Travels In Spain, Part Four: The Costa del Sol and Keiko Mecheri Tarifa

Look at Tarifa on the map. It is on the southernmost tip of Spain, literally a short swim from Morocco (which is #1 on my travel wish list at the moment). I really wanted to see Tarifa's beaches. The photos looked beautiful but it was too far off our route as we traveled from Ronda to Granada. Plus there was the added complication of finding a room. When I went on Booking.com their little meter at the top of the page was registering 98% full occupancy. The rooms that were showing up as available looked like something I shared with friends back in the days of college spring break  and they were going for 500 Euro per night. Evidently everybody goes to the south of Spain in the month of August. So we didn't make it to Tarifa, instead swinging by Marbella for a few hours then making our way on up to Granada.

I suppose I'm a bit of a beach snob. I've lived in Southeast Asia for so many years and it's so easy and inexpensive to get to tropical beaches in the South China, Andaman, and Java Seas. Plus my husband is Australian and really, their beaches are stunning. Minus the sharks, of course. So the whole idea of renting a beach bed for the day with the strangers next to me being mere inches away seemed a little weird. Plus the water is cold! However the egalitarian nature of the experience appealed, and I would not have been any happier had I been on the beach of one of those expensive, out-of-my-budget resorts sequestered behind their unwelcoming guarded gates. Honestly! Power to the people, and all that.  Beautiful views, though, and I did like my umbrella! And with the touts walking around selling fake purses and sunglasses, I thought I was back in Bali! Anyway, the photos of Tarifa looked more like the beaches I am accustomed to and I didn't want to miss the chance to review this perfume that Keiko Mecheri dedicated to this particular beach in Spain.

Keiko Mecheri Tarifa is one of the perfumes in her Dreamscape series, seven scents inspired by travel. Tarifa is situated on a cusp of land overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. Morocco is a quick ferry ride away and the Moorish influence is strong. Tarifa opens with orange blossom and petitgrain and in the first moments demonstrates a slight bit of bubbly soapiness but it is very understated. To up the citrus meter is Tunisian orange blossom and Calabrian bergamot. I can smell orange blossom but it is very fuzzy and hazy, like it is encased in a white musk. There is no fruity orange smell; instead the woody aspects of the petitgrain take front and center. The base notes are amber and spices and whatever spice notes are used, I can't pick them out. The amber adds warmth and a bit of "lying in the sun" beach vibe. The whole thing is sunny and pleasant but it fails to rock my world.

I like many Keiko Mecheri perfumes and I don't not like this one but it's not my favorite way to wear orange blossom. When I wear orange blossom I like it to be realistic, like the flower, or showy. My favorite I own is a bottle of L'Artisan Fleur d'Oranger realeased as a limited edition in 2007. I also love Elie Saab which is all glamour and pizzazz. Tarifa is unisex but leans more masculine and it emphasizes the petitgrain and bergamot notes. The orange blossom gets somewhat lost on my skin. It is nice, certainly inoffensive, but not different enough for me to want to add it to my collection. Anyone looking for a less floral, more woody orange blossom perfume may find this is what they want and I also think it will appeal more to men.

For more stories on Spain and the perfumes I wore go to Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Five, and Part Six.

Top photo Google map image. Perfume sample my own.

Travels in Spain, Part One: Mallorca with Keiko Mecheri Isles Lointaines

My vacation to Spain started on the beautiful island of Mallorca and I have my friend "A" to thank for deciding to celebrate her birthday with friends on this idyllic spot in the Mediterranean Sea off the Spanish coast. I'm not sure that Mallorca would have ever been on my travel radar otherwise.  We were situated on the southeastern  coast near a national park. Our base was Santanyi, a quaint town with golden stone buildings, picturesque bell towers, and a string of umbrella clad cafes in the town square. In addition to the well known tourist beaches there were secret hidden swimming spots accessed by a trudge down rocky paths lined with scrubby trees, suddenly opening to tiny perfect turquoise swimming beaches bordered with white sand. Most of my beach experiences have been around Asia where I've lived the last many years and I have a repertoire of perfumes that smell of sultry jasmine, coconut sun block, and sea water that I reach for when going to these destinations. I sensed that Mallorca's beaches would be a different experience and wanted something out of the ordinary to commemorate my introduction to European beach life.

A recent purchase of Keiko Mecheri Isles Lontaines seemed to be a good bet so I decanted a large sample and off we went. Keiko Mecheri is one of those brands that has been around for quite some time and has a large number of perfumes on offer, but it is not always the easiest brand to find. Ms. Mecheri is most known for Loukhoum, a perfumed ode to the Turkish treat Rahat Loukhoum which became one of those cult perfumes everyone wanted to try. I've sampled several of Ms. Mecheri's perfumes and I always felt that Loukhoum, the one that brought her the most attention, was a little out of character from her other offerings. Personally I love it but it's a powerhouse whereas I find most of her perfumes to have a certain restraint.

Gardenia and sweet almond are listed as the opening notes for Isles Lointaines but for me the gardenia is muddled with the jasmine and tiare from the beginning to form a soft mishmash of white florals. Gardenia and jasmine can both appear as sultry or green in perfumes, but in this perfume they do neither. They are a poised and polished vase of white flowers with lashes of almond blossom thrown in. Not one of the white flowers is a solitary standout although jasmine makes itself the most present on my skin. The sweet almond note is soft and powdery without the strong foody note that some almond perfumes can have like this one from Prada. The sweet almond serves to cocoon the florals in a cottony soft cloud, keeping everything somewhat refined and reserved. If you are wary of white florals you may think they are fairly strong, but as as an indolic white flower lover I find them fairly tame. The scent gives me the polished beach vibe I'm looking for, more glam and and less Bain de Soleil and pina coladas.

Keiko Mecheri's inspiration for Iles Lontaine was a South Seas island  reminiscent of turquoise seas, breezy beaches, and sun-kissed skin. The florals do deliver the balmy, slightly humid feel of tropical flowers blooming near a sandy beach. Mallorca has a thriving almond orchard industry so it was the almond note in the perfume that made me think of it for my trip.  Mallorca's almond trees blossom in late January and February and evidently the scent is magnificent during the weeks the trees bloom. Sadly I didn't get to experience this but I've added it to scented trips I'd like to take, along with Provence in June and Isparta during rose harvest.

I typically don't like to label perfumes feminine or masculine but this one is very pretty and does lean very much toward the feminine to me. On opening there is a brief sparkle of citrus but the white flowers and powdery almond move in quickly and don't change much during the several hours of wear I get from a spray. In addition to the jasmine, gardenia and tiare the perfume also features notes of tuberose and rose. As the perfume settles in I smell creamy tuberose and it slowly becomes the most dominant of the white flower notes. Base notes are benzoin, amber, and vanilla. I mostly smell the vanilla and benzoin and they are subtle, not overdone, and amp up the creaminess factor. The florals project through the life of the perfume. The three descriptions that come to mind when I'm wearing Isles Lointaines are creamy, white, and powdery. The powdery note is soft, not a face powder scent but used to mute the floral's intensity. I enjoy this perfume but decided it really doesn't translate to a beach perfume to me. It is a very pretty white flower perfume that I would enjoy wearing any time of year but especially in the spring and summer.

For more posts on Spain travels and perfumes see Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Part Six.

First photo: Pinterest image. Second photo: www.intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com. Sample from my own bottle.

Ballet Inspired Perfumes Part Two

In Part One of ballet inspired perfumes, scents to wear to the ballet and specifically in this festive season the Christmas performances of The Nutcracker, three perfumes from the Les Parfums de Rosine line were featured. In this post we will look at four more perfumes inspired by elements of the ballet.

Keiko Mecheri Lady Pointe opens with one of the most distinct blackcurrant notes I have ever smelled in a perfume. It is uplifting and very fruity but not at all sweet. There is a touch of citrus in the opening but the rose comes in to mingle with the blackcurrant note fairly quickly. There are also notes of orchid, suede and musk, but what I am mostly noticing is a grape- jammy rose. In the final stages of wear notes of tonka bean, incense, oakmoss, patchouli, and sandalwood combine with the rose to render a darker air to the perfume. I particularly notice the tonka bean which gives a slightly powdery gourmand note, once the intensity of the intoxicating black currant and rose notes have dissipated. Lady Pointe conjures images of red ballet shoes and purple-skinned black currants. This perfume is rich, dark and unexpectedly fun.

With Penhaligon's Iris Prima we move away from the rose-based ballerina perfumes and on to iris. Iris can be an austere, proper note which perhaps suits the theme of ballet dancers and the endless hours of practice and fierce dedication required to make a mark in the profession. The iris starts off very similarly to Prada Infusion d'Iris on my skin. I get the quiet, grey iris note and the starched smell that often accompanies iris perfumes. There is a touch of pink pepper in the opening which gives it an initial ping but that quickly disappears. The perfume also has notes of leather, sandalwood, vetiver, amber, vanilla and benzoin. I smell the iris with the softest touch of leather. The leather is a super soft and pliable note and it is an easy comparison to imagine it the the well worn leather of the ballet slipper that we are smelling. For me this wears like a winter companion to the Prada Iris, the leather note providing a darker hue to the usually light iris note.

Strange Invisible Perfumes Prima Ballerina has a very different take from the perfumes featured thus far. For one thing, it does not feature a leather or suede note to indicate the ballet toe shoes. Also, there is no sandalwood, a nod to the wooden stage and practice studios, that features in the previous entries. This interpretation is an aromatic perfume featuring the rose note. Strange Invisible Perfumes is one of the early originators of botanical perfumes and based in California. This scent opens with a lime note which gives the very pretty and true rose note a citrus lift. It also has notes of sage which give a light herbal quality to the naturalness of the perfume. I would say that this perfumer is not trying to draw a hyper realistic scent picture of the ballet performance including elements of wood, leather and sweat, but is instead trying to relay a portrait of the romance of the ballet and the beauty of the ballerina dancer. I find this scent to be very feminine.

The final perfume inspired by the ballet is Amrita Aromatics Vaganova: a Bittersweet Ballet Floral Botanical Perfume. It features notes of ginger, rosewood, tuberose, sandalwood, cedar, rosin, and satin; altogether a most romantic list of ballet inspired notes. Even if I had blind tested this, I would have guessed it is a natural perfume. It has that bright organic presence that naturals often show. Ananda Wilson says about her perfumes, "Know that when you purchase a natural perfume, it is an intimate engagement in the wild natural world and will not offer the predictable, cloying, or forceful type of experience that commercial perfumes often do." My experience wearing this perfume: I smell the opening brightness of the ginger. Woody notes of rosewood, sandalwood, and cedar give a nod to the scuffed practice floor, and there really is a dustiness that gives the aura of the rosin that the dancers dust their ballet shoes with to prevent slipping. The tuberose note never becomes apparent to me. And although I didn't confirm this with the perfumer, I am assuming the perfume's name is taken from the renowened Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad, the highly competitive school for the Kirov Ballet. This perfume was beautiful and very personal; like many naturals it wears close to the skin and longevity was about three hours.

Are there any other ballet inspired perfumes that you wear?

Nutcracker Ballet photos from George Balanchine's New York Ballet production. Red ballet slippers photo from Pinterest. Samples are my own collection.