Oscar de la Renta - Oriental Lace

Picture: Lace fabric

Photo from Textile talk

Oriental Lace, the oriental in the Oscar de la renta Essentials Collection, has almost none of the classic oriental accords, besides the varm honeyd, vanilla base. It's a fragrance of its own which puzzled me during a day of wearing. First after twelve hours wearing  I could realate to what Oriental Lace reminds me of: Juicy Fruit chewing gum, in a positive way.

Oriental Lace starts with a transparant, sweet spicy (a touch of cinnamon and barely a touch of the fiery jamiacan pepper) accord. After a while it gets a bit thicker in texture, as a dry-creamy-powdery lipstick, a light smell of cacao glimpses. Even if oriental, in this stage there is almost a light chillyness which gives Oriental Lace the character of a somehow frech oriental. Reaching the basenotes, the fragrance gets warmer and deeper, honey, almond  and vanilla take the centerstage.

Besides  Juicy Fruit chewing gum oriental Lace also reminds me of a merrier and brighter alternative to Serge Lutens Rousse. There is also something that reminds me of the transparant sweet, spicyness of Carner Barcelona Rima XI. Oriental Lace, even if a bit different, is a uncomplicated, comfortable and non-disturbing fragrance, perfect to wear at work. There is something very appealing to it, probably the transparent take of the very sweet notes: The honey/vanilla is undoubtedly sweet and those who like dry-woody vanillas, may think it's too sweet. But as transparant in character, the sweetness never overwhelms. Sillage is close, longevity very good, 24h.

Rating: 3+

Notes: Honey, almond, cacao, waxplant, vanilla

Carner Barcelona - Rima XI

Picture: Meadow Elves (Ängsälvor), oil on canvas
by Nils Blommér 1850

Rima XI is a transparant spicy, floral, light gourmand perfume created by perfumer Sonia Constant for the Barcelonean nichehouse Carner Barcelona. Sonia Constant also created the powerful Cuirs for the house last year and with Rima XI she explores a quite different, lighter and more delicate style. The appearance of Rima XI lies in between Tardes and D600 by Carner Barcelona and closer to Tardes of the two.

Rima XI starts with an almost gourmand accord, similar to the bread and apricot acccord in Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau or the gourmand sandalaccord of Parfumerie Generale Praline de Santal, which to me is a Jeux de Peau follower. There is an almond, cardamon accord that shows up early in Rima X and which is more and less present during the dry down of the perfum. After a whlie, Rima XI suddenly evokes the olfactory image of a sort of sharper Bois Naufragé by Parfumerie Generale, the wood dried in the sun at the beach by the sea and the woody, sandy, slight salty nuances that emerges from this. After a while the sweet, gourmand, character appears again, like an almondcookie, it’s almost like the smell when sniffing in a cookie jar. There is also a discrete flowernote sneaking in to the blend.  This pastry impression remains during the whole development of Rima XI. There is not a oversweet impression, it’s surprisingly light and transparent and there is absolutly no risk that Rima XI will be overwhelming. The almondcookie seems to be offset by a note similar to spicy tea and this balances the fragrance in a delicate way. This accord reminds me of yet another Parfumerie Generale fragrance, Un Crime Exotique but tuned down multiple levels. As UCE is an extreme when it comes to “spieced beverages” inspirated perfumes, readers that dislike UCE should not fear trying Rima XI. As Rima XI is resting in the basenotes the impression still are flowers, almondcookies, spices and tea supported by woody notes.

Rima XI to me is a very versatile fragrance, contemporary in style despite its inspiration from a poem of the 19th Spanish poet G.A.Bécquer: “I am a dream, an impossible; vain ghost of mist and light; I am bodiless, I am untouchable; I cannot love you. – Oh, come, you come!”. IMHO this poem also could describe a the subtle precense of a beautiful perfume, like for instance Rima XI.

Rima XI is wearable year around and could be described as a comfortable and reliable parfume with a close sillage which makes it very officefriendly. The longevity is good. The spicy character, even if light, makes it suitable for daytime wearing during the upcoming Christmas just like another good fragrance for daytime Christmas fragrance, Aus Liebe Zum Duft No 1 (from the excellent german perfumeshop with the same name) which has similariteis in style with Rima XI but as a stronger and masculine alternative.

Rating: 4

Notes: Cardamom, black pepper, mint, saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, jasmine, coriander, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla, benzoin, soft amber, musk

Ramón Monegal – Dry Wood

Picture: Satureja Subspicata, Royal Botanic Garden Édinburgh
Photo by Peter Weis, (cc) Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved

Dry Wood is a dark green, mossy, herbal, woody fragrance from Ramón Monegal. It’s a very potent creation and just two tiny spritzes are almost too much. But very light applied, Dry Wood offers an unusual experience and even if containing the usual cedary, peppery notes of contemporary woody perfumers gendered at the masculine side, Dry Wood highlights the note in a different way, somehow better blended.

Dry Wood starts with a blast of dark greenery over a woody backgound. Some full and rounded citrusnotes glimmering through and gives the introduction a spakle, just like the ray of light is shining through the treetops in a dense fir and pine forest a sunny autumnday. Dry Wood is really very dry and masculine in it’s charcter but anyway somehow wearable by a woman. In the heartnotes Dry Wood becomes rounder and almost soapy in style, like a green, herbal, mossy soap. When the fragrance dried down a little bit further, a slight almost liqueur-like note appears and lasts for quite a whlie. This is the only hint of something on the edge to sweetness in Dry Wood, the rest is non-sweet. In the basenotes, Dry Wood gets sharper again, woodier, with peppery elements but well embedded in the woody, mossy, herbal, dark green facets. The greeness is like that of the undergrowth in a swedish fir and pineforest during the autumn, moss, coniferus, humic, dry- and moisty grass, heather and hebal plants. An interesting ingredient in Dry Wood is satureja(savory), an herbal plant related to thyme and rosemary, which in Sweden is used to speice aquavit with, I havn’t seen that note used in perfume before, but I can smell some thymerelated notes in the blend.

As mentioned above, Dry Wood has the neutronbomb power in sillage and strength, in the same division as Montale Aoud Musk and Carner Barcelona Cuirs even if it smells differently. I have read opinions that reviwers think Dry Wood is onedimensional, but to my nose it is not, if (now I’m repeating myself again) applied very sparingly. Because a “normal” application of  4-5 spritzes almost ruins Dry Wood, the ingredients gets messy. I experienced this when Mr Parfumista tested Dry Wood, by mistake applying too much. Sillage is huge and the longevity for several days if not taken a sauna to sweat it out.

I think admiers of the bold herbal and mossy fragrances of the 80s and of contemporary fragranceas as Amoauge Opus V and Montale Wild Oud could appreciate Dry Wood. Even if not smelling the same, they conveys the same impression.

Rating: 3+ (a good fragrance but too masculine to me)
Rating: 5*)

*)Update February 2017: Dry Wood is a hidden gem which deserves a better rating. One have to see through the masculine a bit colognelike topnotes and wait for the rest, ie when Dry Wood unfolds in its intriguing dry fresh woody aromatic layers.

Notes: Citron, bay leaf, pepper, moss, sandalwood, cedar, cashmeran, amber, woody notes, satureja

Robert Piguet – Bois Noir

Photo: Bois Noir de Robert Piguet
All rights reserved (c)

Bois Noir is one of five fragrances in the Nouvelle Collection by Robert Piguet that was introduced in 2012. Bois Noir is created by the “housenose” Aurelien Guichard.

Bois Noir starts almost loud with potent dry but warm woody-peppery notes and I suppose it’s the peppery aspects of the cedarwood as oud is not included in the notelist but there is of course possible there is a pinch of it in the blend. In the topnotes and most of the middlenotes Bois Noir is close to the powerful Cuirs by Carner Barcelona, but Cuirs is rougher, with more distinctive burned, leathery, woody, peppery, spicy notes. Cuirs has almost a hint of the smell of a hot sausage. Other fragrances that comes to my mind is Nasomatto Black Afgano even if that one is sweeter and with a slight, dark herbal touch. Also Montale Dark Oud with peppery oud that is balanced by warm sandalwood, is in the same style.

As Bois Noir drys down it becomes smoother and more balsamic in character. The patchouli is not evident as a distinctive note, it’s just there balancing all the woodiness with it’s earthy backdrop. Resiny and balsamic notes are stepping forward the more Bois Noir dries down. When settling in the base the woody notes is almost balsamic-creamy with a touch of sweetness from (I suppose) the labdanum supported with some delicate musk. This final stage lasts for much longer than 24 hours and it’s one of the most beautiful woody accords that I have experienced in a long time: It’s very addictive.

Bois Noir is a fragrance that is tricky to handle. As it’s very concentrated one has to be very careful when applying (two-three spritzes), if not it could be overhelming and almost headache-inducing. Even if similarities with other fragrances mentioned it’s an interesting fragrance that wins in the long run. It’s important not to dismiss it as another Cuirs or Black Afgano in it’s earlier stages, the following parts are well worth waiting for.Bois Noir is the best interpretation I smelled so far in this woody-peppery-spicy- style. It’s a fragrance with a very strong precense, a real statement, but without taking over the whole space.

To me Bois Noir is totally unisex even if I think that the “average perfume consumer” will say it’s leaning to the masculine side. Bois Noir is the perfect scent for the autumn, the storng, woody, peppery accords in the top and the almost creamy, spicy woodiness in the base perfectly accompanying a walk during a chilly autumnday with colourful rustling leaves around the feet. It’s also a good officescent at least I got compliments wearing it: “A very good smelling frag, it smells like autumn”.

Rating: 5

Notes: Gaiacwood, cedarwood, sandalwood, patchouli, balsam, cistus labdanum absolute

Carner Barcelona - Tardes

Picture: Tardes, afternon in the countryside

Photo: Carner Barcelona (c)

Carner Barcelona Tardes is created by one of my favourite perfumers Daniela Andrier, the housenose of Prada.In Tardes the founder of the house of Carner, Sara Carner, through Andriers nose will capture the peaceful summerafternoons in the catalonian countryside.

Tardes starts with slight chemical notes that disappears very fast and an airy almond shines through. Soon the almond is supported by flowers and some light herbal notes and it's not hard to imagine the source of inspiration to this balmy and calming fragrance. Tardes is fairly liniear during it's dry down and heliotrophe and musk are supporting and deepen the other notes in the base. I can feel a minior trace of the fresh lighted cigarettenote that I appreciate in D600 in the base, but it is just fragments compared to D600 . Maybe this cigarettenote is a part of the housenote of Parfums Carner, probably it's a part of the musk used in the base.
Tardes is an airy almondfragrance, not surprisingly as it's a creation of the queen of transparency and airiness Daniela Andrier. Tardes is not as sweet as most fragrances with almond as the dominating note. Fragrances as Etros Heliotrophe which has about the same sweetness but has more heliotrophe and tonka then Tardes, Kiss me tender (swedish) by Patricia de Nicolaï which is a pastry take on almond and heliotrophe which almost feels like marzipan. Fragrances as Dior Hypnotic Poison (swedish) and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Castelbajac  (swedish) also features almond but are completely different, denser types of fragrances. Keiko Mecheris Taormine (swedish) is also a different almond, it's creamy and smells similar to an almondy bodylotion. Even if Tardes is slight gourmandy it somehow remains fresh in caracter during it’s whole dry down. Tardes is a very longlasting fragrance that remains unfragemented on skin after a whole day. The projection is fairly close.
The overall impression of Tardes is the airy, gourmandy and almost chilly expression that is also present in another late Daniela Andrier creation, Prada Candy (swedish). As Tardes was launched 2010 and Candy 2011 it is quite likely that the perfumer has worked almost simultaneously with the fragrances and they therefore shares the same theme but using almond as the major note in Tardes and benzoin/resins in Candy. Of the two, I prefer Tardes whith it's fine tuned, almondy, floweriness.

Tardes, as well as my other favourite D600, is a wellcrafted, comfortable and wearable fragrance.It is appropriate for daytime, both casual and to work. An almond that is suitable also in summer due to it's Andrierian transparency and almost chilly airiness.

Rating: 4

Update summer 2013: Rating 5. After wearing from the sample some more times, I totally adore the almond-rosewood-heliotrope combination. Just great and FBW.

Notes: Geranium, rose, rosewood, almond, cedar, plum, celery, tonka, musk, heliotrope

Carner Barcelona - D600

Picture: D600 by Carner Barcelona. This image

perfectly captures the spirit of D600. Photo by Carner Barcelona (c).

The scents of Carner Barcelona is sometimes accused to be to close to other, preferably better mainstream, fragrances. But with the multitude of fragrancereleases of today, which houses are not, and I can't see that Carner stands out among the other regarding this. Even if Cuirs that I reviewed in November last years resembles some other niche releases in the oud-saffron-leather category it's a well done fragrance which fully can compete with the other mentioned. But now, over to the todays subject - D600.

D600 is one of the two initial fragrances for the house of Carner, founded by Sara Carner in 2010. In the fragrances Sara will capture the spirit of her hometown Barcelona and it's catalonian surroundings through the compositions of different perfumers. In D600 the perfumer Christophe Raynaud  hits the target: D600 is the smell of La Rambla a warm summernight, it perfectly captures the modern pulse of the medivial city. D600 starts with notes thats resembles the smoke of a fresh lighted cigarette mingled with iris and jasmine . Later on the blend becomes more flowery with some discrite citric notes well blended, but in a urban, subdued way. There is also a sort of putty, slight lipsticky note that surrounds the flowers which is very pleasant. The base is light vetiver, woody well balanced with a vanillic touch and the light, freshly lighted cigarettenote consists and deepens during the evolution of the basenotes. In the end, blended with the vanilla, there is an almost edible, light gourmand accord. Something also is reminding me of The Different Company Oriental Lounge (in swedish).

D600 is a very comfortable scent, unisex but to my nose it's leaning to the feminine side as opposed to Dior Homme (different versions) which it's sometimes is said to be too similar to. To my nose there is similarities in style and in the irisnote but I think DH is much more lipsticky and the iris is louder and more cosmetic in feel and so is the whole DH fragrance. In D600 the jasmine is almost equal to the irisnote and I can't find the fresh ligheted cigarettenote in DH. Another frag that comes to my mind when sniffing the cigarettenote is Etat Libre D'Oranges Jasmin et Cigarettes but in this scent the cigarettenote paired with jasmine on me,  precipitates in the most unpleasent way. D600 is a much more successful interpretation of the flowery cigarette theme. D600 also intermediate a sort of urban, vegetal feeling that I also can recognize in Annick Goutals Nuit Etoilée . There is also a touch of hot asphalt like in Keiko Mecheris Mulholland (swedish), even if Mulholland is a citrusfrag with winy accords.

Overall, D600 is a pleseant, comfortable fragrance very versatile, the type of fragrance which is essential those days when it's hard to choose which frag to wear. The longevity is satisfactory and the fragrance is interesting during it's whole dry down.

Rating: 5

Notes: Bergamot, grapefruit, pepper, iris, jasmine, cardamom, vetiver, cedarwood, vanilla

Thanks to Carner Barcelona for sending a sample for test.

Carner Barcelona - Cuirs

Picture: Cuirs and it's source of inspiration

 (c) Carner Barcelona.

Carner Barcelona is a spanish nichehouse founded by Sarah Carner in 2009. Sarah want's to capture the meaningful moments in her perfumes and she is collaborate with different perfumers to achieve that. The latest perfume Cuirs is created by perfumer Sonia Constant. Cuirs is inspired by the artisan atiliers in Barcelona in the beginning of the last century, the smell of pipetobacco smoke mixed with the tanned leather preparde in the craft workshops.

To me Cuir is a peppery oud perfume and to my nose the fragrance is to dry to induce the typical creamy leathery aroma that the mix saffron-oud-rose creates. To me Cuirs is more of a dry woody, spicy particulary peppery perfume. In the middlenotes I smell a fleeting, light, flowery note and there is also something slight foody in this phase.

Cuirs is extremely strong and the projection is huge as is the longevity. One sprits is enough to be sure not to cause allergic reactions nearby. It's the type of scent that can trigger a campain for a scentfree office. Cuirs is classified as a unisex scent which is true but to my nose it lends more to the masculine side.
Cuirs feels very familliar to me, the scent doesen't add anything new to the perfumed landscape. To my nose it is very close to some of the newer Montales as Dark Oud (the rough australian sandalwood) in particular, with the radiation of Aoud Musk and with some accords from Amouages Opus V, perhaps the bullied little violet (iris in Opus V). Late in the dry down, about twelve hours after application. I can recognize the varm, foody spices  from one of my favorite Montales Amber & Spices. Cuirs is a good alternative to those fragrances but doesn't feel original as the other fragrances precede Cuirs. To me Cuirs is to strong and to masculine and it's likely that Cuirs wears much better on Mr Parfumista as he wears the neutronbomb Aoud Musk very well.

In summary; Cuir is a scent for occasions when the wearer will make a bold statement.

Rating: 3+ (on me)
Rating: 4   (on Mr Parfumista) updated in April 2012

Notes: Cumin, Saffron, violet, australian sandalwood, cederwood, guaiac wood, patchouli, tonka bean, cistus, musk, oud, nagarmotha, amyris, dry amber, leather