Hermes

Mood Scent 4 Well Named Perfumes

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It’s is time for our monthly Mood Scent 4 post! Where Portia (on A Bottled Rose), Samantha  (I Scent You A Day), Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I write about a different subject relating to perfume. This time we concentrate on well named fragrances. Those perfume names which lead us to the “right”direction in the store or online and give us a well informed idea of what to expect from a scent.

Perfumes referring to notes in fragrances like rose, tuberose, lily of the valley/muguet, neroli or vetiver can give us a pretty good idea of what to expect although this not certainty either. As some fragrances can be called one thing like orange blossom but unexpectedly smell different, for example Serge Lutens Fleurs D’Oranger smells highly of tuberose. I chose my favourite 5 well named fragrances starting with DS & Durga Portable Fireside.

DS & Durga Portable Fireplace 

Fragrance Duo David Seth Moltz and Kavi Hakuja create original fragrances with matching creative names for their New York based brand DS & Durga. Scented candle Portable Fireplace is one of my favourites from this brand. It smells like a complete fireplace in a candle for those who don’t have the luxury of one at home. I don’t have one living in the city of Amsterdam and love to burn this candle during winter. 

April Aromatics Rose L’Orange, Vanilicious  and Ray Of Light

Another brand with well named perfumes is Berlin based April Aromatics. As you might know, I am a big fan of Tanja Bochnig’s all natural fragrances (and so is my fellow Mood Scent 4 pal Megan from Megan in Sainte Maxime) as I have reviewed several fragrances before. The perfume names are not funny or teasing as DS & Durga but some are very well chosen.

Rose L’Orange smells like a big apricot coloured rose dripping of sweet candied orange syrup and a pinch of vanilla powder. Vanilicious smells like sticking your nose in a delicious shiny long vanilla pod, full of smoky, leathery bits leaving your skin as if it was dusted with light vanilla powder. Uplifting Ray of Light adds a sparkle to your grey rainy day with its vibrant sweet yellow lemon, crisp green lime and bitter bright green leaves from the lemon tree.

Hermes Un Jardin En Mediterranee

Hermes Un Jardin En Mediterranee was the first garden fragrance created by perfumer Jean Claude Ellena for Hermes to be launched in 2003. It captures different plants and trees from a Mediterranean garden, a fig tree with its large fragrant leaves, filled with ready to eat but not overly ripe fig fruits, cypress trees, lemon trees and a touch of spearmint.

Un Jardin En Mediterranee smells like a light aquatic sea breeze on a warm summer day, refreshing and light. It’s like a water coloured painting of an unripe green fig fruit with carefully chosen transparent blue colours. Very refreshing on a warm summer day. Jean Claude Ellena left out all the milk like and coconut parts of the fig fruit in this fragrance which make this scent different from other fig fragrances. I am not an avid fig perfumes lover but I like the freshness and water like quality of this scent.

When visiting the botanical garden in Malaga years ago, in Southern Spain along the Mediterranean sea, it struck me how well fitting this name was as all notes could be found in this garden, white oleander flowers, orange blossom, figs and cypress. The photograph with the small travel spray was made in this garden.

These are the 5 well named fragrances I picked.  Have a look on Samantha’s blog I Scent You A Day Megan’s blog  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose! I love to read their picks and see what they chose. Sometimes we choose the same fragrances which is great as we don’t know the scents we will pick.

 

Mood Scent 4 Jewels In The Crown Perfumes

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It’s Mood Scent 4 time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia, (on A Bottled Rose) , Samantha  (I Scent You A Day), Megan (Megan In St Maxime) and I write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked jewels in the crown, those treasured perfumes we can never be without.

I hope you started the new year well with everything that is going on in the world and manage to keep (relatively) calm, safe and positive. Not to mention healthy! We are in our second lock down at the moment in The Netherlands, most shops are closed and celebrating Christmas with a few family members on a schedule who got to visit when which was a bit strange. But I was very glad to be able to visit some of my family members including my dad and sister.

Back to perfumes again. In this article I have included 5 favourites from my perfume collection which can still be bought online or in a shop, so you are able to try them too if you like, starting with glorious Amber/Oriental Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan 

There are several perfumes I can’t be without and Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan is definitely one of them. Ambre Sultan is filled with warming benzoin, resinous labdanum, sweet vanilla, topped with spices and herbs found on the Marrakech souk (market). This warming fragrance gets a lot of wear during wintertime each year. Ambre Sultan is very well blended, not one specific note sticking out. If I could only have one amber fragrance it would be Ambre Sultan. Notes include coriander, amber accord, oregano, bay leaf, myrtle, angelica root, sandalwood, patchouli, benzoin and vanilla. Ambre Sultan is said to smell after the markets or souks in Marrakech, Serge Lutens Moroccan residence. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Hermes Caleche 

Soft, clean and floral Caleche is another elegant perfume jewel I can’t be without. Named after a special type of light carriage, Hermes Caleche invokes a feeling of Parisian sophistication with timeless classic brown satin dresses, expensive leather Hermes bags, exquisite hand sown silk scarves, pearl necklaces and the softest dark brown leather gloves. Caleche was created by master perfumer Guy Robert in 1961 as an elegant easy to wear refined fragrance.

It features notes of aldehydes, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, gardenia, iris, ylang-ylang, oakmoss, sandalwood, cedarwood and vetiver. .(Continue Reading After The Photograph)Hermes Eau d’Orange Verte 

Another jewel in the crown is Hermes Eau d’Orange verte. Eau D’orange verte is an extraordinary uplifting scent adding sunshine and light to grey rainy days. True to its original name which was Hermes Eau de Cologne, Eau d’Orange Verte smells very much like a cologne focussing on freshly squeezed bitter orange tree leaves.

Hermes Eau d’Orange Verte was created in 1979 by French perfumer Francoise Caron. According to official Hermes training material Eau d’Orange Verte features notes of petit grain lemon, mandarin, bitter orange tree (bigadier) leaves and peppermint. Some online sources mention oakmoss and patchouli as well. This fragrance has been in my collection for 20 years, back in the days when I wore the same scent every day. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Guerlain Shalimar 

Guerlain Shalimar is one of the perfumes I can’t be without either. It is one of the perfumes which feel custom made to me and I reach for on many occasions. Sparkling green Bergamot lemon. smooth floral Rose and Jasmine, seductive balsamic Opopanax, comforting Vanilla, powdery Iris and Tonka Bean make Shalimar very soothing and relaxing. Shalimar feels like one of those fragrances which suit any occasion or mood. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

Dior Miss Dior original 

Miss Dior has many faces nowadays but I am referring to the perfume from 1947 which is now very well named Miss Dior Original. Created by perfumers Jean Carles and Paul Vacher this classic masterpiece is another jewel of the crown. It has probably been changed many times in the meantime.

Some people might find Miss Dior Original too nostalgic for their taste which I can relate to as this was created in the “New Look” period of Christian Dior, at the end of the 1940ties. I rather like this elegant perfume which feels like wearing a made to measure exquisite dress, impeccable red lipstick, a well powdered face, some black eyeliner and a stylish large designer hat.  Personally I am glad we don’t have to wear these dresses anymore but have the choice to wear what we like and still get a glimpse of this elegant period by scenting and wearing Miss Dior Original. A bit of nostalgia after all!

Notes include: Aldehydes, Galbanum, Clary Sage, Gardenia, Bergamot, Narcissus, Iris, Carnation, Lily of the Valley, Orris Root, Jasmine, Rose, Neroli, Oakmoss, Leather, Vetiver, Patchouli, Labdanum, Sandalwood and Amber accord. (Continue Reading After The Photograph)

These are my top 5 Jewels in the Crown picks. Have a look on Samantha’s blog I Scent You A Day Megan’s blog  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose,  to read they choices too!

I Love To Hear From You
I hope you are able to share your favorite perfumes you can’t live without and let me know what you think of my choices too.

Disclosure: All photographs were made by me and are meant as creative expression. The perfumes on the photographs were all bought by me. Some fragrances are sold in other bottles now.

 

Mood Scent 4 Golden Oldies

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It is Mood Scent 4 Time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia, (on A Bottled Rose) , Samantha  (I Scent You A Day) and Megan (Megan In St Maxime) write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked Golden Oldies, those classic perfumes we hold fond memories of and have been with us for some time. Or those iconic old school classics which are well worth to try.

This time Samantha is with us again fortunately, although she is in her second lockdown in Wales as is Megan in France. Luckily we are not in lockdown in The Netherlands but things are fairly restricted and restaurants/cafes are closed. Portia is lucky to be more free to go outside, living in Australia. These are exceptional times for many of us to navigate. Back to Golden Oldies again, starting with iconic Jean Patou Joy.

Jean Patou Joy

‘Joy is a floral bouquet based on a very rich accord of two natural notes: jasmine and rose.’ Jean Patou

According to Jean Kerleo, former in house perfumer of Jean Patou and Osmoteque founder, Joy was a simple combination of jasmine and rose. It combined the richness of Bulgarian Rose and jasmine from Grasse. These two materials were used to create a very rich floral bouquet. Joy was launched in 1930, one year after the stock market crash of 1929 to become an icon in modern perfumery.

Two years after acquiring Jean Patou in 2018, LVMH has sadly decided to discontinue all Jean Patou fragrances. This is not very surprising. As Dior (which is part of the LVMH) launched a perfume in 2018 called Joy.  If you want to try Jean Patou Joy, 1000 or Sublime (another golden oldie love) grab a bottle from a discount store while you still can, otherwise you will have to visit the perfume archive Osmoteque in Versailles to smell one of these fragrances. I don’t know how these  ‘newer’ versions smell though and if they were reformulated to be a shadow of their former selves.

Personally I haven’t worn Joy as much as I have Jean Patou Sublime. Joy feels like wearing a very precious dark brown long mink coat, rich and luxurious to be enjoyed in the past but not from this era any more. Sublime however was created in the late eighties by Jean Kerleo and is reminiscent of this period when I was a student just living in Amsterdam. 

Hermes Caleche

Notes include aldehydes, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, gardenia, iris, ylang-ylang, oakmoss, sandalwood, cedar, vetiver.

Named after a special type of light carriage, Hermes Caleche invokes a feeling of Parisian sophistication with classic silk dresses, expensive leather bags, beautiful handmade silk scarves and soft leather gloves. Created as an elegant easy to wear fragrance by Guy Robert, the newer Caleche which is now sold in the shops, has a become a more agressive aldehydic soap floral but still a refined fragrance. Soie de Caleche (the bottle on the photograph) was launched in 1992 and meant as a more easy to wear version to appeal to a younger audience. Both feel elegant and luxurious.  Caleche was launched in 1961. As a little side note: Kelly Caleche is a completely different fragrance from Hermes.


Puig Aqua Lavanda Colonia 

Notes include Lavender, Rosemary, Spike, Petitgrain, Bergamot, Clary Sage, Geranium, Musk, Tonka, Cedarwood and Moss

Aqua Lavanda (lavender water in Spanish) is very well known in Spain as many grew up with the soap bars and eau de cologne from this scent. Large plastic cologne bottles are sold in Spanish supermarkets (or online) for a song. Which doesn’t make the fragrance particularly attractive. One wouldn’t expect such a masterpiece to be sold at this price in these large plastic dishwasher like bottles. But no wonder Aqua Lavanda is such a fabulous fragrance. Aqua Lavanda was created by master perfumer Jean Carles! 

These are my 3 picks for Golden Oldies Perfumes. Have a look on Samantha’s blog I Scent You A Day Megan’s blog  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose, to read their choices too.

I Love To Hear From You
There have been some troubles with leaving comments before.  I hope you are able to leave your choice for Golden Oldies fragrances. Those fragrances you love to revisit from long gone era.

Disclosure: all fragrances were bought by me and all photographs were made by me as well. The two ads were found online.

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