helvetius | my interpretation (Reply)

Finally made it to the end of the anime series. And learnt that while the anime series has a happy ending (if one doesn't count the perpetually grumpy Naru-chan), it's quite different for the novels... WTF, it's fucking sad.

Loose ends not addressed in the anime's ending.

For own archiving purposes: Part I & Part II

I arrived in town early for the Deputy Director's "Incoming" treat so I went sniffing around again.

Bits & Pieces

Apparently Thierry Mugler's fragrances and I don't mix well. "Angel" was just unbearable. There are sweet scents with an edge and then there are cloying sweet bottled deaths. "Angel" falls in the latter category. "Alien" smells like Vanilla Pepsi. (Not Coke, Pepsi. Yes, there is a difference.) "Star" smells like stale cupboard mixed with air refresher and "Mugler" just smells meh.

Marc Jacob's "Rain" smells like the common toilet air refresher on me. Narciso Rodriguez's "for Her" EDT and EDP have such vast differences, they're more akin to 2 strangers than siblings. The EDP has a very strong rose note in it whereas the EDT has none of that and is drastically "lighter" overall.

Alexander McQueen "Kingdom"

I found a shop actually selling Alexander McQueen's "Kingdom" samples*. I nearly bought a bottle there and then without actually sniffing the damn thing due to the shop's initial refusal to let me have a sniff at it and my greatly piqued interest after reading this post. After much mulling (sample or not, it wasn't cheap), they finally allowed a minuscule dab.

I couldn't catch the rose, but the jasmine was strong all right. But what really stood out was the cumin. It might have been a dab, but my hand was smelling like a piece of Little India on a Very Hot Singapore Afternoon. In short, jasmine + Sweaty Bodies. I wouldn't say it was bad, never mind how certain reviews have compared the scent to that of BO and unwashed body parts, but it might work better on males in a temperate countries**. The cumin is reminiscent of that particular quality in the scent of an unperfumed male. While the cumin did wear off, it wore off slowly and the mixture of that and the sandalwood and vanilla notes was a heady mixture.

Remember. Tiny. Minuscule. Dab.

Paco Rabanne "Ultraviolet"

I did finally give in and bought a Paco Rabanne "Ultraviolet" miniature (to hell with friend's gay BFF association) and I haven't been able to stop sniffing places it has been applied ever since. Not terribly excited about the pimento. (It took a bit of googling to tell the fragrance's notes. Paco Rabanne's official website merely lists "pimento". Pimento, what?) The addictive factor is the Japanese osmanthus. Finally managed to put a name to the familiar note that has been haunting me. On hind sight, I guess I should have identified it earlier as I have taken osmanthus tea on occasions. Who knew osmanthus and vanilla work great together? There's a lush creaminess to the combination.

*The difference between sample bottles and the regular bottles is that sample bottles come without the box and may cost as much as $50-60 lesser than regular bottles. Yes, really.

**What are the bets that it'll just be mistaken for BO in tropical countries?

Have also finally caught up with the flist. It appears that great stuff have been happening to some people. Congrats!