TinaG’s Fragrant Adventures: Berlin, Germany: Photo Essay

May 9, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hi APJ!

I’m travelling in Europe for a few months and thought y’all might like a short snapshot of my fragrance shopping in Berlin.

Heathrow Airport Terminal 5

Holy WOW. Terminal 5 at Heathrow is stunning. Duty Free had a fantastic fragrance collection including Miller Harris, By Killian, Memo, Amouage, Dolce & Gabbana Velvet Collection, Guerlain Pera Grantia, Rosa Pop and L’Homme Ideal EDP, amongst others. The staff were super-friendly & very knowledgable.

Étui Noir by Miller Harris 2016

Miller Harris has two Heathrow exclusives – Ètui Noir and Lumière Dorée. I picked up Ètui Noir which is a gentle leather fragrance

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamo, tangerine
Heart: Incens, iris
Base: Vetiver, leather

TinaG’s Fragrant Adventures

Berlin, Germany: Photo Essay

Berlin: I stayed at the Grand Hyatt, Berlin Mitte. All my fragrance shopping was within walking distance of the hotel.

Tourist Tip: check opening times, many places are closed on Sunday.

Frau Tonis Parfum

I had only recently heard of Berlin’s Frau Tonis Parfum so I was excited to visit their one and only store. The display made it easy to try every fragrance so I worked my way around sniffing stoppers & making notes. My poor nose was absolutely tortured from 23 hours of aircraft travel so I was totally surprised to find it still worked! Joy!! Kristiane and Clarice were wonderful & helped me with my many questions, like what does the number mean? It’s simply a catalogue system as it’s easier to remember numbers than names.

Frau Tonis have very sensible bottle sizes – 8ml travel spray, 15ml, 50ml and 100ml. They also take custom blend orders, so you can mix & match and make your own bespoke combination. And yes they ship to Australia.

I chose three 8ml fragrances: 10 Linde Berlin (lime and honey), 14 Grasse à Toi (Jasmine, ylang-ylang, lilly of the valley, iris, peach, red berries, vanilla) and 37 Veilchen (which may also be called 37 Violet) which has violet, liquorice and raspberry.

Tourist tip: the store is near Checkpoint Charlie and Topographie des Terrors, a display & section of the Berlin Wall.

Galleries Lafayette

This department store has an atmosphere of a ‘pop-up’ shop for fashion & makeup. I went to Galleries Lafayete to fine the Berlin-based Schwartzlose.

Yea, interesting. Rausch probably got my attention the most because of the animalistic notes, it was damn dirty & fun. Altruist is their newest which has a cologne freshness with May rose, lemon and pepper. Testing was rushed in a crowded area, I didn’t buy anything.

Tourist tip: save yourself time by asking an SA to take you to this display. The store layout is frustratingly circular with a space in the middle.

Krigler

Krigler currently has stores in Berlin, Beverly Hills & New York. The store in the Hotel Adlon Kempinski has the full range of fragrances and make candles on-site. Their first fragrance was crafted in 1879 – 79 Pleasure Gardenia. The fragrance numbering relates to the year it was made, that one is the only ’18’ prefix. If a second or third is made, a 2 or 3 added to the number. The 2000 series drops the second zero, ie: 214 = 2014, 2142 = the second fragrance made that year.

What do they smell like, I hear you ask?? But I haven’t yet told you about the long history, the famous people who wore Krigler, or the quality of the ingredients. Or the extravagant prices. £16 for a 2ml sample…. Painful. Yes they ship to Australia.

Established Cognac 66 was the stand out for me. A thick caramel with rich cognac cut through by a sharp juicy apple note, taking the edge off the heaviness. Apparently it used to have 80% cognac but the current formulation is 50% – still quite potent. I also picked up samples of Oud for Highness 75, Schöne Linden 05 and Extraordinaire Camelia 209.

Tourist tip: these guys are right near the Brandenburg Gate.

Ritz Carlton – “Fragrances” cocktail bar

OK this Fragrances cocktail bar was the primary reason I wanted to go to Berlin! And it totally blew me away. I’ll dedicate a separate article to my evening here because the Bar Manager, Arnd Heissen totally took me under his wing and showed me around both Fragrances, and its sister bar The Curtain Club. The bar staff were absolute fragrance & mixology experts, I had a fabulous time, so much fun!

The cocktails are created to emulate a fragrance profile. I think there are about 30 on the menu. You walk in to a display which has a bottle of the actual fragrance, the ingredients, and a photo of the cocktail glass. I chose two cocktails, Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles and Bulgari Au Thè Bleu. Both were beautifully done and wonderfully presented. I was curious to see how they managed the incense in Fille en Aiguilles – this was created by using a particular smokey tea. Fab result.

Ok I’m sure I’m over my word count (sorry Portia!) so I’ll leave my fragrant Berlin travels stories for now. It is an amazing city any my short 2 days there wasn’t enough.

Have you visited any of these places? Or do you have more recommendations for my next Berlin adventure?

xx Tina G

Poivre 23 (London) by Nathalie Lorson for Le Labo 2008

April 25, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hi APJ,

Each of Le Labo’s City Exclusives line is sold in a single dedicated city, although they do seem to have become more accessible over time. I have a decant of Poivre 23 which is the London City Exclusive. I thought I’d give it a run through before I headed overseas, just in case I fell in love and desperately needed a full bottle.

Poivre 23 (London) by Le Labo 2008

Poivre 23 (London) by Nathalie Lorson

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Labdanum, sandalwood, patchouli, pepper, vanilla, guaiac wood, styrax, incense

Le Labo’s fragrance name is the note which is in the highest concentration in the fragrance, and the number the count of ingredients it contains. In this case, we have Poivre (pepper) and 23 notes.

One of the challenges I find with Poivre 23 is that it gives me olfactory fatigue very easily. The effect of this is that it appears to chop and change on each wearing, sometimes non-existent, other times nuanced and gorgeous, and occasionally the base of incense and amber is all I can smell. So it makes it difficult to write up but I’ll focus on one of the days where I didn’t get fatigue so badly and picked up some of the more fun aspects of the fragrance.

On opening, there’s a burst of pepper – I’m sure that I can smell both black pepper and a softer more fragrant version such as Szechuan or pink pepper. After the first pepper zing I get a chocolate note which may be patchouli-related as it does settle into a green headspace. There is a bitter dry white wood and an oddly buttery sweetness over the top. It is strange to smell something which is both dry and oily at the same time, like deadwood which has been seasoned & polished with fatty animal oils.

Wikipedia

At three hours on my skin the dry woodiness has taken on a subtle rubbery note which I suspect is imparted from guaiac wood, with a resinous birch underneath it. The whole thing has a sticky slippery leathery feel about it which I really enjoy.

At 5 hours this settles in to one of those skin scents which is like “my skin, but enhanced”. It is dry, woody, musky and subtle – very cuddly and comforting. There is light grey incense in the background and the styrax is a warm welcoming resinous amber with a touch of well blended vanilla in the package. This combination lasts well past the 8 hour mark.

Flickr

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Perfume Posse
Le Labo has 3 venues in London. Two stand alone stores and a Harrods desk.
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/0.5ml

This fragrance is definitely not safe for enclosed spaces. My co-workers can smell it at least 5 metres away commented on the fragrance (complimented each time, thankfully). Will I pick up a full bottle when I’m in London? I don’t think so. I enjoy wearing it very much but it’s hard on my sense of smell – a wearing once every so often will be enough.

Have you tried Poivre 23, or any of the Le Labo City Exclusives?

Till next time,
Tina G

Cactus Azul by Julian Badel for Fueguia 1833

April 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by TinaG

Since writing my article about Fueguia 1833 a fortnight ago, I’ve discovered that their range is even more extensive than their wide fragrance catalogue. A number of “scent identities” have been developed in conjunction with Fueguia 1833 – for example I came across London’s Trunk Clothiers who have two bespoke fragrances – “Linnaeus” and “Endeavour”, and Milan-based designer Marcelo Burlon has a co-branded Fueguia 1833 fragrance for his “County of Milan” line. Fueguia 1833 also provide amenities lines (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, shower gel, and room & textile perfume) for a range of luxury hotels around the world.

Today I thought I’d showcase a charming floral which is part of the Destinos collection.

Cactus Azul by Fueguia 1833

Cactus Azul by Julian Badel

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cactus flower
Heart: Cedar
Base: (Nanah) Mint

On first spritz, Cactus Azul gives a big blast of mint which wafts around unapologetically for about 15 minutes. It is fresh and invigorating, with a medium sillage that cuts straight through our lingering summer humidity. “Nanah” mint, aka spearmint, is commonly used in Moroccan tea. It was distinctively a spearmint which I could smell, like those old-school sugared leaf lollies, with a slightly more regular broad leaf mint note behind it.

This then settles into a minty herbal veil over an unusual pink floral note. The floral is all at once soft, watery and pulpy and has a strange way of lingering in my nostrils and back of throat in a ‘taste’ sensation, in a similar way that pepper in fragrance sometimes can. I imagine this is the reported cactus flower centre note from the Fueguia 1833 three-note description. The colours which I see in my head at this stage are like watermelon skin – mottled green, and the light pink of the flesh which is closest to the pith after you’ve taken a bite.

WikiMedia

The floral note starts to deepen and at 1 hour dives in to a peculiar sticky jam. It is sweet but still keeps a damp floral aspect, and my head runs through different options trying to place it. Redcurrent? Strawberry? And I finally settle on what I imagine a homemade jam made of small wild strawberries may taste like. Wild strawberries in Australia are white in the middle, not red, and are only mildly watery/strawberry flavoured.

At 2 hours the fragrance starts to dry out with a peppery wood note coming through, and ‘round the 4 hour mark the fragrance seems fragmented. On some areas of my skin I get a sweetness, like caramel, however in the sillage I can smell something reminiscent of a bitter woody patchouli. I can’t quite work it out so I often respritz at this stage & start all over again.

Pixabay

First in Fragrance has €230/100ml and Samples

I like the both the uplifting and gentle aspects of this fragrance. It doesn’t have a massive longevity, but it is a joy to wear.

I’m interested to hear – what are your favourite fragrances that include mint?

Tina G xx

La Tierra Del Rayo by Julian Bedel for Fueguia 1833 2014

March 28, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hi APJ!

On first approach, Fueguia 1833 gives me the feeling of both utter fascination and being totally overwhelmed. Fueguia 1833 is an Argentinian niche perfumery based in Buenos Aires, however, with no Australia retailers, their range is difficult to access. Some online fragrance companies do sell selected stock, but at last glance Fueguia 1833 have 63 perfumes and home scents in their standard catalogue. Where do you start?

Julian Bedel

Firstly, to the catalogue. Every single aspect of the creation of their fragrances is a study in meticulous attention to detail and a deep passion. The company founder himself, Julian Bedel, is noted as undertaking yearly expeditions to source medicinal and aromatic plants, some of which are then used for the first time in fragrances through Fueguia 1833’s research and development efforts. The wooden boxes which house the fragrances are sourced from native wood from fallen trees, and are crafted in a carpentry school teaching young kids woodworking skills. Everything about the creation of these fragrances is simply beautiful.

In the last year or so Fueguia 1833 have started selling 2ml samples at a reasonable price, so I picked up a set of three of their collections: Destinos, Fábula Fauna and Special Projects.

La Tierra Del Rayo by Fueguia 1833 2014

La Tierra Del Rayo by Julian Bedel

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Oak, red wine, leather, tobacco, fruity notes and resins

From the Fueguia 1833 Catalogue: La Tierra del Rayo (Tunuyán) is considered one of Argentina’s most important regions when it comes to high-quality wine production. This perfume was made using chromatography of Argentina’s Pinot Noir wines to analyze the aromatic volatiles in the wine, and then later use the same molecules in the composition of the fragrance.

WikiMedia

La Tierra Del Rayo opens with an accord of sticky red berries and astringent crushed green leaves. Pepper and wood notes float in and out of the silage. At 1 hour, the wood also becomes quite damp which seems to deepen the berry note, however there’s an overarching dryness to the whole composition.

At this stage, it really does give the impression of a red wine, with a nod to pinot noir’s fruity characteristics and a light touch of dry tannins which run across the tongue after a sip. It’s really quite clever, although as a fragrance it is a bit odd to leave the smell of red wine on your skin – my instinct is that a glass has been knocked over and I was one of the spillage casualties.

At around 2 hours, the dampness of the fragrance has disappeared leaving the smell of the inside of an ex-red wine oak barrel –juice drained away and the barrel slowly drying out. The fragrance has run its course at about the 3 hour mark, leaving a subtle woody musk note on my skin.

Pixabay

Some friends and I went to an Argentinian restaurant last week, and was very excited to see a 2012 pinot noir on the menu “Siesta” from Tunuyan Mendoza – so I grabbed a glass and enjoyed not only the beautiful wine but the understanding that I had gained about this wine region through testing “La Tierra Del Rayo”. To me, this is the purpose of this fragrance – no so much that you are wearing a ‘red wine’ scent, but much more about the exchange of knowledge through showcasing Argentina’s history and stories.

First In Fragrance has €230/100ml + Samples
Fueguia 1833 has $138/33ml + Samples

Have you had a chance to try Fueguia 1833?

Tina G xx

Wearing Perfume: Different Ways of Testing

March 14, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Post by Tina G

Hi APJ!

I’d like to talk a bit about how fragrance application can have a pronounced effect on how it presents on your skin. It is one of the reasons that it is usually worthwhile to test a fragrance a few times to get to “know” it before making judgement calls.

Wearing Perfume: Different Ways of Testing

Burlesque by Maria Candida Gentile 2015

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange
Heart: Iris pallida, rose
Base: Incense, patchouli

Maria Candida Gentile – Burlesque is a case in point. It was put onto my fragrance radar by Tara from A Bottled Rose, and it sounded like my kind of thing, so a sample was ordered.

On my first two spritzes I held the nozzle close to my arm with a heavy application. And the results were horrifying. All I got was an insipid limp wet patchouli with a hint of smoke in the background. I quite like patch, but there was nothing nice about what I was smelling. It was less ‘Burlesque’ and more ‘fetid water nymph’. One of my written notes was “try a lighter spray”. So I did.

A gentle swish of a spritz at a distance, and wafting my arm through the residual aerated fragrance was a totally different result. At once I could smell a warm rounded orange, which was totally absent previously, and it came through with a fab sexy powdery iris and sweet pink rose. That brought a smile and a nod – so that is what this fragrance is all about! It was balanced very differently, warm and inviting with the patchouli grounding it instead of swamping (good word, actually…) and the pale smokiness bringing an interesting dimension to the whole picture. Really gorgeous and very wearable.

There are some fragrances which are better dabbed – for me most of the Serge Lutens work really well like this, even though they come with sprayers. Of course, be really wary of spraying Parfum strength *anything*. I’ve done serious (temporary) damage to my nose trying this approach. Unless it is a Vero Profumo in which case they are designed for spraying. (and if you’ve never tried any of Vero’s fragrances, drop everything and order samples NOW).

Chimaera by Paolo Terenzi for Tiziana Terenzi 2014

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black pepper, lemon, saffron, leather, tolu balsam, thyme, bay leaf, soil tincture
Heart: Iris, red pepper, carnation, peony, honey, magnolia, sage
Base: Patchouli, cashmere wood, labdanum, benzoin, caramel, agarwood (oud), tobacco, canadian balsam, leather, pine tree

Another worthwhile trial is to give fragrances a run through in different seasons. Something which does not work for you in summer may be altogether fabulous in winter. Tiziana Terenzi – Chimaera is like this for me. In winter it is complex and kinetically marbled with a lemon and honey keeping a weaving thread through leather, bay and basalm. I found at four wonderfully distinct stages during dry down – so exciting! In summer, on my skin it turns into a gourmand thick with caramel and saffron, the honey and lemon are still present but it is much more linear and to my nose not so interesting.

Have you had any successes or failures with your fragrance testing? What have been the lessons learnt?

Tina G xx

Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu by Daniela (Roche) Andrier for BVLGARI 2015

February 22, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hello APJ!

I have a soft spot for the Bvlgari tea series, as Au Thé Rouge was the first fragrance I ever wrote up for APJ and it holds special memories of that summer. And it changed my life. It all started with a travel size sample of Au Thé Rouge and subsequent hunt for and purchase of rooibos, the “rouge” tea in Au Thé Rouge. From there I started investigating styles of tea, and tea as a fragrance note. Two years later and my life is richer for these experiences; I’ve widened my knowledge of the world, found some beautiful “tea” fragrances, and thoroughly enjoy a quiet cuppa and breathing space now and then.

Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu by BVLGARI 2015

Eau Parfumée Au Thé Bleu by Daniela (Roche) Andrier

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lavender, shiso
Heart: Violet, tea
Base: Iris, musk

I was excited to hear about the release last year of Au Thé Bleu, Bvlgari’s fourth in the tea series. It showcases a ‘blue’ tea accord, inspired by one of my favourite teas, Chinese oolong.

Pixabay

Au Thé Bleu is a great cologne to both counteract and compliment a hot summers day. It opens with a smoky tea, cool lavender and subtle iris. The lavender is the star here. The fragrance stays crisp and cool for about an hour, before it warms up with a touch of tonka, giving the whole silage a comforting feel. Over the next two hours it flits around, alternating between warm and cool, supported by wonderfully light musk notes. The best way to describe the musk is clean but warm, not like a cool laundry musk. It’s sweeter, slightly in to musk-stick / lolly territory.

At 4 hours the fragrance has a peppery feel about it. I didn’t remember seeing any spicy notes listed but when I went back to Fragrantica and the Bvlgari website, there is a note listed of Shiso leaf which is described as having a peppery spicyness about it. It fits in well. As a cologne strength the dry down is surprising long-lasting, staying on my skin for about 8 hours.

Flickr

There is a fabulous uplifting quality to this scent, and it makes me feel as if I’m being warmed by the sun, whilst looking up at a blue summer sky across wide fields of lavender. The ‘blue’ accord is sheer and radiant – like holding up a corn-flower blue sapphire to the sun and watching the sparkles of light dance. ‘Happy’ is a simple word but the feeling of being happy can be profound. This fragrance makes me happy, it has a pureness from simplicity which is a pleasure to enjoy.

Further reading: Persolaise and Colognoisseur
David Jones has $184/150ml with FREE Australian delivery

Do you have a favourite fragrance you wear, which makes you feel happy?

Tina G xx

Une Nuit a Bali: Fragrance + Dry Oil

February 8, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hello APJ! If you haven’t heard about the French beauty company Une Nuit á Bali, I’d like to give you a quick overview teaser of two of their products.

Une Nuit a Bali

I was intrigued by Une Nuit á Bali when I read a ÇaFleureBon review from the Esxence exhibition, March 2015. The products sounded lush and lovely, so I checked out their website and ordered sample packs of their 100% natural body products and testers of three of their fragrances – Fleur de Fleurs, Mr. Vetiver, and Suma Oriental.

Une Nuit a Bali: Fleur de Fleurs

Fragrantica

Une Nuit á Bali gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, saffron, grapefruit
Heart: Floral Jasmine, ylang-ylang, tuberose, glycine
Base: Benzoin Tears, sandalwood, vanilla, amber, oud wood

Fleur de Fleurs opens with a warm fresh jasmine and ylang-ylang, with a touch of milky tuberose and wispy citrus. Silage is a metre or more at this stage and it has garnered compliments from co-workers. As it settles the ylang-ylang becomes increasingly indolic and thicker. It reminds me of a summer day, when the humidity is high and wind absent, when thick blooming floral fragrances pool into invisible scented clouds.

At 2 hours the florals very gently and seductively meld together, the citrus notes retreat to reveal subtle dry woods with hints of amber and vanilla. Over the next few hours the fragrance softly fades leaving a sensual woody skin scent.

Une Nuit á Bali

Une Nuit a Bali: The Dry Oil (L’Huile Sèche)

This dry oil is stunning. The jasmine note in this is so realistic. It is not simply ‘jasmine”, but very specifically, I clearly get the image in my head of the green moist jasmine stamen in the centre of the flower, and it is beautiful and exciting. The oil itself is easy to apply, soaks straight in, and does not leave any residue. The scent softens after about ½ hour and I find more of a ‘frangipani’ scent on my skin.

I’ve since discovered selected products of this range are available in Australia through Mecca Cosmetica online but there isn’t much opportunity for testing in store. If you were interested in testing, try the Une Nuit á Bali website. I found ordering samples through the web site very easy, reasonably priced, quick and they were thoughtfully presented.

Une Nuit á Bali

Have you ever brought a fragrance product after reading a review? What did you pick up?

Tina G xx

1725 Casanova by Magali Senequier and Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2001

February 2, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by TinaG

So, who is Casanova? If you follow the story in this scent, Casanova doesn’t stand out in a crowd. He’s the type of person you’d easily walk past in the street and not notice directly. But he knows himself – he is cool, calm, and confident. Dressed immaculately, the quality material of his suit and shirt shows that he has a refined taste and attention to detail. But it’s more than that. He has a subtle charisma which is alluring – once noticed. And he knows it. Catch his eye, and you’ll find a deep, challenging sparkle which you’ve taken a few steps towards involuntarily, drawn in like a house mouse to candy.

1725 Casanova by Histoires de Parfums 2001

1725 Casanova by Magali Senequier and Gérald Ghislain

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, citruses, grapefruit, licorice
Heart: Lavender, star anise
Base: Vanilla, almond, sandalwood, cedar, amber

1725 Casanova opens with lavender and multi-citrus top notes, primarily smoky bergamot and grapefruit, with a fleeting touch of amber. After 15 minutes a dark green, moist, sticky liquorice joins the lavender. The impression I get from the liquorice is that of a thick glossy black stick which has been snapped in half exposing the softer centre.

The oily fresh lavender mingles with the liquorice and lifts it up, preventing it from being too overpowering. At half an hour an almond comes through – thankfully only lasting to the hour mark before it subsides back to lavender/liquorice, and the bergamot which has lost its smokiness and become much more orange in nature.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The fragrance has an air of alcohol about it, which I can’t quite place until I realise it is just like basic aftershave. The absence of any herbaceous notes in 1725 brings a grey, austere effect to the fragrance. The effect is a smoothness of a well-cut good quality men’s suit. There is an almost transparent cedar in the background, which gives an anthropogenic slant to the scent. The cedar is refined, dead, cut and shaved into a cupboard or a set of draws in a room, almost undetectable but providing a sense of presence to the room.

I originally felt that 1725 had a longevity of around 5 hours, but I realised later that after that time the remaining skin scent sticks around for about 12 hours. This base still contains the lavender but gains vanilla. The combination of vanilla and lavender in the dry down has an oddly gourmand feel to it. So, overall, this feels like a relatively ordinary scent. But who ever said ordinary can’t be interesting? I wore this on a warm summers day, respritzed quite a few times, and the combination of lavender, bit of dust and residual oils from my skin created a clean muskiness that neither my skin nor the fragrance alone would have shown.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Casanova is the man you’ll find standing quietly at a bar, watching a group of young men acting up and playing the fool to try and get the attention of a group of young women. He doesn’t need to do anything – just smiles and watches whilst stirring the ice in his drink. Slowly, one of the women notices him, and starts watching back. And another. Who is this silent stranger? They move over to chat. Eventually, the group of guys have given up, and Casanova is still standing at the end of the bar, which is now lined with ladies all talking quietly, sipping on their own drinks, and waiting for their chance to get closer to him…

Further reading: Chemist in a Bottle and Olfactoria’s Travels
Parfum1 has $36/15ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried 1725 Casanova by Histoires de Parfums? Is it on your list?

Tina G xx

Mahora by Jean-Paul Guerlain for Guerlain 2000

January 19, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 15 Comments

Post by Tina G

Portia and I had a lovely relaxed New Year’s catch up the other day – lunch and tea and chats and I had a chance to have a sticky beak at the selection of perfumes which she’s chosen to keep at home at the moment. This included a stunning range of Guerlain! Love Love Love!! Along with a few other scents, Portia kindly provided me with a small decant of Mahora to try.

Mahora by Jean-Paul Guerlain for Guerlain 2000

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, almond blossom, green accords
Heart: Ylang-ylang, neroli, tuberose, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver

Mahora was released by Guerlain in 2000, and discontinued two years later. I understand that it has been slightly reformulated and released as Mayotte in 2006, but I was curious to know why Mahora was given such a short shelf life.

The opening flashes from a pleasant jasmine and citrus burst to a bitter green quite quickly. A milky/watery almond note then comes through with the tang of a sweet orange in the background. The almond note is quite yummy, actually, like fresh almonds in a bowl waiting to be crunched.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

As this settles in it changes quite rapidly in the first 15 minutes and the almond turns more marzipan. I suspect that my focus on almond during the first 15 minutes is because it is a note I’m sensitive to, so I’m noticing it more. The silage, however, makes me feel that I’m definitely wearing a Guerlain – it has that familiar edge , here mainly citrus and vanilla, with the vanilla becoming stronger during dry down.

The ylang ylang is a surprising punch at the half hour mark, and it’s presence drags the green notes back into the foreground again. The fabulous greenness continues to develop and at about 1 hour there is a specific damp indolic note which shoots up between the rest of the fragrance’s clouds of puffy citrus/vanilla. It is that of decaying tuberose, but nothing overly fetid and rotting, more like flowers which have simply been left too long in a vase and have passed their prime. It is distinctive but I don’t find it unpleasant, particularly because it is still surrounded by and supported in the fragrance overall.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Is this indole the reason for the fragrance’s demise? Perhaps. I haven’t had a chance to try Mayotte so I am not sure whether the note has been continued under a new name. I really that it gives the fragrance an unexpected edge. The indole does fade around the 3 hour mark and the dry down becomes a gorgeous warm skin scent, one that I’m perfectly happy to find on my skin as I snuggle down at the end of the day. So this one may not be so popular, but I’ll put my hand up and say that it’s OK!

Photo Donated Portia

Further reading: Smelly Thoughts and Perfume Posse
Now available in slightly different form at Guerlain called Mayotte in Les Parisiennes
Ebay also has some BARGAINS! but pretty soon they will be gone and Mahora will cost a fortune.
Surrender To Chance has Mayotte starting at $6/ml

Do you have an “unpopular” fragrance which you love? Would you take a stand, and speak up on its behalf in the face of dissidence?
Tina G xx

L’Incendiaire by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2014

January 5, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 21 Comments

Post by Tina G

Lying in the palm of my hand; a small vial of dark-golden intriguing mystery. There are few reviews, and fewer notes lists for me to get a pre-conceived impression of what I may experience on opening, so the next step is obvious – there is a little bubble of liquid here that simply needs to be on some skin.

L’Incendiaire by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 2014

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

A moderate swipe of L’Incendiaire releases a resinous incense with dry wooden undertones. It is loud, silage has a massive kick initially but there is also something elusive about the scent that soon makes me want a few more swipes, so I do. This brings the woods to the foreground, and the incense/resin/wood combination is not dissimilar to those I’ve come across in other fragrances. This changes in the first half hour though…

Photo Stolen Flickr

From this initial dry opening, things start to get darker. I’ve stepped out of an autumnal field onto a path which heads into the dark forest. There is a damp sweetness. I can smell thick heavy treacle and the over-ripeness of slightly decayed wind-fallen plumbs. The oudh note gives a hint of animals out of sight in the undergrowth. The wood notes are wet, like fallen logs covered in leaves. The fragrance has a physical coolness through a menthol note which gets stronger during the first hour, which becomes a cold sensitive spot on my arm like the heat is being extracted from my skin.

Photo Stolen DeviantArt

After the first hour, the mentholated sensation spreads into an overall greenness. There is also a smoky note like clean fresh cigarette ash. Strangely, the damp wood smell feels like it has dried out – the decaying wood from the forest floor has found the sun once more and the rotting has been abated temporarily.

Longevity for this parfum is good, 8+ hours, although it does become stale after that time on my skin. The silage is interesting – I mentioned above that my first swipe was followed up with a few more as I found L’Incendiaire elusive, but it is more than that – it is fragmented. It sits neatly on the skin, but it doesn’t project so much as ‘waft’, dancing around, influenced by movement and breezes. Testing L’Incendiaire I found it consistently has three stages but the amount of application can race them through. Larger applications brings the oudh into play in the first 10 minutes. I quite enjoyed a slower story though, so even if the silage twists and turns in its playfulness, I’d recommend the less is more approach.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Perfume Posse and Colognoisseur
Barney’s New York has $600/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $8/.25ml

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