.

Guest Post by Dionne

.

Hey-O, perfumed peeps!

I typically trundle along at a turtle pace in the frugal corner of fragrance-land, as my budget and my personality both keep me from going crazy ordering massive bunches of samples. Plus, my skin chemistry is such that unsniffed purchases are a baaaaad idea – rate of failure in this area is embarrassingly high. Now I’m totally fine with keeping to my budget and plodding along, but I’ll freely admit one of the downsides is I’m REALLY behind on all the exciting new releases everyone else is talking about, and don’t usually participate in splits of the latest thing all the rest of you are groveling over.

However.

Being a frugal fumehound, one of my weaknesses is inexpensive sampling programs. I am a sucker for a great deal. So when I discovered that the relatively new line Olfactive Studio would send spray samples of their four fragrances, shipping included, for a whopping 6 Euros all the way from France (I LOVE getting mail from France!) I jumped right on it. And I’m glad I did.

Lumiere Blanche by Olfactive Studio 2012

Still Life and Autoportrait are lovely, but it’s Chambre Noir and Lumière Blanche that make my knees weak; because the line is relatively new, I was able to get in on a split over at Facebook Fragrance Friends.

Lumière Blanche showed up on a bunch of “Best of 2012” lists, and it was nice to feel in the loop for a change, because I’d actually smelled this, bought it, and loved it myself. Hey, it’s fun hanging out with the cool kids! And speaking of cool, I really enjoyed the concept behind the brand. Artistic Director Celine Verleure has paired photography and perfumery, and although I don’t know the details about who chose the photographers or the photos or the noses – Olfactive Studio has been very interactive right from the start with social media – it’s fascinating to smell how the four perfumers interpreted their respective photos.

Photo Stolen from OlfactiveStudio

What is especially interesting about this photo by Massimo Vitali is that my initial reaction of “Whoa, is that an iceberg?”  followed by the realization it’s actually a beach in the summertime is mirrored in the perfume itself. Typically, I cannot wear my winter frags in the summertime, or my summer frags in the winter; there’s something simply too jarring about wearing them out of season, and in the case of my winter perfumes in summer, far too oppressive.

Up until now I only owned two that were season-less: L’Eau d’Hiver and Jacomo #08. Lumière Blanche now rounds it out to a aesthetically pleasing trio. Major kudos to the perfumer Sidonie Lancesseur; creating a perfume that wears equally well at minus 40 degrees and plus 35? That’s impressive.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica and OlfactiveStudio give these featured accords::
Top: Cardamom, cinnamon, star anise
Heart: Iris, almond milk, cashmere wood
Bottom: Cedarwood, sandalwood, tonka bean, white musks

I think Lumière Blanche manages to straddle the summer/winter divide because it wears very lightly for a spicy fragrance. I mainly get cardamom and almond, and there’s a creamy milkiness woven in that keeps everything airy. Don’t be fooled by all the woods listed in the notes; if this was a dessert, it’d be a Pavlova.

The subtlety of this fragrance keeps the sillage close to the skin, so this would be very appropriate for work or anywhere else where you want to keep things low-key.  Of course, the downside is it doesn’t have the longevity of a typical oriental, on my scent-glue skin it’s gone in about 8 hours, about the same period of time that most naturals last on me. Thankfully the milky appearance of the jus means you could spray this on a shirt or scarf without staining, and then it’s still going full-strength the following day. My laundry basket’s been smelling really good lately.

4 piece Sample Set or Full Bottles from OlfactiveStudio

As far as glowing reviews go, here’s my final word. My 15ml decant arrived November 30^th, and it’s almost half-empty. Let’s hear it for the impulsive spending of six Euros!

Till next month,
Dionne x