Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Have you already done your Father’s Day gift shopping? Judging by the hordes of last minute shoppers I encounter every year right before Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, most will be rushing out in panic to try and find something just a day or two before the holiday. This year, this sometimes forgotten –in comparison to the widely advertised Mother’s Day, that is- holiday falls on the 15th of July in most parts of the world. What will you be giving your dad this year? You’re probably expecting me to say that I will be gifting my father with a fragrance, and truth be told, he is a man that has worn cologne every single day of his life, ever since I’ve known him. He has gone through bottles of Jazz, Eau Sauvage, Fahrenheit, Photo, Jacomo, as well as a short, awful spell of Obsession, but for me the one perfume most closely associated with him will always be the utterly Mediterranean Paco Rabanne pour Homme, the perfume my dearest dad used to wear when my hand was still so tiny that he used to offer me his pinky finger to hold, instead of his whole hand. A simple memory, yet one so heart-wrenchingly moving for me, my tiny hand, trustingly wrapped around his finger. He’d offer it with a smile. Our secret handshake. But no, I won’t be giving my dad perfume this year, even though I still miss the way Paco smelled sweetly metallic, fresh and at the same time warm on his skin. I will be giving him beautifully smelling pipe tobacco, from the esteemed House of Hajenius, because I know this is what he really wants. Tobacco blended with flowers, tobacco tasting like malt whiskey. Even though he doesn’t look like the archetypical pipe-smoker - he’s slim, dresses in Lacoste sweaters and Italian jeans, never sports the merest shadow of a beard- great quality pipe tobacco is what he’d really like. Whatever it is I am giving him this year or the next, nothing can ever come close to showing him what I feel for him: Endless love and appreciation, love so warm and deep that makes my heart spill over. Admiration, for he is the most wonderful man I know: Accomplished, intelligent, funny, talented, caring, loving, loyal and faithful. He has always been there for me, like the strongest mountain that always shields me from bad weather. I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Many people see these types of holidays with the eye of a cynic. I say, life is too short for that. Let’s be honest, most of us live rushed lives that don’t allow us to show our deep appreciation as often as we’d like. These days are there to remind us to pay some extra attention to the ones we love. And they deserve it! Go on, get out there, buy your dad something. Wrap it up beautifully. Most importantly, write him a card. And if you’re not feeling too old for it, draw him a heart. Make him smile!
For those of you still looking for a gift, here are some ideas to help you narrow down your search:

· Every Man Jack’s Beginner’s Luck Kit: This is probably one of my favorite gift options this year, a perfect selection of grooming essentials you can get both easily and for a great price to boot! The kit contains Every Man Jack’s Body Wash, Body Bars, Face Wash/Face Scrub, Shave Gel and Face Lotion and includes a toiletry bag. I love the smart, masculine packaging of the products and I can’t help but gush over the price: $24.95 for the whole kit! You can find EMJ’s Beginner’s Luck Kit in Target stores all over the states.

· Hand-Made Naturals Calendula & Aloe Vera After Shave Balm for Men: This is the perfect addition to any Father’s Day gift basket. Both my father and my boyfriend are men with sensitive skin that needs conditioning after shaving, and a good calendula balm is the only thing that works wonders to eliminate redness, dryness and to provide a cooling, calming effect. I can definitely recommend this one, by Hand-Made Naturals, a great balm which is free of synthetic ingredients, and contains, along with calendula, also aloe vera, palmarosa, shea butter, rosehip seed oil and vitamin E. A yummy treat for the skin, filled with goodness!

· Aegean by Neil Morris: Summer is here, and even though I am most probably biased, summer for me means the endless azure of the beautiful Aegean sea. If you really want to pamper your dad, why not buy him a truly luxurious summer perfume? Neil’s Aegean evokes the summery Greek coastline with mouthwatering notes of mandarin oranges, fragrant basil and aromatic quince. I feel a little guilty for including this, for the only way to quickly get this is to actually live in New York, where it is available at Takashimaya. But as I said... I am biased. I dream of the Aegean more and more every day as the date of my holidays in July draws closer. So forgive me for teasing you a bit as well. For most of us not living in New York, Neil’s perfumes are available through his webiste, Neil Morris Fragrances.

· Acqua di Parma Shaving Cream: Most of us fragrance fanatics know and love Acqua di Parma for its fragrances, but the niche Italian brand actually includes the wonderful collezione barbiere, which is rarely talked about. Part of this luxurious shaving products and accoutrements collection, is the Acqua di Parma Shaving Cream, a rich, thick product which turns into creamy foam when used with a shaving brush and promises to tame even the roughest beards. Soothing and refreshing, it contains hydrolyzed wheat protein, almond oil and extracts of mallow, lemon balm and water mint.

Dark Season & Gotham by Neil Morris : Perfume Reviews

It’s Friday, which means we have reached the last day of Neil Morris reviews here on Fragrance Bouquet. I am closing this week -which has been incredible fun by the way- with a review of my personal favorite, Gotham. For those of you who have already tried Neil’s perfumes, I have a question: Which one is your favorite and why? There are still a number of perfumes by Neil I really want to try and top of my list are October and Midnight Tryst. I hope I get to review those here on Fragrance Bouquet soon as well.

Dark Season:

I won’t lie to you: There’s something about Dark Season’s opening that I find deeply perturbing. There’s this almost fluid bitter core, surrounded by strange sweetness. There’s something almost medicinal and a strange body scent, I can’t ignore. There’s this mustiness that makes me feel as though I am all alone in a dark old house, rummaging around for some unfathomable reason... And then I open a drawer that creaks with resistance. It is wooden and empty, but it contains all the mustiness of an unaired tiny space and scent-memories of the various objects held in the past. My heart beats faster, anxiously. I need to get past it, for underneath I smell beautiful sweet spice and I so want to reach it... Patience. Patience for five or ten minutes, no more. And then comfort. The sweet, soothing scent of cinnamon washes it all away.

Candles are lit all at once and the old house is bathed in warm light. I’m glad I waited, every single time. Dark Season transforms into a beautiful oriental scent, perfect for keeping you warm in cold weather. Dark Season whispers of winter holidays, crisp cold air that makes the cheeks go red, happy smiles and joyful hearts as friends get ready to come together under one roof, in a house glowingly inviting. A house which smells sweetly of cinnamon and vanilla. Balancing the light, spicy sweetness, there are decorations of pine needless, smelling fresh, green and pure. Their branches are oozing sticky resin: a strong note with a sticky feel that lances through the composition from beginning to end and makes it positively addictive. But what I admire most about Dark Season, and what keeps me returning to my little sample is the cinnamon. As with clove and carnation, it is a note that can quickly become too thick and overbearing. Too obtrusive, if you will. But Dark Season’s cinnamon is simply perfect. Sweet, light, magical and sheer. It feels like it’s almost sparkling. The overall feeling of this perfume is warming, and as is the case with most of the Neil Morris scents I’ve so far tried, comforting. It has this beautiful ability to form an aura around the wearer, sweet and spicy smelling, rounded and deep, that can be gently smelled from a few feet away, inviting others to come ever closer to find the source. If I’m honest, I’ll admit that this fragrance has made me once again long for cold weather, and believe me, that’s quite a feat. I am SO ready for summer!


Gotham:

I’ve saved the best for last. From all the Neil Morris perfumes I’ve so far smelled, this is my absolute favorite. Every time I wear Gotham, I have the pleasure to see a different side of it, a different manifestation of its beauty. At times it’s all about the flowers, at times it’s all about its animalic base, at times it’s all about the leather. This is not only absolutely gorgeous, it is absolutely timeless. This is exactly the type of fragrance I favor: a “yes Mistress” perfume. Don’t laugh! This is all polished hair, immaculate attire, impossible yet utterly chic heels and... a whip. Cruel seduction, where the coolness of ice meets the heat of the flame. If I could choose only one word to describe this fragrance, it would be ‘magnificent’. The opening is an assault of the senses with a blast of seductive pepper and sparkling citrus. A period of reasonable, deceptive calm follows: a beautiful accord of narcissi and hyacinths that starts out smooth but soon intensifies in the most hypnotic manner. From incredibly floral and ladylike, Gotham soon goes dark and mysterious: A thorny rose scent, whose aroma is accentuated and deepened by the green scent of galbanum. And soon, our diva readies for the kill: the animalic base becomes all the more apparent with notes of musks and leather and even though I’ve never seen a mention of civet in the official notes, I swear I smell its warm pungency rising from my skin. Instant glamour. Instant Sex. Just add red lipstick. Diamonds are optional.

Images: www.imageafter.com and Flickr, originally uploaded by “Lady K!!”

Dark Earth and Burnt Amber by Neil Morris : Perfume Reviews

Good afternoon everyone! Today we continue delving in the wonderful world of Neil Morris perfumes and put the focus on two fragrances that are wondrous journeys in olfactory magic.


Burnt Amber:

As is the case with Parfum d’Ida, Burnt Amber is a scent that Neil Morris has co-created with the lovely Ida Meister. How I wish I could have insight in the creative process of this marvelous collaboration! Smelling it, I instantly feel like a synaesthete: a whiff is enough to produce the involuntary experience of color in my mind, liquid amber, with hues of deep burnt orange and the golden yellow of ripe wheat. But most importantly, smelling Burnt Amber, I am transported...

A lover of luxury, there is a place in the beautiful city of Amsterdam I love to visit, even though admittedly, there is nothing in there I could utilize myself. The only reason I go there, time and time again, is to please my senses. The place I am talking about, is the House of Hajenius, a two-centuries old, luxurious cigar house, catering to cigar, pipe and tobacco lovers alike. Being in the high-ceilinged, opulent, original art deco interior, I feel bathed in luxury. But it is not just the fact that the space is so incredibly aesthetically pleasing that every visit is food for the soul. The olfactory experience is what keeps me returning to the House of Hajenius every single time I visit our capital city. The humid air is beautifully scented with the most marvelous smells: Cohibas, honey, dried flowers, heavy pipe tobacco scented with malt whiskey and the scent of leather chairs mingling with the light scent of books coming from the library. Wearing Burnt Amber is like a visit to P.G.C. Hajenius, right here in my own home. With a name like Burnt Amber I was expecting a resinous scent, but instead I find myself taken on my favorite tobacco journey. The perfume is absolutely, incredibly moist, dark and gently sweet. Those of you who have smelled good quality pipe tobacco will know immediately the type of mellow sweetness I am referring to. It is filled with honeyed, flowery nuances and undertones of wood and rich tonka. Throughout the development, the rich smell of smoke gently curls around every rounded curve and rises up in the most seducing manner. All the smells I explore in my visits to this most luxurious of shops, bottled in astoundingly rich liquid. Comforting and sensuous, this is a perfume I beg you to try. It is a journey, it is a personal scent, it is an invitation, a cozy hearth, a beautiful autumn. A luxury like no other. I am so very thankful to be able to experience it.


Dark Earth:

Neil Morris’ Dark Earth is a walk through the forest after a storm. The trees are gigantic, but majestic, rather than foreboding. The dark, rich, full of nutrients soil is thankful for the gift of rain. I can’t help but get a feeling of belonging and being one with nature when wearing this beautiful creation. The forest Neil guides us through is three-dimensional and life-like, with not only appropriate smells, but also sights and sounds. The ground under our feet is soft with both fresh and rotting leaves and needles, the tree-trunks are covered with moss, the birds are beginning to timidly call every now and then. At times the silence becomes the most audible sound of all, with just the imaginary sound of sap shooting up with ancient powers from the roots to the high branches of the trees. And that is the note Dark Earth opens with, for me: Green sap, golden-green resin being pumped inside the pine trees, and sometimes forming a beautiful tear on the bark. Precious resin that has overflowed through a tiny tear. It is beautiful and intense and its green, sticky, addictive aroma combines beautifully with the scent of freshly turned soil. As it warms, the scent assumes a beautiful, lightly sweet quality that is felt gently on the back of the throat as I hungrily inhale, my nose pressed close to the scented patch of my skin. The sensation slowly intensifies, both bitter and sweet now, and dare I say, ever so slightly vanillic. To my surprise, in the drydown Dark Earth loses most of its deeply aromatic, acrid yet sweet resinous qualities. It transforms into a deeply erotic, dark patchouli and lusty musk combination, gently caressed by the creamy woodiness of sandalwood. Dark Earth is indeed an intricate journey, starting with rain and moisture, progressing to resinous forest smells and earth and then going through bittersweet darkness on the way home to a log cabin where the air is permeated by honest, lustful eroticism and freedom. Oh, yes..


Images: The pictures of The House of Hajenious were sourced from www.jubileum.hajenius.com and www.kalumet.pl respectively. Image of forest, courtesy of www.sxc.hu

Parfum d’Ida and Spectral Violet by Neil Morris : Perfume Reviews

Dearest Ida, better known to most as Chayaruchama, was kind enough to send me a whole bunch of Neil Morris fragrances to sample, after I said I was really curious to try them. This week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) I invite you to explore the samples Ida sent me, here on Fragrance Bouquet. The first two perfumes are Parfum d’Ida and Spectral Violet.

Parfum d'Ida:

Parfum d’Ida is a gorgeous, sparkling aldehydic composition, elegant and effervescent. Smelling it for the first time, I was instantly reminded of another favorite: L’Infante, by Divine. Looking at the notes of both scents, the similarities are not that many: yes, they are both aldehydic scents and they both have a berry note as well as white florals and ylang ylang. Smelling the two side by side though, I sense a kinship – not perhaps in the smell itself, but certainly in feel. In the end, Parfum d’Ida wins my favor, being both sheer and deep at the same time – a wonderful feat. Too, the scent of civet, unmistakably present already from the opening, is too seductive for me to resist. I home in on it and it never leaves my conscience. Aldehydic, floral, green and animalic all at once, yet perfectly blended and balanced, Parfum d’Ida opens with deceptive innocence and transparency, but goes on to become all the more warm and effusive as it warms on the skin. It speaks of femininity and generosity to the point that it makes you wish to be hugged and comforted by the creature that wears it. Is this really the scent of Ida? It would be very presumptuous of me to give a definite opinion on the matter, considering I have never met her in real life. However, I can’t help but feel that this is just an aspect of Ida’s scent: The part that is capable woman, the part that is feminine, generous and comforting, gently protective and loving. I missed the darkness though, I missed the spice. I missed the part of Ida that is absolutely otherworldly and bewitching. I missed the part that is midnight gowns studded with all the stars in the sky and pure, unadulterated mystery. I missed the Diva I so long to meet. But that is alright - it is to be expected that no single fragrance can capture every aspect of this complex woman. Parfum d’Ida is Ida’s hug and loving embrace. And right now, that’s exactly what I needed.


Spectral Violet:

Spectral Violet, the second of Neil Morris’ perfumes I sampled had a profound impact on me – something I never would have expected from a floral composition. The moment I brought my wrist to my nose for that first whiff, I felt like my body started floating upwards, as though I was suddenly weightless and ethereal. My first thought, literally, was “Oh... I am in heaven...” How could I possibly do this fragrance justice by writing about it? I want to roll around in this scent forever and ever. I want to have it as a bath oil and submerge myself in its pool of dark mystery, a pool of violet waters, a pool that transforms into a majestic lake in a time of kings and princesses and I’ll be the lady, yes, the lady of the lake, with eyes of green and clothes of purple and indigo and lilac, that float around me by gusts of wind unfelt by others. The violet petals are candied, like medieval court delicacies meant to be fed by hand to a loved one, in order to make them forget about all that’s wrong in the world. The feel of the fragrance is velvety and soft, like the most extravagantly expensive cocoon made for a fairy. Despite the name, I cannot describe this fragrance as cool, chilly or metallic. To me, it is absolutely warm and sensual. And even though all my memories of violets were made in sunny gardens, this one is a violet I’ve never encountered. It is a violet of the night, its scent utterly hypnotic. It is seduction in a moonlit forest.

Images: The artwork accompanying Parfum d’Ida in this post is a sculpture titled “Divine Embrace” by Taiwanese artist Gaylord Ho.
The image accompanying Spectral Violet in this post is from www.eastcoastkitty.com, a company that specializes in clothes, accessories and gifts. The particular image is called “Purple Fairy with Moonlight” and can be bought as a shirt. It can be found under their women fairy items.