Guerlain - Bois d'Armenie

Picture: Haghartsin monastery, Armenia
Photo:Fhen (cc) Wikimedia Commons some rights reserved

Bois d'Armenie  by Annick Menardo is the fourth installment in the Guerlain L'Art et Matiere line. It's the most subtle and gentle true woody oriental fragrances I have tested so far. To me Bois d'Armenie is totally unisex even if marked as male in some descriptions.

Bois d'Armenie starts soft spicy woody with some very smooth incense and a note that reminds me of nectar. The nectarnote later on becomes sort of a soft note of honey that glimpses by. Maybe I'm anosmiac to something in Bois d'Armenie because during the drydown I percieve the same linear, smooth, a bit sweet, spicy, gentle, light woody scent and it's faint to me. Cosy and nice, well blended of good ingredients, but no challenges or excitement. A safe fragrance for everyday wear except for the warm summerdays. The least appealing fragrance to me in the L'Art et Matiere line, even if good quality there is not much going on in this according to my nose.

Rating: 3

Notes: Iris, pink pepper, incense,coriander, benzoin, guaiac wood, patchouli, white musk, copahu balm

Guerlain - Cuir Beluga

Picture: Beluga whale, 

Photo: Attribution premier.gov.ru.

(cc) Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved 

Cuir Beluga, created  2005 by Olivier  Polge as one of the first three fragrances for the Guerlain exclusive Les Art et  la Matière line, is the most elegant and polite immortelle dominated fragrance I have tried so far.

Cuir Beluga is an almost linear, gourmand moderatly sweet, composition. A soft and gentle immortelle is the maincharacter complemented with warm  and moderate sweet supporting notes as heliotrophe, vanilla and amber. There is also a slight herbal touch in some stages of Cuir Beluga. The leather, reflected in the name, is a soft, utterly discrete suedenote that unfurls gradually and is most present in the baseaccord. The immortelle of Cuir Beluga is perfectly rounded, smooth and almost on the edge to powdery, it has no rough edges and lacks the syrupy note and loud charachter as the reference imortelle of all times: Annick Goutals predecessor Sables. Also the immortelle in Histoires de Parfumes Tubereuse 3 Animale is rough, tough and loud compared to how the note is presented in Cuir Beluga.The immortelle in Cuir Beluga is complemented with a discrete honey-like note that gives me associations to Serge Lutens tobacco fragrance Fumerie Turque. A more masculine and less subtle (even if also subtle) is Guerlain Tonka Imperiale.  The texture and imaged color of Cuir Beluga is soft suede white, just as the sweet Beluga whale on the picture above. Somewhere (I think it was on Basenotes) I have read that the Beluga in the name of the fragrance refers to this soft whale living in the cold arctic waters and not the russian caviar. Just like the beluga whale is a revelation of smooth comfort in such a harsh environment, Cuir Beluga is a true comfortscent during a cold winterday.

The overall impression of Cuir Beluga is that of an elegant and well balanced skinscent, it's there to comfort the wearer and those who comes close. The sillages is close and the longevity is for almost 24h. At first, Cuir Beluga was a fragrance of growing liking to me. It's a scent that I start to crave after a few days after my latest wearing. Once when I woke up in the middle of the night I could smell a beautiful, soft and calming scent from my pillow, suddenly I realised it was Cuir Beluga. Since that moment this fragrance finally has made me surrender and it's my absolute favorite in the LAelM-line.

Rating: 5

Notes: Aldehydes, mandarine, immortelle, heliotrophe, patchouli, suede, amber, vanilla

Puredistance - Black

Picture: Odette and Odile
Photo: City Ballet of San Diego (c)

A short break in the ongoing Guerlain-cavalcade as I feel I have to share my impressions of a new beautiful perfume: Puredistance Black is created by Antoine Lie for the top notch niche house Puredistance and will be released in November/December 2013. In the marketing blurb Puredistance ask us just to relax, enjoy and not analyze. Therefore the notelist is not disclosed which of course even more triggers a true parfumista to analyze what could be in that little sample vial.

It would be intriguing to know the notes and I hope Puredistance will disclose the notelist later on. I'm no "notepicker" but I think at least I smell as follows: To my nose Puredistance Black starts with a fine incense and some gentle spices, followed by a dark, ripe plummy note underscored with the woody notes of old oak cognacbarrels and a subtle oud. As the composition proceeds, it suddenly becomes colder and greener, I can smell what I think is pine balm, some traces of an almost fizzy geranium and some velvety, dark in the same time contemporary but clean patchouli over warm resins. On my skin Black goes from warm and dark notes to colder, greener even if still dark, dark like muffled mossgreen velvet worn in a cold, starry winter night.Further on in the second part of Black, the boozy, woody cognac notes appears again togehter with the dark plum, the fragrance gets warm, cozy and comforting in the later stages of the base. I pleasant, subtle smoky note (no harsh edges) also appears in the late dry down and together with the other notes, stays close to the skin for the rest of the dry down.

The vision of Puredistance Black is to be the dark and more masculine equivalent to the bright and light feminine I.  IMO this vision has been fullfilled, this is like Odile and Odette, resembling each other, beautiful and graceful, but in the same so time different in character. Both Black and I are subtle and refined fragrances, Black dark and mysterious, I bright and shining. Black also deliver on the promise to slowly unfold its layers and this proecess is continuing during the whole extended drydown, longevity is minimum 24h for me, when showering of the pefume after one days, it's still unfragmented and full in its texture..

Even if not particularly original as a composition, Puredistance Black is (as always with Puredistance) a very well made and wearable fragrance, of high quality ingredients and with good sillage and longevity. It's interesting to wear and a fragrance which wins in the long run. Black is definitly unisex even if lending slightly to the masculine side. The first part of the fragrance is more feminine than the second, Black becomes more masculine when the (which I guess is) pine and geranium notes appears. In it's third stage, where the warmer notes are re-appearing Black becomes more feminine again.  When it comes to resembling fragrances I think the first part contains elements from and reminds me in style of Serge Lutens Boxeuses (swe) (but without the leather and less sweet) and Annick Goutal  Mon Parfum Cheri, par Camille (swe) but drier in texture than the latter. In the cooler part of the drydown I find traces of Robert Puguet Oud but Black is more gentle and quiet in style. Another fragrance which comes to my mind when wearing Puredistance Black is Donna Karan Black Cashmere and the great Le Parfum Couture Denis Durand for M.Micallef but clean, polished and well behaved in character compared to the dangerous latter.

Rating: 5

Notes: Not disclosed but woody oriental - see my guesses above.

Guerlain - Rose Barbare

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Rose Barbare is created 2005 by Francis Kurkdjian for the Guerlain L'Arte et la Matiere line. Rose Barbare were one of the first three released fragrances of the line, the other was Cuir Beluga and Angelique Noir all created by different for the occasion specially, by Guerlain invited perfumers. As an admirer of complex roseperfumes, Rose Barbare is the fragrance I most appreciate in the L'Arte et la Matiere line. Rose Barbare is a gourmand rose, just as all the fragrances of the L'Arte et la Matiere line is oriented towards the gourmand theme.

Rose Barbare opens with an accord of a creamy and intense pink rose accentuated with greenery. After a while the fragrance deepens in darker notes of patchouli and wood. In this stage with the dark and deep notes, Rose Barbare shows similarities with another Francis Kurkdjian composition, Lady Vengeance from Juliette Has A Gun. The creamy, honyed accord in Rose Barbare, remains and soften the composition during the whole dry down. The concept with the flower embedded in a smooth creamy texture is also used in Cruel Gardenia in the same perfumeline.  There is also an almost vintage touch of Rose Barbare, passages during the development that reminds me of a classy, vintage perfume.

Rose Barbare is an elegant perfume. Just as its siblings in the L'Arte et la Matiere line Rose Barbare is very comfortable, interesting and absolute beautiful. In the same time it's uncomplicated and easy to wear and I suspect that this is a bestseller. Combing those factors is a true work of art and creates a classic. Rose Barbare is a perfect companion for festive events but also to brighten up a gloomy day. Sillage is medium and longevity 24h+.

Rose Barbare would be appreciated by those who like rose scents in the range from  moderate to dark. For example Rose de Nuit and Sa Majeste la Rose by Serge Lutens, Une Rose by Parfums Edition Frederic Malle, Eau Suave by Parfume d'Empires and Roses Musk by Montale.

Rating: 5

Notes: Aldehydes, rose, honey, fenugreek, patchouli, wood

Guerlain – Angelique Noir

Angelique Noir is one of the first fragrances of the Guerlain L’Art et la Matiere Collection. Angelique Noir is created by perfumer Daniela Andrier in 2005.

Angelique Noir starts with a sweet almost almondcake, counterbalanced by a dry fresh hay like note, like newly mown hay. In the background a deep, dark flower is lurking together with a contrasting, almost crispy, flowery note, similar to the note of freesia. The dark, flowery mix is very sweet but not cloying at all. Angelique Noir is very thick in texture, like a viscous, dark liquid or a black, heavy, velvet robe. Indeed, this could be a dark, fallen angel. The angelica note seems to be very concentrated compared with for example the transparent angelicanote in Mona di Orio Les Nombres d’Or Musc where it seems to be used more as a sweet, herbal-spicy, flower accent. A fine vanilla note is counterbalancing the dark, slight herbal-spicy flowery notes and the gourmand accord created seems almost edible.

Angelique Noir is a fragrance of it’s own, there are not many of it’s like. It’s a sweet but balanced with dry notes, floral gourmand oriental and as the skilful composes fragrances Angelique Noir is, it’s never being cloying in spite of it’s dark sweetness.

Angelique Noir is an elegant comfort scent, perfect for the cold and dark autumn and winter. Sillage is medium and longevity about 24h.

As I can remember, I haven’t tried any fragrance that is close to Angelique Noir so far. Even if not smelling the same fragrances in the same spirit as Angelique Noir are:  Dior Addict (old version), Tom Ford Black Orchid, and Guerlain Insolence Edp but also fragrances in the, form the former fragrances different style, as Parfumerie Générale Drama Nuui and The Different Company Jasmin de Nuit.

Rating: 5

Notes: Angelica, red berries, pear, caraway, jasmine, vanilla, cedar

Read this

Picture: Patricia de Nicolaï - a true Master Parfumer
Photo: PR Parfums de Nicolï (c)

Speaking of Guerlain, there is a very interesting interview on Fragrantica with the Guerlain descendant and true pillar of good and timeless perfumery; Patricia de Nicolï. I really  like her down to earth and
straightforward opinions about the current trends in perfumery.

Unfortunately, one can read between the lines, that future increases in prices are possible as the brand will start with marketing activities and has/will straighten up the bottledesign from their IMO old charming bottles with non-conform labels. So probably all the complainers about the "ugly bottles" finally reached their goal: Raised prices for the last affordable niche line.

Fragrance(s) of the week (40-43) 2013

Picture: The first three fragrances of  L'Art et la Matiere line,
promotionpicture from Guerlain (c) Guerlain

Or to be correct, fragrances of the following weeks: I will be publishing my impressions in reviews of the Guerlains from the L'Art et la Matiere line (less Spiritueuse Double Vanille but that one wasn't originally belonging to the line) which I appreciate very much. The fragrances are delicious and gourmand in style, great perfumes for the coming dark and cold months. The "event" is starting on Monday with the mysterious Black Angel....