shores carefully and cautiously?
That's what I'd been taught as a child; I completely forgot about it during "Night Song" in my once again so lively curiosity, but as we all know, you're always smarter when you come from the town hall. (At least that's how it used to be!)
I'll dose more sparingly in future to get to know you - I promise!

Suddenly I find myself in a drying shed, an airy barn, where the leaves of the tobacco plants hang in bundles from the ceiling and masses of aromatic dust particles, moved by a light breeze, dance in the dimmed light.
A magnificent melange of fragrant resins floats playfully and generously around the tobacco leaves hung upside down, probably to give them the aromas of myrrh, labdanum and a nice dose of bright incense.
The warm vanilla, perfumed with soft oud and slightly animalic sandalwood, together with these aforementioned fragrance notes, awaits the appearance of the "Noblewoman of Champaka" to lovingly and touchingly marry her.
The precious blossoms of the so-called "Joy Tree", from which Jean Patou created his dreamlike perfume of the same name, appear as the highlight, accompanied by "Pink Lotus" (once again: Teona Reinthal loves this fragrance) on the fragrance stage carefully prepared for them.
This tobacco harvest hanging there develops exceptionally beautifully and richly on the skin after a certain time and will thus write a very personal fragrance story.
"Night Song" already does that, as a very special, extremely interesting and yet wearable creation with rich sillage and well-known longevity.
It's a real shame that the two of us don't harmonize with each other!
"Night Song" may travel on and resound in another place, on another skin in the spirit of this composition.

And, no:
I did not rate "Night Song" wrong: it is a beautiful, rich fragrance, exactly according to the philosophy of the company Teone Reinthal Natural Perfume, which fully deserves my rating.
But "Night Song" just doesn't resonate for me, unfortunately!

Even when I was younger, I liked to spray fragrances in my hair, partly because I was baking in the sun for hours, didn't want to get stained, but still wanted to smell good.
Even later and today, this ritual is still part of my summer; my fragrances from Jo Malone's seasonal collections are ideal for this: all wonderfully clear and a pleasant and surprising way to wear perfume.

The first "real" hair perfume my hairdresser gave me for Christmas (I think it was 1999) was Chanel's "Allure Hairmist": Of course I was thrilled!
What a gift: "Allure" was new on the market and in this sprayed lightness was good for me to wear as a fragrance and hair accessory at the time!

Every now and then something flutters into the house by post (sometimes also by "snail mail"); fragrance fulfillments from wish lists and every now and then a little surprise is enclosed.
This time it was a hair fragrance from my "dream team" François Demachy and Christian Dior; both meet in the creations of "La Collection Privée" by Dior Parfums.
I immediately want to chat with these two gentlemen again.
Oh, I'm delighted, because "Oud Rosewood - Brume de Parfum pour les cheveux" is holding court in my freshly washed hair, which is now finally blonde again, and I'm enjoying Monsieur Demachy's noble, stinky fruit summer at the end of February.

I already told you my "rosewood oud" story about the eau de parfum.
I find its components here again, not watered down, as I perhaps feared, but only much quieter, finer and spun into a delicate hairnet by a master hand.
I admit: this really is pure luxury, but getting to know it makes me want to try the other hair perfumes listed here.

Sun-drenched raspberry and quince aromas still appear in the morning slumber; their fruity sweetness is present, but slightly muted.
Oud and sandalwood appear more briskly, as if they were afraid of having to hold back their masculine aura too much; sprayed in long hair and not too close to the scalp, we communicate harmoniously and the noble rosewood, even as a fragrance note still shimmering silky brown with a distinctive rose nuance, flatters and does not hold back too much.

This creation is perceived by me as balanced in my hair and on my pillow for some time, stylish and more summery and playful than elegant and, like the eau de parfum, still a fragrant lover's piece.

The way of pampering oneself with "Brume de Parfum pour les cheveaux"/hair perfume is something I would like to see catch on.
Especially in the warmer months of the year, when some skin heats up too much and some compositions become very powerful and possibly even overpowering, such hair perfumes would be a great alternative.

They glisten like pearls of dew on the damp, lush cushions of moss, surrounded by greenery and strong juniper, which is already evident in this composition: the fresh aromas of various citrus fruits; it is not without reason that they are called "Hesperides Gold"
This freshness, enlivened by juniper's spiciness, is surprising: these fragrance notes resonate extremely well together and immediately want to play along in the concert of fragrance sounds, creating an extremely pleasant and harmonious overture.
Dewy, pearly, tart, spicy citrus freshness and bright, noble cypress green complement each other and cannot be squeezed into a pyramid this time.
There is no leading score: every fragrance note is here everywhere and almost at all times!
Richly scented white bloomers drape themselves stylishly over what is already there:
White and sensually fragrant cascades of jasmines and precious scented roses meet here with the enchanting beauty of gardenias, whose blossom was once so often worn as a "buttonhole flower"; I also remember the fabric creations that were attached to a pin and festively adorned many a costume jacket lapel.
They meet ylang ylang, the long tendrils covered with bright yellow and summery fragrant flowers.
Their joint glow pervades this successful aromatic fragrance composition like a swarm of flashing fireflies, accompanied by the bright sounds of flutes, in which the great old, gnarled oaks with all their mysteries are now also given their turn at muted timpani.
We are drawn into the depths of a powerful-sounding aromatic embrace; but there is no danger of getting lost or drowning in it.
Bright, clear resins, topped with cool, divine incense accents, protect us from this: their smoky web protects us from too much dark fragrance magic; silky and woody, accompanied by cedar, they lead to a harmonious and rich finale in which light and dark, blooming summer floral beauty and serenity and ancient mysticism unite to create a charismatic fragrance work of art of particular depth and radiance

Floyd has already said everything about Antonio Gardoni; he can do better than I can and I can only agree with his comments from the perspective of a woman who is no longer young.
We are both following the golden beetle, just each of us on our own path.

"AG" by Bogue is one of those special fragrance creations that my dear Can777 keeps giving me; he knows what I might like and also knows the limits of a fragrance world that would probably still overwhelm me today.
But I think he will be ready for the next step in my "fragrance discovery" and at some point he will take the training wheels off my still wobbly fragrance tricycle.

It also took me some time to find my way around here and to put this search for the magical heart of "AG" into words.
It was definitely worth it.

Back then, they were an affordable alternative to the many brand and designer fragrances; today, they are still worth testing and getting to know better: many of the vintage fragrances from the Yves Rocher company.
They were not mere copies; they were independent fragrance personalities in the spirit of the times.
Many of the newer creations no longer convince me as much, although they are all very pleasant and wearable.
But the "old ones" - oh! They still had a certain something!

In the case of "Yria", however, this "certain something" is probably coriander, because I also have to overcome this hurdle first, which is accompanied by ripe citrus fruit aromas.
Fortunately, this note is quite fleeting on my skin; the entire top note is actually just "passing through": I don't know whether it was planned that way from the start or whether it's due to the age of my two minis.
On the other hand, "Yria" has a beautiful floral heart, lovingly composed, in which the intensely fragrant white flowers gardenia, jasmine and lily of the valley (hello, my little white fragrance friend!) unfold richly and even give the restrained magnolia blossoms and the noble rose ladies a place in their fragrance orchestra: this creates a full sound of harmonizing fragrance notes, in keeping with the even more opulent time of the last turn of the century.
Some of the glamor of the past has been carried over here.
This also characterizes the classic base with its many good acquaintances:
Warm vanilla and tonka bean accents enjoy the warm, sensual embrace of a finely animalic, earthy blend of sandalwood and golden-brown patchouli.
"Yria" is given the final touch by a well-dosed amber smoke note.

As you know, I love fragrance characters with rough edges, I am often bored by "softly rinsed" and "pleasing" fragrances.
But I had to come to terms with "Yria" for a while; that's probably why the fragrance was pretty much at the end of my Yves Rocher fragrance review list.
It's not due to the sillage or the longevity; these are within the normal average range.

We both got to know each other, touched each other, we won't become "good friends" again.
But I am sure that "Yria" will also find a place in the hearts of fragrance lovers:
As we all know, in the world of fragrances too, "every pot has a lid"!