Guerlain Champs-Elysees EDT  reminds me of a champagne cocktail sipped during an outdoor brunch. And depending on who you talk to, you may only be able to wear this outdoors! Champs-Elysees has a rep for being a loud fragrance. Maybe this is why I like this fruity-floral

I think of Guerlain Champs-Elysées as being like a mimosa version of YSL Paris. Both perfumes are “power” floral perfumes. They are floral, feminine, and yes, a little loud depending on who you ask. I have a higher tolerance for loud and I find neither too loud. Champs-Elysées opens up as a bubbly cocktail of champagne like fruits and girly violets. I get powdery violet and mimosa with a wee bit of anise spice that reminds me of Caron Aimez-Moi - a blend of violet and anise. The heart of Champs-Elysées is a powedery fruity-floral. I get heliotrope almond-like dust with cassis liqueur enhanced sparkling wine. I get a little tipsy from it all. The dry-down is a soft ambrette musk with heliotrope sweetness. This is a fragrance that I love to wear in the spring. It’s sunny and pretty.

The bottle is supposed to be a homage to the female form, a strong silhouette, “triangle of life”, blah, blah, blah, according to the Guerlain website. I just know that it is a hefty glass bottle. It reminds me of of an 80′s silhouette, complete with should pads. Because of this, the bottle completely fits the fragrance. However, this formula was relaunched in the 90′s, but I remember shoulder pads still being chic on the runways then!

Champs-Elysées is long-wearing, especially for an EDT. I can smell it on myself all day. That being said, I’m generous with sprays, about 5… Beware of the trail that I leave!

Notes listed include: peach, melon, violet, anise, mimosa, rose, peony, lily of the valley, cassis berry, vanilla, almond blossom, and hibiscus seed. I must add my disclaimer than I can’t find from anybody that I trust a complete list of notes. So, I just kind of went by a few different sources and “guessed”. I can see how these notes are in this fragrance.

Give Champs-Elysées a try if you like feminine florals or perfumes like Annick Goutal Mimosa, L’Artisan Parfumeur Mimosa Pour Moi, YSL Paris, Bvlgari Pour Femme, Estee Lauder Beautiful Sheer, and/or the original Paris Hilton (yeah, I went there).

The 1.7 oz. of Champs-Elysées EDT retails for $71 at Sephora. And you can find it at discounters like Fragrancenet.

*DRAWING* Is Closed!

Winner is Elisa! I will be emailing you soon

I’m doing a drawing for a 1 ml sample of this EDT, decanted from my collection. To be entered, please leave a comment below telling me about your favorite “loud” fragrance or even your least favorite “loud” fragrance.

A random winner will be chosen on 9:00 PM PST on May 1st, 2011. I will contact you and hope to hear from you within 72 hours or I will select another winner. I will send this sample internationally, so international friends feel free to enter

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My Perfume Life

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Product picture from Sephora. Mucha pic from Coup de Foudre blog.

This is an all natural fragrance that is in Parfums des Beaux Arts by DSH “Gaia Perfume Collection”. This is as the name applies, a spicy fragrance. I really do like spicy fragrances but I think I have “low-brow” spicy fragrance tastes. I seem to always use Old Spice as my spice fragrance point of reference. Well, Èpices d’Hiver is spicy and citrusy like Old Spice but much more high-brow. At first it is a wonderful winter citrus explosion. You can smell bitter oranges, blood oranges, perfumey bergamot, and grapefruit. It is citrusy but nothing like the “citrus” you would grab in the middle of summer. This is definitely a “cold” citrus blend. I mean that it doesn’t smell like fresh citrus juices but more like citrus essential oils. I then smell lots and lots of star anise. This is a good thing because I love the smell of star anise. I know other spices are present but I pick up on the star anise the most. I get a hint of cloves and nutmeg. The spiciness of this fragrance reminds me a lot of Pae-lo or Chinese Five Spice. Or Sambuca mixed with a bay rum aftershave blend or Old Spice. The dry down is  soft, warm, and resiny. It reminds me of non-burning incense. It is “round”, mellow, and wears closely to the skin.

This is a nice scent for cooler weather. It is spicy without smelling “Christmasy”. It has been a great fragrance to wear during this past week when the temps have been about 19° F. It reminds me of a beautiful bay rum (I guess because of the davana mixed with citrus and spices) with a dash of Pae-lo. This is a spice fragrance that both sexes can wear. It is a great “classic” scent for the kind of male that spends his winter holiday eating clam chowder by a fire in a wool sweater that he got in Novia Scotia last year before he goes out yachting. I also see it for the kind of confident female that wears Old Spice, Hepburn-ish pant suits, and red lipstick. I see both wearers as an “adventurous” type.

This is a long-wearing scent because that wears closely to the skin most of the time because of the expensive essential oils used in the blend. I really do like this scent and I don’t mean it any harm by comparing it to Old Spice. That is just my low-brow reference for spicy blends. For a “spice” blend this one is beautiful and complex. It reminds me of anything from warming Sambuca cocktails to “faraway”, “exotic” spice blends. I really do like this fragrance and I find it very easy to wear for a spicy fragrance. I wear it and it doesn’t wear me. My husband also likes this one. He says it smells of Compari and Sambuca. He says that this is the most sophisticated bay rum in the world. I would say that this means a lot coming from a guy that wears bay rum in the winter and has a very limited scent vocabulary.

Notes include: bergamot, bitter orange, citrus oils, coriander seeds, davana, pink peppercorn, star anise, cinnamon bark, clove bud, jasmine, Moroccan rose, nutmeg, spice notes, ambrette seeds, labdanum, Siam benzoin, tolu balsam, tonka bean, Arabian myrhh, and vanilla absolute.

A few sizes are available. The 5 ml bottle in an antique inspired bottle goes for $90. I recommend this fragrance for the person that loves spice fragrances, The Different Company Un Parfum d’Ailleurs & Fleurs, Annick Goutal Madragore EDT (Èpices is more of a “wintery” version), L’Artisan Parfumeur Fou d’Absinthe EDP, L’Artisan Parfumeur Navegar EDT, Byredo Parfums Fantastic Man, Etro Anice, Parfumerie Generale Un Crime Exotique EDP, and/or Old Spice   It is available on DSH’s website.

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Scent Hive

Perfume Posse

Parfums des Beaux Arts by DSH Gingembre is a perfect cool weather fragrance. I live in Washington, not just anywhere, around the Puguet Sound: Western Washington. We are known for our massive amounts of gloom and rain. For a closet goth and a mushroom hunter, this is paradise. I love the cooler, foggy,  seaside days. The rain is here just like clockwork starting on October 1st. It’s a bit chilly (50′s), cloudy, and rainy. If you’ve ever visited this area during the rainy season, then you know why we love our coffee. It is the only thing that warms you up and gives you energy during this season (even though many of us are into our tea). Today I am wearing Gingembre. It is my comforting travel mug of steaming dark roast and cashmere blended hoodie on this cool, rainy, classic PNW day.

Gingembre is spicy and comforting. If you love gingerbread or ginger snaps then you should love this. At first it feels and smells like the steam off of a masala coffee or chai. It’s spicy with nutmeg, allspice, anise, and clove. The ginger comes in, more of a dried powder, Indian market ginger. This scent then becomes my spice cabinet. You can smell the gourmand spices mixed with ginger powder. It has a bit of beeswax which adds so much to this fall/winter spice blend. It gets a little sweeter but not super sweet like a spice cake with cream cheese icing. This is more like a chai with a sugar or honey. If you pay close attention you can get a bit of a floral, like a honeyed, dried rose. It’s so beautiful. The great thing about the PNW is that this time of year you crave fall baked goods heavy with ginger and cloves, hot beverages, you smell the ground which is soaked, mossy, mushroomy. But, it isn’t “dying”. There are many evergreens and roses are late. We get roses up until November. It just delights me that this perfect fall/winter fragrance has rose. The dry down is delicious like a handsome man wearing a cologne heavy on patchouli and resins while sipping suavely on spiced rum in front of a blazing fireplace.

This one is a keeper for me. I thought my favorite ginger scent was Serge Lutens Five O’Clock au Gingembre, but  right now I love this one more. Five O’Clock is more of the aroma of a moist, baking gingerbread cookie ready to come out of the oven. This one is more of a crispy gingersnap and a cup of comforting chai. This being said, I think this is a nice unisex scent. It’s sexy on either a man or a woman.

I would say that you would like this if you are looking for a fall/winter ginger scent (not a tropical or fresh ginger), something  like Serge Lutens Five O’Clock au Gingembre , Jo Malone Nutmeg & Ginger Cologne, Laura Mercier Minuit Enchanté, L’Artisan Parfumeur Navegar, Armani Prive Ambre Soie, Perfumerie Generale Un Crime Exotique, Mark Buxton Sounds & Visions, and/or Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale.

This fragrance is made from 94.5% botanical ingriedients. It’s long-wearing, very realistic and natural. The 1 oz. spray goes for $70 and other sizes are available. It is available on the fragrance house’s website.

Clarins Gloss Appeal Lip Gloss was launched last year (2007) and I played with it for a little bit and then went on my merry way. Lately, I have revisited this formula and realized that I really like.

It is a pretty basic lip gloss that goes and smooth and feels like it is “nourishing”. The wand has a wider than normal doe foot applicator and a clear wand. The “amazing” thing about the wand is that none of the gloss goops on it and the wand  comes out clean. That’s not really a big perk for me but I’m sure it is for someone. The colors are shimmery and have both silver and gold shimmers. The motto is that it is all about reflecting light to plump the lips. Well, at least it doesn’t burn. It has some olive extract in it that makes it taste sweet and each claim to have a sweet almond-aniseed fragrance. I have Sorbet and it just smells like a sweet sorbet. I smelled some of the others on display and they could pass as sweet almond, but aniseed, I don’t know. I love aniseed and couldn’t pick that note out. But, maybe I was sniffing the wrong ones. There is a wide array of shades. Sorbet, one that I own, is a delicate warm light pink shimmer. It is a great neutral and I can wear it with both pink and peach blush.  The other colors range from clear to magenta to brown. The shades include Crystal, Ylang, Ginger, Paradise, Hibiscus, Orchid, Grape, Lilac, and Toffee (notice a tropical trend?). I would like to own Hibiscus which is a shimmery orange, Orchid which is a hot pink shimmer, and Ginger a pale barely there peachy pink shimmer. These come in really pretty shades. There is at least one for everyone with ten shades in all. It doesn’t have a thin or thick texture and wears for awhile compared to other glosses. They retail for $19. In conclusion, it feels good on my lips, maybe it’s that sweet tasting olive extract that makes me keep wearing it. Who knows? It is available at most department stores such as Macy’s.

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