Hove Parfumeur

So I've been doing a lot of shopping in New Orleans (it's really my only skill), and thanks to Daily Candy and Lucky Mag's shopping guides, I stumbled across Hove Parfumeur. It's love. Hove Parfumeur is an independent perfume/cologne producer with a store in New Orleans and a store in Florida. Their aesthetic is very old-school feminine, almost Victorian, and slightly Southern. You can smell the store down the street (and in a good way, not in a Lush, it smells so overpowering that you almost fall over way), and inside it's all pink and cute packaging and flowers and little bowls of coffee beans to clear your nose. I can't describe it, but it's kind of the embodiment of old-timey precious girliness. I want to live there. Anyways, they make perfume, cologne, and solid perfume in a bunch of different sizes and really adorable bottles (see below):



There's the Standard Line, which is a little cheaper and a little less blended, and the Luxury Line, which is a bit more refined. Unless you live in Florida/NOLA, you have to order them via on online order form thingy, but trust me, the inconvenience is a small price to pay for how chic and unique these perfumes are. I got a solid perfume (because I'm cheap), but I'm seriously jonesing for an EDP. The bottles are adorable! Anyways, I recommend Carnaval (light and floral), Ginger Blanc (sunny ginger), Heliotrope (spicy vanilla), Plage D'Ete (beachy coconut), Belle Chasse (elegant and girly), Nude (clean and floral), and Radiance (rosey goodness). I got Nude, which is from the Luxury Line, and it was $23 for a standard sized solid perfume. The packaging is pretty basic, just a white plastic container, and the perfume itself is a light pink. It's a little on the thick/waxy side, so it's a little difficult to apply until the heat from your fingers warms the perfume up a little. The lasting power is decent. I'd say I get about four-five hours out of this solid perfume. It stays pretty close to the skin, so the sillage is minimal, but it is noticeable. I actually really like that. It's not to going to suffocate everyone around you, it's more of a "you but better" sort of perfume.

As for Nude itself, I really like it. Hove describes it as "The heady, sweet sensuousness of a summer stroll in a tropical garden," which is pretty, but not that descriptive. I'd call it a slightly soapy, clean floral with a hint of white flowers (a small enough hint that even I can stand it). I wanted something light, elegant, and girly, and this definitely fits the bill. It goes on a little strong and heavy on the soap, but it quickly warms up into something warm and fuzzy and just a little bit sexy. The only downside is that it smells great on my skin, but way intensely bad in the container. It's weird. I almost returned it, but I'm really glad that I didn't. I'm going to be using Nude A LOT. And the best part is that nobody else (well, I'm going out on a limb and assuming nobdy else) has this perfume that I'll probably ever run into, so I'll never have that awkward "I know we're wearing the same perfume but I don't want to say anything" run-in. And if you click on over to Hove Parfumeur, you won't either.

Image Sources:
all from hoveparfumeur.com