Review of Stella McCartney, Stella

Flowers, flowers, flowers. This is such a soft scent, but do not expect to smell citrusy or "fresh" while wearing this. Even though it supposedly contains mandarin (a type of orange) scent, I did not detect this at all. If you want to smell feminine, soft and graceful, while running the risk of smelling quasi-mature, then you may want to try this one out. In my opinion, the rose and amber are the strongest scents in this one.

This is probably because they also used rose absolute in this formula. I wish they had mixed some aquatic water scents in with the rose, because then you would likely not smell like wilting roses but rather *fresh* roses after the scent mixes in with your body chemistry over time.

Maybe it is because they also have peony flower along with the rose. Keep it simple, guys -- it's all about getting the right combination of complementing scents. I don't think the peony flower complements the rose very well, but that's just my opinion. The peony lends a very "green" yet slightly stagnant smell to the rose, and adds a dimension which I don't favor. It's considered to be somewhat of a green note, and I think they were aiming to add freshness to the rose smell by mixing in the peony, but it just doesn't seem to work well, in my opinion.

If you have a very fresh, clean-scented perfume with strong aquatic notes, you may want to layer it on top of Stella, just make sure that your own scent doesn't have stong clashing flower scents in it like honey-suckle or magnolia, or any strong musks. The rose should be the dominant scent for this one. Examples of aquatic notes would be perfumes containing water lily, hosta, and/or osmanthus, sort of like how some Lacoste perfumes smell.

Review of Issey Miyake, L'eau d'Issey

Upon first smelling this on myself, I was not that enthusiastic. I pictured stuffy cottages and a woman rocking on a chair knitting by the seaside. Not a horrible mental image, but not very exhilirating either. It smelled a bit powdery, with more of a mild aquatic scent at first, rather than the florals which I was expecting. I almost thought it was too "mature" of a scent for my age.

Yet after 30 minutes and during the rest of the day, it began to surprise me.... much like the nerd in the back of the class, who eventually evolves into a hunk by the end of the school year. Sort of. Basically, the floral scents began to unveil themselves more visibly, and the scent morphed into a pleasant, relatively cool floral. (How does this happen? Simple, the alcohol/oils begin to mix with your body chemistry, producing a different smell over time, and the upper notes of the perfume gradually fade off, revealing the middle notes (normally florals) and eventually, at the very end of the day, the lowest notes (normally musks/ambers/"heavier" oils).

Not a warm scent, but still managed to smell inviting, uplifting and fresh without smelling too "icy cold" or too masculine (i.e., overpowering musks). This is quite an accomplishment, in comparison to the other perfumes I've experienced in my lifetime thus far. This is a very tranquil, subtly cool scent with constant reminders of water-based flowers like lotus in the picture. It is invigorating without projecting any in-your-face citrus scents.

Ok, so WHY is it still so pleasant without having any apparent warm vanilla? This was a sincere puzzle to me. I found out. It has this amazing oil chemically derived from whale intestines. It's a musk that basically floats on top of the sea ocean after the whale dies. Yes, that's right. Whale intestine musk. It's in Chanel and other top brands. Was very expensive for a while, but then this dude figured out how to make a chemical synthetic version of it, so then it got cheaper because people could mass produce it. It smells absolutely delightful. Light, musky, feminine... cool without being too warm.


Thank you, Whale, but we will not need your intestine musk anymore. Although dead whales never did have the capacity to sign wills permitting usage of their intestinal musk. I got this photo of you for free, too.

Some of the qualities which really hooked me about this scent:

(1) The cool white florals last throughout the entire duration of the scent. I felt like I could smell the freesia and lotus continuing on and on, over the course of several hours. Ok, I love the lotus. I feel like I'm in an exotic Asian garden right after a fresh rain. This is quite a valuable perfume quality, considering the other perfumes I've tried usually melt off into either a stale vanilla or too-masculine musk (or at worst, an acrid, stale scent) as the hours pass on.

(2) It is a very calming scent without smelling too much like puff powders and the stuffy kind of florals. It actually smells very spiritually awakening and uplifting. Throughout the course of wearing this perfume, I feel like I'm meditating by a pond at dawn, smelling the dew and lotus right next to me, the sun warming my back. Why do I compare this perfume to meditation in particular? Because meditation is both uplifting and calming when done properly, and those are two of the significant traits I love about this scent.

Note: I think this is a scent that wouldn't overpower boyfriend and knock him off his feet. It's very inviting and calm. It relaxes me, so it would probably relax boyfriend. Hopefully not to the point of falling asleep, but it's a laid-back yet feminine and graceful kind of scent. There are barely any heavy musks in here, no acrid vanillas to the best of my knowledge, so fear not... you should NOT emerge smelling like a bathroom air freshener. It's one of my most favorite scents. There is something so catchy and different about the special mix of scents. It's sensually interesting, rather than just "cute" or "sexy."

Review of Demeter Essential Oils, Patchouli

So the perfume/beauty shop near my place just started carrying the Demeter Essential Oils collection. These things run for around $70 a piece, even though they're just oils. There's a difference between the oils and mainstream perfumes you should know, if you don't want to end up wasting your money.... the sales-lady apparently did not know this Me: "Do you sell essential oils?" Her: "Hm....Is that a brand?" Me:(in my head) "No, get re-trained, but your eye makeup is lovely" Me:(actually) "No..." (I had to control my over-active tongue). So back to the point, the mainstream perfumes usually are a variety of diluted oils in an allcohol-base. Meaning they don't last very long, and that's why Sarah Jessica Parker's "Lovely" is a number 1 seller on Amazon, most of the time. Why? Because it keeps running out, imho. Also why? Because maybe it smells nice, too. But I find more evidence in peoples' comments "Oh this smells so nice, but it runs out sooo fast!"

Just because a perfume sells very well does not mean it's necessarily very good. It's probably partially because it's very diluted in alcohol. So don't use Amazon best-seller lists on perfume to make a judgment on what smells good. So back to the main point.... I was a little shocked and mildly amused that they were charging so much for an essential oil. "Limited time only!" as if that is supposed to make me want to buy it more (it did, sort of). But I resisted... mainly because I know that The Body Shop carries a wholeeeee line of essential oils, for much cheaper...... 16 bucks a shot..... very nice. Plus their profits help benefit third-world farmers, I heard? Yay for contributing to good causes.

Why do I like oils over perfumes? Because it's unhealthy to spray yourself with the kind of alcohol and all the other chemicals which companies commonly use in perfumes. Oils also have better staying power, meaning you just need to dab a bit on your pulse points (neck, wrists, chest) in order to have basically the same effect. With alcohol-based perfumes, you're often spraying yourself throughout the day and night. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to have to remind my sweetheart every 30 minutes that I *need* something else in order to smell good. Him leaning in for a kiss... me spritzing myself beforehand... "Ok now we can kiss".... Him leaning over for a hug.... "Wait I need to spritz again, the scent's fading away".... I mean, come on. I need a fragrance which will last.... and obviously I want him to believe that I naturally emit the smell of fresh flowers, citrus and amber musk.

Point established that Demeter Essential Oils in Patchouli made me smell like a hippie emerging from a moss-covered cave, who had been living off organic mens' aftershave for a few weeks. But after a few hours, it started smelling very warm and vanilla-ish on my skin, which is a huge surprise to me. Patchouli usually reminds me of incense and outdoors huts, and musky men sitting next to overgrown fern by an Amazonian waterfall... but this one actually turned out smelling quite feminine, nice and pleasant on my skin after a few hours. Keyword: after a few hours....

Review of Danielle Steel, Danielle Eau de Parfum

Here I shall discuss my affair with the Danielle Steel's Eau de Parfum. I never thought I'd be reviewing or even wearing such a brand. I've passed by her romance novels in the bookstore... yeah. Enough said. No offense if you like her books.... I just think it's not really a title that you'd proudly and openly mention as a "favorite" to your friends.... sort of like a cheap one-night stand (may all of us never have to experience that).

So how did this perfume walk into my life? Well, my former room mate is a huge perfume fanatic. She would constantly have new ones on display, and I'd be smelling like a garden gone wild, whenever she returned from her shopping trips. One day she came back with Paris Hilton, Ralph Lauren Rocks, a few others with fancy shiny bottles, and Danielle Steel. I really liked the Danielle Steel because it smelled so feminine, and not as fruity or bubble-gummy as the Paris Hilton. She mulled this over for a while, then generously gave it to me.

My first experience wearing this was for a winter date to the movies. I didn't know him that well at the time, and hence didn't really know his taste. I spritzed some on -- very liberally, unfortunately -- and smelled like an orange clad in amber musk, emerging from a bamboo pool. Ok, unique, but sort of heavy. It's supposed to be a floral oriental, and let's just say, it smells like freshly cut greens and sharp fruity-florals at first, but VERY musky. Like, manly musky, in my opinion. Like a man's musky aftershave.

Technically, it's supposed to contain Mediterranean mandarin (a type of orange I suppose), jasmine, orchid and hydroponic rose. The heavier scents (base notes) are white amber, cashmere musk and blue vetiver. The vetiver, which is supposedly a very manly kind of scent, must have been a bit too heavy in my opinion. I guess when I first smelled this, I thought it was feminine because of the floral and fruit notes I detected. But as this perfume gets older, it seems the florals and especially the fruity notes fade away.

I was surprised because as the night went on, to my mild horror, it smelled muskier and muskier, rather than fading away. Now, with most perfumes, this is a good thing, because you want the smell to last. BUT not to last, smelling like a masculine musk. Yes, this fragrance which I once perceived as so feminine, turned out to be overbearingly manly, over time. At least on my skin. If it had some more vetiver (a kind of masculine-ish floral) and cold aquatic oils added, it would TOTALLY smelll 100% masculine, in my opinion.

It was a bit embarrassing, because I smelled more manly than him, as the date progressed. Uh..... can we say "awkward." He never mentioned anything like, "Oh, you smell good," hence I sort of will take that as a neutral to negative sign. So why haven't I chucked this perfume? Well, for some odd reason, I still like smelling it, maybe because I'm a girl and I like the smell of a man. Ha. It smells musky, but I have a scent that's ALL cherry blossom/floral-y, so I'd probably just layer the two.... or just stay on the safe side, and only wear it for myself.... at home. In summary, a nice scent, but smells way too musky and heavy on my skin after a while.