Wednesday 31 December 2014

Fortis, L'Eau Forte Review


Fortis, ‘the strong one’ is certainly an apt name for this woody scent with oriental leanings. A nice nutty vetiver / cedar combo is here pitted against a not-so-nice cherry cough-syrup inflected oud base that smells very generic. Eventually, the rougher edges are rounded with a tonka/coumarin-vanilla-musk chord, but the medicinal quality persists. 

Nose: Sonia Constant
House: Les Liquides Imaginaires
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): saffron, cumin, agarwood (oud), cypriol oil, guaiac wood, cedar, amyris, vetiver, ambergris, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, musk.

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Dom Rosa Review


Dom Rosa is a delightfully grown-up fruity-floral that captures all the sparkling joy of a glass of bubbly. The winey, slightly fermented scent of certain rose ketones is pushed in the direction of champagne with incense and pear and a hint of cassis. It’s refined, yet light-hearted. As the effervescence begin to fade, the scent grows in rosiness, a powdery veil of clean musks and light woods drawing the perfume to a delicate end.

Nose: Sonia Constant
House: Les Liquides Imaginaires
Release date: 2013
Notes (per Fragrantica): champagne, pomelo, pear, damask rose, cloves, olibanum, woody notes, cedar, vetiver, guaiac wood.

Sunday 28 December 2014

Sancti, L'Eau Bénite Review


Hats off to Sonia Constant for one of the most novel and pleasing takes on the incense genre out there.
The concept for Sancti, L’Eau Bénite is ostensibly simple: contrast the cool, resinous scent of olibanum with a warm, ginger-driven spice accord. Sniff closely however, and the latter resolves into a fantastically well blended complex of zingy (mandarin-/) aldehydes and herbal notes (esp. coriander). Real ‘rabbit-out-of-the-hat’ stuff.
The composition remains bright and transparent for its duration, with a sheer woodsiness and unobtrusive musk fond as support.
Wonderful.

Nose: Sonia Constant
House: Les Liquides Imaginaires
Release date: 2011
Notes (per Fragrantica): bergamot, tangerine, pomelo, grapefruit, aldehydes, balsam fir, lavender, rosemary, pink pepper, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, cedar, ambergris, patchouli, olibanum, myrrh, benzoin, labdanum, nutmeg.

Friday 26 December 2014

L'Esprit Divin Review


Safraleine is a complex smelling molecule, being all at once spicy, warm and slightly phenolic thereby recalling saffron, tobacco and (p)leather. Here, it’s laid over a powerful, desiccated woody base that has a dark and slightly dirty animalic feel. 

Nose: Paul Emilien
House: Paul Emilien
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): ginger, Madagascar cloves, indian saffron, cardamom, nutmeg, amber, rose, vanilla, incense, grapefruit, palisander rosewood, sandalwood, patchouli, cyperus esculentus, woody notes, violet leaf, turkish rose, amber, musk. 

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Une Belle Journée Review


A berried-floral, Une Belle Journée starts off with a fresh, ozonic citrus accord linking to a red-purple heart of rose/geranium and violets. The latter’s sweetness is augmented with notes of cassis and musty, concord grape before ending up smelling principally of woodsy, celery-salty Hedione. 

Nose: Paul Emilien
House: Paul Emilien
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): lime, Turkish rose, mint, iris, mandarin orange, violet leaf, pink pepper, peony, rose, immortelle, geranium, jasmine, leather, oakmoss.

Monday 22 December 2014

Pure Addiction Review


Why ‘Pure Addiction’ should have been chosen as the name for this very straightforward take on the woody-aromatic theme is anybody’s guess. For unlike By Kilian’s recent ‘Addictive States of Mind’ line which, at least notionally, took as its inspiration various psychoactive substances (cannabis, coffee, tobacco), Pure Addiction doesn’t even hint at anything in that direction.
The perfume opens with a classic hesperidic top to soft aromatic heart transition, the latter tending more to the culinary with hints of green kitchen herbs than fields of sharp, medicinal lavender. The complex doesn’t integrate well however, with the scorched woody base that sticks out like a sore thumb, despite some attempts at camouflaging it beneath a good dose of clovey eugenol.

Nose: Paul Emilien
House: Paul Emilien
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): cloves, cardamom, basil, bergamot, labdanum, cedar, sage, precious woods, amber, patchouli, white musk. 

Saturday 20 December 2014

Carrousel Review


Carrousel opens with a waxy aldehydic citrus accord from under which develops a sweetish coconut lactone note. If the promised jasmine, violet, Turkish rose are present, then they must be dosed at homeopathic levels.

Nose: Paul Emilien
House: Paul Emilien
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): pepper, eucalyptus, grapefruit, lemon, jasmine, violet, Turkish rose, white musk, amber, vanilla.

Thursday 18 December 2014

Cynefin Review


Cynefin is a woody-aromatic perfume with poor tenacity.  
Lavender dominates a soft, herbal core whose greenness is, for a short while, given an ozonic-fresh, semi-sweet lift. The listed notes include various Givaudan materials, including their Orpur quality of violet leaf absolute. The latter’s near prohibitive cost however, means it’s likely only a very little is actually included, it functioning more as a verdant nuancer. After a couple of hours on skin, much of the scent’s aromatic character is lost and what remains are traces of a desiccated, Norlimbanol-type wood with subtle amber and musk accents.

Nose: Shyamala Maisondieu
House: Rouge Bunny Rouge
Release date: 2013
Notes (per official website): floralozone, angelica seeds, davana, violet leaf abs Orpur, lavender oil Orpur, Muguet, Velvione, Moxalone, Amber, Metallic Wood.

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Embers Review



From ‘embers’ to ‘incense’ isn’t much of a leap, though I must admit a straightforward olibanum and amber scent wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.
My reference for such perfumes remains CdG’s Avignon (Bertrand Duchaufour, 2002), despite the latter containing rather little actual incense oil (some reports claim 0% (!), others, circa 2%). In comparison to Embers, Avignon is more fizzy Coca-Cola, the pleasing note of Roman chamomile also seeming to lift the burden of a very labdanum heavy base.
Both though share a powdery-dry woodsiness that has a slightly burnt quality, like a piece of timber that has been run through a hot bandsaw. This becomes noticeable (and a bit fatiguing) much sooner in Embers where a spicy accord of nutmeg/cinnamon/clove almost seems to highlight it.

Nose: Shyamala Maisondieu
House: Rouge Bunny Rouge
Release date: 2013
Notes (per Fragrantica): nutmeg, pink pepper, cloves, incense, jasmine, freesia, labdanum, styrax, Peru balsam, woody notes.

Monday 15 December 2014

Tundra Review


Perfumer Nathalie Lorson must surely have had Marc Jacobs’ Bang (Yann Vasnier, 2010) in mind when composing Tundra, so similar are the two fragrances. Both essentially consist of a peppery cedar wood accord contrasted with elemi. 
Bang was unique, containing a true overdose of pink and black pepper, as well Givaudan’s Pepperwood molecule that helps extend the effect of these rather volatile ingredients. I suspect many consumers found it just too sneeze-inducing though and for such reasons, Mme. Lorson was more restrained in her dosing. Instead, it seems, she accented the elemi, whose citrusy limonene provides a brighter counterpoint to the dark spices. Come the dry down, and Tundra remains on familiar territory, blending musks and woody-ambers with a prominent, powdery, Evernyl / Veramoss-type oakmoss replacer. 

Nose: Nathalie Lorson
House: Rouge Bunny Rouge
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): Bergamot, laurel, juniper, nutmeg, elemi, violet, cedar, musk, vetiver, pink pepper, moss, grass.

Saturday 13 December 2014

Silhouette Review


The popularity of the musky, spicy blond woods (read: Cashmeran driven) genre certainly seems to be on the ascent and Silhouette, by cosmetic brand Rouge Bunny Rouge, doesn’t stray too far from the basic theme.
Here, a fond of spicy (cinnamon, nutmeg), sensual woods and cosy amber is nicely balanced by a cade/birchtar note which provides a discreet aura of smoke.

Nose: Nathalie Lorson
House: Rouge Bunny Rouge
Release date: 2014
Notes (per Fragrantica): coriander, pimento, nutmeg, rose, atlas cedar, sandalwood, vetiver, musk, amber, guaiac wood, leather, juniper.

Wednesday 10 December 2014

In The Woods Review


The opening of In the Woods is promising:  fresh mint over a terpy-piney-spicy-incensey complex. So far as the listed notes go, there’s a studied harmony: pink pepper obviously overlaps in odour with black pepper, but also with elemi and juniper. It also blends well with citrus, which would have provided perfumer Clément Salva with an easy top to mid transition. That he instead went minty-green in the head notes is actually rather novel.
Like so many modern fragrances however, the base is all boring bulk – Cashmeran and Ambrox-type woody ambers and has little to recommend it save longevity.

Nose: Clément Salva 
House: eSENSielle
Release date: 2014
Notes (per aus Liebe zum Duft): Mountain hemlock, pink pepper, juniper, galbanum, stone pine, elemi, black pepper, geranium, mint, fir balsam, labdanum, cedarwood, cashmerewood, ambergris.

Saturday 6 December 2014

Anne Klein Perfume Review


The début perfume from American fashion designer Anne Klein was launched a decade after the label’s founder died. Created by Parlux Fragrances, Anne Klein for women is a rich and assertive fruity-floral.
Uniting the two themes is a lactonic bridge, the milky peachiness of C14 aldehyde (so-called) blending with a  salicylatey, creamy white floral complex. The latter includes jasmine and ylang-ylang, hinting at banana, while lily of the Valley odorants and galbanum cast a green hue over the composition.
As the perfume settles, a notable ambered, animalic facet develops out of the labdanum fond, though as usual, I find this much more pronounced on skin than on paper.
Best worn with Dynasty-style shoulder pads.

Nose: Unknown
House: Anne Klein
Release date: 1984
Notes (per Fragrantica): Aldehydes, galbanum, bergamot, hyacinth, neroli, cassis, jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang, orchid, fruit, sandalwood, vetiver, musk, civet, benzoin, amber, vanilla.