måndag 18 april 2016

Etat Libre D'Orange - Rien

Picture: Medival construction site.
Villard de Honnecourt, drawing of a buttress at Reims,
in his album of drawings, ca 1230 - 35. Bibliotheque Nationale

The name of Etat Libre D'Oranges Rien is an understatement to said at least. But that is on the other hand not surprising as it comes to this controventional perfumhouse, at least when it comes to the it's earlier releases. Rien is on of those earlier creations and it is executed by the famous Givaudan perfumer Antoine Lie. About the story behind and the perfumers inspiration of retro perfumes blended in a contemporary style and taken all the restrictions of rawmaterial in consideration that has ruined many of the great classics when reformulated, read the initiated review of Rien at Bois de Jasmin. Rien is one of these "complicated" cult fragrances, analyzed in almost it's every part in different parfumeblogs and forum and here is my version of it: The formula of Rien reviewed is the original, it's said to has been reworked to a softer version in 2014.

The perfume Rien is anything but "rien", instead it is very "très" as very much is going on in this blend. It starts by a very strong and almost overly harsh construction site note that I genreally like. But in Rien it's on the verge of being too much of that particular wet, putty, gritty and slight sweaty note. This note is also present but in a subtler and more pleasant way in Etros Messe de Minuit. There also a note of a tick, almost smokey and dry leather, as in a rough and heavy leather coat. As Rien is a very strong and potent blend one have to be very careful upon application. When sampling and wore a full sprits from the sample on the right arm and a half sprits on the left, I felt a difference in the scent. It smelled much better on the left, lower dose, hand, not as sharp and compact as on the right. But in the stronger concentration there on the other hand are some interesting animalic notes glimpse. As the first, strong blast tunes down, the fragrance turns into a pale pink almost withering rose backed up by a gentle cumminnote, musk and cold green whiffs that resembles geranium. This stage is slight powdery. The blend for a while gets even more dry to my nose and in this stage there is traces that reminds me of Aromatics Elixir by Clinique. But AE is a louder interpretation of the rose, geranium, moss and also distinguish the individual notes more apparently than in Rien, which notes seems to be more mixed together. In the basenotes there are also aimalic notes that is not as distinct in AE. There is an almost animalic furry note among the basenotes together with a distinct musknote and the powdery pale rose that remains subtle. In the middle and basenotes there are many similarities with the beautiful rose-musk combo in Musc Nomade by Annick Goutal and sometimes I'm almost thinking I'm wearing the latter even if MN is more refined and elegant in it's appearance. In the latest stage of the basenotes the rough leather from the earlier stages of Rien returns, but now it seems to be better in balance with the sourrunding notes than in the beginning.

Expect from the almost off-putting opening and topnotes of Rien, the perfume evokes just the right feeling of retroperfumes foremost in the leathery chypre style as Robert Piguet Bandit, Estee Lauder Azureé and Parfumes Grès Cabochard. But also as mentioned above, of a modern musky classic as Musc Nomade.

Rien is an interesting frag where a lot is going on during it's dry down and there is no risk of losing interest. Even the picky Mr Parfumista gives compliments when I wear Rien, which is strange as he often complians about strong aldehydic scents beeing too "old man/womanlike"on me. But Rien is dry, with almost no sweetness in it and Mr Parfumista is appreciating dry-wood perfumes for himself.  Rien is a must try for retro perfumelovers. I can't say it's officefriendly, not in it's initial stage anyway. This "offending" stage on the other hand dries down during the journy to work and when entering the office, the more pleasant middlenotes have appeared.

Rating: 5

Notes: Aldehydes, cummin, leather, iris, amber, patchouli, moss, incense, rose, pepper, styrax

måndag 11 april 2016

Etat Libre D'Orange - True Lust Rayon Violet De Ses Yeux

Picture: True Lust
Photo: PR Etat Libre dOrange (c)

True Lust Rayon Violet De Ses Yeux  (in the following called True Lust) is a creation that unites two earlier editions from Etat Libre dOrange, Putain des Palaces (my favorite powdery violet) and Dangerous Complicity. 

From the very beginning True Lust makes me think of a diluted version of Putain des Palaces with violet, rose, lipstick, ricepowder. Further on there are also notes similar to boozy blond tobacco, probably the rhum and even later hints of leather paired with a coconutnote. As I havn't tested Dangerous Complicity I can't refer to that fragance, only to Putain des Palaces. True Lust to me is like a clean and light version, a bit sweeter and without the intriguing altered character and dirty shades of PdP. True Lust is like a safe and comforting version of the demanding PdP, pale but sort of nice. The nature of the fragrance though, doesn't correspond to its name. It also feels a bit uninspired and messy in character, as it doesn't know which path to choose for its developement. A fragrance that comes to my mind in this sort of airy style of lipstick powder is Histoires de Parfums 1889 Moulin Rouge but that one is a far better interpretation on the theme.


Picture: True Lust
Photo: PR Etat Libre d'Orange (c)

Positive is that True Lust is more versatile than PdP as it's lighter, cleaner and could be worn in most tempratures (not the hottest) and for most occasions. To me, as it  derives from the ultra feminine Pdp, True Lust is a feminine fragrance even if marked as unisex. Sillage is close and longevity not so good, it doesn't last for a day on me. 

As a whole: I don't understand the purpose with True Lust (expect squeezing money out of a proven formula) as ELDO already has the outstanding PdP in their range. To me True Lust is perfectly nice and wearable but forgettable.

Rating: 3

Notes: Rum, ginger, rose, violet, coconut, osmanthus, lily of the valley, jasmine, ylang-ylang, tangerine, rice powder, ambergris, leather, animal notes, sandalwood

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to test

måndag 4 april 2016

UNUM - Rosa Nigra

Picture: From the medevial Källa church
on the island of Öland, Sweden
Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)
Rosa Nigra is the latest installation in the UNUM perfume line. Rosa Nigra is as the other UNUM fragrances LAVS and Opus 1144 created by Filippo Sorcinelli. Rosa Nigra is created as a variation of the retro powdery smelling Opus 1144.

Rosa Nigra starts with an very intriguing accord which reminds me of a windy, chilly, grey, cloudy day, cold stone, chalk, earth, tangy greenery, like the steem and leafs of a rose. There are some traces from the flower of the rose too, it's a rose from a wild rosebush, not tamed to perfection, I can imagine the rose growing outside an abandoned small medieval countryside church. The tangy, green, dark spirit note of absinth is clearly present, blended with the rose and the chillyness of freesia, balanced with a pleasant peach. This is a combination thet could also be found in Burberry Body but in that one the accord is in a higher octave of the scented notescale and also a bit sweeter. In the topnotes I also find a note that reminds me of honeyed incense and I suspect someincense is involved even if not mentioned in the notelist.


Picture: Rosa Nigra
Photo: PR Unum (c)

As Rosa Nigra dries further down the blend is clearing up after the initial storm and the flowers, peach, absinth are shining also as individual notes interacting in an intricate pattern. One can recognize Opus 1144 but without the thick powdery and dusty lemony smell. The peach is the mainplayer in the second part of Rosa Nigra, the peach has a vintage vibe which make me think of a brighter and cleaner version of the peach in Guerlain Mitsouko. Later on Rosa Nigras also reminds me of the contemporary fruity chypre EnJoy from Jean Patou.The floral-fruity accords are highlighted by the well balanced woody, muksy base. The longer Rosa Nigra dries down the more rosy it becomes, once again. This time there is much more of the rose petals and the perform in a pleasant, pink, creamy version but it's well contratsted with the tangy greenery but in a smaller dose than on the topnotes. Once again the similarity of something that could be a luxury variation of Burberry Body is obvious.

Just as the incensebomb  UNUM LAVS, Rosa Nigra goes from a dramatic, imaginative opening to a much more polished and orderly second part. In the case of Rosa Nigra the fragrance goes from a medivial feeling to a polished contemporary version of a 1920s/1930s fragrance and in its latest stages to a contemporary musky rose.

I find the opening most interesting but in the second part, Rosa Nigra transforms to a very wearable (around the year), really good smelling (at least in the rosy part) and elegant fragrance. Rosa Nigra is classified as an unisex scent but to my nose that applies to the first dramatic part of the fragrance. The elegant second part is more feminine. Sillage is medium and longevity good, for 24h at least.

Rating: 5

Notes: Anise, absinth, freesia, sandalwood, peach, vanilla, cashmere wood, musk, ambra

fredag 25 mars 2016

Easter fragrances 2016

Picture: Imperial Coronation Egg (Fabergé),
photographed at an exhibition in Rome
Photo: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta (cc)
Wikimedia Commons some rights reserved
This year I'll skip to find something to the usual Easter fragrance categories (gourmand-sweet, churchy-incense, green-crispy- leafy-bulbflowery) from which I pick fragrances suitable for Easter. Instead I'll pay attention to some fragrances which pleases me extra right now.

Heliotrope Blanc (Oriza L.Legrand): Ok this one suits perfectly in my traditional gourmand sweet category. Fluffy, alamonds, powder and vanilla, this is cosiness and comfort at it's best. The smell recalls  the sweetest of Easterbunnis.

Black Opium Edp (Yves Saint Laurent): I know I'm taken the risk to be written of as a serious perfumista by admitting that I feel very comfortable in Black Opium and I think it smells quite good. And so does also Mr Parfumista "This one smells better on you than many of the niche fregrances you're testing". Another one in the sweet territory.

Rosarium (Angela Ciampagna): A calming and contemplating, smooth rose incense, like taking a break sitting down in a small italian medival rual chapel a warm summerday.

Shermine (Huiteme Art): This furry iris/lavender with its very special almost chalky citrus note attracts compliments from those around. Perfect for the early wintery Easter of this year.

Marions Nous (Oriza L.Legrand): Recently I've been in an Oriza circle, I just can't get enough of the fragrances from this house. Marions Nous is a successful intepreation of an 1920s aldehyde fragrance. Sparkling, almost refreshing and in the same time with animalic notes lurking from it's depts. A fragrance which becomes better with each wearing.

Allure Sensuelle Edp (Chanel): A incrediable comforting fragrance in the Coco Mademoiselle - Coco Noir style but more fruity and with less patchouli  Smoother and rounded compared to the former two, a forgotten gem in the Chanelline.

Ylang-Ylang Nosy Be Extrait (Perris Monte Carlo): Last but not least the beautiful, intense, glowing, sweet, flowery, vanillic interpretation of one of the most faithful flowery teammates of "parfums de femme" the ylang-ylang.

Happy Easter!

måndag 21 mars 2016

L'Artisan Parfumeur - Oeillet Sauvage (new version)

Picture: Dianthus caryophyllus
Photo by
 撮影者:カールおじさん (cc)
Wikimedia.com, some rights reserved
L'Artisan Parfumeur Oeillet Sauvage created by Anne Flipo, was first released in year 2000, then discontinued, probably because of the though IFRA restrictions against the substances creating the scent of carnation. Now it's relaunched and the review is of the current version, I have not tested the vintage.

Oeillet Sauvage starts with a crisp, papery, carnation note. It's like the name implies, like wild, intensive red carnations, growing in a field surronded by fresh and dry hay where the smells mingles a windy summerday alternating sun with clouds in the sky. Oeillet Sauvage smells distinct of carantion, no dark or cloying clove seems to be unvolved. It's not as spicy as many traditional carnation, here the flower itself is highlighted even if other flowers and notes are supporting, they not overrides in any stage of the developement of the fragrance. A light powdery finish are persent but not as clear as in Oriza L.Legrand Oeillet Louis XV which ha similariteis in the interpretation of the flower but is much more of a mulitflower powder puff. Compared to the other Oriza L.Legrand carnation fragrance Royal Oeillet and also the great carnation of Aedes de Venustas Oeillet Bengale the two latter are darker, balsamic and overall more complicated. Oeillet Sauvage is not as peppery and diluted as another carnation on the lighter end of the spectra, Etro Dianthus or not as old world smelling as Caron Bellodgia.
PictureOeillet Sauvage (current version)
Photo: PR L'Artisan Parfumeur (c)
Oeillet Sauvage is a cheerful, easy to wear carantion which is suitable for daytime wear year around, Royal Oeillet and Oeillet Bengale is autumn/winterfragrances or for chilly summer evenings. Sillage is medium and longevity for more than a day. Oeillet Sauvage is a well made, uncomplicated, contemporary carnation which is definitely worth trying for those appreciate carnation.

Rating: 4+

Notes: Pink pepper, rose, carnation, ylang-ylang, lily, wallflower, morning glory, resin, vanilla

måndag 14 mars 2016

L'Artisan Parfumeur - Noir Exquis

Picture: Terrace of the café on the Place du Forum in Arles
in the evening,ca 16 September 1888
Painting by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Wikimedia commons
Noir Exquis is a fragrance in the gourmand style created by Bertrand Duchaufour, as most of the latest fragrances of L'Artisan Parfumeur.

Noir Exquis starts with dark vanillic, nutty slight flowery and soft spicy notes enlighted by a green, fizzy spicyness. The first section of the accord described reminds me of a paler version of the almond-vanilla bomb Montale Amandes Orientales. The second spicy part with soft spices brightened by the fizzy, a bit sharp green, spicyness reminds me of two fragrances from Carner Barcelona, most of Rima XI, the soft spices and comfortaura and Palo Santo especially when it comes to the green, spicy notes. As Noir Exquis dries down the pleasant, comforting spiciness remian as also the green fizzy vibe as a balance. The vanilla is pleasant and not too sweet, it's a fizzy vanilla in the style of Annick Goutal Vanille Exquise, maybe the Noir Exquis name isn't a coincident. Noir Exquis is overall quite linear in style, even if it also becomes woodier in the basenotes with a warm sandalwoodnote of the australian type, a bit herbal, not as smooth as the indian. Heliotrope also adds a cozy, familliar, very pleasant flowery, sweetness in the second part of the fragrance.
Picture: Noir Exquis
Photo: PR L'Artisan Parfumeur (c)
Noir Exquis is a moderate sweet gourmand in the contemporary caféstyle as Rima XI mentioned above and also Frederic Malle Dries van NotenNoir Exquis just seems to be some years delayed. Just as the other Dries van Noten and Rima XI it is somehow light in texture despite it's gourmand character, the gourmands of later years are not as heavy and dense as the gourmands of the 90s-00s. Noir Exquis is a unisex comfortfragrance, easy to wear and appropriate for autumn, winter and early spring. Sillage is medium and longevity for more than a day.

Rating: 4
Update January 2018: Rating 5 This is a really good gourmand fragrance, the more I'm wearing it, the more I'm appreciating it.

Notes: Chestnut, orange, orange blossom, coffee, maple sap, ebony, heliotrope, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to test

måndag 7 mars 2016

Perris Monte Carlo - Patchouli Nosy Be Extrait

Picture: Nosy Be
Photo: from Pinterest 
Patchouli Nosy Be is the most recent patchouli fragrance from Perris Monte Carlo. The Nosy Be part of the name is from the island suitiated on the north west of Madagascar, the island is famous for cultivating ylang-ylang, coffe and vanilla but the climate is suitiable also for other spices and flowers. The Nosy Be Patchouli is a successful experiment where the manager of the ylang-ylang plantation of the well known fragrance ingredients producer Robertet planted patchouli on the Nosy Be Island. Here the patchouli plants could be protected from the sharp sunlight by the foliage of other plants and this favorable cultivation combined with a careful harvesting process creates a high class multifacetted patchouli oil. The Nosy Be fragrances of Perris are as today, also an Edp version of Patchouli Nosy Be, which was released 2014 a year before the extrait, as also an Ylang Ylang Nosy Be in Edp and Extrait. These will be reviewed later on.

Patchouli Nosy Be starts with the herbal, leafy, almost fresh, patchouli which is present in most niche patchouli offerings from the latest years, an early example is Histories de Parfums Noir Patchouli but this one is sharper, rougher and more transaparent in its herbal leafiness. Also Franck Boclet Patchouli comes to my mind in the initial accords. After a while warm spices appears, predominantly pepper, blended with a note of cacao simlar to the combination in for example Ramon Monegal Mon Patchouly and Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 even if the latter is darker and denser. The pepper, which I also think is strengthend from the cedarwood in the base, is a bit too distinctive to my nose/taste for a short part of the dry down but is fortunately softened when a beautiful vanilla is sneeking in step by step in this contemporary woody-spicy blend with a patchouli addition. To me  Patchouli Nosy Be is not so much about patch as it is of spices, wood and vanilla, the patch is just one of the well bakanced, interplaying accords.The earlier Perris patchouli Essence de Patchouli, is much more of patchouli, more extreme and uncommon and personally I prefer this over Patchouli Nosy Be when I crave a real patchfrag. The best part of Patchouli Nosy Be is definitliy the comforting base where the spicy mixed patch is contrasted by a beautiful very natural smelling, slight flowery vanilla and discrete woody notes. The base note accords comes and goes like waves with a slight different highlighting of each of the main notes in different waves. It's a true delight wearing this perfume.
Picture: Patchouli Nosy Be Extrait
Photo: PR Perris Monte Carlo (c)
Patchouli Nosy Be is a versatile warm fragrance, suitable for autumn, winter and early spring. It's unisex and could be worn both for work and casual. Sillage is medium and longevity good, more then a day, traces are left on skin after a nights sleep.

Rating: 5

Notes: Patchouli, pink pepper; cocoa, labdanum, vanilla, cedarwood, sandalwood