#aromatic desires

[regulushair]

Tom of Finland by Etat Libre d'Orange

I finally returned to it and Oh My Gods... It's so good! So, this was a bit of a specific choice - it's pride month and I wore a leather jacket and very tight black jeans (and a very see-through deep v-neck t-shirt) and then I came to the store and did something unimaginable for me - I made six (6. SIX) pumps of this fragrance. And I never regretted it - I felt amazing wearing it while it lasted (unfortunately not too long on me - a couple hours - but definitely for a while on the jacket).

It bears repeating - I can bet something important that people who say it smells like latex and condoms because they know it's named after an artist who draws gay porn have never seen a single work by Tom of Finland, much less used by its intended purpose (I did though) - because I've never seen a single condom or a latex garment in his work. So, as you could have guessed this is no what it smells like for me.

For me and on me it sounds like an old suede/soft leather jacket straight out of laundry (I feel more aldehydes here than in Number 5, last time I tried it), Finnish forest in the summer - pine needles and birch tar - especially in the middle of its development - and some slight nicely added sweetness (pyramid-wise, I'd say it's more tonka beans than vanilla). It's very gentle but while it's there it's pretty noticeable.

I get that part of my fascination with this is the fact that I love Tom of Finland and his work but even if so - I loved this fragrance and I'd love to have a bottle.

[regulushair]

J'ose by Eisenberg

Okay, so let's start strong: this is the first ever perfume I wore about which I got a compliment and not just any - about it's silage - how I'm leaving a nice smelling trail behind.

Also, it stayed on me and it stayed noticeable or a pretty long time despite walking through a blizzard and having washed my hands several times.

So, to the scent itself: for me it was mostly about bitter and slightly tarty greenery - which I presume was mostly thanks to artemisia. I did get some glances of lavender, but it was completely non-sweet, not like how I'm used to it being. Coffee appeared there after a bit of time but it was not a drink and definitely none of that sweetened milky thing that usually appears in other perfumes - here it was presented by beans - slightly overfried beans, which smell fine on their own, but actual coffee made from which would be too bitter.

At the complete dryout it became sweeter (amber, vanilla etc.) but to me didn't lose its bite.

Really enjoyed it, definitely goes to the wish-list.

[regulushair]

Tear You Apart by Fakoshima

Why is it so good and sooo expensive!

This is another one of those cases in which picking up particular notes is a bit problematic but it smells like expensive good alcohol minus the actual spirits part (I'm unfortunately too good at picking those up wherever they appear) and warm spices. Don't think I'm such an expert in fancy liqueur, but my father is and I like smelling his drinks and this reminds me of port wine, even though the pyramid says "rum" but again - a lot of other things that are difficult to separate. With time gets a bit tamer and a bit more spices than alcohol.

When I tried it the first time on a blotter I felt a quite lot of tobacco which was somewhat absent this time - maybe that's how the weather/my mood or my skin effects it.

It stayed on me for a long time and I know that several people felt it of me without me putting my wrist to their nose.

Suffice to say I loved it, even if I still love "El Primer Deseo" a bit more.

P.S. yes, it is pretty damn sexy, if you were wondering - yes the title is about that.

[regulushair]

Cuir Eau de Parfum Molinard

(picture from the store website again, I don't know why every time I try something on myself I feel like a thief and just put it on and run away)

Alright, so full disclosure - this is literally "The guy who only tried 'El Primer Deseo' by Fakoshima smelling another perfume: wow, I'm literally getting some heavy 'El Primer Deseo' by Fakoshima vibes from this," because yes, it did remind me of it, while no one of fragrantica compares them.

It starts like leather and smoke and some spices, it's not very bitter, but there's some sting - almost not sweet at all. Fakoshima is much richer and much woodier and more bitter at the start. I yet again didn't feel almost any top notes - no distinct citruses or anything.

Then it starts getting a little sweeter, less smoky and less spicy, while the leather remains. It didn't stay on the skin for too long (an hour or two) and the thing that clang to me was pretty light and sweet wood - I presume thanks to oud, sandal wood and amber.

Not sure if I actually want it or am I actually just desperately trying to find something cheaper (more than two times) to replace Fakoshima. It was definitely enjoyable though.

[regulushair]

Moon Light by Cosmogony

I'm getting a feeling I just need most of Cosmogony fragrances at least in small versions because this one is also good.

It start out with a whole lot of fresh fruit juice - almost not sweet, mostly just watery - and the water note itself is there too. And the water remains somewhere in the background the whole time, but what comes out to the centre of the stage is flowers. I didn't look at the pyramid too closely, so I was mostly thinking "There can't be mimosa, right? But what gives powder? Maybe violet?" well I was both right and wrong. It has literally all powdery flowers - mimosa, violet and iris. It also has lotuses to support the aquatic part of the fragrance.

At the bottom it gets somewhat sweeter and water tones down, but the powder stays there.

I loved it - it's very light and inoffensive and it worked perfectly with warm wind and with bird cherry just starting to bloom.

[regulushair]

Toy Boy by Moschino

May I present to you - a bear. And if you're thinking that something that's called "Toy Boy" and it's in a black and silver bear brings along certain associations you're right - go watch an ad for it, the waist of the actor's leather trousers is so low.

Anyway, tried it on myself after briefly listening to it on a blotter a while ago and I enjoyed it!

It opens up practically with only spices - not to disturbing you one's pallet, but still bright. Then it pretty swiftly becomes peppered rose - it's not sweet at all - it's sharp and fresh and it remains like this for a while and then slowly transforms into just rose/flowers. On complete dry-out it becomes tamer and just slightly sweeter.

It's no Montale of course, but it stayed on me longer than I expected and I definitely could have applied more (I'm usually careful with new perfumes and make just two sprays).

[regulushair]

Habanita Eau de Parfum by Molinard

Alright, you cannot tell about this perfume without telling about its history or you'll be cursed by perf-blogging gods.

It was originally made in 1921 as a tobacco/cigarette fragrance for the newly free smoking women of the roaring twenties, but then they started selling is regular perfume, because of how popular it was.

Knowing this immediately gives this perfume an air of slight debauchery and indulgence, as if wearing it makes you fancy flapper who will go home with a handsome gangster on their arm. Well, no handsome mobsters yet, but the fragrance is amazing! I have to confess, I can't really tell any separate notes, but, as one perfume historian said, "A great fragrance is supposed to smell like nothing but itself," so we can leave it at that, but I can give you a picture.

I went to pick up a gift card for my father from his fancy cigar club while wearing this fragrance - and Habanita, loyal to its name ("habanita" means a small cigar or a Havana woman), smells like their foyer - very good cigars - no smoke at all - just dry tobacco leaves, a lot of wood, tiny bits of coffee - if they had more spices and maybe some tiny sophisticated sweets at their bar it would be exactly the same.

On my skin it's sweeter than from a blotter (even after it completely dries out) but both ways are magnificent, so now time for my favourite phrase - I want a small bottle!

[regulushair]

Narciso Eau de Parfum Ambrée by Narciso Rodriguez

Firstly, let's acknowledge - the bottle is just so damn aesthetically pleasing.

Secondly, the big reason why I wanted to try this, or some other Narciso Rodriguez perfume, on the skin is because I heard that his trade mark musk might open up differently on different people and while on some (most) they smell of clean warm body, on others the body feels unfortunately long deprived of hygiene.

This was a very pleasant surprise, because, as you have probably already learned top notes aren't usually my best friends and even if I feel them from a blotter, they usually disappear awfully quickly from my skin. Here, however, it was a completely different story - here it was more like: "Hi there, we're tropical flower notes and we're going to live here, hope you don't mind," and I sure didn't. So, the flowers stayed with me for a while, then they started becoming sweeter and a tad dimmer, before becoming slightly sweet 'intimate' kind of scent that is indeed fairly difficult to detect if you don't already know it's there.

Loved it, want to get a travel version, definitely going to try more of Narciso Rodrigues scents.