Sunday 5 November 2017

Bonkers about Perfume turned Eight (last Wednesday week!), a mini-review of Yves Rocher 8e Jour, and a traditionally rum giveaway

Bonkers-looking cake via Cake Central, Seattle
Well, yet another year has gone by, and in what is fast becoming time-honoured fashion I missed the exact date of my blog anniversary again, which was in fact 25th October. So it fell right between the post kicking off my 'Return to Sender' postcard series on 22nd, and the one on lipstick, on 29th. Speaking of which, it seems ironic that I featured all those photos of me wearing lippie only to be struck down this week with a recurrence of the facial eczema to which I am prone, this time on both lips and in the corners of my mouth. It does look rather as though I am trying to extend the lip line northwards on one side, or as if one of ex-Mr Bonkers' many sock monkeys has been let loose on me with a chubby stick. But it is starting to clear up now, thank goodness. The funny thing is that I do faithfully remember the birthday of my old English teacher, which falls in the same week. Every year for...um...forty years since leaving school (it would have been too Teacher's Pettish while being taught by her, obviously) I have sent her a birthday card, and every year she writes back and thanks me for it. But my blog anniversary seems to slip down the memory cracks much more readily for some reason.

Anyway, I would never have thought eight years ago that I would still be at it in 2017. I have just been testing a big bunch of fairly recent releases by DSH Perfumes, many of which I liked, and some of which I may well feature on here. So that little exercise showed me that while I am still firmly on the plateau in terms of my perfume j*****y, I am far from becalmed there. Hold on, do you even get water on plateaux? Somehow I doubt it, and water strikes me as rather a prerequisite for becalming. Oh yes, and the friendship of fellow fumeheads is as important to me now as it has ever been, and probably more so.

The bare stats behind the Bonkers archive - for anyone interested, and I would quite understand if you weren't! - are that I have single-handedly written 627 posts, had 1,707, 258 page views (at the time of writing, but clearly this is a moving feast!), and collected 150 followers along the way. I did have 151 for a good long while, but managed to lose one the other week, sorry, Follower 151! I try to console myself with the thought that 150 is a nice round number, but I can't help wondering where I went wrong to prompt that person to stop reading. Ah well, you can't please everyone, as my Mother used to say.



So yes, here comes the mini-review of the floral oriental Yves Rocher 8e Jour ('8th Day'), a highly pressurised metal canister of which came into my possession together with a load of other vintage scents that once belonged to a friend's mother-in-law, who has since died. I didn't interact with it for the longest time, as Yves Rocher isn't a brand I have historically got excited about, though I do know it has a number of perfumes in the line that punch above their price tag, and I have also tried a few and liked them. But because this one features the numeral '8' - '8e Année' perfumes being extremely scarce on the ground it would seem, though you can be sure I did look - I figured a few words about it might not be a bad way to mark this occasion. Now Samantha Scriven of I Scent You A Day is of course the Queen of Yves Rocher reviews, though I note that she hasn't featured 8e Jour, possibly because of its historicity. The perfume was launched in 1993 and discontinued at a point I have yet to ascertain.

Top notes: Iris, jasmine, ylang-ylang
Heart notes: Rose, honey, cinnamon
Base notes: Myrrh, vanilla, sandalwood


Close up of the highly pressurised nozzle!

Well, well, with the exception of cinnamon those are all amongst my favourite notes, and the overall impression I have of 8e Jour is of YSL Nu if you can bring that to mind - also discontinued I believe - crossed with Camay soap / the cold cream aspect, but NOT the smell of Dior New Look, and then made sweeter. With bonus echoes of Eau d'Italie's Baume du Doge and fainter ones of L'ELDO's Like This. It is powdery and markedly creamy like high end soap, and woody and floral and incensey and honeyed, all at the same time. Maybe a fraction too sweet for some tastes.

In the opening there's even a touch of Puredistance BLACK, which had a good slug of cinnamon in it as I recall. And there is also what ex-Mr Bonkers used to describe as a 'craft shop' vibe to 8e Jour, though only slightly. This was his way of expressing a spicy pot pourri-type aroma. To be fair, he described almost every perfume I wore in these terms or some variant thereof, such as 'craft shop at the bottom of the garden', 'craft shop with the window open', 'craft shop on fire' , 'craft shop SHOULD be on fire' etc, but in this particular case, were he here to sniff 8e Jour and pronounce it a bit craft shoppy, he might actually be onto something.

Oh I say, I just happened to glance at my very first post in 2009, where the craft shop concept according to ex-Mr Bonkers is explained!

To sum up, I do like 8e Jour quite a lot, notwithstanding the sweetness. And that is pretty much all you are going to get from me on the subject. In my defence, as long ago as 2015 I did moot the idea that I might write - or do I mean 'commit'?- a series of 'tiny unreviews of unprecedented vacuousness'. Hmm, I may have served one up for you right there. ;)

Which brings me to the annual (is it annual?) invariably underwhelming giveaway I host on here. Do you remember the elephant perfume bottle? It did find a loving forever home even so.

There is only one prize, but you have a choice...sorry, no actual rum is on offer, though if I had some I would be glad to give it away, being more of a gin person as you know.

1) The New Book of Perfumes, by John Oakes.

This is a sort of directory or mini encyclopaedia of 150 perfumes.



2) A set comprising firstly a copy of the Roja Dove(!!)* Haute Parfumerie Magazine.





This ultimate in 'coffee table magazines' is semi-informative, and does also boast some rather lush perfume bottle porn in it, as well as reproductions of vintage ads.

(* Did I hear someone say 'booby prize'?)




In this lot also comes the programme from the Harrods Perfume Exhibition, The Perfume Diairies, which is somewhat more informative and also features illustrations of vintage adverts. Here is a link to the first of my blog posts about the event (there was a lot to cover!), which was already seven years ago, I see.




I just remembered that it was at that exhibition that I first met Katie Puckrik, who popped in very briefly on her way to the theatre.




The giveaway is open to readers worldwide. Anyone in the UK may additionally have a sample of 8e Jour, if they would like one. Once again, I am so sorry I cannot post perfume further afield, for I have lots of that which I would otherwise put up as a prize. After my resounding reprimand from the Royal Mail, I am too nervous to attempt such a thing again, and it seems unfair somehow to have a lopsided draw that excludes readers everywhere else in the world from a more substantial perfume giveaway. Hence the rather mixed bag of non-liquid items!

The draw is open until midnight next Sunday, 12th. That is Remembrance Sunday, as it happens, so there is a fighting chance (no pun intended) that I will remember to draw the draw.

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment (also stating if you would specifically like not to be entered, otherwise everyone will be considered in!). That's it. I know full well that the mere act of managing to leave a comment on a Blogger blog, given its technical vagaries, is a feat in itself! Then if anyone has an idea when 8e Jour was discontinued, I would be interested to nail that fact, and to hear whether anyone has ever owned it in a different format. I can't find any pictures in Google images of the metal canister I have, certainly. A comment about your favourite perfume with a numeral in it would also be fun to know. ;) Not necessarily a Chanel, even!

So there you go. It just remains to thank everyone who has been reading Bonkers at any point along the way. I would witter on into the void anyway, but it is knowing that people are in fact out there - which I learnt loud and clear in the wake of my recent post about commenting on blogs - that makes the whole venture so much more worthwhile!





36 comments:

odiferess said...

Hi Vanessa,
Congratulations on your bloggaversary. Eight years is a long time to maintain enthusiasm, hats off!
I have a little sample of 8e Jour, as you know I'm a fan of Yves Rocher. I rather like this one. I must say, I haven't seen it in a canister before though. I have no idea when it was discontinued. My great loss of discontinuation was Yves Rocher Cedre Bleue which was a warm woody post shower sort of cologne spray, gorgeous stuff, more similar to an old fashioned sandalwood than cedar. Oh how I miss thee...

Vanessa said...

Hi odiferess,

Thank you! And yes, I knew you were a fan of Yves Rocher, indeed you have a lot to do with the fact that I am aware of the perfumes punching above their price tag, plus I have also seen them quite a lot in drugstores in Germany. I am delighted to hear you are familiar with 8e Jour! Cedre Bleue sounds lovely I must say, and I can imagine how much you miss it. Why do they so often give the good ones the chop?

Hazel said...

I think Diptyque 34 Blvd St Germain still leads a rather ragged field as my favourite perfume. I recently began unstoppering a dust-manteled collection of samples in hopes of discovering the Next Big Thing. 627 posts must approach novel length in word count: we just need to come up with a thread of plot. (Btw, leave me undrawn. I have enough Stuff).

Vanessa said...

Hi Hazel,

I love that Diptyque on you, and had forgotten that being a house of partial numerals! Le Labo is riddled with them, come to think of it, though I don't count any as my favourites. Those samples weren't in the bathroom by any chance? I reckon I would be weak to non-existent on plots, other than a strictly chronological approach to my life's travels to date, so all threads very welcome.

AustralianPerfumeJunkies said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANESSA,
Nice work. 1.7 MILLION views is extraordinary. I love BaP and am so glad you continue to flourish.
Portia xx

Tiffanie said...

Eight is great, congratulations on your milestone. I'm glad you share your thoughts here, whether they be perfumed or otherwise, your written voice make each visit a delight.

Please don't enter me in the draw as I am on the far side of the world -- can't bear the thought of shipping things such a distance. But thank you for your generosity nonetheless. I hope someone near to you will enjoy their prize and perhaps a bit of your 8e Jour.

Numerical perfume names are on my mind lately. 34 boulevard Saint Germain is one I like very much because it has a cinnamon note --like 8e Jour. I also love Guerlain's Cologne du 68 and recently learned (from Robin at NST) that the 68 is a reference to their 68 Champs-Elysées address.

Please say hello to Truffle!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary!

I'm a relatively recent reader, and am so glad I found you as I love reading about your adventures and enjoy your humour - I always smile when I read your post.

I will also decline a prize as I have so much stuff that I am in danger of being labelled a serious hoarder - I don't deserve one any way as I can't think of a numbered perfume other than the obvious ones ... (although Chanel No 19 has been a favourite of mine since it launched - yes, I am that old).

I shall have a nice (nettle) gin tonight with which to toast your blogoversary and wish you many more posts to come.

Jillie

Vanessa said...

Thanks, Portia, also for the CAPITALS. You know how to make a gal feel good! APJ must be one of the biggest perfume blogs on the planet now, so it is nice of you to say that my page view tally is not too shabby. I have no benchmark for such things. ;) x

Vanessa said...

Hi Tiffanie,

Thanks so much for your lovely comment. I shan't enter you in the draw, though you would have been very welcome. Glad you like 34 Bvd Saint Germain like Hazel above - it does create a soft spicy aura that is perfect in this cooler weather. And thanks for reminding me of Cologne No 68 - that's a good pick, and works well as a unisex scent as I recall.

I will indeed say hello to Truffle. It is the second anniversary of my having her this week - I did remember that! - so the next post will be a bit of a tribute, and update on her doings. Mostly naughty!

Vanessa said...

Hi Jillie,

Thanks a lot for your kind comment, and I am glad you find the blog an entertaining read. Will do my level best to keep it up!

Oh, and I hear you on the hoarding thing - maybe that is partly why I am giving things away, as I have the same tendency. ;) I have also started to sell a few bits and bobs on eBay in a bid to keep the house and garage from ever overflowing again. A doomed venture in the long run, but nonetheless worth periodically pursuing.

Ooh, have never heard of a nettle gin, but it sounds suitably bonkers. I may push the boat out tonight with a mini bottle of pink Cava.

Tara said...

Huge congratulations on reaching your 8th blogoversary, V! There can't be many that have been going that long aside from the likes of NST. You always make Bonkers a right, rollicking read.
No need to enter me in the draw, thanks.

crikey said...

Many happy returns! Gawd bless her, and all who sail in her! Thank you for the hours of enjoyable reading.

(I'm rather partial to Heeley's Chypre 21--the most complimented perfume I think I've ever worn--and CDG2 Man.)

Vanessa said...

Thanks, Tara! There are a respectable handful of blogs that have been going longer than me - NST for sure, and others that I also looked up to when starting out as the elder statespeople of the blogosphere. Thinking of Bois de Jasmin, The Non-Blonde, Perfume Posse, Perfume Shrine, The Scented Salamander and 1000 Fragrances. I would guess there are still a lot more blogs that have started up after me than before though! :)

Vanessa said...

Why, thank ye kindly, Crikey, me hearty! Those who sail in me will have to put up with a distinct lack of rum, mind.

That Heeley is a new one on me, but sounds pretty special to prompt all those compliments. Will have a sniff next time I am in Les Senteurs.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your blog birthday! Wow-8 glorious years! Well done and I hope you continue to be witty, entertaining, informing and bonkers in the best possible way for many years to come. No need to put my name in the draw. Love to Truffle!

Vanessa said...

Hi Bejoux Noir,

Thank you very much for your good wishes! A Truffle Special will be along shortly, celebrating my first two years as her owner. I use the term 'owner' loosely, obviously.

va said...

I found your post on.twitter and would like to enter .My Twitter is @va_va33 to contact me with .
Thanks

Vanessa said...

Okay, thanks, va!

crikey said...

It's probably the crispest scent I wear, and it's not a very chyprey-chypre. It's probably the closest I get to wearing a white shirt. Well worth a good sniff. (I'd be happy to send you a spritz or three if you'd like to try it)

Vanessa said...

Ooh, that is kind, and I would be interested if it was no trouble! You have got me really curious about this one.

Undina said...

I found your post in my inbox and would like... (sorry, I couldn't help myself)

Happy Blogoversary, dear V! 8 years is a very respectable age for any hobby. I'm so glad that you still find things that stick out from your plateau enough to write about them for our entertainment.

I'm surprised that I haven't heard about that perfume: I was a big fan of Yves Rocher... The only explanation I have is that while I was still in my native country, this perfume was too new to make it to there (back then we were, most likely, getting whatever went on deep sale in Europe), and by the time I settled in the U.S. and found YR catalogs (we still do not have B&M stores for this brand), it was probably already discontinued.

I have a new "numbered" favorite - 1831. I'll probably write about it in the next couple of months.

Once again - congratulations! (and Hi to Truffle - how come that we didn't get a sighting of her in this post? ;) )

Vanessa said...

Hi Undina!

I am definitely still capable of being jolted out of my plateau, no question. Currently testing an all-natural range from France which am thoroughly enjoying, and which may find its way on here at some point!

I think your theory about how you came to miss this particular Yves Rocher sounds perfectly plausible.

1831 sounds as though it might be a scent from the Histoires de Parfums line?

I didn't think to put a pic of Truffle in this post, as there will be a whole slew of them coming along shortly, hehe.

Undina said...

Yep, HdP - who would have thought? I resisted that brand for that exactly reason (numbers) for so long... :)
Waiting for pictures...

Vanessa said...

Yes, I think I rather did too!. I know I resisted Biehl Parfumkunstwerke for the unmemorable combination of numerals and letters in their perfume names.

Pictures galore imminent. ;)

crikey said...

no trouble at all! (will sort it out on monday)

Ingeborg said...

Happy blog anniversary! I read, but am not registered as a follower of the blog. Please don't enter me in the draw, even if I love looking at old perfume ads. I just have too much "stuff".

I can never remember which of the Biehl Parfumkunstwerke I have tried, just remeber liking a few well enough. I still think about getting Le Labo Lys 41 (I think I got a sample from you), it is pretty.

I remember seeing that 8e Jour perfume in the glass bottle showed by Fragantica. I never bought it, being more into green and citrus scents. My best guess is that it was discontinued around 2003, which is supposed to be the year Y. Rocher launched Comme une Évidence.

Vanessa said...

Thank you!

Vanessa said...

Hi Ingeborg,

Thanks for your good wishes. I understand how you feel about having too much 'stuff', and fear I may be partly to blame for that, hehe.

The Biehl ones have such unmemorable identities I am not surprised you have trouble keeping track. Lys 41 is nice, and I must sample it again. I have the Ylang one as well, which is an unusual chypre style.

Thanks too for the info on 8e Jour. I recently gave a bottle of Comme une Evidence to a friend, as she really loves that one.

Dubaiscents said...

Congrats on 8 years of such a fun and wonderful blog! I always smile when I read it. I am sure I have lots of favorite scents with numbers in them but, right off the top of my head is Olympic Orchids Dev #2 which, I think I am remembering because I love it but, the atomizer is broken and I keep meaning to write to Ms Covey to ask for a new one. Thanks for the great give away, I love Perfume ads (vintage or not).

Anonymous said...

Vanessa, I'm sure if I managed to sort through my wardrobe and recycle I would really be able to store my hobby items without too much problems (also have trouble finding loving homes for some perfume bottles, so may end up giving away).
Ingeborg

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I missed this post. I do get them sent by email. I would never want to miss the opportunity to congratulate you on an anniversary. This is such a great blog. Your writing style and quirky perspective does make you the best kind of bonkers and truly deserving of that Mad Hatter cake.

I do have one question about Remembrance Day being on Sunday the 12th!!? I am shocked. Here in the Empire's Dominion of Canada, Remembrance is as it should be, on the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month. We do get the entire day off, not just the 11th Hour. ;-)

Not worried about having missed the draw deadline, I just wanted to say congratulations. And selfishly wish for another 8 years.

--Lindaloo

Vanessa said...

Hi Dubaiscents,

Sorry for the delay in replying to your comment - it didn't show up in my feed for some reason. But thank you for coming through and for your kind wishes.

I have heard of that scent by Ellen Covey but not tried it myself. Hope you get a new atomiser so you can continue to enjoy it. You are in the draw (I haven't drawn it yet!)

Vanessa said...

Hi Lindaloo,

Aw, thanks for stopping by, and a slight delay is no bother. As I was saying to Dubaiscents above, I haven't yet drawn the draw, though I should probably abide by my own rules as regards the deadline.

12th Nov is 'Remembrance Sunday' during which there are ceremonies and church services devoted to the military fallen. But yes, there is a minute's silence observed on the 11th at 11am. It is not a public holiday in the UK though. I may be wrong, but I think more is made of the occasion on that special Sunday. If anyone knows differently, I would be glad to be corrected.

Not sure I will make another 8 years, haha, but thanks for saying you wouldn't mind if I did. ;)

Anonymous said...

Forgot to say that container of the Yves Rocher must be from before the 70s, because after that sprays became vaparisator naturale (sp?)
The quality comes from the fact that they use high end perfumers. For instance, their brand new one is by Sophie Labbe. And a year or 2 ago a summer scent was created by Christofe Laudamiel.
--Ll

Vanessa said...

Ooh, how did I miss this?! I did wonder if the container might be jolly old for that very reason. Its nozzle certainly packs a punch. And that is interesting about Yves Rocher using pukka perfumers. Smart move.

Vanessa said...

Hi Ingeborg,

Your comment went into the Blogger spam folder for some reason (as if!), but I am pleased to say I spotted it there in the end and have reinstated it.

I do understand that one about a majo declutter being needed to make room for things you would in theory like to keep. Sometimes giving stuff away is the only answer!