Maria Candida Gentile - Cinabre

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Cinabre is a beautiful, smooth, soapy, spicy rosefragrance, created by Maria Candida Gentile. The rose is preseant from the begnning even if changing it’s performance. Cinabres opening rose is similar to the rosy rose aspects in Annick Goutals Rose Absolue. The typical almost rubbery note that is a sign of natural roseoil is present. But as AG:s RA is all about roses and greenery, the rose in cinabre of course is leaning on cinnabar and other spices. After a while the rose is flowing in an opulent, retro soapiness. From this stage of Cinabre I get the picture of Sophia Loren taking a bath, using a luxary, rosy soap. In this stage the rose has darkened and is probably in the very beginning of decaying. The spicy, soapy, rose is resting on a warm, soft, smooth, almost woody-powdery resiny base. In the middle- and basenotes Cinabre partly reminds me of the beautiful natural perfume Roses des Bois from AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo (La Via del Profumo) another high quality italian perfumehouse.

Cinabre is very feminine in style. It is multifacetted and there is new interesting twists during the whole dry down. It’s an interesting fragrance that involves the wearer. Even if dense and bold and with a good projection the scent doesn’t take over the space. To me Cinabre is officefriendly (but probably not to the average swedish perfumewearer) because to me, wearing parfume, is not just about smelling good. It’s also about to get different impressions and to enjoy art in the everyday, and to me Cinabre is definitly a piece of art.

Rating: 5

Notes: Pepper, ginger, rose, benzoin, opoponax, vanille (and I bet a lot of others)

Maria Candida Gentile – Sideris

Picture: Piazza del Campo, Siena,

Photo by Ricardo André Frantz (Tetraktys), (cc),

Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved

Sideris by Maria Candida Gentile transports me to a small, Italian town, uncertain what century. Sideris to me is an ongoing exhange between the heat outside on the town square and the coolness in the medival church at the center by the square. But in the cool church there is also an almost sweet warmth, from the myrrh and incense burned as from the wax candles lighted during the mass. There is also some obscure, almost decaying notes lurking in the background, maybe deriving from what’s hiding below the stone floor of the church.

Sideris is all about a warm and fullbodied almost sweet incense. It starts spicy and with sweetness from the myrrh. In this stage, strangely enough I get an impression that is partly similar to Jean Claude Ellenas tropical-night blend Flora Bella from Lalique, probably due to the sweet myrrh and the dark, velvety feeling. As the dry down proceeds, the incense gets more pronounced. The incense and the whole fragrance stays warm, thick and dense during its whole dry down.The color of Sideris to me is dark, velvety blue, as the sky with twinkling stars during a mediterrian night.

Sideris is to me eternal and represent a scent in style that I can image have been used during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Sideris also reminds me of the impressions of another eternal scent, Etros Messe de Minuit even if that one is much more flowery, light and transparent in style, it also have some of this both pleasant and unpleasent churchy notes described above.

Sideris warms up a grey and rainy day and as with all MCG I think of Sideris as officefriendly.Unisex in style. Great longevity, at least 24 hours and a distinct but not intruding sillage.

Rating: 5

Notes: Labdanum, saffran, myrrh, pepper, incense, rose, sandalwood, benzoin, woody notes

Maria Candida Gentile – General impressions of the line

Maria Candida Gentile is an Italian perfumer educated in Grasse. After returning to Italy she has started her own perfumehouse that wears her name, Maria Candida Gentile. I think Maria could be proud of lending her name to these beautiful fragrances: This is amazing stuff, significantly different from the usual niche offerings.A “niche-in-niche” line.

The Maria Candida Gentile fragrances are timless in character and they are transporting me to Italy, uncertain what century. The fragrances are what I will percived as very genuine and somehow “rough”, but harmonious, down to earth, they are combining the traditional Italian style*) in a sort of contemporary frame. The MCG line equivalent in french perfumery is the also down to earth, not so polished compared to the french style, Les Nereides even if MCG is more complex, denser and of a higher quality. MCG mixing the high quality ingredienses, the perfumes contains a high precentage of naturals, in a very interesting and suggestive way. These fragrances involve the wearers imagination from the very beginning to the the very end, more than 24 hours later.The MCG fragrances are not easy-going, cosy-comfort scents, they are like living creatures, demanding attention from its wearer. There is something going on the whole time (which on the other hand makes them difficult to review). But all this is exactly what I’m appreciating from a perfume, almost always anyway, sometimes of course I need something nice, polite and easy going.

In the coming entries (starts tomorrow)  I will try to summeraize the spirit of some of the gorgeous MCG:s.

*)In general I percive the italian perfumery as bolder, denser, more adventurous and free in mind and creation than the more contolled, perfected and elegant french perfumery. MCG is an excellent representative of the italian style taken to perfection. The MCG frags are no doubt rare and great artpieces of perfumery.

The MCG fragrances could be bought in 15 ml travelsprays for 25 EUR from her website http://www.mariacandidagentile.com/ . The perfumes are concentrated, a few spritzes goes a long way, this is great value for the money. The frags are also avaible in 100 ml from Aus Libe zum Duft.

Euphoria

Picture: Loreen (Lorine) Talhaoui, The new swedish Mega Star.

Photo: Annika Aschberg (c), Picture from the pressection of Loreens official website

Today I’m not referring to the famous CK fragrance Euphoria but to the common state of mind here in Sweden the day after the very talented Loreens Great Victory in the Eurovisioncontest 2012. Euphoria (the song) and the somehow calming appearance of Loreen, also mediated by the great choreography of the number, is really a Eurovision contribution beyond the ordinary. Many, many congratulations to Loreen and best wishes to a very talented artist of whom we will for sure see much more of in the future.

And here's the performance: Link

The Royal Baptism

Picture: The Crown Princess Couple and H.R.H. Princess Estelle with godmothers and godfathers

Photo: Bruno Ehrs, Copyright Kungahuset.se

(The handsome guy to  the left is H.R.H Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, chosen as the most beautiful male  royal person of all times by a major American magazine, don't remember which one)

As reported in February, our lovely Crownprincess couple, H.R.H Crownprincess Victoria and her amazing husband H.R.H Prince Daniel, became parents to a little princess, Estelle, the  future Queen of Sweden. Estelle was baptised on Tuesday this week in the Chapel of the Royal Castle in Stockholm. The little one also was knighted as knight of the Serafimerorder, the most prominent swedish order, gifted with a cute mini-ribbon in the serafimer light blue. One of Princess Estelles godparents is the stylish Crownprincess Mary of Denmark, a very good choice when it comes to instill the little princess into the world of good style, note Marys artful hatlike creation . I remember some years ago,when Crownprincess Mary, in connection with the baptism of her own daughter, Princess Isabel, was wearing an ensamble created by the lituanian designer Josef Statkus. Coincidentally the Josef Statkus Eau de Parfum is one of my favourite incense perfumes.

Picture: Crownprincess Mary of Denmark with her daugther Princess Isabel,

 wearing a Josef Statkus creation. Source press image, don't know the photographer.

The perfume that I worn during the baptismday? A perfume that not fitting a day like this at all, because this week I have been in a patchouli mood and the SOTD was something as simple as Les Nereides Patchouli Antique, a robust, slight herbal patchouli.

To finalize this royal frenzy I will end this post with a more relaxed picture of the Hereditary Princess Estelle and her parents.

Picture: The Swedish Crown Princesscouple with H.R.H Princess Estelle

Photo: Kate Gabor, Copyright: Kungahuset.se

Histoires de Parfums - Tubereuse 3 Animale update May 2012

Picture: strawflower, Helichrysum moeserianum.

Photo: Winfried Bruenken (Amrum) (cc) Wikimedia commons,

 some rights reserved.

Tubereuse 3 Animale is the third installment in the Histoires de Parfums Tubereuse triology, created by the HdP house founder the  ISIPCA-graduated Gérald Ghislain and Magali Senequier ( I think). The Tubereuse triology is a suite of different interpretations of tubereuse or more precise, perfumes with tubey as the common denominator but not necessarily tubereuse as the dominant note of the composition.

When I reviewed (in swedish) T 3 Animale almost two years ago I didn't like it at all. I thought it was an overdose of immortelle and too much tobacco and that the whole blend was unbalanced. But today, I
completely change my opinion, nowadays I just love this immortelle, hay, tobacco, slight honeyed tubereuse creation. Starts with a blond tobacconote, followed by a moderate dose of immortelle, not as heavy as in Annick Goutal Sables. As the notes mingles the tuberose quietly appears in to the blend. It's a tubey at the dark side of the spectrum, a tubey with the honeyed smell of the nectar, an interpretation that I have earlier experienced in Annick Goutals soliflore Tubéreuse (review in swedish) and in Mona di Orios Tubéreuse (also in swedish). The special tobacco-tubereuse mix I have earlier experienced in Liz Zorn (Sohivole) Tobacco & Tulle. As T 3 Animale reaches the basenotes there is something familiar with the blend. Mr Parfumista nails it when he states it has a similar vibe as Estee Lauders Spellbound but adapted to the 2010:s (even if created 2009 to be precise) as softer, more muted and without the bombastic sillage of Spellbound.  And as an old fan of Spellbound it is not surprising that I'm now also an admier of T 3 Animale.

Rating: 5

Notes: Neroli, kumquat, mandarine, bergamot, jasmine, tubereuse, plum, grass, hay, immortelle, tobacco, labdanum, wood

Histoires de Parfums - Tubereuse 2 Virginale

Picture: Prunus Avivum, Vogel-Kirsche im Früling

Photo: Benjamin Gimmel (BenHur), (cc) Wikimedia commons,

some rights reserved

Tubereuse 2 Virginale is the second installment in the Histoires de Parfums Tubereuse triology, created by the HdP house founder the  ISIPCA-graduated Gérald Ghislain and Magali Senequier ( I think). The Tubereuse triology is a suite of different interpretations of tubereuse or more precise, perfumes with tubey as the common denominator but not necessarily tubereuse as the dominant note of the composition.

T 2 Virginale is like it's name indicates a  bright, happy and cheerful white flowery scent with fruity accents. Virginale starts with a fresh, not at all sweet, cloying, cherry note. The note, accented with an almost peppery/insence note, is transparent in style. A hint of the smell of nailpolish whirls thoriug the scent after a while, but not at all in a unpleasent way. Soon thereafter there is also an accord that reminds me of a lip balm of my youth, don't remember it's name. It was american, the container was black with a white cap and the grease was in a pale pink nuance. Later in the middlenotes, bright and quite transparent white flowers intensifies the tubey is there but interwowen with the other white flowers in a boquet. In the background something sweet and almost gourmandy lurks, I almost recognize a tuned down version of the strawberry popcornnote of the original Christine Nagel 2005 composition of Miss Dior Cherie Edp. The basenotes of  T Virginale 2 are slight clean musky but in the right proportion, not the detergent clean musk but a nice white musk. There is also some patchouli in hte base, but in a gentler dose than in MDC Edp.

T 2 Virginale is a nice, inoffensive scent, perfect for officewear in spring and summer but also during the other seasons when longing for summer. Good, wellbalanced and very wearable.

Rating: 3

Notes: Cherry, mandarin, iris, tuberose, tiare flower, frangipani, blond wood, patchouli, vanilla, white musk