By Kilian - Smoke for the Soul

Picture: Kilian himself personify
his new line - Addicted State of Mind
Smoke for the Soul
Photo: PR By Kilian (c)

Smoke for the Soul is one of three fragrances that constitutes the start of a new By Kilian subline called "The addicted state of mind.  Smoke for the Soule is created by perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin.

Smoke for the Soul starts cold and slight mentholic, probably from the eucalyptus, soon a bitter citric note appears,  followed by a note close to dry, unsweet liquorice. After a while the smoke appears, a smoke similar to the smell of a forest fire. When the smoke subsides, the cold green mentholic accord comes forward again, accompanied by a natural smelling cardamon note. There is also something that smells similar to wet tobaccoleaves glimpsing in the background. The overall structure is sharp, woody, cold spicy/herbal.

Picture: Smoke for the Soul
Photo: PR By Kilian (c)

Overall Smoke for the Soul is a weird perfume. At first it's easy to be confused and condemn it as a high-end but easy going fragrance, likable for most people. But soon I become aware of my mistake, Smoke of the Soule is alternately repulsive and likeable, feels alternately refreshing and depressing. It has something familiar but overall it's a strange composition. It's lighter and more fleeting than some other fragrances with "drug" elements such as Nasomatto Black Afgano ticker, a bit sweeter and fullbodied compared with SftS and Parfumerie Generale Cozë also sweeter,denser and more spicy/herbal. When the fresher sides of SftS shines through, there is something (the chilly herbal quality) in the overall apperance that reminds med of
De Bachmakow from The Different Company.

Smoke for the Soul is suitable (in small doses) for daytime wear but not in too warm or too cold temperatures, perhaps autumn and spring is the best seasons for this fragrance. Overnight longevity and sillage is close. It's classified as unisex and I agree with that, it's totally genderless.

Not my favorite By Kilian but as always with the Kilians a wellcrafted, high quality fragrance that at least creates a reaction, which is not common among the current releases.

Rating: 4

Notes: Eucalyptus, grapefruit, tobacco, mate, birch, cashmirwood, cannabis, cardamom

By Kilian - Imperial Tea

Picture: Flower close up of Jasminum officinale
Photo: B.traeger (cc) some rights reserved, Wikimedia Commons

Imperial Tea is the other of the two latest releases in the By Kilian Asian Tales Collection, a collection with transparent, elegant and relaxing fragrances of high quality ingredients. Even if delicate in style, the Asian Tales fragrances have good lastingpower and sillage to be modern, light compositions. The Asian Tales line IMO is especially good for spring and summer. Imperial Tea is created by Claice Becker with the intention to recreate the olfactive impression of  a freshly brewed cup of exquisite jasmine tea.

Imperial Tea starts with a beautiful, very natural smelling jasmine, which is sparkling, light and uplifiting. After a while a contrasting almost green a bit tart, chalky note appears which remainds me of the smell in the oyster colored Jugendstyled bathroom of my grandmother. This note, is also present for a while in By Kilian Playing with The Devil and just a tad denser also in Vanille Tonka from Parfums de Nicolaï. When Imperial Tea dries down, it is obvious that  the jasmine is not as clean as the initial impression. In the middlenotes the animalic undertone of jasmine appears, contrasting the cleaner notes just as the chalky note persist. The teanote of Imperial Tea is subtle and just accompaning the jasmine. It is a light, gentle, white teanote, like silver tip tea and there is absolutely non of the for many teafragrances typical harsh, wet wipe note. The teanote of Imperial Tea is the best subtle teanote that I have smelled in perfume so far. In the basenotes, Imperial Tea becames darker in its tonality but the wellbalanced jasmine, tea, green chalky, slight animalic combo still persists.

Picture Bai Hao Yin Zhen tea leaves (white tea)
Photo: lateasquirrel (cc) some rights reserved, Wikipedia Commons

Imperial Tea is perfect for sipping white tea in a blooming jasmine bower a warm early summer day. It's a casual chic fragrance, perfect for daytime wear and is also very suitable for office. Compared to the other By Kilian which feature jasmine, Love and Tears, Imperial Tea is more minimalistic and less flowery in style. Both fragrances are classied as unisex and to my nose Love and Tears leaning more to the feminine side than Imperial Tea which is positioned in the middle but also slight more feminine. Longevity is for a day, if freely applied, the sillage is close, a true wristsniffer. This is a must have for summer :-)

Rating: 5

Notes: Jasmine, tea

By Kilian - Sacred Wood

Picture: Santalum Album in Hyderabad
Photo: J.M Garg (cc) some rights reserved,
Wikimedia Commons

Sandalwood perfumes are a tricky fragrance cathegory for me. The iconic  Guerlain Samsara is too bold for me (even if my friend Fragrancefanatic have some anosmic problems with it), the heavy sandalwood + curry(?) Serge Lutens Santal de Mysore which is the only fragrance so far that has caused me an allergic reaction, Parfums Frederic Malle Dries van Noten is a bit too sweet and almondcookie like too remind me of the real wood. Etro Sandalo (old version) is good but maybe a bit too dense. And so one could go on... Until now, when I have found my ideal sandalwood (so far): By Kilian Sacred Wood from the Asian Tales Collection, as most Kilians created by Calice Becker. CB is well known for her excellent floral interpretations but apparently she is also a champion of woods. As a composition Sacred Wood is built around the olfactive impression of Mysore Sandalwood. This sandalwood is prohibited to use because of over-exploitation and a similar accord has been  reconstituted in Sacred Wood.

Sacred Wood starts with delicious sparkling, transparent sandalwood. The cocosaccent in the sandalwood is distinct in the operning and is almost flowery and reminicent of the cocoslike note in tubereuse. Soon there is also a tart, slight, fizzy but in the same time smooth and milky green note contrasting the sandalwood. The milky green note reminds me of fig, not a listed note but the effect is similar. The sandalwood, tart milky fig combination persists during the whole dry down of Sacred Wood but as longer the fragrance dries down the more prominent the sandalwood is. In the later basenotes, the impression is of solid, warm sandalwood.

Picture: Sacred Wood By Kilian
Photo: PR By Kilian (c) 

Sacred Wood somehow reminds me of a woody Annick Goutal Ninféo Mio and is just as this dark green.figgy  fragrance, a perfect companion for summer. Even if transparent in texture, Sacred Wood is a powerful fragrance that lasts for almost 24h and has a medium sillage. Its warmth makes it also nice to wear during the colder month. Sacred Wood is suitable both for work and festive occasions, an elegant,  sandalwood in a contemporary but in the same time timeless interpretation.

Rating: 5

Notes: Sandalwood oil, milk, wood, spices

Fragrances for Easter

Picture: Easter postcard early 20th century
Wikipeda Commons

During the years my Easterfragrances mostly have been from the following cathegories: Incense, gourmand or green. This year therefore I'll feature one favorite from each category that will fit for Easter in some sense.

Passage d'Enfer (L'Artisan Parfumeur): The well balanced incensenote combined with an elegant white lily gives me associations of a cathedral in Easter. Rays of springlight flowing through the high, gotic windows and the voices from the choir is rises towards the gotic arches.

Imperial Tea (ByKilian):Technically this is of course not a gourmand but as I've a bit stomach ache and less appetite than usual, nothing really gourmand attracts me at the moment. It does however this refreshing and calming jasminetea fragrance. Review will follow next week.

Déjà de Printemps (Oriza L. Legrand): What could be more springlike green than the crisp and fresh leaves of springtime bulbflowers, fresh grass and glimpses of Lily of the Vally. Déjà de Printemps captures a just blooming springgarden perfectly.

Happy Easter!

Fragrance(s) of the week (14) 2014 - Kilian and more....

Picture: Kilian Hennessy,
the founder of  ByKilian
Photo: PR ByKilian (c)

Today I'm testing one of the new ByKilans from the Asian Tales collection: Sacred Wood. A great fragrance which I'll review when I have tried it a few more times. This week, I entered the Kilian-universe again, wearing the delicious honeyed tobacco Back to Black which has been neglected for too long. This made me think of one of my favorites flowers last summer, Water Caligraphy which is a fragrance that I have grown to love. See my updated review. The other floral favorites last summer was Annick Goutal Néroli (the discontinued Edt) and the perfect pink rose Rose Perfection by Robert Piguet. Now I'm longing for summer and the fragrance summer wardrobe.

PS: What a coincidence, the two "coverboys" of the perfume world, Pierre Guillaume and Kilian Hennessy in two entries in a row :-)

Parfums MDCI - Nuit Andalouse

Picture: Innenhof der Alhambra, 1892Painting by Adolf Seel (1829-1907)
Wikimedia commons

Nuit Andalouse is the other of the two latest launches from Parfums MDCI, Cuir Garamante was reviewed in the prior post. Nuit Andalouse is created by the risning star in the perfumers Pantheon: ISIPCA graduated perfumer Cecile Zarokian which created (together with Daniel Maurel) the epic Epic Woman for Amouage when she still was a trainee at Robertet!

Nuit Andalouse starts with a sort of stripped down, elegant gardenia and cool violet, green notes contrasted with a zesty orange. This is not the usual big white floral burst which is the start of  most orange, this is more elegant and muted. As Nuit Andalouse developes, the flowery notes gets sweeter and deeper, but not as sweet and liqueur-ish as in By Kilian Sweet Redemption, this is a natural, floral, nectar sweetness. A restrained and almost dry in texture musk is present in during the whole drydown, contributing with a slight hay-ish impression. The whole impression of Nuit Andalouse is that of a transparant but not at all cologne-ish orangeblossom fragrance.

Picture: The Deluxe falcons of Parfums MDCI,
there is also a plain version
Photo: PR Parfums MDCI (c)

Nuit Andalouse is a beautiful, well-made, elegant and very wearable orangeblossom fragrance. Maybe not that innovative or avantgarde but a high-quality, classic fragrance in a style that is timeless. Perfect to wear year around, both for office and dressed up. This is a fragrance that really cheers up a grey, chilly winterday and blooms a hot summerday. Sillage is medium and longevity for 12h+.

Those who like lovely and uplifting orangeblossoms such as L'Artisan Parfumeurs Seville à l'Aube, Robert Piguet Blossom, Maison Francis Kurkdjian APOM Femme and Oscar de la Renta Granada will probably also like Nuit Anadalouse.

Rating: 4

Updated rating November 2015: 5 

After more wearings since the review this one has grown and I have to adjust the rating as it's a very versatile and beautiful orangeblossom with excellent longevity, on fabric for weeks.

Notes: Orange, violet, green notes, gardenia, ylang-ylang, rose, orange blossom, vanilla, sandalwood, musk, amyl salicylate (light flower/cutted gras musk note)

PS: Parfums MDCI offers generous 12 ml bottles in the samplesets on their website 

The perfumed year 2013

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Time to summerize some perfume related matters from 2013:

* The year started with the intention to say something perfumewise or perfumerelated each Saturday in the "Fragrance(s) of the week" post. This routine lasted as long as three quaters of the year then it subsided. Writing two posts a week, which usually are reviews, is just enough having a full time job in a complete different business, family etc.

* My Twitter also subsided after almost two years of SOTD tweeting. In the end I almost felt exhausted about this daily compulsion. In 2014 I'll try a middle course, tweeting for a  week now and then.

* During the year I tested, sniffed just for short briefs or evaluated fragrance testings outsourced to Mr Parfumista, a number of ca 135 fragrances. It  means that in about 37% of the days of 2013, some form of perfume evaluating activity took place. Upon this there are of course also fragrances just worn which I have not written about but I have registrated most of them in my "scentmemoey" as references.

*In 2013 there was just one or two fragrance free days and this was when I had a stomach flu. When I'm cold and can't smell anything I put on a light cologne for its ambience. In 2014 the sniffing rate will slow down (I think).

*Days when there are no fragrance assessments on the agenda I relax in comforting fragances as for example the Piguets, the Goutals, the By Kilians or the Hermes Colognes or just appreciate the classics. For example Guerlain Mitsouko is far more interesting than most of the new releases even in its current formula.

*I'll coming back to my perfume testing routines in a post next year, ie how I test and evaluate for a full review.

* In 2013, even if there where many good releases, my nose become a bit jaded. There is nothing wrong with the releases as such, but when sniffing a lot of fragrances, in the end, not many of them stands out. Different  fragrances within a certain category are generally very close in style and smell. When reviewing I try to don't let this affect the assessment as such, I like to compare them with other fragrances captured in the scentmemory.

* 2013 was also the year when the EU restrctions which became effective July 1 would put an end to many of the classics so I've stocked up some during the first half of the year, just to be sure. Today it seems as in reality nothing has happened, but who knows when the old stocks runs out.

* At the moment there are some positive signs about the perfumed future. I read somewhere on Bois de Jasmin that Victoria had smelled a new batch of Mitsouko which was very good and smelled much more like the vintage version. Some newly invented/improved moss substitutes are probably the reason for that. Hopefully this is just the start for new inventions and who knows, in the end and taken as a whole, maybe the restrictions dosen't matter. Maybe something even better comes out of this within a few years.

I wish all readers a Happy New 2014!

Parfums de Nicolaï - Rose Oud

Picture: Rose Oud
Photo: PR Parfums de Nicolaï (c)

Rose Oud is the rosy one of the two newly launched perfumes by Parfums de Nicolaï containing the famous oudnote. As always the owner of the house the Guerlain descendant, ISIPCA graduated perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï has created the fragrance.

Rose Oud starts with the most natural smelling raspberry note I've smelled so far. The rose that follows is light, fresh and medium pink in color. The raspberry lends it a jammy but discrete character. In this stage Rose Oud reminds me of another Nicolaï Jardin Secret but Rose Oud is softer. As Rose Oud dries down the rose gets more dominant but it's soft, gentle slight creamy, very comforting, not a power rose. The rose is interacting with to my nose non-descript light florals togehter with a light, refined, woody mix. When Rose Oud reaches the basenotes I can smell a sparkling note similar to geranium that I recognize from Mona di Orio Oud and I think this is the oud probably natural or at least a high precentage of natural, as the syntetic ones smells much stronger, headier, rougher and darker. But I no expert so I'll just guess. To summerize the basenotes, they smell close to, but creamier and lighter, the base of Amber Oud.

Rose Oud is overall a wellcarfted, wearable, "take no risks" fragrance. It is discrete, elegant and proper for daily officewear. It's even lighter in apperance than Amber Oud but has a good longevity on skin, traces are there after 12h+.

Just as Amber Oud, Rose Oud is an un-oudy oud, it's a wellcrafted, discrete, flowery fragrances, where oud is one supporting note among others in the base. Rose Oud had no similarities with By Kilians Rose Oud which is a traditional rose-oud creation with these two notes dominating.

Rating: 4

Notes: Raspberry, artemisia, osmanthus, rose, lily-of-the-valley, oud, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, musk, castoreum, amber

Parfums de Nicolaï - Amber Oud

Picture: Amber Oud
Photo: PR Parfums de Nicolaï (c)

Amber Oud is one of two newly launched perfumes by Parfums de Nicolaï containing the famous oudnote. As always the owner of the house the Guerlain descendant, ISIPCA graduated perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï has created the fragrance.

Amber Oud starts with a light animalic, almost barnyard like accord followed by lavender and herbal notes. Something in the mix, probably the interaction between some of the ingredients, smells almost as dry pineapple with hints of an also dry vanilla note. In this part Amber Oud strangely enough reminds me of an unsweet version of Sonia Rykiel Belle en Rykiel. The lavender cinnamon that is present in Amber Oud also reminds med of another Nicolaï, the bolder Maharadjah. As Amber Oud continues to develope in the heart, light spices and the amber emerges. The amber is of the herbal, not boozy or vanillic, variety, the same style of amber as in Maître Perfumeur et Gantier Ambre Precieux but softer. Parfums de Nicolaï Amber Oud should therefore not be compared to its namesake ByKilian Ambre Oud as the latter is of the amber-vanillic type. In Nicolaï Amber Oud there are also woody notes supporting the spices and one of them is oud which blends seamless with the other and add some dept to the woody part. This is just like the contribution of the oud in Mona di Orio Oud where the oud is so well integrated that I don't think of it as a oudfragrance, but as as a well balanced fragrance with woody notes. In the basenotes the animalic vibe from the start of Amber Oud returns but in this stage it is smoother, surrounded by balsamic and slight powdery notes, and later on a deeper, darker, slight boozy note which also is present in Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Ambre Doré (another fragrane on the amber-oud theme but less herbal despite it's heritage from Ambre Precieux) appears and is present until the last traces of Amber Oud, almost 24 h after application.

Despite Amber Ouds extensive notelist, the fragrance is overall minimalistic in apperance, it is comforting as in the same time casual chic. The fragrance developes step by step in a wellbehaved manner and it is classic in apperance and very wearable. Even if not smelling alike, I  instinctively come to think of Guerlain Heritage but also Habit Rouge when it comes to the well mannered style of Amber Oud. As a wearer, one have to appreciate a developement "in the small" as Amber Oud is all about nuances, there is nothing bold or glaringly with it. Amber Oud is polite and proper in many situations and will not interfere for example in the workplace. Even if unisex I think this one is the most masculine of the two Nicolaï oud-launches.

Amber Oud is a good representative of the "second oud generation" fragrances where oud is one of the interacting and supporting notes and not the dominating note and theme of the fragrance as the "first
oud generation" like the Montales, Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud etc. Amber Oud is a fragrance with oud which I don't think of as an oud, to me it's an aromatic-spicy-balsamic fragrance.

Rating: 5

Notes: Lavender, thyme, sage, artemisia, cinnamon, saffron, oud, cedar, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, styrax, musk, castoreum, amber.

By Kilian - Musk Oud

Picture: Autumn dark, pink rose
Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Musk Oud is the last episode in By Kilians Arbian Night Collection preceded by Pure Oud 2009, Rose Oud 2010, Incense Oud 2011 and Ambre Oud 2012. Musk Oud is created by Alberto Morillas.

Musk Oud starts with bright, sort of clean light fruity and spicy notes, the impression is a natural freshness. From the beginning a pink, slight musky rose, deepened by a gentle oudnote, is also present. The rose-spice-musk and oud combo is gentle and brings an air of sophisticated comfort. The more Musk Oud dries down, the more the fragrance simplifies when it comes to perceived notes. The oud-rose combo climbes forward and when entering the second half of the dry down, Musk Oud resembles any conventional basic oud-rose combo with one exception: A very light, barely discernible boozy, slight sour, note appears which is somehow a  little annoying to me. When reaching the basenotes, the fragrance is very oud-y.

The overall impression is that of a good, easy to wear, standard rose-oud. The sillage is great and so is the longevity, 24h. Musk Oud is wearable any time of the year. Of the By Kilan offerings of 2013 Flower of Immortality and Playing with the Devil, Musk Oud is the one that impresses me the least. On the other hand, Playing with the Devil is one of the best releases of all 2013 IMO. Absolutely nothing wrong with Musk Oud, but I have smelled the same for almost a decade and has become a bit jaded.

Rating: 3

Notes: Lemon, cardamom, coriander; cypress, rose, geranium, artemisia, rum, incense, agarwood, musk, patchouli.

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

Coquillete - Impressions of Herat & Moramanga

Picture: Coquillete minis
Photo: PR Coquillete (c)

My impressions of the fragrances of the Coquillete line is continuing today with short reviews of Herat and Moramanga:

Herat: Sort of well-behaved and fresh ELDO Jasmine & Cigarettes but without the off-putting old-cologne/dirty notes that I percieve from J&C. Herat is cigarettesmoke, jasmine, fresh tobacco-and balsamic notes, the incense and the other fumes are rather quiet to my nose. When Herat dries down it takes an unexpected twist, suddenly it smells like a less distinct and weaker Cuiron  the unfortunately discontinued contemporary Helmut Lang leather. I think Herat is a unisexfragrance but from the four Coquilletes Herat it is the most masculine offering.

Rating: 4

Notes: Tobacco, jasmine, ylang-ylang, amber, cannabis, myrrh, labdanum, incense, moss, vetiver, ambergris

Moramanga: Starts with a beautiful fleshy jasmineaccord which reminds med of the Serge Lutens jasmine classic A la Nuit. As Moramanga dries down other tropical flower appears and underscores the jasmine just as the vanilla/musk and warm resinnotes in the base. If I didn't already owned A la Nuit Moramanga would be a candiate for the lush jasmine in the perfumewardrobe.

Rating: 4

Notes: Jasmine, gardenia, iris, tolu balsam, opoponax, benzoin, tubereuse, ylang-ylang, vanilla, musk

The Coquillete fragrances are all pleasant and easy to wear with good longevity and moderate to medium projection. They are non-offensive and totaly officefriendly. The fragrances are good for summer, these are the type of fragrances that intensifies in warm weather and longevity is good about more or less a day tested in hot weather. The overall impression is that one fragrances is in the same pleasable and wearable track as the By Kilian In The Garden of Good and Evil - line (Sulmona), two gentler, not as edgy, ELD'O-styled releases (Herat, Sumatera) and one in the classic soliflore-genre (Moramanga). The line is well worth trying if searching for a comfortable, not so complicated but in the same time interesting, good smelling fragrance. A set of minibottles of 5 ml each is avaible and provides a good option for extensive testing.

Fragrance(s) of the week (31-35) 2013 - Worth waiting for....

Picture: Just varnished vintage Grythyttan A2:s  *)
outside the archipelago house, July 2013
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Most of the summer is gone and so is also most of the vacation. But there is still warm and wonderful summer outside and mostly I'm wearing light and easy to wear fragrances.At the moment I'm not especially intrigued of new releases but there are some that triggers my interest from fragrances that will be launched this autumn and I hope I get the opportunity to test at least some of:

Parfums de Nicolaï: At least two oud fragrances aimed to the Middle East market. Oud and the technical skillful Patricia de Nicolaï can't go wrong.

Serge Lutens: As usual the Exclusive of the year from SL is worth waiting for. This years Iron maiden, La Vierge de Fer which is said to be a hard, ironlike lily with incense, seems promising.

Mona di Orio: As Monas perfums are among my most treasured, I'm of course intrigued by the Les Nombres d'Or La Violette Fumee even if I suspect it's leaning more to the masculine side.

Andy Tauer: Seems to experimenting with some exclusive roseextract from Afganisthan in order to release a rose centred perfume before Christmas. Roses from Andy is must haves, as most of the other fragrances also.

ByKilian: The fourth fragrance of In the Garden of Good & Evil collection Playing with the Devil will be launched during the autumn. I hope this one will be dark and dangerous in stye compared to the very wearable, well-behaved and well-crafted first three fragrances of the garden-line.

Robert Piguet: Always awaiting news from one of my all time favorite houses Robert Piguet. Insomnia, judged from the name this seems to be a truly  mysterious fragrance. I'm thankful for the extensive efforts of the Robert Piguet CEO Joe Garces to restore and further develope this fine perfumebrand. Here is an very interesting post from CaFleureBon describing this work.

Neela Vermiere Creations: The new Ashoka by Bertrand Duchaufour seems to be very good according to reports from the lucky ones that have the opportunity to test it. And Mohur Extrait will certainly be something that I like.

Update mid-August: Puredistance Black: A new Puredistance is annoncued for December and this is really something to looking forward to. I love this house, a dark follower to the terrific I, Antonia, M and Opardu is just great. Already planning for a review....

Which new releases are you looking forward to?

*) Grythyttan A2 is one of the most (if not the most) classical swedish garden furniture, the A2 chair and table was designed to the Stockholm exhibition 1930 and are still produced. The set on the picture is from the late 1940s/early 50s and have since then stood the test of the sometimes hard weather of the archipelago with just minor repairs and varnishing.

Teo Cabanel - Méloé

Picture:Hay Harvest at Éragny by Camille Pissarro 1901,
Wikimedia commons, (cc) some rights reserved (PD-1923)

Méloé is created by perfumer Jean-Francois Latty for the perfumehouse Téo Cabanel. This house were originally started in Algiers in 1893 but moved to Paris 1908. The house were re-started 2005 and have launched several new fragrances since then, most famous is the floral-oriental Alahine.

Méloé start with sparkeling citrus-/mandarinenotes, offsetted by a slight bitter (in a good way), powdery bergamotnote. There is also a touch of herbal and spicy notes, nutmeg is appears clearly to me and also a touch of basil. Méloé is fresh but not in a chemical or sweet way and the florals seems equally balanced with herbs and spice and the fragrance feels somehow natural and wellblended. There is also an almost watery-floral touch to Méloé, like in Oscar de la Renta Live in Love and By Kilian Water Calligraphy, but in Méloé the watery impression is much more subdued, even if still there, than in the two related fragrances. In the basenotes there is a white musk supported by mossy and woody notes, which deepens the fragrance in a bit darker nuances of green. All together, Méloé to me is a sort of aromatic-floral, not fruity-floral as I have read somewhere. 

Picture: Méloé in its stylish bottle.
Photo: PR Parfums Téo Cabanel

Méloé is an upliftining, surprisingly longlasting fragrance.The blend is specified as an Eau Légére, which is supposed to be lighter than an Edt, but I can smell whiffs of it after almost 24h on skin and on fabric some days after the day I was wearing it. Méloé is suitable for daytime wear, especially for spring and summer, but also, as lighter fragrances lasts better in autumn/winter, for days when longing for something lighter during the darker and colder.

Even if Méloé bears similarities with other fragrances in the light, refreshing, floral genre it has its own identity, the green herbal tinge and slight bitter (in a positive way) note.

Even if not similar fragrances but similar in expression, those who enjoy De Bachmakov (also herbal notes) from The Different Company, Dior Escale à Pondichéry (the flower and spice) and Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte (the green, slight bitter flowers) also could like Méloé.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, mandarin, lemon, lavender, basil, neroli, orange blossom, jasmine, nutmeg, musk, moss, amber, woody notes

By Kilian - Flower of Immortality

Picture: Peach Blossoms  (1878)
Oil on canvas by Winslow Homer
 Wikimedia commons

Flower of Immortality is the third installment in the By Kilian Asian Tales line. FoI is, like most of the Kilians, created by Calice Becker. The Asian Tales line is aimed to the asian market and features subtle, transparant fragrances as these type of fragrances is said to be preferred there. The first two fragrances of the line were the elegant but in the same time refreshing Water Calligraphy and Bamboo Harmony.

Flower of Immortality starts with mouthwatering topnotes of peach (the fruit) accompanied by a note that feels like peachblossom. The peachnote is very realistic and I havn't smelled peachblossoms but I can image a scent like this. This is the best peachaccord since MDCI Parfums Peche Cardinal even if that one is denser and a bit darker in its peachy loveliness. In the middlenotes the peaches calms down but is still clearly present when the contrasting, cool iris accompanied by a subtle rose appears. There is not the carrotsmelling earthy iris, which surprises me as according to the list of ingredients there is also carrotseeds in the blend, the iris is clean, powdery and polite, just as the texture of FoI in the middle and basenotes. I also think that the tonkabeen mentioned among the ingredients adds a powdery warmth to the fragrance.

Picture: By Kilian Flower of Immortality
Photo: PR By Kilian

Flower of Immortality is a polite, elegant, refreshing, officefriendly and easy to wear fragrance, perfect for spring and summer especially for days when the only wish perfumewise is to be ensured smelling very good. In some way FoI is almost too perfect, it smells so good, is so wellconstructed and is so wellbehaved that I suspect the wearer could be a bit bored if wearing this to often. The only drawback is that FoI fades away quickly and is just a too faint trail of the scent after a few hours.

Rating: 4

Notes: White peach, carrot seeds, iris, black currant, rose, tonka bean

Robert Piguet - Chai

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Chai is a green fragrance accentuated by  flowery notes grounded in subtle and smooth, lingering teanotes. Chai is a part of the Robert Piguet Pacific Collection which is created by Aurelien Guichard.

Chai starts with a burst of the same fresh teanote that is the maintheme of the classic Bulgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert. The fresh teanote quickly enters to the background but emphasizes the sparkling green freshness of the scent of just cutted  greenery and a gentle touch of white flowers, probably orangeblossom. A touch of a subdued citrusnote is also present. As Chai reaches the basenotes a wellbalanced smoky teannote joins the light teanote and the pronounced notes of greenery. A waxy note smoothens and warms the texture of Chai. Teafragrances are often cold and bright but Chai is warm and gentle in it's apperance. The smoky note is gentle, it's not the sharp smokiness of Lapsang souchong but a smooth smokiness. The smoky note reminds me somehow of a light version of the pleasant almost cigarette smoky note of my favourite Carner Barcelona, D600 . This smoky note is also present in another favourite, Annick Goutals herbal, smoky Nuit Etoilee. Finally there is (of course) also similarities to the smoky teanotes of L'Artisan Parfumeurs masterpiece Tea for Two but the smoky notes are subdued in Chai compared to Tea for two.

Chai is the perfect daytime spring and summerfragrance, also wearable in the colder month when longing for the summer. This green fragrance is suitable both for work and casual and even if bright and light in texture, Chai is sort of compact and not att all fleeting in its structure. The sillage is medium and the longevity for at least 12h.

Chai is suitable for wearers who likes the two perfumestyles indicated above: "Pure" tea fragrances and fragrances grounded with transparent, fresh lighten cigarette smoky notes. Other tea fragrances that comes to my mind when testing out Chai are Dior Escale à Pondichery (bergamot, jasmin, spices, black tea) and ByKilian Bamboo Harmony (bergamot, neroli, spices, tea).

To me Chai is the star of the Pacific Collection. An uplifting, comfortable fragrance, just in time with the color of 2013: Green.

Rating: 5

Notes: Bergamot leaves, white tea, (white flowers), beewax, mate tea

Jimmy Choo - Flash

Picture: Flash the latest Jimmy Choo release
Photo by Jimmy Choo (c)

As a longtime parfumista I shouldn't (of course) like Jimmy Choo latest fragrance Flash, but I have to confess, I really do like this mainstream release. Flash, created by experienced perfumer Christine Nagel, is a diluted and thin floral fragrance, so typical for a IFRA/EU compliant 2013 release even though, it has something appealing in its appearance. Maybe it's the contemporay interpreation of the cold white floral notes backed up by some light and spicy notes.

Flash starts flowery with a contemporary stripped down, cold tubereuse matched with a jasmine and a lily handled in the same way. The indolic, animalc notes are far away, and there is also no creamy aspects as for in example the lily dominated Baiser Volé from Cartier. Instead Flash has cold and clean and in the same time pleasant smelling flowers accentuated with a slight just recognizable note of frozen strawberries. The strawberrynote is not particular sweet, I percieve it as wellbalanced. Flash is quite linear in structure, but in the basenotes, some to the chilly impression, contrasing, light spicy, warmer notes appears as also a pleasant slight soapy note. Overall Flash is cold and the pale purple color of the juice is a perfect match to the feeling Flash intermediate: Its texture is like a pale, purple chiffon veil.

Flash is a very uplifting perfume, refreshing and even if pale, somehow distinctive. It's the perfect perfume for days when tired or even with a hang over. Flash is also a comfortable, non-offensive, office fragrance, versatile and a easy choice for days when not knowing what to wear. Flash will also be a good fragrance for spring. Despite Flash is representing the pale and almost bodyless structure of a modern mainstream, the longevity is almost 24h.

There is some similarities in style with the In the Garden of Good and Evil fragrances from ByKilian but Flash is more distinct, less fruity and maybe a bit sharper in edges but it definitly gives a greater value for the money. Another fragrance that strangely comes to my mind when wearing Flash in its basenotes is the transparant, smooth-spicy Rima XI from Carner Barcelona. It's probably the light spiciness just detectable in Flash that is the common link as also the chiffonlike texture of both frgrances even if the Rima XI veil is white where Flash is purple, Rima XI is not flowery at all to my nose. Those who like Prada Infusion deTubereuse could also like Flash.

Rating: 4 *)

*) Even if Flash doesn't reach a 5 rating in the overall assessement, Flash is a fragrance that I personally like very much regardless the overall rating

Notes: Strawberry, tangerine, pink pepper, tubereuse, jasmine, lily, heliothrope, white woods

By Kilian - Forbidden Games

Picture: Boy with a Basket of Fruit
Oil of canvas by Michelangelo Merisi Cravaggio ca 1593
Wikimedia commons

Forbidden Games is the third installment in The Garden of Good and Evil line from By Kilian. Forbidden games is created by Calice Becker and is said to express the following: "When going beyond the boundaries has never been so exciting and dangerously attractive".

Forbidden Games starts a bit chemical, in a good way, fruity-floral, with emphasis on fruity, sort of like a compot of fruits as peach and apricots. Forbidden games is slight gourmand compared to the other two in the Garden of Good and Evil trio In the City of Sin and Good Girl Gone Bad. There is also like a light trail of cacaopowder glimpsing throughout the composition. As the rest of the trio very light and somehow thin and fleeting in charachter when taking into account the quite distinct ingredients mentioned in the notelist. A nice and good officescent that smells nice and can't harm anybody. Even if light the longevity is good almost for a day and the projection is close.

Just as hinted of in the In the City of Sin and Good Girl Gone Bad posts I suspect that  these sort of indistinct, fleeting charachters as I perceive from the Garden of Good and Evil  fragrances, is a good example of the coming, even more regulated perfumeworld that could be effective from 1 July 2013. Probably By Kilian is just pre-compliant.

Rating: 3

Notes: Apple, peach, plum, cinnamon, rose, geranium, jasmine, vanilla, honey, opoponax

By Kilian - Good Girl Gone Bad

Picture: Lü Ji, Birds in Osmanthus and Chrysanthemum,
13th century, Palace Museum, Beijing

Testing the next installment of the In the garden of Good and Evil subline of By Kilian, Good Girl Gone Bad. This almost natural smelling fruity-floral frag is created by Alberto Morillas. The spirit of the fragrance is described as "A woman who is game for anything in the world of love, of desire, of naughtiness"

Starts with fruity-flowery notes, osmanthus  contrubutes with the fruity-floral notes but there is also something similar to a mellow, yellow melon in the opening. Soon a tame tubereuse, some white flowers off-setted by a crisp but smooth narcissusnote appears. A very light creamy touch also appears in the middlenotes. There also some very light traces of cardamom (I think). Cardamom seems to be a it-note by now, Histoires de Parfums cardamomtrio Veni, Vidi, Vici is another example of this trend. The fruity-floral blend continues in the same style, supported by a conventional ambery-woody base.

To me there is nothing "Gone Bad" or naughty with this nice & fresh, totally officefriendly fragrance that could be worn in any season. There is more body to it than the initial perfume of the subline, In the City of Sin, but despite this, I percieve Good Girl Gone Bad as thin and uninteresting (I wonder if this depends on compliance with the new EU-regulations/IFRA selfregulations), but smelling nice. To me also GGGB just as ItCoS doesn't lend any remaining impression. On the other hand, Mr Parfumista think GGGB smells very good, "clean and wellblended not as the strange old-ladys scents you're insist to wear".To summon it all up: A nice smelling, easy to wear perfume that couldn't offend anybody. Taking the pricerange of By Kilian into account (if not buying the refills), I rather go for something mainstream, for example the Versace Vanitas Edt or Vanitas Edp if I wan't something in this uplifting, easy to wear style. The two latter also have a fuller body and are not fleeting.

Rating: 3+

Notes: Jasmine, osmanthus, may rose, tuberose, narcissus, amber, cedar

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