It is with great pleasure that I am writing again and that we are back with Mood Scent 4. Our last session as a group was back in October, so voilà here we go again. We also have some changes to announce. Tara from A Bottled Rose has farewelled us and we are very sad to see her go. We do have a new partner to announce (cue drum roll) and here’s to a huge welcome to Portia from 💥 Australian Perfume Junkies 💥 who is now joining us. I’m sure that many of you are acquainted with APJ, such an incredibly  informative site. Portia keeps up a breakneck pace that I have to say I look at in awe.

So let’s crack onto our topic. It’s Guilty Pleasures of the fragrant variety and I’m assuming that we may all interpret this slightly differently. I’m going with scented things I enjoy but for some reason they’re either really expensive, not in vogue anymore or they’re not considered as good as the original. So without further ado let’s crack on. Please follow my other fellow Mood Scent 4 group writers : Samantha on I Scent You A Day, Esperanza on L’Esperessence and of course Portia at Australian Perfume Junkies.

Guilty Pleasure 1 : Angel (EDP) : Thierry Mugler : Olivier Cresp, Yves de Chirin : 1992 

Immediately this came to mind for my first Guilty Pleasure. Angel to many is bombastic, with no subtlety to speak of. I think if you wore Angel when it came out in the 90’s it really pigeon holes the scent as being from a certain era. I only discovered it in the past few years and so have no real strong associations to the 90’s.

What I do know is that this is an extremely influential perfume that really started a trend for gourmand sweetness with the addition of the candy floss like ethyl maltol. This sweetness paired with fruits and patchouli is a punchy number and the original fruitchouli if you will.

If I’m honest I do think this perfume is probably a little too powerful, to the point where I don’t actually wear it outside of the house. One reason is because of its strength but the other is that I’m not sure I want people to smell me wearing it. In some respects I may come across like a perfume snob on this one, as even though I love it in private there is there’s a voice saying that it could also veer over into the slightly tacky side. It can feel like Lady Gaga drilling into your head when you don’t want her to be there (unless she’s singing Shallow).

So when do I wear Angel? Well my preferred time to wear this is in bed, with a tiny spray on my pillow. For some reason I find it really relaxing and soothing (which I know may seem like an oxymoron) and it sends me to sleep.

Guilty Pleasure 2 : Eau de Cerise : DSH Perfumes : Dawn Spencer Hurwitz : 2018

Until Tom Ford put cherry scents on the map again, these always felt a little youthful, as if they were not age appropriate (I know that entire notion is quite ridiculous BTW). The scent of most cherry themed perfumes is undeniably syrup like and very sweet. Plus there are associations with losing your virginity that Ford references with his Lost Cherry. For a pop culture reference you can’t go past Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks and her special cherry tying abilities or Cherry Bomb from The Runaways.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz‘s Eau de Cerise is a black cherry floral oriental and comes on like a boozy liqueur and I’m a sucker for anything alcoholic in a fragrance. This smells less musky than Serge Luten’s Rahat Loukhoum and not as full-bodied as Lost Cherry.  Eau de Cerise is very, very addictive. I’ve nearly finished my sample and am contemplating making a purchase.

Guilty Pleasure 3 : Jardin Nocturne : Shalini : Maurice Roucel : 2017

Now this beautiful perfume is a guilty pleasure, primarily due to its price and the feeling that I mustn’t use my sample too frequently. A 50ml bottle is priced at around $500 US so this is a spendy scent. Jardin Nocturne is however rather gorgeous. It’s a warm jasmine, much darker than Shalini, the original in the line and a bright, very radiant white floral. Jardin Nocturne has a gorgeous whiff of sandalwood and oud that smells natural, yet not pungent. Saffron is also a star and here smells divine and not overpowering. I guess it’s the way this is blended as often saffron can make me feel queasy in a perfume so it’s one of those notes that I’m wary of. The fragrance is intended to evoke Dubai’s warm air and even though I’ve never visited this city in the United Arab Emirates it’s a scentscape that now seems far more appealing.

Guilty Pleasure 4 : Shalimar Parfum Initial : Guerlain : Thierry Wasser : 2011 

I do love Shalimar of course and what we have here is the easy wearing sister, now sadly discontinued. I say Shalimar Parfum Initial (SPI) is a Guilty Pleasure as I really feel like I’m being disloyal to Shalimar, one of my first perfume loves. SPI is a gourmand version that doesn’t closely resemble the original but there are shared materials between the two, albeit worked very differently. Here the twinkling slivers of iris and a delectable concoction of tonka, vanilla and caramel take things up a notch.

SIP  is my favourite Shalimar flanker and even though I bow down to the original Queen Bee, I don’t reach for it as much as I used to. I’m not really sure why, to be honest. Shalimar now seems to be reserved for special occasions, whereas the Parfum Initial gets spritzed more regularly.

 

OK I know this is not a perfume.  It’s more like confession time. I have been addicted to potato crisps for a long time and have got to the point where I am trying to purge them for the sake of my waistline. That salty mix really gets me and if when it’s apero time,  I want these as an accompaniment rather than healthy snacks. My favourites are the cracked pepper variety as well as various chilli mixes. And yes I do like salty perfumes too.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to visit my Mood Scent 4 compatriots : I Scent You A Day,   L’Esperessence and Australian Perfume Junkies.

Please also share your fragrant guilty pleasures if you’re  up for it.

Images : Cover by Megan In Sainte Maxime //  Perfume photos from the brands : Advertising images from Pinterest.