5 Neglected Warm Day + Cool Night Fragrances

October 15, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there APJ,

So it’s a Mid Season again. YAY! These are my favourite bits of the year. Autumn and Spring. Why? Well, though I do love the warmth and freezing cold I find life much easier between 20C and 30C as top range heats. Dressing for the day is easier and you only need a comfy old jumper or hoodie as standby for cooler evenings. I also seem to function better physically and mentally in the Mid Seasons and I often feel more inspired to create positive change in my life.

It’s great for fragrance too because almost everything goes, here are some things that I love for these glorious days. I’ve chosen some fragrances that seemed to get a lot of attention when they were released but then have been basically ignored ever since. Yes, I talk about them but I rarely see them mentioned elsewhere so here’s a friendly reminder of some of my Mid Season loves.

5 Neglected Warm Day + Cool Night Fragrances

Fragrantica

Mitzah by DIOR

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Coriander, rose, spices, cinnamon, labdanum, vanilla, honey, patchouli, incense

Mitzah opens all hot smoky spices and incense, with unmentioned leather and tobacco notes. Not an intense journey through the perfume with mountainous peaks and troughs, while there are definite start middle and end notes it’s more of a progression. The kick at the start warms slowly and languidly through mildly sweet towards a honeyed amber dry down.

Fragrantica

The Aoud by Mancera

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Geranium, sandalwood, saffron, incense, rose, agarwood (oud), leather, ambergris

Oudh, geranium and sandalwood are triumphant kings through the story of this fragrance for me, their characters working in tandem and against each other to keep The Aoud interesting and unusual. Though rose is a featured note it doesn’t play heavily here, more a light accompaniment with the leather, saffron and incense. Blooms in the heat and is cuddly at night.

Cuir Pleine Fleur James Heeley Fragrantica Fragrantica

Cuir Pleine Fleur by James Healey

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Italian bergamot, Violet leaf, Cinnamon
Heart: Mimosa, Hawthorn, Suede, Rose, Honey
Base: Vetiver, Castoreum, Birch, Atlas cedar

Cuir Pleine Fleur is one of the easiest leathers I’ve ever smelled, friendly, well worn kid gloves and while being fragrant it is never overpowering or uncomfortable. A green leather, if you can believe it. I am loving it this season because it has a cool edge for warm days and the soft and,alias make it cozy in the cool.

Fragrantica

Indian Wood by Parfumerie Generale

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sandalwood, vetiver, moss, spicy mint, nutmeg, cardamom, coconut milk, lemon zest

Chai! Sweet, milky, spicy and warming but with a green facet that gives it a papery rasp and picks Indian Wood up. This sweetness comes from the sweetness of milky woods, piquant spices and the warm memories of cooking. Even though this is a gourmand it’s green dryness keeps it from overwhelming in the heat.

Fragrantica

Divine EdP by Divine Parfums

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tuberose, peach, coriander
Heart: Orange blosson, rose, spices, patchouli, gardenia, jasmine
Base: Sandalwood, vanilla, musk, oakmoss

Big White Flowers and peachy/coriander skank bomb. The tuberose is excellent and lushly indolic, I am always surprised there is no ylang here because I am reminded of its sensual lushness, maybe it’s the orange blossom/tuberose melange.

LuckyScent or First In Fragrance have most of these babies

What do you wear Mid Season or what do you love that isn’t talked about much anymore?
Portia xx

Angel Muse by Quentin Bisch for Thierry Mugler 2016

October 11, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

All Hail APJ Earthlings,

MUSEology

Muse: Drones Tour 2016

I went to Vienna earlier in the year to see MUSE on their Drones Tour. I knew that it would be good but had no idea that it would blow my mind. It opened with futuristic soldiers complete with glowing blue eyes, patrolling the perimeter of the 360°rotating stage. Drones in their docks suspended from the ceiling ready to fly around the hall. Retractable silk banners hanging, acting as cinema screens.

The band came on dressed in black, as opposed to their normal prominent and flamboyant outfits. Matt Bellamy, lead singer and guitarist was uncharacteristically chilled, letting the incredible and perfectly synchronized production shine. This was a thrill ride of the most epic proportions and I cannot forget it. Six months later and I am still playing MUSE at top volume. One of my top three gigs and I have been to hundreds.

Angel Muse by Quentin Bisch for Thierry Mugler 2016

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, pink pepper
Heart: Hazelnut, whipped cream, rose
Base: Vetiver, patchouli

Browsing through the perfumes at the airport last week I picked up Muse, a Mugler production and relative to the iconic Angel. Not wanting to kill my fellow passengers on the blue and yellow Lego flight I was about to take, I spritzed it on paper. A hefty sniff coated the inside of my nose for the next ten hours. (I was inspired by Clare of the Take One Thing Off Blog, and of our own APJ, and the Candy Perfume Boy to do so.)

WikiMedia

MUSE is a Walnut Whip of wizardry. A splendid burst of patchouli droplets, each wrapped in effervescent grapefruit and pinkness. Joyous and mouthwatering, heartwarming and sparkling. It glides into a swirling creamy nutty heart, as light as a marshmallow, tinged with a green orange. Divineness. The underlying vetiver stops Muse from becoming too sweet, as it smoothly glides into the base teaming up with vanilla and the ever-hovering patchouli. A kaleidoscope of enjoyment. I have been wearing it non-stop. Madness. 🙂

MUSE pushed me outside of my comfort zone. Available everywhere, a flanker, mainstream. Who would have thought it? I bought the 30ml Cosmic Pebble bottle, which sounds like something off of a Hawkwind album. We have come full circle. It´s available all over the world. Comparatively cheap and worth a shot. You just never know.

#HateToLove Angel Muse Making of – Mugler

Further reading: Candy Perfume Boy and Now Smell This
David Jones has AUD$99/30ml

Which Muse would you prefer to be around darling hearts, sweeties?

Angelic Bussis
CQ

(Ed: All photos donated by Val unless specified. Thanks lady. XX)

Sycomore EdT by Jacques Polge + Christopher Sheldrake for CHANEL 2008

October 2, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi there fragrant friends,

Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

God how I LOVE Autumn.

The gorgeous sunny days in the high 50’s to 60’s, the cool nights that require the extra blanket, all of it just speaks directly to my heart. But especially the light, whose tone and quality manifests as sheer, dreamy, and soft as velvet; the sun lower in the sky beaming through the trees in the woods behind our house. The geese are on a flyway now, heading somewhere, but they stop and gather to feed and sleep in the pasture to the south, providing hours of wonderful albeit noisy viewing. The last of the apples are almost ready to be picked from our tree, just waiting to be stewed for sauce with a buttload of spices and fresh ginger before I ladle them into the steaming hot glass ball-jars for the winter months. Yup, love it.

One of my most perfect scents for the Fall, and always in my top 10 of all time would have to be Sycomore EdT. It is to me simply autumn in a bottle.

Sycomore EdT by CHANEL 2008

Sycomore EdT by Jacques Polge + Christopher Sheldrake

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Vetiver, sandalwood, aldehydes, tobacco, violet, spicy notes, pink pepper, juniper, cypress

One of my all-time favorite vetivers, this is a jus that always takes me on a journey to the heart of a forest, late afternoon or early evening just as it’s starting to get cold. The leaves and soil underneath my feet releasing the heat of the day in a perfect, loamy scent. The last glimpses of sunlight throwing brass and copper colored beams through the branches, like light in nature’s own cathedral, providing solace and beauty and an almost holy silence.

WikiCommons

I can smell the smoke from the wood-stove in our house combined with the rich forest smells. I inhale deeply, the cold air providing a slightly bitter and piney aroma that mixes with the scent of the last flowering bushes of the season. It always makes me smile like a crazy man, creating that white, hazy and unmistakeable fog that turns me back towards home, promising warmth and security unlike anything else.

All of this and more is what Sycomore gives me, and I always re-apply with abandon trying to hang on to that perfect introspective vision in the changing of the seasons.

Yup. Autumn. Damn near perfect.

PDI

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and What Men Should Smell Like
CHANEL now has sycamore EdP! Go spritz it at a CHANEL store.

What are some of the scents that remind you of a changing season?

Robert XoX

Bois de Paradise by Michel Roudnitska for Parfums DelRae 2002

October 2, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 16 Comments

Post by Claire Vukcevic

Hi there APJ folk!

Have you ever built a fragrance up in your head for ages before even smelling it? I do that a lot. The town where I live sells nothing fancier that Beyonce Heat, so I am completely dependent on the Internet. So, I read. 95% of the pleasure I get from perfume is reading other people writing about it. Words set off a moving train of vivid images in my head, and if a person is a talented writer, they can bring a perfume to life for me in a way that just smelling the damn thing simply will not do.

These images and dreams of a perfume can slosh around my head for years until I actually smell it. Can you imagine the utter joy when the images I’ve filed away in my mental library actually lines up with how the perfume smells? Unfortunately, Parfums DelRae Bois de Paradis doesn’t quite live up to the movie reel in my head.

Bois de Paradise by Parfums DelRae 2002

Bois de Paradise by Michel Roudnitska

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Citruses
Heart: French rose, blackberry, spices, fig
Base: Amber, woodsy notes, resins, incense

There is just something a little too insistent, too overwrought about Bois de Paradis. It bowls me over….then sticks in my craw. Each time I put it on, I think of the immortal lines of Hotel California – this could be heaven, or this could be hell.

The problem: In the middle of a pool of rich, luscious florals, fruits, and woods, a strident tone eventually juts out and catches my skin on its jagged edges. It’s like running your hand down a gleaming wooden banister and finding one tiny splinter. It gets in the way of what I signed up for.

Wikipedia

What I signed up for: A luscious rose-berry syrup, heavily spiced but suspended in a golden elixir, so delicious I want to drink it. Fresh blackberries and dried currants swimming in some kind of quaint alcohol, like mead or mulled wine and draped in the same golden, autumnal haze that I associate with other rich, honeyed harvest scents such as Botrytis and 1270 by Frapin. This, right here, is my bailiwick. Mah wheelhouse.

The splinter: The syrup boils over and becomes pure resin. The woods funnel into pine sap, with a helping of mint, blackcurrant leaf, and camphor, introducing an “aftershave”-like aftertaste. These notes interfere with a creamy-dry, rosy sandalwood in the base. I want to shove aside the throat-catching resin, pine needles, and mint, and enjoy my sandalwood unfettered. It won’t allow me. (If I wanted pine needles and mint, I would wear Nuit Etoilee).

Despite the odds stacked in its favor at the start, it is not a buy for me. But I am grateful to have been given the chance to try it. DelRae stuff is almost impossible to find in Europe.

Flickr

Further reading: Non Blonde and EauMG
LuckyScent has $150/50ml
Surrender to Chance has samples from $4/0.5ml

What about you guys? Have you ever built a fragrance up in your mind while reading reviews, only to have your hopes (and expectations) dashed to the ground when you actually get your nose on it?

Slán from sunny but cold Ireland,
Claire

Claire also writes for Take One Thing Off

Moonlight Patchouli by Van Cleef & Arpels 2016: Revisited

September 26, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Post by TinaG

Hello and welcome to another fabulously fragrant week!

Back in June APJ & I gave away five decants of Moonlight Patchouli by Van Cleef & Arpels, to help me gather some feedback on the fragrance and whether I was going nuts in smelling some of the more unusual notes that I found.

Reviews have been received back from Koyel and Patsi, thank you! Neva, I’m sorry the post missed you while you were on holidays, I’ll resend, I promise! Bridget I hope you enjoyed the fragrance/s! Greg, offer is still open if you wish to get in touch. 🙂

Moonlight Patchouli by Van Cleef & Arpels 2016

Collection Extraordinaire

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cacao, patchouli leaf, woodsy notes
Heart: Iris flower, Bulgarian rose
Base: Fruity notes, leather, suede

Koyel wrote:
Moonlight Patchouli starts out in-your-face boozy for a moment, then burns off to a gorgeous, sweet, very green patchouli. There is a warmth to it that might be the cacao. After half an hour, a buttery iris starts poking its head out. Unfortunately, another half hour later, the sweet, buttery side of the iris has left behind a more cardboard-y iris note that I don’t like very much.

Maybe an hour later, the green-ness of the patchouli becomes more pronounced, and the sweet butter scent comes back. It mixes with a skin scent/warm leather (suede?) to make the absolute softest leather note. The soft, buttery leather/suede sticks quite close to the skin. I’m not quite sure when the smell faded away completely, but it lasted for far less time than a workday on multiple occasions.

I don’t get salty/seaweed/chlorine at all, luckily! Dewy, perhaps, at times, particularly in the beginning. I like this scent a lot, and find it quite wearable, though not FB-worthy. The cardboard note in the middle is a bit off-putting, but mild enough to be tolerable.

Patsi wrote:
Moonlight Patchouli is reminiscent of something familiar from way back. It reminds me of a sweet wine at the beginning becoming richer and syrupy like but with the patchouli and suede/leather notes keeping the sweetness from running over and ruining everything. The Iris and patchouli are soft and beautifully blended together with a light suede note.

The patchouli is not too strong and I love its presence with a bright fresh lemonade-like citrus, accompanied by white flowers and rose. I find it very comforting, not overpowering and it dries down to a wonderful sensual, rich base.

I kept getting wafts where the perfume had gone on my hair and I thought – who is that – what is that beautiful smell – ohhh its me!!! 🙂 I find it to be long lasting – a good 7 hours. The ladies at work loved it and declared that I smelled really good! 9/10 for me – Beautiful fragrance and definitely full bottle worthy!

Flickr

Harrods has £126/75ml
Surrender To Chance has samples from $4/0.5ml

Thank you both so much for your lovely reviews! I’m glad you enjoyed the decants.

What it has shown me is that the salt/chlorinated water note is just me, that it’s something to do with my skin or the way I interpret the smell. It is a consistent note, for a while I thought it might be the chlorinated water is stronger where I live, but I think not. I’ve been wearing Moonlight Patchouli this week and that middle note is consistent.

Thanks again guys!! It’s been fun.

Has anyone else had a chance to smell Moonlight Patchouli as yet?

Have a great week everyone.

Tina G xx

The Spirit of the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2016/17 Collection

September 24, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 2 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Fashion Lovers,

I love to watch the runway shows. This one is especially fun because CHANEL have recreated an Atelier for the parade. At the end Karl Lagerfeld even gathers four of the women that works for CHANEL and they take his walk of honour with him, very nice touch. Bravo KL.

I love the first video because it’s shot in the Palais Royale where Serge Lutens and Parfums de Rosine have their shops. Every time I see it I get a thrill of recognition. The second one shows quite a bit of how a garment is created on the model stand and then how all the work progresses painstakingly by hand. The third is the full runway show and quite a lot of it is hideous this season but the rare jewels are worth waiting for.

All the CHANEL perfume sales go towards keeping these ridiculously extravagant fashion shows alive. No wonder they keep upping the prices.

I hope you enjoy,
Portia xx

The Spirit of the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2016/17 Collection

Making-of the Fall-Winter 2016/17 Haute Couture CHANEL Collection

Fall-Winter 2016/17 Haute Couture CHANEL Show

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

September 18, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 13 Comments

Post by Robert Herrmann

Hi frag Friends! Robert H. here….

I am beyond thrilled to have discovered Abdul Karim Al Faransi (Abbdul Karim the Frenchman) Perfume Oils from Birmingham in the UK! I have always loved the idea of Middle Eastern perfume oils, but often the execution fails to deliver. I have tried a multitude of lines, offered on Amazon, Ebay and Esy, and available at stores like Whole Foods. None have come thru for me and I am more often than not disappointed.

Until now.

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Finding Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils is like coming upon a beautiful cool oasis, in a wasteland desert. See, the other brands I’ve tried in the past have all had something in them that skews petrochemical on my skin, usually manifesting as a back note that’s bitter, metallic, headache-inducing, and well…just fake.

Right from the onset you can detect French influence in these AF oils, also their logo is comprised of traditional Arabian swords that form an “A” and an “F”, while also forming the shape of the Eiffel Tower.

Self-described autodidact, owner Anthony Abdul Karim Marmin a young perfumer in his 30’s, is the sole owner and nose. In business since 2013 (1434 on the Islamic calendar), Anthony is mostly self-taught who has “Learned and continues to learn from various books, experiences and meeting with other people involved with perfumery.”

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils: Imperial Desire

The first oil I’m trying is called “Imperial Desire” and it’s a terrific floral described as:

“….a thick white musk with an innovative style. This creamy and powdery fragrance is an empire of sweetness full of beautiful notes . This soft perfume is suitable for men and women..”

Top: Taif rose, Comoros Ylang, Light fruity notes.
Heart: Violet, Orris, Lily of the valley, Powdery notes.
Base: Musk, Vanilla, Cedar, Amber.

Imperial Desire is creamy in color and swabs on like a viscous thick syrup, leaving a slick on my arm that is gorgeous with a deep scent similar to a vintage french extrait. I don’t get the fruit notes as much as the beautiful rose and ylang. As the oil heats up, the powdery and rooty orris sneaks in, supported by the violet, all resting on a soft musk base shot thru with vanilla and amber.

This scent feels very personal to me, not something to wear if you’re looking for sillage, but profoundly intimate to be enjoyed by you alone and maybe with someone special. It is a lush, sexy bouquet, deep and chewy, not unlike being anointed in a joyous ritual, the evocative scent slowly working deep into your emotions and psyche.

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils: Musk Tahara Monoi

The second oil I tried is the lovely beach-y scent “Musk Tahara Monoi”, a true “Floramand” (floral gourmand.)

The notes are: Tahitian Monoi, Polynesian Flowers, Tahitian Vanilla, White Lotus, White Musk.

Opening like Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil mixed with a deep caramel sauce, Monoï (Tahitian gardenia or Tiaré steeped in coconut oil) is a beautiful, buttery, and lush smelling oil, and mixed here with vanilla and musk, smells like a floral infused coconut cake. With the same color and viscosity as “Imperial Desire” this oil slathers on like liquid butter and takes you right to a tropical beach, moist and fecund and scented with Polynesian flora. Beautiful stuff!

Abdul Karim Al Faransi Oils are available on their website
The prices are amazingly reasonable (€10.00 for a 6ml. dab bottle and a flat international shipping rate of €2.50!) and that 6ml. bottle will last quite some time!

Have you tried Faransi oils? What are some Middle Eastern oils you’d recommend?

Lovely by Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry for Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

September 17, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 9 Comments

Post by Portia

Hello Fragrance Friends,

Last week in Australia on our AFN FaceBook page we had a Wear Your Celebrity Scents week. We often have special Wear Your weeks because by highlighting a particular section of our collections to wear we remember to bring out things that have sat neglected. It’s been over a year since I last spritzed todays fragrant offering, and it used to be one of my go-to, wear everywhere frags. So it was really nice to spend a full day re-engaging with it. Fully respritzed it for morning, noon and night.

Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker 2005

Lovely by Laurent Le Guernec and Clement Gavarry

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following accords:
Top: Nectarine, bergamot, rosewood, lavender
Heart: Apple martini, white daffodil, orchid
Base: White amber, cedar, woody notes, white musk

The shimmery, hefty/sheer fruity opening of Lovely is skimming the edge of screechy as you apply it. I hold my breath for that first few seconds of zing because it’s completely overwhelming to me. It only lasts a few seconds and then Lovely becomes well named. My mind has always told me that lovely is a fruity rose and jasmine bouquet fragrance over the most enormous hit of fluffy, powdery, clean woody musks. So there are no roses or jasmine in the notes list but even now that I’ve read the note list my nose is not getting the memo.

What I love about Lovely is how softly insistent it is. While you may not be strong smelling the fragrance does tend to have legs and will fill a room if you spritz in one room, leave for whatever reason and come back 20 minutes later you’ll still smell juicy/musky remnants. So when I wear Lovely I can sit down with someone and it may take 10 minutes for the fragrance to make itself known and then I’ll get a compliment.

Longevity is excellent and because it’s now so cheap I can spritz with abandon. Lovely also leaves excellent sillage, people will look up about 30 seconds after you’ve walked past and will be looking for where that fabulous smell is coming form. Dressed up or lounging around the house Lovely feels like a perfect fit.

Further reading at Bois de Jasmin and Australian Perfume Junkies
FragranceNet has $20/30ml Before Coupon
My Perfume Samples starts from $2/ml to $7/5ml

What has been left loveless around your place that needs to see some spritzing?
Portia xx

Shagya by Sidonie Lancesseur for Parfums de Marly 2013

September 16, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Frag Heads,

When the niche bomb exploded one of the houses that became an instant line in loads of high end scent stores was perfumes de Marly. Pegasus in 2011, 5 more in 2012, 7 in 2013, 4 in 2014, 3 in 2015 and 3 more in 2016. That’s 23 fragrances in 5 years, almost Montale-ish. Strangely we haven’t yet written about any of their scents here on APJ, I have had some samples but they got ignored so I moved them on. I have just found the amusingly titled Shagya in a carded manufacturers sample and the green caught my eye. Come and have a first impression ride with me.

Shagya by Parfums de Marly 2013

Shagya by Sidonie Lancesseur

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Lime, Pink pepper
Heart: Geranium, Oud, Cedarwood
Base: Gaiac wood, Musk, Papyrus, Vetiver

Lime and pepper fizz merrily on open and I can already smell the woods/oud giving a dry, dusty, summer in a country woodmill feeling. Hot and muddy like after a summer storm. Having a cold lemonade in the sunshine after the storm. A grown up cologne for wealthy business people with just enough gravitas to feel like old farm money comes to town.

This is not a whole new scent, it’s an old trope that seems smooth and debonairly executed up top with a very nice, crisp woodsy dry down. The scent becomes less and less juicy as the heart progresses and finishes as brittle dried grasses and well polished woods.

I bet this is one of Marly’s best sellers. While not rocking my socks off it is different enough to add that extra edge to the business of making people smell good. In the modern tradition of mens fragrance but I think a woman would smell divine in it, that would be so unexpected.

Wikipedia

From Parfums de Marly: The Shagya Arabian horse was developed in Austro Hungaria and is known for its inborn friendliness towards humans. Named after the majestic Arabian breed of horses, Shagya is the most exclusive of the Royal Essence collection. The top notes of the fragrance tingle with the Citric freshness of Limette, Bergamot and Pink Berries and gently give way to a heart of Geranium, Cedar wood and Oud. The fragrance settles with woody scents of Vetyver, wood of Guaiac, Papyrus and musk.

First in Fragrance has €150/125ml (Spend €300 FREE World Shipping!)
(Even FragranceNet is more expensive at €229.60)

Have you tried any of the Parfums de Marly?
Portia xx

Galop d’Hermès by Christine Nagel for Hermès 2016

September 14, 2016 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Claire Vukcevic

Hey there, you lovely-smelling APJ guys!

I was recently lucky enough to snag a sample of the new Galop d’Hermès in an Hermès boutique in Copenhagen. Well, I say lucky, but what I really mean is that I stomped my little feet until I got one, because I was buying a whole bottle of Osmanthe Yunnan at full retail so you better believe I wasn’t leaving without some loot. I got a chance to fondle the bottle too. I’m not sure what the string is for (hanging it up with your gym wash bag maybe?), but it’s Hermès and it’s shaped like a stirrup, so who am I to quibble.

Galop d’Hermès by Hermès 2016

Galop d’Hermès by Christine Nagel

Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Rose, Leather, Saffron, Quince

Galop d’Hermès opens bright and mouth-puckeringly tart, a saffraleine leather glossed to a high shine with rose and cassis. It’s hard not to swoon, to be honest, because the immediately appetizing mixture of velvety rose petals, saffron, and orange swells to fill the nose and make your mouth water. Syrupy and rich, the opening is almost gourmand to my nose, but then a wave of urinous cassis (blackcurrant) crests and washes over the composition, adding a welcome astringency.

Now, don’t be too alarmed by my use of the word “urinous” here – both cassis and grapefruit share a compound that is also present in urine, but if you don’t perceive any “cat pee” note in fragrances such as Aqua Allergoria Pamplelune, then you should be fine with this. I think that this is the only element in Galop that might be considered shocking or animalic, the way the perfume makes that blackcurrant note teeter between pee and unripe fruit. To my nose, rhubarb has a similar effect.

Likewise, despite equestrian-based marketing, there is really nothing horsey or animalic about the leather note, which is the smooth, vegetal leather used in other Hermès fragrances such as Kelly Caleche. But the texture here is less angular. The sleekness of leather fuzzes up even more, gaining a dusky wooliness that really works against the tart cassis. What surprises me is that the lush, velvety rose I smelled in the opening disappears, morphing into a rose-tinted baked apple – a quince basically. I bake with quinces, and the scent matches the taste: a rosy, perfumey apple with a mealy texture. When a slice or two is slipped into an ordinary apple tart, they turn a fabulous shade of blush pink.

Longevity is pretty good – I get about 6-8 hours. Projection is quiet, though, which is hardly surprising, given it’s an extrait. I can see this working for posh girls and boys who know their way around a tack room or two. It’s as refined as the JC Ellena scents for Hermès but has just enough of that Christine Nagel richness of touch to push more towards glamorous equestrian ball territory than sheer daytime wear.

Fragrantica

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and AnOther
Hermès Australia has $275/50ml

What about you? Will you miss JC Ellena when he goes? What are your fave JC Ellena frags?
Slán from rainy old Ireland,
Claire

Claire also writes for Take One Thing Off