Vi et Armis Review

The perfume-formerly-known-as ‘East India’, Vi et Armis (Lat. ‘by force and arms’) is to my nose the most successful of Beaufort’s current lineup.

Here, the thematic birch tar is allied to a powerful tea note that results in a smoky black blend. A judicious amount of ethyl maltol sweetens the deal and helps bring out the tea note’s fruity overtones, while frankincense links to the woody, resinous base that’s much better incorporated than in Coeur de Noir.  

Nose: Unknown

House: Beaufort London

Release date: 2015

Notes (per Fragrantica): black pepper, tea leaf, whisky, incense, opium, tobacco, birch, agarwood.

Coeur de Noir Review

The red thread running through all three of Beaufort London’s début offerings is birch tar and how much one enjoys these fragrances will likely depend on one’s tolerance for the overtly meaty, smoky qualities it expresses at higher concentration.

Coeur de Noir is the most singular in its darkness. Riding shotgun with the birch tar is a significant dose of isobutyl quinoline which not only develops the former’s leathery facets, but brings with it a pungent, earthy greenness. The listed notes speak to a myriad ideas but unfortunately, these are under-developed and smothered by the aforementioned materials. So it is that the ‘rum’ note, built with ethyl acetate, fails to convey much booziness at all by instead being a mere ghostly presence, and the ionone+vanilla ‘paper’ note is fairly illegible as such. The exception here is the nice addition of ginger whose warm, amber-like sweetness works, for a short while at least, as a counterpoint. The cedar too, is very clearly detectable, but its persistence is unmatched, meaning after a good few hours on skin/a few days on paper, all I smell is a dry, powdery woodyness.

Nose: unknown (brand owner Leo Crabtree)

House: Beaufort London

Release date: 2015

Notes (per Fragrantica): rum, ginger, ink, paper, leather, vanilla, cedar, tobacco, birch tar.

XX±Latex Review

In a line that flies as under the radar as Uèr Mì, it’s surprising to see space given over to a fragrance that’s more conceptual than it is wearable.

XX±Latex is profoundly unsettling, moving from a waxy green, aldehydic top spiked with metallic rose oxide and marine notes to a pungent, indole laden heart that has herbal undertones. Perhaps banking on the fact that few people would endure the scent for the duration of its natural life, the base consists of a monster musk complex whose dry-cleaning vibe ultimately feels like a letdown.

Nose: Antoine Lie

House: Uèr Mì

Release date: 2014

Notes (per Fragrantica): sea notes, vinyl, saffron, aldehydes, rose.

NO±Suede Review

Of all the materials selected for the Uèr Mì line, suede is perhaps the most straightforward to interpret given the existence of such convincing specialty bases as IFF’s popular Suederal. 

Much like Sonia Constant’s Golden Boy (Dueto, 2011), NO±Suede enlivens the titular suede note with saffron, thereby adding a spicy, hot pleather dimension. The composition then turns dusty and oddly camphorous before drying down to a sweet, musky base featuring vanilla and a nice presentation of guaiac.

Nose: Antoine Lie

House:Uèr Mì

Release date: 2015

Notes (per Fragrantica): saffron, plum, lily-of-the-valley, guaiac, incense, leather, suede

AB±Cashmere Review

The attempt at translating the soft feel of cashmere fibre into perfume is nothing new: Chopard’s monolithic Casmir (1992), followed by DKNY’s Cashmere Mist (1994) both went down the polycyclic musk route featuring plenty of Galaxolide to achieve a comfy, clean laundry vibe. For his part, Jean Jacques interpreted the theme in a fruity, neo-chypre-oriental fashion that, for me at least, doesn’t really connect with the name, but is pleasant enough.

Initially bright and hesperidic, AB±Cashmere’s osmanthus heart quickly blossoms with its characteristic apricoty-peachiness. As studies of osmanthus go, the one here feels rather basic and were it not for the listed notes swaying me, I would simply describe the core as fruity-floral. Taken together with the moderately musky fond of patchouli, woods and amber, I’m somewhat brought to think of Chanel’s Coco or even 31 Rue Cambon, though, no surprise, I find the latter two much more satisfying and complex.

Nose: Jean Jacques

House: Uèr Mì

Release date: 2015

Notes (per Fragrantica): bergamot, olibanum, jasmine, osmanthus, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, musk, ambergris.

Palissandre d'Or Review

Never mind the Palissandre (genus Dalbergia, which includes the rosewoods), Alberto Morillas’ fragrance for me is all about patchouli: damp, earthy, forest-floor patchouli that’s only mildly camphorous. The golden adjective can here parhaps be understood as a reference to the honied rose that clasically complements the former and develops off the back of a pink pepper topnote. This sweetness is then carried through to the base, albeit in a much drier form, with a mix of Ambrox and balsamic notes, finally settling into a powdery blend of cedar and musks.

Nose: Alberto Morillas

House: Aedes de Venustas

Release date: 2015

Notes (per Fragrantica): ambrette, pink pepper, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, rosewood, copahu balsam, patchouli, Ambroxan, Virginian, Alaskan, Chinese cedar.

Copal Azur Review

As he demonstrated with works such as Avignon, Bertrand Duchaufour knows a thing or two about creating incense fragrances. Where the latter was singular in its focus, Copal Azur weaves the theme into a spectacularly innovative composition that contrasts the cool with the warm, and the sweet with the salty.

Despite its name, Copal Azur contains no actual resin from the copal tree (Protium copal), its terpy incense complex (which, per the PR release accounts for 30% of the formula) being built around frankincense and myrrh (both also from the Burseraceae family). Cardamom and clove act as warm, spicy counterpoints, while the ambery fond is offset by a pronounced salty, mineralic accord. This effect is largely achieved through a combination of suntan lotiony salicylates and breezy ozonic notes.

Nose: Bertrand Duchaufour

House: Aedes de Venustas

Release date: 2014

Notes (per Fragrantica): incense, salt, ozonic notes, patchouli, amber, cardamom, tonka, myrrh.