orris

I've very recently said that I would sample perfumes slowly...but I threw that discretion out the window and have since made 3 sample orders. The first of which arrived earlier this week so I'm posting my notes from my Saks samples:

L'artisan Parfumeur - Dzhonkha

Day 1
Florals for hours ~2-3
Dry down is warm, bit too warm for my preference
Long lasting, could smell on self after work

Day 2
Opening...sour, don't think was present in the first day. Not sure how to describe the sour? Like a body odour sour? Yoghurt that's been in the fridge too long sour? Not a gross sour, but a...this is past it's prime but still ok sour.

Day 3
No sour smell this time, a hint of fruitiness, just a barest hint, in with the florals?

Overall: on the fence about, aka no full bottle

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Penhaligon - Much Ado About the Duke

Day 1
Opening very rose, but pleasant to me rose. I get sniffs of peppery-ness, but would not have identified it without reading the notes. To me it's like a...sparkling feeling, a little green. Predominantly rose, and very static.
Applied second time later in the day (~7 hours later), smells much more spicy. Is it because I read reviews that mentions the spiciness?

Day 2
Back to rose opening, but do notice the spiciness in the heart and dry down. Very tenacious perfume, lasts through a hot long shower, I like. Very close to skin, nose needs to be within ~1” to smell it once the opening is gone. Very tempted to buy full bottle…but will try Le Labo Rose 31 before deciding.

Overall: like this a lot better on my skin than on the blotter while in stores. Very tempted to buy full bottle, but will try other spicy rose scents.

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Penhaligon - Iris Prima

Day 1
Powdery floral opening? I like the first 30 seconds or so quite a lot. But then I remember why I shy away from florals, which is that I can’t stand them in large or long doses without some other element to ground it (like the spices in Duke). I get the ballerina / ballet association with this scent, it’s like the soft, pink stereotype, although I’ve read that the inspiration for this perfume is the opposite, suppose to be the sweat, grit, and daily practice. I also thought I recognized the iris note in this, but not every time that I sniff this. About 10 mins in, I’m starting to smell more…grounding elements? Maybe it’s the leather, although I don’t have a good reference for how leather smells like in perfume, although I do very much know the smell irl. I’ll go with a soft, worn leather ballet flat.

Day 2
~6 hours later: suede! Maybe a suede glove rather than suede shoes. Or even a suede jacket or accessory.

Overall: I like but not enough for full bottle. Also ordered other iris centric fragrances to sample.

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Penhaligon - The Uncompromising Sohan

Day 1
I like the opening a lot, am ambivalent about the heart, but do enjoy the dry down again. There are also a ton of samples of oud-y rose fragrances in my to-try skin. It’s also the first scent that I associate a seasonality to, this is definitely something I prefer to wear in the winter. It’d be perfect for hiding under blankets. Actually, on that thought, a good scent to apply when you get home, which works out to falling asleep to the dry down notes.

Overall: I like this less on my skin than on the blotter in store, so no full bottle. Will sample other rose-saffron-oud fragrances, particularly excited about trying Amouage.

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I recall making notes on the other samples I've tried, and on Lord George, but seem to have lost them. From my memory:

• Penhaligon Lord George: my everyday working scent, LBD equivalent? 
• L'artisan Parfumeur Mandarina Corsica: I surprisingly like this, multi-faceted mandarine, with a creamy caramel note that I can actually stand. Will wear the remaining of my sample for Thanksgiving / Christmas.
• L'artisan Parfumeur Passage D'enfer: I'm ambivalent erring on the side of like. It's pleasant but no aspect really stands out to me. Ditto for Timbuku. 
• L'artisan Parfumeur Mirabilis: oh gosh this one I hated. Attempted to wash it off my skin after ~30min, but it was a tenacious scent. Too sweet, which is bad enough, but also resin-y which just made the sweetness even more unbearable. 

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Overall take-aways:

• I had no idea that I would be into rose. I've written off florals as a whole due to my headaches before, but I'm excited to explore them again
• Iris I still like
• Incense I don't like as much as I initially thought. It adds interest, but I don't want too much of it. Maybe it's because most of the incense is Western incense, which is not the same of my memory of incense in Buddhist temples. 
• Currently ambivalent on heavy woods, maybe it's just the season?