Afternoon Delight.

I got a package! To get a package under ordinary circumstances is a pleasant event but when you are living overseas it is a delight.
And, this little parcel contained things that I longed for for months.

Lean closer, I’ll tell you a secret: every few years I embark on a search of a new perfume. The notion of a signature scent is lost on me, and though I have a few beloved fragrances to which I return over and over again, I am compelled to try something new now and again. My surroundings change every two to three years, why should my perfume stay the same?

My second guilty secret is that I adore reading blogs of perfumephiles. People who are trying to capture in words something as elusive as scent intrigue me. Largely due to these blogs I became interested in Frederic Malle’s perfumes only to discover that not every city carries his line. Hot and dusty Phoenix didn’t have it, the same – with smart and proper Washington DC. New York was the closest, but visit there didn’t fit into my summer schedule. (I can imagine the conversation with my husband: you want to go to NY just to try how it smells?????)

In Baku I found their site, Editions De Parfums, filled out a questionnaire and based on my answers received some suggestions on what I would possibly like. I went ahead and ordered three samples.

I ordered them and ...crossed my fingers because, as I mentioned before our local address here is an enigma, and the US address that we are allowed to use frowns upon sending liquids in glass containers (I wasn’t sure if samples come in glass or plastic mini bottles).

But, my parcel came through and not only it came through but arrived with a handwritten note thanking me for my interests in their products.

I was immediately swooning over Iris Poudre. It reminded me of my beloved Chanel No. 19 but with more warmth. With tonka bean, musk, vanilla and sandalwood it is all about softness and coziness.

Une Fleur De Cassie haven’t spoken to me yet, so I’ll withhold my judgments for now.

But, L’eau D’Hiver! - L’eau D’Hiver took me by surprise. There is something extraordinary strange in it – gentleness combined with hardness. Many reviews suggest that it suppose to bring to mind coolness of winter days, it does very different thing to me – it makes me think of rice fields filled with water, bamboos – it represents orient to me.

Now I am torn between Iris Poudre and L’eau D’Hiver . One comforts me; the other makes me feel alert. Hard to choose. Considering the price and that I try to be a sensible person I have to choose. Really. But the since the closest places that sell Frederic Malle’s perfumes are Paris or Moscow, I have time.