DoubleYou - Norvége

Picture: Lodalen, a valley in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway

Photo: Aqwis (cc), some rights reserved, Wikimedia commons.

Norvége is the other of the two first fragrances from the Norwegian perfumehouse DoubleYou which I briefly descriped in the previous post. founded by Catherine Rösseland 2010. Norvège is inspired of Norway and Catherines origin on her mothers side. Norvége is intended to be worn separate or layered with Zanzibar (previous post). Just as Zanzibar, Norvége is created in colaboration with perfumer Barnabe Fillion. The fragrances are said to contain only natural ingredients, but I think that the most accurate description is that they contain a large proportion naturals.

Norvége opens up with notes reminding me of a citrusy, not to sweet, icy lemonade sipped in a sunny summerday. The lemony note remains during the whole drydown of Norvége and are accompanied by herbs, light flowers and some vanilla. Norvége has much less of the, for natural perfumes, typical dense, slight sour note, even if there are whiffs from it now and then. Even if Norvége doesn't give me the impression of the beautiful scenerys in our neighboring country, it's a nice and at the same time unusual fragrance for daytime that fits best for casual wearing. The longevity is very good to be a natural perfume, Norvége is still on my skin twelve hours from application. Norvége is a unusual perfume but it partly reminds me of Maître Perfumeur et Gantiers Eau de Camélia Chinois but the latter is less sweet and airier in it's impression than Norvége.

To sum up I think that the DoubleYou fragrances is interesting to try especially for fans of natural perfumes.
The two perfumes I tested is quite as good as most of them with Norvége in the better half of the league.

Rating: 3

Notes: Grass, coriander, magnolia, vanilla, thyme, lavendel, opoponax, lemon, dry wood, amber, sandalwood

DoubleYou - Zanzibar

Picture: Cloves, important commodity of Zanzibar,

 Photo by ? (cc), Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved

Zanzibar is one of the two first fragrances from the Norwegian perfumehouse DoubleYou  founded by Catherine Rösseland 2010. Carherine has her roots in both Norway and in Western Africa as her father derived from Tanzania. Zanzibar mirrors that part of Catherines heritage as the other fragrance, Norvège is inspired of Norway and Catherines origin on her mothers side. Zanzibar and Norvège is intended to be worn separate or layered. The fragrances are created in colaboration with the perfumer Barnabe Fillion and they are said to contain only natural ingredients. The latter I doubt as there is very unusual that a fragrance contains 100 % naturals.The notelist below also supports my argument, since when is "leather" a natural? But there are undoubtly a high precentage of naturals in the blends as:

Sampling Zanzibar I was immediately aware of the clear presence of nautrals by the, to natural perfumes, typical slight sour, compact note. This note is present during the whole dry down but it's in no way repellent, on the contrary it fits the concept. Zanzibar is a warm and spicy perfume, to my nose the clove plays a central role, it reminds me of the smell of the Maja soaps from the house of Myrurgia. In the topnotes of Zanzibar I also smell something reminiscent of the smell of the traditional swedish dish boiled crawfish in dill broth.

As a natural perfume, Zanzibar reminds me of some of the perfumes of Liz Zorn that I have sampled. The typical natural note is present in both lines and overall they convays a similar expression. As I'm not so versed in natural perfumes my references are limited when trying to compare Zanzibar to other perfumes in this genere. But as I like some of Liz Zorns offerings as Grand Canyon and Oud Laquer, which dosen't have that typical smell of  naturalperfume. That is also the case with my favourite natural perfumeline La via del Profumo with for instance Mecca Balsam. Compared to that beautiful oriental natural fragrance Zanzibar, even if unusual, has some to catch up. I think that my rating is influnced by the fact that I'm not so used to natural perfumes. I think that someone more in to this genre will appreciate this blend much more than I'm.

Rating: 2+

Notes: Geranium, clove, leather, oak, siam- and cedar wood, rose, cardamom,  black currantbuds, ginger, cinnamon, sandalwood