Mona di Orio - Bohea Bohème

Picture: The Yunnu hill, the symbol of the Wuyi Mountains
Photo by Ricky Chow (cc)
Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved

Bohea Bohème is the latest fragrance from the house of Mona di Orio and the second release which is not created by the great, and sadly, late Mona. Bohea Bohème is created by Fredrik Dalman, an unknown perfumer to me, the name sounds suspicious swedish. The fragrance Bohea Bohème is inspired of and will capture (according to a brief from the perfumehouse)  "the smoldering delicacy of the distinctive tea cultivated in the Wuyi Mountains of China. The precious Bohea Tea, fumed with pinewood, is prized for its complex aroma and rich character"

 Bohea Bohème starts with a  smokey, light tea-ish note infused with a note resembeling tar. There also a hint of cardamom and a light, uplifting blond woody impression, as wood in the mountains of a warmer climat, cooled off by the rain. There is also something bright and almost chilly to the first part of the fragrance, probably an effect of the chamomille inteacting with the woody notes. As Bohea dries further down, the fragrance becomes warmer, woodier, rounder and a tad sweeter, even if this is not at sweet fragrance at all.
The fragrane also calms down from the explosion of notes in its first part, it becomes a skinscent, close to the wearer. The basenotes of Bohea is a plesant, light smokey, sort of waxy, balsamic, woody.

Alltogether, the fragrance is loud and somehow refreshing in its first part and then calms down to be intimate and relaxing in its later stages. Bohea as a whole is not the typical tea-fragrance, tea is just one of the co-working ingredients. This make me think of another fragrance in this genre which Bohea may be inspired from, the intriguing  Russian Tea from Masque. The same concept with tea as a co-working note and some similarities in smell, i.e the smoky note. Compared to Bohea Bohème Russian Tea is more distinctive, rougher, tougher with more contrasts during its dry down. Except smoky, black tea, Russian Tea also have notes of mint, leather and raspberry. If roughly translated to seasons of the year, Russian Tea is a winterfragrance and Buhea Bohème is for summer.

Picture: Bohea Bohème
Photo: PR Mona di Orio (c)

Bohea Bohème is a fragrance suitable for daytime wearing, both for work and casual. Silage is big in the topnotes but then becomes a close skinscent in the later stages. Longevity is very good, I can smell unfragmented traces after 24h+. The fragrance is totally unisex.

Bohea Bohème is a good fragrance but to me it lacks the originality, creativity and depts of the creations of late Mona di Orio herself. Compared to Monas compositions Bohea is soulless and could have been released from any nichehouse. The unique style, skills and the bottled passion in the fragrances created by Mona are lost in the releases post Mona. There will be a difficult future for the house of Mona di Orio to stand out from the nichecrowd as the house did during the days of Mona.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, cardamom, iris, chamomile,  poplar bud, balsam fir, boxtree, geranium, black tea oil, smoked juniper, oakwood, sandalwood, beeswax, bay leaf, benzoin, vanilla absolute

Malbrum - Short impressions

Malbrum is a norwegian perfumehouse which will join the norwegian spirit with french perfumery. The first three fragrances are inspired from asian ingredients, scents and aromas. I have tested two of them, both created by Delphine Thierry.

Picture: Shameless Seducer
Photo: PR Malbrum (c)

Shameless Seducer starts like a citric infused version of Infusion d'Iris combined with non-descript florals. There is some sharp notes, probably wood and vetiver, combined with a cold spicy impression, probably from the musk-cumin combo. The animalic notes described in the notelist are not clear to my nose.
Shameless Seducer has some almost refreshing, cold qualities that reminds me of the late winter just before the first signs of spring arrives which are captivating. Shameless Seducer is a bit messy to start with but then put it self together to a nice, easy to wear, musky, slight spicy, cold, almost airy floral fragrance. Unisex.

Picture: Tigre de Bengale
Photo: PR Malbrum (c)

Tigre de Bengal is a spicy, light leathery, warm oriental with smokey accents, reminding of burned wood in a tropic landscape. The smoke reminds me of a lighter version of the smoke from tropical burnt wood in Maïtre Parfumeurs et Gantier Eau de Iles. The warm spicy notes feels fresh, not as dried spices and the accord, comined with a creamy touch, reminds me of a lighter and paler version of Kenzo Jungle l'Elephant. There are also a boozy note in the basenotes of Tigre de Bengal. A nice contemporary, a bit subdued, representant of the spicy oriental sub category, unisex, leaning slight to the masculine side.

Both fragrances are in  Extrait de Parfum concenration. As a whole, I like Tigre de Bengal the most but Shameless Seducer on the other hand, has passages which are more original than what could be found in Tigre de Bengal. Somehow the fragarances mirroring each other: Some notes/accords have similarities but are interpreted in a cold respective warm version. Taken as a whole: The tested Malbrum fragrances are not groundbraking but easy to like and wear.

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the samples to test.

Perris Monte Carlo - Ylang Ylang Nosy Be Extrait

Picture: Adele Bloch-Bauer's Portrait (1907)
Painting; oil, silver and gold on canvas by Gustav Klimt (1862-1919)Wikimedia commons

Ylang Ylang Nosy Be is the other of the first issued Nosy Be fragrances, see more information in the earlier review of Perris Monte Carlo Patchouli Nosy Be.

Starts with a burst of sweet floral and rounded citrusy fruity notes without any sharpness from the grape/lemon just a juicy, bright cloud. It's a very sunny accord, if the accord had a color it could be imagined as somewhere between glowing orange and yellow with golden elements glittering. The fruity-floral notes are sweet but natural and not at all chemical smelling, the ylang-ylang is just golden flowery delicious without any trace of the almost banana like note that sometimes show up in this floral note. The cardamon provides a soft, spicy green balance but it's hardly detectable as a singular note as it's so well integrated with fruits and flowers. There is a sort of electrical vibe to the fragrance, a very light metallic tinge like the snell in the air when the sun breaks through between two thunderstorms. This is also the case with the jasmine, rose and orangeblossom, they're interacting in perfectly blended accords. The basenotes are calming the flowers with vetiver, soft woods, resin and the same delicate vanilla as in Patchouli Nosy Be.  In the  later stages of the drydown, a juicy rose wich has similarities with thé juicy rose in La Rose from Le Galion steps a forward from the flowery blend even if ylang ylang is still clearly present. Ylang ylang Nosy Be as a whole is a quite linear fragrance and wearing it is like floating around in a warm, comforting, golden flow like Adele Bloch-Bauer on the famous Klimt painting.

Compared to the few other ylang-ylang fragrances Ive tested M.Micallef Ylang in Gold and Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Fleur des Comores the Perris interpretetion is ticker, denser and more concentrated to the ylang-ylang. Ylang in Gold is more creamy and beachy in apperance , Fleur des Comores is more about a classic sweet, flowery vanilla with the typical slight animalic MPG ambery base.

Picture: Ylang Ylang Nosy Be
Photo: PR Perris Monte Carlo (c)

Ylang Ylang Nosy Be is lavish and very feminine in style and it suits for daytime wearing year around. It's a natural sweet and strong fragrance which has to be applied carefully to avoid a too sweet apperance. Sillage is medium to big and longevity great, there is unfragmented  traces left on skin after 24h, 24 extremely comforting hours.

Rating: 5

Notes: Ylang-ylang, lemon, grapefruit, cardamom, jasmine, orange blossom, damask rose, labdanum, vetiver, cedar, vanilla, field scabious

5 Early summerfragrances 2016

Picture: Ulriksdal Palace, one of the Royal Castles,
a morning in early May 2016
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Today it's Swedens nationalday! Early June with it's fresh, fragile flowers and greenery is, just as May, the most beautiful time of the year in this northen part of the globe. Flowery and light, sparkling fragrances are comforting and easy to wear. Below five reaible favourites:

Fleurissimo (Creed): This post continues in a royal setting: The wonderful green bouquet with tubereuse, violet, iris over a light ambergrisbase, was according to the storytelling from Creed, the fragrance made for and worn by Grace Kelly on her wedding with Prince Rainer of Monaco. My skin amplifies the violet/iris and the tubereuse here performs as a supporter, not the star of the show as in most fragrances with tubereuse as one of the main notes. Surprisingly there is a pleasant bananalike note contrasting and smoothing the blend, the nuance shows the tropical side of the tubereuse which is present in warm and lush tubereuse fragrances as in Le Galion Tuberéuse

Rose Essentielle Edp (Bvlgari): A sparkling blend of violet and rose in (to my nose) almost equal propotions. The violet is dominating on my skin most wearings, but sometimes the rose comes through more. Sweet, with a texture like hard candy but in the same time sort of fresh. The base is musky, slight earthy. After more then ten years on the market, Rose Essentielle is still an intriguing and very wearable fragrance.

Photo: Parfumista (c)

Jour d'Hermès Gardenia (Hermès): A tart, clean, minimalistic gardenia without the moist, earty smell of mushroom as in the heavier examples in the genre. Elegant, inoffensive and very easy to wear in most daytime ocasions. Not as grassy as the original Jour d'Hermès Edt .

Magnolia Romana (Eau d'Italie): Sharp green with almost rubbery, juicy white and yellow flowers. Sounds strange but smells so good. This is a fragrance for sunny and windy days, as there is sort of a natural flow in Magnolia Romana. An intriguing, contemporary floral.

Cristalle Edt (Chanel): A day in Cristalle is like a day in a cloud of sparkling Champagne, even if a regular workday. Retro bergamot-citrus fresh but at the same time with a distictive green, mossy body with hints of bulbfowers. A timeless creation, allways right to wear, true casual chic.