MoodScent4 Project

Mood Scent 4 Into The Woods – Our Last Mood Scent 4 Post!

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It’s time for our monthly Mood Scent 4 post. Where Megan (Megan in St Maxime,) Samantha (I Scent You A Day) Portia (on A Bottled Rose) and I write about a different subject relating to perfume each month. This time we chose to write about woody fragrances.  But before I continue with my picks of woody perfumes I have some news for you: this will be our last Mood Scent 4 post!

Last Call For Mood Scent 4!

Megan started Mood Scent4 4,5 years ago and we have decided to discontinue this project recently for various reasons. Some of us are busy with other perfume related projects, others will be focusing on something different. It has been a very interesting, joyful time writing together and inspiring to read each other’s picks on the same perfume subject each month.

I hope you have learned  as much as I did from reading our different takes on perfume. I want to thank Samantha, Portia and Megan for our exceptional time together on this perfume journey. Although it feels like it’s time for something different, I am a bit sad that this project has ended and will miss writing together. 

April Aromatics Precious Woods – Tanja Bochnig 

April Aromatics featured several times on Megan’s and my posts as we are both a big fan of Tanja’s work. This time I chose Precious Woods for our Into The Woods theme as it invites us to take a walk in a forest.

Berlin based perfumer Tanja Bochnig was inspired to make this fragrance when she scented an Indian forest after the rain. I believe she succeeded very well in invoking the scent, image and experience of a forest walk. Wearing Precious Woods makes me feel very down to earth, grounded and calm. Looking at the notes this is not surprising as one of the main notes is sandalwood from India and New Caledonia. Sandalwood fragrance has been used by all Indian spiritual traditions (Brahmin, Buddhist and Hindu) to induce a calm state of mind. There is a certain intriguing funkiness to this fragrance too making it interesting.

Hiram Green Arbole Arbole – Hiram Green

‘Tree, tree
dry and green.

The girl with the pretty face
is out picking olives.
The wind, playboy of towers,
grabs her around the waist.’*

Arbole, Arbole was inspired by this beautiful poem from Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. This is only a small part of the poem as it is too long to include it completely.  Garcia Lorca is very dear to me as he was one of my mother’s favourite poets.

Arbole, Arbole as a fragrance is as warming as a coffee with brandy on a cold rainy autumn morning. It smells like biting into a dry honeyed patchouli filled dark chocolate with vanilla powder and some frankincense sprinkled on top. Arbole, arbole was love on first sniff and has remained a favourite especially when it’s colder weather. I love it’s rich honeyed quality which can be found in Hiram Greens Slow Dive as well.

Adam Levine For Her – Yann Vasnier – 

I was inspired to blind buy this fragrance by Portia, who reviewed Adam Levine For Her on a previous Mood Scent 4 post. Samantha reviewed it as well on her blog several years ago. It’s a good example that excellent  fragrances don’t have to cost a small fortune.

Adam Levine For Her was created by French perfumer Yann Vasnier (also from Tom Ford Plum Japonais, Arquiste Anima Dulcis, Divine,  Keiko Mecheri and many latest Jo Malone fragrances).  This fragrance is fit for a tropical beach party with its soft creamy sandalwood, light coconut touch and spicy top. There is a hairspray note wafting in the air too.

Adam Levine is a singer, I have to confess I had to Google him but it explains the interesting bottle. The perfume costs less than 10 euro for a 100 ml bottle so grab a bottle while you still can as it has been discontinued.

These are the three woody 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!

What are your favourite woody fragrances? Did you enjoy your time together with us from Mood Scent 4? Did you try fragrances inspired by our posts?

Disclosure: All fragrances mentioned in this article were paid by me. Bottles which are sold now, could be different from the ones on the photographs. All photographs were made by me as well and are an artistic expression.

 

 

🍹 Mood Scent 4 Al Fresco Fragrances – Perfumes For Outside Dining 🍹

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Mood Scent 4 Al Fresco Fragrances – Perfumes For Outside Dining.

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 fragrance subject. This time we concentrate on Al Fresco fragrances. Those perfumes we wear at garden parties, picknicks, outside dining, roof top or beach parties for those of us who live in a part of the world where these festivities are possible due to weather or the COVID circumstances.

In Amsterdam, The Netherlands we are entering autumn at the moment, luckily without too many restrictions and having some beautiful golden late summer days to enjoy. I have chosen some light fragrances and a body oil which stay close to the skin to avoid others smelling these unless they enter your 1,5/1 or 2 m zone as I can imagine smelling perfume while eating can be annoying to others.

Acqua di Parma/Blu Mediterraneo Fico di Amalfi Acqua Profumata

I would not call Fico di Amalfi very well named as it is a more a beautiful a citrus light floral bouquet than a fig centric fragrance, fico meaning fig in Italian. But it smells refreshing and of light ethereal flowers, there is a slight fig touch from the green fresh large fig leaves too. Fico di Amalfi is blue and transparent, as the radiant Mediterranean Sea bathing in the golden sun. It reminded me of refreshing cold misting water spritzes in the centre of Lissabon on a warm summer day. They had machines under white parasols spraying misting water every few seconds which felt very freshening on a very warm day. Not sure if they still have these as I visited years ago.

Fico di Amalfi smells like flower fairies having a Summertime bath in the turquoise Mediterranean Sea at the Italian coast, playful and light.

Francesca Bianchi Lost in Heaven Sublime Oil

Lost in Heaven feels like slipping on a dusty pink velvet cat suit which feels like a second skin. It stays very close to the skin and is quickly absorbed which is an added bonus. It glides on the skin with a sweet velvet peach, to continue to smelll more buttery and powdery like orris/iris root. There is a light suede leather touch too. The sublime oil is not as animalic on my skin as the perfume and lightly reminiscent of a my ginger cat Rubio’s fur.

If Guerlain Mitsouko had a long lost modern and distant great granddaughter it could be Lost in Heaven.

Lubin Gin Fizz Eau de Toilette

Gin Fizz was originally created in 1955 as a tribute to Grace Kelly and inspired by the cocktail with lemon juice, sugar, sparkling water and gin. It smells effervescent and bubbly with refreshing light lemon, a touch of orange blossom, fizzy soap like notes, leaving a clean white musk trace on the skin.

It feels like wearing an elegant white tuxedo like the smokings Bianca Jagger wore in the 1970ies, Gin Fizz is very suited for al fresco dining as it wears close to the skin. It’s a bit shy for my taste but a great fragrance for this time of year and for al fresco dining. 

These are the three al fresco 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

What are your favourite outside dining fragrances? What do you think of my picks?

Disclosure: All fragrances mentioned in this article were paid by me. Bottles which are sold now, could be different from the ones on the photograph. All the photographs were made by me as well and are an artistic expression.

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.

 

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