Atelier Cologne - Gold Leather (perfume review)

I'll be honest, of all of the samples that came in the Atelier Cologne set, I may have been the least enthusiastic to try Gold Leather. To be fair, I hadn't read anything about it and my prejudice was based solely on the name, which I didn't particularly care for. I'm not even really sure what I had against the name, I guess I just associated it with an image of gaudiness. I've also tried very few leather scents but haven't had great success with them on my skin (I'm looking at you Kelly Caleche and BV Knot), so perhaps those experiences contributed to my lack of excitement. 

So when I randomly drew Gold Leather from my fine jewelry box of samples, I kind of shrugged my shoulders in disappointment. But hey, I had to try it at some point, right?

And then I put it on.

Wow. 

...

Gold Leather is extremely alluring on (my) skin. I was immensely shocked by how quickly I was drawn into this enticing gourmandy leather. Everytime I wear it, I find my wrist stays glued to my nose - consciously or subconsciously.

The opening features a crisp, almost cranberry-like citrus that manages to be simultaneously warm and cool at the same time. After the first bursts of citrus die down, a sweet and spicy plum emerges. This temptress is dark, boozy, thick and jammy - with a touch of pepper. She's a bit playful, she's definitely sexy, and she is really quite delicious.

Elizabeth Taylor in 1960, via dailymail.co.uk

This dark-haired siren calls for you as she lays seductively upon her bed of soft nude leather. The leather is soft, supple, warm and cozy. But before she can get too hot, the woods in the base wrap our jammy queen in their dry airiness - ultimately preventing Gold Leather from ever becoming too cloying, spicy or heavy. Interestingly for the first 30 minutes or so, the scent distinctly shifts between plum or leather, but after that they blend together seamlessly. 

Several hours (5 or so) into the dry down, Gold Leather loses its spicy edge and becomes an innocent skin scent - lightly sweet and slightly leathery. Still gorgeous, but in a new light. It stays on my skin that way through the next morning and occasionally through a shower. 

And as much as I hate to admit it, I can understand the name Gold Leather - the perfect combination of nude leather and wood emanates luxury. However, while the golden leather may be luxurious, it's the spicy plum that keeps me coming back for more. 

To me, Gold Leather feels like a power scent - it's assertive and sexy, bold yet refined. This is easy my favorite Atelier (so far).

This would almost definitely be on my FB wishlist, but at $195/100ml bottle (or $295 for the 200ml + 30ml ecrin absolu set), I think it's a bit out of my price range. Perhaps if the bottle weren't plated in real gold (it really is)... I suppose I can dream that they'll offer the 30ml bottles someday.

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Clint's 3: Pleasant, Beachy, Floral

Hehe, I think he might be getting the beachy vibe from the wood. I'm not exactly sure about the floral - but that's what he smells!

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My rating of Gold Leather: 4.25

1  -  - -  -  2  -  -  -  -  3  -  -  -  -  4  - X -  -  -  5

   Nausea/Gagging         Meh        Decent       Great         Olfactory Elation      

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Gold Leather as described by the Atelier Cologne website:

Family: Woody Leather*

Top Notes: bitter orange from Seville, Indian saffron, Jamaican rum

Middle Notes: plum, davana from India, eucalyptus from California

Base Notes: heart of gaiac wood from India, heart of cedarwood from Texas, leather & oud accord

Perfumer: Jerome Epinette

*Personally I would consider Gold Leather more of a fruity leather than a woody leather (though I can understand why they would say woody leather). Interestingly though, the Atelier line has another fragrance, Rendez-vous, which they characterize as a fruity leather. I'm really interested to try that one too now!

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Have you tried Gold Leather and if so, what are your opinions on it? What are some of your favorite Atelier scents?

2014 Christmas Hauls for a Happy New Year :)

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season!  Mine has been festive, blessed and lovely - filled with good food, friends and family. Everyone is healthy and happy, and my baby gifts me with smiles and giggles daily. There is truly nothing else I could ask for. But, it just so happens that we are a gift giving family, so I had to come up with a list! :)

This year I had a really fun Christmas, for two reasons. It was my first Christmas as a mother and my first Christmas as a lover of perfume! It was super fun to watch Walden rip through wrapping paper (he's too young to be excited about the presents, but he sure loved tearing up the paper) and it was also really exciting to unwrap my gifts! Everything on my list (except for 1 scarf) was scented - 2 candles, one FB and a slew of samples to keep me going for a long time. I can't remember the last time I exhibited childhood glee at opening gifts! Here's a breakdown of my haul, thanks to the warm generosity of my family.

*****

Every year we draw names for our gift-giving and we provide fairly specific lists (often times a list of links!) - so in many ways we have a pretty clear idea of what we're getting before Christmas comes. However, one thing that made opening gifts this year so fun was the special surprise element - promotions with purchase and samples! For instance, I ended up getting 4 mini diptyque candles (Noisetier, Myrrh x2, Feu de Bois) thanks to holiday promotions by luckyscent and diptyque.

My biggest gift was the full bottle of Do Son, EDP - my love. YAY!! So amaaaazing. My MIL also took advantage of the luckyscent diptyque promotion, which scored 4 official samples plus one of the above duos of candle minis. The *only* thing I could possibly be disappointed about was the samples (NOT that I have any room to complain about free samples!!!). There are so many diptyque scents I want to try, but this time around I didn't get samples for any of them. The 4 official samples I got were Do Son EDT, L'Ombre dans l'Eau, Tam Dao and L'Eau de Neroli. I'm not super interested in the Do Son EDT (as I just got a FB of the EDP), and I already have samples of L'ombre EDP and EDT as well. 

Nicely, luckyscent also threw in 4 *more* diptyque samples, but they gave me another Do Son EDT and L'Ombre dans l'Eau EDT - so I guess they really want me to try those! Haha. They also gave me Oyedo and L'Eau des Hesperides. Sadly I already have a sample of Oyedo, so despite getting 8(!!) diptyque samples, only 3 are actually new for me. Oh well! I did give one of the Do Son samples to my sister-in-law since she seemed to really like the EDP on me. Perhaps it'll spark a love.

luckyscent pack

I was lucky enough to receive two diptyque candles - Santal and Violette. Santal smells heavenly!! Warm and rich and woody and sophisticated. Violette also smells really good, but it smells a little different than what I remembered from my trip to Nordstrom. That was a little disappointing, but I probably built up the memory too much in my head. It still smells really nice and I'm excited to burn it. I think the scent might also fit the new style of our DIY bathroom renovation. Needless to say, I'm in candle heaven!

I'm also in sample heaven - who knows when I'll even get to wearing my bottle of Do Son! I got the ridiculously cute Ineke Scent Library featuring Angel's Trumpet, Poet's Jasmine, Scarlet Larkspur, Sweet William and Briar Rose. It came in what I consider basically the best packaging ever. I love love love the old book design and the descriptive postcards tucked within. It completely fits the style of our 1911 farmhouse, and I'll probably display it somewhere. I accidentally ended up with 2 of these (I had also asked for the Ineke Deluxe Sample Collection vol 5).  I'm hoping I'll be able to exchange one for the other sampler for more Ineke fun!

is this not the cutest perfume 'book' ever?

Continuing with the sampler packs, I also received the full set of 17 Atelier samples - which was also packaged oh so nicely. I love the gorgeous postcards and can't wait to try them all.

My hubby got me a short subscription to Olfactif, which will keep the samples coming for a few months. The set looks really nice, and December's package was Vanilla themed. Included this month were Dame Perfumery Scottsdale's Black Flower Mexican Vanilla, Xerjoff's Lira, DSH Perfumes' Vanille. It was perfect timing because I've been on the hunt for some more great vanilla scents!

He also ordered me a lone sample of Hiram Green Moon Bloom. I am dying to experience it for myself!

Lastly, there were a slew of free samples that came with the gift purchases. I awesomely scored the following:

Requested: 

Annick Goutal - La Violette

Serge Lutens - Bois de Violette

Serge Lutens - Feminite du Bois

Frederick Malle - Lipstick Rose

Frederick Malle - Carnal Flower

Jul et Mad - Stilettos on Lex

Byredo - Bal d'Afrique

(side note - Aedes's 7 samples with purchase policy is the best!)

Random:

Von Eusersdorff - Classic Vetiver

Atelier de Geste - Blood, Sweat and Tears

Atelier de Geste - Wild is the Wind

Dasein Fragrances - Winter

Ramon Monegal - Mon Cuir

Whew! What a blast! I am so thankful for the beautiful scarf and the load of scented goodies! I am looking forward to trying and reviewing every single thing on this list.  :)  Maybe I can find another FB worthy scent in time for my birthday, hehe.

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I hope you all have been enjoying your holidays. Did you get everything on your Christmas list this year? What were some of your most cherished gifts and memories?

Atelier Cologne - Oolang Infini (perfume review)

There is little better than a lovely cup of hot tea on a cool fall morning (or an ice-cold fall morning, if the polar vortex is having its way with you). As such, I turned to Atelier's Oolang Infini to see if it could bring me the feelings of warmth and comfort that a nice tea would.

Photo from Atelier Cologne website

Upon first spray, the opening of Oolang Infini is crisp and fresh, citrusy and bright. For me it was immediately reminiscent of the Twining's Lady Grey iced tea I used to drink on occasion (a blend of black tea, orange, bergamot, lemon and lime), though the tea note may be a bit more demure than the black tea used in Earl or Lady Grey.

I'm not sure if it's a quality of the fragrance or my personal chemistry with it but Oolang Infini was exceptionally soft and light. I actually had to reapply Oolang Infini twice within 15 minutes to maintain any level of scent. There are very few scents of which I could tolerate 6 sprays without massive nausea or headaches, and honestly with this one I could probably tolerate several more still.

After the initial fragrant burst of tea dies down, Oolang Infini's tea notes float lightly above the skin - soapy and clean. The tea notes are, however, marked by a small undercurrent of tannic bitterness that makes the scent feel just a tad medicinal and sharp on me. After an hour or so, that sharpness fades a bit but unfortunately I don't get a lot of the blond leather or wood notes that others seem to enjoy. Perhaps for this reason, Oolang Infini feels cool to me - lacking the warmth or depth of a nice full-bodied tea. Around the three hour mark only the faintest waft of soapiness is discernible with the wrist to the nose - even after 6 sprays. Surprisingly though, that faint waft was still detectable by the next morning.

Although it evokes more of an Earl or Lady Grey tea feeling for me than Oolong - Oolang Infini is definitely a realistic tea scent. It's gentle nature is office appropriate, comfortable for everyday use and very gender neutral. I think it would be quite becoming on a man, but I'll never know because Clint did not care for it in the least.

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Clint's 3: As I noted above, Clint struggled with this one (made a very disgusted face) and really wanted his words to be "I don't like it." I was a bit surprised by his strong and visceral reaction to a scent I found fairly pleasant and quite inoffensive. Nonetheless I forced my wrist upon him repeatedly and he finally came up with:

Citrusy, Soapy, 'Musky'

Musky was my word - Clint didn't have a precise word but said it smells like our dog after she has rolled in something outside and needs a bath. We're not really sure what it is she rolls in. It doesn't smell like dung... but it does reek of dirty animal. Needless to say, I didn't smell it, but everyone's nose is different.

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My rating of Oolang Infini: 3 

1  -  - -  -  2  -  -  -  -  3  -  -  -  -  4  -  -  -  -  5

    Nausea/Gagging         Meh        Decent       Great         Olfactory Elation    

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Oolang Infini as described by the Atelier Cologne website:

Oolang Infini, a full-bodied, mysterious concoction, captures blue tea and bergamot in the warmth of smoke and leather.

Top Notes: bergamot from Calabria, Tunisian neroli, freesia

Middle Notes: oolong tea, jasmine from Egypt, blond leather

Base Notes: tobacco flower from the Balkans, gaiac wood from India, musk 

Perfumer: Jerome Epinette

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Have you tried Oolang Infini? What are your favorite tea scents and teas?