måndag 31 december 2012

The perfumed year 2012


Photo:Mr Parfumista (c)

Here we are again, another year has just accelerated away and unfortunately I think of 2012 as a year with much horror and fear in the world. But in the little world, the 2012 in Perfumeland, I think 2012 was a good year with many good releases and new findings when it comes to perfumes that suits me anyway. 2012 to me was above all two great perfumehouses:

* I became familiar with the great, high-quality perfumeline of Ramón Monegal, the spanish answer to Patricia de Nicolaï. Patricia a descendant to the Guerlains and Ramón a descendant to the Guerlains of Spain, the house of Myrurgia, both perfumers genuinely educated in the art & craft of perfumery and both starting their own perfume houses, free to create after their own ideas & noses. The Ramón Monegal line contains almost all variations of perfumery, and all with a personal twist. This line is a complete perfumewardrobe :-) and I'm really looking forward to additional creations during the coming years, I'm missing testing a new RM every second week :-). Luckily I have two more from the line internationally realeased 2012 to review that I have saved for 2013: Agar Musk and Cherry Musk. I'm also thrilled to test the special 2012 Christmas/New Years blend, a perfume that captures the essences of Ramón Monegals beautiful hometown Barcelona.

* I also finally get the beautiful perfumes of Puredistance and the launch of 2012, the classical styled Opardu was also my best fragrance of the year. The Puredistance is a sort of a perfumebrandbuildingconcept by the perfumeinterested, brandbuildingprofessional Jan Ewoud Vos. The house uses hired, well-known perfumers, Annie Buzantain for the female perfumes, IAntonia and Opardu and Roja Dove for the masculine one, M. The concept seems to be very successful as the emotions conveyed are intimate, familiar, timeless understated elegance of high quality as if Puredistance already is classic house. The feeling of brandbuilding never occurs as in the case of the total contrast to Puredistance, the tiresome, so obvious brandbuildingconcept Byredo, oriented to anxious thirty-something urbanites.

As for the new perfumeyear 2013 I hope that the new EU legislation/self regulation of the industry (per 1/7) will not hit as hard as one can read from different initiated source; ie that many of the classics will not be recognizable anymore and that many fragrancehouses have to redo a great part of their fragranceportfolios. Therefore Dior with its critizised renaming of  the Miss Dior Cherie to the classical Miss Dior name probably has been in the forefront, they save the name and fill it with a content that will be compliant even after the new regulations becomes effective.

lördag 29 december 2012

Best of 2012


Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

When it comes to perfumereleases 2012 was a good year bringing some beautiful stuff to us Parfumistas.
Here are my top ten from what I have sampled of the 2012:s in no particular order:

Nuit Etoilée (Annick Goutal): NE was a growing liking for me, it unfolds it's full beauty in the summerheat.
Urban, woody-herbal to me.

Impossible Iris (Ramon Monegal): Probably this was released before 2012 but as the exceptional Ramon Monagal line was launched internationally this year I include it. An elegant iris that is amplified by a light berrynote and contrasting flowers. A harmonious blend.

Ivoire (Balmain): What a sucessful reformulation! I like this fruity and sparkling version even better than the stricter original galbanum-accentuated Edt which is a great classic.

Opardu (Puredistance) Dreamy, elegant, powdery lilac that captures the spirit of the Paul Poiret fashion of the 1910s. Already a classic in my book.

Chypre Palatin (Parfums MDCI): Retrostyled with the dry gunpowdernote that I appreciate so much. And some slight animalic notes lurking in the background.

Poudre de Riz (Huiteme Art): Boozy notes and subdued tropical flowers in a dry powdery context creates an elegant, retrostyled fragance.

Songe d'un Bois d'Ete (Guerlain): This wellbalanced spicy, leather, oud with a intricate note of jasmine and cardamom is my favourite of the Les Deserts de Orient trio. At the moment at least, Rose Nacree du Desert comes close and could take over some day.

Dama Bianca (XerJoff): Wellbalanced white flowers contrasted by a wheat-malt note over a beautiful base of vanilla. The elegant comfortscent of the year.

Oud Stars Al-Khatt (XerJoff): Elegant, creamy, white flowers with jasmine as mainplayer, interacting with a beautiful laotian oud. As Ubar in an oud-interpretation.

Rose Etoile de Hollande (Mona di Orio): A soft, dark, velvety, resiny, medium pink rose, retro in style. The last creation of Mona, named to her honour by her businesspartner Jeroen Oude Sogetoen.

Vero Kerns beautiful chypre Mito, the leather/tobacco Speakeasy (Frapin), the woody-spicy Bois Noir (Robert Piguet) and the Neela Vermeire Creations trio Bombay Bling, Trayeé and  Mohur should also be mentioned among the best of 2012.

If I had to choose just ONE it would be Opardu for its timeless features and its appearance. It's almost as I'm sniffing a classical floral-powdery Guerlain or even a classical Chanel in the style of No 22.

onsdag 26 december 2012

Vero Profumo - Kiki Extrait

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Kiki Extrait from swiss perfumer Vero Kern is, together with Kiki Edp, the most original lavendeldominated perfume I have experienced so far. Kiki Extrait is'nt just an artful, a bit quirky creation, it's a creation of high quality materials (as my amateurnose understand it) and it is exceptionally beautiful.

Kiki Extrait starts with a very natural lavendernote, like the scent from fields of lavender in bloom, carried by a warm summerbreeze. The initial lavender is almost crisp and resting on some light green notes, there is no dusky and sultry nuances of the lavender that is present in some lavender perfumes. As Kiki Extrait dries down, interesting things happening: The lavender steps a bit in the background, but is still there during the whole dry down, gets darker and an velvety facett evolves, that gives Kiki Extrait a texture of a medium, lavender colored high quality silkvelvet. There are also traces of an attractive, chalky note and after a while Kiki Extrait takes another, additional, interesting twist: An accord that reminds me of the notes of wheat and beer occurs, the fragrance oscilliate between the fresh wheaten note and the fermented, tangy beernote. There is also an earthy accord lurking in the basenotes, and the longer Kiki Extrait dries down, the more the passionfruit comes forward. The wheat/beer twist is an unexpected and very successful contrast in the fragrance, that provides substance to the frag and maintains the interest for Kiki Extrait during it's whole dry down. Kiki Extrait is an example of a true nichefragrance, a piece of art where  pleasing the "nichecrowd" is  not the obvious motive.

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Compared Kiki Extrait to Kiki Edp, the Edp is more of a comfort, almost gourmand, fragrance with it's dark patchoulinote and sweet, much more pronunced, passionfruit contrasting the lavender. Kiki Edp is the Angel of lavender IMHO. Both Kiki Extrait and Kiki Edp are must haves, well worth owning as they are different fragrances, sharing a common lavender theme. To sum the impressions up: The Extrait smells somehow quirky-elegant and the Edp quirky-comforting.

Kiki Extrait could be worn in any occasion. It is subtle and creates a pleasant aura around the wearer. Just as Kiki Edp, the extrait is suitable in winter but as not as sweet as of the Edp, Kiki Extrait could be worn also in the summer. Sillage is medium and longevity 12h+.

Rating: 5

Notes: Bergamot, citron, blackcurrant, passionfruit, lavender, geranium, musk, patchouli, oponax, amber, caramel

måndag 24 december 2012

An unscented Christmas ...

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

I wish all readers of this blog a Merry Christmas!
This Christmas Eve will be unscented or at least almost, maybe a few spritzes of a light citrus cologne will be refreshing/tolerable. This as I'm going through the worst flu that has struck me in 10+ years and even if I'm feeling better, thinking of perfume is still too much. The perfume that I intended to wear is Amouage Beloved. I have not even sniffed at the sample I received last summer as I knew at once that I wanted to save it for Christmas Eve. If I'm fit for (perfume)fight to New Years Eve I'll will probably test it then instead. Review will of course follow.
Anyway, in the meantime: I've scheduled reviews of  some very interesting/beautiful perfumes for some of the coming days.

Happy Holidays to All!

lördag 22 december 2012

The spirit of Puredistance...

Just wan't to share the Christmas Greetings from one of my top favourite houses, Puredistance. I think this personal and informative "Christmas Card" perfectly catches the intimite aura of the Puredistance fragrances.
Unfortunately I have not managed to transform the pictures into a proper size so one have to use a magnifier to read :-)  Anyway, the Christmas Card tells about the 2012 launching of the brand in some more exclusive perfumestores, the introduction of the Chinese market and the launch of the new perfume Opardu. News for 2013 are that 2 ml spraysamples (already in E-shop it seems as) and a 60 ml bottle will be introduced  (until now 17,5 and 100 ml avaible in bottlesizes)


Picture: Puredistance (c), all rights reserved

torsdag 20 december 2012

Robert Piguet - Oud

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)
Oud by Robert Piguet is, as all five fragrances in the Nouvelle Collection, created by the Piguet housenose Aurelien Guichard

Oud starts with an almost animalic note accuented by the dry leather smell of antique books. Soon the the animalic touch disappears and soft leather, minty herbals and a green, woody notes takes the center of the stage. The pepper typical for the syntetic oud also appears but in a very balanced way, not overwhelming, at all, just a gentle touch. As Oud is a linear fragrance, it also continues like described during the whole dry down. Comfortable and pleasant. To my nose the topnotes is the most interesting part of Oud and I wish the initial animalic touch would be present also in the basenotes. To me Oud is somehow the Oud of the cold north. When I smell it, I can imagine the snowy, coniferous forests of the Nordic countries in the middle of a hard winter.

Oud doesn’t follow the most common rose-saffran-oud path, instead it follows the alternative track the colder, leather, herbal, oud. The latter is, to western standards, more masculine than the former oudstructure, which is a masculien one in the Middle East. Oud is a versatile and good everyday oud, not extreme in any sense and a good “beginners oud”. Oud is the oud-herbal-leather equivalent to the everyday rose-saffron-oud Juliette Has A Gun Midnight Oud, which also is a good and wearable “beginners oud”. Sillage is quite impressing and longevity is for 24h.

Oud was the fragrance within the Nouvelle Collection that I had highest expectations about before I started sampling. Despite Oud is a well made, balanced, comfortable and very wearable fragrance, it turned out to be the one that moved me at least. Maybe it’s just too perfect and to me BoisNoir is a notch more interesting when comparing the two Robert Piguet woods in the Nouvelle Collection.

Rating: 4 (Dec 2012) 4+ (April 2013)

Notes: Saffron, fir balsam, styrax, myrrh, woody notes, oud, patchouli

Update April 2013: Probably my testingexperience of RP Oud in December was affected by the outbreak of the worst flu I have had in 10+ years  just a few days later. Now I feel it's nuances better and i doubt it's a beginners oud any more. The animalic notes are for example still present in the basenotes, blended with the cold confierstyled woody smell and the oud that feels somehow cold in this creation.  There is also an almost leathery/metallic accord that reminds me of a sort of darker interpretation of the great Frapin Speakeasy.

måndag 17 december 2012

Robert Piguet - Casbah


Picture: Kasbahs in Aït Benhaddou, southern Morocco
Photo: Donar Reiskoffer (cc) Wikkimedia Commons, some rights reserved

Casbah is an oriental spicy perfume, dominated by incense, created by Aurelien Guichard for Robert Piguet
as a part of the Nouvelle Collection.

Casbah starts with an accord that reminds me of grated orange peel that has absorbed a spicy mix dominated by incense. As there is no orange peel in the note description, I guess there is a note that emerges from the incense combined with some other note/notes. Because incense is the most dominating note in this well balanced fragrance. The incense is there together with the orangepeel and spicy smell troughout the whole composition. The cedar and the vetiver of the base is detectable in the later stages of Casbah and adds an almost tart aspect to this composition that overall seems to be a linear fragrance in construction.

To me Casbah is most of all an incensefragence that is embedded by spices and tobbacco which makes the incensenote rounder and smoother, in some stages almost balmy. Casbah evokes the picture of an oriental spice market to me or maybe the smells from inside the casbah, from the kitchen and from the Hammmam. But there is also, an in this context strange trace of catholisism in the fragrance, as I think the incense in Casbah is like a gentler version of the note as presented in Commes de Garcons Avignon. There are also similarities with Montales Full Incense but the latter has more of resin-ambery notes where Casbah has its spices instead.

Even if note the most imigative incensefregrance on the market, Casbah is a very wellconstructed, wellblended incense fragrance of high quality that causes compliments from surrounding people. It's definitly easier to wear than Avignon but it's no less characterful. The blend is very powerful and has to be applied with caution. The sillage is medium and the longevity is 24h+. Casbah is the perfect fragrance for the cold and dark winter and will be the perfect match for Christmas, drinking mulled wine in front of a fireplace with icy winds wining outside the doorstep.

Rating: 5

Notes:  Angelica, nutmeg, pepper, iris, incense, tobacco, vetiver, cedar