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Post by FeralJasmine
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Hey APJ
If there’s a class of perfumes that I want to love and generally can’t, it’s the all-naturals. I love the basic ingredients. Few things make me happier than dabbling with essential oils, admiring how each drop is not a note but a chord progression. I adore the pungency of resins and the unbelievable richness of attars. Open a little vial and a garden of roses blooms! it’s an extraordinary conjuring trick. Recently I have learned to love the pure CO2 extracts, especially vanilla, so hard to handle, so perfect a rendition of the lovely fermented bean.
But go beyond the single ingredients and pitfalls await. If it sounds as though combining them into lovely perfumes would be easy, I can only suggest that you give it a try. The vibrant beauties, each so perfect alone, can add up to something distinctly less than the sum of its parts. Not that the result is bad, by any means, but it can be pretty ordinary, not the totally-unique-and-wonderful thing you were hoping for. Then when you do get a combination that you like, you dab it on and revel in it luxuriously, loll back in the cloud of beauty that you’ve created, and within half an hour reality is tugging at your sleeve again because natural perfumes are a fleeting pleasure. The gospel on many natural-perfume websites is that their perfumes should last two hours. My experience is more like one good hour at most, often less, although of course those rich in resins can last a lot longer. Part of this may be that I have dry skin and live in a desert climate, but what I hear online indicates that it’s common to have to reapply frequently. Generally I am running from the time I hit the office door until I leave, so this is not a viable option.But sometimes reapplication is worth the trouble.
Tawaf by La Via Del Profumo 2012
Photo Stolen La Via Del Profumo
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Jasmine sambac, rose, opoponax, narcissus, myrrh
I have become deeply enamored of the all-natural creations of Dominique Dubrana at La Via de Profumo. I took my screenname from his Tawaf, a delicious and perfect combination of dark Jasmine sambac, rose, and opoponax. This is no bridal jasmine. This one is a wolf, but a groomed and elegant wolf that just might walk by your side for a while. Jasmine sambac is a wild, dense, and even somewhat masculine jasmine, and I would bet that there’s a hefty dose of it in Tawaf. The rose isn’t very noticeable to me but serves to flesh out the floral cascade. The opoponax provides a caressing base. Mmmmm. Can’t get enough. Within an hour it’s pretty much gone, and on Tawaf days I have to carry my little bottle with me. It’s worth it. I long to have my hair aranged in India someday so that I can get strings of jasmine wound through it, and I may or may not ever get there, but a little Tawaf at the hairline gives the effect without the airfare.
Photo Stolen Turki Al-Fassam Flickr
From La Via Del Profumo site: Tawaf is the name of the ritual consisting in circumambulations around the Ka’abah, the cube shaped building in Mecca, adorned with black silk. The Ka’abah is the geographic center of the Arabian soul, of it’s spirituality, culture and civilisation. The Tawaf fragrance is the aromatic “melody” of the scents that surround those performing the Tawaf.
Rumor has it that the perfumer is as interesting as his creations. You can read about him here http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/t-magazine/22face-scent-t.html?_r=0 and it’s quite a read. His website is one of my favorite browsing places. Will I ever buy 2ml of concentrated tincture of genuine ambergris for 80 Euros? Probably not, but we can all dream.
Photo Stolen NYTimes
Further reading: Perfume Posse SmellyThoughts and Perfume Shrine
La Via Del Profumo has from €17.85/5.5ml to €148/50ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $9/ml
Next time I hope to discuss another favorite from this line.
FJ x
Australian Perfume Junkies 