Best of 2023

I've tested even less new fragrances launched the same year (2023) than during 2022. Most of the fragrances I've  acquaintance with were launched 2022 or earlier. And the releases that I liked  from 2023 launches, were almost all easy avaible designer "main stream" fragrances. The winners in this category were two Hermès:

Pic: Un Jardin à Cythère
Photo: PR Hermès (c)

                                                                              

Un Jardin à Cythère (Hermès): This one was a growing liking during spring and summer. The pistachio contrasting to oily, green notes and citrus is an unexpected combination, calming and very comforting.

Pic: Tutti Twilly d'Hermès
Photo: PR Hermès (c)

Tutti Twilly d'Hermès (Hermès): A very pleasing fruity (floral) version of Twilly. There are accords/notes  that reminds me of the grown up, casual chic Galop d'Hermès,  where Tutti Twilly is the teenage version,  easy going, happy, flirty. And as expected, my bottle of Tutti Twilly was soon taken over by my teenage daughter. Who by the way, doesn't like Un Jardin à Cythère at all. 

From the even less smelled from niche category launched 2023 the two following  are worth some praise:

Pic: Viridarium
Photo: PR Maria Candida Gentile (c)

Viridarium (Maria Candida Gentile): A very fascinating green herbal flower fragrance which ingredients are the same as Maria could identify from a fresco on the wall from an antique Roman Villa, "The Viridarium of Livia from 1 B.C." Viridarium slight reminds me of a higher quality, less sweet, more aromatic, green relative to Hermès Un Jardin Sur du Nil. I like du Nil very much since more than a decade, but compared to Viridarium it's too sweet.

Pic: Spiritcask
Photo: PR Jorum Studio (c)

Spiritcask (Jorum Studio): I like the few creations I've tested so far from the Scottish Odyssey. Spiritcask is a launch of 2023 which suits Mr Parfumista very well. The scent of the spiritdreched old oak barells with its liquer, vanilla, oak notes are smooth, warm and comforting delicsious. I gifted Mr Parfumista with a bottle to his birthday. The fragrances of Jorum Studio, at least the Scottish Odyssey are in Parfume Extrait, a little lasts for long.

Fragrances for late winter

The late winter, with spring around the corner, is the perfect season for a true parfumista: One day I'm carving a light and bright springfragrance and the other day a deep and dark oriental and the third day something in between. Below some nice frags from this week:


Picture: Prada (Amber)
Photo: PR Prada (c)

Prada (Prada): My bottle is from 2005 it's before Prada added "Amber" to the name. The perfect dark and embracing contemorary oriental with a rounded patchouli paired with amber and some vanilla.

Picture: Geranium Bourbon
Photo: PR Miller Harris (c)

Geranium Bourbon (Miller Harris): Green, dry, sunny, airy, with an austere and clean geranium flower note. A natural scent, like a garden a cool and windy summerday. Vintage in style but timeless anyway. Somehow GB resembles the intriguing Rose Noir in a bright version.

Picture: Aurore Nomade
Photo: PR The Different Company (c)

Aurore Nomade (The Different Company): A very special high quality, boozy, flowery, gourmand oriental with banana and rum accords. Warm and opulent, almost tasty. Comforting.

Picture: Galop d'Hermès
Photo: PR Hermès (c)

Galop d'Hermès (Hermès): The ulitmate rose-leather with the special addition of quince. Reminds me of a strictly and colder variation of Penhaligon's warm and spicy quince rose Vaara. Very classy and elegant.

Picture: Iris des Champs
Photo: PR Houbigant (c)

Iris des Champs (Houbigant): A light purple and grey fragrance. Starts with a delicious rooty iris then develops to a cloud of cold flowers with iris and lily of the valley as protagonists. Daytime springlike elegance.

Best of 2016

As earlier years I've tested just a very small fraction of the huge number of fragrance releases. So my choice of the best of 2016 comes from a small selection based on my liking.

Picture: Galop d'Hermès
Photo: PR Hermès (c)

Picture: Chanel No 5 L'Eau
Photo: PR Chanel (c)

2016 I found the most interseting, in terms of having potential to be a "classic", and to me the most memorable fragrances of the year, in the designer segment. Galop d'Hermès (pink rose embedded in fine leather) and Chanel No 5 L'Eau (an airy, less aldehydic No 5) are, even if different types of fragrances, both chic and easy to wear, contemporary and in the same time with an anchor in the heritages of the iconic and still independet houses of Hermès and Chanel. I also appreciated Hermès Eau de Rhubarbe Ecarlate very much, it seems as Christine Nagels adopted style for Hermès works for me. Another designerfragrance, even if not of the great quality of the former mentioned, that I like from this year is the asphalt flower in the night My Burberry Black. Van Cleef & Arpels Moonlight Patchouli should also be mentioned, a beautiful, contemporary, dark and in the same time sort of rosy green chypre. The comforting, creamy, bold, warm and sunny tubereuse of Tom Ford Orchid Soleil makes me happy.

Picture: Tèo Cabanel Kasar,
also together with TC Jaspé and Galop d'Hermès
the best bottles of 2016 

In 2015 there was a battle between white flowers when it came to niche. This year my niche favorite has an abstract, dusty, almost electric (like a warm, dusty old sort of  bulb) carnation flowery scent dimension together with horse, leather and a light touch of cinnamon. The fragrance is classified as masculine and is a new favorite of Mr Parfumista: Tèo Cabanel Kasar, named after one of Emperor Napoleon I:s more than 150 horses. Another horse Jaspé, is also model for another TC release of 2016, a good aromatic fragrance. The house of Tèo Cabanel was also a close contender to the number one position in best of 2015. A very close contender in 2016 is the brilliant, in quality superior, Oud Sublime from Parfums de Nicolaï. Green, dark, velvety, woody with natural Cambodian oud it's refreshing in an elegant and intriguing way.

Picture: Oud Sublime Elixir
Photo: PR Parfums d'Nicolaï (c)

Other niche fragrances that I liked very much in 2016 was in the dark, green, tangy, woody category as Parfums de Nicolaï Incense Oud  with its similarities to Oud Sublime, Maria Candida Gentile Lankaran Forest and Rrose Selavy (which resembles Galop d'Hermès a bit). I also liked Puredistance Sheiduna and Rania J. Cuir Andalou very much, both relaxing, warm, dark, embracing, spicy and oriental styled in different ways.

The to me new house that I discocvered an enjoyed in 2016 was Anatole Lebreton a line of robust, genuine "back to the roots of perfumery" fragrances.

Maria Candida Gentile - Rrose Sélavy

Picture: Rrose Sélavy (Marcel Duchamp)
Photo: Man Ray, 1921 

Rrose Selavy is an intriguing rosefragrance from italian perfumer Maria Candida Gentile dedicated to one of the leading artist of the dadaism Marcel Duchamp and his double identity Rrose Selavy. In the 1920:s Duchamps was photographed as a women, Rrose Selavy in a cooporation with Man Ray.

Rrose Selavy is an all through rosefragrance, built around different types of roses, and from different parts and extractions of the roses. The perfume starts with the natural smelling rose accord as for example in Annick Goutal Rose Absolue and Montale Taif Roses. As in both of these fragarnces, Rrose Selavy has the for the natural roseaccord typical rubbery note,  but less rubber than in the two mentioned fragrances. As Rrose Selavy developes, some light animalic, a bit furry notes appears as also a dry touch of something similar to cinnamon. The fragrance has a tea-ish texture, but there are no sharp or harsh edges as in some tea fragrances. This texture reminds me of Masque Russian Tea not the scent but the apperance. The clean and natural rose petal note (vevet pink if it had a color) appears now and then in short glimpses during the dry down, the rest of the time it's mixed with the other notes of rose. There is also a sort of herbal, candided impression in the basenotes, as the rosepetals are glazed in a light herbal sweetness. In the basenotes there is also a light leathery note and some of the dry fur is playing underneath.

Picture: Rose Sélavy
Photo: Maria Candida Gentile (c)

Rrose Selavy is in the same cold, airy but in the same time not thin style of velvet pink rose fragrance as Hermès Galop d'Hermès but Rrose Selavy is more eccentric in style, completely unisex, and less sweet in its restrained rosy, slight leathery apperance. The leathery tone in Rrose Selavy has the touch of fur mentioned above as the leather in Galop is that of a fine pair of gloves with a scent bordering to suede.

Rrose Selavy is an elegant not so rosy, rose soliflore. It's perfect for daytime wearing for example for office. Sillage is close, it's parfumeconcentration, longevity for more than a day if applying liberally, if only little applaied it lasts shorter than a day.

A beautiful and rare rose soliflore. It smells as it has many more notes than the variations of the rose and maybe it has as, notelists are seldom complete. .

Rating: 5

Notes: Rose petals, Turkish rose, May rose, Michelle rose, rose stems, rose leaves

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to test

Chanel No 5 and its different faces

The most famous fragrance classic, Ernest Beaux's Chanel No 5 is the model for aldehydic perfumes. Since its introduction in perfume concentration 1921 No 5 has appeared in different shapes and formulas. A few weeks ago I worn some of its variations:

Picture: Chanel No 5 EDT
Photo: Chanel (c)

Chanel No 5 EDT: The Edt version of the original perfume was interpreted by Henri Robert in 1952. Before a cologneversion created by Ernest Beaux was launched in the 1930s. The Edt is an austere, balanced, sort of putty-soapy aldehydic fragrance, cold and refined as marble, perfect for formal occasions. A demanding and challenging fragrance, the appearance shifts slightly between wearings, but its overall "stiff upper lip" personality remains the same. A confident personality but as often in such cases, there is some uncertainty about the self-esteem.

Picture: Chanel No 5 EDP
Photo: Chanel (c)

Chanel No 5 EDP: The Edp version was created by  former Chanel inside perfumer Jacques Polge in 1986. Starts with the recognizable No 5 aldehydic accord, soon deepened with a smooth, deep note of sandalwood. Beside the refined sandalwood, jasmine, rose and peach are the protagonists. Chanel No 5 Edp as a whole is the one that differs most from the other versions tested, to me its a wellbehaved, restrained, sort of urban variation of the colorful, vivid sandalwood jasmine Guerlain Samsara. Strangly I also find similarities with a later composition, Miller Harris Noix Tubereuse. The perfect No 5 for autumn and winter.

Picture: Chanel Eau Premiére
(old bottle and the tested version)
Photo: Chanel (c)

Chanel No 5 Eau Premiére: Eau Première was created 2007 by Jacques Polge as a modern take on No 5 Edt. In 2015 Eau Premiére was reformulated and also changed its presentaion to the Chanel squarebottle. I'm testing the original formula in the rectangual bottle. No 5 Edt is clearly recognizable in Eau Premiére, the characteristic aldehydic accord is similar, the fragrance as a whole feels more uncomplicated, warmer and gentler probably because of the emphasize of the neroli, ylang ylang and vanilla notes. It's apperance, like sunny aldehydes, is creating an informal atmosphere. Eau Premiére's personality is well behaved, kind, with a great dose of self-esteem.

Picture: Chanel No 5 L'Eau
Photo: Chanel (c)

Chanel No 5 L'Eau: No 5 L'Eau created by inhouse perfumer Olivier Polge, is Chanels move to convince the young generation to like No 5. Airy, watery, with a lighter and higher interpretation of the classical No 5 aldehyde accord, the fruity (lemon, orange, mandarine) and floral (jasmine, neroli, ylang-ylang) notes are bright and clean (not detergent clean) and not embedded in the powdery-putty "just blown out candle" aldehydic notes of No 5 Edt and to a lesser extent No 5 Eau Première. Uplifting, and carefree, versatile to wear, a sort of casual elegance, perfect for any daytime occasion. As this is not a sweet, fruity, floral I doubt this will be a sucess in the yougest group of perfume consumers. No 5 L'Eau will attract those with a discerned taste in any agegroup. In my book this version is already a classic.

My favorite: With no doubt Chanel No 5 L'Eau, together with Galop d'Hermès the best release in 2016 (from the very small fraction I have tested). Followed by No 5 Edt because of its more intriguing dry down compared to Eau Première, which on the other hand I like better as a whole, considered its personality and friendlier apperance.  Last but not least Chanel No 5 Edp which is an elegant perfume but in another style, more dated and not as much No 5 as the other versions.

5 Top fragrances for fall

Picture: Maple leaves
Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Autumn is late this year but finally it has arrived with its glowing colors, fresh chilly air and damp/moisty scents. Below some fragrances I like/like to wear this autumn, whether they are autumnal or not:

Bois Blond (Parfumerie Generale): Now when my sample is drained after years of occasionally wearing, I suddenly realized how much I will miss this dry, hayish, woody beauty. It's not the easiest fragrance to come close to and probably too masculine for me....Anyway a bottle is on its way.

Galop d'Hermès (Hermès): No toplist without a Hermès, their fragrances are versatile and suits me perfect for everyday wearing. Galop exceed my expectations with its juicy, rosy, soft leather with a slight sort of clean, animalic touch. It's now my favorite Hermès together with my all time feminine favorite from the house: Amazone.

No 5 L'Eau (Chanel): I have to confess I didn't want to like this as L'Eau is a far longer step away from the distinct super aldehydic original No 5 than No 5 Eau Première. Even if I tried to resist when tested in store, this flowing light flowery beauty with many the notes from No 5 but in different proportions and with a lighter base is a new classic.

Baume du Doge (Eau d'Italie): It's such a well balanced myrrh dominated fragence. Infused with orange, resins  and spices, BdG warns during grey and rainy days. To be worn with a cashmere sweater/shawl.

Baptême du Feu (Serge Lutens): A bit weired but intrguing fragances with light gourmand, citric, incense and smoky notes. The incense in style with the clean note in L'Orpheline, the citric notes cold as metal, the gourmand licour and spice, the smoke from gunpowder and campfires. Intriguing during it's whole dry down.