Welcome back Perfumistas,
Yesterday we had an interview with the amazing Neela Vermeire of Neela Vermeire Creations. today we are going to look at one of her fragrances, Mohur, composed with Bertrand Duchaufour.
Photo Stolen guerlain.pl
From LuckyScent:
The name refers to the most valuable gold coin in India’s history, the last of which was minted in 1918. A way, perhaps, of underlining the value given to perfumery during the Mogul era, an art so highly considered that the most powerful empress of the Mughal dynasty, Noor Jahan, devoted herself to perfecting it.
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Photo Stolen worldofcoins.eu
Fragrantica LuckyScent and Neela Vermeire Creations give these notes and accords, each site is slightly different so I have melded them all:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, black pepper, elemi oil
Heart: Turkish rose oil, Moroccan Rose Absolute (rose accords around 11%), jasmine, iris/orris, aubepin (midland hawthorn), almond milk accord, leather, violet
Base: Sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oudh Palao from Laos, benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean
Photo Stolen Neela Vermeire Creations
What do I smell when I wear Mohur? The very first whiff is pepper and spices jumping off my skin but it doesn’t take long for the ambrette and elemi to add their musky/woody tones though there is still a strong spicy/herbal wash over all. This is no big blockbuster of a fragrance, it’s more refined than that; it does give great scent and more than moderate sillage but not in an overwhelming way so I think very wearable for dinner, cocktails or dates, but maybe a little too much for close quarters working
The green hawthorn is the next player to make itself known heralding the rise of the flowers, and boy are they something! Like the lithe and lovely Indian women in their bright colours walking to get water each morning and evening they sway into the picture and ROSES, roses, ROSES backed up by a bouquet that is way beyond my meager abilities to parse. This is exactly the scent I would love to wear to dinner at the Lake Palace in Udaipur (where you can watch the chefs make reincarnations of the feasts of Mughal and Raj days), or the Wildflower Hall in Shimla (where I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in 2010) or the Neemrana Palace outside Delhi (where we spent our 8th Anniversary) or even the hall of the Dalai Lama in McLeod Gang (though McLeod Gang is now so much a tourist Mecca that I hardly recognised it from 2000-2010). I feel like I am in the lap of India’s most jaw droppingly awesome and outrageous luxury, even almost smelling the dust that has to be hand collected in wet rags three times a day by the servants, and still the snap and sizzle of lunch frying, that was present in the opening, persists alongside the roses. What an adventure!
At around the 2-3 hour mark I still have a green pepper fragrance behind a slight sweetening of the bouquet of roses and other flowers, like an amber/vanilla mist that is laid over the top. Mohur smells really expensive on the body, lavish, opulent and glamorous are words that instantly jump to my mind. The whole fragrance is much softer now; the sillage is maintained at slightly lower levels.
By nearly 5 hours I have a sweet vanillic, milky, woody and ever so slightly soapy dry down that continues for somewhere over an hour when I lose all sense of wearing fragrance. WOW!! Every time I wear Mohur it’s a slightly different ride but it was really fun today to document my wearing of it for you.
Photo Stolen Neela Vermeire Creations
Looking for other reviews? NowSmellThis looks specifically at Mohur and CandyPerfumeBoy does all three NVC in the line.
NeelaVermeireCreations was where I bought my 10ml x 3 frags discovery set for only 90 euro delivered anywhere in the world
LuckyScent has 55ml bottles $250
These are a must try fragrance line because there is real love poured into their creation, they use the best ingredients available, smell incredible and God Damn It, you deserve the best. Come see us Thursday for a very special Neela Vermeire give away!
Have you tried this line? Do you have a favourite? Why?
As always love to you and yours,
Portia xx
PS: The opening photo stolen openlib
Australian Perfume Junkies 
P – What a beautiful description, makes me want to hop on a plane to India right now! I have only sampled Bombay Bling thus far and LOVED it. Maybe I need to get the discovery set. I have the feeling I won’t be disappointed. Steve
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Steve,
Do try them all. They are so yummy. BB is excellent, isn’t it? The rest of the line is equally entertaining.
Portia xx
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What a gorgeous review. I feel like I can almost smell it in 3D. Thank you, Portia!
P.S. so many lemmings, so little money … You are terrible for my wallet! 😉
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Hey Connie,
I’m sorry for your wallet but I’m extra glad you enjoyed the review. Believe me, my lemmings are out of control!
Portia xx
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Beautiful, beautiful review, Portia! I like to think of Mohur – which like the rest of Neela’s line was an instant love – as a ‘mood ring’ of rose perfumes – every time you wear it, it’s something new and different and amazing. It is among the most spectacular rose perfumes I know, and as I called it in my own review…the Maharani….of Rose! It’s l-o-v-e. What else is there to say? 😉 xo
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Yep! You are right, so different every time. and Maharini is perfect too. It’s a whole holiday in a bottle. We are linked!
Portia xx
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But of course! 😀 xo
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Haven’t tried the line yet, and had the lemmings going full steam a while back, but they’d quietened down a bit until you stirred them up, Portia! Dagnabit, quit messing with my groove! 😉
p.s. You like my five comments in ten minutes? Nothing like binging on APJ after a weekend away camping.
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Yes, I like it. I miss you when you’re not around. Welcome back. How was camping?
Portia xx
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Absolutely amazing. I enjoy variety in camping and like checking out new spots, but there is one place we go every year, my most favoritest spot on the whole earth: Waterton National Park. It’s the anti-Banff; all the beauty, none of the crowds or over-development. It does my soul good to be there.
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Whoops! That was supposed to be a reply to your question.
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WOW! My Mum went through Banff and up to Alaska back in the 80’s, it was her BIG, life changing trip, done on her own as a rest from us. It probably wasn’t so crazy then.
Portia xx
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Mohur is my third favorite perfume in the line 😉 – but I do like it. I’ll wear it more and see how fast it grows (more) on me.
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Wow Undina,
I’m surprised. The little knowledge I have of your taste I would have put Mohur at the top for you. Just goes to show.
What a line though, I love them all.
Portia xx
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Nope 🙂 Bombay Bling, then Trayee and then Mohur. But I do like all three (as in “enjoy wearing & plan to buy more”).
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He He. We are ADDICTS Undina. XOX
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I have small samples of all three. When I read about the scents, I assumed Mohur would be my favourite as I love a dark rose. It is beautiful, but I was surprised to find that I liked Bombay Bling more. Me, with a fruity floral??!! But Bombay Bling makes me grin and feel joyful while wearing it. So it’s 1. Bombay Bling, 2. Mohur and 3.Trayee
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I love how we all have different faves Lindaloo. I get that BB makes you grin, it is joyous.
Portia xx
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