Thursday, September 3, 2009

Blogging the Madinis: Nile














It's a little after 6 am here, and a thunderstorm has been rumbling for hours. The first flashes of lightning woke me up, and as I tried to get back to sleep I began to think about Madini Nile. Other people may count sheep. I catalog my perfumes.

Nile is a light, spicy oriental with a fleeting rose note in the heart. It has a hint of green (probably galbanum) that gives it a contradictory quality I love. The warm, soothing spice converses with the fresh, grassy note, so the scent never goes flat, as oils so often do. Nile is wild and cozy at once--a little like curling up in bed during a thunderstorm.


Evening, or Lost Illusions, Charles-Gabriel Gleyre, 1843. (This painting was supposedly inspired by a vision Gleyre had on the bank of the Nile.)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds great, rose and galbanum are amongst my favorite parings (think Nahema). An oil that doesn't go flat is rare indeed.
N

BitterGrace said...

I'm trying to summon a scent memory of Nahema--it's been ages since I smelled it, but I do remember liking it. Rose with a hint of green is irresistible to me, too. The spice notes are pretty dominant in Nile, but I love the way it lets a bit of the floral character come through.

Tania said...

I haven't tried Nile yet, but I did get Sahara recently. It's quite lovely, but it's also pretty much a copy of Dune - to my nose anyway.
I also got Chipre, Henna and Nardo. Nardo is my favourite of those, which is odd since I'm not a huge fan of tuberose.

BitterGrace said...

Hi, Tania--Nardo is very potent, but I find it lacks the extremely shrill edge that many tuberose scents have. Sometimes I miss that!

I never thought of Sahara being a dupe of Dune, but now that you mention it, I'll have to compare.

I wonder what you think of Henna--I love it, but it seems to displease a lot of people.

Tania said...

Hi Bittergrace,

I can't remember what I thought of Henna. Which means it didn't make much impression I guess! But I'll try it again later and see what I think - I was rather distracted by other stuff when it arrived, so I don't think I gave it a fair shot.

Tania said...

OK, I tried Henna agin, and sadly, I'm not liking it.
I get soap at first, then soapy apple. The apple note is not fresh,or lively, it's rather fake and cloying, and I don't like it. I can't see wearing this one. Oh well...

BitterGrace said...

Yup, that soapy apple thing is what kills it for a lot of people. I can't say I don't smell the soapy apple, but it is a pleasant smell to me.

Maybe Henna would please more people as a dish detergent ;-)

Tania said...

It might, at that! ;-)

Still, it's the only one of the several Madinis I've bought which is a failure for me, so I guess they are ahead on points.