Hurricane Sandy is almost upon us, and this might be my last blog post for a little while, as I wait for internet and general power to be restored to my area, sometime later this week. I'm hoping this storm isn't as "perfect" as the ratings-hungry TV forecasters claim, and perhaps we here in Connecticut won't see the worst of it. Unfortunately it's already quite windy outside, and the damn thing is still 500 miles away, which begs the question, exactly how much windier will it get when it's only 50 miles away? The outlook is decidedly grim, and there are severe flood warnings blanketing the entire state. As Tom Petty once sang, "we've gotta get to a higher place."
Ambery orientals, I've decided, are generally unisex. I don't know if they always were, or if the forgiving multi-cultural zeitgeist of the twenty-first century has made them so, but nowadays it seems both men and women can pull them off without a hitch. Floral orientals, and sometimes even spicy orientals, can be trickier, but the smooth, warm, diffuse nature of well-crafted amber allows either gender its own way of interpreting the genre. Prada's amber is good, a thorough patchouli/amber/sandalwood composition with little intrigue, but affability in spades, and a bril bottle to boot. It somewhat resembles Shalimar, but with a lesser citrus top, and more scratch in its woody base.
This isn't to say the citrus notes are bad - Amber's bergamot is bright and very pleasing - but Shalimar's citrus notes are simply superior to those of most orientals. From Amber's citrus comes a cool vanilla, made earthy with a generous dab of patchouli, followed by a woodsy-warm amber on a lush sandalwood base. Some get strong floral notes of ylang, jasmine, and rose, but I get none of those. Perhaps this scent is variable by skin chemistry. In any case, it's a lovely little amber, and worth every last penny.