Should I sell unwanted bottles on my blog? What about swaps?

© The Smelly Vagabond

Timmy the Teddy says hi! 🙂

So… I’m just going to throw the question out here: do you think it would be a good idea for me to sell my unwanted bottles on my blog? Or should I just stick to writing? Reason I’m asking is because I’ll be moving abroad in about 2 months’ time, and don’t have enough space for all my perfumes in my suitcase (yes, it’s full, I know, I know… I’m a natural hoarder), and there are still a couple more that I wish to purchase before leaving London! Whoops. I wonder if you’ve ever found yourself in such a predicament. There’s always the option of shipping, but I can’t bear the thought of perfume being transported in a hot metal container. But I’m going to leave it up to you guys to decide:

In addition, would you people be interested if I conducted, say, a monthly decant swap here on the blog? I personally think swaps are a fantastic way to try fragrances that we aren’t familiar with without having to spend extra money (cause it’s already been spent!). Some ideas I have are themed swaps, in which everyone comments a fragrance that contains a certain note (e.g. incense) that they are willing to decant and swap, and then look around to see if they can find a match! I’m not sure how that’s going to work out logistically (yet), but if enough people are interested in it I’ll try to find a way to make this possible!

Well, what do you think? Do cast your vote, and leave a comment if you’ve got more thoughts on the matter! 🙂

~ The Smelly Vagabond

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Battle of the Orange Blossom Beauties

It’s been just over a year since I posted this, which is one of my better works. Can you believe that I did that drawing myself? Yep, I’m not very good at it, am I? But guess what – Séville à l’Aube and Rubj are very good indeed. I’m gonna layer them again today just to remind myself of the magic they share.

Tomorrow, a review of the latest offering by Oriza L. Legrand – Muguet Fleuri, just in time for Labour Day! Have a happy holiday! 🙂

The Smelly Vagabond

© thesmellyvagabond

What do you get when L’Artisan Parfumeur‘s Séville à l’Aube meets Vero Profumo‘s Rubj EDP? You get an orange blossom diva-off, that’s what.

Now, Séville à l’Aube and Rubj are two of my favourite orange blossom-dominated fragrances, so as the judge of this extravagant perfume one-upmanship, you can count on me to be absolutely objective, right? Right. 😉 So, down to business. Who’s better, Séville à l’Aube or Rubj?

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Telegraph Article: Why are there no great men’s fragrances any more?

Interesting article alert! The Telegraph has just published a piece lamenting the lack of great men’s fragrances today. You can find it by clicking here.

Notable quotes that stood out to me include:

“So dull are today’s creations that the fragrance du jour may as well be called Ubiquity Pour Homme – a concoction that is everywhere, smells like everything else and is characterised by a top note of predictability, a heart note of safety and a base note of utter blandness. Oh, and pink pepper and something sweet and vanillary for good measure. Wear it and you’ll smell like every other man in the street.”

“What’s also making today’s fragrances so dull is the ubiquitous Dihydromyrcenol – a synthetic ingredient described (depending on your point of view) as being lavender-like, hyper-fresh or slightly bitter and metallic. It’s primarily used in men’s fragrance for its ferocity and staying power, is often prevalent in sport variants, and is the ingredient responsible for that slightly acrid zing common to pungent men’s fragrances. And it’s is everywhere. The reason for this, a perfumer friend told me recently, is that creative briefs for men’s fragrances often require that they “last all day” because men, unlike women, tend to apply once and don’t bother to top up later in the day. The easiest way to deliver that longevity is to throw some Dihydromyrcenol into the mix.”

Maison Francis Kurkdjian – Amyris Pour Homme

 

source: menshealth.co.uk

If I could lock Maison Francis Kurkdjian‘s Amyris Pour Homme in a box, weigh it down with stones, and cast it into the watery graves of the Pacific Ocean, never to be found again, I would. Before you start pointing your fingers at me, rolling your eyes, and muttering under your breath, “There he goes again, he’s always ripping into clean and fresh scents, whatever”, hold it. I admit that clean and fresh isn’t my number one preference, but I do admire it when it’s well done. Case in point: I’m a big fan of MFK‘s APOM Pour Homme and Pour Femme, for their ability to infuse the potentially narcotic orange blossom through and through with lightness and freshness. And I don’t have anything against MFK – in fact, I absolutely adore Absolue Pour Le Soir and also Pour Le Matin.

Vintage L’Air du Temps Giveaway

Just a quick post here to say that if you haven’t already entered the giveaway for a 10ml decant of vintage L’Air du Temps, you have until 2 May to do so. All you have to do is comment on the original post here.

Thierry Mugler – Angel, the Perfume Demon

source: Skyrion on deviantART

[Warning: gruesome descriptions ahead. You have been warned.]

Amongst the battle ranks of Thierry Mugler‘s otherworldly aliens and monstrous beasts, there stands at the forefront of them all a powerful, fearsome leader. She is Angel, a perfume demon whose evil knows no bounds. As she waits for the right moment to strike, she licks her lips as she relishes the blood she will soon taste, lips that are stained a Nicki Minaj neon pink. Foes who are lulled into a false sense of security by the frivolous, ditzy colour of her lipstick will know regret once they have experienced her kiss of death – a noxious, cotton candy smooch that smothers the life force of her victims upon contact.

Angel of Death

Perfume Haiku Series: Champagne de Bois by Sonoma Scent Studio

Champagne de Bois by Sonoma Scent Studio

Golden amber rays
Flood a dungeon flamed with light
Filled with sacred woods

~The Smelly Vagabond

Perfume Haiku Series: Metallica by Guerlain

Metallica by Guerlain

The chilly sting of
Winter’s frozen blade of wind
On soft velvet skin

~ The Smelly Vagabond

The Smelly Vagabond’s 1st Anniversary + Giveaway: Vintage L’Air du Temps

It seems that I’ve missed out on celebrating my one year anniversary on the blogosphere, which was a couple of days back. I’m not typically the sentimental sort, not when it comes to festivities and traditions. I’m not the sort to make resolutions during the New Year, nor do I ‘look back’ at how the year has past. It’s not that I blunder through life blindly; I just believe we ought to engage in reflection frequently, anyway, and so we don’t really need special occasions to remind us to do so. But I guess I’ll break the rule for my perfumes, because, well, they occupy a special place in my life.

Elle Article: “Fragrance, Sex & Attraction – Men Who Collect Perfume”

I stumbled across an Elle article that was posted over on Facebook Fragrance Friends, a lovely forum that I frequent. It writes about the growing number of men who are steadily becoming fragrance fans and also features the Goodsmellas, a group of well, men who are fanatical (I use this as a term of endearment) about their perfume. It’s a lovely read, and I highly recommending checking it out.

“But, you know, we get it. It’s not about using the fragrance to get the girl or using the fragrance to land the job—it’s just life enriching. And when you figure that out, it’s like seeing color.”

This quote really struck me as something that rings dear to my heart. Sure, fragrance may help in the game of seduction, and it may make one more attractive to others, but the main thing about fragrance is that it truly, truly, enriches your life. It’s a whole new world of sensory perceptions that remains to be discovered.

Long live perfume!

~ The Smelly Vagabond