Happy New Year!
Wishing you all the best in 2019! Good vibes only!
New year new me?
Should you be choosing a new fragrance for yourself to start off the new year?
Or… with Valentine’s Day around the corner;
Fragrances are a great gift, since it’s considered a more splurge-worthy item,
one may not purchase it for themselves.
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How to navigate scents?
Ever think about a particular gift for someone special and been totally stumped? Well, when choosing a fragrance I recommend following the Maison Margiela philosophy. You may ask, what exactly is this “Maison Margiela Philosophy”? I’ve simply just titled it as so, but it’s in reference to their ridiculously popular collection known as “Replica” which plays on the feelings of familiarity and nostalgia.
The collection utilizes the focus of a particular time and location as their inspiration. When you smell a scent, it should bring you to a special place and time that you may want to cherish.
Now, perhaps you may not want to purchase one of their fragrances because each one is an acquired taste of it’s own. But, see how this may apply to you? Try to reminisce about a memory that you’re quite fond about and what are some of the distinct traits?
The Four Favorites:
- Louis Vuitton: Dans La Peau
- Bvlgari: Mon Jasmin Noir L’eau Exquise
- Hermes: Le Jardin de Monsieur Li
- Jo Malone: Blackberry & Bay
First Feature: Louis Vuitton Dans La Peau Eau de Parfum
“In The Skin”
This fragrance to me is the epitome of young elegance. It was originally launched in 2016 and is known to feature fresh, fruity, floral and warmth.
The top notes of this fragrance are the fresh and fruity notes. The fresh notes in the scent are water notes, which helps to neutralize the scent so that it doesn’t smell overwhelmingly sweet nor musky. The fruity notes in the scent are apricots, a fruit that constantly reminds me of my late grandmother; these dehydrated seeded fruits were one of her favorite snacks. The ripeness of the apricots in this fragrance are very neutral, they are neither too sweet nor too tart.
The middle notes of this fragrance are the floral scents, which I find to be brilliant for someone like me. Personally I find that floral scents as main notes on a fragrance with my chemistry is absolutely overbearing, not only do I feel like a mashed up bouquet — it also yields this baby powder smell. The three floral scents featured in this fragrance are jasmine, magnolia, and narcissus. Jasmine definitely is the most obvious out of the three, I couldn’t even decipher which other floral scents were in the fragrance prior to doing some research on Dans La Peau.
The base notes are leather and musk, which I found to be quite surprising. Generally these are notes that I also stay away from because I begin to smell like a dude if it oxidizes on my skin for too long. In this fragrance however, the leather is decadent, imagine purchasing a brand new LV bag from the store — that lingering scent of the products. I consider these base notes very well balanced since neither one seems to be competing with the other.
Overall Thoughts:
- Packaging: 5/5
- Intensity: 4.8/5
- Spraying Mechanism: 5/5
- Longevity: 5/5
- Price: 3/5
Summary of Rating:
The packaging is absolutely beautiful in it’s own box and plastic wrap, featuring embedded lettering on the thick clear glass bottle with a black cap and gold lettering reminiscent of a wax seal. The scent initially sprayed on is quite intense, but will dissipate and result in a beautifully blended scent. The spraying mechanism is built really well on this bottle since it gives a light spritz, but very thorough and fine. The longevity is great; sometimes I will wear the same blazer two days at a time and it will still be able to hold this scent. The only downside is the price point coming in at a whopping $250.
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Second Feature: Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir L’eau Exquise
“My Black Jasmine Exquisite Waters”
This fragrance has a very personal meaning to me; when my significant other and I had started dating many many many moons ago, we were approaching our first year anniversary when I had received a sample size of this perfume with one of my GAZILLION Sephora orders. I decided to give it a go since I was only a fragrance noob at this point. Little did I know, that it became a fragrance that represented how we felt about each other — the emotion of airy-ness, freshness and the unknown of the dating world. To say the least, later on that month as my first anniversary gift from him; it was a full size of this fragrance.
The top notes of this fragrance feature both nutty and fruity notes which is quite honestly a weird combination in this day and age. Seeing how Bulgari is always known for classics, it isn’t exactly shocking to see them use this combination. The fruity notes are a composition of Grapefruit and Pomelo. Although these fruits are technically cousins seeing how they lean more towards the tart side, grapefruits to my knowledge are more tart. Meanwhile, pomelos have this freshness, sweetness and just a hint of tart. The nutty notes come from almonds which allows for this scent to transition quite well from spring, summer, to fall. It helps to balance the fragrance so that it doesn’t seem overly fruity.
The middle notes are quintessential for Bulgari, featuring Jasmine as well as Tea. One of the most renowned things that Bulgari deems as their signature are the green tea and white tea scents in products such as body-care, candles and obviously fragrances. When the tartness from the top notes wear off, the jasmine shows it’s potency, it’s almost as if you got attacked with a bouquet of jasmine flowers. The tea helps significantly in mellowing the strong floral note. Having that green-scent immerse in the midst of the jasmine field is very pleasant; since I am no stranger to jasmine tea, it’s one of my favorite relaxation beverages.
The base notes of this fragrance are musk and cedar which also helps the transition of the scent into different seasons. The fruits help to balance the musk and the jasmine tea helps to balance the cedar, but it creates this beautiful underlying warmth in the fragrance.
Overall Thoughts:
- Packaging: 4/5
- Intensity: 4.7/5
- Spraying Mechanism: 4/5
- Longevity: 5/5
- Price: 4/5 (5/5)
Summary of Rating:
The packaging of this fragrance is beautiful with an ivory box that has a sheen coating featuring gold and black details over a mint green overlay. The bottle itself is gorgeous as well with a very unique yet feminine shape with a gorgeous white leather gold-toned cap; and let’s not forget about the little ribbon that is at the neck of the fragrance. The biggest downside of this fragrance is that after a while, the spritzer starts to fall apart, upon spraying the fragrance it leaks a little bit and drenches the neck part of the bottle. This isn’t a huge problem other than the fact that it causes the gold toned cap to tarnish rather quickly. The longevity of the fragrance is great, although not overwhelming, it stays on the skin and clothing very well. The retail price was not terribly overwhelming, I believe at the time that it was purchased it was somewhere ~$75. However, due to the scent being discontinued from the Bulgari fragrance line, this fragrance can now be found on Amazon for as little as $25.
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Third Feature: Hermes Le Jardin de Monsieur Li
“Garden of Mister Li”
Hi, my name is Li; nice to meet you.
That’s probably enough of a clue on how this fragrance and I connected. Although I may not own a whole garden under Hermes named after me, I shall live vicariously through this fragrance. And although this fragrance doesn’t seem to be too popular, I find this scent to be very understated and pleasant. This fragrance lacks popularity, but I think it is mostly due to the fact that they are missing a smaller size (1.0oz) that would ideally be under $100(USD).
It was quite challenging to find details on this fragrance, so for this one I’ll use myself as the nose. In the following paragraphs you’ll notice that the following terminology will be used, “smell of ponds, jasmine, wet stones, plum trees, kumquat and giant bamboo”. These phrases are what Jean-Claude Ellena wanted to replicate in this fragrance which bordered between a real garden and the imagination of one — talk about fantasy.
The top notes of this fragrance are fruity and watery. The fruit featured in this fragrance is Kumquat, different kumquat parts have very distinct smells and for the most part I find that the kumquat peels and the fruit itself are the most distinct notes in this fragrance. The watery notes which simulate the smell of wet stones are a neutral water aromatic with a bit of freshness and exhibits aspects of nature.
The middle notes of this fragrance are the floral notes and mid-range woody notes. The floral featured is once again my favorite, Jasmine. In Le Jardin de Monsieur Li the jasmine is a lot more mild, it’s like the grounding ingredient to the perkiness of the kumquat. The woody note are the plum trees, the natural woody-ness of the bark encompassing the essence of ripe plums resulting in this sweet wood-like scent.
The base notes of this fragrance are likely the light musk and grassy notes in the scent. The light musk is to replicate the smell of ponds, the calmness of stagnant grass and water, and perhaps the smell of algae growth. The grassy note of the scent are giant Bamboos, a pure green scent which gives the fragrance a very clean finish.
Overall Thoughts:
- Packaging: 5/5
- Intensity: 4.5/5
- Spraying Mechanism: 5/5
- Longevity: 4.8/5
- Price: 3.5/5
Summary of Rating:
The packaging of this fragrance is really simple, but definitely very symbolic of this scent. The exterior box features a light green, with the backdrop of what appears to be a garden of some sort. The light green is a good mixture of what you would think of when you image the bamboo and kumquat mixture. The bottle itself has a domed top with an ombre from translucent to the same light green that corresponds to the details of the box. The scent has a pretty strong essence of kumquat lending to the intensity review to be quite high. The spraying mechanism is very even and very fine, and although this is an eau de toilette it is still quite potent so very few sprays are necessary. The EDT doesn’t disappoint though because the scent is quite long–lasting and wears very well. It doesn’t turn into a weird powder scent nor does it turn too musk-like. The price is where the rating is the lowest, simply because there isn’t a lower priced size; meaning in consumer behavior, in order to try the fragrance you’ll have to buy a $100 bottle.
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Fourth Feature: Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay
“The Demure Me”
This fragrance didn’t require a translation, but when I wear this scent it reminds me of a younger me. If I had to choose a fragrance to represent myself during my younger years, I would hands-down pick this one; it is energetic yet demure.
Jo Malone has made fragrance in this line so simple, so easy to understand.
This is a nostalgic scent which brings Jo back to the childhood memories of blackberry-picking days.
The top notes are tart and fruity. The most prominent note comes from the highlight of the fragrance, blackberries. Blackberries have a rich and deep berry flavor, yet carries a bright tartness to them. The other fruity portion of the fragrance features grapefruit which can be considered the yin to the yang of the blackberries. Each fruit featuring their own sweetness and tartness.
The middle notes are floral and herbal; the floral note is most likely a very light white flower which don’t have a heavy scent and is meshed in with the herbal note. The herbal note is none other than the bay leaves. The bay leaves serve as the spice and accompaniment to the blackberries.
The base notes are woody and earthy. The woody scent is carried through with cedarwood, giving it that grounding aspect of cedar. The earthy note is a rush of warm vetiver and helps make the fragrance more smooth in usage.
Overall Thoughts:
- Packaging: 4.8/5
- Intensity: 4.7/5
- Spraying Mechanism: 4.7/5
- Longevity: 4.5/5
- Price: 4/5
Summary of Rating:
The packaging of this fragrance is very clean and sleek; starting off with the off-white cream colored box with black details and lettering, with the black ribbon. After unraveling the package it will reveal the fragrance nesting in a blanket of black tissue paper. The packaging is really simple, and very Instagram-worthy as you may already know. The intensity is quite tart with a hint of bay, but I wouldn’t necessarily categorize it as super strong. The spraying mechanism is built quite well, the spray is more of a medium spritz, but very even. The fragrance loses half a point in the category of longevity, simply because this scent is practically undetectable after 6–8 hours. However, to help resolve this issue, Jo Malone does sell a smaller size that can fit into smaller handbags and great for on the go. The price sits at a moderate level simply because it isn’t necessarily cheap by any means, but not nearly as expensive as the Dans La Peau. The smallest size is the 1.0oz which retails for $68, and the larger size 3.4oz retails for $136. The beauty of the Jo Malone fragrances is that the scents can be mixed and two smaller bottles will cost almost the same price as the 3.4oz perfumes. So if there is any hesitation in investing in the bigger version of one scent, why not just purchase two?
I hope that you have found my thoughts to be useful during this time. I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year in 2019. May the best of luck and vibes come your way to lead you to a better version of yourself. I may not always be the most risk-taking person, but often times I do like to follow my heart and what seems to be my calling. May we share more love and good vibes in 2019❤.
Disclaimer: Please note that the scents and their notes were pulled off of
various websites such as fragrantica.com, sephora.com, louisvuitton.com as well as hermes.com
None of the links appearing in this post are affiliated; all opinions are my own and products were purchased by me.