When it comes to perfume, the ultimate luxury* for me is not a big name and a famous house but to wear a rare creation made by an artisan perfumer from the best raw materials. Today's niche perfumery world offers quite a few options of this kind. Michael Storer is one such perfumer, and lately I've been sampling his work.
There are three women's fragrances and three men's. The feminine line comes both in EdT and parfum concentrate. I tried the latter. The men range is EdT only (The Blond will be subjected to it, if I can keep my paws off the samples).
I've been having fun. These über-femme scents aren't what I'd usually go for, with my known suspicion towards big florals and weird chemistry that embraces the more funky notes and rejects the prom queens. Apparently, when they are of the highest quality, even some of my sworn enemies are tolerable. Except for peach...
Genevieve- I really wanted to like this one. It's supposed to be the loveliest of them all, made in the tradition of the greatest classics with a long list of pedigreed notes. Every time I had it on I could almost see the beauty, appreciate the quality and the masterful blending, but the reaction on my skin was fruit, fruit and even more fruit. the peach and rhubarb ate every other note and grew louder and stronger with every hour. I fought with myself to keep this on for as long as I could, to try and feel the development into the base notes. Nada. Just more peach that grew fleshier and pulpier till the point I could no longer stand it and just had to scrub. Or try to, as this tenacious scent was pretty soap and water proof.
this wasn't meant to be.
Stephanie- After my first day with Genevieve, I was scared of this larger-than-life gardenia. I was expecting a disaster of the Datura Noir caliber. Thankfully, it didn't happen. Despite the gardenia, tuberose and jasmine, this was not high-pitched. It opened green and soon unfolded the layers of rich but well-behaved florals. I had so many minutes of "I can't believe I don't hate it" moments, as there was no mistake: Very.Big.White.Flowers. But they were held in place by a touch of spice and masterful blending. This perfume was not meant to challenge, only to make the wearer feel like a pretty princess. I enjoyed it a lot, but ultimately, it's not me. It melds neither with my skin nor with my personality. But it was fun to pretend.
Yvette was the one that captured my heart with a boozy, spicy opening, like a rich fruit liquor, that lead to a very sexy setting. There was something honeyed and deep, and I could have sworn I was smelling candied violets, tempting in taste and color. The flowers, tropical and others, are blended wonderfully with the other notes, so nothing hogs the stage. Even in the base, while I could more or less get the tonka bean, nothing else stood out by itself. The drydown was more mellow and close to the skin than with the other two, but like them, lasted from morning to night, staying pretty and a little naughty every step of the way.
Samples of all three (and of the men's line) are available for purchase directly from Michael Storer's site. More about him and his creations can be found on Jenny's blog, Perfume Making.
*The absolute luxury would be to have my own custom perfume made by a genius perfumer.
Images from MichaelStorer.com.
There are three women's fragrances and three men's. The feminine line comes both in EdT and parfum concentrate. I tried the latter. The men range is EdT only (The Blond will be subjected to it, if I can keep my paws off the samples).
I've been having fun. These über-femme scents aren't what I'd usually go for, with my known suspicion towards big florals and weird chemistry that embraces the more funky notes and rejects the prom queens. Apparently, when they are of the highest quality, even some of my sworn enemies are tolerable. Except for peach...
Genevieve- I really wanted to like this one. It's supposed to be the loveliest of them all, made in the tradition of the greatest classics with a long list of pedigreed notes. Every time I had it on I could almost see the beauty, appreciate the quality and the masterful blending, but the reaction on my skin was fruit, fruit and even more fruit. the peach and rhubarb ate every other note and grew louder and stronger with every hour. I fought with myself to keep this on for as long as I could, to try and feel the development into the base notes. Nada. Just more peach that grew fleshier and pulpier till the point I could no longer stand it and just had to scrub. Or try to, as this tenacious scent was pretty soap and water proof.
this wasn't meant to be.
Stephanie- After my first day with Genevieve, I was scared of this larger-than-life gardenia. I was expecting a disaster of the Datura Noir caliber. Thankfully, it didn't happen. Despite the gardenia, tuberose and jasmine, this was not high-pitched. It opened green and soon unfolded the layers of rich but well-behaved florals. I had so many minutes of "I can't believe I don't hate it" moments, as there was no mistake: Very.Big.White.Flowers. But they were held in place by a touch of spice and masterful blending. This perfume was not meant to challenge, only to make the wearer feel like a pretty princess. I enjoyed it a lot, but ultimately, it's not me. It melds neither with my skin nor with my personality. But it was fun to pretend.
Yvette was the one that captured my heart with a boozy, spicy opening, like a rich fruit liquor, that lead to a very sexy setting. There was something honeyed and deep, and I could have sworn I was smelling candied violets, tempting in taste and color. The flowers, tropical and others, are blended wonderfully with the other notes, so nothing hogs the stage. Even in the base, while I could more or less get the tonka bean, nothing else stood out by itself. The drydown was more mellow and close to the skin than with the other two, but like them, lasted from morning to night, staying pretty and a little naughty every step of the way.
Samples of all three (and of the men's line) are available for purchase directly from Michael Storer's site. More about him and his creations can be found on Jenny's blog, Perfume Making.
*The absolute luxury would be to have my own custom perfume made by a genius perfumer.
Images from MichaelStorer.com.
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