By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Fragrances of the Week

• Al Rehab Choco Musk
• Al Rehab Imperial Oud
• Bath & Body Works Inner Angel
• Body Sprays: Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’more, Bath & Body Works + Milk Peppermint Bark Truffle, Bath & Body Works Loyal To You, Al Rehab Choco Musk, Axe Pure Coconut

I was so busy this week that I didn’t use my fragrances much at all. I did like Imperial Oud the one time I got to use it; I’m looking forward to using it more in the future. Choco Musk is always great. I also only used it once. Inner Angel got slightly more use. And all body sprays were used periodically, Peppermint Bark Truffle frequently.

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Fragrances of the Week

• Le Falconé Risala Forever
• Lattafa Ramz Lattafa Silver
• Ard Al Zaafaran Turab Al Dhahab
• Body Sprays: Axe Pure Coconut, Al Rehab Choco Musk, Bath & Body Works Inner Angel, Mémoire Archives Let’s Bake (09)

This week’s fragrances suited me very well. I was so glad to get a chance to play with Le Falconé Risala Forever, which is much more buttery than I had expected. I actually liked that, but I can see others finding it a bit too synthetic. I found it worked well with BBW Inner Angel & Mémoire Archives Let’s Bake to give very different versions of cake. But I also think Risala Forever isn’t as gourmand as the notes would suggest. It is more wearable and inoffensive than some of my favorite gourmands.

Turab Al Dhahab is so hard to work with. I like it, but it smells more like a vinyl toy than coconut. It requires a specific use to make sense. I think layered with strawberry could be interesting, but I’ve tried hard to make it part of my rotation and I’ve failed. Maybe it’s just not for me, and that’s okay.

Ramz Lattafa (Silver) returned to the tray pretty quickly. I used it a lot this time, but didn’t layer with anything else. It was just a nice fragrance to wear as it is. It’s still not as good as the Gold, but I need to stop comparing those two. They really are nothing like one another.

The whole week was nicely edible and warm. Inner Angel was my go to throughout the week for a refresh. And I put quite a dent in it.

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Fragrances of the Week

• Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud
• Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood
• Bath & Body Works Viva Vanilla
• Body Sprays: Lattafa Asad, Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood, Bath & Body Works Floral Fantasy, Bath & Body Works Wild Vanilla
• Body Wash: Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’mores
• Shampoo: Personal Care Coconut Vanilla

My theme for the week was “Autumn Woods.” It’s so hard to keep in the spirit of the season when the weather is still giving me Summer at 80º, but I tried! I think the mix was pretty woodsy, sometimes overly so.

Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood is just classic woods. It so nice and cozy, but not as warm as others. It is perfect for a woodsy feel in unpredictable weather. It would have worked just as well on a cool fall day as a warm one. I did find layering the cologne and the cologne mist to be unnecessary. They didn’t really add anything to one another, so unless I needed a refresh midday, they were better in combination with other things.

Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud is similarly woodsy, but warmer with its vanilla base. I reached for it more than anything else during the week because I really enjoy the balance it has. I enjoy a traditionally “masculine” fragrance, but I find it limiting to only wear things marketing as such. Intense Oud lands in a very unisex place and for that reason is perfect for layering to pull out the desired effect.

Bath & Body Works Viva Vanilla was a let down. I hadn’t used it before, but had purchased the eau de parfum after trying the fine fragrance mist. It was pleasant enough, but not strong at all and after a short time, non existent. The mist works at that strength, but I expect more from an EDP. Again, it was fine, but that’s about it.

This week I used Lattafa Asad deodorant spray. I have in the past paired that with Lattafa Ameer Al Oudh Intense Oud and got a strong ashtray scent that was very off-putting, so knowing that might happen I waited for the Asad to dry down a bit before applying the fragrance and that solved the problem. That’s good to know; I was worried about bringing the foul odor back, but apparently it is avoidable. This week the two worked well together, giving fallen leaves in a damp forest.

To get the “Autumn Woods” result I wanted, I relied on three fragrance mists to be layered on top of everything. Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood leaned into the masculine woods, Bath & Body Works Floral Fantasy leaned into the floral & feminine, while Bath & Body Works Wild Vanilla sweetened things up if needed. Wild Vanilla is made for layering, and I think it added just enough sweet tropical notes to take the vibe from temperate forest to tropical jungle, but without overpowering anything. Floral Fantasy kept us temperate, and I wore it a few times during the week on its own. It’s not my absolute favorite of the Everyday Luxuries line, but it is very pleasant. Floral without being too floral, and it stayed present for a long time.

For Justin this week, I was going for spicy dessert. While his body mists worked well for that, my insistence on always giving him masculine scents meant that it was hard to lean into gourmand. When I didn’t realize what he was wearing on one day, I thought he had achieved something that smelled like sunscreen. In the summer, I like that accord, but I was confused by it. That was the Old Spice. My brain sorted it back into the bin it belongs in once I knew, but that was a strange thing. Old Spice is nice though, as was Modern Gentleman. I do think I need to lean more into fun stuff for Justin. He actually likes a lot more, especially gourmand stuff. He also really likes masculine scents, but refers to them as “grandpa colognes,” so I’m not sure he loves them entirely. He might just be responding to the nostalgia, which I understand. I have a visceral reaction to Coty’s Aspen, but only because Dad used it when I was a kid. In slightly different combinations, those notes do nothing for me. I’ll try amping up the fun for Justin and we’ll see how that goes!

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Fragrances of the Week

• Lattafa Eclaire Banoffi
• Lattafa Ramz Lattafa Gold
• Origen Sahara Mystery Oud
• Miris No.51345
• Miris No.23742
• Miris Banana
• Body Sprays: Origen Sahara Mystery Oud, Lattafa Khamrah, Bath & Body Works Sweetheart Cherry
• Body Spray 3: BBW Sweetheart Cherry

Notes: This has been a fruity sort of week; I feel like a cornucopia!

I finally got the chance to play with the Lattafa Eclaire Banoffi. I’m a big fan of the original Eclaire, but this one is a lot lighter. It reminds me of a banana pudding, a delicious scent, but not an overpowering one. I tried layering with both dupes of Juliette Has A Gun Not A Perfume Superdose & Escentric Molecules Molecule 02. I think they both did the job well, but for me the Molecule 02 dupe brought out more of the banana tropical fruitiness, while the Not A Perfume Superdose dupe brought out more of the gourmand cozy sweetness. In both cases I added Miris Banana to the mix to amp up the banana entirely.

I’m so impressed with the Origen fragrances, and was so happy whenever I got to use Sahara Mystery Oud this week. It could so easily be someone’s everyday fragrance. In my opinion, it’s very unisex as well, but then again I don’t really pay that much attention to that sort of thing! Sahara Mystery Oud worked well over the summer, but it works equally as a spicy and cozy fragrance. I definitely reach for the body mist more often, but when I used the EDP I would catch whiffs of it the next morning. I’m considering looking at some of the ones I don’t have.

Rounding out my week was my old friend BBW Sweetheart Cherry. It was the perfect thing for misting in the afternoon when I didn’t want to be too weighed down by fragrance: on a walk, watching TV, cleaning. It just brings me joy. And it paired well with everything this week, adding to the cornucopia feeling.

Justin’s tray was moody and dark this week, but I gave him some options for lightness since he had a couple of in person appointments. He primarily used the BBW Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, but I think V.V. Love Hombre de Oro was the choice for appointment, and Al Rehab French Coffee was used once when he was feeling like smelling nice at home. Justin doesn’t care as much as I do, nor should he have to. But I do like to rotate his options as well, just to keep everything in use!

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Fragrances of the Week

• Al Rehab Caramello
• V.V. Love Soul Journey
• Bath & Body Works Pistachio Glaze
• Roxelis Pistachio Perfume Dubai Chocolate
• Body Sprays: Lattafa Khamrah, Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’more, Bath & Body Works Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, scentXscent Solar Flare Brazilian Caramel Dreams
• Body Wash: Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’more
• Shampoo: Suave Tropical Coconut

This week’s fragrances were a lot more fun than last week’s. The star of the week was Caramello, which is definitely in my top 5 at the moment. It’s warm, it’s nutty, it lasts a long time. I really don’t expect less from Al Rehab than stellar performance. There will be a lot of folks who don’t like this one, and since it’s new I haven’t seen any reviews for it yet. I’m not expecting tons of love, but for me it was nearly perfect when I wore it. That said, it wasn’t my first choice on warmer days or if I was going to be around a lot of people. It’s inoffensive, but strong.

The mists did a lot of heavy lifting throughout the week, particularly the Cozy Fireside S’more. The other two are quite weak in comparison, and sitting on the tray together, there was comparison. Soul Journey is also pretty weak overall. It’s nice, but fades. It’s supposedly a dupe of Carolina Herrera’s Bad Boy, which I’ve never smelled. I do get citrus, pepper, tonka…I’m not sure if the cocoa comes through. I’m not bothered though; I think it’s a nice traditionally masculine fragrance. Pistachio Glaze didn’t get too much use. It’s one of my favorites, sure, but I was enamored by Caramello this week, and I think they would be worn in the same settings. I did try layering the two at one point. It was nice, but not as effective as I would have liked. It just sort of smoothed out the Caramello; I can see good reasons to do that, but it isn’t a good use of a fragrance I love on its own.

While I had put the cheap dupe of Dubai Chocolate on the tray just as a decoration (it’s in a nice frosted green bottle), I did attempt to wear it once. Justin had commented a couple of weeks ago that it smelled like sewer water, and I have to agree with what he’s getting. It isn’t sewer, but it has a restroom quality. There’s a hint of cocoa, and it just came across as a newly cleaned public restroom in a candy store. I wouldn’t exactly call it repulsive, but I didn’t want the experience to go on for too long. I had to overspray mists to mask it. Fortunately, it also is extremely fleeting. I might remove the label and empty the bottle. I still like the little green bottle; it looked good on the tray.

While I loved my fragrances this week, particularly Caramello, the whole tray did come across feeling low budget. I don’t mind that, but it is worth noting. I also think it was helpful to coordinate body wash and shampoo. I have other options available, but kept using the Suave Coconut because it was in the shower already. But it didn’t exactly fit in, and I can see how a more carefully considered shampoo would have elevated everything a little bit. I’ll be working on making those things more accessible this next week.

Justin had a curious sort of fragrance week, but I don’t know how I feel about it. I don’t actually know how he feels about it either. He started the week out with Al Rehab Tooty Musk, which he had liked over the summer, but confessed that he didn’t really care for it after wearing it on the first day. He switched it out for Gimaibugraff Hei Ya Ya, which I believe is a cheap dupe of YSL Black Opium. For me, I can’t tell where I land on that one. The pink pepper note is so prominent at first that it overwhelms me. The coffee note is a little too bitter, and the florals don’t really remind me of white florals. There is a rounded nature to the whole thing, probably smoothed out by vanilla, but if the vanilla ever took prominence, I didn’t smell it. Maybe as it dried down on his skin, but I wasn’t close enough for that. It reminded me of perfumes worn by really old women at church when I was a kid. My grandma’s generation all smelled like flowers; my mom’s generation were lighter or sometimes sweet-spicy. But the older ladies would smell sharply spicy, peppery, heavy florals. Justin liked it though, and that’s what really matters. Maybe I’ll try wearing it on my skin one of these days and see how it is in the dry down. He also had a couple of mists to use, but overall didn’t really use them much. That makes sense though; I had chosen for him mists that coordinated with Tooty Musk, not with Hei Ya Ya. BBW Blue Raspberry Burst & BBW Vampire Blood were never touched to my knowledge. He did use a little of BBW Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte. That one is losing the fight against time. It was once such a great scent, but both bottles have but a whisper of fragrance, a memory. This might have been their final week.

New acquisitions this week: Mémoire Archives 09 Let’s Bake EDP; Mémoire Archives 09 Let’s Bake Fragrance Mist; Mémoire Archives 09 Let’s Bake Body Lotion; Bodycology Caramel Indulgence Fragrance Mist; Bodycology Caramel Indulgence Body Cream; Bodycology Caramel Indulgence Body Wash; BBW To the Moon Deo Body Spray; BBW Milk Bar Birthday Cake Fragrance Mist; BBW Milk Bar Cereal Milk Soft Serve Fragrance Mist; BBW Milk Bar Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Cookie Fragrance Mist; BBW Milk Bar Peppermint Bark Truffle Fragrance Mist; BBW Infinite Radiance Fragrance Mist

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Fragrances of the Week

• Bath & Body Works Vanilla Noir
• Lattafa Pride Raw Human
• Lattafa Ramz Lattafa Silver
• Bath & Body Works Inner Angel
• Body Sprays: Lattafa Asad, Bath & Body Works Inner Angel, Bath & Body Works Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte
• Body Wash: Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’mores
• Shampoo: Suave Tropical Coconut
• Lotion: scentXscent Solar Flare Sunset Samba Body Butter

I almost worked against myself with my fragrance selections this week.  I had assumed that Ramz Lattafa could carry the weight of my daytime needs, while Vanilla Noir & Raw Human would be good options for evening wears.  I had misjudged the notes, thinking Ramz Lattafa’s citrus open would feel fresher than it did.  That fragrance is cozier than that, the lavender and vanilla really making it better for relaxing than for working.  Inner Angel is spicy, but bright enough to mix in.  Still, spicy isn’t my favorite option early in the day.  And the Ramz Lattafa increasingly felt like an early evening fragrance at best.  Everything was a bit too deep overall, even though I enjoyed all of the individual scents.  

The Asad deodorant spray was a lot better this time than when I paired it with Lattafa Ameer Al Oud Intense Oudh.  Those two enhanced one another in strange ways, but as a base layer for this tray of evening fragrances, Asad worked well.  The body sprays I layered on top this week, Inner Angel & Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, likewise were too heavy as my only options.  Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte isn’t too strong at this point; it’s several years old, but what remains is sugary sweet.  Like with the perfumes, there wasn’t really anything to lighten things up.

Vanilla & leather was an interesting theme for my week, but it lacked the playfulness I prefer in my selections.  Vanilla Noir should have been swapped out for something brighter and fun, like Al Rehab Dalal or Art Al Zaafaran Turab Al Dhahab.  This might have been a perfect week for Turab Al Dhahab actually.  It can be a little plasticky, but it is both vanillic & bright.  Missed opportunity.  Another option would have been a marshmallow or cotton candy body spray to liven everything up.

I followed some advice and experimented with antiperspirants this week.  I don’t actually have much issue with body odor, but I wanted to test out some things I had read.  I avoid using most products because I don’t like the residue on my clothes and I think it feels weird on my body throughout the day.  Of course, that sometimes means having to shower more often.  Using a combination of Bath & Body Works Mahogany Teakwood stick antiperspirant and Lattafa Asad deodorant spray, I applied just before bed.  I did not apply following my shower in the morning, but I did lightly spray the deodorant spray once I had dried off.  Honestly, this might be the best advice I’ve followed in a while.  It did a couple of things.  Even after working out, I didn’t feel slimy in the way sweat can make me feel.  Not at all throughout the week.  But more importantly, I got that benefit without any residue on my skin.  I was washing that off in the shower, but the antiperspirants were in my skin for the day.  It all also made my skin feel smooth and I felt like it smelled better.  I’ll keep trying that technique out, maybe switching to a stick with no scent to see how it affects things.

New acquisitions this week: Eves St. Claire Pineapple Papaya Shampoo; Personal Care Coconut Vanilla 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner