Bertrand Duchaufour

Amaranthine by Bertrand Duchaufour for Penhaligon’s 2009

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Crew,

Way back in 2009/10 when Amaranthine was first released it caused uproar. Nobody could quite believe that very British house Penhaligon’s would bring out such a naughty little firecracker of a frag. I have a bottle from Birgit at OT but while going through my decants I refound Amaranthine and decided to give myself a big fat spritz.

Amaranthine by Penhaligon’s 2009

Amaranthine by Bertrand Duchaufour

Amaranthine Penhaligon`s FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Banana leaf, Green tea, Cardamom absolute, Coriander seed, White freesia
Heart: Rose, Carnation, Clove bud oil, Orange blossom, Ylang-ylang-oil, Egyptian jasmine absolute
Base: Musk, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Evaporated milk, Tonka bean absolute

Yes, it opens green and fresh yet curiously tropical and already you can tell there will be white flowers in abundance. Amaranthine is large and forthright, filled chock full of creamy flowers, their stems and a little of their vase water that has perhaps been left a day too long before changing.

As we leave the opening extravaganza behind Amaranthine becomes totally tropical. A warm rich and radiant white/yellow floral with a healthy green punch and fruity byplay. Creamy seems to fall short of how smooth and glutinous Amaranthine becomes, not sticky or lumpy but perfectly, silkily, gloriously thick and luscious. With my nose up close I feel that it’s so thick and viscous that perhaps I will drown in its vegetal embrace. Once I put my arm back by my side it softens to a gently and warm vanilla and floral bouquet, Amaranthine become charming and harmless again. Beautiful, alluring and enchanting but in a safe way, then I bring my arm back to my nose and I’m lost. It’s a heavy scent, a brocade bouquet.

Amaranthine Penhaligon`s Patrick McNally White Ginger FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

March on Perfume Posse uses the word refulgent and when I looked it up it means shining brightly. It’s as accurate a word as I can find to explain how dazzling Amaranthine is. Strange that we read or hear so little about it nowadays because it was a game changing fragrance at the time and now I can only think of Amoureuse by Parfums DelRae being anywhere near as outrageous.

For some reason today my skin skips the sexy boudoir completely and goes directly to plush, sweet vanilla/sandalwood and a hefty dollop of clean skin musks. This lovely comfortable dry down can last for a full day & night and is basically indelible on fabric.

Amaranthine Penhaligon`s Jesus del Toro Garcia Bridal Boudoir FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Perfume Shrine
Libertine Parfumerie has $239/100ml with FREE Australian delivery
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

How was Amaranthine for you? Is it something you’ve loved, hated, never tried?
Portia xx

Noir Exquis by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

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Post by Robert Herrmann

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Hi APJ,

I cannot help but notice the irony in this…..
Imagine you are the owner of a successful Espresso Bar, located in a highly trafficked tourist destination for 13 years. All those years you’ve been searching for the perfect coffee-centric perfume to wear in the Cafe to no avail. A perfume that won’t clash with the scents of the shop. You’ve tried them all from designer to niche to uber-niche to “they’re SO niche that nobody knows their name and they only answer their phone once every two months……”

Noir Exquis L'Artisan coffee eliasfalla PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Finally it’s time to sell the business and kick back a bit.

Then and only then, after 13 years with only two weeks left of ownership, the perfect perfume comes along.

Well, of COURSE it does. (Cue gnashing if teeth and rending of hair)

Noir Exquis by L’Artisan Perfumes 2015

Noir Exquise by Bertrand Duchaufour

Noir Exquis L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Chestnut, orange
Heart: Orange blossom, coffee, maple sap
Base: Ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean and sandalwood

From L’Artisan: Noir Exquis is a work of contrast and the unexpected. The addictive note of coffee, combined with the warm and comfortable notes of maple syrup, glazed chestnuts and orange blossom, brings an intriguing juxtaposition to this fragrance. Rich and velvety, Noir Exquis connects these two persons during this moment beyond time and place…… Opulent and gourmand, Noir Exquis is a fragrance with a warm and charistmatic aura. Notes: Glazed chestnut, Coffee, Maple syrup, Macassar Wood

Noir Exquis is beautiful, and everything you could possibly wish for in an espresso cafe-friendly scent. Lush, dark, and creamy. A mellow coffee note (dark roast clearly!), threaded with notes of vanilla, chestnut, spices, and a gorgeous hit of maple sap.

Noir Exquis L'Artisan Pat Guiney Paris Cafe FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

A perfume meant to bring to mind a tête-à-tête, a secret rendezvous for two lovers in a dark Parisian Cafe, windows steamed up and the low hum of conversation from the other customers. A mostly untouched meal sits on the table, the lovers too enchanted by each other to eat anything. Hands entwined, the screeching jet-roar of the espresso machine from behind the bar, the loud grating sound of the coffee grinder. The smell of steamed milk, cinnamon, and coffee permeates the humid air. On the sidewalk in front of the cafe, a man sells roasted chestnuts in newspaper coronets, and every time the cafe door swings open the nutty smell from the chestnuts comes inside.

All of this, bottled.

THIS is the heart of Noir Exquise. And it is gorgeous.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
LuckyScent has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried L’Artisan Noir Exquis?
Robert Herrmann XX

The Modern Fougere: Kurkdjian, Malle, Penhaligon’s

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Post by Liam

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Howdy Hum Salubrious Scentophiles.

Of the entire gamut of fragrances, I am most cautious of the Fougere.

Why? Do this for me- play a game of covert ops (if you are a man, this is easy. If you are a woman, pretend you are buying a gift for a boyfriend). Head on down to your local department store and ask the question: “I am looking for a safe fragrance at around the one-hundred dollar mark”. Tell them he doesn’t often wear scent, perhaps only for special occasions.

I am willing and happy to wager that if they do not offer you an aquatic to try, they will then offer you either a fragrance in the wood category or the Aromatic Fougere.

The Modern Fougere: Kurkdjian, Malle, Penhaligon’s

What’s wrong with the mass market Fougere? The structure of a Fougere is largely complex, richly layered with a harmonious topdown structure from a vibrant citrus top note, an aromatic hum in the middle, and a weighty wooded base at the bottom. When perfumes mess with these transitions, with cloying drydowns and/or linalool and ambroxan driven facets, piercing top notes, and imperceptible accords – the Fougere has been tarnished.

Jean-Paul Guerlain made a statement that I am inclined to adhere to. He believed that apart from Guerlain’s two Fougere scents – Jicky and Mouchoir de Monsieur, any other Fougere is for truck drivers. Given my current and (of course) personal perspective of the market, I am inclined to say the same.

However! The Fougere begins to shine a pulsating, welcoming, and soft glow when we begin to look at a few more ‘uppermarket’ scents. Here are my favourite Fougeres for a contemporary market.

Sartorial Penhaligon`s FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Sartorial by Penhaligon’s

A superstar in the fragrance community (and when you have the confidence, fragcom is the appropriate blend word to use), I personally really admire Sartorial for its classicism.

I get what I want from Sartorial: a lavender, amber, and sandalwood structure that alloys down a citrus impression at the opening. But Duchaufour takes it a step further. He places the scent in context. In a Saville Row tailor’s workroom. Beeswax, metallic notes, steam-iron notes, and a linen fabric accord intermingle with the classic structure giving depth, definition, and clarity. A wonderful scent.

Masculin Pluriel Maison Francis Kurkdjian FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Masculin Pluriel by Maison Francis Kurkdjian

This is the antidote to my woes. I am saddened by a lack of clarity in Fougere scents – with these instead presenting a musty static that I cannot bare. Much like Sartorial, the name suggests a throwback to what makes a masculine fragrance – a Fougere! Lavender is a must, along with red cedar, leather, and patchouli. A fragrance representing a quest for the ‘eternal masculine’, a ‘timeless scent’, this comes pretty close. It it predicable and forward, like a good gentleman.

GeraniumPourMonsieur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Geranium Pour Monsieur – Frederic Malle

A minty wildcard, I am currently really liking this one. It is tenacious. It opens with a smooth abrasiveness from Chinese geranium – giving a floral potency lifted with nose tingling mint, anise, and ouzo notes. Combined with the spice of clove, cinnamon and then swept with crystalline musk – Geranium Pour Monsieur omits the toothpaste impression but retains its menthol-like freshness. It is precise; a well-tuned creation that plays on cool and hot. Creating a sophisticated, refreshing and tonic-like fragrance, Geranium Pour Monsieur is probably the best mint-driven scent on the market, and a superb quasi-fougere.

Be kind, and rethink your labelling of the (otherwise almighty) Fougere.
What’s a modern Fougere to you?

-Liam

P.S I’m away for a while, Yr12 exams! See you soon!

Rose Pivée by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2015

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Hey there Fragrance Fiends,

Embarrassing story. I was given a 15ml pre release sample of this by Nick from Libertine Parfumerie to review if I liked it. The bottle is simple and nondescript and the writing in gold so since there was so much bigger and boxed stuff in my swag that day I have completely overlooked this one. What a dumbass.

Rose Pivée by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2015

Rose Pivée by Bertrand Duchaufour and Stephanie Bakouche

Rose Privée L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Basil, lilac, carnation, hay, magnolia, may rose, patchouli, violet leaf, amber

Green and sparkling herbal opening that feels a little citric and aldehydic, spicy carnation reacts beautifully with the herbs feeling like the new days dawn and yes, there is a lovely fruity rose creeping in that smells like it’s warming in the morning sun. A crystalised rose, completely unsweetened, cool and sophisticated and I get a flawless lemon blossom that floats through the heart absolutely effortlessly. A creamy lemon silk chiffon scarf drifting through the rosiness and a little hint of breathy indole too.

Rose Privée L`Artisan Parfumeur Pink Roses GeographPhoto Stolen Geograph

Weird, after about 4 hours all I smell is a fluffy white musk that feels clean and fresh like laundry just out of the dryer.

Having read a bunch of reviews now it’s interesting that so many people call Rose Privée a chypre. I get none of the earthy, bitter or mossy dry down you’d expect from a chypre here at all. Clearly my skin or nose is not giving or getting some notes that are completely obvious to noses that I trust much better than mine. All I get is a soft and fluffy musk, clean and neat. BUM!

It’s a shame because the first hour or so is absolutely lovely and as I have my Aunty Tracey here with me too we are both adoring the opening and keep resptitzing so the opening hour can be relived over and again. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon/evening really especially when you add to it a very healthy serve of Take Away Chinese with Jin & Kath in the middle.

Rose Privée L`Artisan Parfumeur Laundry Musks David Goering FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Do I love Rose Privée? No, but I do like it very much. Will I be buying a bottle? I think Rose Privée a little soft and innocent for my tastes though I think it a perfect gifting fragrance or office scent, the quality is lovely and the soft whisper of spring it conjures smells really beautiful on my Aunty. If you like to be subtly scented then Rose Privée  may be a perfect choice for you.

Further reading: Megan In St Maxime and Bois de Jasmin
Libertine Parfumerie has Rose Privée
Parfum1 has $120/50ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5.40/ml

Roses, roses, roses! What are your favourites?
Portia xx

Copal Azur by Bertrand Duchafour for Aedes de Venustas 2014

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Post by Poodle

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I was pretty excited to receive a sample of the Aedes de Venustas perfume Copal Azur in the mail. When I read the promotional material I was a bit skeptical. Oceans and incense? Could they really pull it off? Honestly, I had my doubts. I’m an incense freak but can’t say that fresh, oceanic scents are something I’m drawn to.

Copal Azur by Aedes de Venustas 2014

Copal Azur by Bertrand Duchafour

Copal Azur Aedes de Venustas FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Ozone, salty notes, frankincense
Heart: Incense, cardamom, patchouli
Base: Incense, myrrh, Tonka bean, amber

I’ve been to Tulum, which is the locale that inspired this perfume, and I don’t remember it smelling anything like this. I’ve also never smelled actual copal so I have no point of reference for it. Copal Azur is a mix of salt air and plumes of incense rising to the heavens. There’s a freshness that brings to mind blue skies and lush green foliage. It smells like the sea without smelling like an air freshener. The incense in it is a bit woody, not too smokey, and meditative without being churchy.

Copal Azur Aedes de Venustas Tulum-Seaside WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The other bright incense perfume that I love is Heeley’s Cardinal. In comparison, that one is more like sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows of a church. Copal Azur is like sitting at a seaside temple at the point where the sand meets the jungle. It opens like a powerful gust of wind over the waves. You can imagine the sea spray hitting your face. The incense is there in every phase of the perfume’s development yet it never overpowers or gets very smokey to me but bear in mind I have a high tolerance for incense.

The salty mist gives way to warmer and greener notes almost like you have stepped away from the water to the shelter and shade of the trees. There’s a sweet, almost earthy quality that begins to emerge. As you’re walking towards the temple you can smell the branches breaking underfoot. The perfume takes a journey from coolness in the top notes to a definite warmth in the base. It is here where the Tonka bean and patchouli blend with the incense and woods and linger a bit until finally fading away like smoke on the breeze.

Copal Azur Aedes de Venustas tulum_sunrise lamassu72 DeviantARTPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

I thought this leaned masculine but hubby disagreed and said he liked it on me and I didn’t smell like a guy to him. That being said I still think I’d rather smell it on him. He likes fresh, clean scents that don’t thrill me in the least. It came close to being too chemical and clean in the opening but very briefly. Copal Azur blends the stuff he likes with the incense notes I love. There may be a bottle in his future.

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Goodsmellas (Vlog)
First In Fragrance have €210/100ml
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $7/ml

So, do you like ocean or marine scents or do you avoid them at all cost for fear of smelling like an air freshener?

Hugs
Poodle

Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations 2015

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Hey Hey APJ,

Guess what arrived in the mail Friday morning!! Neela has sent me a sample! WOW! WOW! WOW!

Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations 2015

Pichola with Bertrand Duchaufour

Pichola Neela Vermeire Creations fragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, juniper, magnolia, neroli oil, clementine, bergamot
Heart: Orange blossom absolute, rose absolute, tuberose absolute, sambac jasmine, ylang-ylang
Base: Benzoin absolute, sandalwood , driftwood, Haiti vetiver

As you may know India is somewhere I have spent a lot of time, 15 visits so far and hopefully back there again in 2016. Of all the beautiful, magical, amazing spots that my last partner Varun and I saw (and BFF Kath too in 2008) Udaipur is right up there in my Top 3 beside McLeodgang (where the Dalai Lama is in exile) and Agra (where the Taj Mahal is). When we stay in Udaipur we stay in the Taj Hotels Lake Palace on Lake Pichola. It’s pretty close to heaven. When Kath & I stayed in 2008 we were upgraded to a gorgeous, water view suite with 3 rooms. Incredible.

Pichola Neela Vermeire Creations Udaipur_Lake_Palace WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

From Wikipedia: …built between 1743- 1746 under the direction of the Maharana Jagat Singh II (62nd successor to the royal dynasty of Mewar) of Udaipur, Rajasthan as a royal summer palace and was initially called Jagniwas or Jan Niwas after its founder.  The palace was constructed facing east, allowing its inhabitants to pray to the Surya, the Hindu sun god, at the crack of dawn. The successive rulers used this cool haven as their summer resort, holding their regal durbars in its courtyards lined with columns, pillared terraces, fountains and gardens.

Neela has worked with Bertrand Duchaufour to recreate the play of light across the waters of Lake Pichola, the luxurious feeling of being part of the majestic history of India’s Maharajas yet with all the mod-cons that make current day life comfortable. Water in the desert, which Udaipur’s state Rajasthan is, is not just beautiful it is life. Twice, that I know of, since the turn of the century Lake Pichola has been bone dry with crops and livestock growing.

I have only had one wear of Pichola but I will say that is you love white flowers then Pichola is going to blow you away.

I will review Pichola in the next week or so after I have worn it a couple of times and have a real feel for its loveliness. Does it remind me of Lake Pichola? Well it certainly is as rich and luxurious as staying at the Lake Palace.

Neela will be revealing Pichola in Milan. I wish I was coming to hang with you all there.

Portia xx

Poivre Piquant by Bertrand Duchaufour for L`Artisan Parfumeur 2002

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Heya Frag Fiends,

I have a little love affair going with one of my bottles bought very early on in my admitted and embraced perfumistahood. It’s a gourmand, which I take to mean it’s foody, not your average bakery scent though, not all sugary vanilla sweetness. Today’s fragrance is the most sophisticated and grown up of the gourmands that I know. Interesting, delicious and surprising while being totally wearable. A rare combination of freaky, cool and easy.

Poivre Piquant by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2002

By Bertrand Duchaufour

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Honey, white pepper, milk, licorice, sugar, woody notes

UK L’Artisan site says: Poivre Piquant is inspired by a wedding story in the Kama Sutra. Sugar and pepper were sprinkled on the bride’s wedding veil. Sugar for the sweetness of life, pepper for the sparkling joy (and sensuality!) to come. This blend of white hot pepper tempered with milky woody notes is sharp, soft and burning all at once. A hint of liquorice and honey round off this elegant essay in aphrodisiac desire.

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan Scents of SelfPhoto Stolen Scents Of Self

Wet pepper, bell pepper freshly cut, zingy, fresh and ready to eat in a delicious and healthy salad. In a few minutes though a very asian stir fried honey dish bursts through, sweet and sticky and spicy. The pepper has become dry cracked pepper and fizzy fun pink pepper with a milkiness that could come from adding a small lick of coconut milk to what may easily be the dish of the day. Though I am exaggerating the meal-ish aspects of Poivre Piquant, that is what comes to my mind on wearing. Suddenly I’m in a fabulous Australian/Asian fusion restaurant, it’s hip and clean, filled with laughter, chatter and the subtle sounds of wooden chopsticks hitting porcelain. Mouth watering dishes sizzle and steam as they are brought to hungry diners. You can even smell the hot fires burning in the background.

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan pepper Ginger chicken WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Poivre Piquant lasts around 3-4 hours but only the first hour do I have any major sillage and it is an extremely selfish wear because projection needs about 7 spritzes for anyone to even notice it. On the other hand, I get fabulous huffs coming up my shirt for 3 of those four hours, sometimes wet, sometimes spicy and sometimes sweet and hot. It’s like a circular fragrance where we get a spiral of fragrance that keeps letting different notes and combinations jump out at you through the whole life rather than a regular note pyramid. It’s cool, classy and fun. Excellent cool weather wear and a totally different ride in the heat, more refreshing than warming.

Poivre Piquant L`Artisan pepper weinstock PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Scents of Self and Bois de Jasmin
Libertine Parfumerie have $186/100ml with FREE Australian Delivery
L’Artisan France has €100/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Have you spent any time with this L’Artisan lovely?
Portia xx

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

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Post by FeralJasmine

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Deep Soft Luxury: Mohur Extrait

Sometimes a perfume offers you access to a dream. Back in my distant 20s, when I was first getting serious about Indian cooking, I also had a farm and a Jersey cow named Lily, who flooded my kitchen with the freshest, creamiest milk, cream, and butter. During those distant days, I made a dessert that lives on in my memory even though I’ve never tried to duplicate it. It involved that morning’s rich milk cooked down very slowly with a tiny bit of rice until it thickened on its own, lightly sweetened, and lightly seasoned with saffron and rosewater. While it lasted, I savored a tiny cupful every day. I would sniff it for a long time before starting in on it. Mohur extrait reminds me of it.

Mohur Extrait by Neela Vermeire Creations 2014

Mohur Extrait by Bertrand Duchaufour

Mohur Extrait Neela Vermeire Creations FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, pepper, elemi
Heart: Iris, jasmine, rose, violet, almond, leather
Base: Sandalwood, amber, woody notes, patchouli, agarwood (oud), benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean

Does this mean that Mohur Extrait smells like a dessert? Not by a long shot. But it has similar notes and the same sense of an extraordinary luxury entering a workaday life. The rose is perfect. Not blowsy, not green and tight and ungiving, just caught at its peak of exquisiteness. The saffron smells very delicate and very real. I greatly dislike the chemical equivalent, saffraleine or whatever it’s called, and this smells more like the precious CO2 extract of pure saffron of which I have a tiny, treasured bottle. Vanilla and benzoin combine to make a soft, elegant bed for her majesty the rose to recline upon. Everything is in harmony, and nothing is overemphasized. The cardamom note is one of the subtlest, and loveliest, that I have experienced. This one shoots straight to the top of my list of rose favorites.

Mohur Extrait Neela Vermeire Creations Kazakh WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

I want to say more about my perception that some clean cream notes round out the scent. The combination of vanilla and benzoin and tonka often has creamy and buttery notes to me, and I want to emphasize that I am not talking about condensed-milk notes. In these benighted times, few people have experienced rich milk fresh from the cow, but the scent is clean, creamy, supple, with a note of lost childhood in it. If you haven’t smelled really fresh milk, I have no idea what you would compare this scent to. Perhaps the closest equivalent is really clean fresh hay combined with powder, hypnotic in a pleasantly dreamy rather than a narcotic way, like the most perfect summer afternoon.

Mohur Extrait Neela Vermeire Creations Monet Les_arceaux_de_roses,_Giverny WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Further reading: Alembicated Genie and Colognoisseur
Neela Vermeire Creations has an email you can order from
LuckyScent has $465/50ml

I am an admirer of the Neela Vermeire Creations line, and this is the only line I can think of where I love every single scent. Probably nothing can knock my beloved Trayee off its pedestal. Mohur Extrait is a very different and equally bewitching thing. Try it. Simple as that.

FeralJasmine XX

Seville a l'Aube by L`Artisan Parfumeur 2012

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 31 Comments

Hi there Frag Hags,

Going through my samples in preparation for the big move to our new abode has been super fun. So many things I completely forgot I had. It’s like digging through a fragrant treasure chest. When Seville a l’Aube was first released it was unavailable in Australia and I was so excited that I must have ordered 2 x 10ml decants from different splitters, one I found is almost empty but one is nearly full. Then when I could get a full bottle they both went into the box of lost fragrances….. You know how it goes

Seville a l’Aube by Bertrand Duchaufour for L`Artisan Parfumeur 2012

Seville a l'aube L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, olive blossom
Heart: Tobacco, beeswax, orange blossom, lavendar
Base: Olibanum, benzoin

My mate Denyse Beaulieu, from Grain de Musc,  is the muse that co-created Seville a l’Aube with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. It comes from a story of a night in Spain where she met and trysted with a local on one of their high Catholic religious festival nights. Amusingly, and crassly, some bloggers and perfumistas have said that Seville a l’Aube means Fingered Behind the Church in Seville, in fact it means Seville At Dawn.

Seville a l'Aube Seville,_Spain WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

Orange twigs and leaf, with a dry, feral background that pumps raw sex and ultimate clean simultaneously. Seville a l’Aube makes me smile in delighted appreciation when I spritz. There is a pithiness and the honeyed beeswax id so animalic but not like ass, more like sweet wee, and the resins shine through as wet resin in the beginning rather than dry incense. There is still gum from the trees and bushes. The blossom is sweet and breathy.

You know it all washes over me in terrific clouds of fragrance and though I can smell the parts that make Seville a l’Aube up, what I really enjoy is the whole magic creation. A sweet and dirty, twig and dust, wee and breath bomb that glides around me in rapturous clouds. The first half hour is BIG! I have to be careful if I’m going into the world that I don’t overspritz because this much gorgeousness can be confronting for regular people. I love how the heart gets this great citrus-wood scented wax-candle that is slightly religious but more about cleansing for me, and the lavender keeps it all herbaceously slightly off kilter as if something extraordinary is on its way.

You know the song from West Side Story, Something’s Coming? That is how Seville a l’Aube makes me feel.

 

Maybe it’s the story in the book or maybe it is Bertrand Duchaufour and Denyse Beaulieu working together on something interesting, fun and magical that transcends the story and just gives the feeling of anticipation all by itself. Seville a l’Aube is thick and hefty, a beautiful, elegant waft of pithy orange, waxes and resins trails out behind you as you walk. If I spritz in a room and then walk out, the room is full of Seville a l’Aube on my return and it stays that way for hours.

 Denyse, Portia Michael Jovoy 2014 #1Michael Borg, Denyse and I in Jovoy, Paris 2014

I have often talked about The Perfume Lover, and my mate Denyse Beaulieu who wrote it, because it’s a rollicking great read. The story that became this wonderful fragrance and told in such a readable, approachable style that it’s like sitting down with Denyse and listening to her chat. Full of fragrant insider gossip and details of creation that unless you are in the midst of creating fragrance would never be stuff you’d get to know.

The Perfume Lover Denyse Beaulieu BookDepositoryPhoto Stolen Book Depository

Book Depository has The Perfume Lover from $15 delivered worldwide!

CandyPerfumeBoy, NowSmellThis, BoisDeJasmin, all do amazing reviews filled with stories and information I can only hint at.
LuckyScent sells $165/100ml and ships worldwide
Libertine has $199/100ml FREE delivery in Australia

Have you read the book or tried the fragrance? Did you love it too?
Portia xx

 

Or du Serail by Bertrand Duchaufour for Naomi Goodsir 2014

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Or du Serail by Bertrand Duchaufour for Naomi Goodsir 2014

Or du Serail Naomi Goodsir FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Apple, red berries, mango, sweet orange
Heart: Rum, artemisia, sage, coconut, geranium, ylang-ylang, mate
Base: Labdanum, beeswax, honey, tobacco, amber, oak tree, cedar, musk and vanilla

Tart, citrus and dried fruits – mango, sweet orange are the top notes that grab me at first whiff. Followed immediately with golden, sparkling, not smokin’ tobacco. It’s pretty and reminds me of midsummer hot hot heat. The tobacco journey continues, and with a touch of bitter cocoa, and clary sage, it forms the under laying and robust foundation of this beauty. It’s savory underneath, and yet sweet gourmand notes play about delightfully on top. It’s as if someone dropped a basket of dried fruits and rum on a freshly mulched tobacco haystack, and now its warming in the sun.

Or du Serail Naomi Goodsir mango PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

I first tried this, after I had just bought a bottle of Frapin’s 1270 from Peony in Melbourne (a rummy pineapple and chocolate love of mine – thanks to Portia’s review). My beautifully wrapped parcel arrived, and to my delight I noticed Jill had been generous and included some new release samples, of course Naomi Godsir’s Or Du Serail being one- She had said on the phone; “If you like 1270, you will LOVE Naomi’s Or du Serail”. She was right!

Thirty minutes on and its notes are all humming the same tune – perfectly attuned strings, all singing a big tobacco song. I keep thinking of golden light, at the end of a summer’s day -the streaming golden light I’m always happy to see cropping up on my instagram feed as friends in various countries conclude their days activities.

Or du Serail Naomi Goodsir Istanbul_cafe WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

The fruit drenched tobacco notes and light smoke remind me of London, I lived around the corner from a particular Turkish restaurant (Gallipoli on Upper St, Angel – in case you wish to visit), where people smoked shish and the smell would waft down the street – dry, fruity tobacco with mango and apple flavors.
Its here, and with the rum notes, lies the similarities with Frapin’s 1270, but put side by side, they are actually quite quite different. 1270 goes off on a flirty fun, yet sophisticated, pineapple fruit cocktail tangent, held into line by bitter chocolate undertones. The Or du Serail focuses in on the golden scents of tobacco, honey and mango, seeming to be deeper, more serious. ODS is like the steadfast, sophisticated fruit-cocktail sipper, tobacco pouch in hand, cedarwood pipe nearby, enjoying the last of the golden rays of afternoon sunshine. 1270, is more camp, and probably inside preparing for a fun night of dancing and dressups later. I’m not anyone needs a bottle of both, I would recommend trying both and seeing how you go.

The deep dry down of vanilla-rum and honeyed orange-amber, almost sued, smokey in parts, hinting sweet and humming beautifully, is just so tasty and robust. I really do love it. It does not project too strongly. It’s one of those yummy ones you have to get up nice and close to someone to really enjoy. I would recommend this fragrance for both men and women.

Further reading: Colognoisseur
LuckyScent has $187/50ml
First In Fragrance has €125/50ml
Peony Melbourne has $210/50ml with FREE Australian Shipping
Surrender To Chance has $5/.5ml

I would love to hear others experiences…..I feel like I am now in love with 2, non-identical, twins from different makers!!

Ainslie Walker x