Pure eVe by Celine Ellena for The Different Company 2011

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Post by Robert Herrmann

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Hi there Fragrant Friends.

This week I’ve been wearing the hell out of a light-as-air almond powdery beauty that is what I imagine angels must smell like….

Pure eVe by The Different Company 2011

Pure eVe by Celine Ellena

pure-eve-the-different-company-fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes
Middle: Flax, mimosa, white rose
Base: Cedar, musk, candied almond, sweet notes, dried fruits: TDC gives: Calisson (A French cookie made of candied almond, sweet notes and dried fruits)

When I was a kid growing up, one thing that always enchanted and mystified me were my Mom’s four silk scarves from Hermés. Often redolent with leftover traces of Joy or Maja edp, these not-to-be-touched-by-small-hands towel sized (to tiny me) pieces of fabric heaven were as light as a cloud, yet felt like pure magic, smooth and silky, softer than anything else in my child-sized world. When my mom would let me handle them, it was always a wondrous and very special moment. When she passed away twenty years ago, these silk scarves were the very first thing I put in my suitcase to take home. They are with me still.

Originally released as Pure Virgin and subsequently renamed as Pure EvE, wearing it is soft and sheer, a skin scent meant for you alone. The perfect wear-it-to-bed scent (especially when married to a perfume allergic sneeze-fest, as I am). Ironically mimosa, which is so prevalent in the dry-down is also know as “shabkhosb” in contemporary Persian which translates to “night sleeper” alluding to the flowers that close up at night.

pure-eve-the-different-company-govert_flinck_-_angels_announcing_the_birth_of_christ_to_the_shepherds-wikimediaWikiMedia

And given that the nose behind it is Celine Ellena, that makes it pretty much a slam-dunk for me, as I love her father’s (Jean-Claude) work. Sheer and breezy olfactory watercolors clearly run in the family….

Opening with the champagne-like sparkle of the aldehydes, this gorgeous unisex edt brings to mind soft freshly laundered sheets drying in the sun and gently waving in a soft summer’s breeze. The flax bring an earthy base to the scent all the while supporting the gorgeous floralp notes. The scent of the Calisson provides the cookie-like almond and sweet notes, and the musk wraps it all up in a pure white dare I say virginal, cashmere blanket.

This is a perfect scent to wear all year long for work or play. In the cooler months, you will be a walking tray of cloud-like soft Chantilly Creme and when the warmer months roll around you’ll smell positively as fresh as a laundered crisp white shirt.

pure-eve-the-different-company-hallig_hooge_germany_view_from_the_backenswarft-wikipediaWikipedia

Further reading: Now Smell This and Daly Beauty
The Different Company has €95/50ml
LuckyScent has $135/50ml + Samples

Have you tried Pure eVe? Are there other “fresh” powdery scents that you absolutely love??
RHX

White Musks: Friend or Foe?

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Post by Trésor

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I like white musk, I cannot lie and I like it a lot. Many of you will be familiar with my profound affection for accords steeped in subversion, depravity and potions rife with filthy delight but when it’s just me, myself and I there is only one solution: a proper cumulonimbus of glimmering white musk. Instead of just one review this week I’ve opted instead for three, a collection of my most cherished and well loved fragrances graced with this accord of pellucid splendour.

White Musks: Friend or Foe?

Pure eVe The Different Company FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Pure eVe by Céline Ellena for The Different Company 2011

First up on the docket is Pure eVe (formerly known as Pure Virgin) from French niche house The Different Company. Pure eVe opens in an exquisite breath of sheer vanilla, flirting with the idea of confection but never quite registering as a treat that’s entirely edible. Soon vanilla gracefully fades into cascades of creamy almond and transparent caramel, each tendril encapsulated within zephyrs of gentle powder. The base is comprised of a glorious and breathtakingly kaleidoscopic blend of white musks, each one scintillating and setting another aglow until they are all but one orb of fluid light.

Royal Muska M. Micallef FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Royal Muska by Jean-Claude Astier for M. Micallef 2008

I happened upon Jean-Claude Astier’s Royal Muska for M. Micallef entirely by accident. I’d been snooping through a friend’s perfume shelf as one does and the most gloriously glittering bottle caught my eye. There was no question, I had to spray myself and the from the moment I did I could tell that it was going to be love. From first sniff there is a familiarity, I can catch whiffs of delicate summertime beauty. Ephemeral flourishes silky cream and raspberry permeate the background, cheekily peeking through a veil of aroma that’s reminiscent of fine French soap. At the heart is a translucent interpretation of ripe and velvety peach that carries through until the composition has become glowing billows of plush white musk.

Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker  FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Lovely by Laurent Le Gurnec + Clement Gavarry for Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

Out of my entire collection there are but a small a handful of fragrances which I use on a regular basis and even fewer which I use entirely and repurchase time and time again. Alongside my greatest love, Aromatics Elixir from Clinique there is only one other where I have repurchased bottles more times than I can count: Lovely from Sarah Jessica Parker. The opening of lovely, to my humble nose, is sheer perfection. Silken plumes of luxurious white musk are scintillating with fractals of golden light radiating threads of glowing bergamot and transparent grains of sea salt, their form cut as precious stone. At the heart of Lovely dwells the velvet petals of a white rose, her petals bathed in the roseate hue of celestial evening sunlight. The warmth of the rich rosewood that comprises the base is utterly magnetic and the soft shades of amber on which it rests are equally as exquisite. If I were to choose only one white musk for the rest of my life, there is no question of which it would be. Lovely.

You might find this interesting: Surrender To Chance Musks Sampler

What are your favourite fragrances focused around an accord of white musk?

Until next time, kittens.

Trésor, xo.