burningbright

Seraglio has a nice citrus zest thing going on for me. It's not really in-your-face, but it's got a nice little zing to it.

It's a grey, cold, rainy day here, and I just pulled my latest order out of the mailbox. The Lion looks like just the thing to counteract the cold and the gloom. In the bottle: Sweet, gentle amber. No discernible spice. Wet: Faint, slightly ambery. Initial drydown: A nice big dose of warm spice, with just a little amber to hold it together and sweeten it. I like! The sun may not be out, but I'm feeling awake and cheerful about it for the first time all day. Later: Everybody has settled down now, and the sweetness and spice have balanced out. Quite pleasant. I like this, but I'll be sticking with the imp. I definitely wouldn't want to wear it on a warm day--it would just be overwhelming.

The first time I wore Les Infortunes, it was nothing but sharp, bright, harsh leather for at least an hour, at which point it toned waaaay down and turned into a lovely warm-but-still-slightly-edgy amber-ish leather-ish oakmossy floral. I liked the end result, but I really wasn't sure I wanted to sit through all that LEATHERLEATHERLEATHER to get there. I tried it for the second time yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised when the leather didn't blare out. Instead, I got the lovely warm fragrance right off, with a touch of that old worn-in leather jacket smell. I went around all day sniffing my wrist, feeling like I'd just spent an hour cuddled up next to my favorite guy and his cologne had rubbed off on me. The end result was warm, comfortable, and a little sexy--sort of like a woman wearing a man's shirt. As a bonus, it lasted forever--I showered and washed my hair, and I could STILL smell a little bit of this. I can definitely see this working on girls or guys, and if I had a boyfriend who smelled like this… let's just say I'd be one happy camper. I'll give it another try or two, just to make sure it doesn't morph back into that OTHER Les Infortunes, but I think it's safe to say this one's on the bottle list.