Perris Monte Carlo - Ylang Ylang Nosy Be Extrait

Picture: Adele Bloch-Bauer's Portrait (1907)
Painting; oil, silver and gold on canvas by Gustav Klimt (1862-1919)Wikimedia commons

Ylang Ylang Nosy Be is the other of the first issued Nosy Be fragrances, see more information in the earlier review of Perris Monte Carlo Patchouli Nosy Be.

Starts with a burst of sweet floral and rounded citrusy fruity notes without any sharpness from the grape/lemon just a juicy, bright cloud. It's a very sunny accord, if the accord had a color it could be imagined as somewhere between glowing orange and yellow with golden elements glittering. The fruity-floral notes are sweet but natural and not at all chemical smelling, the ylang-ylang is just golden flowery delicious without any trace of the almost banana like note that sometimes show up in this floral note. The cardamon provides a soft, spicy green balance but it's hardly detectable as a singular note as it's so well integrated with fruits and flowers. There is a sort of electrical vibe to the fragrance, a very light metallic tinge like the snell in the air when the sun breaks through between two thunderstorms. This is also the case with the jasmine, rose and orangeblossom, they're interacting in perfectly blended accords. The basenotes are calming the flowers with vetiver, soft woods, resin and the same delicate vanilla as in Patchouli Nosy Be.  In the  later stages of the drydown, a juicy rose wich has similarities with thé juicy rose in La Rose from Le Galion steps a forward from the flowery blend even if ylang ylang is still clearly present. Ylang ylang Nosy Be as a whole is a quite linear fragrance and wearing it is like floating around in a warm, comforting, golden flow like Adele Bloch-Bauer on the famous Klimt painting.

Compared to the few other ylang-ylang fragrances Ive tested M.Micallef Ylang in Gold and Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Fleur des Comores the Perris interpretetion is ticker, denser and more concentrated to the ylang-ylang. Ylang in Gold is more creamy and beachy in apperance , Fleur des Comores is more about a classic sweet, flowery vanilla with the typical slight animalic MPG ambery base.

Picture: Ylang Ylang Nosy Be
Photo: PR Perris Monte Carlo (c)

Ylang Ylang Nosy Be is lavish and very feminine in style and it suits for daytime wearing year around. It's a natural sweet and strong fragrance which has to be applied carefully to avoid a too sweet apperance. Sillage is medium to big and longevity great, there is unfragmented  traces left on skin after 24h, 24 extremely comforting hours.

Rating: 5

Notes: Ylang-ylang, lemon, grapefruit, cardamom, jasmine, orange blossom, damask rose, labdanum, vetiver, cedar, vanilla, field scabious

Coquillete - Impressions of Sulmona & Sumatera

Picture: Sulmona
Photo: PR Coquillete (c)  

Coquillete Paris is a nichebrand started by two perfumeinterested women in creative professions. The fragrances are inspired from their travels among the world and captures the emotions and impressions from these journeys. Coquillete seems to be a  mysterious brand, I havn't found out either who the founders name nor the nose of the four first fragrances of scheduled six. Despite the "Paris" in the name the Coquillete brand seems to be based in Milan.

Sulmona: Sulmona opening like an almondcoockie paired with tropical flowers and then dries down over a vanillic base. A pleasent, warm and non-disturbtive, oriental, floral, vanilla with modest projection and good longevity. Smells straight forward good without any unexpected twists. A fragrance in the tropical vanilla family as for example Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Fleurs de Comores but without the contrasting slight dirty notes of the latter. Despite its sweetness, Sulmona is a good easy to wear fragrance for summer.

Rating: 3

Notes: Vanilla, sugar, bitter almond, orangeblossom,

Sumatera: Sumatera is said to be derived from only fresh patchoulileaves and with no use of dried leaves and this will give it a soft character. If there is the leaves or something else that gives the soft character that I percive I dont know. Sumatera is sort of soft and sweet light herbal combined with a soft cinnamon which to me is the dominating note in this fragrance. Cinnomon often tend to be a bit harsh but this is definitly not the case here. To me Sumatera is like a soft and refreshing cinnamon tea. Intriguing and special.

Rating: 4

Notes: Patchouli, jasmine, different white flowers, cinnamon, black pepper, cedarwood, musk, vanilla, jasmine

My impressions of the other two Coquillete fragrances will be posted in the next entry.

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the samples to test

Huitième Art - Poudre de Riz

Picture: Pierre Guillaume celebrates ten years as perfumer

with his own house Parfumerie Generale.

Couldn't resist borrowing this picture from Fragrantica

Photo: Fragrantica (c)

I said it before and had to repeat it again: Pierre Guillaume is too tough for my creditcard. This autumn he  seduces me with two beautiful fragrances, the Djhenné as I reviewed earlier this week and now Poudre de Riz, a totally different beast from his “showcasing one special note surrounded by other high quality ingredients collection”; Huitième Art.

Poudre de Riz is instant love, opposed to Djhenne which was growing on me during the testing. Poudre de Riz is a warm and very comforting slight powdery floral woody musky blend with oriental vibes. Poudre de Riz is dominated by tropical flowers blended with coconut and vanilla, which create a warm and very comfortable feeling. To me there is something in the top and middlenotes that smells like blond, fresh tobaccoleaves (even if tobbaco is not mentioned) mingled with vanilla and a dry coconut and later on with a subdued rose-iris accord accompaning in the background. These flowery notes fleets in and out during the rest of the dry down, it creates a depth and a certain elegence to the fragrance. Poudre de Riz gives me retro vibes, I image a fragrance created about hundred years ago, in the era before WWI. In the basnotes, besides the flowery, slight wet musky impression, powdery notes from tonka and benzoin appears. There is also an almost balsamic warmth present. A fragrance that reminds me of Poudre de Riz is Kèora by Jean Couturier with it’s warm, tropical flower blended in vanilla. Also Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Fleur des Comores has something similar in style even if Fleurs de Comores is sweeter, more flowery and a bit dirty compared to Poudre de Riz. There is also a dry vanillanote that is close to L’Artisan Parfumeur Havana Vanille which also contains the tobacconote. Maybe the note similar to tobacco is a facet of vanilla, I don’t know. In texture and expression there something in Poudre de Riz that reminds me of a clean variation of the slight dirty Etat Libre de Orange Putain des Palaces, maybe the powdery, dense feeling.

Poudre de Riz is first of all the true comfortscent for the colder months. I also think it will fit also for warm summerevenings as the sweetness is subdued and the powdery musk creates an almost cool impression under the right conditions.

Rating: 5

Notes: Tiare, coconut milk, vanilla, rice, maple sap, rice, caramel, iris, sandal- and cedarwood, rose, tonka been, benzoin, tolu balsam