Scented thoughts - March 2015

Picture: PR Puredistance (c)

Two years ago I regulary posted my general thoughts about fragrances in the "Fragrance(s) of the week". Today I'll start this up again but on a more random basis.

* Kudos to Puredistance, LOWERING their prices, going completely the opposite from the mainsstream movement of niche rising the prices to sometimes outrageous and ridiculous levels. That's what I call customer care. For more information, read here.

* On Twitter I have a SOTD-project going on for about a month. The aim is to find out if there is some pattern in my fragrance wearing. The project is planned to recur a month per each quarter 2015. Until today there is no clue besides when I was a little sick I prefered light Goutals like Les Colognes (Néroli, L'Eau d'Hadrien, Vétiver) and Le Mimosa.

* A general observation linked to what is written about the light Goutals: The longer I'm "in perfume" the more I appreciate the chic, simple, wearable, good quality stuff, frags which are sort of basics in the perfume wardrobe. It doesn't matter if it's niche, mainsteam or in between. Of course it's fun to wear, analyze and review complicated stuff, but for everyday wear I observe an increasing wearing of the basics.

Puredistance - WHITE

Picture: Puredistance WHITE
Photo: PR Puredistance (c)

The idea of the new perfume WHITE  from the house of Puredistance is to create at perfume so Beautiful and positive that it gives the wearer an instant flow of happiness.  IMO Perfumer Antoine Lie and house founder/creative director Jan Ewoud Vos  have indeed succeeded in their mission to fullfill this idea. The process to create WHITE took over one year and probably this is a big part of the sucess, Puredistance never stresses new perfumes into the market, the creators take the time needed. Therefore the Puredistance line is one of the most solid lines in the market, there are no misses (so far) just solid, sophisticated, very high quality perfumes and I'm very fond of them all, can't choose a favorite as each fragrance suits different moods, styling and occassion. See my reviews of Black, Opardu, I, M and Antonia.

WHITE starts bright, transaprent and happy. My instant thought is the image of a daisy, a dried specimen of that little sunny flower was also included with the sample from Puredistance, a very good illustration to this scent. As WHITE dries down, flawless like an exquisite brilliant it becames thicker but never heavy in its texture. An excellent creamy smoothness appears and stays during the rest of the drydown, making WHITE very comforting to wear despite its elegant aura. WHITE is 
seamless blended and it's hard to pick up where on note start dominating and another take a step backwards. The notes are interacting, shaping a flowery veil anchored in a smooth top notch sandalwood, whitout any harsh or sharp edges, it's like the sandalwood is a part of the bouquet. There is a tonality of musk  wafting from the base of WHITE, a white, non-dirty musk which has no traces of  chemical,laundry. Instead it's deepens the accords and gives  bodies to the flowers. The musk also, together with the pleasant sweetness of tonka been and a minimalist patchouli, creates that special tart note which I  appreciate so much in complex floral compositions, in WHITE without the powdery aspect which the tart note also could be combined with. On my skin the tart musky accord especially highlighing the airy rose, pale yellow or pale pink if imagining a color, supported by some dry, slight fizzy, light earthy orris elements but without the orris carrotnote.



Picture: Picture: Puredistance full Collection
spring 2015
Photo: PR Puredistance (c)

WHITE is a sophisticated fragrance, surprisingly easy to wear taken its elegance and the expensive, high quality ingredients in to account. It would the perfect pefume for the bride of the coming swedish royal wedding in June, Sofia read this :-). WHITE is comforting and conveys a  happy mood and sunshine. Even if in style a spring/summer perfume WHITE has enough dept and genuine texture for pleasant  wearing year around. It's as timeless and versatile as for example Chanel No 22. The longevity is very good, 12h+ and a few small spritses from the samples is enough. WHITE is in perfume (extrait) strenght and therefore quite close to the wearer, even if distinct traces are recognizable for people around.

WHITE is so wellcrafted that it makes me considering selling off my less well crafted florals. Even if I like them as such, when compard to a fragrance as WHITE the chemical, harsh and laundry notes of especially some mainstream perfumes becomes quite obvious.

WHITE is for everyone who likes a delicate, flower boquet and will please those who like the  style of fragrances as for example Grossmith Amelia and  Floral Veil or the new Teo Cabanel Lace Garden.

Maybe a bit boring but the fact is that I already know WHITE will be one of my most liked pefumes of 2015. And it definitly has the potential to be THE number one of 2015. Beware Chanel Misia.

Rating: 5

Notes: May rose, tonka absolute, orris root, sandalwood, bergamot, musk, vetiver, patchouli.

Le Galion - La Rose

Picture: Hever Castle rose garden and fountain, Kent, England
Photo: Graham Bould 2007, Wikipedia commons 

La Rose is another successful flowery re-creation (see the reviews of Tubereuse and Iris in January 2015) performed by Thomas Fontaine. The original is as usual when it comes to Le Galion, a Paul Vacher creation for his own house, a house that has been revived during 2014.

La Rose is a very juicy rose, warm and flowery like the smell of the petals in hot weather, one can imagine contempling in an english rosegarden a very warm summerday. There are no steams or green leaves from the roseplant in the mix. It starts sparkling and flowery, followed by smooth notes of cedarwood, nothing sharp or pencilshaving alike. Despite the cedar, La Rose is warm in texture and apperance, the more it dires down, the more it settles in a very pleasant creaminess. La Rose is also supported by other flowers and just as in Le Galion Iris, the lily is prominent to my nose. There are also a light fruity touch in La Rose. When La Rose has reached the musky, slight woody basenotes, a pleasant boozy notes appeares, the smell is as if whisky has been stored in rosewood barrels.

Picture: Le Galion La Rose
Photo: PR Le Galion (c)

Fragrances with similarities to La Rose when it comes to the woody part are Lalique Perles and Marni Marni, despite those are the complete opposites in their apperance, sharp, icy and cold as the winter. When it comes to the lush flower expression of La Rose, it is in the same style as Tubereuse and Iris, as the three fragrances has a similar background but featuring different flowers.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, violet leaves, rose, ylang-ylang, peach, water notes, lily; cedar, patchouli, vanilla, musk


Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to try.

Teo Cabanel - Lace Garden

Picture: Lady in Flower Garden, 1891
Painting by Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Wikiart 

The venerable french perfumehouse Téo Cabanel founded 1893 in Algeria, moved to Paris 1908, has some glorius decades then declined and almost closed down around Y2K. The house was restored by Caroline Ilacqua, a relative to the founder in 2005. Téo Cabanel produces high quality fragrances, most of them in a timeless style with some resembles to the fragrances of Annick Goutal and Parfums de Nicolai. Personally, I (and my nose) think this hidden gem of perfume house is worth much more attention among perfumecritics/ perfumewrites.

Lace Garden is a delicate, white floral bouquet which starts with accords highlighten a transparent tubereuse with its classical white flower supporters; jasmine and orangeblossom. The tubereuse is less prominent and more integrated with the rest of the bouquet than in L'Artisan La Chasse aux Papillion  or Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion which ar two classics that comes to my mind, when it comes to the tubereuse part, wearing Lace Garden. A smooth magnolia is contrasting with its pale yellow, slight lime flowery scent. The base is soft and discrete vanillic, balsamic, woody seamless blended and the overall expression, style and scent reminds me of the signaturefragrance of Gianfranco Ferré which bears the same name, of the delicate bouguet Floral Veil from Grossmith and the first fragrance from Parfums de Nicolaï Number One.

Picture: The beautiful bottle of Lace Garden
Photo: PR Téo Cabanel (c)

Lace Garden is fleeting and transaperant, the name is a perfect description of the impression which this lovely, very feminine fragrance conveys. The fragrance feels natural, there are no traces of the artifical notes smell which often are present in contemporary "high-octave" florals. Lace Garden is the perfect spring and summer fragrance but it is also suitable for winter when longing for the warmer months. It's elegant in style and suits well for festive occasions, it's a perfect bridal fragrance IMO. A must try for lovers of delicate white flowers.

Rating: 5

Notes: Ylang-ylang, lemon, tubereuse, jasmin, orangeblossom, magnolia, vanilla, wood, benzoin, powdery notes

Maison Nicolas de Barry - Casanova

Picture: Portrait  of Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798)
Drawing by Fransesco Giuseppe Casanova (1727-1802)
Wikimedia commons

Casanova is a sparkling Edt from french nichehouse Maison Nicolas de Barry. The fragrance is composed by the founder of the house himself, Nicolas de Barry.

Casanova starts green, enlighted by citirc notes. There is also a light herbal, almost non-sweet minty touch in the topnotes. Soon a very beautiful, full, not diluted, jasmine appears. It's a jasmine somewhere between the jasmine in Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Jasmine (swe) but without the dirty, horsey nuances and the flowery clean jasmine of for example By Kilian Love and Tears (swe). Some of the greenery of the jasmin seems also to be destilated in Casanova and the jasminenote is seconded by a smooth orangenote which adds a hint of fruit to the composition. The basenotes are light woody and warm with a light amberglow.

Casanova is for jasmine what Eau de Cardinal (reviewed last week) is for orangeblossom, a natural smelling, without any harsh chemical notes and no artificial smelling sweetness. Not anything new, but an easy to wear fragrance. The connection to Casanova is ambiguous, the perfume is nice smelling and in that part seducitive but when it comes to the character Casanova, I think the dirty MPG Jasmine would be a better choice.

Picture: Casanova
Photo: PR Maison Nicolas de Barry (c)

The longevity on skin is about the same, about a day, as for Eau de Cardinal even if the latter is classified as a cologne, but on the other hand I applicated more of Eau Cardinal when I tested it so maybe the longevity is better for Casanova. Casanova is very jobfriendly, couldn't offend anyone with its optimistic spirit and has close silage. A fragrance especially for spring and summer but suits also during the winter when longing for the warm season.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, orange, jasmine, sandalwood, amber

Maison Nicolas de Barry - Eau du Cardinal

Picture: Cardinal de Richelieu (1585-1642)
Painting by Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674),
Wikimedia commons

Eau du Cardinal is a creation based on neroli from the house Nicolas de Barry. Nicolas has composed the fragrance and according to productinformation "Nicolas de Barry became perfumer of the Church Princes and wanted to recreate a fresh and delicate Eau de Cologne, paying tribute to the great Cardinals of France." .

Eau du Cardinal starts smooth citrusy, with the neroli and probably also orangeblossom, even if not mentioned in the notelist. A smooth and not harsh at all woody accord appears after a while to balance the citric-flowery notes, which also feels very natural, and it add a ticker texture almot dry to the fragrance, quite different to the usual, fleeting colognes.The sandalwood-neroli combinaton is very pleasant and there is also something almost soapy (probably musk) to Eau du Cardinal despite it never reach into the soapy territory, just touches it. The frankincense in the basenotes doesn't stand out as a singular note, it's so well blended with the woods.

Picture: Eau du Cardinal
Photo: Maison Nicolas de Barry (c)

Eau du Cardinal is a minimalist, unisexfragrance, composed of fine ingredients. It lasts very well to be a Cologne, it is also mentioned as an Edt and I think thats the correct concentration even if one has to applicate it liberally. As it's denser and ticker in texture than a real cologne Eau du Cardinal is suitable to wear year around for daytime. It adds sun an warmth a cold, grey winterday and don't disappears too soon as most colognes during the summerheat.

When wearing Eau du Cardinal I'm reminded of Parfums MDCI Nuit de Andalouse and there is also something from Annick Goutal Néroli. Eau du Cardinal is well worth trying for those who likes well made orangeblossom/neroli dominated fragrances as for example L'Artisan Seville à l'Aube and Oscar de la Renta Granada.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, neroli, teakwood, sandalwood, frankincense

Maison Nicolas de Barry - Eau de Vizir

Picture: Die Kinder des Vicomte d'Andrezel,
 französischer Botschafter an der Hohen Pforte,
werden dem Großwesir Ibrahim Pasha vorgestellt, 10. Oktober 1724
Oil on canvas by Jean Baptiste Vanmour (1671-1737)
Wikimedia commons

Eau de Vizir is a masculine, very original creation from the house Nicolas de Barry who has composed the fragrance, maybe in collaboration with Eddy Blanchet as some of the other fragrances.

Eau de Vizir starts with an aromatic, citric-herbal blast, it's strong and cold in apperance. Early a very sort of clean, dry, smoky vetivernote appears and it is present in full or as whispers during the rest of the fragrance. As it continues, herbs, especially basil, green notes and fresh bitter notes appears, the fennel is sort of natural fresh and uplifting. In texture and impression Eau de Vizir is cold as original Marni, but without the rosy elements. There is also a slight mentholic touch in some stages and somehow By Kilian Smoke for the Soul comes to my mind as also the classic Azzaro Acteur with its moisty forest floor accords. The aromatic-herbal accords are founded in a musky, woody accord in which the smoky vetiver also are clearly present, a base which emphasizes the fresh coolness of the scent.

Picture: Eau de Vizir
Photo: PR Maison Nicolas de Barry (c)

Eau de Vizir is a good fragrance for regular daytime wearing. It's definitly masculine, suitable year around and would be perfect in early spring with the slight chilly air and wet soil. The longevity is very good, a little goes for about a day. Maybe Eau de Vizir is another addition to the reported upcoming, mostly non-sweet, woody-tarry-aromatic trend.

Rating: 3

Notes: Lemon, bergamot, orange, basil, vetiver, fennel, sandalwood, musk