Top...um...Few Summer Scents

So several of the bigger perfume blogs are doing their lists of Top Ten Summer Scents.

I don't have ten of them, but here, in no particular order is, the short list of things I like to wear in the summer. In the coming week, I'll be reviewing the ones I haven't already reviewed, along with a couple of LE's from BPAL.

1. Boronia Eau de Cologne by The Scented Djinn -- I'm dead serious about what I said in my review the other day. As soon as I get paid, I'll be picking up a couple of dram sized bottles and filling up an atomizer to carry with me on days when I have running around to do.

2. The (un)Poisoned Tea Cup by Blooddrop -- Tea Scents are in and off themselves, incredibly refreshing, and this one has the added advantage of a nice tart fruit scent. It's crisp and sharp and is another day-time-when-it's-100F-outside kinda scent.

3. California by Possets -- Fabienne's hommage to my home state isn't necessarily what I would have done--it's really too evocative of SoCal--but it is quite nice. It starts with a burst of juicy but not too sweet orange and then drys out into a very interesting floral with a faint resin note underneath. It's deserty and dry, but not "hot," and is a really nice thing to wear on an summer evening as things finally start to cool down.

4. Morgause by BPAL -- Violets and incense together make the perfect summer floral oriental, sweet and maybe a little old fashioned, but not cloying. This will be what I wear if we go to High Tea while my sister is visiting next month.

5. Ruth by Loreto Aromatica -- This is a nighttime scent in the summer; it would be a bit much in a hot car before the a/c kicks in. But on an evening, or on a day when we're heading to the Bay Area where it will be foggy and cool, it's perfect.

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Also, it's Double XP weekend on City of Heroes/Villains aka CoX, which means maybe one review from me over the weekend. CoX is an MMORPG in which you play either a superhero fighting crime or a supervillain doing crime. I'll probably be logged in and playing during most of my waking hours.

Hmmmm...I think that Arcana's Caffeinated Death is the perfect gaming perfume.

Nocturne Alchemy: Pyramid of Khafre

Nocturne Alchemy is in interesting concept e-tailer; all of their blends are tied, some more loosly than others, to Egypt. This isn't the blend I'd have chosen for my first review--I've just gotten involved in a decant circle for some of their newest LEs--but it happened to be tossed in as a freebie along with some other stuff I picked up from somone on LJ.

Pyramid of Khafre -- Lavender, limestone, chai spices and amber. (This was dug out of the perfume copy, which is a couple of paragraphs, including one on just who Khafre was--builder of the second of the Great Pyramids of Giza.)

This starts out as lavender and a soapy lavender at that, although there is in fact, a weird dusty undernote that I assume is the limestone. As it progresses, the spices come out and that soapy note goes away, although the lavender is still a little sharp. It's a strange scent, which is kind of what I'd expect given the notes involved. Eventually it settles into a faintly powdery but spicy lavender that still has that faint note of limestone.

It's not an easy scent and while it doesn't morph once it settles down, I can't quite decide if I like it or not. I'll sniff it and think "nah, not really working" and then a few minutes later, I'll sniff again and think "actually, I kind of like this." What I don't get is any sense of Egypt at all; the spices just aren't enough to take me there. In the end, it's that limestone note that defeats this; combined with the lavender, and even in spite of a very powdery amber, it's just a little too sharp.

PS Dear Nocturne Alchemy, 1998 called and they want their web design back. Love, Me.

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Also, Loreto of Funkier Than Thou, has renamed her shop. It's now Loreto Aromatica. I'm in the process of dropping her a line to see if she can do something for Darkrose and I for our upcoming wedding.

Custom Perfume Profile from Funkier Than Thou

Loreto of Funkier Than Thou has two custom perfume options. The cheaper of the two is a simple mix of up to five your favorite scents/notes from her very extensive list of essential oils and fragrance oils. For $12 you get 1/2 oz of perfume oil in a jojoba base, 1/2 oz eau de toilette in an alcohol base, or 2 oz of massage oil in a sweet almond oil base. People in the evil_enablers community who have gone for this option have been very happy with the results.

I went for the more complicated, second option, called the Custom Perfume Profile--$20 for the same three options listed above. After you purchase that option, Loreto sends you a personality test type questionnaire. It's relatively basic, asking you questions about your favorite and least favorite perfume notes as well as some lifestyle questions. It took me maybe 15 minutes or so to fill out and wasn't at all difficult. Based on some comments on evil_enablers, I was sure to be pretty specific about my perfume likes and dislikes, making sure to list the notes that my skin chemistry hates--which are, for the record: rose, jasmine, some synthetic vanillas, and anything that's supposed to smell like cream or milk--in addition to my more general dislikes. I did the same with my likes, saying, for example, that I like spicy notes and listing both cardamom and saffron as particular likes.

Less than a week later, I got my perfume oil and it is gorgeous. Loreto paid attention to my likes as well as the various types of perfume my profile said were right for me, and even included a couple of traditional Leo oils. The result was pretty damn complex.

Top Notes: Cardamom, Mandarin, Orange, Pomegranate and Clove
Middle Notes: Saffron, Cinnamon, Ylang Ylang, Almond and Black Poppy
Base Notes: Egyptian Red Musk, Amber, Balsam Peru and Sandalwood

There isn't a single note in there that I dislike and I love several of them. In my profile, I actually mentioned citrus, pomegranate, saffron, cardamom, almond and amber, and honestly, I'd have been happy with just those. *grins*

So, how's it smell? The first thing you notice when you open the bottle is sweet, slightly fruity spice with a very strong cardamom note. Once one me, I get more of the fruit and I can smell both the oranges and pomegranate, along with the cardamom.

The dry down brings out the almond and cinnamon, along with a faint hint of saffron. It goes to my beloved Middle Eastern place and I'd be perfectly satisfied if it stayed there.

Several minutes later, it smoothes out even more. I get a faint floral, and although ylang ylang is usually too heavy for me, it's faint enough here that it really works. I'm also getting the grounding base notes now, and though my skin usually amps sandalwood and dries out any blend it's in, that's not happening here. I can smell the amber a little, which is just fine for me; plain amber was my default perfume for years.

About 20 minutes in, it's just perfume and I mean that in the best possible way. All the notes have calmed down and blended into something that's sweetly spicy. *grins* One of my all time favorite BPAL scents is Scherezade, and this seems like a somewhat lighter, more fruity version of that, only without that "head-shoppy" note that some people don't like in BPAL's blends. I liken Scherezade to stepping into a spice stall in an Iranian bazaar; this blend is more like one of the small neighborhood shops that sells sweets, spices and fruit.

The throw is pretty good, particularly since I tend to put a little in my hair as well as using a fair amount in the more classic places. It's got pretty good staying power as well.

Like I said, it's utterly gorgeous and I love it to pieces. I'm really hoping she keeps her blends on file because I suspect I'll be wanting more of this so I can blend it into some lotion and probably some of the dry oil spray I use to tame my hair.

At some point, I will probably try to come up with a couple of blends on my own to have her mix up. For now, however, I'm completely thrilled with my blend and highly recommend the process to anyone who loves perfume.

Please note: Loreto is currently on vacation and so customized perfume profiles won't be available until May 21.

Update: Loreto's change the name of her shop to Loreto Aromatica and her prices have gone up a little. I'd say that at $16 for a five note custom blend and $24 for a custom profile blend, you're still getting a great deal.