Learning to Love Orange Part 2 - Fleur d’Oranger by Prada & 40º à l’Ombre by Satellite : Perfume Reviews

White florals are made for summer: Tuberose, gardenia, jasmine, tiare, ylang ylang, lemon and orange blossom... But while most would probably consider jasmine to be the undisputed queen of white florals in the summer, connected as she is in our collective memories with warm, fragrant summer nights, ever since I managed to find a few orange blossom scents that resonate with me I can’t but disagree. Orange blossom truly embodies the spirit of the season: its joyfulness, its sultriness, its primeval animalistic hunger for life, its warmth, which seems as devastating as Livas, the dry African wind, but most of all, its ardent eroticism whose electrifying waves have the power to set heart and mind ablaze. Today, in part two of our three-part series, we explore two more golden beauties.

Fleur d’Oranger by Prada: I had the chance to fleetingly smell this once a few months ago, and it took only a moment to realize that yes, this was the good stuff. Upon my return from my vacation, I found a little packet hidden under the pile of mail behind the door. A beautiful angel from across the ocean had sent me a sample of this during my absence! I am so glad to have a little sample of this fantastic creation to go through as I deliberate on whether I need a full bottle. Fleurs d’Oranger was launched in 2003 and is scent No.4 in Prada’s exclusive boutique scent collection whose offerings all come in 30ml splash extraits. This one starts out with burning intensity: absolutely beautiful orange blossom streaked with glossy, luscious, honeyed accents of beeswax. Oh yes, it’s indeed as fabulous as it sounds. As time goes by, the beeswax accents unfortunately disappear and the scent looses part of its diffusive intensity while at the same time growing deeper and darker. Teasing fingers of jasmine emerge, caressing a heart of orange blossom, which in turn hugs precious myrrh and amber. This undoubtedly gorgeous scent presents me with a slightly disturbing dichotomy: like a child playing a game of focusing on an object first with just the left eye and then with the right and seeing two different pictures emerge, so am I just as amusingly presented with two different sides of the same coin. Focusing just so, Fleurs d’Oranger is ladylike and restrained... Closing the other eye, so to speak, it becomes carefree and erotic commanding me softly to “ferme tes yeux” with blissful abandon in the arms of my lover.

40º à l’Ombre by Satellite: 40 degrees in the shade. That’d be 104 Fahrenheit, a perfect name for a summer fragrance as I’m sure you’ll agree, but Satellite, predominantly known for their jewelry is also making play on words with this name, referring to 40 carats. And oh how marvelous this is! Absolutely stunning, in fact. Oh, my poor discarded coconut beauties! Ever since I discovered this, I didn’t wear anything else during my vacation. This is a thoroughly natural smelling, high-pitched orange blossom scent, blooming seemingly from inside the colorful zest of bergamot and lemon. It really begs to be worn with light, airy clothes, and to be taken out on a stroll in great weather. As the scent develops, it quietly turns more bitter, finding at its apex the most fabulous grapefruit note I’ve ever smelled. Dry, bitter and sophisticated the beautiful grapefruit scent unfolds in shimmering veils flecked with gold, every movement unveiling another gorgeous facet: whiffs of orange blossom here, accents of jasmine there...and through it all the marvelous undercurrent of something intensely human, yes, a little dirty, like a tiny smidgen of cumin. Oh, my word! This one is truly a gem and an absolute favorite. The best of the Satellite range.

Our Learning to Love Orange series is getting interrupted on Monday for this month’s Perfume for the Occasion, but we resume with part 3 on Wednesday. What is your favorite orange blossom scent by the way? Now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, I am hoping to find more beauties to love and I’m looking for suggestions.

Images: www.sxc.hu and Flickr, originally uploaded by Ashleytheartist2002 and Steven Fernandez

Padparadscha by Satellite : Perfume Review

There was no review yesterday, since I’d been out of the house all day on a little day trip to another city. Yes, as you might have guessed, I was on a fragrance quest: I went there predominantly to sniff out some perfumes suggested to me by a friend. But the day was astoundingly bright for this time of year in our rainy country – which miraculously has been dry for a while now- and I found myself walking for hours, exploring the tiny cobblestone streets of different neighborhoods. I love those little explorations when I never know what I’ll encounter next. Every turn, every corner becomes an adventure. I guess I never managed to shed my childish enthusiasm – nor do I ever want to! The greatest find of the day though was in a little street I’d walked through before, in an area I visit quite often. An area full of little curious shops and evocative scents: the old smells of wood and dust emitting from the tiny antique stores, the heavy ones of cheese wafting from the cheese monger’s... Raisins, cinnamon and yeast from the numerous bakeries mingle with the flowery scents coming from the perfumeries and thin trails of moth balls mingled with disinfectant gently waft toward the street from the open doors of vintage clothing stores... There, tucked away between a silversmith and an antiquary I found a true gem. I must have passed it dozens of times before without noticing. How could I have missed it? There it was before me, like a magic shop that mushrooms out of nothingness in a fantasy novel. Curly toed slippers, gems and fabric were on the window display and a glance inside the open door revealed a gilded ceiling, still covered with its original painting. I couldn’t help but go inside, to take a closer look at the vintage theater and opera costumes that lined the walls and hang from the railings. They did not hang lifelessly though... Pierrots, Columbinas and Harlequins, princes and princesses, Venetian lords and ladies and Chinese emperors all danced around me in gem-colored swirls of sequins and feathers. The divas of the 1920’s sung the blues from a hidden stereo at one corner, where the most exquisitely eccentric, heavy made-up red-haired woman was mending yet another velvet costume. She explained to me that she buys all these costumes at auctions, or often privately, due to the connections she has made from working in the theater in the past. I propped a ruby-colored velvet jacket with gold trimming against my chest. That one was by Chané, a period designer and she had the matching pantaloons as well, she explained. Seven hundred and fifty euro for the jacket, she added, as I carefully returned it to the company of the other magnificent pieces. I left to make my way back home with an extra spring in my step and a smile painted on my face, my heart made richer for having been there. This morning the experience seems palpable still and the color of the jacket vivid in my mind. Inspired, I knew which perfume I wanted to experience today... A deep orange-colored sample vial I had been saving up for a while: Padparadscha, by Satellite.

Padparadscha is the name given to a rare type of sapphire gemstones of pinkish-orange hue. What sets them apart from rubies is that they are lighter in color, but some of the darker stones can create confusion even for the trained eyes of gem dealers. Named after such a precious rarity, Padparadscha had me intrigued. Perhaps I was setting myself up for disappointment because my expectations were certainly high. The bottle is gorgeous and the jus itself is very evocative of the actual stone with its sunset-orange hue. It came as a shock to me to find upon application that this is actually a very masculine perfume. The website from which I procured my sample did describe this as a feminine scent after all. But to me, Padparadscha smelled characteristically male. The fragrance opened with what I immediately identified as cloves. The cloves were rendered dry by the presence of light nutmeg notes. Lavender blended the two together, making the experience all the more masculine. It had been an interesting ride thus far, but on the dry-down the disappointment begun. What was rich and interesting suddenly lost its edge and became unoriginal and bland. A woodsy smell comprised primarily of sandalwood, cedar and soft amber was all that remained. A scent I’d smelled so many times before it seemed, the profiles of countless other generic male aftershave colognes and cheap shaving foams. Oh dear. Not a gem I will be adding to my collection any time soon. It is such a shame too, for I would have loved nothing more than to treasure this perfume and use it as a reminder of the beautiful spring adventure I just described. A fragrance to symbolize the stunning gem-colored jacket I held in my hands and the passion contained in that treasure-trove of a shop. It is indeed regretful, but I am partly comforted by the thought that there are many others who do appreciate Padparadscha and it is to them I dedicate this little recount of my beautiful discovery.

Picture of round-cut padparadscha sapphires courtesy of www.rakuten.ne.jp