Quite accidently and quite happily, I stumbled on this fascinating essay on Japanese culture and the way they regard fragrances and perfumes. Really interesting read. (Especially if you're a perfume and sociology nerd like I am.)

Miss Dior is a classic chypre (see the Fragrance Facts page if that confuses you). Top notes are bergamot, aldehydes, clary sage, gardenia and galbanum, lush heart notes of rose, lily of the valley, carnation, orris and jasmine, and a gorgeous base of patchouli, oakmoss, amber, vetiver,leather and sandalwood.

Miss Dior actually caused quite a sensation when it was released in 1947. It was quite different from the other fragrances that were popular then, all soft, soapy, oh-so-genteel florals, for the most part. Miss Dior is spunky, and a little bit cheeky, and pleasantly chic. It was a sensation in it's day; it's still sensational.

But wait! There's more! Continue reading Dior Miss Dior....

I've previously done a review of this one, but I'm wearing it today and it just struck me how surprising it is that I like this one as much as I do. I'm not normally a fan of vanilla, but this fragrance is just so perfectly balanced. It's just lovely, vanilla and all. Very nice light, silky, modern oriental blend. Yay Armani.

Some thieves prefer jewels.
 
Others like cash.
 
But a thief in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood -- who police believe is the man they just arrested -- has been going for Davidoff, Kenneth Cole, Aqua Di Gio by Armani, Issey Miyake.
 
Expensive perfumes.

Chanel No. 5 is one of the best known church fumigation systems in the world. Invented by Pope Edgar during the Byzantine period in 100 B.C., the scent has been suffocating people ever since.

(Keep in mind, this link is to an UNcyclopedia...)

When I was a teenager, I used to wear a now-discontined fragrance for men, Hawk by Mennen. I often got compliments on it, from men and women alike. Nobody ever guessed that it was a "masculine" scent, and I felt oh-so-saucy wearing it (tee hee, a girl wearing boy's cologne, how daring!).

These days, the men's fragrance I wear with some regularity is Miracle Pour Homme by Lancôme (note that I also wear Miracle, which is much girlier and pinker). I bought it for my husband, on whom it does smell quite nice, but he prefers another fragrance (Caron Pour Un Homme, which I absolutely love on him), and so the poor Miracle Pour Homme was languishing. Until I started to wear it.

I put it on one day because I saw it and just thought, well, why not? And I put some on. And it was very nice on me. I love the coffee notes in the middle (though the top notes are the typical bright citrus you find in umpteen million billion men's fragrance; nice but extremely common), and the somewhat earthier base. It lasts a good long time on me, as well, and on my skin, it's pleasantly fresh without being cloying.

Nobody has ever worked out what it is (including my husband, but he's got a notoriously bad nose and usually can't tell what I'm wearing, other than not liking Diorissimo because it's "too flowery"). I like it, because, well, I like the fragrance, and I'm woman enough to wear a man's scent and not feel like some sort of cross-dresser. It's mostly marketing anyway; there are lots of men's fragrances that work well on women, and plenty of women's fragrances that work well on men, and there are a number of fragrances that are actually designed to be unisex.

Being not someone who is that easily swayed by what marketing people tell me to think about things. I like Miracle Pour Homme and it's lovely on me. That's all I need to know.

Okay. I've decided to take a different approach to writing in this blog. Part of why I haven't been is that I set a standard for myself with regard to how things had to be written, what style I had to use to present them, etc. But the fact is, my own natural "voice" is fairly entertaining, and I do a lot better when I write freeform than when I follow a strict pattern.

From now on, my reviews will continue to include some basic stuff (like the notes in the fragrance), but I'm just going to write my own impressions of it, perhaps with a bit of social observation, perhaps not. I'm just going to write because I like to write, and I love perfumes and I've been restricting myself too much, so much that I wasn't writing at all.

From now on, look for much more "freeform" entries here, including in the reviews. And look for more frequent entries, now that I've decided to lift the restrictions on myself.

This is a somewhat strange review, because this lovely fragrance has been discontinued. What a shame! It was released in 2000, and it's lush and amazing. I have a good-sized bottle of it, so it should last me a while, but still... what a shame that it's been discontinued.

This is a very lush, earthy, oriental type fragrance. It's very exotic, with green and spicy top notes, a heart of tuberose, frangipani blossoms, neroli, ylang-ylang, and jasmine, and a classic oriental base of vetiver, vanilla, and sandalwood. I also smell something in there that reminds me very distinctly of coconut, but that might be my imagination.

But wait! There's more! Continue reading Guerlain Mahora....