Nelly Rodi No. 9 Fleur d’Oranger On first sniff, this EdP smells exactly like its name, straight orange blossoms. However, after the initial sweet, floral blast, a sharp note develops, possibly some citrus peel oil and/or petitgrain. It’s supposed to contain cardamom, but I really don’t smell it. For the first half hour the sillage produces the illusion of perfect, fresh orange blossoms with hints of the orange tree’s leaves mixed in. Then as it dries down, what I smell is mostly aurantiol mixed with some vanilla. It’s a nice, warm scent once it reaches this point. Overall, this is a pleasant fragrance with strong sillage initially, but lasting only 4-5 hours. The first 30 minutes are among the best renditions of orange blossoms that I’ve smelled. If you love orange flowers and don’t want a perfume that lasts all day, this would be worth a try.
Molinard M de Molinard
Starts out a little soapy and floral, a little green, with a top note of bitter galbanum. M is a sharp, old-fashioned chypre-type perfume, not at all sweet. In the main phase, it’s mostly floral and green, not really my style, but certainly wearable. It has lots of sillage, and lasts for 6-8 hours, gradually trailing off into a weak woody-musky base that retains traces of the green flowers. Nice if you like that sort of thing.
Serge Lutens Encens et Lavande This starts out as a strong, but realistic lavender scent embellished with some other culinary herbs and spices, sage being one of the prominent ones. Smelling it makes me think of chopping sage and rosemary, preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. I sometimes add lavender to spice up my cooking, so all of these notes remind me of being in the kitchen. However, just when I think it’s going to be nothing but an herb-flavored meal, the incense starts kicking in. A stark, beautiful incense that combines perfectly with the lavender. All too soon the incense vanishes, and the lavender remains, becoming progressively sweeter until it almost seems candied. I’m normally not a fan of lavender in perfume, but here it’s gorgeous, done just right. I like the way it develops, moving into incense, and back to a different take on lavender. Encens et Lavande is my fgavorite of the three, and the only one that I would consider owning in a quantity larger than a sample.
[orange flower photo from Wikimedia]
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There are so many perfumes to try. How do you decide what to sample? Gail
ReplyDeleteGail, that's a really good question that I can only partially answer. I try to sample things across the board from the cheapest commercial fragrances to the most exclusive, expensive niche or other high-end offerings and everything in between. It mainly comes down to what samples are available at a price compatible with my budget. I usually get the monthly sample packs from Luckyscent, samples directly from individual perfumers, samples from brick & mortar shops, carded samples from various sources including Raffy, samples or decants obtained in swaps, and many other sources. I put them all together in several big boxes and pull out a sample at random every morning, rotating among 1 ml vials, carded samples, and larger containers of various sorts.
ReplyDeletePart of my strategy is to just go with the flow and sample whatever pops up that day, so there's not much of a decision process. I've gotten so I enjoy the randomness of the draw and sometimes being surprised by things I thought I shouldn't or wouldn't like.