Making of Cannes - Quick reviews

Picture: A chic bottle of Rocher Princier
Photo: PR Making of Cannes (c)

Making of Cannes is a perfumebrand based in Grasse which creations are inspired of the Cannes Film Festival and the movie industry. Founder of the brand is Audrey Courbier who worked for Estee Lauder form many years, I havn't found who the perfumer is. Technically the fragrances are wellcrafted of a good quality and contains at least 20% perfumeoil, from a creative point of view even if beautiful nothing new or innovative. The fragrances are comforting, elegant and easy to wear.
Below some short thoughts of the five first releases from 2014:

Premier Role: This light oriental amber has a lovely vintage aura, especially in the start with something as unusual as a soft galbanum, this note often tend to appear as sharp. Taken as a whole Premier Role is a mix between two interesting perfumes from the past. Dior Dune and Balenciaga Prelude with an extra dose of smooth, restrained, moderate sweet white and yellow flowers. The first one-third is the most interesting then the fragrance get linear and smells almost the same for the rest of the dry down. Very feminine, warm, soft and comfortable to wear.

L'Amour la Monde: This is Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose crossed with a finetuned, realistic smelling leather like for example Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather. The leathernote vanishes after the topnotes and intergrates with the musky, powdery, creamy lipstick rose/violet accord. The more L'Amour la Monde dries down, the more of the powdery, musky, aldehydic character steps forward in a comfortable way. Just as with Permier Role the first one-third is the most interesting, than the fragrance stays almost the same, even if intensifying.

Invalouable: Starts very feminine as a flowery light powdery vanilla with fruity accents. The vanillic flower in its texture, not in the actual smell, is similar to the style of the angelic, powdery, flowery vanilla from Eau d'Italie Morn to Dusk. As Invalouable dries down to the middlenotes it settles in a light peppery, white flower accord  and the fragrance is close to the sparkling Ramon Monegal duo Kiss My Name and Lovely Day. As Invalouable reaches its warm and musky basenotes, the peppery sparkle steps back and the fragrance reminds of the beautiful summery white flower of Gianfranco Ferré which bears the same name as the designer.

Amazing Shooting: Listed as unisex but to my nose it's lending more to the feminine side. Starts fruity in a air of chypre. The fruits are fresh, not the spicy Mitsouko style, but combined with slight boozy notes, it becomes darker, almost creamy and much more sophisticated in apperance. Something which smells like a wellbalanced, not harsh teanote also glimpses, probably this is the metallicnote mentioned in the notelist. Amazing Shooting reminds me in style and expression of a more balanced EnJoy by Jean Patou made of much better ingredients.

Rocher Princier:  Listed as masculine or unisex the woody-spicy, to my nose dominantly incense-oudy Rocher Princier goes for both. Starts with a cold aldehydic chalky incensy which is close to Montale Full Incense. As Rocher Princier dries further down, a light smokey, confier, cold oudy aura appears and the fragrance in this stage has similaritues with Robert Piguet Oud Some light sweet spicy elements combined with balsamic notes deepens the fragrance in the basenotes. A rounded, well constructed incense-oud without any sharp edges or annoying pepper, very pleasent to wear. The smooth incense interpretation in texture is similar to the sweeter and gourmandy cosy incense Juozas Statkevicius (Josef Statkus). The favorite from the line both for me and Mr Parfumista.

Etat Libre D'Orange - Rien Intense Incense

Picture: Frau vor untergehender Sonne
(Sonnenuntergang, Sonnenaufgang, Frau in der Morgensonne)
Painting of Caspar Friedrich David, between 1818 and 1820
Wikimedia commons

Rien Intense Incense is a reworking of the powerful Rien which is a favorite of mine from the Etat Libre d'Orange-line. I read at Fragrantica that the old Rien was reformulated in 2014 and now is much softer. There are speculations that the Rien Intense is a replacement for the old powerful formula of Rien as Rien Intense Incense also was released 2014. When refering to Rien below, I refer to the pre-reformulation version which I also reviewed earlier this week.

Rien Intense Incense (RII) starts with a smokey, almost burnt leathernote, similar to the same note in Rien. I can also smell light touches of chilly flowers, probably the iris and cold aspects of rose.There is a lightness and almost sparkle to the accords, probably the aldehydes. This impression is more or less present also in the later stages of the perfume. Further on there is also a rubbery note, as fresh rubber from new tires and a very light, on the verge to powdery (but not at all sweet) quality appears as a veil swirling around the fragrance. The incense is intricatly interwoven as I can't detect it as a singular note but it is somehow present, almost like a shadow. The for some ELDO fragrances typical balsamic accord which has traces of something smelling close to a woody coconut is present in most of the dry down of RII. The same coconut like accord is also apperant in Kerosene Copper Skies which is also the fragrance besides Rien I come to think of when sampling RII. In the basenotes, the flowery facetts re-appears but this time it smells of tubereuse, a note which isn't mentioned in the notelist, it's like it evolves from the coconut accord and mingles beautiful with that and (in this late stage) the slight smokey leathernote.

Picture: Rien Intense Incense
Photo: PR Etat Libre d'Orange (c)

Even if very strong and powerful, RII smells more rounded and less rough than the original, pre-formulation Rien. There is not the same pronunced construction site + wet concrete in RII as in old Rien, RII is also a tad sweeter, warmer and the spices are somehow more apparent. RII is quite linear with some minor variations in the different stages, for example the flowers in the first part of the fragrance. I'm experiencing Rien as the sauvage one and RII as a more refined and well-behaved (everything is relative) but anyway intriuging to wear. There is something dark mysterious and compelling about RII, it's more dreaming in character, just as the painting illustrating this post.

The old formula Rien and RII somehow complements each other and I assume that this is also even more the case with the new, softer formula. If owning the old Rien it is questionable whether it's worth owning the RII, it depends on how much one appreciate the fragrance, each formula highlighting different aspects.

Rien Intense Incense is perfect for the colder months but also for rainy days in the summer. Maybe also for a warm day as the above mentioned Copper Skies suprisingly had a great development when I tested it a warm summerday some years ago. RII is perfectly unisex, sillage is grand and longevity for at least 24h.

Rating: 5

Notes: Aldehydes, caraway, bergamot, rose, iris, incense, amber, patchouli, labdanum, moss

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to try

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

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

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