Lisa Hoffman Tunisian Neroli - Japanese Agarwood - Madagascar Orchid
REVIEW
Perfume and scent in general holds such an integral place in my life that it's incredibly hard to keep it off Gave That (why? see here). It seems to keep seeping through the cracks and infusing many of my gift choices with the latest morsel being the new collection of scents by Lisa Hoffman (wife of Dustin Hoffman).
Unlike many of the new releases this year Lisa Hoffman has remained true to her aesthetic of fostering natural experiences and has created perfume pulse-point oils that smell like actual essential oils and the plants they were extracted from. She has also devised a way to make them even more giftable by housing each set of scents in its own leather travel case and giving the recipient the chance to try 4 different versions. While Lisa devised this through her own experiences of applying the same scent throughout the day and how it would be more interesting to wear variations instead, one has to also think of those Victorian perfume clocks where woman changed their scents on each hours chime. Swoon!
The scents I personally experienced and would give include:
Japanese Agarwood: A blend of Lemon, Cardamom, Italian Bergamot, Japanese Agarwood Accord, Jasmine, Spiced Ginger, Muguet, Cedarwood, Musk and Amber. An incredibly herbaceous and green scent which could easily be used by both sexes, upon touching it to your wrist you'll find a burst of lemon and bergamot bordering on Clary Sage. As it dries down it becomes ever more green and dry like a cup of moss steeped with green tea. It feels clean and is perfect in its Spa Shower collection. My only deep wish is that it had the extra depth of an incense accord, plum or creamy woods to pull it further together. With the name Japanese Agarwood it seems like one would be anticipating such smoldering sensuality. Still, this is my personal favorite out of the entire fragrance collection and has the most chance of being cherished when given. As an aside, the body oil version is divine and can be an alternative to the perfume set.
Madagascar Orchid: Blends Madagascar Orchid Accord together with Lemon, Clove Buds, Lily, Tuberose, Neroli, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Mimosa, Pink Peony and woods. The end result is yet another scent which finds itself very clean smelling, almost to the point of being squeaky (as in sudsy) and very powdery. The peony really pops and the mimosa creams over your skin causing everything to be veiled and unobtrusive. If you or your recipient adores the line of scents by Fresh or Clean, you might have a new love.
Tunisian Neroli: Combines Neroli (Orange blossoms) as its namesake with French Ylang Ylang, Golden Amber, Italian Lemon and South African Buchu Leaf. Sounds delicious yet the actual scent smells exactly like Curious by Britney Spears... yes I am being 100% serious and yes I was deeply disappointed. With neroli and ylang ylang you would figure Tunisian Neroli to be almost too sensuous to handle—euphoric even but instead you have Britney. Since Curious has actually garnered much acclaim even from the perfume snobs and is simple, fresh and oh-so young I'm still keeping Tunisian Neroli in the coffers for the younger set looking for something sweet this summer. As an added bonus, for the entire month of May 09 Lisa Hoffman will be donating 100% of the proceeds from this specific perfume to the Nancy Davis Foundation for MS.
As with all perfumes try to get a whiff in person prior to buying. For those in the NYC area visit Lisa Hoffman's collection at Bergdorf Goodman and in LA, Apothia at Fred Segal.
Also Read:
- Soaked In: NARS Essential Oil Infused Bath Salts
- MD Skincare Detox Duo
- Spring Detox: Clarisonic & Opal Sonic
Perfume and scent in general holds such an integral place in my life that it's incredibly hard to keep it off Gave That (why? see here). It seems to keep seeping through the cracks and infusing many of my gift choices with the latest morsel being the new collection of scents by Lisa Hoffman (wife of Dustin Hoffman).
Unlike many of the new releases this year Lisa Hoffman has remained true to her aesthetic of fostering natural experiences and has created perfume pulse-point oils that smell like actual essential oils and the plants they were extracted from. She has also devised a way to make them even more giftable by housing each set of scents in its own leather travel case and giving the recipient the chance to try 4 different versions. While Lisa devised this through her own experiences of applying the same scent throughout the day and how it would be more interesting to wear variations instead, one has to also think of those Victorian perfume clocks where woman changed their scents on each hours chime. Swoon!
The scents I personally experienced and would give include:
Japanese Agarwood: A blend of Lemon, Cardamom, Italian Bergamot, Japanese Agarwood Accord, Jasmine, Spiced Ginger, Muguet, Cedarwood, Musk and Amber. An incredibly herbaceous and green scent which could easily be used by both sexes, upon touching it to your wrist you'll find a burst of lemon and bergamot bordering on Clary Sage. As it dries down it becomes ever more green and dry like a cup of moss steeped with green tea. It feels clean and is perfect in its Spa Shower collection. My only deep wish is that it had the extra depth of an incense accord, plum or creamy woods to pull it further together. With the name Japanese Agarwood it seems like one would be anticipating such smoldering sensuality. Still, this is my personal favorite out of the entire fragrance collection and has the most chance of being cherished when given. As an aside, the body oil version is divine and can be an alternative to the perfume set.
Madagascar Orchid: Blends Madagascar Orchid Accord together with Lemon, Clove Buds, Lily, Tuberose, Neroli, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Mimosa, Pink Peony and woods. The end result is yet another scent which finds itself very clean smelling, almost to the point of being squeaky (as in sudsy) and very powdery. The peony really pops and the mimosa creams over your skin causing everything to be veiled and unobtrusive. If you or your recipient adores the line of scents by Fresh or Clean, you might have a new love.
Tunisian Neroli: Combines Neroli (Orange blossoms) as its namesake with French Ylang Ylang, Golden Amber, Italian Lemon and South African Buchu Leaf. Sounds delicious yet the actual scent smells exactly like Curious by Britney Spears... yes I am being 100% serious and yes I was deeply disappointed. With neroli and ylang ylang you would figure Tunisian Neroli to be almost too sensuous to handle—euphoric even but instead you have Britney. Since Curious has actually garnered much acclaim even from the perfume snobs and is simple, fresh and oh-so young I'm still keeping Tunisian Neroli in the coffers for the younger set looking for something sweet this summer. As an added bonus, for the entire month of May 09 Lisa Hoffman will be donating 100% of the proceeds from this specific perfume to the Nancy Davis Foundation for MS.
As with all perfumes try to get a whiff in person prior to buying. For those in the NYC area visit Lisa Hoffman's collection at Bergdorf Goodman and in LA, Apothia at Fred Segal.
Also Read:
- Soaked In: NARS Essential Oil Infused Bath Salts
- MD Skincare Detox Duo
- Spring Detox: Clarisonic & Opal Sonic
Comments
So happy you found the review helpful and I hope so much you use your new scents is very good health!