Menthe Fraîche - Fragrance review

MENTHE FRAÎCHE EDP BY HEELY

Perfume: Menthe Fraîche EDP

Launch: ?

Perfumer: David Maruitte

Gender: Unisex

Olfactive family: Citrus-green

Olfactive Notes: Spearmint, peppermint, bergamot, green tea, freesia, white cedar.

Inspiration: Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

Description by the brand: Contemporary, ultra-fresh, natural scent. Crushed mint leaves, interwoven with a hint of Sicilian bergamot, green tea and white cedar. A perfectly light, easy to wear fragrance. An olfactory interlude.

Description by + Q Perfume: BLISTEX, SEXY SKIER, TOOTH PASTE, CHIC.

Silage: Good

Fixation: Too long to be true.

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Where:

✪✪✪✪✪ - BEAUTIFUL AS A PERFECT WHITE TEETH SMILE!

✪✪✪✪ - SEXY AS TONY BETSCHART!

✪✪✪ - NICE COOLING EFFECT.

✪✪ - AS CHEAP AS TOOTH PASTE.

✪ - DUMP IT INTO THE SNOW.

Where to find the fragrance: Heely's web site - click HERE

WRIGLEY'S SPEARMINT GUM

photo credit: candyaddict.com

The chewing gum was invented by the Greeks - the ancient version of gum was a chewing resin, called mastiche and extracted from the mastic tree. Early American settler made chewing gum out of spruce sap and bee wax. The first commercial gum was sold in America in 1848, and in 1914, Wrigley Doublemint brand was created. William Wrigley, Jr. and Henry Fleer were responsible for adding the popular mint and fruit extracts to a chicle chewing gum.

Since I was ten years old, contrary to my little friends, chewing Bubbaloo and Adam's tutti-frutti gum, I was addicted to Wringley's spearmint gum. Why? because of the smell and the peppery taste! As I grew older, I was chewing less and less gum, and as nowadays I suffer of TMJD (Temporomandibular joint disorder), so Wringley's is totaly out of the question.

BLISTEX MINT LIP BALM

Another product that I was addicted to is Blistex, that fantastic lip balm for soothing chapped and burned lips (from cold weather). For the same reason of Wringley's - that lip balm is loaded of menthol, my beloved menthol! I always ended up eating the balm from the lips, turning them from chapped to real cuts.

MINT LEAFS

The only safe way I found to enjoy this lovely plant, without dislocating my jaw or cutting my lips was to drink mint tea, or to add the flavor in salads, such as Tabbouleh.

Today I found a safe and amazing way to experience mint for one entire day: Heely's Menthe Fraîche EDP!

The first whiff is a joy of citrusy notes of Sicilian bergamots, combined with notes of two kinds of mint; spearmint and peppermint. Peppermint is mentha piperita, with strong levels of menthol, usually used to add flavor in chewing gums, toothpastes, shampoos and creams. This kind of mint gives a very cooling effect to the skin, felt immediately at the first whiff of this perfume. As the name suggests, this note is the most peppery of all the other mints.

Spearmint, or mentha spicata, or Nana Mint of Morocco (the only we savor everyday in Israel!), reminds of the peppermint, but it is more pungent and sweeter. It has 0.5% less menthol than the peppermint, and it contains pinenes and carvone.

The combination of both with the bergamots, brings a freshness only felt when you suck up air into the mouth, after brushing the teeth with mint flavored toothpastes. Icy cold, with a sweetness under layered.

But one could think it is rather strange to smell like toothpaste. Don't get me wrong, or anybody else reviewing this fragrance. Heely's Menthe Fraîche is far from having the scent of tooth pastes! It has the cooling, refreshing effect of it.

BLOOMING GREEN TEA

Heart notes is also a pleasant surprise. Notes of green tea combined with freesia explode just like those blooming green teas, when hot water is poured into the cup. Delicate, herbal, very aromatic, this accord is an endulgement to my senses. The soft nutty note implied is very elegant.The finishing is a white cedar note - very dry and also delicate.

In general the fragrance is fresh-green with a flowery and woody touch. I have recommended in the past as a nice summer fragrance (click HERE to read), and I continue to do so, but as I am reviewing it today, I cannot think of a better description than a SEXY SKIER'S FRAGRANCE! Perfect for any time of the year, it will be a blast in a snowy holidays, doing winter sports such as ski or snowboarding, lodges made of wood, hot coco or wine and someone to kiss.

TONI BETSCHART

The brand should invite Toni "the Body" Betschart to pose for the advertising of this fragrance. Just imagine Toni spraying the perfume, spreading Blistex on his lips, showing a perfect white teeth smile... dreamy! The perfect kiss in the lodge...

Info on Toni in case you are not into ski celebs: He has appeared bare-chested in behalf of Swiss tourism. He is a sexy ski instructor with a body to lust and for many to envy.

Candle selection - amazing fragrances!

+ Q Perfume Blog has selected for you wonderful scented candles. The fragrances are a treat to the senses and they bring a very special atmosphere for your home or office.

Le Labo's Santal 26 - 100% soya base

Le Labo scent candle collection offers 07 fragrances: Anis 24, Calone 17, Cedre 11, Figue 15, Petit Grain 21, Pin 12 and Santal 26.

Santal 26 is an elegant aristocratic fragrance. Leathery, rich and smoky with a modern glass - like a lab vial.

Amourelle Figue Patchouli Amourelle Paris candles are made in Grasse - France, following the principles of aromatherapy and the tradition of French perfumery. With 12% of perfume, those candles are soft and sophisticated. The collection has 05 different scents: Figue Patchouli, Orchidée Noire, Tubéreuse Noire, Lilas Rose, Bergamote and Gardénia. Figue Patchouli is a rich scented candle inspired by sunny notes of the Mediterranean summer. A mix of patchouli leaves, black fig, yellow mimosas, redcurrant, black currant and green leaves.

Chococaïne

The Hype Noses offers a collection called Urban candles with :Rose Antique, Grande Bourbon, L’Arbre Guide, Fig Arrow, Banana Kiss, Cheminée, Blanc Désir, Thé et Kimono, Pain de Vienne, Violette Opéra, Narcissisme, Masque Africain, Pyramide de Jasmin, Haricot Magique, Chococaïne, Cerise Chérie, Epices en Stock, Mon Bel Oranger and Art Maniac.

They also have what they call a wooden wick, that is an scented flat bar. Once you light it, it spreads scent without emanation of smoke, and emits the noise of a crackling of a fireplace too, creating a very distinguish atmosphere.

The brand has an elegant wax made of soya and palm, which is creamy and dense with a subtle fragrance. It is a luxurious fragrant way for closing envelopes and decorating gifts and papers. Chococaïneis a scented candle with the fragrance of pure bitter cocoa for purists. It is a work on the beauty of the bean and its qualities. Boiling black chocolate. A dark, tender, powerful shamanic journey.

Hervé Gambs - Black Cashmere XXL Limited Edition

Hervé Gambs has a collection of 07 scented candles: Lait de Palme, Fleur D'Eau, Souffle de bambou, Yuzu Tonic, el d'Osmanthus and Aqua Ginger. The most chic of them is his limited edition - Black Cashmere XXL. Slightly woody with a touch of skin like scent.

Elixir by Penhaligon's

The line of fragranced candles offered by Penhaligon's has 15 scents. Created by Olivia Giacobeti in 2008, Pelinhaligons' candle Elixir has notes of: Eucalyptus, Cardamom, Orange Blossom Absolute, White Cedar, Red Turkish Rose Absolute, Egyptian Jasmine Absolute, Cinnamon Leaves, Mace, Rosewood, Benzoin, Tonka beans, Vanilla, Incense, Red Sandalwood and Guaicum Wood. Elixir opens with eucalyptus and the harmonising hot spices of cardamom, cinnamon and mace. The heart notes massage the senses with the dark magic of Turkish rose and jasmine and a twist of orange. Heat and smoke rise from the base and incense and woods mingle with the earthy resins and spices. A touch of vanilla and the hypnotic Tonka bean complete the atmospheric dry-down. Opulent and daring, mysterious and complex, Elixir echoes Hammam Bouquet, created by William Penhaligon in 1872.

Idole by Lubin - Review

IDOLE EDT BY LUBIN

Idole EDT By Lubin - Review

Launch: 2006

Perfumer: Olivia Giacobeti

Gender: + Q Perfume Blog thinks it is for both genders

Olfactive family: oriental-woody

Olfactive notes: Rum absolute, bitter orange peel, black cumin, sugar cane, saffron, burned ebony, Doum palm, leather, red sandalwood.

Inspiration: Ancient maritime spice routes; a modern interpretation of the perfume of 1962.

Description by brand: Set the jungle on fire, with a woody liqueur rich in scorching spices, as sweet as sugar cane and as warm as leather.

Description By + Q Perfume Blog: SYRUPY, WARM, CHIC, AMBER-y

Silage: Good

Fixation: Great

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪♥

Where:

✪✪✪✪✪ - A must have for all of us! Simply a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!

✪✪✪✪ - A great perfume, pure beauty.

✪✪✪ - Nice and wearable.

✪✪ - I sampled but would not buy it.

✪ - yack!

It is said to be a modern interpretation of the original Idole launched in 1962.

Idole by Lubin 1962

The first whiff is medicinal, very aromatic, with a pinch of cloves (not listed as a component of the accord). A woody touch comes with it and it is perceived from the start.

Máximo Rum

The alcoholic note of rum is inebriating. As rum is a fermentation of sugar cane molasses, aged in oak barrels, these aromas added to the composition a sweet, woody, round and warming touch. Bitter orange peel was added (commonly found in Grand Marnier, neroli oil and orange flower waters) so the perfumer brought a citrusy-flowery tonality to the fragrance; more flowery than citrusy. Top notes are wonderfully rich, sensual and very luxurious. Just for them it is already worth buying the perfume!

Although Black cumin is less perceived to my senses (unless it is similar to clove aroma), I have to confess I have never seen black cumin, only the regular one, and I didn't find a single trace of it in this perfume, or even something similar to it.

SAFFRON STIGMAS

The addition of saffron notes is an amazing touch. A real gift Olivia Giacobetti has given me.This Mediterranean touch is simply genius! As I find it very hard to believe that there is a single Brazilian child that has never tried Rapadura (a sweet made of sugar cane molasses), it will be perceived and very much loved.

RAPADURA - hard sugar cane molasses

Rapadura is found in Brazil in markets and sugar cane farms. It is a home made sugar treat, and it means rapa = scrape, dura = hard. Something that it is hard as a brick, but once you put in your mouth, it melts slowly, bringing all the burned sugar taste to the tongue. It reminds of brown natural sugar.

The aroma of rapadura is very strong in this fragrance. You can't miss it! Really AMAZING!

But back to saffron... Saffron contains a lot of carotenoids mixed with safranal. This combination brings the special scent of the fragrance. Honey and grassy at the same time, the saffron note is well combined with the alcoholic notes of rum, the flowery touch of the bitter orange and rounded by the rapadura note. And this is a gourmand joy for everyone's senses. Not just for us Brazilians!

Slaves brought from Africa, to work at the sugar cane plantations

Colonial period - Brazil

The African continent is present, both in the juice and flacon. But we, the Brazilians, will relate to this fragrance as something very close to our own culture & history.

Idole by Lubin brings the aura of old sugar farms from the Brazilian Colonial Period. A time where we were a colony of Portugal and Spain and we had slaves working in agriculture.

We all feel disgusted by any kind of slavery, specially due to prejudice of color and race and all the humiliation involved. But my association with this period of our history is not to the suffering and cruelty, but to the fact that Brazil received from the Africans, the culture of Candomblé, Capoeira... the beat of drums, the richness of their ethnic dances and art craft.

Africa is mysterious, exotic, live and exciting! Brazilians absorbed all that.

Once the heart notes fade away, the leather, the woods and the sweetness of sandalwood announces more heat and more sensuality.

The houses of the farm owners, in large sugar cane plantations, had large doors and windows made of heavy wood, and also beam on the ceiling. So today, once you enter to a colonial farm house, you smell the scent of the wood, combined with the smell of the heavy leather sofas and chairs. Idole by Lubin has all that!!!

I must say that this is a fragrance that everyone has to have. The house of Lubin has created one of the most beautiful warm perfumes I have ever known and I am very grateful to them!!!

Frutas da Estação e perfumes

Agosto começou frio e cinzento. Estamos no auge do inverno, que começa em junho e termina em setembro.

Inspirada em eventos gourmets e críticos de perfume vindos de Nova York, resolvi apresentar as frutas dessa estação e os perfumes que contém essas notas olfativas.

Frutas em safra: laranja, maçã estrangeira, morango e tangerina (do tipo murcote).

Perfumes com notas de morango:

Dior Miss Dior Cherry

Marc Jacobs Daisy

Ralph Lauren Ralph Wind

The Body Shop Strawberry perfume Oil

Escada Ocean Lounge

Givenchy L'Interdit

Perfumes com notas de laranja:

Coco Mademoiselle Chanel

Terre d'Hermès

Eau de Marveilles Hermès

Clinique Happy

Cacharel Amour Amour

YSL baby Doll

Perfumes com notas de tangerina:

Burberry London

Hugo Boss Femme

212 Sexy Carolina Herrera

Boss in Motion Edition Green

Britney Spears Hidden fantasy

Jean Paul Gaultier Fragile

Perfumes com notas de maçã vermelha:

Shiseido Zen

Boss Orange

Be Delicious Kisses Donna Karan

Le Paradis de Nina Nina Ricci

Endless Sarah Jessica Parker

Byredo Pulp

Perfumes com notas de maçã verde:

Calvin Klein Escape

Estee Lauder Pure White Linen

Hugo Boss Hugo

Lacoste pour femme

Jennifer Lopez Still

Vera Wang Look

Les Nombres d'Or - AMBER - Mona di Orio

AMBER by MONA DI ORIO

Les Nombres d'Or collection Sample

photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog personal files

Amber by Mona di Orio from Les Nombres d'Or collection review -

Mona di Orio learned all about the art of perfumery, the art of composition and how to choose good quality raw materials with Roudinitska (she was his protégée). When he passed away she was invited by his wife to stay in the company and run the laboratory with her, which she did for the next nine years.

In 2004 she teamed up with Jeroen Oude Sogtoen, a Dutch designer who already owned a company specialized in brand identity creation, to open their own perfume house. Mona di Orio Parfums was born to unlock the emotions found in dreams and imaginations. Perfumes that will be a surprise at the first whiff, and later, will develop slowly revealing their souls.

I received from Jeroen the 3 fragrances of the newest collection Les Nombres d'Or: Musc, Cuir and Amber.

Perfumer: Mona di Orio

Launch: 2010

Gender: + Q perfume Blog thinks it is for both genders.

Olfactive Notes: Vetiver, Cedarwood from Atlas Concrète, Ylang Ylang Comores, Resinoids - Benzoin & Tolu and Absolu Vanila Madagascar.

Description by brand: "Golden Ratio ... might be the key to understand beauty. Intrigued and attracted by this aesthetic theory, it let me imagine how to revisit some influential classics of the perfumery. Searching for the perfect proportions to reach a melodious harmony. Using the best raw materials, beautiful ingredients, precious gifts blessed with divine proportions. Close your eyes, open your nose and follow their mysterious and sensual sillages."

Description by + Q Perfume Blog: SENSUAL, LUXURIOUS, POWDERY, RESINUOS, GOURMET

Silage: Good

Fixation: Great

You find Mona di Orio fragrances at her site by clicking HERE.

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

Where:

✪✪✪✪✪ - Stick to me and never let me go!

✪✪✪✪ - Syrupy delicious!

✪✪✪ - I would wear till sample will finish, but not buy a bottle.

✪✪ - Sticky and stinky!

✪ - Hide under a tree!

AMBERGRIS

Amber was not my favorite note till I had the pleasure of exploring it in this fragrance. Although I have many fragrances with amber, I never thought of buying a perfume inspired by it. Amber Fetiche by Annick Goutal - not my favorite at all! L'Eau D'Ambre by L'Artisan...also did not make me tap dance in joy. Dior's last launch for the men - Ambre Nuit- huummm, nice! But is not for my gender...

CEDAR ATLAS

Mona di Orio, inspired by this note, created a perfume that is gentle, chic and powdery.

The first whiff has a cedar y note, sharp, sweet, slightly balsamic and a bit rubbery. It does not have a strong pencil note that we all know. Here it is rich, well blended in a drop of vetiver, bringing a smooth velvety result. Not particularly masculine. Just delicious.

The powdery aspect of this fragrance is what makes me more addicted to it. It is comforting, old school, perfectly balanced.

The perfume is a gold, thick composition of resins. Perfect for this gray, rainy week. I see caramel, golden, dark brown resins coming out of the trees, dripping into the flask.

Physeter macrocephalus (P. catodon) (Physeteridae) or Ambergris - Found in the ocean, it is produced my the whale digestive system and regorgitated by them. It has a fecal, marine scent when fresh, and a sweet and warm scent when aged.

Amber notes are also provided by ambrette seed, clary sage, angelica, myrrh, labdanum ciste and clary sage (according to OsMoz). Synthetics have interesting names, such as Madrox (amber dodecane) by Givaudan - with woody, tobacco, amber y warm tons. Or Ambretone ( by Takasago - musky, amber y, animalistic and flowery. (the industry offers many amber fragrance compounds, I mentioned these just as examples. Besides, they are developing new interesting ones).

Myroxylon balsamum or Tolu balsam, comes from a South American tree, closely related to the tree yielding Peru balsam 'Tolu balsam resinoid' is obtained by extraction of the raw tolu balsam. It is a brown crystalline mass with a persistent, sweet, balsamic odour, somewhat reminiscent of Hyacint. It is used as a fixative in perfumes. The main constituents of tolu balsam are the benzyl- and cinnamyl esters of benzoic acid and cinnamic acid. They are solid at room temperature.

Styrax benzoin, S. tonkinensis (Styracaceae) or Benzoin gum is a balsam obtained from trees of the genus Styrax and produced mainly in Asiatic countries such as Indonesia, Sumatra, Java, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. There are two varieties of benzoin gums: benzoin gum Siam from S. tonkinensis and benzoin gum Sumatra from S. benzoin. The balsam is obtained from cuts in the bark. The first one has a sweet-balsamic odour, with a distinct note of vanilla; the second has a strong odour influenced by styrene. Due to Cinnamyl cinnamate they have a soft and very tenacious balsamic-floral odor.

Bourbon Vanilla ou Vanilla Madagascar is produced from V planifolia, which is a type of orchid with pods. The beans or pods are harvested before they ripen, but the powerful vanilla flavour only develops after a several months of special curing. The beans are spread in the sun in the morning, then covered and kept enclosed during the night. After a while the green beans turn brown, and the glycosidically bound vanillin is slowly liberated. Also white fluffs on the surface of the vanilla pods are pure crystallized vanillin, and a sign of high quality.

Vanillin, or 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, is definitely the major odorant from vanilla, but several additional aroma compounds are formed during the curing process (more than 100 are identified). Guaicol, creosol, acetovanillone, vanillyl alcohol and methyl salicylate seem to be of importance, together with vitispiranes.

(obs.: all information about the resins were taken from the site Bo Jensen - an expert! Edited and changed a bit by me.)

But history and chemistry apart...Mona di Orio is syrupy and powdery at the same time. A contrast of dusty, dryness with thick, stick wet notes.

The vanilla plant grows as a vine, climbing up the branches of a tree. Vetiver is a grass with very fragrant roots growing downwards. This idea of roots penetrating the soil, or embracing other plants is the very essence of this fragrance. It brings a notion of a long lasting thing. Something that comes from the soul, from the deepest layers of our personality.

The perfume is sweet, but not as cookies or pastries - like some vanilic notes. It has a gentle sweetness that comes sprinkled with that powderness that I love.

I must confess that now I have a problem:

Tolu by Ormonde Jayne or Amber by Mona di Orio? I will take both!!!!!!!