I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago about wearing SJP NYC strawberry based perfume for an instant reminder of last summer so I thought I would do a quick post on my current favourite perfume. I shy away from talking about perfume because I am by no means an expert and all the talk of base and top notes can leave me quite confused. I however, like most of us, adore scent, fragrance, perfume! The power of scent in evoking memories and conjuring up strong feelings is something that fascinates me. I love smelling a perfume that instantly reminds you of an aunt or your mum when you were younger, or your first perfume as a teenager...perfume can be nostalgia in a bottle.
I love all sorts of scents and had trouble finding out what my preferences were when it came to 'notes'. I got obsessed with reading the NST perfume blog and recommend it for anyone interested in trying to learn a bit more.
Mary Greenwell Plum
I had wanted to smell this for weeks when I finally got the chance walking through House of Fraser. The only word I could think of when I smelt it was 'cosseted'. I felt warm and looked after and happy, I just had an instant love affair with it. It is described as:
Plum a contemporary chypre, blends top notes of peach, blackcurrant, plum, bergamot and lemon. Harmonious heart notes of Gardenia, tuberose, orange flower absolute, rose absolute and jasmine absolute. Followed by delicious Dry down of Precious Woods, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Patchouli, Amber, and White Musks.
How delicious do peach and plum notes sound. I've also noted the bergamot as Bliss Vanilla and Bergamot body cream is my favourite body cream scent at the minute, so perhaps I am finding out a bit more about what scents I like!
It's quite strong but most perfumes fade very fast on my skin so this is ideal for me. I'd say it's more of a cold weather fragrance as a result of this strength, so would suit nightime better in the warmer months. That said, I sprayed it on me this sunny morning and didn't find it too much at all! I think you would probably love or hate this perfume and I have fallen hard for the richness of it. Some perfume bloggers dubbed it as a "big frock" fragrance. I can see what they mean, it just feels like you should be wearing a vintage party dress but I also wear it with jeans ;)
Googling more about 'chypre' I learnt a few things...
1.) That a chypre fragrance is defined by citrus top notes, a floral middle and, most importantly, a "mossy-animalic" base note derived from oak moss.
2.) Chypre is French for Cyrpus, and thus chypre perfumes are known for "mossy-woody", warm characteristics.
3.) It's popularity in modern perfume is not great and it is usually modified with fruity or floral notes. Popular chypre perfumes include Coco Mademoiselle (another favourite of mine!) and Miss Dior, a fruity chypre.
So looks like I've found a favourite...chypres and basically anything that seems to have woods in the description...oh and bergamot! Not sure what this says about me, that I like scented but animalic forests?
Mary Greenwell was an iconic makeup artist throughout the 80s and 90s and this is her first fragrance as she says perfume was always the finishing touch to all her celebrity makeup looks.
I love the colour of the packaging and the heavy gold lid on the bottle. Beautiful on my dressing table and I almost cried with delight when I opened this on Christmas morning. It just makes me feel grown up :)
Plum - my signature scent (at last!) for 2011.
