Carner Barcelona - Palo Santo

Picture: Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)
Photo by Haplochromis (cc) some rights
reserved, Wikimedia.com 

Palo Santo is the latest creation of Barcelona based perfume house Carner Barcelona. Palo Santo means holy wood, grows in South America, is related to frankincense, myrrh, copal and is burned as incensesticks. Palo Santo in Catalan is also a fruit, persimmons.

I don't know who the perfumer is which has created Palo Santo, anyway the fragrance starts with the comfortable, likable, gourmand, light sweet-spicy accord which characterize the house of Carner. In Palo Santo rum and a sweet, herbal accord, soon complemented with a smoky vetiver opens the fragrance. The opening and to some extent (se below) reminds me of a gentler and smoother version of Parfumerie Générale Querelle. Palo Santo behaves different in the middlenotes in different wearings. The smoky, a bit sweet vetiver is the dominating accord once I wear it, in another wearing the vetiver is gentler and a green, slight herbal, fizzy accord appears and creates an impression of green, burning incense. When Palo Santo reaches the basenotes it becomes sweeter, it's like smoky slight caramelized vetiver. This first stage of the base reminds me of another great Parfumerie Générale creation; Cédre Sandarque but in a lighter and less extreme form. The more Palo Santo dries down in the basenotes, the more vanilla steps forward and it morph to a nice vanilla supported with the smoky vetiver as a contrast.

Picture: Palo Santo
Photo: PR Carner Barcelona (c)

Palo Santo is a good everyday perfume for the colder months, it's a bit too heavy and sweet for summer, except cold, rainy summerevenings. Palo Santo is strong and has to be applied sparingly, if not it becomes almost cloying. The sillage is medium and longevity for more than a day.

As mentioned above, Paolo Santo has a special contemporary gourmand aura typical for the houses fragrances at least from Rima XI and El Born. The sweet, spicy gourmand vibe was not as present in the first three fragrances of the house, D600, Tardes and Cuirs. Of the three fragrances of later years, El Born is definitely my favorite not just in smell, I also find it in a better harmony on skin than Palo Santo.

Even if not smelling similar there are some similarities that makes me think that those who like By Kilian Light My Fire  with its sweet vetiver touch also would appreciate Palo Santo.

Rating: 4

Notes: Artemisia, rum, milk, guaiac wood, tonka bean, vetiver, vanilla, sandalwood.

Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle - Dries van Noten

Picture: Caffè latte as being served in Oslo
Photo by Jazzbobrown (cc), Wikimedia commons

The Belgian fashiondesigner Dries van Noten has released the first fragrance of the house (bearing the houses name) in collaboration with wellknown nichehouse Editions de Parfumes Frederic Malle. This instead of taking the "regular" massmarket channel as most fashionhouses when release their fragrances. The perfumer of Dries van Noten is Bruno Jovanovic.

Dries van Noten smells like almost unsweet pastry, the sweetness is at least subdued.The whole impression of the perfume is like sitting in a café a grey, snowy and chilly day (exactly the weather when I write this review :-) consuming a croissant together with a giant latte. As Dries van Noten dries :-) down the croissant-note becomes apparent. The texture of DvN is somehow like the feeling of smooth, lightcolored suede, even if there is no suedenote recognizable in the blend. There is also a beautiful, smooth sandalwood in DvN, the finest I have smelled in a contemporary fragrance for a long time. As I understand it there is some "substitute"  for Santal from Mysore that has been introduced to the market latly. Probably this has been used instead of the rougher australian sandalwood that is common in woody perfumes released in the latest years.  In the basenotes there are smooth, powdery and a bit sweet woody notes, also almond is detectable as later also a clean, a bit almost sweet herbal note. To my nose DvN is sweeter in the basenotes than in it's earlier stages.

Overall a pleasant and very comfortable fragrance in the transparant gourmand style of Carner Barcelona Rima XI. I like the latter equal to Dries van Noten Rima XI is, even if also transparant and smooth in texture, more pronounced in its gourmand style, more distinctive with its smooth spices and maybe more intriguing as composition. On the other hand Dries van Noten is almost seamless in its development so very delicious and cosy and I think it appeals to a broader group of perfumewearers, it could also have been released as an "highend mainstream". Dries van Noten is very officefriendly, a fragrance that gives the wearer compliments. Perfect for the colder months. I have read complaints about the longevity of DvN but this is not a problem for me, I can smell sufficient traces of it almost 24h after applying it. Sillage is medium in its earlier accords, then close.

Those who likes fragrances in the style of Carner Barcelona Tardes, Parfumerie Generale Praline de Santal, Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau and  Etro Heliotrophe (mini review in swedish) could also appreciate Dries van Noten.

Update late April 2013: The more I wear/test/sniff DvN the more I like its subtle and comforting character and the fact that its longevity is great despite its transparency. The sandalwood note is smooth and has no harsh edges which is sometime the case with the australian sandalwood used as a substitute to the Mysore in many fragrances during the latest years. Overall DvN is a very wearable fragrance. 

Rating: 4, Update April 2013: 5

Notes: Citron, sandalwood, guaiac wood, cashmeran, tonka bean, vanilla, saffron, jasmine, musk

Thanks to Alla Violetta for a sample to review.

Carner Barcelona - Rima XI

Picture: Meadow Elves (Ängsälvor), oil on canvas
by Nils Blommér 1850

Rima XI is a transparant spicy, floral, light gourmand perfume created by perfumer Sonia Constant for the Barcelonean nichehouse Carner Barcelona. Sonia Constant also created the powerful Cuirs for the house last year and with Rima XI she explores a quite different, lighter and more delicate style. The appearance of Rima XI lies in between Tardes and D600 by Carner Barcelona and closer to Tardes of the two.

Rima XI starts with an almost gourmand accord, similar to the bread and apricot acccord in Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau or the gourmand sandalaccord of Parfumerie Generale Praline de Santal, which to me is a Jeux de Peau follower. There is an almond, cardamon accord that shows up early in Rima X and which is more and less present during the dry down of the perfum. After a whlie, Rima XI suddenly evokes the olfactory image of a sort of sharper Bois Naufragé by Parfumerie Generale, the wood dried in the sun at the beach by the sea and the woody, sandy, slight salty nuances that emerges from this. After a while the sweet, gourmand, character appears again, like an almondcookie, it’s almost like the smell when sniffing in a cookie jar. There is also a discrete flowernote sneaking in to the blend.  This pastry impression remains during the whole development of Rima XI. There is not a oversweet impression, it’s surprisingly light and transparent and there is absolutly no risk that Rima XI will be overwhelming. The almondcookie seems to be offset by a note similar to spicy tea and this balances the fragrance in a delicate way. This accord reminds me of yet another Parfumerie Generale fragrance, Un Crime Exotique but tuned down multiple levels. As UCE is an extreme when it comes to “spieced beverages” inspirated perfumes, readers that dislike UCE should not fear trying Rima XI. As Rima XI is resting in the basenotes the impression still are flowers, almondcookies, spices and tea supported by woody notes.

Rima XI to me is a very versatile fragrance, contemporary in style despite its inspiration from a poem of the 19th Spanish poet G.A.Bécquer: “I am a dream, an impossible; vain ghost of mist and light; I am bodiless, I am untouchable; I cannot love you. – Oh, come, you come!”. IMHO this poem also could describe a the subtle precense of a beautiful perfume, like for instance Rima XI.

Rima XI is wearable year around and could be described as a comfortable and reliable parfume with a close sillage which makes it very officefriendly. The longevity is good. The spicy character, even if light, makes it suitable for daytime wearing during the upcoming Christmas just like another good fragrance for daytime Christmas fragrance, Aus Liebe Zum Duft No 1 (from the excellent german perfumeshop with the same name) which has similariteis in style with Rima XI but as a stronger and masculine alternative.

Rating: 4

Notes: Cardamom, black pepper, mint, saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, jasmine, coriander, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla, benzoin, soft amber, musk

Carner Barcelona - Tardes

Picture: Tardes, afternon in the countryside

Photo: Carner Barcelona (c)

Carner Barcelona Tardes is created by one of my favourite perfumers Daniela Andrier, the housenose of Prada.In Tardes the founder of the house of Carner, Sara Carner, through Andriers nose will capture the peaceful summerafternoons in the catalonian countryside.

Tardes starts with slight chemical notes that disappears very fast and an airy almond shines through. Soon the almond is supported by flowers and some light herbal notes and it's not hard to imagine the source of inspiration to this balmy and calming fragrance. Tardes is fairly liniear during it's dry down and heliotrophe and musk are supporting and deepen the other notes in the base. I can feel a minior trace of the fresh lighted cigarettenote that I appreciate in D600 in the base, but it is just fragments compared to D600 . Maybe this cigarettenote is a part of the housenote of Parfums Carner, probably it's a part of the musk used in the base.
Tardes is an airy almondfragrance, not surprisingly as it's a creation of the queen of transparency and airiness Daniela Andrier. Tardes is not as sweet as most fragrances with almond as the dominating note. Fragrances as Etros Heliotrophe which has about the same sweetness but has more heliotrophe and tonka then Tardes, Kiss me tender (swedish) by Patricia de Nicolaï which is a pastry take on almond and heliotrophe which almost feels like marzipan. Fragrances as Dior Hypnotic Poison (swedish) and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Castelbajac  (swedish) also features almond but are completely different, denser types of fragrances. Keiko Mecheris Taormine (swedish) is also a different almond, it's creamy and smells similar to an almondy bodylotion. Even if Tardes is slight gourmandy it somehow remains fresh in caracter during it’s whole dry down. Tardes is a very longlasting fragrance that remains unfragemented on skin after a whole day. The projection is fairly close.
The overall impression of Tardes is the airy, gourmandy and almost chilly expression that is also present in another late Daniela Andrier creation, Prada Candy (swedish). As Tardes was launched 2010 and Candy 2011 it is quite likely that the perfumer has worked almost simultaneously with the fragrances and they therefore shares the same theme but using almond as the major note in Tardes and benzoin/resins in Candy. Of the two, I prefer Tardes whith it's fine tuned, almondy, floweriness.

Tardes, as well as my other favourite D600, is a wellcrafted, comfortable and wearable fragrance.It is appropriate for daytime, both casual and to work. An almond that is suitable also in summer due to it's Andrierian transparency and almost chilly airiness.

Rating: 4

Update summer 2013: Rating 5. After wearing from the sample some more times, I totally adore the almond-rosewood-heliotrope combination. Just great and FBW.

Notes: Geranium, rose, rosewood, almond, cedar, plum, celery, tonka, musk, heliotrope