I had a bit of a sampling binge yesterday. A few stand outs:
Started with the same Ormaie I wore today. I've been looking for scents that can deal with hot sweaty ballet classes without becoming obnoxious. Clearly a thin line there! This one is absolutely perfect in that role, and the more I wear it the more at home I feel with it. it's a special one, but also one that doesn't shout for attention.
Of course in the PM, something with a bit more oomph was in order and I wound up having about 5 samples on at once.
Czech and Speake - Frankincense and Myrrh
(From a free sample I got with Cuba)
Holy old school barbershop batman! I wound up bouncing a couple of pings back and forth with Mark about this. You'd think Avignon like vibes, but no not at all. Like I told Mark, if this is a church scent, it's The Church of the Man Cave. This is hair chested, in a hot steaming right out of the shower kind of way.
Pretty fabulous, and C&S is officially on my radar now. They have frequent sales, so worth subbing to their newsletter.
Maitre Gantier et Parfumeur
Grain de Plaisir - Holy old school lemon drop candy batman! Supposedly there's a celery note here, that I didn't get, just a great lemon drop opening and then a lovely light herbal fougere.
This is a super interesting house that seems pretty under the radar but they have a number of classic type scents and a very interesting pedigree. The founder of Le Artisan Perfumer (considered the first nice house by many) went on to found this house in the late 80's and as far as I can tell has done a great job keeping the scents in good shape. I'm finally getting round to the huge pile of samples I have from them and they have all been excellent, though clearly from their time, in a good way.