Parfums de Nicolaï - L'Eau Corail

Picture: Thunderstorm over Corfu - Lightning Strikes
Photo: Simon Q (cc)
via Dorieo from Flickr to, Wikimedia.com 

L'Eau Corail is the summerfragrance for 2015 from Parfums de Nicolaï. The summer eaux fraiches are carefree fragrances for lazy (or busy) days. My favorite so far is the creamy but herbal orangeblossom Eau sOleil from 2013.Well balanced floral fruity fragrances seems to be en vogue in niche this summer and L'Eau Corail is a lighter take in the genre. For example Parfums MDCI Cio Cio San is a more intense version and even more so Neela Vermeire Créations Pichola.

L'Eau Corail starts with a juicy, natural smelling mangonote, the mango doesn't appears as chemical at all, even if I suppose it is. There is also a tangy bite, probably from black currant, just in the right dose as to me, heavy doses of that berry often is too much. But L'Eau Corail also has a dark side, just in the very begining of the top accords, there is also an almost electric smelling note, or mini-accord, glimpses by and this moment evokes the image of the dark sky in the beginning of a thunderstorm, with the flashes, before the rain sets in. There is some of the electric vibe still present also in the later stages of the dry down. Back to the main track: The mangonote is light, not the thick varity as in for example Neela Vermeire Créations Bombay Bling or Montale Mango Manga, L'Eau Corail is an Eau Fraiche after all. The texture is somehow creamy as also the smell and after a while a light boozy element apperars creating an intriguing contrast to the smooth creamyness. A fizzy, light and refreshing also non-chemical smelling mintnote appears as also cardamom from the depths of the fragrance. As L'Eau Corail dries further down the flowery elements steps forward and balances the fruityness, the cardamom is still contrasting and adding a sort of dry spicyness to this airy-creamy-moisty blend. I suspect that the teanote in the base is contributing a lot to the airyness of the fragrance, even if an Eau Fraiche and the ingredients are diluted, many of the ingredients by themselves are heavy in character. The rest of the base is a light regular wooden-ambery accord which act as a discrete background for the light fruity-flowery-spicy mainaccords of the fragrance.

Picture: L'Eau Corail in the regular
Parfums de Nicolaï bottle
Photo: PR Parfums de Nicolaï (c)

Even if contemporary in the notesetting with the fruits and cardamom,  L'Eau Corail gives me somehow a retro feeling. In expression, apperance and the feeling it gives me, this is very strange as it has completely different notes, L'Eau Corail reminds me of a modern and fruity Hermès Calèche Edt, just as the latter it intermediates a bright, confident, timeless, casual elegance which is present but not disturbing (if light applicated). As I got the same Calèche association to last years Musc Monoï which is aldehydic in style and therefore more obvious to be likened to the Hermès classic, there must be an overall similarity between the two Nicolaïs which I didn't caught immediately.

At first L'Eau Corail seems very feminine in style, at least for the first 80% of the fragrance it not at all feels unisex compared to eaux fraiches L'Eau Mixté or L'Eau Chic. Then apperantly something is happening:
In its later basenotes, Mr Parfumista (who hasn't smelled the earlier stages of L'Eau Corail said "Have you borrowed my Armani *) today"  "it smells as a mens cologne". L'Eau Corail is a lasting companion during warm, humid summerdays but I'm sure it will also be nice to cheer up gloomy days in the colder months. Sillage is big and longevity at least a day, very long lasting for an Eau Fraiche.

*) The first Armani, Armani pour Homme, aromatic-citrus with some moss, at least in Mr Parfumistas "vintage" version.

Rating: 4

Notes: Mango, black currant, lemon leaf, orange, spicy mint, jasmine, rose, osmanthus, cardamom, cedar, sandalwood, mate, musk, amber

Neela Vermeire Créations - Pichola

Picture: Panorama of Udaipur's Jag Mandir Island
 at Lake Pichola, Rajasthan, India
Photo: Sballal (cc) some rights reserved,
Wikimedia commons

Pichola is the latest release of the Parisbased perfumehouse Neela Vermeire Créations which has released some beautiful deep, multifacetted cntemporary orental styled perfumes in the later years. Pichola, as also the earlier perfumes from Neela, is created by masterperfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. Pichola is inspired by Lake Pichola which is situated in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Pichola starts sunny, lush, juicy, lemony fruity with hints of spices. It's as I imagine it would be resting in a palace garden on the shore of Lake Pichola, sipping a refreshing, cardamon flavoured tea on a sunny day, occasionally cooled with gusts of wind from the lake. The fruity notes and the cardamon is recognized from another of the Neelas  Bombay Bling. Soon the great white flowers tubereuse and orangeflowers joins the blend mixed with a velvet, smooth magnolia who amps up the lemony impression. The magnolia is very well balanced, it has no sharp edges or chemical hints as in for example the higher octave, cologneinspired Editions Parfums Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia. The middlenotes forms a classical floral accord dominated by the tubereuse and orangeblossom which smells wonderful and very natural as also the supporting jasmine, ylang-ylang and rose. The floral accord is watery-airy, reminding of the smell and texure of the air just above the surface of the lake. Pichola is not at all dense or cloying and the light spices perfectly contrasts the heavy flowers. In the basenotes smooth woods appears, one of the wooden notes is driftwood which probably creates some of the airy and watery impression. 


Picture: The spirit of Pichola
Photo: PR Neela Vermeire Créations (c)

When enjoying Pichola classics as the soapy, tubereuse-spicy Balenciaga Michelle comes to my mind. Michelle is aldehydic, soapier and with just a hint of  fruity notes. Also a modern, highend, less cloying and garish Versace Blonde comes forward. In the basenotes I come to think of Dior Poison also a spicy, fruity and much darker tubereuse. Overall Pichola is not "picco", it's grand but not in the bomastic way as the 1980s floral orientals, It's a wellmade contemporary interpretation of this cathegory, with juicy and lush fruits paired with the right, light dose of spicecs, replaceing some of the almost cloying, heady flowery "old school" accords of the old ones.

Pichola is the perfect summer fragrance to those who likes some "body" in their warm weather frags. Of course also great for winter when loning for the sun. Could be worn in any occasions, except for sport. Longevity for a day with traces on skin the morning after, sillage medium.

Picture: The beautiful bottle of Pichola
Photo: PR Neela Vermeire Créations (c)

Of the Neela Vermeire Créations released so far, I think Pichola is the easiest to like for a wider audience. Therefore I predict it will be the bestseller of the line :-)
Those who likes fragrances such as Ramon Monegal Moonblom and Robert Piguet Mademoiselle Piguet will probably like the more complex Pichola too.

Rating: 5

Notes: Cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, juniper, magnolia, neroli oil, clementine, bergamot, orange blossom absolute, rose absolute, tuberose absolute, sambac jasmine, ylang-ylang, benzoin absolute, sandalwood , driftwood, Haiti vetiver

Parfums MDCI - Cio Cio San

Picture: Poster for Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini,
Author: Alberto Hohenstein (1854-1928), Wikimedia commons

Cio Cio San is the latest addition to the high quality Parfums MDCI line. Just as the intriguing Nuit de Andalouse from 2013, Cio Cio San is created by one of the brightest shining stars on the perfume heaven in the latest years: Cecile Zarokian. Cecile seems to have good hand (and nose) with oriental styled parfumes, she has created some of my favorites in the genre; Masque Tango, Laboratorio Olfattivo Kashnoir and Amouage Epic Woman.

Cio Cio San is also oriental styled but a floral oriental with intriguing, supporting fruity notes which are lightened up with skillfull handled teanotes which are note sharp or chemical at all. Cio Cio San starts sparkling with pink, lush floral notes, accentuated with fruits, with litchi as the leading star. I can't say that I can distinguish the cherry blossoms but I suppose they are involved in the sparkling, pink flowery opening.
From the very beginning Cio Cio San reminds me of a sort of reversed and less sweet Graine de Joie from Eau d'Italie. Where the fruits are the protagonists, supported by flowers in Graine de Joie, the flowers takes the central position in Cio Cio San even if distinctly supported by the fruits. Soon also deeper nuances appears in Cio Cio San which shows a wider spectrum of accords than in Graine de Joie. After a whlie a dark, rubbery note, similar to the rubber note of rose oil appears and as rose isn't mentioned I guess it comes from the peony. There is also a light glimpse of a fresh almost petrollike note in this stage. Soon also a dark woody note appears, it's similar to a light touch of oud (also not mentioned among the notes) and there is also something almost boozy lurking in the woody musky depths of Cio Cio San. Even in the deeper and darker dimensions of the fragrance, the loveliness of the flowers and fruits are clearly present. The teanote is perfectly intergrated and creates an airy and almost light impression also in the basenotes. There is also a pleasant sort of  tingling (maybe the ginger) tartness present during most of the dry down. The notes of Cio Cio San doesn't smell chemical which could be a problem in some fruity-florals and tea fragrances, respectively.

Picture: The "bust bottle" of Cio Cio San, there
is also a version with a plain cap.
Photo: PR Parfums MDCI (c) 

Just as Cio Cio San herself aka Madame Butterfly, the fragrance Cio Cio San is a fragrance with at least two faces: The happy one just as in the very beginning of the opera, then the melancolic and sad expression just as the way to, and the end of, this tragic drama. Another beautiful flower fragrance which honors Madame Butterfly is Amouage Honour Woman (swe) which is a creamy, well blended, but less original white floral which plays in a less dramatic scale and in higher octaves than Cio Cio San.

Cio Cio San is a intriguing fragrance where different ascpects/facetts are highlighted in different wearings depending for example from how much of the scent is applicated. I'm looking forward to test Cio Cio San also in cold weather as I suspect it will wears nice then too. For summer it's great. Cio Cio San is appropriate for many occasions, both for work and casual, but not for sports, it's too complex for that.
Sillage is somewhere between close to medium, longevity for at least a day with traces on skin the morning after.

Those who like good quality fruity florals as Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling, By Kilian Playing With The Devil and Robert Piguet Jeunesse I suspect will also appreciate Cio Cio San.

Rating: 5

Notes: Yuzu, lemon, ginger, grapefruit, cherry blossom, peony, litchi, tea, guaiac wood, cedar, mus

By Kilian - Playing With The Devil

Picture: Quite contrary to the Devil: Kilian Hennessy himself,
as handsome as this fragrance is beautiful :-)
Photo: PR By Kilian (c) 

Playing With The Devil is the fourth installation in the By Kilian sub-line In The Garden of Good and Evil. As almost all By Kilians, PWTD is created by Calice Becker, a true champion when it comes to handle flowers in a delicate way. The first three fragrances of this sub-line, even if good, was a bit too similar and I find it difficult to distinguish them from each other. Playing With The Devil on the other hand, stands out from the crowd and is just stunning.

Playing With The Devil starts with the most natural smelling orange, in this case, Blood Orange I have smelled so far. The beautiful orangenote is underscored by darker fruity notes as a perfectly matched balckcurrant note and  round, delicious notes of peach and litchi. The peach is the same peachnote as in Flower of Immortality  from this spring, but slightly darker and fuller. The notes are nor sharp or synthetic smelling at all..

As PWTD dries down, flowery notes mingles with the fruit and in this stage PWTD becomes slight sopay on my skin and oddly, a chalky note that I also recognize in Vanille Tonka by Parfums de Nicolaï appears for a while but in a smoother interpretation. The flowers are accompanied by very smooth rendered versions of hot spices; pimento and pepper. This is very skillful performed, there is no traces of the typical peppernote that is common in current perfumery. In the basenotes, the fruity impression is still present, but darker and with an almost tobacco leaves/liqueur twist. This is probably the effect of fruit blended with resins, sweet tonka and delicate woody/patchouli notes. The base is lasting for hours and the fragrance is still unfragmented after more than 12h and distinct traces are still there after 24h.

Playing With The Devil is both elegant and comforting. It's very well blended, using high quality ingredients. It has nothing to to with the usual fruity floral offerings. It's just gorgeous!

Those who like wellcrafted fruity interpretations as Missoni by Missoni, Jeunesse by Robert Piguet, Bonbay Bling by Neela Vermeire Creations and Manguier Metisse by Huitieme Art will certainly appreciate PWTD:

Rating: 5

Notes: Blood Orange, black currant, peaches, litchi, pimento, rose, jasmine, pepper, cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, tonka been, benzoin, vanilla

Neela Vermeire Creations - Ashoka

Picture: Ashoka in its sylish, Indian inspired bottle
Photo: PR Neela Vermeire Creations (c) 

Ashoka is the latest of  Neela Vermeires Creations and it will be released later this week. Thanks to Neela I've got the opportunity to test a sample of this intriguing fragrance in advance. Ashoka, as also the first three fragrances in the Neela Vermeire line, is created by the top perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. The inspiration to the perfume comes from an Indian Emperor Ashoka (304-232 BC) a qruel conquer who transformed to a relativley nice guy when he found Buddha.

Ashoka starts intriguing, there is a note that reminds me of lemon balm, which is not mentioned among the ingredients and there is also something thats reminds me of sandalwood. The fragrance has a slight spicy, green, almost foody character, much like green currypaste smoothed by coconut milk. This early stage of Ashoka reminds me of the context of (even if not smelling close) the gourmand (= Asian food, not sweeties) Etat Libre d'Orange Fils de Dieu du riz et des Agrumes, but Ashoka is more distinct in style. After a while notes of figs, both leaf and fruit, enters. The fignotes are so well blended that they don't stand out separately, they contributes with their different ascpects of green, the smooth, milky fruit and the fizzy green of the leaves. Watery and a tad powdery floral notes adding additional dimensions to the the milky fig greenery and the mix is somehow calming and comforting. It's like resting in the shadow at the side of a pond in an oriental garden a very hot day. When Ashoka is settled in the base, the green balsam fir and the incense is dominating and in this phase Ashoka reminds me of Andy Tauers Reverie au Jardin but smoother and milkier in texture.

My overall impression of Ashoka is an oriental styled interpretation of Un Reverie au Jardin, green notes, incense and balsam fir is mutual and take central roles in both fragrances. When I wear Ashoka I think of it as an warm Un Reverie au Jardin.  Ashoka is spicier, smoother and warmer where Un Reverie au Jardin is dewy, balmy and aromatic with its lavander. Even if providing a mutual impression in style, the differences are are sufficient, Ashoka and Un Reverie au Jardin are sort of Yin & Yang, which complement each other in an excellent way.

Ashoka is a high quality fragrance in which naturals are predominant. Fig, insence and fir balm in a smooth, green context is dominating according to my nose. Ashoka is intriguing and there is always something going on during the whole dry down. The longevity is good 12h+ and the radiance is a bit louder  than most of the first Neela Vermeire trio Mohur, Bombay Bling and Trayee. According to my nose, even if  unisex, Ashoka is the most masculine from the Neela Vermeire Creations so far. Probably thats the reason, even if a very well done fragrance, why Ashoka doesn't click with my chemistry as well as the first three creations and the retro beauty Mohur Extrait which will be reviewed later this week. Ashoka is a must try for admirers of the Neela Vermeire Creations and for fine fragrances in general.

Rating: 4

Notes: Fig leaf, leather, white and pink lotus, mimose, fig tree, osmanthus, rose, water hyacinth, vetiver, styrax, incense, sandalwood, myrrh, tonka bean, balsam fir

Ashoka and the other Neela Vermeire Creations could be bought directly from Neelas E-Boutique
I can recommend the discoveryset.

By Kilian - In the City of Sin

Picture: Still Life With Compotier, 

Painting by Paul Cezanne (ca 1879-1882)

Collection Mr. and Mrs. Rene Lecomte, Paris

Wikimedia commons

Sorry, but I get no sinful associations at all from this fleeting Calice Becker creation In the City of Sin. In the City of Sin is one of three initial offerings from the new ByKilian sub-line In the Garden of Good and Evil from handsome Hennessy heir, Kilian Hennessy. In the City of Sin is said to be "The temptation which leads to carnal desire".

In the City of Sin starts with a sparkling clean bergamot-cardamom dominated accord. Then some natural smelling fruity nots follows, there are no harsh chemical notes, instead the fruity notes are round, soft, fresh and perfectly ripe. The fruits reminds me of a tamer version of the fruity notes of Bombay Bling from Neela Vermeire creations.  The fruity notes are supported by a bright, pink rose and tha blend is grounded in a rather cold woody cedar-patchouli base.

As hinted above, instead of sinful, In the City of Sin is a quite innocent, very officefriendly scent that could be worn daytime year around but preferably during spring, summer and the early autumn. Nice and friendly but to be honest, nothing special when taking into account that In the City of Sin is created by the flower-champion Calice Becker. I have to admit that I like the two of many perfumistas critizised offerings of the Asian Tales line (Water Calligraphy and Bamboo Harmony) much better than this mediocre composition.

The question what is happening with the ByKilian brand is justified when smelling this fleeting (probably already fully IFRA-compliant) fragrance. Earlier there was body and strength in the By Kilians. The Arabian Nights collection is great as also many of the fragrances of the initial L'oeuvre Noire line.

Rating: 3

Notes: Bergamot, pink pepper, cardamom, apricot, plum, turkish rose, incense, atlas cedar, patchouli

A summary of Neela Vermeire Creations

At first as I read about the Neela Vermeire Creations I was sceptic because the fact that the hyper-producitve Bertrand Duchaufour is the nose. I have to make clear that I really like many of BD:s creations for example Nuit de Tubereuse and Dzongka are two of my top favourites and his Sienne l'Hiver and Bois d'Ombrie are performing well on Mr Parfumista. But in the latest years Bertrand seems to be everywhere, he works for so many houses and projects that it is easy to assume that he will be exhausted and loose the artistic feeling. Therefore my expectations, when I ordered the discovery set, was: High quality perfumes, blends of superior ingredients and technical perfected but without the artistic sense.

I could not be more wrong. All three of Neela Vermeires creations is all of that mentioned above but also with a great artistical sense that is able transmit the images of India (and lot of other images) that the perfumes will convey. Maybe it is Neela who stands for the sentiment of those lovely creations, but also Bertrand definitly demonstrates his artistic skills.

All three of the Neela Vermeire creations are just great and a pleasure to wear. I had a hard time ranking them and even if I have rated all of them as 5 there is of course a ranking within the best rating. Before testing, from what I had read about the pefumes, I thought the rose-oud Mohur would be my favorite as like oud/rose combinations since years. But as often in perfumeland, the obvious candidate in advance, is overtaken by another when it comes to the real test. up to day the spicy oud Trayeé is number one, followed by the original, best fruity blend so far, Bombay Bling with the beautiful pink rose Mohur in bronze position. I guess that Mohur got distanced because I think it's the one of the three fragrances that is as least original compared to other perfumes.

Neela Vermeire Creations is definitly some of the very best fragrances launched during 2011.

Neela Vermeire Creations - Bombay Bling

Picture: Different views from Mumbai (Bombay),

Photo: Permission CC-BY-SA-2.0, Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved.

Neela Vermeire Creations first three fragrances composed by the hyper-productive nose Bertrand Duchaufour, are three oriental olfactory gems compund by (as I perceive it and have read elsewhere) very fine ingredients. Bombay Bling is one of them and the one that I thought would be the less interesting of the three, the other are the spicy-woody Trayeé and the rosy Mohur. But sniffing from the bottles, I have bought the discoveryset of 3x10 ml which I really recommend, the one that caught my attention at first was Bombay Bling. Bombay Bling will capture the essence of the modern India.

Bombay Bling is the best fruity fragrance that I have experienced so far. There is not the artificial-chemical-sweet fruitiness, this is ripe, spicy, sturdy, "earthy/stone" fruits as melon (but not the calone-note) mango, litchi, embedded in subdued tropical flowers. Caradmom is present during the whole developement of the scent. The base there is a well balanced sandalwoody-vanilla underscored by gentle tobacco leaves. The whole composition is well blended, balanced and interesting during it's whole dry down. The first time I sampled Bombay Bling it almost vanished, as my skin was eaten the scent. But subsequent attempts proved that with a higher dose Bombay Bling is almost perfect.

Even if not very similar to Bombay Bling gives me associations to Missoni by Missoni, the dark sweet fruity notes,  the same with Casmir by Chopard but that one is more oriental ans sweeter. An airy, aquatic version of the theme is Hermès Un Jardin apres la Mousson where the cardamom and the melon are the common denominators. Calé Tepidarium also, even if citrusladen and sharper, have traces of the special Bombay Bling fruitiness but without the spiciness.

Bombay Bling is a extremly comfortable fruity-spicy oriental, wearable at most occasions, except for sport. I can image it will be just perfect to wear during a warm summer evening.

Rating: 5

Notes: Cardamom, caraway, labdanum, litchi, mango, black currant, jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, ylang-ylang, frangipani, rose, patchouli, cedar- and sandal wood, other woody notes, tobacco, vanilla.