HS3

Orange Blossom scents are some of my favorites. I finally bit the bullet and ordered the wonderful Fleur d’Oranger 2007 by L’Artisan Parfumeur from their Exceptional Harvest series. The $295 pricetag is a bit offputting, but it really is one of the most incredible, full orange blossom scents, and I’m a sucker for limited edition, blah, blah. I asked my Barney’s SA (who is also the L’Artisan mgr) and the 2005 is nigh impossible to find, even from the source…. so 2007 it was.

It arrived and it’s gorgeous – even more so than what I’d experienced from the sample that I’d worn a couple times. It’s not just the orange blossom – it’s the whole experience. The leaves, the blossoms, the wood, and the roots. It’s made entirely of orange blossoms from Nabeul in Tunisia. It’s wonderfully unisex and it sticks around, I think, longer than most think it does (a bit of anosmia after a few hours seems to be common with this type of scent). Others notice just a few sprays on me many hours after applying. I’ve even gotten an “Mmmm, you smell like spring in Florida.” That works for me!

Here’s what you can expect if you snag a bottle. They made much more of this one (6000 bottles) than the two thousand something they did for the ’05 version, no doubt because of its popularity. Mine is 499/6000, so unless they ship them out in a really odd order, there’s not an immediate chance of them selling out.

According to LuckyScent, the paper it’s wrapped in is a silk paper, but from what I can tell, it might as well just be (really nice, of course) tissue paper. It’s presented really well though – and the box is really gorgeous wood in person.

No question – best orange blossom I’ve tried. I think I might even be able to park my quest for orange blossom. On to the next scent!

I really love orange blossom scents. They really seem to agree with my skin and are perfect in summer heat. I wear it to the beach, to work, you name it. My two current favorites are Fleurs d’Oranger by Le Labo and Orange Blossom Cologne by Jo Malone. Naturally, I sought out more to add to the genre. I thought I’d explore the world of Neroli – the blossom of the bitter orange tree, a spicier, slightly less floral cousin to the sweet orange blossom so common here in Florida. I ordered samples of Diptyque L’eau de Neroli and Profumum Neroli from Luckyscent.

Diptyque L’eau de Neroli. It started perfectly – this was it… the bright, light sweet orange blossom scent that I love, with a touch of zing from bitter neroli and verbena. The verbena added something extra in the opening that was gorgeous. In about 10 minutes though, all that was gone. The scent got sweeter by the minute, and creamy (luckyscent says that’s the beeswax talking). It’s a nice scent, but I’m not after orange blossom with a creamy musk base. I want the crisp and tart, but light and floral take. Next.

Profumum Neroli. This started in a huge classic way – traditional EDC notes led by sharp citrus, and less about blossoms. It stays crisp and dry throughout, never veering the creamy sweet way the Diptyque did, but I’m looking for something a bit more about the blossom, and less about the sharpness classic citrus structure.

The search continues!

I often put a bit of a fragrance on the back of my hand to sniff during the day at work and sample. Today, I decided to grab a random Bond out of my desk drawer at home – I grabbed Astor Place and thought I’d give it some more attention since I’d only briefly smelled it in the store up til now.

When I first put it on, I got a pleasant, but not exceptional plummy fruit note. It seemed nice enough and I thought perhaps it could be something the GF would like when she wanted something light or girly. By the time I had gotten to work, it had fallen flat. I’m not sure exactly what the culprit is, but it’s turned into the smell of shampoo. I lived with a number of girls one year in college, and this is the smell of their just-washed hair while getting ready to go out for the night. I think the freesia may be to blame, but I can’t be certain. What I get now is nothing more than wet Pantene hair. Every now and then, I get a pop of citrus, likely the mandarin sticking its head out for a breath of air.

I wrote most of this earlier and then headed to a meeting. Astor Place did evolve some, but not much. There were a few minutes that I felt like it was going to turn into something better, more tart – but then it settled back into a shampooed head. The juicy mandarin is smothered with the hammering freesia and white florals.

I’m left pretty disappointed for the most part. It’s a pity – the bottle is quite a sight, and the real location seems to be very cool. Perhaps that intersection has a lot of recently washed heads of hair.

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.