Chanel Jersey is a Pretty, Soft, & Fluffy Lavender

Chanel's lastest offering in their Exclusive line is the lavender based Jersey. It was released to mixed reviews, but, luckily I know I have to judge things for myself so I still really wanted to check it out, given my mad love for Chanel perfumes. Chanel Jersey is named after the ubiquitous fabric Chanel took from menswear and make accessible for women, and the perfume Jersey takes the scent lavender, almost always used in men's colognes, and adds a feminine touch. Chanel's website says Jersey is meant to be evocative of a meadow lush with lavender. Well, doesn't that sound beautiful! The notes are given as lavender, vanilla and musk. I think I detect a powdery iris in there somewhere, and perhaps a warm wood in the base, but that could be tonka. By "think I detect" I mean that this scent is so soft & delicate, no one note jumps out at you. 

Lavender fields in Provence, France

On first sniff I thought "pretty!". Then, as it dried down I thought "too sweet!" then "too powdery"! I thought why would I buy Chanel for a simple powdery lavender scent? But, as is often my wont, I had a turnaround. I have been know to hate a perfume on first sniff, only to later love it more than anything. So I never really say never with regards to perfume. Hours after applying the Jersey, the scent left behind was a delicate, warm, cuddly and cozy skin scent. It had a little something of the Guerlain warmth that I love so much in it, that warm skin smell that is very hard to describe without actually smelling it. So I thought, well, I will re-test and see what I think on subsequent wearings. 

Lavender honey ice cream

Well, turns out I like it. It is pretty, soft and clean smelling. There is a snuggly aspect that works even in warmer weather, likely due to the cooling & calming lavender notes. The musk/tonka combination adds a sweetness to the dry down that is sweet & enticing on the skin. It has a lovely spa effect, which I suppose one might expect from lavender. If you like soft elegant perfumes and you like lavender, I recommend you add Chanel Jersey to your sniff list. Verdict? Love.

Chanel Jersey is an Exclusive perfume, available at Chanel Boutiques and their website.

I Pour Champagne In My Bath

The story goes that the perfume house of Caron created Royal Bain de Caron exclusively to satisfy the whims of a Californian millionaire who wanted to replace his extravagant champagne baths. It was originally called Royal Bain de Champagne, but, like Yves St Laurent's Champagne perfume that became Yvresse, the Champagne people of France had something to say about the use of that word, so it became Royal Bain de Caron. Whoever it was created for, it was originally launched as a perfume to scent the bath ( an "eau parfumée pour le bain" if you will) in the 20s, and became an eau de toilette in the early 40s. It is also allegedly one of the first scents marketed as a unisex or shared scent. The ad below encourage one to use it "Before the bath. During the bath. After the bath". Rather clever marketing, I'd say, as one would need a pretty steady supply of this perfume to keep that up.

Ad from the 60s

I have the current eau de toilette formula of Royal Bain de Caron. There isn't any discussion out there regarding reformulation, so I imagine the scent is fairly true to what it once was. I absolutely love it. I can smell the "Champagne" scent in there for sure. There is a slightly sweet and effervescent fruity note, sort of peachy or apricot, that eludes to the sweet fruity nature of the drink. But there are no fruits listed in the notes, so perhaps it is a lovely perfume mirage. The top notes are listed as floral, and the Caron website mentions lilac. I can smell it for sure, but it is more like a soft powdery lilac soap than a strong floral note. The heart notes are delicious creamy and resinous- opoponax, benzoin and incense- but they are never strong or overwhelming. I adore these notes, especially the incense. They are so smooth that they are almost meditative, which seems reasonable for incense in perfume. The base is a soft woodsy vanilla, with a gentle powdery aspect maintained throughout the development of the scent. And I definitely pick up some soft sexy musk notes. The bottle itself is cute and cheeky, and to this day, it still is meant to look like a bottle of Champagne. 

An orignal ad from the 20s

The fruity "mirage" I mentioned gives a a sweet, almost candy-like impression, that adds an almost edible aspect to Royal Bain de Caron. This is what makes this perfume so remarkable to me- it is a clean, soapy perfume meant to approximate an utterly decadent bath, all the while smelling like sweet skin that invites you in to snuggle up and get closer. It is never strong, never overwhelming, and just basically purrs on the skin. Personally, I can't wait to pour some in the bath, because the idea of perfuming my bath with, well, perfume, is my kind of decadent. And of course, with a glass of Veuve Cliquot to go with. Pink Veuve, even.....

Yes, I wear my jewels in the bath...

Happily, Royal Bain de Caron is available for a very reasonable price online. Google it.

Floris Snow Rose, A Beautiful Cool & Gentle Rose

I have been coming back around to rose scents lately. Interesting, rose is often associated in aromatherapy with "women's issues" and helping to balance moods. That's not to say men can't benefit from the calming and soothing benefits of the scent of rose, but I notice when there are fluctuations of the hormonal kind I often crave rose. In my powdery scent post, I mentioned my love for Talco Delicato. Floris Snow Rose offers a similar feel- gentle, powdery with a soft babyish musk. 

If you are familiar with Rochas Tocade, the iconic & beautiful rose vanilla perfume created by the wonderful Maurice Roucel, imagine Snow Rose as her sweet baby sister. If you aren't familiar with Tocade and love rose & vanilla, get some- stat! Snow Rose is clean and easy to wear with gentle notes of rose, jasmine, vanilla, musk and sandalwood. It is a calming scent and so aptly named. It has little hints of green freshness that shine through, like a little ray of sunshine in this cool powdery scent.

It is missing the violet note that is common in a lot of rose scents- I love violet but the rose-violet combo evokes lipstick and while lovely, not always what I want. Violet -rose scents like L'Artisan Parfumeur Drole de Rose and Frederic Malle's perfectly named Lipstick Rose come to mind. Rose and patchouli is also common- the "dark rose"- in perfumes like L'Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses and Stella McCartney Stella. These are gorgeous but again, not what my sensitive nose has been craving. Then there are bombshell roses like YSL Paris. I love that too and wore it for years but again, looking for soft roses here...Simple rose soliflores can be lovely but for some reason they can end up with a sour note I cannot abide.

Floris Snow Rose is simply pretty and lovely. I adore it, and have received compliments each time I wear it. It is a snuggly skin scent, and could easily work in warm or cool weather. This has earned a top rating in my collection. Sadly, it was a limited edition perfume for Floris. I found it at a discounter, so keep your eyes peeled. It pops up from time to time. There are also a few on eBay right now. Worth getting if you are a rose perfume lover.

Powdery Perfumes, Beautiful & Comforting.

I love powdery scents. They are comforting, and harken back to simple sweet times. I always loved the scent of baby powder and wore it when I was a pre teen as a sweet "perfume", along with my Love's Baby Soft. I have also used J&J Baby Lotion, for its light moisturizing and soft powdery scent. My daughters use it sometimes and it takes me back to when they were babies. I recall giving them little massages with baby oil after their baths, and giving them a light dusting of baby powder to keep heat rash at bay in hot weather. So who wouldn't associate that scent with sweetness and innocence? I still like the scent of Love's Baby Soft, and it was the first perfume I got for both my daughters when they were old enough to spritz on their own perfume like "grown-ups".

Powdery scents have been around forever and are either baby/talcum powder-y, or a little more adult and more cosmetic or "face powder" powdery. Some notes contribute to a powdery scent- floral notes like violet, iris, heliotropin and rose are often powdery, and resins like amber have a sweet powdery feel, and even white musks. Certain soapy scents can be powdery, and my favourite powdery scents are also "clean" smelling. Notes like amber can warm and sweeten a clean scent, making it less cold and detergent-y. As with any category of perfumes I review, there are usually MANY that don't make the list. I either think of them later, or just pare it down to a few in the interest of brevity. But I also love to hear your ideas and faves, as this is the best way for me to find new and wonderful perfumes to try! Yes, we are all enablers ;)

So here is my list, such as it is....

Lorenzo Villoresi Teinte de Neige The name of the Villoresi perfume means "the colour of snow"- quite poetic really. This one is a powder bomb, and is so concentrated that a little goes a long on my skin. The notes listed include jasmine, rose, tonka "powdery notes" (duh) heliotrope and musk. I am not sure what amps the powder up in this but it is magical. I really like the way Teinte de Neige is a dry powdery perfume and not overly sweet. I get baby powder but some reviewers get face powder. Perhaps they are smelling more of the floral notes than I can detect. I think the musks in this perfume can read stronger for some, meaning the florals melt into the background a little more. This is the case for me. But there is something very soothing about this perfume, giving one the sense of being pampered, bathed and powdered, making it wonderful for hot weather. Yet, it also has a warm and cozy sense which makes it a lovely shape shifter for cool weather, like a cashmere wrap. Gorgeous, and really the Grande Dame of powdery perfumes- if you like this category, this one is a must-sniff.

Il Profumi de Fireze Talco Delicato Just as the name would suggest, this one is a soft and delicate powder scent. It has the musk, vanilla of Teinte de Neiges but no floral notes, and has added some spices (just spices, nothing specific..) which give it a slightly sweeter and less "dry" feel that the Villoresi scent. The musk is sweet and innocent, and I pick out a J&J Baby Shampoo vibe- the same one I get from Jovan Musk. I think I find this a bit easier to wear than Teinte de Neige but to be fair, they are pretty different, but if you found TdN too "much" and still want a powder perfume, you really should try Talco Delicato. No violety face powder here, just soft and innocent clean fresh-out-of- the-bath powder. If you enjoy sweet simple scents and also like white musks, this one is a must try. The dry down on this just gets softer and lovelier. Very pretty.

Guerlain Vol de Nuit I am always afraid to throw a classic Guerlain into the mix due to the reformulation issue. So, lets just stick to current versions, and in this case, the eau de toilette. The notes include bergamot, jasmine, galbanum, woods, vanilla, iris and amber. So this would be in the face powder category, and in the most elegant and delicate of ways. It never gets too sweet and wears very softly on the skin. There are some "spices" in there, and with the woodsy notes you get an effect that could really be a masculine or feminine. This is a cool weather favourite of mine, and the sweet vanilla-amber dry down is really quite sexy. So yes, Vol de Nuit not a baby powder powdery perfume, and it has the classic Guerlinade base that makes you very happy this is not a modern fruity floral. No one does perfume like Guerlain and I am reminded of their genius every time I wear one. I've said that I could live happily with only Guerlain and Chanel perfumes for the rest of my days but I suppose I'm happy I don't have to. Vol de Nuit is like a creamy velvet powder perfume, and one I often like to wear to bed. I love getting a hit of it on my sheets when I get into bed the next night as well. Beautiful. Added bonus: this Christmas, Guerlain is releasing Vol de Nuit as a softly shimmering scented powder in a teal green bottle:

I must own this. Must. Own. Swooning.

L'Artisan L'Eau d'Ambre This is my hands down favourite amber scent, and one of my faves from the L'Artisan line. There is the L'Eau and also an Extreme version (which is sort of the eau de parfum version) but neither one is actually "extreme" and it is a very soft and powdery scent. It is quite interesting, and includes notes of rose, cardamom, geranium, vanilla, sandalwood and amber. The geranium adds an interesting aspect that perhaps contributes to the dry sense of this perfume. It is a soft sweet powder that wears very close to the skin. It is dry and warm and again, easily a unisex scent. If you are an amber fan, you must try this one. In my opinion it is one of the most beautiful amber scents on the market. It melts into your skin as the day goes by and is really quite sexy. L'Artisan has Ambre scents in their home line too. I do not suggest sniffing them unless your wallet is wide open. The Ambre candles are simple the most gorgeous candles I've tried. You do not even have to light them to enjoy the scent, but when you do, the throw is amazing and your whole home will smell divine. And then, there are the Ambre Boules....finely carved vented terracotta balls that contain an amber scented resin (refills available) that are nothing less than swoonworthy.

They radiate amber deliciousness throughout the home and simply look gorgeous. They are, to me, the ultimate ambient perfume for the home.

Bill Blass Nude Ok this is an odd one, but a lovely one. Nude has been discontinued for years but is still available for a song online (like, under $35 kind of song) and is well worth it. Nude is a skin scent with a blast of sinus clearing aldehydes in the top notes that makes you go "SKIN SCENT? HUH?". As soon as they disappear, which is quickly, you are soon left with a soft powdery sweet perfume that smells like pretty sweet soft skin. I would call this one Love's Grown Up Lady Soft, as the woodsy base notes elevate this from girly to grown up in a fabulous way. The vetiver and sandalwood combination is really different. I wouldn't call this unisex but nor is it especially "girly". It is different, and lovely. A beautiful review for Nude by a perfumista on Basenotes described it so wonderfully. She said her family and friends always thought that she just smelled wonderful, herself, and never guessed it was her perfume they were smelling until she switched it. And the perfume was Bill Blass Nude. It was that review that convinced me to buy it, unsniffed, and I have not regretted it. Another compliment getter, Nude is easy to wear and always makes me feel pretty.

Abdul Kareem Baby Powder Oil From the sublime to the ridiculous- that's just how I roll. As much as I love the fabulous artistic Italian perfumers takes on powder, sometimes I just want to smell like, well, baby powder. AK has managed to recreate the scent of J&J Baby Powder perfectly in their Baby Powder Oil perfume. It lasts for hours and hours on the skin, and smells perfectly powdery and pretty. I wear this one to bed a lot, and also layer it with floral and woody perfumes for a sweet powdery foil. It is low on the sillage scale and is one of my huggable perfumes, ie one has to get close to smell it. It is simple and pure and every powder lover should own it. I have heard it is being discontinued so get it now while you can. At around $15 for a 15ml bottle its worth it- very concentrated, and a little goes a long way.

Tiger Beat magazine ad from the 70s. How was this ever ok? Oy.

Gently Beautiful- Etro Heliotrope

Etro’s Heliotrope, with notes of heliotrope, sweet almond, vanilla, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, and petit grain, is the perfect scent to wear to when you want to feel cozy. It’s sweet without being cloying and candy-ish and warm without being redolent with spices.

Heliotrope is slightly powdery but in a good way. The scent of almond adds to the powdery softness of the heliotrope, and the vanilla makes it slightly sweeter and maybe a tiny bit alcoholic- maybe it reminds me a bit of Amaretto. Heliotrope is an interesting flower that is often talked about as having a “cherry pie” scent. I sometimes find cherry and almond share a similar scent so maybe that is what gives it that Amaretto/marzipan scent. 

Petit grain adds just enough sharpness in the dry down to keep this scent from turning into your baby powder, giving it a decidedly grown up and modern edge. The orange blossom and ylang ylang come through in the dry down as gentle delicate clean flowers.

This is a perfect perfume for the crisp days of fall.  Those clear days with fiery leaves and bright-blue skies and the cloudy grey days when the leaves are the only light around.

Funny, I wore Heliotrope in the summer and it was much more floral, with the vanillic sweetness taking a back seat. It is chameleonic that way so perhaps it will only get better as the weather gets colder. I also think this would be a wonderful scent to wear after a long day full of stress and headaches. It’s so calming and sweet, comforting, the perfume equivalent of a hug. How beautiful.