Giddyup! Katie’s Letter to Laurent and Reviews of Mods I, J & K
This concludes Katie’s Round 3 with mods R3/I, R3/J, and R3/K.
Dear Laurent,
I want to begin by calling a quick time-out to tell you just how thoroughly I’ve enjoyed this last round of mods. Like, a can’t-see-straight enjoyment. I seriously want to be nose drunk off of them, rather than have to set anything down into words. Which would land me in the doghouse with you and Nobi, and grind the project to a halt, so here goes…
It’s funny. I see a progression from first to third in this series more than I did with the previous rounds.
“I” pushes forward with those things we talked about in our phone conversation nicely. Breathing a little bit of funk and “animal” into it really puts Auxeos’ feet on the ground. The incensey leather suddenly seems richer to me. There’s more layers of shadow now?
But as we move over to “J,” I discover I am demolished by it – in a good way. “J” takes place in a parellel universe to “I,” where everything from “I” bears a comparatively “spicy” twist. I’m hard pressed to describe it accurately, but I’d say it’s almost like an aromatic balsamic quality that gently rises off the composition. Especially at the top. That truly is an awful verbal approximation, so I hope from that you can gather some idea of what I’m trying to say? It’s not really “spicy,” but I lack a word to nail down what I mean. This is really frustrating! I don’t know how to communicate this, and my apologies!
“J” lights up all those primal reptile knurls in my brain. Obviously, I responded the most viscerally to this mod.
Next we have “K.” I am initally struck by its “perfumey” quality in the initial first phase of wear. I’m not sure about the top on it. It’s a little powdery to me, but then on the other hand, it’s sure not any powder I’ve ever known.
The development on “K” seems the most far-reaching of any of the mods thus far. And I love that. The way it moves and shifts in tones as it develops is quite rewarding. The drydown has a lovely flourished feeling to it, which I can see being very appealing to others, too.
But I love the cozy warmth on “J“s drydown, too. I think it’s something to do with the way the vanillic element in it is used, perhaps. But it’s not explicitly vanilla at any point, which I appreciate. (Or it’s not there at all and I’m a total nutter.)
I hope you can extrapolate something meaningful from this feedback. I have layered “J” and “K” together for some sort of mutant creation, but of course… that’s neither workable nor an elegant solution.
After sniffing this round, I’m tempted to rename our fragrance project “Gestalt.” These new mods create allusions without condescending to spell every little thing out too completely: None of the notes whomp you over the head with a frying pan of obvious. But then, “Gestalt” isn’t a very pretty word, so maybe not. Heh.
“I,” “J,” and “K” are all so well done, and they’ve induced an inability to speak objectively or analytically here. I keep putting them on with the idea I’ll be wearing my thinking cap, too. But I can’t do it! I simply enjoy them too much to do anything except inhale happily. We are galloping down the right path, to say the least.
Oh wait – one hope? Please don’t lose that brittle crust of salt! So many sweet fragrances are out there in the world. If Luca Turin is right, and perfume is not about sex but food, then there ought to be more bold salty ones, too. (For the record, I happen to think it’s both: a little from column A, and a little from column B. It’s my Chinese take-out menu hypothesis on perfume.) That quality seems a little less apparent with this round, but that’s okay. As the fragrance becomes more involved and complex, it’s to be expected that it’ll all change. But I do hope you might find a way to retain just a hint of that, if possible. Unless it smells bad, of course. Then nevermind, heh!
Merry Christmas,
Katie
And since I doubt I’ll be posting here again ’til the calendar flips over:
Happy Chanukah, Kwaanzaa, and Christmas to everyone who’s been following our project.
And thank you! It’s been a fun ride this year, and I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the ride in 2007.
A limited quantity of samples from this round will be briefly available through the Made by Blog shop. The set includes sample vials of both mine and Marina’s latest mods.
14 Comments
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StickyKeys
I just received the next samples and I must take time to make note of the packaging. Hermetically sealed vials encased in bubble wrap within a standard addressed envelope? Leaps and bounds from the days of plastic vials and ziplock baggies! Next time I shall expect a male model designed to be my own personal sprayer!
I currently am wearing I on my left wrist, K on my right wrist, and J on my bosom. I’m still getting an initial soapiness, but the drydown (see? I’m learning, umm, unless I used that incorrectly) was fabulous. Particularly of J which seems to have some sweeter notes that I enjoy, it’s almost floral.
I is the most perfumey (well, I tried!). It smells most like.. a perfume. Actually, let me explain K and J and maybe that will put I in a better perspective.
K has a lot of leather in its midsection. It’s not quite manly, but a little brut. Like something a man might like smelling on his wife, but still very feminine. Almost matronly though. Like, for the authoritative woman. It seems less warm than the others.
J has fabulous floral notes, but they seem to be muted by a disinfectant like note. Perhaps when it wears a bit longer it will rest into those notes, but there’s something that seems to be blocking it.
Which brings me back to I. It doesn’t smell like flowers, or like leather, or like dew on a soft spring day, it smells like classic vintage perfumery.
I’ll carry them around and do another comment closer to the end of the week, but that’s the starter. I love I, and think that J has great potential. K is lovely, but it’s just not to my current liking. That may change by the end of the week!
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StickyKeys
Lovely review Katie, and I’m glad we picked up on some of the same elements (that you expressed so eloquently)!
I think a mix of J&K would be lovely. I is the best transition from the last mods I think, but K is the most innovative, I think something in J would give it just the bit of subtlety that it needs. The vanillin elements, and the balsamic notes (which yes! exactly what I was imagining but couldn’t think of) perhaps?
It’s all very exciting and very well done, kudos to Laurent!
Merry Holidays everyone!
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Katie
J is the one I’ve been most haunted by, though K is quite interesting. I’m so glad you can go along with the word “balsamic”… I was having a brain fart and can’t come up with anything better, eep! I is lovely, as well… I like your idea that it smells like classic vintage perfume. It’s got a very classy smooth feel to it, and you’re right!
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Judith (lilybp)
I love all these, but I must put in a special word for J–wonderful leather scent: I want to wear it all the time!
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Sali
Hi, all. I received the new blends a little while back and have only had the chance to try one of them, but I can say this: it’s getting a bit too smoky for me at this stage. If it’s closer to Katie’s vision (and she sounds very pleased with this batch of samples), I’m very happy for her! I can’t wait to smell the finished product. Happy Holidays.
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Katie
Judith, another vote for J! Cool. I have been wearing it all the time ;-P
Sali, oh I worried about that. Your taste tends towards the sweeter and lighter compared to mine oftentimes… Happy holidays to you, too Sali.
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treazurekitten
J is nice, but K is the one. it opens and expands; heightening and transforming the experience as if we’d inhaled nitrous oxide along with the perfume. it actually felt to me similar to a lemon drop, I quite literally felt the buzz. for me, there are nods to en avion, and in fleeting movements, shalimar, as well, but this mod’fume is very much its own. it suceeds in not being foody/vanilla sweet. a veritable feast of beeswax, sweet/sour lemon (lemony spiked bergamot), petrol and leather. Viola! to me the mods were like an orange (J), lemon (K) and an hawaiian punch oj/lemon/cherry (I) play on a theme, with k setting iteself apart.
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Katie
treazurekitten, heh, perhaps this is why K didn’t strike me in the gut like J did – I’m not always so keen on lemon particularly, heh. Anyhow, I really liked the way K develops, too; It has a lot more movement in it than the other two mods in my estimation as well. But J really hit me in the gut strong, so after wearing these mods for another month, I keep putting J on more often than the others. K is quite admirable, very classical in a way, no? Your mention of En Avion and Shalimar are quite interesting. Thanks for sharing such lovely impressions of this last batch of mods π
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treazurekitten
I too am wearing J more. Partly because I am hoarding the K mod. But also because J keeps calling me back to visit it again and again. I agree very much with you that the notes in the J mod can be amped up a bit more give it more expansiveness, development. Great project. It seems you are coming up with a real stunner here.
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Katie
Hee! I so understand about the hoarding sentiment ;P And thanks, this project has been so fun, and it feels nice to hear these mods have been hitting the right buttons with others.
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kuri
Heh, feeling left behind in novice-land. I just notice variations on sweet leather today. Which is very nice; the leather is a bit strong to me (not unbearable by any means, but pretty full and assertive), so I like the sweetness with it. But no matter how much I sniff I don’t notice much citrus! I wonder if it disappears on my skin. Anyway, really quite like them all right now. This morning I preferred J, but this evening I like k better.
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marina
I loved all three, I couldn’t possibly chose a favorite. π