Every now and then, a perfume comes along that literally makes me stop everything I'm doing. In those first moments of trying one of those fragrances, I'm usually stuck on "Wow!" and the world narrows down to nothing more than my nose, my skin, and the fragrance. It's a moment of pure joy.
Tryst of Grey by Alkemia is one of those fragrances for me.
Here's the description from Alkemia (Alkemia, unlike most of the other perfume companies I follow who have their own website, can be found on Etsy): An utterly beguiling blend of Earl
Grey Tea, lightly brewed Black Assam Tea, Scarlet Monarda (also known as
Wild Bergamot), a fresh twist of Bergamot citrus peel, and golden skin
musk teased with long, slow kisses of orange blossom honey.
Added to the description was this quote: "Part of the art of being a woman is knowing when not to be too much of a lady." ~ Anonymous
Anyone who knows me could probably say why the quote and the description made this a Must Buy purchase for me. (For those of you who may not know me so well, I think being too much of a lady is overrated, and I enjoy the genteel nature of tea. How's that for a lovely contradiction?) However, one thing that clinched the Must Buy is that this is a limited edition, and I didn't want it to go away before I had a chance to try it.
In the bottle: a mix of Earl Grey and black teas (no milk or cream to smooth this over), something faintly sweet lurking underneath, and the golden skin musk (it's softly evocative of sun-warmed skin).
On my skin (side note: Alkemia perfumes come with dripper caps--and this cap was very generous with pouring the perfume on my skin, so be careful when you apply): The skin musk is a little furry at this point and it lies along the bottom of this scent. The dominant player is the bergamot. Bergamot, bergamot, and more bergamot. But, it's not off-putting. Rather, it's like grabbing a box of Earl Grey tea, crushing the tea leaves so the bergamot oil separates, then rubbing those leaves on my skin. I get the faint lingering essence of black tea, but the dominant player is the bergamot. And it's smoothed out some. Not nearly as tannic or harsh as some Earl Grey teas can be.
As it begins to dry, the black tea begins to rise to the top a bit, giving this more body and depth. The honey isn't really coming out to play, but what is present gives this a soft sweetness and helps to smooth out any remaining tannins from the teas.
This is Earl Grey without any cream muddying up the notes, and it's gorgeous. I think the Assam tea is bringing in a slightly smoked-tea vibe, which adds a little bit more depth and complexity to this (without smelling like smoke).
As this dries further, the honey begins to come forward. This honey reminds me a little of Alkemia's Miel de Sauvage et Tabac, but this honey is a bit less "sticky" to my nose. This is a little smoother, a little softer, a bit more romantic. I know some people have issues with honey notes turning into pee notes, but Alkemia's honeys have never veered that way for me. Alkemia's honey notes are more like the way honey plays in tea--present, softly rounding out the whole, and adding a touch of sweetness that doesn't call a lot of attention to itself (especially here--although, Miel de Sauvage et Tabac is stronger on the honey, and I could see that turning to pee on some people).
Although I'm talking about tea and honey notes, there's something about the way all of these combine that make this really lovely. I feel my mind scrambling to convey the depth of the perfume on my skin, the way it merges with me and makes me feel beautiful, the way it's like tea and honey but tea and honey in a grand alchemy experiment that goes wonderfully right.
I like some perfumes because they smell exactly like something I can relate to. For example, I have a lavender/vanilla perfume that smells exactly like lavender and vanilla were smooshed together and are on my skin. However, every now and then, a perfume comes along that is "something" (in this instance, tea and honey) but that reaches far beyond the "exactly like" and becomes so much greater than the sum of its parts.
If someone walked past me wearing this perfume, I'd want to stop them and ask them about it. It feels familiar due to the tea, and I might even pick up the Earl Grey vibe from it. But, it's so much more than the tea and honey. The tea is tannic, but not bitter. The honey is soft and gently sweet (not overt in any way--more like the way grass is sweet in the summertime, or the way the air sweetens after the rain). The skin musk plays beautifully here, giving this a warm and slightly heated skin (almost animalic, but not quite) undertone that keeps this nicely balanced.
The whole comes across as exotic, enticing, rich, and warm.
For several years, I have been looking for an Earl Grey vibe type of perfume, but I was looking for something with a creaminess to soften the tannins of the tea. I've always been disappointed with the perfumes I've tried because they usually end up smelling a bit chemically, and sometimes too harsh, and sometimes too smoothed out by cream or milk or sugar. Who knew that what I needed was simply honey to make my Earl Grey perfume come true?
This is a "Wow!" for me--and it continues to wow me every time I put it on. It's so good, I keep wondering if I should buy a back-up bottle. I'm afraid I'm going to miss this one a lot when it goes away (I hope Alkemia gets enough feedback that they decide to make this one permanent--although, one reason I like Alkemia is that they don't have an overwhelming bunch of perfumes like some perfume oil companies do so I can understand if they don't keep it around). This is a perfume that should be worn often and everywhere. The world would be better for it!
Edited because people wanted to know how to find this perfume, so here's the link to it on Etsy at Alkemia: Tryst of Grey at Alkemia
Showing posts with label Alkemia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alkemia. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Alkemia: L'Encens à la Vanille
I'm going to one of my "comfy t-shirt" perfumes for this review (a scent I can wear just about any time and like): Alkemia's L'Encens à la Vanille. I waffled on doing a review, simply because I feel like Alkemia is one of my secret corners of the internet, and I want to hoard it to myself. However, Alkemia has some lovely fragrances, and people should know it. You can find Alkemia on Etsy.
To the review!
Alkemia's description: "Madagascar Vanilla, golden amber, and resinous incense swirled together with a selection of beautifully aged incense woods and a dusting of aphrodisiac Silk Road spices. Intensely sexy in a mysterious kind of way..."
In the bottle: I get something a little sweet that is almost vanilla (but not quite), spices, an underpinning of polished wood, and something that almost comes across as a fake green/grassy note (almost aquatic, almost grass).
I will admit, when I got my sample of this, I was tempted to not try it. I was unimpressed by what I sniffed, but being the curious sort that I am, and knowing that a lot of perfume oils don't come out to play until they are on the skin, I dabbed.
On my skin: At first, this is almost off-putting. The spices pop out, and that fake green/grassy note rises and becomes a touch plastic-y to the nose. However, within a minute, what I thought would remain discordant notes begins to smooth out and resolve into something sweet, spicy, warm.
As it begins to dry: On my left arm, I get vanilla on the rise, cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg, and a faint hint of that polished wood. On my right, the amber is starting to come forward as a faint powdered note, the spices are less sweet, and the vanilla is tinged with the pod.
As it continues to dry: The spices pick up a bit more, the wood becomes a bit less polished and a little more raw, the amber threads in and out--rising and falling on its own whims--and that almost green note smooths out to add to the spice and wood. The vanilla is a dominant note in an understated way all the way through. There is a point in this continued transition where the amber funks out on me and makes me think of urinal cakes. It's here that I was tempted to scrub this off the first time I tried it. I thought, "Ewww, no, not for me," and then I forgot to scrub this and I went about my day. Imagine my surprise when in about five more minutes this shifted again and headed toward the final dry-down.
Final dry-down: Vanilla, the very best of chai spices, warm--almost mahogany in depth but not quite so dark in note--wood, and a swirl of somewhat powdered amber snuggle close to the skin. In some ways, this reminds me of a fireball--one of those sugared cinnamon jaw-breakers that I used to hoard as a child. This has a touch of that same fire with the sweetness coming in behind. But that's only about 10% of this fragrance. The rest is vanilla with depth, something that makes me think of worn but polished wood floors, chai spices, and the continued weave of amber. This is an amber that I still can't quite put my finger on. It's not very powdery (until the fragrance begins to fade), it's not too sweet, it's not very sparkling or bright, it's just...there. It provides a steady note to this, keeping the perfume from going too sweet or spicy.
Note: This perfume changes a lot based on where it is on my arms. Closer to my left hand, this is more amber/vanilla, and I do get a bit of that initial funk note on a nose to wrist test (although, I don't get that note even an inch up from my wrist). On my right, it's sheer but dusty spices. Closer to my elbow, this is spicy wood floors, with vanilla extract doing a little bit of a tap dance.
This ends up as more of a skin scent that invites cuddles. It doesn't have much throw, but it does make getting close worth it.
To the review!
Alkemia's description: "Madagascar Vanilla, golden amber, and resinous incense swirled together with a selection of beautifully aged incense woods and a dusting of aphrodisiac Silk Road spices. Intensely sexy in a mysterious kind of way..."
In the bottle: I get something a little sweet that is almost vanilla (but not quite), spices, an underpinning of polished wood, and something that almost comes across as a fake green/grassy note (almost aquatic, almost grass).
I will admit, when I got my sample of this, I was tempted to not try it. I was unimpressed by what I sniffed, but being the curious sort that I am, and knowing that a lot of perfume oils don't come out to play until they are on the skin, I dabbed.
On my skin: At first, this is almost off-putting. The spices pop out, and that fake green/grassy note rises and becomes a touch plastic-y to the nose. However, within a minute, what I thought would remain discordant notes begins to smooth out and resolve into something sweet, spicy, warm.
As it begins to dry: On my left arm, I get vanilla on the rise, cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg, and a faint hint of that polished wood. On my right, the amber is starting to come forward as a faint powdered note, the spices are less sweet, and the vanilla is tinged with the pod.
As it continues to dry: The spices pick up a bit more, the wood becomes a bit less polished and a little more raw, the amber threads in and out--rising and falling on its own whims--and that almost green note smooths out to add to the spice and wood. The vanilla is a dominant note in an understated way all the way through. There is a point in this continued transition where the amber funks out on me and makes me think of urinal cakes. It's here that I was tempted to scrub this off the first time I tried it. I thought, "Ewww, no, not for me," and then I forgot to scrub this and I went about my day. Imagine my surprise when in about five more minutes this shifted again and headed toward the final dry-down.
Final dry-down: Vanilla, the very best of chai spices, warm--almost mahogany in depth but not quite so dark in note--wood, and a swirl of somewhat powdered amber snuggle close to the skin. In some ways, this reminds me of a fireball--one of those sugared cinnamon jaw-breakers that I used to hoard as a child. This has a touch of that same fire with the sweetness coming in behind. But that's only about 10% of this fragrance. The rest is vanilla with depth, something that makes me think of worn but polished wood floors, chai spices, and the continued weave of amber. This is an amber that I still can't quite put my finger on. It's not very powdery (until the fragrance begins to fade), it's not too sweet, it's not very sparkling or bright, it's just...there. It provides a steady note to this, keeping the perfume from going too sweet or spicy.
Note: This perfume changes a lot based on where it is on my arms. Closer to my left hand, this is more amber/vanilla, and I do get a bit of that initial funk note on a nose to wrist test (although, I don't get that note even an inch up from my wrist). On my right, it's sheer but dusty spices. Closer to my elbow, this is spicy wood floors, with vanilla extract doing a little bit of a tap dance.
This ends up as more of a skin scent that invites cuddles. It doesn't have much throw, but it does make getting close worth it.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Launch-Frederic Malle's L'eau D'Hiver
After hoarding my perfume reviews for a couple of years and posting them on perfume forums, I'm ready to launch a blog that isn't quite as serious as my other writing (that can be found at MayaHarvest.com).
This blog will be Possets heavy since that is where I get the bulk of my perfume oil, but it will also include Solstice Scents, Alkemia, Arcana, Blooddrop, Sara Wen, Sweet Anthem, and whatever else I stumble across. I also have niche "regular" perfumes that I hoard and review occasionally (such as from L'Artisan, Frederic Malle, Serge Lutens) and I will include those as well.
To celebrate this launch, I'm adding a review I wrote a few years ago of one of my favorite scents: L'eau D'Hiver by Frederic Malle.
Description from the Frederic Malle website: "A fragrance entirely one's own - clean, crisp, but also warm, an endless source of reassurance. The transparence of water binds with the softness of white heliotrope, iris and honey for the gentlest composition imaginable. Jean-Claude Ellena set out to create the first "Eau Chaude," pushing his understated, minimalist style beyond traditional boundaries. Here he fuses the two extremes of the olfactory spectrum into a mellow, fragile fragrance of a new kind."
From the Now Smell This website, the notes that make up this scent are: "bergamot, angelica, iris, hawthorn, jasmine, honey, carnation, heliotrope, caramel and musk."
To celebrate this launch, I'm adding a review I wrote a few years ago of one of my favorite scents: L'eau D'Hiver by Frederic Malle.
Description from the Frederic Malle website: "A fragrance entirely one's own - clean, crisp, but also warm, an endless source of reassurance. The transparence of water binds with the softness of white heliotrope, iris and honey for the gentlest composition imaginable. Jean-Claude Ellena set out to create the first "Eau Chaude," pushing his understated, minimalist style beyond traditional boundaries. Here he fuses the two extremes of the olfactory spectrum into a mellow, fragile fragrance of a new kind."
From the Now Smell This website, the notes that make up this scent are: "bergamot, angelica, iris, hawthorn, jasmine, honey, carnation, heliotrope, caramel and musk."
This goes on with a very spicy powdery iris note. On my left arm, I get a green spicy note threading through. On
my right, there's more of a peppered powder. Within a few minutes, my
left arm is bringing up bergamot and almost immediately
threading it down to a low hum as the green swims through. I think the green is the hawthorn, and I may be getting a touch of jasmine. On my right, it's firmly in the heliotrope (I love
heliotrope and can seem to pick it out of anything), iris, and musk.
As it dries down: the left arm is starting to bring up the heliotrope. This is a very sheer fragrance. I dabbed and dabbed from my sample before I felt like I truly had an amount I could sniff. I could see this (so far) being a great scent for any season. It feels very feminine, and that heliotrope is definitely in my "love" category. My left arm makes this a very powdery heliotrope, my right makes it a much more in-depth (rounded, slightly flowered, rich in almond) heliotrope. So far, I'm not getting much honey or caramel, but I think the carnation is kicking up the powder of the iris.
I dabbed again (I'm afraid of overdoing it, but I doubt that's possible with this scent) and immediately got a strong bergamot note on both hands but it falls almost immediately to the powder, although it stays a little more bergamoty on my left hand. Comparing it to the older dabs, the older dabs are bringing in more of the sweetness of the honey and caramel, but definitely not a pronounced honey as in Tea for Two from L'Artisan or the caramel in Madera from Omnia. This is very soft and pretty. It's not a scent that demands attention, but there's something so compellingly comforting about this that I can't stop huffing my wrists. Per research, angelica is part of the parsley family and I think that was the first green note I was picking up, and as it goes along there is an interesting “fresh” note that I think is the angelica keeping the notes really light and not falling down into heavy iris like it could. Interestingly enough, the small dot I put on my shirt is much more hawthorny and I'm assuming I'm getting the angelica a lot there as well, and the bergamot hasn't dried down.
Final verdict: this is sweet without being sugared, high on the powdered softness of iris, slightly vanillic/almond due to the heliotrope. It comes across as cool, but also snuggly and comforting, and it's that contrast that keeps me intrigued.
Years later, this still remains one of my favorite perfumes. I can only afford samples here and there, but whenever I wear it I feel both confident and soft, pretty, calm and collected, and ready for snuggles. It's such a great perfume.
As it dries down: the left arm is starting to bring up the heliotrope. This is a very sheer fragrance. I dabbed and dabbed from my sample before I felt like I truly had an amount I could sniff. I could see this (so far) being a great scent for any season. It feels very feminine, and that heliotrope is definitely in my "love" category. My left arm makes this a very powdery heliotrope, my right makes it a much more in-depth (rounded, slightly flowered, rich in almond) heliotrope. So far, I'm not getting much honey or caramel, but I think the carnation is kicking up the powder of the iris.
I dabbed again (I'm afraid of overdoing it, but I doubt that's possible with this scent) and immediately got a strong bergamot note on both hands but it falls almost immediately to the powder, although it stays a little more bergamoty on my left hand. Comparing it to the older dabs, the older dabs are bringing in more of the sweetness of the honey and caramel, but definitely not a pronounced honey as in Tea for Two from L'Artisan or the caramel in Madera from Omnia. This is very soft and pretty. It's not a scent that demands attention, but there's something so compellingly comforting about this that I can't stop huffing my wrists. Per research, angelica is part of the parsley family and I think that was the first green note I was picking up, and as it goes along there is an interesting “fresh” note that I think is the angelica keeping the notes really light and not falling down into heavy iris like it could. Interestingly enough, the small dot I put on my shirt is much more hawthorny and I'm assuming I'm getting the angelica a lot there as well, and the bergamot hasn't dried down.
Final verdict: this is sweet without being sugared, high on the powdered softness of iris, slightly vanillic/almond due to the heliotrope. It comes across as cool, but also snuggly and comforting, and it's that contrast that keeps me intrigued.
Years later, this still remains one of my favorite perfumes. I can only afford samples here and there, but whenever I wear it I feel both confident and soft, pretty, calm and collected, and ready for snuggles. It's such a great perfume.
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