Notes: Tunisian patchouli, amber, three types of musk, vanilla
Pros: A patchouli for patchouli-haters. Rich, musky, and sweet with an incredible Indian sandalwood-like note echoing throughout.
Cons: The price. I nearly had a coronary when I realized how much I'd have to fork out. And honestly, I'd like a bit more raunchiness.
Bottleworthy? For the price, no way. I think I can go to the flea market and buy my own oils so I can make my own Jalaine Patchouli. BUT, take a look at that bottle!
Where can I buy it? 6ml perfume oil $150; 5ml refil perfume oil $90 Luckyscent.com
The Bottom line: A beautiful perfume oil for someone looking for a delicious vanilla, musk and amber scent with a hint of patchouli. The price is quite high, so this would make a luxurious gift for....well, for me! But I couldn't see paying the money for this. I'm really just encouraged to try and emulate it.
Rating (out of 10): Packaging 8, Scent 7, Price 3 = 6
I'm encouraged to mix my own oils and make my own scent. Any advice?
6 comments:
Marlen,
About a year ago I tried making my own fragrance, inspired by Malle's Bigarade Concentree, as well as another of Ellena's creations, Un Jardin Sur Le Nil. I researched the notes and ordered the essential oils online. The fun part was mixing the oils and then testing them. (Note: I have a very old book about making perfume that gave some hints). Once the mixture of oils is to your liking, you add the perfume grade alcohol. Here, in Mexico, you can buy pure grain alcohol that is odor-free but in most countries it has additives to make it taste bitter (don't want any alcoholics drinking your perfume!). I kept my solution at about one third oils (30%) because I hate the longevity of citrus based fragrances.
First thing I noticed was that it would eat through anything plastic. It almost destroyed my cd player due to a small spill while transfering the juice to a recycled L'Artisan bottle. Second thing I figured out was that I spent almost $300 making a bottle of fragrance when I probably should have just ordered the two Ellena fragrances and layered them. The Third and most tragic thing was that even at perfume strength, it still only lasted on my skin for about 15 minutes!
I now have a bottle of very expensive room spray...but hey, I made it myself!
Kelley - Neither of those Ellena scents move me very much, though they are certainly "nice". SO do we have a name for this roomspray? Eau de Vandiver? LOL! Ok - so bottom line here is that perhaps its better to just buy the scent I'm lemming for rather than spend the money trying to emmulate it? Thanks for reading and posting!
You are right about the scents I was trying to duplicate. I was trying for a simple scent that wasn't too complicated and therefor expensive. I guess the lesson is, like you said, it's easier to just buy them. I have heard that chemists have access to not only fragrant chemicals but to natural oils that are far superior to what us normal folk can obtain. They buy in such volume that it's much cheaper for them to use Iris Absolute or Vanilla Concrete than it would be for us.
I don't want to talk you out of it. You might be really good at it and maybe it's another one of your many talents.
Kelley - funny thing, the other day I blended a bunch of oils I had sitting around - a little sandalwood, a little musk, a little orange blossom, rose and vanilla...and lo and behold, what did I get? I accidentally re-created Guerlain L'Heure Bleue!
You know, I just saw and tried this stuff at the Scent Bar yesterday (see qwendy.typepad.com) and I was disappointed that more extraordinary juice wasn't inside this beautiful vessel, I kind of did a double take, none of the scents warranted their jewelry, IMHO.
Wendy - I agree...all glam and no substance. Thanks for reading and posting!
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