Friday 16 April 2010

Scents that sing Spring!



So here we are- spring is springing and some of the community of perfume bloggers have joined together to write about their favourite scents for this time of year.

Of course I love all the seasons, I love the changes and think we are so lucky to have four quite distinct seasons in the UK most years. I think spring is an especially good time for perfume; you can wear virtually anything, heavier scents can still work as it's not so hot that they become oppressive but you can also start to wear lighter, perhaps more joyful smells.

The scents I am looking to this spring are:

By Redo La Tulipe: a new scent this is green and clean which is perhaps unusual but on this only the second day of trying it delightful. It does smell quite like Tulips, or perhaps the smell in the air when you have just bought some tulips and are walking home with them. It is also has a pronounced and delicious rhubarb top note- one of my very favourite smells in perfume which is very underused- it works very well here.

Guerlain Apres L'Ondee (somehow it gets on to every list I write!): because it's beautiful of course- and because of the suggestion of warmth in it- the sunshine after the rain, the smile after the tears that all of it's lovers appreciate is perfect for spring, which is the most optimistic of the seasons.

Balmain Vent Vert: The greenest of all the green scents. I have never smelled a vintage formulation though I would dearly love to. I can only imagine how very verdant it must have been because even the reformulation is still stunning to me- I know not everyone agrees on this. I think it grows on skin, it always gets extremely positive comments when I wear it but it's definitely one that needs to be let out of the bottle and on to skin to show itself.


Penhaligon's Bluebell: Walking through the bluebell woods in the spring; is there anything more spring like and is there anything more beautiful? this smells exactly of those woods; lots of detractors don't see this but I would suggest they might never have been lucky enough to go to a bluebell wood- it doesn't smell very floral there, it smells of damp ancient soil and the bark of the trees that have been growing their for several hundred years, of the cold of winter subsiding in the earth and of the sun breaking in through the canopy and at the sides.

L'Artisan La Chasse Aux Pappillions: chasing the butterflies, creamy, delicious and gloriously floral- this is lovely worn sparingly in high summer too but I like to wear it in the spring, as I start to wear sandals and dresses and I can be more easily feminine out of the jeans and layers of winter.

Chanel number 19: A cousin of Vent Vert, perhaps a more refined one. Chanel 19 is perfect at any time of year, supremely elegant and ladylike without ever being boring or unimaginative, like Coco it's not terrible publicised by Chanel because it doesn't need to be. Still I think again this comes into it's own in the spring when the evenings are still chilly.

Creed Spring Flower: it's in the name isn't it- though this is very melon heavy and melons aren't spring like. Still this is light and carefree but a bit too much in the height of summer; perfect for now when you want to be a bit pink and feminine.

Please do take a look at the other blogs taking part (they are all listed below)- and do let me know what perfumes or smells make you think of spring.

Katie Puckrik Smells
Perfume Shrine
The Non Blonde
I Smell Therefore I Am
Notes from the Ledge
Scent Hive
Savvy Thinker
Roxana's Illuminated Journal
Perfume in Progress
All I Am A Redhead
Ambre Gris
Olfactarama


Special thanks to Ayala from Smelly Blog for arranging the event, Katie Puckrik for the idea and Helg for our header- the fraulein in full song like the scents we are talking about!

20 comments:

skirmishofwit said...

What a fun post! I agree Chanel No 19 and Creed Spring Flower are great for spring. I also think Miller Harris' new Un Petit Rien is perfect for this time of year, being a bit lighter and crisper than L'Air de Rien.

Ines said...

Apres L'Ondee seems to get a lot of love and I don't even know what it smells like. :)
La Tulipe just got added to that list as well - it sounds interesting.

Marion Williams-Bennett said...

what a happy post! I love #19 and would vote for Creed Mountain Water...for any season!

Happy Spring!

Karin said...

I agree with a lot of your scents. I'd love to smell the tulip one.

Abigail said...

La Tulipe is fantastic, I named it on my list, too. =)

Oh, and Balmain Vent Vert - the ultimate green scent. Now I'm wishing I included that on mine because it is The Best green fragrance. It's so cheerful and lovely yet still intriguing...

Karin said...

Where do you find it? I have Nohiba.

Jayne said...

I have to get Guerlain Apres L'Ondee - your description is just what I want - sunshine after rain. That is exactly how I feel. the tulip one sounds pretty fab as well.

ScentScelf said...

You know what? I think Vent Vert is fabulous...and a much harsher mistress than No. 19, which gets a totally bad rap for being some sort of cool ice princess *!tch. I absolutely love No. 19; it is in a special green trinity of mine, along with Temps d'une Fete and Chamade. (Chamade is pushing "green" a bit, bit there you go.)

I appreciate Apres L'Ondee...but when push came to shove, I ended up investing in En Passant. Somehow it was more my spring than Al'O. I ought to figure out why someday.

Okay, okay; I think you're going to be the one to finally put me over the edge to at least *try* La Tulipe already. Rhubarb? I'm in.

We've discussed Bluebell before...I need to find my way to a sample somehow. As for my own spring scents, I yammer about that myself in my entry. But I'll go ahead and mention Niki Saint Phalle again, because after I posted yesterday's entry (about pairing NSP with a green tea latte), I realized that I had come to Niki for spring last year, too, but never gave her credit. Time to change that. :)

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Loved this.
Penhaligon's Bluebell. So wonderful. I haven't thought about that one in ages.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Karin said...

I need to retry 19 -- for me Vent Vert is less green and harsh than 19. I love VV, and should get it out again. I love Chamade. I like en Passant better than Apres L'Ondee.

Six' said...

Hello fellow participant!

You also listed Après l'Ondée! Many people seem to feel it's quite Winter-y, but I do sense some sort of promise in it, a forecasting of sunnier days. As you said, it does have a streak of optimism to it, alongside its soft nostalgia...

Also, you're making me crave that Tulipe!

Rose said...

Hi SOW- I agree that is a lovely one!

Hi Ines- they are both very lovely- though Apres L'Ondee is from a different time in some ways- it's a true beauty though

Hi Marion- I'm so pleased with the love Chanel 19 is getting! and yes the mountain water is a lovely classic, fresh scent

Hi Karin- Tulipe is quite new but do try and find it- it's unusual but I love that

Hi Jayne- I can send you a little decant of Apres L'Ondee if you like? I have lots and it's hard to track down!

Hi Scentscelf- thrilled you like VV too and will look up the NSP- sounds very interesting indeed and you have great taste!

Hi Pamela- isn't it a good one- glad you like it too- hope you had a delightful weekend- we finally got spring here in London and it was beautiful

Hi Karin- that's interesting about VV being softer, I guess in some ways you're right, it's very luscious and green. En Passant is lovely, all of those quieter Frederic Malle scents are extremely beautiful

Hi Six- Yeah I think ALO goes whatever the season but I think in spring you can wear this where as in summer it might be a bit oppressive in the heat as it's a bit heady

Karin said...

Where did you find the Tulipe?

Rose said...

Hi Karin- there's a pop shop next to the St Martin's Lane hotel or at Liberty- or on the ByRedo website but they don't do samples- Les Senteurs do samples but I don't know if they have La Tulipe yet

La Maison Fou said...

Sounds like a nice way to scent the time.

Thanks for the info and stopping by the blog.
L.

Metropolitan Mum said...

I am definitely going to try Penhaligon's Bluebell, there is a shop at the beginning of Camden passage. Since it's launch ha few years ago, I have been a fan of Hermes' Un Jardin sur le Nil. I still love it, despite the fact that I smell like the mums of both a friend and my husband.

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Great list! I always look forward to the latest Stella Sheer version that comes out every spring/ summer... I loved the one from last year- hope this years is equally gorgeous! xo

Rose said...

Hi La Maison- you're welcome- thanks to you too!

Hi MM- I walked past that one the other day, fabulous shopping up there. Try it, it's not for everyone, some people find it very metalic but I love it

Hi Daily- I know you love Stella's summer fragrances and I do agree, her original scent and the summer ones are beautiful and future classics I'm sure

Katie Puckrik said...

I like SkirmishofWit's Un Petit Rien suggestion. I find it more accessible than older sis L'Air de Rien, and plan on wearing it throughout the summer for my "mmmmmm...sexy scent".

And you're so right, Chanel No. 19 is a marvelous spring selection!

mary said...

I love Bluebell, must buy myself some more as I've finished the bottle.
Did you know that Apres L'Ondée was the scent that Linda used in Nancy Mitford's Pursuit of Love ... you can just imagine her smelling delicious!