Hello everyone! Can you believe this is the last weekend in June? Also it’s officially the first day of summer vacation for all the school kids (who have been taking their virtual lessons from home since March anyway). How’s the covid situation in your country? Here in Poland on many occasions it feels as if people completely forgot that something serious was going on not that long ago. And we’re having presidential elections tomorrow. But generally speaking… it’s not the same as it was before when you go out. In my opinion it was still to early to release some of the restrictions.
Moving on to more pleasant topics, let me ask what is the last perfume that you had a chance to try lately? Did you like the fragrance you tested, or did it turn out to be a disappointing scrubber? I am happy to report that yesterday when I came back home I found a sample of Vivacious waiting for me in my mailbox. This is the latest composition from Hiram Green that focuses on violet. You know I love my violets & irises so I had some expectations before trying it, but oh boy, this is so good. Look out for my detailed review that should be ready sometime next week. For now – happy weekend!
Chemist in the Bottle 
Here in New York the situation has improved considerably and we are still in the reopening phases. Unfortunately, many states in the country are seeing a very concerning increase in Covid cases. I am still hoping for better times.
I am eagerly waiting for your review of Vivacious. That is the latest release I have tried and it is really good. My decant is having lots of use and I am afraid I will finish it in the very near future. So beautiful!
We still have around 300 new cases A day but everything has reopened now under special sanitary regime.
Good to know – I’ve been waiting for almost 3 weeks for my order of Hiram Green’s discovery kit (he also added Vivacious) to arrive. In the US, malls have reopened, but many stores inside are still closed. I managed to snag a free sample of Hermès L’Ombre des Merveilles, which bills itself as a “woody oriental.” I also get a fruity opening and later a salty aspect.
Enjoy your weekend!
Hope your order arrives soon. Have you tried any of earlier Hiram Green?
I am curious about L’Ombre de Merveille. Tea note and incense sound intriguing.
I haven’t, but I’ve read so many great things about his perfumes. Do you have a favorite?
As for the tea note, I tried to smell for it specifically after you mentioned it (as I hadn’t looked at the description yet). To me it’s barely there, but I could convince myself there is some fruity tea, not pure black tea.
My favorite is Arbole (previously Arbole Arbole)
I will try to smell it next time I stop by Sephora.
The Covid situation here in the US varies by state for sure! I’m in NJ (right in between NYC and Philadelphia), where reopening is a little slower. But I work in a lab that has been open this entire time with a staggered schedule and additional precautions/PPE, so wearing a mask is pretty much second nature at this point.
I can’t wait for your review! Hiram Green is becoming a fast favorite of mine:)
Hi Alyza and welcome! I understand that in US it looks different between states. At my work the lab where I work was operating all the time. On regular basis it’s just me and my colleague there so we were coming to work on an exchange pattern.
I live in western Pennsylvania which was not initially hit very hard, except in the nursing homes. Now that things are reopening we are seeing an uptick in cases for younger people. Masking in stores is required; restaurants open at 50% capacity. As for perfume, I came across an untested Jo Malone Peony and Blush Suede in my closet so I’m trying that today. Between everything being closed and being on a no-buy, I haven’t had any new samples other than the ones that got lost!
This must be a hard situation to deal with.
After writing a long blog post about the very successful but little-known black perfumer Howard Kennedy, who created Lady Stetson and many other successful scents for Coty, I tried Coty Wild Musk, also one of his creations. Very pleasant! A good bedtime scent, actually.
My mum used to wear that perfume when she was young.
I am trying Puredistance Gold today, with a sample I won in a contest on Undina’s blog. It’s lovely and very warm and rich smelling.
Before that I tried sample sets from Juliet has a Gun (ugh, they were all pretty dreadful except for the new Lipstick Rose, which is pleasant, but there are so many that do the lipstick scent so much better, Malle’s Lipstick Rose and Chanel Misia for starters).
Also tried everything in my Floraiku sample set. There were 2 that I liked, one with a prominent muguet note and another with a good green tea blend of notes, but the rest were not to my taste. And I don’t think any of the scents are worth the crazy prices Floraiku is charging per bottle, over $300 Euros, as I recall.
I look forward to trying Violetta myself!!
Take care everyone and stay safe.
Wow! It’s so hot here today that I can’t imagine trying GOLD in this temperature.
Sorry to hear many fragrances you tried lately were disappointing and way overpriced.
You know we Americans love our air conditioning. That’s how Gold is working for me- only short times in the actual heat of the day.
I see!
Haven’t tried anything lately! Looking forward to reading your review on Vivacious as that sounds perfect …..
You’d be happy to smell it!
I don’t really follow what is re-open and what’s not in our area since I’m comfortable with doing everything the way we did for the last couple of months – grocery shopping once every 9-10 days, eating at home and do the rest of the shopping online. I know that my office will stay closed at least until September 24th.
I’m testing many yuzu scents for the post next week. It was quite an enjoyable experience.
I see! But you are going on a little wedding anniversary soon, right?
Wow! That’s still a lot of home working for you?
I look forward to your yuzu explorations
It’s a big wedding anniversary 😉 but yes, we still hope we’re going (with two more close friends couples).
With the volume of work and the fact that it’s mostly remote anyway (teams in other countries), for me it doesn’t really matter if I’m in the office or not (though, I’d like to work from the office at least a couple of days per week).
Fingers crossed that you can celebrate in a proper way. If it doesn’t make much difference for your job it is certainly safer to stay at home.