At the moment - Top 3 favourites

Picture: From a walk earlier this autumn,
before the leaves started to fall.
Photo: Parfumista (c)

As a Parfumista my longing for a certain fragrance or fragrancestyle are highly volatile, what I crave for is changing very fast. Top 3 by now:

Lankaran Forest (Maria Candida Gentile): Fresh, piny green, the undergrowth in a cold, autumnal forest. Nothing sweet or cloying, meditative to wear.
Rose Privèe (L'Artisan Parfumeur): When I first tested this three years ago it was not a favourite, even if intriguing, I thought it was to harsh and herbal. But now, I completely changed my mind, this is the smell of an English garden a chilly day. This is how the new Burberry Her should have smelled.

Cuir Cuba Intense (Parfums de Nicolaï): Sundried tobaccoleaves, in a light leathery context. Elements of hay, light, dry spices and dry patchoulileaves. Not a thick and dense but an airy and transparent tobacco.

Impressions of Zlatan Ibrahimovic Myth Wood & Myth Bloom

Picture: Zlatan Ibrahimovic and
perfumer Olivier Pescheux sniffing their new releases
Myth Wood and Myth Bloom
Photo: PR Zlatan Ibrahimovic/Anna Malmberg (c)

Yesterday, visiting the local mall, there was a table exposing Zlatan Ibrahimovic's just launched fragrances Myth Wood and Myth Bloom and for once I stopped and sniffed.It's very rare I sniff a celebrity fragrance even if I'm claiming I'm not a perfumesnob. When it comes to Zlatan, he is of course not "just another celebrity" for a swede, he's after all the greatest footbollplayer this country has produced so far. And his partner Helena (who was an entrepeneaur and businesswomen long before she met Zlatan) has a great taste for fashion...

The Myth fragrances, according to the marketingbuzz, are inspired from the nature and myths of Sweden. Zlatan wanted to capture the scents from where he feel most at home, in the swedish nature where he gets peace and quiet. Perfumer Olivier Pescheaux was visitning Sweden around Midsummer 2016 to collect scents from the nature, the forests, meadows and from the archipelago with it's barren woods and vegetation. Then (I guess) headspace technology was used to transform the scents into the perfumers palette. My impressions comes from sniffing scentstripes with Myth Wood and Myth Bloom + two squeezes on skin of the female Myth Bloom.

Myth Wood starts quite common like a contemproary light, bright aromatic woody fragrance with a tangy fresh element, probably the grapefruit. Later some pine and blond woody notes steps forward to my nose also a note of beewax is fully evident even if not mentioned in the notelist. The lavander is not that evident but acting as a contrast to the woodyness. I can't smell the moss as a separate ingredient but the forestinspiered aura of the  fragrance contains a fresh, moisty, mossy element. Myth Wood is much more interesting in what's left on the scentstripe after almost a day than the more ordinary opening. A fragrance that comes to my mind when sniffing Myth Wood is Maria Candida Gentile Gershwin but without the incensenote in the latter. The aura and woody brightness, the calmness of the fragrance, also have something in common with Lankaran Forest from the same house.

Myth Bloom is a bright, pink rose with different companions than the usual example from the genre. The shamrock and especially the appleblossom are clearly detectable, contributing to the wild rose in a partly different direction. There is also an almost peachy note apperant, probably the result of the mix of the flowers. The woods are Scandinavian blond and bright, cedar balances the woody mix just right,   it doesn't becomes sharp or smelling like pencilshavings. There are also elements of hay and hints of the pleasant beewaxnote in Myth Wood. When sniffing Myth Bloom one of my first impressons was that this is amost UNUM Rosa Nigra and as logical result of that I also smell a connection to Burberry Body.

My findings from this brief evalution is that I like both fragrances very much. When it comes to Myth Wood the next step is to test it on my own skin as I think it's unisex from sniffing the scentstripe. When it comes to Myth Bloom I'm tempted to go for a bottle. And at last: Does the fragrances capture the scents of Sweden? Yes in some ways, it captures the spirit (in a chemical way of course) of the nature in summer, Bloom gives me associations to a Midsummer meadow and Wood has elements of the archipelago. Somehow I also come to think of Russia when smelling Wood. Maybe it's the beewaxnote and something that is similar to the olfactory picture of gentle incense in a wooden church in northen Russia, a picture I also experiences when smelling Commes de Garcons Zagorsk even if the fragrances smells different as a whole.

Carner Barcelona - Costarela

Picture: The Golden Beaches of Santa Susanna,
Costa Brava, Catalonia, Spain
Photo: vincentdesjardins (cc) 

Costarela is a citrus woody spicy Edp created for Carner Barcelona by Shyamala Maisondieu.

Costarela is built around a partly unusual accord, tart, light citrus combined with a subdued saffron. I can also smell something similar to fresh cardamon, maybe a nuance of the saffron blend. There is also a dry paper note present and the overall impression is fresh, windy, salty,  yellow sun and sand, dry driftwood on the shores. Later in the dry down, Costarela deepens a bit when the ambery - woody notes are added to the "day at the seaside" accord described above.

Costarela is a discrete and versatile contemporary citrus aromatic fragrance which is suitable to wear both for work and casual, especially in spring and summer. It's a quiet fragrance which is quite close to the skin with a calming effect  The fragrances is unisex, leaning slightly to the masculine side. Longevity  is for almost a day even if Costarela in its later stages is very discrete and gentle, sometimes almost undetectable but when one think it has disappeared, then it's suddenly appears again as a gentle wisper. It's like returning waves of seasideinspired accords. Wearing Costarela creates the image of the beach a sunny and windy day with the monotonous sounds of the waves rolling in, bringing driftwood, algae, seaweed, shells and the smells from the ocean with them.

Picture: Costarela
Photo: PR Carner Barcelona (c)

Other fragrances I come to think of (not smelling the same but with a similar impression) when testing Costarela are fragrances from different interpretations of the salty, woody or citrus theme: Maria Candida Gentile Finisterre and Lankaran Forest, Hermès Epice Marine and Dior Homme Cologne

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, saffron, marine and sand notes, cedar, ambroxan, amber

Maria Candida Gentile - Lankaran Forest

LPicture: Azerbaijani Forest
Photo borrowed from
  trend news agency 

Lankaran Forest was created by Maria Candida Gentile inspired from a visit in the Lankaran Park in Azerbaijan. This is a magic and mystic place which inspired Empror Alexander the Great so much that he declared the forest protected forever. 

Lancaran Forest starts with a bitter citric-aromatic tinge with accents of turpentine. It's bright and sparkling, just as ray of lights between giant trees a sunny day in the forest hitting a source of fresh water flowing in the green forest floor. As Lankaran Forest dries down, more scents from the moisty forest floor, dry leaves, grass and lichen as also notes from the sunwarmed tree trunks of the iron three which are typical of the Lankraran Forest. Even if golden, green and glimmering, Lankaran Forest has a sort of fresh, woody, chilly backdrop reminding me a bit of the teaish note of Rrose Selavy and Mona di Orio Bohea Bohème but without the smokey accent of the latter. The notes blended also create a faint flowery note, with touches of something that reminds me of dry neroli if such a note exists. Lankaran Forest is fresh, sparkling, moisty and dry in the same time. The woody base is smooth, there are no harsh chemical woody notes, and balances the other notes in a gentle manner.

Picture: Lankaran Forest
Photo: PR Maria Candida Gentile (c)

Lankaran Forest is a refreshing, carefree fragrance, suitable for daytime wearing both for casual and for office. It's especially good for spring, summer and also for sunny days in the autumn with high air and colourful crispy leaves on the ground. It's not a classical cologne but has the same versatility, is inspiring and uplifting for the spirits. It's longevity is very good for a fragrance in this style, traces are left on skin after almost 24h. Lankaran Forest is totally unisex.

Rating: 5

Notes: Bitter orange, petit grain, black tea, lichen, sandalwood, iron three, leaves

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to test