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måndag 3 april 2017

Carner Barcelona - Rose & Dragon

Picture: Saint George and the Dragon (1432-35)
Painting by Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464)
Wikiart.com
Rose & Dragon is the third creation in the luxury, well crafted Black Collection from Carner Barcelona. Rose & Dragon is inspired from the legend of Saint George who saved the princess from the dragon. From the dragons blood, a rosebush with dark red roses grew.

And that one can imagine: Rose & Dragon is a thick, dark, rosy, spicy potion, resting over an animalic, soft leathery dept. The fragrance is sweetened with the todays it-note in contrasting leather or other dark, rough notes: Sweet berries as raspberrys and strawberrys, which could also be found in for example Masque Russian Tea, Tom Ford Tuscan Leather and Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather (not mentioned among the notes in the latter but I can smell it). Rose & Dragon has some similarities in style with these fragrance but is rosier, more animalic and spicy. It is also sweeter, has a certain liqueurish vibe, is much more deep and mysterious. When it comes to the latter; Rose & Dragon delivers the same mysticism as another dark and deep rose, Frapin Nevermoreeven if that spicy rose interpretation is almost dry and less sweet than Rose & Dragon.
To my note Rose & Dragon is also the most feminine of the three fragrances in the Black Collection and also more feminine than the fragrances mentioned above. A more feminine dark and mysterious rose I come to think of when wearing Rose & Dragon is Parfumerie Générale Isparta.
Picture: Rose & Dragon
PR: Carner Barecelona (c)
As apprehensible from all associations mentioned above, Rose & Dragon isn't anything new or groundbreaking but it's a very well crafted and smooth blended fragance, one of the very best in this genre. With such heavy ingredients there is always a risk that a fragrance becomes cloying, harsh and unstable, especially if cheaper ingredients are used. Rose & Dragon is avoiding all such mistakes, it is top notch.

Wearing Rose & Dragon is a pleasure and the day is filled with constant wrist sniffing. It's wearable also for elegant evening but should'nt be restricted for such occasions. It's a quite linear fragrance and one can enjoy its mysterious and beautiful accords almost all at the same time. Longevity is about 24h and sillage is medium.
Rose & Dragon is my favorite from the Black Collection, an excellent example of the dark, deep, mysterious sort of rosefragrance which I love.

Rating: 5

Notes: Saffron, cumin, wild strawberry, cinnamon, bulgarian rose, turkish rose, honey, incense, castoreum, leather, labdanum, amber

måndag 20 april 2015

Ramon Monegal - Hand in Hand

Picture: Skiers
Painting by Frits Thaulow (1847-1906)
WikiArt

Hand in Hand is an oud-oriental  inspired perfume from the Barcelona based perfumehouse Ramon Monegal. As usual the very experienced perfumer, the house of Myrurgia offspring, Ramon Monegal. As Myrurgia is mentioned as the Guerlain of Spain, Ramon could be likened to a spanish version of Patricia de Nicolaï. Both well educated and experienced in perfume/perfume business, running own perfume houses, independent from the old family houses which since long been sold to some of the big ones.

Hand in Hand starts cold, with a woody smell of juniper bush and pine in winter. After a while a smoky accord appears, it's the fresh, dry smell from dry wood, lighted to a campfire a cold and sunny winterday in the forest. This is not the rough,  masculine, meaty, smoky accord as in the campfiresmoke in Mona di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Cuir, the smoke in Hand in Hand is more refined. After a while a hint of leather ant a peppery note also shines through. The dark rose is  discrerte in the first stages of Hand in Hand. Over all the first part of Hand in Hand (even if not smelling the same) reminds me of the first part of Robert Piguet Oud, which also contains the cold, pine note. These two fragrances could be described as the ouds of the North, they are very suitable to the Scandinavian landscape and colder tempratures. Hand in Hand also has some kinship to Frapin Nevermore, as an unsweet, dry relative to that dark, dramatic, boozy, intriguing one. In the second part Hand in Hand becomes more spicy, a spicy mix which togheter with a musky base brings forward the rose a bit more, even if the rosy note not is as dominating as in most rose-oud combos. The rosy note is as integrated with the other notes. In the later stages of Hand in Hand I find similarites with the dark, purple, rose from Parfumerie Générale Isparta.
Picture: Hand in Hand in it's inkwell bottle
Photo: PR Ramon Monegal (c)
The cold, confier and smoke accords  is the first part of Hand in Hand I find the most interesting, the second part is more familiar for this style of fragrance. Hand in Hand could be worn year around at any occasion where a more intense pefume could be accepted. The fragrance is very concentrated, and just as with Isparta, it's hard to avoid overapplying. Less is more is definitly what is applicable in this case. Sillage is great and longevity for 24h+. Hand in Hand is unisex, leaning to the feminine side according to my nose.

Rating: 4

Notes: Rose, oud, spices, musk

torsdag 2 april 2015

Easterfrags 2015

Picture: The Peter the Great Egg, 1903
Photo: Uploaded from Dutch and UK Wikipedia,
no rights reserved for the file
Easter is more of a "fragranceholiday" than Christamas to me. In Christmas there are so many other competing smells as from the Christmastree, Glögg (swedish mulled wine), saffron bread, red cabbage, mustard etc. Easter is expressed in  three distinct fragrancegroups to me: The foody - gourmand fragrances, the crispy - green fragrances,  especially the ones containing bulb flowers or cold iris and the churchy- incense or precious resinfragrances. Below some reaible ones from each category:

The foody
Kiss Me Intense (Parfums de Nicolaï): Pastry and sweet floral high-level gourmand pleasure.
Cuir Garamanate (Parfums MDCI): Some dark, boozy almost liqurie notes hides in this powerful woody blend.
Nevermore (Frapin): Now we're entering the dark, boozy territory, mysterious and dark as Good Friday itself.

The crispy
No 19 Edp (Chanel): Contains more flowery notes than the Edt, beautiful iris, rose, galbanum accord.
Amazone (Hermès): Crispy, cold, green bouquet with bulbflowers with some amplifying fruity notes. An old time favorite, very casual chic.
Antonia (Puredistance): Green leaves and stems in a beautiful sunny, floral composition. Timeless, casual chic, perfect for the Easter lunch.

The churchy
Pink Quartz (Olivier Durbano): A pink mineral rose with myrrh, incenses and precious spices. Cold as the marble of the cathedral, contrasted with the warmth and smell of the incense burned inside.
Relique D'Amour (Oriza L.Legrand): The small medival chapel with a Madonnasculpture who has listened to centuries of prayers.
Passage d'Enfer (L'Artisan Parfumeur): Incense in the air, lillies on the altar and a ray of light shining through the gotic windows of the cathedral.

Wish you a Happy Fragrant Easter!

onsdag 31 december 2014

Best of 2014

Picture: Grape hyacinths in spring 2014
Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)
Best of 2014 is not an easy post to write (and should not be as long as the perfume industry has not collapsed compleatly :-) as I have tried a bunch of good fragrances released in the market this year. And as usual, I've just tested a fraction of the thousend+ releases on the international market.

Best Feminine:
Vero Profumo Rozy Voile d'Extrait, an retro styled but still contemporary deep, balsamic, oriental rose.
Close contenders: My Burberry and Maison Francis Kurkdjian Féminin Pluriel both contemporary, beutiful floral interpretations by Francis Kurkdjian, the former a  though, urban flower, the latter a contemporary but in the same time timeless flower creation. Le Galion Iris a magnificent, iris-lily dominated floral bouquet, review will follow in January 2015.

Best Masculine:
Le Galion Special for Gentleman, an elegant, retrostyled, very masculine aromatic/chypre.
Close contenders: Oriza L.Legrand Vétiver Royal Bourbon  unisex but leaning IMO to the masculine side. Chalky, brisk, light green vetiver, nautral smelling with some traces of Terre d'Hermes, the chalky tone. By Kilian Smoke for the soul doesn't suit me personally but the fragrance is very original and innovative to be a member of the Kilian line. Therefore it's the stand out in the "The addicted state of mind" trio.

For both:
Serge Lutens L'Orpheline is totally unisex to me, fits equally fits equally well for me as for Mr Parfumista. It's a fragrance that is a growing liking for me. I like it much better worn in colder tempratures than when tested it last summer for the review. A new and appealing interpretation of incense. Frapin Nevermore, this decades interpretation of the iconic dark rose of the 1990s; L'Artisan Voleur de Roses. Nevermore is leaning to the masculine side but I admit I notice a growing appreciation to wear it myself.

Disappointments of the year:
Both are very good fragrances but apparently in practice the don't fit me even if they should, in theory.
Editions Parfums Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia: Even if a well constructed fragance and probably a hit commercial, it's just too shrill to me, and honestly, to me this fine fragrance is boring in the long run.
Cartier La Panthere: Probably I havn't tested it enough, but even if well constructed etc it doesn't leave a lasting impression, I can't remember at all how it smells.

Wishing you a great New Years Eve and a Happy New 2015!

torsdag 4 december 2014

Coquillete - Tudor

Picture: Elisabeth of York, (1465-1503)
queen consort of England
Paining from ca 1500, unkonwn painter
Wikimedia commons
Tudor is said to be the last installment in the fragrance journey of french nichehouse Coquillete. There is no perfumer mentioned for Tudor.

Tudor starts with a pink,velvet rose carried by a fully ripe lemon, which create a fresh, fruity but not too sweet vibe of the fragrance. There are absolutely no harsh or sharp edges either from the lemon or from the rose. The rose smell  is the fresh petals, without the green leaves, steam and thorns.  One can imagine a noble lady relaxing a sunny, early summer day outside a heavy medival castle relieved that the "cousins war" or as we call it today, the war of roses was finally over.

As Tudor reach the middle, the rose and other notes mingles in a beautiful, creamy texture, smelling almost like the smooth rose-nailcream  (don't remember its name)   which my mother used decades ago and also told me that  her grandmother used. Going further in the drydown, Tudor suddenly becomes slight spicy and the pink velvet darkens. There are also earthy qualities apperaing, just as the moisty loam of the forestfloor  heated up by the warm sun contrasting the early summerlight and delicate green of the grass, bushes and  threes. In the basenotes Tudor continues in the light spicy, creamy style and also gets deeper and more balsamic in texture. There is a touch of amber added with light vanilla notes that together with the rest, creates a strange sort of  dark putty lipstick-accord, almost touching a smooth, dark leathery element. In this part there is someting (the dark lipstick) that reminds me of a pale version of the beautiful Rozy Edp from Vero Kern, part of the basenotes of that fragrance seems to be present also in Tudor. There is also a dark, slight herbal, medical note contrasting in the base, in this fragrance darker and ticker than in the archetype of medical roses, Parfume d'Empire Eau Suave. In the overoll context of the basenotes there is also something that reminds me of a feminie interpreatation of Frapin Nevermore, which I experience as a masculine rose. Tudor is, just like Nevermore, classified as unisex but to me it's much more feminine in style, for those who cares of genderclassifications. The longer Tudor dries down in the base the more sweet (like a deep dark frutiy retro candy note) but also, unfortunately, also indistinct and plain it becomes. The top-, middle- and early basenotes is the best and interesting parts of Tudor, in the second part of the basenotes nothing happens.
Picture: Tudor
Photo: PR Coquillete (c)
Taken as a whole, Tudor despite its shortcoming (compared to the earlier stages) in the late dry down, is an intriguing rose fragrance, developing from a innocent, creamy, pink and sunny rose to a darker variation with some not so innocent nuances. The fragrance  may actually serve as an olfactory portrait of the first Tudor queen, Elisabeth the Princess of York (the White rose) married to the Tudor (Lancaster the red rose) Henry, who bacame king Henry VII as the outcome of the civilwar and both parents to Henry VIII. Without any sharp edges and with its sort of retro sweetness, Tudor smells timeless and sort of mysterious natural, like a recipe of a brew  preserved since the days of the Tudors.

Tudor is suitable to wear year around, for any (non-sport) occasions. Sillage is medium and longevity for a day. This intriguing and timeless perfume also causing compliments to the wearer.

Rating: 3

Re rating 2018/2019: 4 + - this is a comfortable and easy to wear rose for everyday. It doesn't become boring, it has enough interesting twists. A rose suitable for fall and winter.

Notes: Rose, geranium, lily of the valley, amber, benzoin, soil, rosewood, labdanum, benzoin, grey amber, vanilla

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample of Tudor

måndag 29 september 2014

Frapin - Nevermore

Picture: "Le Corbeau"
  Drawing by Édouard Manet (1832-1883) 
The haunting dark, mysterious Nevermore is the latest release from the vernarable congnachouse of Frapin, a house which also create perfumes, almost always with a boozy touch. Nevermore is inspired of the life, work and mysterious death of the american novelist Edgar Allan Poe especially from the poem "The Raven" and also the suggestive story of the "Poe Toaster". The Poe Toaster is a figure in a dark cloak who appears on the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, put down three roses, toasts in a glass of congac and left the remains in the bottle on the grave. And what could be a better interpretaton of that scene than Nevermore....

Nevermore starts with a honeyed, beewaxnote. Soon an almost metallic spicy pink-purple rosy accord appears, followed by a rosy and winey accord  close to the special winey accord in  Frederic Malle Une Rose but in Nevermore the accord is in a drier interpretation. I percieve Une Rose as sweeter, but to me the closest fragrance to Nevermore. The spicy metallic vibe is probably from the saffron and there is also a slight oudy, impression. As the ingredient is not mentioned Nevermore is probably a representant of the genre "non oudy ouds" ie fragrances which recalls oud in the texture and appearance but featura the oud note, Among the dry spices there is also  something from the dark green bayleave note present from Andy Tauer Une Rose Chypreé. There is also an slight earthy impression and a dark leather note, like the stiff leather in a black leather trenchcoat, glimpses by.
Picture: Nevermore
Photo: Frapin (c)
In the basenotes a distinct but wellbalanced, slight woody powdery like pulverized dry woodshavings of cedar,accord is present. There is also a beautiful and natural smelling rose present, very dark red, almost black and with a touch of decaying notes. In the late basenotes there is like the rose gets lighter and more pink-purple again but still wrapped in the cedar and in a contrasting  warm amnber.

Taken as a whole Nevermore is suggestive and triggers ones imagination which is something I demand from a fragrance to be FBW. It is very longlasting on skin with a strong sillage, this is a fragrance that must be carefully applied. In style it's a quite masculine rose, it developes in a very beautiful way on Mr Parfumista, not that good on me. When worn by Mr Parfumista there is some similarities with another favorite of him, Montale Aoud Saffran even if Nevermore is drier and more cold spicy.

Rating: 5 (on Mr Parfumista) 4 (on me)

Notes: Aldehydes, nutmeg, black pepper, rose, saffron, amber, cedar