Maria Candida Gentile - Burlesque

Picture: Perfumer Maria Candida Gentile
started to create her own rosewater as a little girl.
Photo: This cute photo of Maria is published on her website
(c) Maria Candida Gentile

The initial impression of Burlesque is like a candied iris accord, enhanced by dark, balsamic notes. There are also swirls of a light incense which performs in an almost sweet woody accord, for a while this part smells like wood from a juniper bush. Burlesque smehow reminds me of a balanced and non-excessive L'Artisan Explotions D'Emontions Skin on Skin. Later on, there is a light cosmetic note shining through in Burlesque, combined with a touch of gunpowder. There is something that reminds me a bit of a clean interpreation of Etat Libre d'Orange Putain des Palaces. The longer in the drydown, the more the beautiful blended patchoulinote comes forward. The patchouli is warm, smooth a bit sweet and almost light herbal. There are absoluetly no harsh or dusty impression from the patchouli. Burlesque is my favorite from the three tested from the Exclusive Collection, very pleasant and in the same time intresting to wear during a whole workday. As a perfume the sillage is close, a real wristsniffer where interesting things going on. Longevity about a day. 

Rating: 5

Notes: Blood orange, iris, rose, patchouli, incense

Thanks to Fragance & Art for the sample to test 

L'Artisan Parfumeur - Explosions D'Émotions 2 (2)

Today impressions of the two remaining Explosions D'Emotions.

Picture: Skin on Skin
Photo: PR L'Artisan Parfumeur (c)

Skin on Skin "a wanton embrace" also for this fragrance the marketing blurb is fitting. Skin on Skin embraces you with an obtrusive, chemical candynote which interplays with a sweet irisnote, passably dimmed with soft saffron somewhere in the middle of the fragrance and moved to a note similar to hairspray. A musky, smoky (probably the Whisky mentioned among the ingredients) suede is lurking in the background, contrasting the hairspray and the sweet  notes. As the fragrance is strong and shrill, one should be careful with application. Skin on Skin seems almost as sort of an experimental mockery of a great iris-suede as Histoires de Parfums Tubereuse 1 Capricieuse which, despite its name, foremost is an iris-suede with gourmand accords of cacao and saffron. Skin on Skin could also be one of the sketches to Duchaufours own L'Artisan creation Traverseé du Bosphore. 

Picture: Amour Nocturne
Photo: PR L'Artisan Parfumeur (c)

Amour Nocturne "the intimacy of the night" Amour Nocturne shocks with a loud and garish chemical note of cocos + milk chocolate like a liquid Bounty Bar. As it dries down to the middle- and basenotes, the scent softens and a milky accord infused  with some sweet candynotes contrasted with a dry burned (probably hints of the gunpowdernote), plastic slight flowery note (as in Parfumerie Generale Psychotrope but I like the latter much better)  dominates the fragrance until it's fading out about 24h after the initial application. After going through the jarring top notes, Amour Nocturne despite or maybe because of the burned, plastic  is quite pleasant and comforting to wear in a small dose. Just as with Skin on Skin: Beware to overapply this!

To sum it all up: Probably I'm too old school and doesen't understand anything from this avantgarde(?) creating: Probably I also have a too ironic mind because when sampling Explosions D'Émotions I almost suspect Bertrand Duchaufour for making fun of his public and the current exalting of niche, taking it too serious. After all, these fragrances are more expensive than the IMO overall much better L'Artisans in the regular line. Seems like he's taking the concept a famous name (the perfumer and brand) + nice bottle + an OK juice + some "exclusive" marketing chit-chat to the extreme. An interesting concept and the fragrances as such is very well worth sampling (thanks to Fragrance & Art for the samples) as a reflection of the state of niche today or just to find an unconventional and (in some phases of them if applied sparingly) comforting fragrance.