Technically, it was yesterday when I sampled several perfumes. I went to my local Nordstrom just to see what was new there.
I started with Aqua di Gioia by Giorgio Armani. This one was being pushed, it must be really new there, even the SAs were wearing a nice blue Aqua di Gioia t-shirt. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It is easy to wear, and fun. Incredible lasting power. I sprayded a paper with it and it is still going strong, some 27 hours later. It is fresh, a little aquatic, but not in a bad way. It strikes me as a beach scent. It is not a masterpiece, but I think this should have been issued at the beginning of Summer, not at the end.
Next I tried Gucci Guilty, love the name and the inspiration (I still have that old Barbara Streisand LP with Barry Gibb). The perfume is nice, flowery, also easy to wear and it is not super sweet, or a Carmen Miranda fruit hat. It is a bit fruity, and flowery in a delicious way. Very innoffensive and probably easy to wear for work or as a daily perfume. I think I would have gladly worn this 10-15 years ago. Although it is nice, I will not get a FB of this, because what won my heart and nose was...
Eau Claire des Merveilles. I found this beautiful. I expected by the name and the fact that it is a JC Elena creation for this perfume to be very clean and barely there, but this is not the case. It starts a little bit citrusy, but not overtly, then I get a Bois Farine kind of accord that opens the door for the Eau de Merveilles accord with a little serving of vanilla. It is not short lived, and although it is airy, there is a presence there. I have read reviews about a cheese accord, or milky accord. I think of it as creamy. I brought a sample of this with me to see if I still like it and whether I should open my wallet. I also sprayed a bit of Eau des Merveilles and Elixir des Merveilles for comparison. The Eau stayed with me for a long time. I am very surprised I never bought this one.
While I was waiting for the SA to bring the tester for Eau Claire des Marveilles I triede Hermes Voyage. It is lovely but very airy. I loved the bottle. The drydown reminds me of something of my childhood that has to do with spending weekends and summers at my cousins house in the country, especially by the swimming pool. No, it does not smell of swimming pool, it smells of something in their back yard which brought good memories. I need to revisit this, although for cologne type perfumes, I rather have Cologne du Parfumeur or Chanel Eau de Cologne.
I moved across the counter to try Escale au Marquis. It is nice, but since I have Portofino I was not overly impressed. Also it did not fare well with my nose, since I was still enchanted with Eau Claire des Merveilles. Don't get me wrong, it is nice, but of all the Escales I think this is the one I like the least because I did not find anything remarkable. It is very pleasant, though.
Lolita Lempicka Eau de Desir is nice, not too strong. I did a side-by-side with the original Lolita Lempicka and while the original is a vanilla bomb (in a good way, of course) Desir seemed very shy in comparison. I need to revisit this one because my nose was very tired then.
Finally, I sprayed the new Balenciaga and I still like it.
Some side notes: 1) The SAs were pushing the new Armani and Gucci, as well as Marc Jacobs Lola, Flower Bomb, and Eau Mega. One of the SAs seemed a bit offended that I did not want to try those. I explained that I had already smelled those and was saving some skin for the newer perfumes. 2) I saw Eau Claire under the counter but not the tester. When I asked about it the SA did not know what I was talking about. She had to call her manager who went and got it from another counter. I was surprised because usually SAs at Nordstrom are very well trained, oh well. 3) I also got samples of two perfumes I have already tried before and that I like: Chloe Fleurs de Capuccine and Chanel Bleu. Yes, I know, I don't understand my fascination with Bleu. I can't totally bring myself to confess that I like it
, but I spray it everytime I set foot in a department store, some crazy obsession. As for Capuccine, I am working on a review of another scent and I wanted to compare (yeah, that's right, this sounds like a great excuse!
).
I started with Aqua di Gioia by Giorgio Armani. This one was being pushed, it must be really new there, even the SAs were wearing a nice blue Aqua di Gioia t-shirt. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It is easy to wear, and fun. Incredible lasting power. I sprayded a paper with it and it is still going strong, some 27 hours later. It is fresh, a little aquatic, but not in a bad way. It strikes me as a beach scent. It is not a masterpiece, but I think this should have been issued at the beginning of Summer, not at the end.
Next I tried Gucci Guilty, love the name and the inspiration (I still have that old Barbara Streisand LP with Barry Gibb). The perfume is nice, flowery, also easy to wear and it is not super sweet, or a Carmen Miranda fruit hat. It is a bit fruity, and flowery in a delicious way. Very innoffensive and probably easy to wear for work or as a daily perfume. I think I would have gladly worn this 10-15 years ago. Although it is nice, I will not get a FB of this, because what won my heart and nose was...
Eau Claire des Merveilles. I found this beautiful. I expected by the name and the fact that it is a JC Elena creation for this perfume to be very clean and barely there, but this is not the case. It starts a little bit citrusy, but not overtly, then I get a Bois Farine kind of accord that opens the door for the Eau de Merveilles accord with a little serving of vanilla. It is not short lived, and although it is airy, there is a presence there. I have read reviews about a cheese accord, or milky accord. I think of it as creamy. I brought a sample of this with me to see if I still like it and whether I should open my wallet. I also sprayed a bit of Eau des Merveilles and Elixir des Merveilles for comparison. The Eau stayed with me for a long time. I am very surprised I never bought this one.
While I was waiting for the SA to bring the tester for Eau Claire des Marveilles I triede Hermes Voyage. It is lovely but very airy. I loved the bottle. The drydown reminds me of something of my childhood that has to do with spending weekends and summers at my cousins house in the country, especially by the swimming pool. No, it does not smell of swimming pool, it smells of something in their back yard which brought good memories. I need to revisit this, although for cologne type perfumes, I rather have Cologne du Parfumeur or Chanel Eau de Cologne.
I moved across the counter to try Escale au Marquis. It is nice, but since I have Portofino I was not overly impressed. Also it did not fare well with my nose, since I was still enchanted with Eau Claire des Merveilles. Don't get me wrong, it is nice, but of all the Escales I think this is the one I like the least because I did not find anything remarkable. It is very pleasant, though.
Lolita Lempicka Eau de Desir is nice, not too strong. I did a side-by-side with the original Lolita Lempicka and while the original is a vanilla bomb (in a good way, of course) Desir seemed very shy in comparison. I need to revisit this one because my nose was very tired then.
Finally, I sprayed the new Balenciaga and I still like it.
Some side notes: 1) The SAs were pushing the new Armani and Gucci, as well as Marc Jacobs Lola, Flower Bomb, and Eau Mega. One of the SAs seemed a bit offended that I did not want to try those. I explained that I had already smelled those and was saving some skin for the newer perfumes. 2) I saw Eau Claire under the counter but not the tester. When I asked about it the SA did not know what I was talking about. She had to call her manager who went and got it from another counter. I was surprised because usually SAs at Nordstrom are very well trained, oh well. 3) I also got samples of two perfumes I have already tried before and that I like: Chloe Fleurs de Capuccine and Chanel Bleu. Yes, I know, I don't understand my fascination with Bleu. I can't totally bring myself to confess that I like it
, but I spray it everytime I set foot in a department store, some crazy obsession. As for Capuccine, I am working on a review of another scent and I wanted to compare (yeah, that's right, this sounds like a great excuse!).
