Summer Scents, Part 1

You've all seen box o' samples. You've at least heard me talk about it and the difficulty I have deciding what to sample. Given all my whining and my trouble selecting from what I have available, you might think that I would be sensible about ordering new samples, at least until I'd tamed the beast that is...well, that is box o' samples.

You would be wrong.

Perfume samples are like black shoes. They're all unique and necessary in their own way, and really one can never have too many. All it takes for me is a promotional email or a review on another blog, and I find myself making lists of samples to order. This last time it was an email from Luckyscent, most likely one of those "stop by an see what's new" promotions. Oh, I stopped by. Some samples I ordered were new altogether, some new to Luckyscent, and some simply new to me. CB I Hate Perfume Wild Pansy was one of these samples. I give you now another three:

Parfumerie Generale Un Crime Exotique
The notes in this one are Chinese osmanthus, gingerbread, tea, cinnamon, star anise, mate absolute, vanilla sugar, and South Sea Island sandalwood. I admit, I picked this one for the name alone. I'm not sure I even bothered to read the notes. The scent is pretty, but rather banal for such a name as Un Crime Exotique. With such a title, it should be turning perfume on its head somehow. Truly, this name would be better for a perfume like Miel de Bois. Somebody get Serge on the blower and see what we can do about getting that name changed.

This scent has a serious holiday feel to it. The only picture I can conjure of un crime exotique here is someone hopped up on chai tea latte (which bears a remarkable resemblance to this scent) stealing a dollar out of the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas. Bad elf!

Bois 1920 Sandalo e The
The notes in Sandalo e The are jasmine, Bulgarian rose, sandalwood, and tea leaves. This one is slightly medicinal at the top, but it warms nicely to the skin and the tea takes over, although it's slightly sugared. The first time I wore this it dried to a beautiful rosy sandalwood, with terrific lasting power. Jasmine lends some heft to the rose, and also keeps it from turning into more of an incense. Although quite straightforward, this one is lush and pretty and actually refreshing for summer.

Calypso St. Barth Lily
The notes in Lily are cassis, lemon, Italian tangerine, blackberry, wild strawberry, Grasse rose, musk, white peach, raspberry, and sandalwood. If I had read Colombina's post first, I would not have ordered this sample, but it was nigh on its way. When I think of lilies, I generally think of Easter lilies, which are a beautiful creamy white set against crisp green stems. I know there are many types of lilies, but still, I don't think this is like any I've encountered. I think Calypso St. Barth may have found a new species, the Fruit Cocktail Lily. Or to be more succinct--just Fruit Cocktail. This scent is so cloyingly sweet it makes my teeth hurt, and I am sure it resembles something one of my best friends wore when we were in high school, back in the 80s. Her favorite color was purple and she loved Skittles and Duran Duran. The only thing that got me through the day with this one was nostalgia. They would probably make more money off it if they could find some air-headed celebrity to push it for them.

*photos from Luckyscent