(Pour la version française, cliquez ici.)
Last Friday afternoon, in a funky-chic Parisian neighbourhood known as “La Nouvelle Athènes”, the guests of a very confidential presentation crossed a cobblestoned courtyard shaded by a fig tree, climbed a rickety flight of stairs and walked into the light-filled, book-lined space of what was once the Romantic painter Théodore Géricault’s studio. It is there that Neela Vermeire introduced three fragrances inspired by the history and culture of her native India, composed by Bertrand Duchaufour, one of the most eagerly-expected events of this year's “Rives de la Beauté”.
Last Friday afternoon, in a funky-chic Parisian neighbourhood known as “La Nouvelle Athènes”, the guests of a very confidential presentation crossed a cobblestoned courtyard shaded by a fig tree, climbed a rickety flight of stairs and walked into the light-filled, book-lined space of what was once the Romantic painter Théodore Géricault’s studio. It is there that Neela Vermeire introduced three fragrances inspired by the history and culture of her native India, composed by Bertrand Duchaufour, one of the most eagerly-expected events of this year's “Rives de la Beauté”.
Some of you may remember Neela as “Paris-Londres”, one of the earliest perfume bloggers and a member of Makeup Alley since 2003; you may have met her during the Perfume Paths visits she organised in Paris. Which could well make her one of the first figures of the online perfume community to launch her own brand.
I met the sweet, lovely Neela a few years ago as a fellow perfume lover. Last spring, she told me about the three perfumes she was developing with Bertrand Duchaufour. Of all the perfumers she’d reached out to with her project, he was the one who’d connected with it the most since he had travelled extensively in India.
The three scents evolved organically over one year, as Neela told Bertrand stories about India, and he associated them with his own memories – returning perfume to its Eastern roots, translated into the language of a Western art. The materials used are based on Neela's research on the historic periods referenced.
I will be reviewing these later in the month, but here is a sneak preview:
I will be reviewing these later in the month, but here is a sneak preview:
Trayee conjures the ancient Vedic period, featuring many ingredients used in Vedic ceremonies. It is a deep, spicy, resinous, smoky scent wrapped in a particularly smooth, balsamic-amber base with real, almost honeyed oud and a surprising ganja accord Bertrand picked up sitting next to sadhus in, I think, Benares during a cremation ceremony. Among the other notes: cardamom, vetiver, incense, myrrh, saffron, jasmine and real Mysore sandalwood oil…
Mohur represents the 500-year Moghul era and is a tribute to the most powerful Empress of the Mughal dynasty, Noor Jahan, who devoted herself to the art of perfumery. It is a rose-leather scent with prominent, powdery orris effects and an underlying “Indian sweet” accord featuring carrot and almond milk splashed with rose.
Bombay Bling! is a tribute to contemporary India and the closest to Neela’s personal memories with its raspy, green mango top note. This is a huge, almost garishly coloured floral (rose, jasmine sambac, tuberose, gardenia, frangipani, ylang-ylang) Bertrand says he sees in vibrant yellow and Tyrian pink – a descendent of Giorgio by way of Mumbai.
The Neela Vermeire Créations trio will be available in travel-size discovery kits as soon as the website is up and running, which should be before the end of October.
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Does Ms Vermeire have a brick and mortar shopfront in Paris, or will she only be online? The website is not up, as you noted in your article, but the scents sound fun. I'd love to try them. Thanks for the article. Be well.
RépondreSupprimer--HemlockSillage
"Mohur" looks especially lovely from my perspective. Thank you for providing advance notice about these new and intriguing perfumes.
RépondreSupprimercheerio, Anna in Edinburgh
HemlockSillage, no, no shop, but I believe the scents will be sold in a Parisian multi-brand niche shop.
RépondreSupprimerAnna, I've got dabs of all three on now, and the rose is definitely quite powerful and long-lasting (and lovely, obviously).
RépondreSupprimerIndia, French niche, Bertrand Duchaufour and a discovery kit - the only thing I'm looking forward to more is your book! I bow down to Ms. Vermeire and BD for this! ~~nozknoz
RépondreSupprimerNozknoz, how sweet for Neela and Bertrand on the one hand, and me on the other hand! I still have to test the trio over a few days -- they're too complex to peg after a couple of sniffs -- but my first impression is of course very positive, and from what I've heard, every stop has been pulled in terms of quality materials.
RépondreSupprimerI have very mixed feelings about this new company. On the one hand, Indian perfumery traditions should certainly be celebrated. But there's also the terrible irony of the loss of the most ancient perfumery traditions from India in the last few years. Traditional attar makers are nearly all out of business now; mysore sandalwood has been overharvested and destroyed by urban development, leaving the attar-makers without the basis for their perfumes. These perfumes are the real deal in India- the recipes for attars and mukhallats go back centuries, even millenia. Some families are trying to make attars with a vetiver base, with mixed results. Vetiver is not sandalwood.
RépondreSupprimerFor those unlucky enough never to have tried the traditional attars, Christopher at White Lotus Aromatics (who spent much of his life in India) has been publishing recipes that reproduce these beautiful scents to a great extent- they are worth a try.
-Marla
They sound like great fun. In fact, Bombay Bling sounds quite familiar...
RépondreSupprimerAll the best to Ms Vermeire, and as for Monsieur BD... I think the time has come for him to take a holiday!
Marla, I can't speak for Neela of course, but I don't think she set out to express the traditional art of Indian perfumery, or even to use those traditional blends as a basis for inspiration. From what I've understood, this was more of a way for her to pay tribute to the culture of her native country through the idiom of contemporary French perfumery which is every bit as much a part of her.
RépondreSupprimerThat said, it's a very sad thing when an ancient art dies out, especially when it is a source of livelihood for families over generations and centuries.
Persolaise, I think everyone who works as a freelancer would need a holiday. But when you're presented with an interesting project, it's hard to turn down, isn't it?
RépondreSupprimerI can't wait to try these.
RépondreSupprimerDleep, there'll be a sample draw as soon as I do the reviews!
RépondreSupprimerDuchaufour fragrances and me have a troubled relationship, namely that they tend to mostly smell of pickle juice, if one chose to pickle cedar and myrrh. Dzhongka, Nuit de Tubereuse, all the Eau d'Italies he did... The only exception that I've sampled is Amaranthine, a smooth, even overly smooth contrast to the aforementioned.
RépondreSupprimerGiven the descriptions I'm thinking the green mango in Bombay Bling will probably be the good old Duchaufourade, and I'm hesitant about Trayee, but Mohur could have a lot of potential. I'm thinking perhaps Amaranthine with more detail? I love Indian candy.
Sugandaraja, I'm not getting what might potentially turn to "pickle" in Bombay Bling (but I see what you mean, mostly in BD's older compositions). Mohur, from my first two tryouts, is a rose with iris effects to me, with a retro feel to it, rather than a full-out creamy ylang like Amaranthine.
RépondreSupprimerIntriguing! I'll be excited to read your reviews.
RépondreSupprimerBy the way, I don't think Neela Vermiere is the first fragrance blogger to found their own line. I believe the noses behind Smell-Bent and Ayala Moriel were active in the community before they began their lines, and the man running Xerjoff ( he's not the nose, just owning the line, I believe ) was a Basenotes regular for some years before Xerjoff took up all of his time.
Sugandaraja, true -- guess that shows my franco-centric bias. Of course, indie perfumers like Ayala Moriel (or Andy Tauer for that matter) were part of the online community from the outset, as were many others. But though there are overlaps, in many ways it's a different "culture" that developed outside of the industry. At any rate, it was just an anecdote for the "old-timers" who knew Neela back in the days (2003 is practically prehistory now!). It doesn't really make that much difference in her vision for the brand or the quality of the products, except inasmuch as she's probably got more perfume culture than a lot of people who decide to start their niche brand.
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