Short impressions of some new fragrances

Picture: Stockholm Sergels Square,
between  NK and Åhléns,
the two major departmentstores
Photo: Borrowed from the  KTH website

I have speed sniffed some relatively new arrivals this weekend. Below some short impressions:

Hermessence Agar Ebene (Hermès): A beautiful, high quality leather, first impressions of another Hermessence; Cuir d'Ange where Agar Ebene is fuller and more mature in its texture. Somehow I come to think of a nice and anxious leather, more "simple" in construction , not as complex and charcteristic as for example Chanel Cuir de Russie with its dry gunpowdery and light flowery notes. Unisex.

Hermessence Cedre Sambac (Hermès): A full and fruity, jasmine contrasted by the fresh, slight peppery cleanness of cedarwood. An intersting combination where the jasminenote reminds me about of the jasminedominated, white floral accord of Cacharel Scarlett but less sweet. Cedre Sambac is unisex, leaning to the feminine side.

Eau de Citron Noir (Hermès): Lemon with accompaning dry, smokey teanotes and slight peppery woody notes. Refreshing, without beeing clean in style, longlasting and with a good sillage taken ion consideration it's classified as an Eau de Cologne. Unisex leaning slightly to the masculine side.

Café Tuberosa (Atelier Cologne): Starts with thick tuberose, bergamot, blended with dry cacao and maybe a hint of coffee. It's a thick blend, vintage in style reminding me in texture and style of Vero Profumo Rozy. Later there are traces of the colognestyle with hints of citric notes.

Coco Mademoiselle Intense (Chanel): As a lover of Coco (Coco Noir) in all its incarnations, the Intense Mad inerpretation is just was I expected: A darker, denser, lower on the fragrance note scale then the regular Coco Mad. The patchouli is also more pronounced and the flowers subdued compared to the original. Even if similar to each other I need both variations....

Love Chanel - A side by side test of two Chanels

In my mind, I have thought of the Jaques Polge (former house pefumer of Chanel) creations Allure Sensuelle Edp (launched in 2005) and Coco Mademoiselle Edp (launched in 2001) as quite similar, always thinking of the other when wearing the other one. As I have to get clarity in this mystery, I've at last compared them side by side. Below my thoughts:

The similarity between the two is that they are on the same level of radiation, on the same stage on the fragrance notescale, both are somewhere between bright than dark even if containing heavy notes and accords. And of course, the elegant Chanel interpretation of patchouli is the core ingredient in both fragrances.

Picture: Chanel Allure Sensuelle Edp
Photo: PR Chanel (c)

Allure Sensuelle starts with radiant notes of spices and resins with an ambery, patchouli character. The texture is balsamic and almost like sweet rubber, I can imagine of a pink chewinggum. There are also glimpses of something resembeling menthol or nailpolish in Allure Sensuelle. The spicy notes are strict, well mannared and have an almost cold quality.  The ambery, spicy patchouli are accompanied with discrete flowers and dried fruits, everything very balanced and well behaved. When coming to Chanel oriental fragrances, the chilly, balanced and behaved  floral oriental  Allure Sensuelle contrasts to the warm, spicy and bombastic spicy oriental Coco (launched 1984). Compared to Coco Mademoiselle, Allure Sensuelle is sweeter and  more polished. It also feels more complicated, with some strange twists which gives the fragrance an overall more interesting drydown than Coco Mad.

Picture: Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Edp
Photo: PR Chanel (c)

Coco Mademoiselle starts with a contrasting orange/citrus and patchouli accord with elegant touches of bergamot. The heart of Coco Mad is classic florals interpreted in a clean, scaled down, contemporary way, there is no traces of a romantic floral bouquet or rural flower meadows. Coco Mad is a fragrance for urban life, a fragance which mingles well with asphalt and exhaust. The flowery heart is accompained by a musky patchouli, instead of the ambery patchouli in Allure Sensuelle, wrapped in light balsamic notes. The base of Coco Mad is the gold standard for the contemporary so called chypre, where patchouli blends became a different alternative to the banned oakmoss. Not in smelling the same, but to create a similar feeling. Compared to Allure Sensuelle, I find Coco Mad as lauder and more straight forward in its development, there are not the weired twists as in Allure Sensuelle. The patchouli is also more outstanding as single note in the basenotes of Coco Mad, in Allure Sensuelle the patch is more integrated with the amber and spices in the basenotes.

To summon up; two great classics where definitly Allure Sensuelle deserves more attention as an alternative to Coco Mad and Coco Mad doesn't need any attention as its one of the bestsellers, if not the bestseller of the 2000s.

Love Chanel

Picture: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel
Photo from the blog The Encanted Manor

Chanel is a house with an aesthetics to love (just as Hermès). The chic aesthetics  also affects, or maybe more correct, inspires the fragrances from the house. The fragrances are well made and even if not in love with every subline, my craving for Chanel fragrances is enough to qualify Chanel as one of my favorite perfumehouses. I think many of the Chanels in the regular line is as good as Les Exclusifs, the difference is more in price and distribution, not the quality of the production.

I very much appreciate the aldehydic classics like No 5 in its difierent versions, as also the mossy citrus of Cristalle and the greenery of No 19 in the different interpretations of those classics. Also the modern classics as the incredible spicy oriental Coco and the not as much talked about gem Allure Sensuelle are favorites as also the mega hit, the contemporary fruity-floral chypre Coco Mademoiselle and its balsamic, spicy follower Coco Noir.

When it comes to Les Exclusifs there are also plenty to love. The green and clean woody vetiver Sycomore, the putty, slight dirty aldehyde No 22, the strange amberette No 18, the elegant flowers of Beige and best of them all the smooth, light flower touched, gunpowder leather of Cuir de Russie.

I'm now curious to try the new Gabrielle and find out if the new Chanel pillar fragrance will qualify among my favourites.

L'Artisan Parfumeur - Mon Numero 10

Picture:  Cover of the pulp magazine Oriental Stories
(Spring 1932, vol. 2, no. 2)  featuring Scented Gardens by Dorothy Quick.Cover art by Margaret Brundage, Wikimedia commons

Mon Numero 10 is created by  the highly productive perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour for the well known, pioneer, nichehouse L'Artisan Parfumeur.

Mon Numero 10 starts with a very special accord which smell almost like stewed fruits in  liqueur. Soon a clean airy incenseote appears, similar to the clean incense in Andy Tauers Incense Extreme. The incense is followed by a very well mixed note of cedar which smells like smooth pencil shavings, the note of pencil shavings I sometimes percieve as too sharp. Leather is another note which slowly evolve and becoming clearer in the middle of Mon Numero 10 and together with the other notes the fragrance adopts an almost furry texture. From here on, Mon Numero 10 smells similar to the iconic Fendi  Femme (original) but thinner and sweeter, like a contemporary, slight gourmand adaption to the classical Fendi theme. I could also detect Chanel Coco. This pleasant phase goes on until the later stages where suddenly the sweet, cinnaber infused, glüwein accord found in Parfumerie Generale Un Crime Exotique appears.

Picture: L'Artisan Parfumeur Mon Numero 10
Photo: PR L'Artisan Parfumeur

Mon Numero 10 is a perfect oriental for fall and winter, comforting and with  interesting twists as described above. The longevity is good, for a day and with traces left the following morning, it's especially these remaining notes which are very close to Un Crime Exotique. As Mon Numero 10 appears as an intresting mix of other attractive perfumes it somehow feels like Duchaufour was not especially inspired when he composed this blend, it's like this fragrance was created by routine. Despite this Mon Numero 10 is a good, multifacetted and wearable oriental. If I had not been familiar with the other perfumes which I detect in this fragrance and also liked each of them better than the "merged" fragrance, I would have considered more than a sample of Mon Numero 10.

Rating: 4 (November 2014)

Rating: 5 (Re-rated in June 2015 as I liked No 10 even more when tested after the review. It turned to be a fragrance which I couldn't get out of my mind = FBW)

Notes: Fennel, bergamot, aldehydes, pink pepper, cardamon, cinnamon, cabreuva, leather, incense, rose, geranium, jasmine, cedar, musk, vanilla, benzoin, hyrax, heliotrophe, tonka been, styrax, ambregris

Thanks to Fragrance & Art  for the sample

Téo Cabanel - Oha

Picture: December roses
Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Oha from the venerable house of Téo Cabanel is an old school styled chypre. Oha is created by the house nose or Téo Cabanel, Jean-Francois Latty, a skilful perfumer when it comes to fragrances in the the high quality classic style of Téo Cabanel. I have tested a recent sample and an older one with juice from a bottle of the old design.

Oha starts grandly with a slight powdry and bitter bergamot with contrasting accords of different roses, I can image both pink and red roses. When Oha reaches its middlenotes the roses is still dominating but has deepened and has become darker and tarter. Jasmine and iris is supporting in a robust classic flowery accord with some cool spicyness from the cardamom. There is very little sweetness, if none in Oha, even the musky base is woody and dry powdery, the vanilla and tonka are barely detectable but I suspect these notes prevent Oha from being too austere. Even if lacking oakmoss which seems to have be replaced with musk and woods, Oha is old school chypre-ish in style, something that fails most modern fragrances in this genre.  Ohas lack of sweetness and robust chypre character makes it to an unusual fragrance.

Picture: Oha (in the current bottle)
Photo: Téo Cabanel (c)

Comparing the two samples of Oha, despite just  the older one is more classic, deeper, boozier and less musky powdery with slightly better longevity. The current sample is more musky powdery, a bit sweeter in the roses and reminds me especially in the opening of Narcisco Rodriguez for Her Edt. Oha is said to be an evening scent but I think it's also appropriate for formal daytime wear as it is close to skin. Longevity is good, ca 12h.

Those who like fragrances in the style of Sisley Soir de Lune, Estee Lauder Knowing, the original Agent Provocateur, Niki de Saint Phalle, but also a bit more spicy blends as Chanel Coco, will probably also appreciate Oha.

Rating: 3 +

Notes: Bergamot. tea, rose, jasmine, cardamon, iris, vanilla, tonka been, woods, musk

A Coco week

Last Sunday and the workdays Monday to Friday this week have been dedicated to the different Chanel Coco interpretations (some of them anyway, I havn't tested Coco and Coco Mademoiselle in EDT and parfume yet). During the six Coco-days I spent three with Coco Noir, two with Coco Mad and one with Coco.I have enjoyed all the Cocos to the fullest and I have to confess that I, by now at least, like Coco Noir a tiny bit better (just a very tiny little bit) than good ol' Coco. Maybe it just depends on my personal shape of the day that day, but I found Coco a bit too loud in it's orietal spiciness compared with the more subdued Coco Noir. Don't get me wrong, I still love Coco but Coco Noir is favoured these days, maybe it's just the charm of novelty.With Coco and Coco Noir struggeling in the top, Coco Mad, even if I like it much too, comes a step behind, it's somehow sharper and not so seamless blended as the both Coco:s in the top. Anyway Coco Mad is a good, wearable and comfortable fragrance which I will revisit another Coco week. Already looking forward to such a week :-)

Chanel - Coco Noir

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

I really have tried to resist to like this frag as described as a disappointment in the perfumeblogosphere. There has to be a lot of weaknesses with it, something that better trained noses than mine understand
:-) . After a rapid skintesting from the tester in the store and from sniffing a scentstrip during a day, I have to confess: I really like Coco Noir and I even think it match the beautiful bottle and the story behind it quite well. I think it's a very wellcrafted floral musk with sweet fruity patchouli notes. When reading this one can be missleaded and think it's just another pink, berry/fruity, patch, but to my nose it isn't. First of all, even íf a fruity-patch-musk, it has the elegance and aura that is Chanel and that separates Coco Noir from hundereds of other in this genre. Second Coco Noir is not pink at all. It is dark, fruity, flowery, patchy which notes are contrasting the initial blast of light citrus bergamot. Third, there is tuned down traces of Coco Mademoiselle (in swedish) a fragrance that I unlike most perfumenerds like very much. Fourth the longevity is very good.

As stated above, Coco Noir starts light with the citrus/grape-bergamott infused accord. Then a moderate sweet, dark fruity-green-flowery, patchouli accord takes over and creates a distinct contrast to the topnotes. This stage is a bit dangerous because if too heavy applied, I suspect that it could be sickly sweet. After a whlie a rosy green geranium note appears and it adds a beautiful soapy quality to the blend, a soapiness that I feel very comfortable in. The soapiness creates an interesting retro vibe to Coco Noir. In the base there is a withe musk anchoring the blend, together with a soft and powdery tonka been and some light woody, slight resiny notes.

Strangely enough, I percieve Coco Noir as quite noir, other fruity-patchy blends are sweetly pink in comparison. When I first sniffed Coco Noir my first reaction was the similarity to the original muskfrag by Les Nereides, Musc de Java. The same sort of fruityness, almost berrylike, the patch and the musk are similar to each other but Musc de Java, even if more robust and rough, is thinner in it's texture and has an original hay-note that is not included in Coco Noir. Musc de Java is also brighter and lighter and is lighter on the soapy note. Coco Noir is a full and mature variation on the Musc de Java theme.

As with last year Chanel No 19 Poudré (in swedish) that also was not well received (at first anyway) in the perfumeblogosphere, I think one have to judge the flankers completely separate from the original fragrance and look at them as they where released under brand new names. Just as with Chanel No 19 Poudré compared to Chanel No 19, Coco Noir has little or no relation to the original, the beautiful oriental spicy Coco (despite the noir vibe), I think most of us perfumepundits starts to compare it with Coco and Coco Mademoiselle and therefore don't judge Coco Noir on it's own merits.

To me Coco Noir is a wearable and comfortable fragrance, definitly fbw and I just wonder for how long I will be able to resist...

Rating: 5
Rating update March 2013: 4  
Rating update April 2018: 5

Seems as CN wear better in warm and humid weather than in cold and dry. I perceive CN as less  integrated between it's different stages and that the sweet accord stands out a bit too much in the top- and middlenotes. Reaching its basenotes, CN is just as good as last late summer. 

As times has gone by and I have worn the Coco family even more and become familiar also with the Edt versions of Coco and Coco Mad as also Coco Mad Intense, Noir is back as a 5 rated member of the family.

Notes: Grapefruit, bergamot, rose, narcissus, geranium leaf, jasmine, tonka bean, sandalwood, vanilla, patchouli, white musk, frankincense

Ramón Monegal - Mon Patchouly

Picture: Cacao (Theobroma cacao), Photo: Luisovalles,

(cc)  Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved

The patchouli of the Ramón Monegal line, Mon Patchouly is not a variation of the earthy,woody, fresh, almost herbal theme of the note. Nor is it the other typical warm amber-patchouli variation. Mon Patchouly is a variation of the gourmand patchoulitheme in the tradition of Serge Lutens delisious Borneo 1834, but MP is a softer and more well-behaved interpretation.

Mon Patchouly starts with a scrumptious blast of cocapowder the note is dry in texture even if some sweetness is glimpsing through. There is also a whiff of an almost "men colognish note" but in a good way, not an "old mans scent" but something more elegant with amber. There is also a subdued flowery note with slight green almost moist facets, probably the moss. Even if vanilla isn't mentioned among the ingredients there is an accord in the middelnotes/early base that reminds me of the unsweet vanillapod note like in Montale Boisée Vanille blended with some dark ruhm similar to the vanilla-ruhm accords in L'Artisan Havana Vanille and Mona di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Vanille. As the MP dries down further in the base, the mossy note becomes clearer and more dominant, a sort of dark-green freshness is added to the ruhm-patchouli-ambra. The overall impression of the texture and style is something elegant as the original Chanel Coco to mention a recent example in the wake of the launch of the new Coco Noir.

Mon Patchouly is a delicious and comfortable scent in the gourmand style. On me the patchouli is not especially dominating, it's one of the prominent notes togther with amber and moss. I think its gourmand character makes it a perfect cold weatherscent and I will definitly re-test it in autumn-winter. Mon Patchouly is a perfect choice for evening wear and even if unisex I think it (despite the man cologne note) lean towards the feminine side. As many of Ramón Monegals fragrances, Mon Patchouly is very concentrated and just a few spritzes is quite enough, it's easy to overapplicate this one. The sillage is also extensive, the wearer will be noticed, but in a good way if using the right, minimal dose. Longevity 24h+.

Rating: 4+

Notes: Patchouli, olibanum, oakmoss, geranium, jasmine, amber

Passande klassiker 4 (4)

Foto: Parfumista (c)

Ursprungligen publicerat på min tidigare blogg "Parfumistans blogg" på Damerns Världs hemsida i januari 2008.

Så till det trevliga: Nedan ett urval klassiker som passar mig bra (vissa superbt) och som jag alltid trivs i.

Angel (Mugler) Högre makter har varit nådiga! Jag har turen att passa i Angel. Det är så härligt att få krypa in i Angels värme en gråkall dag om vintern.

Coco (Chanel) Har skördat mycket beröm i denna barockinspirerade skönhet. Tankarna går till päls, broderier på silkessammet och stora juveler. Också en vinterfavorit.

Fracas (Piguet) Tuberosernas drottning, ett andra skinn på mig. Föregångaren till moderna tuberosedofer som Carnal Flower och Tubèrose Criminelle. Fast Fracas är minst lika modern, den är tidlös!

Poison (Dior) Denna giftiga, fantasifulla kryddigt fruktiga oriental passar mig bra året om. Diorbasen slår aldrig fel.

Parfum d’Peau (Montana) Den här är svår precis som Fracas. På mig ingår den en slags kemisk förening med huden och övergår i en ny dimension. Har man turen att passa i den är den, liksom Fracas, gudomlig Parfum d’Peau är en stor, varm men ändå kylig, blommig, lätt lädrig, åttiotalschypre.

Cabochard (Grès) Denna höga, träigt lädriga chypre känns ren och befriande i dagens fruktigt blommiga doftdjungel. Maskulin och befälstagande.

Eau d'Hermès (Hermès) Denna kryddiga Eau vinner i längden. Den är alltid rätt och elegant. Som en Hermèsscarf.

Vilka är dina klassiska pärlor?

Kommentar 2011: Måste bara ha Parfum d'Peau någon dag. Herr Parfumista tjatar ofta om den.

Hitta pärlorna

Foto: Parfumista (c)

Ursprungligen publicerat på min tidigare blogg "Parfumistans blogg" på Damerns
Världs hemsida i januari 2009.

Som jag tidigare skrivit om så tar det i regel ett par år innan pärlorna i en årgång sållats fram. Att de fortfarande finns kvar på marknaden trots det massiva, ständigt ökande utbudet visar på dofternas kvalitet eller åtminstone på en personlighet/originalitet. Dessutom har priserna ofta sjunkit jämfört med nyheterna. I en normal parfymaffärs standardsortiment kan man hitta många bra parfymer som kommer att bli eller redan är klassiker. Här några som passar för den mörka årstiden:

Prada (Prada): Elegant patchoulli, trä och tonkaböna baserad doft som gjord för att matcha kashmirtröjan eller pälsen. Skapad av Carlos Benaïm och Max Gavvary 2004.

Angel (Mugler): Denna patchoullibomb med mörk choklad och mörka, övermogna frukter var banbrytande när den kom 1992. Hatad av många men älskad av fler. Skapad av Olivier Cresp och Yves Chiris.

Coco: (Chanel): Kryddig oriental, inspirerad av barockens överdåd. Skapad av Chanels mångåriga husnäsa Jaques Polge 1984.

Hypnotic Poison (Dior): Träig vaniljbas med kardemumma, mandel, dov jasmin och mossa. Skapad av Annick Menardo 1998.

Jasmin Noir (Bulgari): Denna fina gröna, träiga jasmindoft som kom ut så sent som 2008 är en säker framtida klassiker. I mitt tycke en av årets absoluta topplanseringar. Skapad av Carlos Benaïm och Sophie Labbe.

Vilka exempel på bra, lättåtkomliga, ”vinterdofter” har du?

Vintern 2011: Håller fortfarande med men vill lägga till ett par till som: Dior Addict (mmm), Chanel Allure Sensuelle, Paco Rabanne Lady Million och gamla trotjänaren Guerlain Shalimar förstås.