You crazy layering fiends!

You wild and crazy layering ladies have had your way with me...
I am now, at this moment, layering Lolita Lempicka with splashes, mind you, splashes of Bulgari Black! I feel so FREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
Dark and smudgy, but sweet and snuggly at the same time

After a day of layering Arabie with mere dabs of Narcisse Noir, interestingly, the Arabie drydown won out as the day progressed, but that beginning with the NN...that was WILD! WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!
High pitched spice with flowers strewn beneath one's feet on cobblestones, releasing their notes as one steps over them, offering their perfume for your pleasure.... ahhh....

I see new worlds opening!

Thank you for clueing me in on this specialized technique for checking layering potential... I feel that I have been initiated somehow .

I have now named my new layering experiment, Lolita Noir... Lolita Lempicka and Bulgari Black... She is a total swoon at work, and everyone is loving her...
Long Live Lolita Noir!!! I am wearing this combo again tonight. The real test was when two of my coworkers who humour me by sniffing my sotd religiously agreed on this one. They usually have tastes at different ends of the spectrum. Lolita Noir is a real pleaser.

coumarin, I looked at your wardrobe to see if I had any inspirations , I haven't tested many of the ones you have, but I did have a good run with Chanel no.19's green crispy elegance when I layered it with Hanae Mori Butterfly, which is a sweet vanilla gourmandy smell, like buttered raisin toast.
They seemed to anchor one another, whereas my Lolita and Black mix seem to sing along the same accord together, one a bit lighter and softer, the other deeper with more longevity.

hee hee hee, Lolita Lempgari Noir, mais oui!!!

moondeva, I am honored that you like my little "experiment..." mwhhhaaa haaa haaaaa haaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!(that is supposed to be evil laughter)

I am going to try your l'heure blue and nuit de noel combo. neither one alone has yet to grab me. perhaps together...we shall see.

fairies in the tire yard and mechanics in fairyland! what great descriptions! lol!
I never would have tried this if djuna hadn't sent me the decant of Bulgari Black with my Lolita swap. Inspired choice on her part.

Here are my latest experiments in layering:

Tabac Blond with Narciso Rodriguez for Her...these I did not layer on top of one another, rather used both in different locations , the Tabac on my wrists and forearms, with the softer NR for her on my belly and sternum... crushed rose petals with leather...mmmmm....


Today I am trying Patchouli Patch with Feminite du Bois spritzed directly on top...this is NICE, VERY NICE, I think I am smelling saffron, or something spicy, must be in the FduB

oh god, I think I should just get it over with and go through every one of Serge's creations methodically...why waste my time in other houses when he thrills me so... this description is very seductive, linnea.
my day has become triple layered...patchouli patch + feminite du bois + serge lutens fleurs d'oranger...as each one faded I refreshed it with the next, like a winding path, with each scent following the next... there was a real or imagined saffron in that fem du bois and it led me right to the fleurs d'oranger.
A scented life is a good life.

yes, for me too, it is just a matter of time, I am afraid....
the Vanille you mention, is that also a Serge Lutens? I didn't see it on the basenotes directory...

Discovered a new layering combo that transports one to a woody church of flowers and incense and earth.

Feminite du Bois applied to the outer forearm and inner crook of elbow.
Parfum Sacre applied to the inner wrist.
ahhh........... good for meditation and reflection.

What could be a good name for this combo? The Sacred Feminine, perhaps?
Adding it to my list of combos.

[QUOTE=Quarry]Some of these discoveries come quite by accident:

A flannel cuff retains yesterday's Wet Garden (Demeter scents last better on clothing than on skin), a wrist carries remnants of last night's Nuits de Noho ... and voila! A new scent combo is born. I've just reapplied both scents--best kept lightly applied and not too close together. They smell better with their scents slightly separated. I picture the vapors rising and twisting together like multi-strand ropes of yarn.
QUOTE]

moondeva, I feel your pain, I myself admit that I have had self doubts since crossing the line with you, my fellow layerers....and yet, layer I must and do.
quarry, I relate to this above vignette, especially the analogy to weaving, and twisting ropes of yarn. So true. Layering is perhaps a mechanism to expand on the non linear experience even more. As with a single fragrance that is non linear when one experiences the evolution of notes, layering does the same, scents in stereo, if you will. I think it is true that layers are best applied on different patches of skin, though my lolita lempicka and black combo - well , they go directly one over the other.
one post script. the weaving analogy reminds me of a fantasy quartet that my daughter loves, by Tamora Pierce, called the Circle of Magic. One of the main character weaves strands of silk and light and thereby creates magic. neat story.

moondeva, one couldn't know how prophetic these words would be...alas, have I lost my mind entirely? I ask myself as I sit enshrouded in a fragrant aura of bliss...
from my belly steam is rising scented of montale's velvet flowers. not sure why it is named thus, since it is a searing scent on me, bewitching...i have not even bothered to check its composition... I assume there are flowers in here, duh - which kind? maybe tuberose? I wonder, but know not for certain.
If tuberose is criminelle as i have heard it described here, then it could very well be in this creation of montale...bewitching, I repeat.
on my wrists and forearms rest the warm sultry haze of ambre sultan....yeow!!!!! I can hardly stand myself!! I am in LOVE!!!WOOOO!!!!!!

I doubt I could venture out of the house this way, but I ain't got no plans anyhow...all the menfolk are watching the sugarbowl...me and my sniffies are delightfully alone.

I feel a name coming.... here it comess.....
Bewitched: Ambre Sultan, applied to wrists + Montale Velvet Flowers , above the belly button, the latter applied quite sparingly.

I need to share my latest Layering Experiment:

The Naughty Empress

Creed's Eugenie sprayed on the wrists and above belly button
Malles' Carnal Flower sparingly applied in crook of inner elbow and hipbones.

Dominant top notes are jasmine tuberose and violet
Dominant drydown impression is coconut and sandalwood with a hint of vanilla.

This is not for the faint of heart.
But if you are Naughty and if you are an Empress, who cares?

The Carnal Flower lends a rough patchy velvet impression to the smooth silky elegance of the Eugenie.

My Layered Concoctions: Posting these here as I am changing my signature.

The Sacred Feminine: Feminite du Bois + Parfum Sacre (woody church of incense, flowers and earth)

Lolita Noir: Lolita Lempicka + Bulgari Black (smudgy deep charcoal snugglies)

Some Like it Hot: Feminite du Bois + Patchouli Patch + SL Fleur d'Oranger (spice and flowers, good for cooking curry)

Leather & Lace: Tabac Blond + NR for Her (a pretty whip cracker)

Spice Girls: Arabie + Narcisse Noir (opulent spice market run by mysterious woman)

Bewitched: Ambre Sultan + Montale's Velvet Flowers

Naughty Empress: Creed's Eugenie + Malles' Carnal Flower

sounds yummy, warm and smooth!

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, WOMAN!
You make these sound SOOOOO good...not to mention that Barry White concoction...
BUt you should not be distracting me from my week with SERGE>
My only safety net is that I don't own any of these. phew.
safe for a while at least.

An inadvertent layering occurrence has caused me to seek out this old thread of interesting combos.

Today I have been sampling Nuits de Scherrer on one wrist and Timbuktu on the other, and while I initially found them diametrically opposed, I am beginning to think they are made for one another!

The Nuits, for which I have no official notes, can only be described by me as a softer and gentler Eugenie. Whereas Eugenie has bare shoulders and long tousled scented hair, Nuits is more elegant, if not as beguiling, with hair smoothed into a classic chignon. I detect jasmine and sandalwood and may be imagining the presence of mint, simply because it gives me a clean , uplifting impression. Some might call it soapy. I like it, but might grow tired of it without the alternate salt and pepper spice that the
Timbuktu is affording me. It's as if the Nuits has broken into a light sweat after the exertion of dancing. The Timbuktu was initially reminiscent of Le Baiser du Dragon, but after wearing it several hours, I changed my mind. Dragon is sweeter. Timbuktu has a saltier sweatier drydown. Very earthy and grounding. The pepper is mostly in the topnote.
Here are the notes of Timbuktu according to BN:

* Top Notes
* Mango, Berries, Pink Pepper, Cardamom,

Middle Notes
* Karo Karounde Flower, Papyrus Wood, Frankincense,

Base Notes
* Myrrh, Vetiver, Patchouli, Benzoin,

Nuits and Timbuktu make me think of a lesbian couple that I have been friends with for years. One of them is known to tote her own bottle of tequila with a lime and salt shaker to parties (for her I would gift the Timbuktu) the other is a more traditional Mama, more reserved, at least in public .
They make a wonderful loving couple and these fragrances make a satisfying match.

hmmm... maybe I could call this concoction "Aimee and Jaguar" after that nineties German movie about the Jewish "Mata Hari" journalist who falls in love with the wife of a Nazi soldier.

Timbuktu + Nuits de Scherrer = my layering adventure of the day

Don't be frightened, my dear, just come a little bit closer, now, there we go...
(spritzing a bit of Fleurs d'Oranger beside your Chanel no 5)
have a whiff of that...I think it might be quite lovely!

But I thought I was choosing from your wardrobe...don't you have Serge Lutens Fleurs d'Oranger? I truly think a spritz of the Lutens next to a dab of your Chanel no 5 could have remarkable potential.
But that's just me...crazy layering fiend that I am!