HS3

Looks like I’ve managed to have two Nasomatto entries back to back. I swear, when I first tried the remaining dribbles out of a used Duro sample, I enjoyed it, but I didn’t think I would end up with my affinity for the line. I don’t even wear them that often, but I sure do enjoy sniffing them from the bottle. Perhaps I don’t want to see the dwarfed 30ml bottles lose any of their precious liquid. Yet, when I do wear them, I get a lot of good attention, and the GF loves them all (except for Absinth… she thinks it smells like dirt and unwashed bodies). Go figure.

Anyways, I recently made it through my vial of China White, and decided it needed to find a home on my shelves. I had full plans on calling my favorite SA at Barneys LV, but with her out on medical leave, I had to wait. Lucky for me, one popped up on eBay, and I snagged it for almost half the retail price. Thank you, Sir eBay.

It’s such a mesmorizing scent. I don’t know what heroine smells like, but if this is it, I suppose I can better understand the allure. It has a gorgeous leathery aura – for those familiar with Nasomatto, many of their scents have an incredible note that shimmers and teases, much like aldehydes, but a whole new take. The leather in this one reminds me of Tom Ford Tuscan Leather (that many have said smells of cocaine.. perhaps my nose has a problem?). It’s a dry, yet powdery style of leather. There is a gorgeous floral note, almost creamy in nature like that in Costume National 21, combined with the scent of the lining of a smoker’s leather coat.

This one is, as they say, strangely addicting. It’s complex, strange, and completely wearable. My kind of scent.

Chanel (Jacques Polge & Christopher Sheldrake) did it right with this one. This is in the top 5 scents I smelled in 2008.

I would describe it overall as a rich, yet accessible take on patchouli and chocolate. However, there are just so many wonderful aspects all along the way that make it as wonderful as it is. The opening has the peppery tart spray of bitter orange peel with a sweet chocolate undertone. The spices are gritty and light, not ones to hit the back of your throat.. A wonderful patchouli that you wouldn’t necessarily identify unless you knew to look for it emerges with just the slightest powdery feathering. It settles into a rich, warm leathery scent that still retains some of its top notes punch and even has a comforting, classic feel to it. I don’t know many classic Chanels, but the dry down makes me think of a complex scent with such depth a company like this would have produced.

This is really a masterpiece for me. I knew I would end up buying it within minutes of sampling it. I took a sample and wore it that night and the next day and bought a bottle the next afternoon. The bottle is gorgeous and the base of the box doubles as a Chanel stand for the bottle. The packaging is top notch – even the cap is magnetically polarized so that the Chanel logo is horizontal when you put the cap on.

Be sure you love anything you buy from Les Exclusifs line… you’re getting a jug of it. The price may seem daunting at first, but when you account for how much you’re actually getting, it’s no more expensive than any other standard designer scent.

Huge A+ from me.

I recently ordered a bottle of the super limited edition Reve en Cuir by Indult and have been enjoying it immensely. Indult created this warm leather scent exclusively for Scent Bar, the brick and mortar store for Luckyscent.com in Los Angeles. When I first sampled it, I found it thin and a bit sweeter than I’d expected, but that was merely from a few swipes from the 1ml vial. Once it came time for me to pay it the attention it deserved with a full wear using an atomizer, it became a completely different animal. What once seemed too sweet and modest had become a voluptuous, rich leather. So, I sold a few unwanted bottles so I wouldn’t feel so bad about the cost, and a bottle was happily on its way to me. The GF told me that most leathers I have are authoritatively sophisticated and have great presence, but aren’t necessarily sexy. This one, she exclaimed, is far from the rest of the crowd. I think my leather genre is now complete.

Here are some photos of the packaging and unpacking it:

…and a few glamour shots…