My
current interests have been spanning the extremes of the olfactive spectrum.
The freshness of the “faux de colognes” – the name I’ve given to scents that
can act as colognes, but are not exclusively citrus-themed. And the new
animalic notes: honey, which has been seeping into more and more compositions.
Oud accords, set to become an alternative to both patchouli and the more
pungent styles of leather (rather than the currently popular iris-suede notes).
And an outsider I’m betting on: cocoa absolute, which smells quite a lot like
castoreum.
Oud Fleur and Tobacco Oud (Tom Ford Private
Blends)
I
must be having an oud backlash backlash. Or maybe it’s a case of mithridatism –
a strategy used by the Persian King Mithridates to make himself immune to poison
by ingesting non-lethal doses. Or then again, it might be that Western perfumers
are increasingly adept at translating the note into their vocabulary. At any
rate, I’ve fallen in love with the two fall additions to Tom Ford’s Oud
Collection, Oud Fleur by Yann Vasnier
and Tobacco Oud by his Givaudan
colleague Olivier Gillotin. Again, I’ll be getting back to them shortly.
Tonka (Réminiscence)
Deep
and intense as a liqueur, nearly oily in its richness, Tonka matches the almond-and-liquorish notes of the titular bean
with honey. A simple scent, just on the right side of gourmand, with an
earth-mama sexiness that’ll amble easily into fall: I’ll be getting back to it
soon.
Playing with the devil (By Kilian)
Calice
Becker’s new composition for the “In the Garden of Good and Evil” collection is
pegged by as a fruity animal, and it is: a peach gone feral, half-fruit,
half-flesh rubbed with amber and balsams. Its lactonic-spicy-woody structure
slots it within the spawn of Féminité du
Bois, though its tone, brightened by the raspy greenness of blackcurrant
bud and blood orange, is juicier and sweeter. (Out in October.)
Milano Caffè (Via del Profumo)
In
the first scent of his Italian series, Abdessalaam Attar blends essences of
coffee and chocolate, the former served ristretissimo,
so thick it is almost chewable, along with a square of the latter, preferably nero (i.e. barely sweetened). In Milano Caffè, the blend becomes a dark,
ambery potion – though no musk is claimed in the notes, there is definitely a
beast lurking in the dregs here…
Immortal beloved (Ys-Uzac)
The
boozy spicy immortelle that anchors amber and dried fruit notes of Immortal Beloved brings to mind Sylvie
Jourdet’s 1740 Marquis de Sade for
Histoires de Parfums, though the latter is more of a leather and the former,
more of a heated-skin scent in the drydown.
Eau de Gloire Cologne pour l’Hiver (Parfum d’Empire)
I’ve
only got a few drops of this rarity. This limited edition (300 bottles) is
probably the first literally vintage perfume to be commercialized. The blend is
made up with an oil of Eau de Gloire
– Marc-Antoine Corticchiato’s tribute to the smells of his native Corsica –
that was forgotten for 10 years in a vat. Miraculously, it had aged like a fine
liqueur, all the resins and aromatic essences blending smoothly to bring out
the dark, leather, incense and tobacco facets of the composition. (Exclusively
available at www.eaudegloire.fr as of October).
Duel (Annick Goutal)
My
love affair with Hermès Eau de Narcisse
Bleu kicked off a tea jag this summer – its bitter tannic facets are an
interesting alternative to citrus for freshness. So I dug out my bottle of Duel. Built around the raspy green
mossiness of maté, the scent brings out the subtext of tea: violet and hay,
which segues into tobacco. Alternatively, this could be interpreted as a
cologne take on the classic iris leather accord. In this respect, the name
conjures not a duel but a duet.
Untitled (Maison Martin Margiela)
I’d initially dismissed (Untitled) as
somewhat unworthy of Martin Margiela’s avant-garde credentials. After stumbling
on a forgotten decant, I’ve warmed to its charms. In it, Daniela Andrier has
aligned a series of olfactive archetypes: cut grass, linked to incense through
the resinous aspects of galbanum. A rounded, milky, raw wheat grain effect that
must come from lentisque, petitgrain and musk. A bone-dry cedar that leads the
structure back to incense. Sadly, I find (Untitled)
extremely fleeting, which is why I use it more as a cologne.
Eau de Rochas (Rochas)
Created
in 1969 by Nicolas Mamounas and initially called Eau de Roche (a name it gave up after Roche Pharmaceuticals
objected), Eau de Rochas does bring
to mind its original namesake’s purity, with that slight metallic tinge I so
love in my Volvic spring water, and a mossy fond that turns it into a chypre
(though rumors have it that oak moss might be struck from the list of permitted
ingredients at Procter & Gamble). Throughout the short-lasting heat wave
last July in Paris – shutters closed and drapes pulled at 8 a.m. to preserve
the slight night-air coolness – a 500 ml bottle of this classic live in my
refrigerator. First thing in the morning, I’d slap some to rub on my temples,
neck and arms – there’s something slightly decadent about using scent so
lavishly, and since then, the tumbling-out-of-bed cologne friction has become a
daily ritual.
You’ll
find more seasonal Top Tens at Bois de Jasmin, Now Smell This and Perfume Posse.
Illustration:
Detail from La Sorcière au chat by
Paul-Élie Ranson (1893) at the Musée d’Orsay.
Lots to smell. Have not tried any of these. Thank you for the update.
RépondreSupprimerLove the new Tom Fords too! Thanks for letting me share a sniff!
RépondreSupprimerYou have the most intriguing choices, Denyse!
RépondreSupprimerI wore Ys Uzac Pohadka often during early summer and felt transported to the cool, dewy grass of a meadow on a summer evening. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ys Uzac does with a warmer scent. And I'm always looking forward to something new from Abdessalaam Attar. ~~nozknoz
Jordan, well, a couple of them have been out for a while, but the rest are either not out or too new to have made it to your part of the world... Being a perfume editor is like being a fashion editor, you're never in phase with retail!
RépondreSupprimerTara, I was pretty sure they'd be up your alley!
RépondreSupprimerNozknoz, I haven't pulled out Pohadka for a long time, but it seems like a perfect choice for early fall...
RépondreSupprimer