I take it all back, I don't hate tuberose. I did find my dislike for tuberose scents odd given that I like the flowers, but things like Opium send me running. However, two scents that I've tried recently have made me reassess the flower.

First was Parfumerie Generale's Tuberose Couture. Now, there's a perfume house for everyone, and I think mine may be Caron. It's definitely not PG. Their fragrances are finely crafted, but I never quite warm to the ones I try. Tuberose Couture is no exception. It starts with almost a medicinal smell, which you do get hints of from the fresh flowers. It reminds me of Germolene. Later it blooms a little, but it never achieves the full fleshiness of tuberoses, either real or in other perfumes. Tuberose Couture is tuberose dieted half away, de-haired, hair straightened, with the latest It-bag under her arm. Beautiful, but somehow thin and unnatural. And after several hours it turns into BPAL. I like BPAL, but I suspect the average PG buyer would be horrified to think that after three hours their costly scent has ended up smelling like the drydown from one of BPAL's perfumes containing dragon's blood resin. (This was actually my favourite part of the perfume, but I'll buy myself some BPALs and enjoy the opening stages of the oils to get it, no need for Tuberose Couture.)

Estee Lauder Tuberose Gardenia... oh, evil redandfiery for sending me this beauty. It really is a superb blending of two lovely flowers. I adore gardenias - I have a small one in a pot, but if I had the money and space I'd plant a hedge of the things - and the way the fresh yet full gardenia mixes with the warm tuberose is just heavenly. It's as 'full' in the nose as Annick Goutal Songes, but whereas Songes speaks of the tropics, of hidden courtyards and Generalife-style gardens, Tuberose Gardenia is more northern. It's simple, but in the way that only very expensive things can be, like a string of perfect pearls or a cashmere jumper. It's eau de Grace Kelly. I love it.

So I don't hate tuberose in perfumes, but I'll probably still never like the tuberose ones of the 80s!

This was one of the freebies I got from Les Senteurs. Their website describes it as "Spicy and vibrant: a woody oriental comprising essence of hemp, coffee, patchouli, pimento and pepper above a long-lasting base of sandalwood, ebony, oakmoss and tobacco." I DEFINITELY get the patchouli from this; it overrides just about everything else, although the tobacco (like a nice pipe tobacco), sandalwood and pepper are also fairly prominent to me. I'm surprised leather isn't listed, as it nudges that way and does remind me a smidge of Bandit, albeit Bandit in a gentleman's club. Zorro by day, if you like. That could be the pepper. While I'm pretty sure PG scents are mostly for men and women, and women can wear this, there's something about Coze that's very masculine.

The weird thing is its lasting power. There isn't much. It's all gone on my skin after a few hours, and while I do have skin that devours scents, I was quite surprised at Coze's vanishing act.

I don't know if I like this, but if I smelled it on another person it would intrigue me greatly. Perhaps I should make Him Indoors wear it...

Ylang ylang is one of my favourite notes in a perfume, so I was keen to try Parfumerie Generale's Ilang Ivohibe. I expected a fat floral along the lines of Annick Goutal Songes, which I love, but this starts out quite fresh and has a note that I can help but think of as 'aftershave note' throughout. It's most prominent just after application. When I first tried Ilang Ivohibe that fresh note put me off, but I quite like it now. I first tried the perfume in early spring; now it's summer and the freshness is possibly better suited to hot days.

There's also something, to my nose, coconutty in the perfume. I've looked for reviews on other blogs (after deciding what I thought of it, of course - I'm not in the business of intentionally copying other bloggers although there are plenty who I look up to and am probably subcosciously influenced by) and none of them mention the coconut. Most lists note Californian orange, which might be what's causing the aftershave note in conjunction with the ylang ylang, and vanilla, which may be where I'm getting coconut from, both scents being warm and sweet. Dagnabbit, I'm definitely getting aftershave and coconut, and I'm-a gonna say it, even if I am wrong and it makes me sound stupid!

Ilang Ivohibe has grown on me. It's not as feminine as the scents I usually go for, and I've got other things way ahead of it on my To Buy list, but if a bottle dropped onto my shelf I'd probably wear it perfectly happily on the days when Songes was too much but I still wanted something tropical without fruit and so Colony wouldn't do.