Amouage Library Collection: Opus IV by Jacques Flori for Amouage 2010

January 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Peace APJ,

Tis the season: for the upward curl of incense, for journeys and visitors from afar, for the exchange of gifts, peak season no vacancies and the occasional unplanned pregnancy. Whatever is going on at your place I hope it’s fragrant. It certainly is here with the sisters. Both a busy and reflective time of year, the cloisters are shrouded from matins to vespers with billowing frankincense. What better to focus my meditations in this holy time than Amouage Library Collection Opus IV.

Amouage Library Collection: Opus IV by Jacques Flori for Amouage 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, grapefruit, amalfi lemon, mandarin orange
Heart: Cardamom, caraway, elemi, rose, rosehip, violet
Base: Incense, French labdanum, musk

This was unknown to me until a generous benefactor aware of my love of resinous fragrances bestowed a small sample upon me.

Immediately I understood I was no longer in the mystical cool veil of an ecclesiastical resin, this fragrance is an immediate jumble of sweetness, citrus oils and spices, as though the scent of someone’s pre-dinner lime cordial has lingered through until the arrival of pudding. And what a pudding! Laden with cinnamon and clove brandied fruits, boozy sweet and rich. The feasting is most certainly wrapped around by the scent of a piney Tannenbaum.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Then, like a miracle, incense rises. It is a smoky, earthy olibanum as though from the burning of darker, lower grade tears that can give almost a urinous aroma. Wonderful stuff, it gathers strength and becomes the soul of the scent.

The other elements remain and mellow joined by rose and labdanum in becoming the harmonious choir to this soloist, a warm and sonorous tenor.

I am a humble woman of modest good works, and I confess I feel somewhat of an imposter wearing this as it smells like the sweat of a hardworking angel on my skin.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Now I read that the aim of the Library Collection is to “defy categorisation, transcend gender, and allow the wearer to create their own unique narrative”. Oh, that’s just what happened, isn’t it?

Opus IV pulsed off my skin for half the day and received several favourable comments, so the sillage is admirable. Some may find it too intimate or distracting for professional settings, but I found it easy and comfortable to wear.

Photo Stolen GTArcade (Problem using image please get in touch)

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and The Non Blonde
LuckyScent has $355/100ml
Surrender To chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

Pray tell, ye faithful, what books have you taken from the Amouage Library? Is there more I should know?

My fond prayer is that you have all rested well and can greet this new year refreshed and reinspired.

Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Une Fleur de Cassie by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle 2000

November 5, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Again we gather in awe and reverence to give thanks for our inspiration – perfume. Today I am wondering am I more than usually sensitive to being moved in my soul by artistic creation? Because scents preserve us, I have had quite a response to this divine composition. Although in faith, given the path I have trod in life, there is no doubt my spirit is unusually sensitive…

Une Fleur de Cassie by Dominique Ropion for Frederic Malle 2000

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one linew:
Mimosa, jasmine, black locust, rose, carnation, sandalwood, vanilla, cassis

Let us spray!

Like the flight of an albatross, this one. Such heavy molecules to become airborne – and it’s an effort – but after some lumbering along the ground and some ungainly flapping it finds my thermals and flies!

And there it is, aloft. Gliding for what seems an unreasonable time, this beauty is such a resolved whole it seems that evolutionary forces are responsible in bringing about an entity so fit for its purpose.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Its purpose? To soar. That it brings me pleasure through its being seems an irrelevant aside to its joyous existence. Certainly not all its aspects are uncomplicated or simply pleasing, but there is much simple pleasure herein. It rises far above mere prettiness; I would certainly not call it accessible.

That I am by turns and simultaneously aware of the details and the whole is a brilliant work of balance. I am aware of an effortless grace, of a creaminess, of a softness, of an intimate warm animal smell, of a distant elegance. From some angles I see that extraordinary wingspan, if I turn my head I catch the beaked profile or the curve of primary feathers, the tucked webbed feet that indicate this bird can (but doesn’t often) come to ground or water.

Always it appears a live, breathing thing. It distills the abject magnificence of embodiment, seems connected to earth and heavens but independent of both.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Une Fleur de Cassie is a creation that brings me to tears with its sheer magnificence. Not brought quite undone like weeping Margery Kempe, mystic of the Middle Ages, yet I am moved by such visions and associations. Obviously *I* must take care where I wear this one as I am rendered (spiritually) raw skinned, but practically speaking this is a great one for hot weather, perhaps a little intimate for some of your workplaces, but a lovely combination of gentle, radiant and long-lasting.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Smelly Thoughts
MECCA Australia has $209/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $7/ml

Am I alone, or are there any perfumes that transport you?

In raptures,

Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.

Coven by Andrea Maack 2013

September 10, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Bright blessings of another scented day fellow fragrance worshippers. I wonder if I will surprise you with the focus of my adoration today. It is a truly ecumenical day when a nun sings praises to a witch’s brew!

Of course nothing wicked this way comes. This is a perfume, a consumer product like any other niche-ish fragrance release, with the toil and trouble being that of Icelandic visual artist Andrea Maack and an uncredited perfumer. Ineffable is fine by me, I’m a woman used to mystery. But how does it smell?

Let us spray!

Coven by Andrea Maack 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Woody notes, green grass, soil tincture, oakmoss, whiskey, spicy notes

I’m happy to report that the delicate instrument the good Lord placed in the centre of my face registers no essence of newt or tincture of bat, however this fragrance could well be the smell of their habitat. Such an onrush of sappy and bitter green. There is grassiness and a light but distinct touch of galbunum, but the strongest and most lasting impression is of dank earth notes to rival Demeter Zombie. Yet where Zombie achieves a suitably claustrophobic and menacing accord, all the green in Coven conjures a convincing outdoorsy and airy loaminess of an evergreen forest with oakmoss growing thickly. Is that a waft of brimstone through the trees? Or just the sulphurous breath of Maack’s volcanic homeland?

Photo Stolen Flickr

Now there be spirits! Notably whisky, which in keeping with the scent story is peaty like my favoured Islay single malts. This boozy heart warms the composition and beats strongly for hours along with a vanillic Peru balsam and the tickle of cassia and a peppery capsicum. The initial green and earthy character recedes only slightly, the duet of fecund earth and peaty aqua vitae has a balanced progression. Over the hours what at first seems to be a trick of my nose gathers strength and becomes an undeniable sweet and floral tone. It is a lovely and unusual drydown.

The longevity of Coven is exceptional, lasting on skin overnight and on clothing for days. Whereas this tenacity could be unwanted in many perfumes, I was happy still to carry the scent of this enchanted forest clearing.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Unless excessively applied, I can’t think Coven would be out of place in any situation. It’s possible many people will not recognise this as personal fragrance, perhaps mistaking it for lingering air from outdoors. But if he does ask, don’t tell the Bishop its name. Men of his ilk can sometimes not see the forest for the trees.

Naturally I am heartily in favour of a scent that is unique, dark, earthy and green. I pray that Coven shows respect in its name to communities of women engaged in ritual and devotion, leading healing and caring lives connected to the rhythms of days, seasons and natural cycles. There is much to admire in that.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

The equinoxes approach us (vernal in the Southern, autumnal in the Northern hemisphere), what an ideal time to try such a fragrance as we celebrate the warming fertile earth or give thanks for its fruits as it cools.

Further reading: Persolaise and Colognoisseur
Libertine Parfumerie has $185/50ml including FREE delivery in Australia
LuckyScent has $135/50ml + samples

Do you have a scent for rituals?

Bless, and blessed be!
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.

Mito by Vero Kern VdE + EdP

July 14, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Oh faithful ones please ready yourselves to hear of divine beauty. Sometimes to fall into blissful sleep, I count on green floral chypres. In my fragrant world, nothing could offer greater pleasure than the idealised landscape that a wonderful perfume in this genre can conjure.

Mito Voile d’Extrait – Vero Profumo

and

Mito Eau de Parfum – Vero Profumo

And here are two distinct but related olfactory paintings of delightful garden scenes, both inspired by the gardens at Villa d’Este in Tivoli.

Mito Voile d’Extrait

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, magnolia, champaca, jasmine, galbanum, hyacinth, cypress, moss

This is a scented garden drawn from the perspective of someone who, eyes drawn to a cool shaded corner, has launched herself into and across a wide lawn and thrown herself down on the grass. She did not pass time in detached strolling and admiring from a paved walkway, no she ran straight in to be amongst the damp greenery, to experience dark cushions of moss and inhale the loamy smell.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Here where she lies there’s a grassiness and I won’t say wetness, lest you imagine it aquatic, but a damp and earthy mossiness. As she lies looking up through branches to a clear autumn sky, wafts of ripe fallen fruit reach her from the ground beneath nearby trees. The fruit is rich, full and ripe, but not over-ripe or winey in the way of Roudnitska’s Femme or Parfum du Thérèse, instead this is fruit that has fallen full of juice and most certainly split upon landing to release the complex uncultivated aroma of something like a guava.

Flowering trees most certainly grow in this garden, she lies distant from them, their fragrance reaching her on the breeze. It is one of the particular achievements of this fragrance that the sometimes heavy florals of tuberose and champaca are here restrained, seeming to float down from their high places. The effect is naturalistic, as though the scent of them truly did waft through on a breeze. They unfurl on my skin, mirroring perhaps how the fragrance of blooms in sunshine becomes warmer and creamier. This mid-afternoon glow carries on for quite a few more hours.

Mito Eau de Parfum

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Citruses, magnolia, champaca, jasmine, galbanum, hyacinth, cypress, moss

Here she returns to the garden on a warmer drier day. On this visit she is out in the open walking the paths. In the sunshine pungent volatile oils are releasing on the breeze. There is a resinous pine. Galbanum and verbena fizz and sparkle. The verbena recalls the opening of Jean-Paul Guerlain’s Eau de Guerlain, but where that one continues on a calm and cool trajectory, this Mito whirls and dances on my skin, it’s a live thing! A light fresh jasmine sends its sweet breath her way. As she strolls, her body becomes warmer. The dusty smells of the gravel kicked up by her feet and the muskiness of her own skin mingle with the aromas of the garden.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

What Vero Kern has done here is a minor miracle, she has composed two beautiful observational perfumes. They are clearly pictures of the same garden seen in different seasons. They come with my highest recommendation and a warning to wear only if it is safe to be distracted by the beauty for several hours.

Further reading: Val the Cookie Queen at Australian Perfume Junkies

LuckyScent has the range
First In Fragrance has the range
Surrender To Chance has samples and decants of a range of the Vero Products

Pray tell, have you experienced the holy sweet waters of Saint Kern?

Go in peace,
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Evelyn's Rose by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes

June 2, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 24 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Today APJ I invite you all to remember and enjoy simple pleasures…

Although ordinarily living an entirely cloistered life, recently myself and another of the Sisters ventured to our nearby provincial Rose Garden for seasonal devotions. Marvelous sunshine and hundreds of rose varieties in full bloom saw hours pass in happy contemplation. Whilst some folk no doubt admire the colour or form of the bloom above all, for us the attraction was chiefly in the fragrance. This led us in short order to beds planted with David Austin roses. This English rose breeder introduces cultivars that are selected for their rich intense scent. With so many varieties of his roses blooming, it was not long before we were exclaiming over such notes as violet, hyacinth, musk, myrrh, honey, incense, quince and apple in the various flowers.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

One of these David Austin roses, Evelyn Rose, had a delicious peachy note along with a superb Old English Rose heart. He named it for English toiletries company Crabtree and Evelyn who are said to use this rose variety in some of their products. I had not fallen for the C&E perfume on recent test, so it was a treat then to discover another Evelyn’s Rose by an Australian perfumer.

Evelyn’s Rose by Mark Evans for Evocative Perfumes

Photo Stolen Evocative Perfumes

Evocative Perfumes gives these featured accords in one line”
Evelyn’s Rose, rose, clean musks

A burst of almost minty freshness heralds a delightful rose heart with a fresh peach character. Musky notes start unfurling early on, and despite my initial concern that the musks might stray too far in the direction of the laundry for my tastes, they are restrained and balanced with the fruit and floral facets in the composition.

The overall impression is of a naturalistic fresh rose with fruity and clean musky elements. As the scent wears, a wisp of incense smoke seems to weave its way through. Evelyn’s Rose is a sweet and simple rose scent. For me it is a lovely memento of a day out amongst the real roses. This is a perfume oil to be applied sparingly. A few dabs give around 6 hours of being the centre of a pleasant rosy cloud.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Often people seeking a rose perfume will declare they are looking for a “true” rose. Having sniffed scores of these luscious shapeshifters, I’m not sure such a thing exists!

Evocative Perfumes has $35/12ml Perfume Oil

Do you have a favourite rose soliflore scent or favourite variety of rose bloom? What other notes have you smelled in rose blooms?

Remember, take time to smell the roses,
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.

Fragrant Confession Time

May 5, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Hello APJ! Have you got a habit? Lord knows I have. Confession time…

Fragrant Confession Time

I have been guilty of being quite set in my ways, feeling that certain fragrances have their season, or fit only certain social situations, even that they “match” with particular outfits or colours! (My Bandit ensemble is a favourite). A gorgeous friend has gone one further, making a beautiful dress in celebration of Ma Griffe. Now I know lots of people do this sort of thing: saving zesty summer spritzers for only the hottest days, categorising scents for business or parties or the gym.

All that is wonderful, and serves well most of the time, but lately I have wanted to mix it up, to experience my collection in new ways. I also wanted to avoid falling into unconsidered habits. And then, some days I just need help to decide…

I have my fragrance collection stored on a fragrance social networking site* that has a cute tool. It’s a way to make a random selection from the fragrances listed in your wardrobe. So… each day I ask the Random Button what I should wear.

And…? I have been selecting my SOTD like this for a month now, to entirely delightful results. I have worn much more broadly from my wardrobe, and from samples and decants at least as much as full bottles. This has been a great prompt to discover some “new” scents.

Photo Stolen Shopping.com

Taking my cue from this fragrance wheel of fortune, I have fallen into the waiting spicy balmy embrace of Parfum Sacré, I have floated on the criminally overlooked cool green florals of Givenchy III, Incense Rosé has risen above L’Air du Desert Marocain in my Tauer of love.

Photo Stolen Tauer

Recently I mentioned the unusually cool Spring and Summer weather where I am. Although in no way intended as a complaint, it seems that I was heard where it matters, and since we have been smote with a long and blistering heat wave. So fiery it’s been that I fancied I heard the thunder of Apocalyptic hooves, but thankfully it has transpired merely to be the clip clop of a Happy New Chinese Year.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

At the zenith of this heat, the Random Button decreed I should wear Bulgari Black. I do believe this fragrance is exulted in extreme heat. Rather than resisting the roasting, I made a cup of Lapsang Souchoung, unfurled and became one with the melting tarmacadam of the city, the scent of rubber, tea and vanilla swirling as I yielded.

I’m not especially good at being told what to do, so I won’t claim I’m consulting the Random Button religiously. There are still days when I know I *have* to wear a certain scent. But I’m looking for a suggestion a lot more often than I thought I would. And enjoying the outcomes more than I imagined.

How about you? How do you select a fragrance to wear? Any quirky habits?

Confess!
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

*I’m using Parfumo, which is great! Once you’ve loaded all your perfumes into your Wardrobe and Samples collections, you can use the Parfumo Assistant to suggest perfumes adjusting their settings for season, time of day, whether it’s a week day or weekend, even occasion (leisure, night out, business…) You can choose to include or exclude your Samples in the suggestions. The assistant gives 12 suggestions that you can then choose from. And of course you can mess about with it however you like: when it becomes really cold over winter I will be dialling up some spring morning suggestions just for some relief!

You can use your account to keep a record of what you wear (the accumulated record is visible only to you). If you do this religiously, you get an archive of how often you wear scents and what you rarely wear – great info for reminding you of neglected beauties, or for keeping tabs on what can justify its place on your shelves and what should be moved along!

Pentachords White by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2011

March 3, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 20 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Fragrance lovers, today I pray your indulgence as I sing a hymn to my favourite note in perfumery: Violet.

So unfashionable, I know. She has not the vampish allure of look-at-me Tuberose. She lacks the ballsy ubiquitous oomph of oudh. No, gentle reader, I languish in the limpid embrace of a shy flower. Her beguiling gaze from a by-gone time first lured this poor soul into the bottomless, limitless, wallet-emptying world of fragrance obsession.

My adoration for her is such, that I am not content merely to spray and smell, I must also consume violet creme chocolates, candies, liqueurs… anything really. Recently, after much searching, I procured a bottle of violet flavouring. Power up! Now I can have violet cereal. Violet anything!

Hence last week saw me whipping up a batch of vanilla butter cupcakes. They were in the oven and I was taste-testing the intensity of the violet white chocolate ganache that would soon adorn them, when I heard the all-too-familiar knock of my parcel postman at my front door. “My Tauer Explorer Sets!” I realised but even more delight was in store for that Swiss devil had included samples, one of which I had been fantasising about since first I read the list of notes:

Pentachords White by Andy Tauer for Tauer Perfumes 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Vanilla, violet, amber, iris, Brazillian rosewood, orris.

Of course I sprayed away without delay and was immediately delighted by a clear violet and vanilla that stunned me with pleasure. Perhaps this explains my weakness: violet is key to a bliss lock in my brain. Andy Tauer shares his process via a generous and genial blog, so I know that he has used the particularly narcotic violet aromachemical – alpha ironine – in Pentachords White. Despite these gourmand sounding notes and a subsequent dusting of icing sugar that seems to fall on the starring pair of violet and vanilla, the overall fragrant impression is very dry. The blog tells me this is because the composition rests on Ambroxan. The salty, buzzy rasp of it is evident, but to my nose, exquisitely balanced. It radiates and gives structure, but does not dominate.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The longevity of Pentachords White is impressive, and the fragrance holds together. No element outlasts the others. To my nose, this is an all-night heavenly disco where Violet and Vanilla dance on a warm wooden floor whilst the Iris smoke machine and Ambroxan mirrorball add haze and scatter.

I’m fascinated by the idea of these Pentachords. I have now tried them all, and Pentachords White is truly the standout for me. This is not just due to my love of the violet, but also to my perception that this one much more than Auburn and Verdant successfully translates the 5 note concept. White truly is an unresolved tension between 5 points in space. It shimmers.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The play of oppositions in this scent is enthralling. Somehow Pentachords White manages to be sheer and abstract, yet alive on my skin. It oscillates between warmth and coolness. One moment a toothsome hologram of a violet ganache vanilla butter cupcake will loom in view (such synchronicity with my baking!), then a buzzing menace reminds that this sweet little treat just might bite back.

Further Reading: Smelly Thoughts and Now Smell This
LuckyScent has $150/50ml
Tauer Perfumes has $34.70/5 x 1.5ml Discovery set

Which of the Andy Tauer fragrances have you tried or did you like?

Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.

Jasmin et Cigarette by Antoine Maisondieu for Etat Libre d’Orange 2006

January 6, 2014 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Worshippers rejoice! Another year given us to praise the fragrance!

New Year usually means hot and dry midsummer where I am, and although on the calendar Summer commenced a month ago, this season she drags her feet. I’m delighting in this extended Spring with its long season of jasmine flowering.

The earliest variety is even now providing heady sprays of indolic pinky tipped blooms borne on their vigorous vine. When the flowers first appeared I dipped some briefly in vodka and the result served over sorrel sorbet was a taste of spring garden. Later the Chinese Star variety popped, its dark handsome foliage and pure white flowers providing such pretty visual contrast to complement the quite different fresh citrus blossom fragrance of those blooms. Both these jasmines seem to feature in today’s fragrance.

Let us spray…

Jasmin et Cigarette by Antoine Maisondieu for Etat Libre d’Orange 2006

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine asbolute, tobacco notes, apricot, tonka beans, curcuma, cedar, amber, musc, hay

When I first smelled Etat Libre d’Orange Jasmin et Cigarette I was startled to have novel nuances of that indolic pink tipped jasmine flower brought front and centre. These smoky stale aspects evident both in the flowers’ natural bouquet and in jasmine absolute became so obvious to me as Antoine Maisondieu accentuates them in this composition. He gave me an “Aha!” moment of observational clarity that was enough to intrigue me with this perfume from the outset.

Ah and a memory came – shameful confession – of my younger self, a mere novice, happened upon in a clandestine moment behind the chapel where the exuberant jasmine vine frothed and tumbled. I had just inhaled the fug exhaled by the flowers commingled with my first (and last) gasp of a gasper. Sister Ignatia’s smile on seeing me was quiet and indulgent. She wisely intoned: “Tread carefully with anything you cannot set down as readily as you have taken it up…” and strolled on.

Photo Stolen Frederick Dennstedt Flickr

Ancient entwined echoes of shame swirling with Jasmin et Cigarette’s initial intoxicating headrush of indolic jasmine fragrance and ashy, smoky cigarette fumes soon dissipate. The fragrance becomes expansive with notes of crushed greenery, fresh tobacco and earthiness, all scents that also arose long ago as I hastily snuffed my illicit cigarette underfoot!

Jasmin et Cigarette might commence slightly left of centre for some, the bitter earthy note of curcuma (turmeric) reading too ashy or metallic. These dimensions soon recede as the earthier side of turmeric emerges, a sweet dust that merges with the anchoring warm cedar whilst the tonka lends hints of honey and hay to the now rather delectable aromas of fresh cured tobacco. Over all this a light citrusy jasmine blossom floats and the fragrance hums thusly quiet and elegant for several hours.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

Although it seems to wear quite close, I have several times wandered into the delicious light floral breeze of my own sillage. I have worn Jasmin et Cigarette in a range of contexts to numerous yums and no condemnation. After 5 or 6 hours its last whisper fades with the warmth, sweetness and wisdom of a benediction.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Bois de Jasmin
LuckyScent has $80/50ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $4.75/ml

Fragrant blessings,
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.

Skin on Skin by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Parfumeur 2013

December 2, 2013 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Sister Mary Magdalen, Patron Saint of Perfumers

Hello APJ,

Gather round worshipers at the ever growing altar of fragrant wonders. Today something new to put on your skin from one of my favourite and most-patronised perfume houses.

Skin on Skin by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Parfumeur 2013

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica Gives these featured accords in one line:
Iris, suede, leather, saffron, whisky, lavender, rose, musks, skin effects

One of three fragrances in the new Explosions d’Emotions collection, Skin on Skin is a lovely scent. I have no explosions to confess, however. This fragrance is intended to capture the contact of one person’s skin with another’s in a tumble of sex and passion, a “wanton embrace” says the ad copy.

Perhaps the first clue that I should not expect anything too raunchy or abandoned is in the image chosen to represent the scent. The naked man and woman are posed in a stagey and disengaged embrace, she gazing into the middle distance, nary a hair out of place, lips pursed and one eyebrow arched. His gaze is on her, but not in a hungry way that suggests he’s reading her moans and palpitations to guide or ride with her to the heights of passion, rather he gazes in a way that indicates his focus on her is as a plinth on which to display his biceps to best advantage… but the fragrance?

Photo Stolen L’Artisan Parfumeur

Let us spray…

My first impression is dry and dark: there’s a slightly bitter saffron and a woody whisky. Also there from first spray is a lovely leather and suede that bring to mind the lived-in, body-warmed, and slightly sweaty saffron and leather of Etat Libre d’Orange Tom of Finland.

As the prominence of all these initially assertive notes settles to form the base of the scent, the heart emerges, more puff than pulse and pump. On me there is a plush and powdery iris and a cloud of the sweet cosmetic violet rose so familiar to me from L’Artisan’s own Drôle de Rose. My skin amplifies this rose, it continues sweet, prominent and persistent, but this was not so for other wearers who strained to detect rose on their skin. A shy line of lavender also weaves through, the deep and sweet purple floral of a Hidcote lavender, nothing camphorous or fresh. As the scent wears, an impression also comes of the rich sweetness of thick cream, a hint of vanilla egg custard and a clean powdered sugar. Perhaps these are the “skin effects” listed amongst the notes.

For me the fragrance evokes feelings of comfort and care. Rather than a “wanton embrace”, Skin on Skin evokes a shorthand contact between long term partners. It distills the adventures and mishaps of their lives together, but is exchanged at leisure in a time of peace, prosperity and safety. More corporate than corporeal, this scent brushes the back of a hand on the beloved’s forearm, making a brief private connection in a public space. Darling… together… we… I adore you.

Photo Stolen mrhayata Flickr

In Skin on Skin, all the elements are there from the beginning. They shift and settle, bloom and fade but it’s all there at first spray. It’s elegant, well composed, attractive. It speaks of affluence. Its personality is not strong enough to exclude it from any situation. It wears close, and although the rose was more radiant on me than others, it is not a diffusive scent. Staying power is good.

This collection of three new fragrances for L’Artisan gleam like jewels in their bigger, squatter bottles, with bigger, scarier price tags. For Skin on Skin it’s a like and admire for me so far, and I am motivated to give it a good few more wearings.

Further reading: Persolaise and Ca Fleure Bon
Libertine Parfumerie has $280/100ml (Australia)
Neroli Budapest has €192/100ml
L’Artisan Parfumeur has $280/100ml (USA)

Go in peace,
Sister Mary Magdelene, Patron Saint of Perfumers.