Olfactory dessert

Picture: Olfactory dessert April 28, 2018
Photo: Parfumista (c)

As mentioned several times before in this blog, in this houshold there are very rarely desserts served after weekend dinners (only when we have guests). Instead Mr Parfumista often insists on sniffing/analyzing fragrances. As he in 9 of 10 times takes the initiatve to this "dessert", the inhabitants of his fragrance wardrobe are overrepresented. Yesterday evening there was two themes:

1) The frequently occurring comparison between two of Mr Parfumistas wardrobe staples Tom Ford Tuscan Leather (TL) and Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather  (CL) similar in style but both definitly needed. The role model Tuscan Leather is darker, denser, thicker, with smokey, tobacco, leathery notes, like a well worn bikers leatherjacket. TL also reminds me of a polished sibling to Mona di Orios wild Les Nombres d'Or Cuir. When it comes to CL the weird thing is that I always smell the raspberry which is a note in the Tuscan Leather pyramide and not mentioned in the CL pyramide and in TL I can hardly smell the raspberry at all. CL is more transparent in style, with an uplifting citiric aura which is not smelling citrus, it's blended in the texture per se, adding some sparkle to the brew. The leather in CL is the fine and noble leather, the inside of an exclusive handbag.
2) The random fragrance theme, which just occuring, was yesterday triggerd by Mr Parfumistas testing of Parfums de Nicolaï new Cap Néroli. He really likes it and said he will rather wear it than "that sample I was thinking of maybe buying a FB of ". I immediately thought he ment  MFK APOM Pour Homme which he has sampled lately but to my initial surprise, not when thinking twice, he brought out PFM Geranium pour Monsieur. Geranium is a note which is present in the typical Nicolaï "houseaccord", it's not mentioned in the notelist of Cap Néroli even if I suspect it's there as a part of the baseaccord. The other fragrance Mr Parfumista related to after a days wearing of Cap Néroli was Deco London Lawrence. Also a fragrance with a distinct dose of geranium, special and retro smelling, salty and dry like old-fashioned bath salts. These associations shows that one should not limit oneself to compare a certain fragrance to those in the same, in this case, neroli category, one should experience fragrances without any limitations in the mindset, which is hard to achieve.

And when it comes to Cap Néroli, a full review will follow probably after the next weekend when my birch pollen allergy hopefully has calmed down so I can smell and evalute this beautiful fragrance properly.

Carner Barcelona - Rose & Dragon

Picture: Saint George and the Dragon (1432-35)
Painting by Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464)
Wikiart.com

Rose & Dragon is the third creation in the luxury, well crafted Black Collection from Carner Barcelona. Rose & Dragon is inspired from the legend of Saint George who saved the princess from the dragon. From the dragons blood, a rosebush with dark red roses grew.

And that one can imagine: Rose & Dragon is a thick, dark, rosy, spicy potion, resting over an animalic, soft leathery dept. The fragrance is sweetened with the todays it-note in contrasting leather or other dark, rough notes: Sweet berries as raspberrys and strawberrys, which could also be found in for example Masque Russian Tea, Tom Ford Tuscan Leather and Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather (not mentioned among the notes in the latter but I can smell it). Rose & Dragon has some similarities in style with these fragrance but is rosier, more animalic and spicy. It is also sweeter, has a certain liqueurish vibe, is much more deep and mysterious. When it comes to the latter; Rose & Dragon delivers the same mysticism as another dark and deep rose, Frapin Nevermore, even if that spicy rose interpretation is almost dry and less sweet than Rose & Dragon.
To my note Rose & Dragon is also the most feminine of the three fragrances in the Black Collection and also more feminine than the fragrances mentioned above. A more feminine dark and mysterious rose I come to think of when wearing Rose & Dragon is Parfumerie Générale Isparta.

Picture: Rose & Dragon
PR: Carner Barecelona (c)

As apprehensible from all associations mentioned above, Rose & Dragon isn't anything new or groundbreaking but it's a very well crafted and smooth blended fragance, one of the very best in this genre. With such heavy ingredients there is always a risk that a fragrance becomes cloying, harsh and unstable, especially if cheaper ingredients are used. Rose & Dragon is avoiding all such mistakes, it is top notch.

Wearing Rose & Dragon is a pleasure and the day is filled with constant wrist sniffing. It's wearable also for elegant evening but should'nt be restricted for such occasions. It's a quite linear fragrance and one can enjoy its mysterious and beautiful accords almost all at the same time. Longevity is about 24h and sillage is medium.
Rose & Dragon is my favorite from the Black Collection, an excellent example of the dark, deep, mysterious sort of rosefragrance which I love.

Rating: 5

Notes: Saffron, cumin, wild strawberry, cinnamon, bulgarian rose, turkish rose, honey, incense, castoreum, leather, labdanum, amber

Making of Cannes - Quick reviews

Picture: A chic bottle of Rocher Princier
Photo: PR Making of Cannes (c)

Making of Cannes is a perfumebrand based in Grasse which creations are inspired of the Cannes Film Festival and the movie industry. Founder of the brand is Audrey Courbier who worked for Estee Lauder form many years, I havn't found who the perfumer is. Technically the fragrances are wellcrafted of a good quality and contains at least 20% perfumeoil, from a creative point of view even if beautiful nothing new or innovative. The fragrances are comforting, elegant and easy to wear.
Below some short thoughts of the five first releases from 2014:

Premier Role: This light oriental amber has a lovely vintage aura, especially in the start with something as unusual as a soft galbanum, this note often tend to appear as sharp. Taken as a whole Premier Role is a mix between two interesting perfumes from the past. Dior Dune and Balenciaga Prelude with an extra dose of smooth, restrained, moderate sweet white and yellow flowers. The first one-third is the most interesting then the fragrance get linear and smells almost the same for the rest of the dry down. Very feminine, warm, soft and comfortable to wear.

L'Amour la Monde: This is Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose crossed with a finetuned, realistic smelling leather like for example Acqua di Parma Colonia Leather. The leathernote vanishes after the topnotes and intergrates with the musky, powdery, creamy lipstick rose/violet accord. The more L'Amour la Monde dries down, the more of the powdery, musky, aldehydic character steps forward in a comfortable way. Just as with Permier Role the first one-third is the most interesting, than the fragrance stays almost the same, even if intensifying.

Invalouable: Starts very feminine as a flowery light powdery vanilla with fruity accents. The vanillic flower in its texture, not in the actual smell, is similar to the style of the angelic, powdery, flowery vanilla from Eau d'Italie Morn to Dusk. As Invalouable dries down to the middlenotes it settles in a light peppery, white flower accord  and the fragrance is close to the sparkling Ramon Monegal duo Kiss My Name and Lovely Day. As Invalouable reaches its warm and musky basenotes, the peppery sparkle steps back and the fragrance reminds of the beautiful summery white flower of Gianfranco Ferré which bears the same name as the designer.

Amazing Shooting: Listed as unisex but to my nose it's lending more to the feminine side. Starts fruity in a air of chypre. The fruits are fresh, not the spicy Mitsouko style, but combined with slight boozy notes, it becomes darker, almost creamy and much more sophisticated in apperance. Something which smells like a wellbalanced, not harsh teanote also glimpses, probably this is the metallicnote mentioned in the notelist. Amazing Shooting reminds me in style and expression of a more balanced EnJoy by Jean Patou made of much better ingredients.

Rocher Princier:  Listed as masculine or unisex the woody-spicy, to my nose dominantly incense-oudy Rocher Princier goes for both. Starts with a cold aldehydic chalky incensy which is close to Montale Full Incense. As Rocher Princier dries further down, a light smokey, confier, cold oudy aura appears and the fragrance in this stage has similaritues with Robert Piguet Oud Some light sweet spicy elements combined with balsamic notes deepens the fragrance in the basenotes. A rounded, well constructed incense-oud without any sharp edges or annoying pepper, very pleasent to wear. The smooth incense interpretation in texture is similar to the sweeter and gourmandy cosy incense Juozas Statkevicius (Josef Statkus). The favorite from the line both for me and Mr Parfumista.