Van Cleef & Arpels Orchidee Vanille

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Source: aufeminin.com

Van Cleef & Arpels entered the prestige “niche” market in 2009 when it debuted its Collection Extraordinaire. Orchidée Vanille (hereinafter just “Orchidee Vanille”) was one of the six fragrances, a vanilla soliflore with subtle floral and gourmand accents that I found to be surprisingly pleasant.

Orchidee Vanille is an eau de parfum created by Randa Hammami. The official description for the perfume as provided by Neiman Marcus is as follows:

An intoxicating journey through the Indian Ocean and Asia, Orchidee Vanille explores all the richness of vanilla.

Source: perfumemaster.org

A floral, gourmand fragrance with a subtle blend of fruity notes (mandarin orange and litchi), combined with tastybitter almond and dark chocolate, and accented with sensual European flourishes of Bulgarian rose and violet notes. The vanilla pod is faceted with woody cedar and balsamic tonka bean and notes of transparent white musk. Continue reading →

4160 Tuesdays The Sexiest Scent on the Planet. Ever. (IMHO)

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Kafkaesque

“The Sexiest Scent on the Planet. Ever. (IMHO)” is quite a name for a fragrance, and a tall order to boot, subjective humble opinions notwithstanding. I personally don’t share the sentiment described in the title, but “The Sexiest Scent” (as I shall call it here for reasons of simplicity and speed) from 4160 Tuesdays is not a bad perfume, and has some enjoyable aspects. I can’t say the same for 4160 Tuesday’s other vanilla scent, The Dark Heart of Old Havana, which I shall cover in a different review. Continue reading →

Givenchy Ambre Tigre (The Atelier Collection)

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Source: Now Smell This.

Ambre Tigré (hereinafter just “Ambre Tigre”) is one of seven fragrances in a new prestige collection from Givenchy called the Atelier de Givenchy. Each of the fragrances is inspired by the couture house’s past, and by its most famous muse, Audrey Hepburn. According to LVMH, Givenchy’s corporate overlord, each bottle comes with a design sketch, intended to convey the feel of the fabrics used by the house and its couture traditions, and each perfume is meant to highlight one particular note.

Source: Saks Fifth Avenue

It should be obvious which element is the focus of Ambre Tigre. The Givenchy press release quoted by Harrods describes the eau de parfum as follows:

Source: Tatler magazine, Russia, at Tatler.ru.

Suggestive of lush nature and animal impulses, Ambre Tigré is a feline fantasy, a call for passion.

Amber evokes the bewitching, magnetic sensuality of Givenchy Couture skin and fur prints, while the fullness of vanilla and the animality of labdanum ciste soften the amber’s fervour, completely melting into it, as a leopard’s spots blend into its coat.

Ambre Tigré awakens our most sensual instincts, preparing us for enchantment of all kinds. Continue reading →

O’Driù Leva & Its Biblical Challenge

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Leva via Luckyscent.

An intersection of the ancient past and the modern present lies at the heart of Leva, a fragrance from the Italian niche house of O’Driù (henceforth spelled without the accent as plain “O’Driu”). It is an eau de parfum that was originally released in 2011 as part of The Genesis Collection, and is meant to represent Eve to Ladamo‘s Adam. To that end, it cleverly uses ingredients that go back thousands of years in history, including spikenard which the Bible says is the fragrant oil that Mary used to anoint Jesus’ feet. Leva is a challenging fragrance on my skin, particularly in the beginning, and I’m afraid I wasn’t up to the task.

French marigold or tagetes patula via Wikipedia.

Leva is an eau de parfum created by Angelo Orazio Pregoni. O’Driu has no description for Leva on its website at this time, but the press release file that I was sent provides the following notes:

Grapefruit, turmeric, lemongrass, jasmine, tagete [marigold], vetiver, jatamansi [spikenard], basil, lavender, ylang-ylang, vanilla, benzoin, tonka bean, and pepper. Continue reading →