Maison Nicolas de Barry - L'Eau de Shah Jahan

Picture: Shah Jahan (1592-1666)
Wikimedia commons

Even if it's a true unisex fragrance, it's obvious to me that L'eau de Shah Jahan is cretaed to be the masculine counterpart to the beautiful and bombastic L'eau de Mumtaz i-Mahal which was reviewd earlier in December. Shah Jahan is just as the Mumtaz created by Nicolas de Barry and Eddy Blanchet.

L'eau de Shah Jahan also starts with the rubbery rose oil accord as Mumtaz i-Mahal but less dominating and distinct. Soon fruits pickled in a liqueur-brandy like accord appears, the rose steps backwards but is discretly present in the rest of the dry down. The boozy fruits is the distinguishing theme when Shah Jahan is compared with Mumtaz i-Mahal, both has the same characteristic sandalwood, oud and what I think is the note of nagarmotha as basenotes and "frame". And of course the fragrances should complement each other very close, just as Shah and his favorite wife Mumtaz once did. To me L'eau de Shah Jahan is a true oriental version, at least as I, from my limited experience with the Arabian Oud perfumed oils, imagine true orientals, of the western woody oriental Serge Lutens Boxeuses, which compared with Shah Jahan of course seems almost anorectic, but the pickled fruits and the boozy notes is a common theme. Another western styled woody oriental that comes to my mind when testing Shah Jahan is Parfums Delrae Bois de Paradis.

Picture: The sofisticated bottle of L'Eau de  Shah Jahan
Photo: PR Maison Nicolas de Barry (c)

Shah Jahan has a distinct silage even if not as grand as the rosy Mumtaz i-Mahal. Longevity is just as the latter about 24h and Shah Jahan is also best for festive occasions or in very small doses, also for cold and grey winter days. This is not the fragrance for the workplace with the least tendency to scentophobia.

Rating: 4
This as I prefer the roses of the Mumtaz this one i 5 rated and Shah Jahan 4, but if I had preferred fruits better the rating would be reversed as the fragrances are so similar

Notes: Rose, sandalwood, oud

 As mentioned above I also recognize booze, fruits and nagarmotha


Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to try

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Eau d'Italie - Graine de Joie

Picture: HRH Prince Carl Philip and his fiancee Sofia Hellqvist
on their engagementday June 27th, 2014.
Photo: Expressen Sven Lindvall (c)

Graine de Joie from italian nichehouse Eau d'Italie is a red berry boost raised to ten. Graine de Joie is created by Daphne Bugey. The fragrance is said to be inspired by the idea of love and according to the marketing blurb "we have decided to celebrate love, and to create a fragrance that conjures up the irresistible light-headedness of when you fall in love." Graine de Joie would have been the olfactory background for the great royal news of last Friday: The handsome HRH Prince Carl Philips engagement with his charity working, from a small village, middle class background, girlfriend Sofia Hellqvist. Another Cinderella story following the one of HRH Prince Daniel. The color and expression of Graine de Joie is exactly the red color of Sofias elegant dress.

Graine de Joie starts very uplifting with ripe redberries and pomegranate, red, lush and mouthwatering delicious. The berry-pomegranate combo goes through the whole fragrance supported by a fizzy freesia who is contrasting and lighten up the fragrance. There are also a contrasting, tart note, maybe some redcurrant leaves is added to the mix or the note just picturing the tartness present in the berries themselves. Not unexpected, the berry-bowl is grounded in a well balanced musky, light woody base.

Picture: The sunny spirit of Graine de Joie
Photo: PR Eau d'Italie (c)

Beside the royal engagement, Graine de Joie gives me the image of a bowl with ripe red berries and fruits avaible when relaxing in a sunny mediterrian garden in the peak of the summer.Graine de Joie is a perfect fragrance for the season, something that departs from the usual fresh aquatics or citrus scents. The fragrance is much richer than the usual sommerfragrances and despite its full blown berry sweetness, it doesn't becames sickly sweet or smells chemical. It's an uncomplicated happy and easy to wear fragrance, appropriate both for work or casual wearing. Graine de Joie is a good composition in the floral-fruity genre. I find it more ordinary in style than the intriguing and demanding earlier Eau d'Italie compositions such as the burnt, spicy, woody Bois d'Ombrie, the green, rough, woody Sienne l'Hiver, the dramatic rose Pasteum Rose and the special cologne styled first fragrance Eau d'Italie which I personally prefer.

When it comes to similar fragrances, first of all Robert Piguet Jeunesse comes to my mind, though that one has more dept and contrasting non-berry/fruity notes. Also the fragrances in By Kilians subline In the Garden of Good and Evil are in the same style, reviews of In the City of Sin, Good Girl Gone Bad, Forbidden Games and Playing with The Devil.

Rating: 4

Notes: Red berries, red currant, pomegranate, freesia, flowers, praline, musk,cedar

Robert Piguet - Jeunesse

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Jeunesse is the most stirking of the Pacific Collection trio. Jeunesse is, just as the name indicates, a  young, sparkling and happy fragrance. And of course, as the sterotype of young girls perfumes of today, it's a pink, fruity-berry floral. The perfumer of Jeunesse is Aurelien Guichard, the housenose of Parfums Robert Piguet.

Jeunesse starts sparkling berry-fruity, after a while some slight creamy notes also appears.There something in the texture of the fragrance that intermediate the impression of meringues. If Jeunesse has a color, it is definitly intensive, medium, pink or cerise. The fruity notes are an interpaly between raspberry, blackberry and I also smell a fresh almost peachy note, even if not mentioned among the notes. Maybe it's the pomegranate. Even if wearing Jeunesse is like swimming in a fruity/berry meringuie dessert it's not overhelming sweet, this is prevented by the interplay between the contrasting sweet and sour fruity notes. When it comes to the flowery notes they are the second players in this fragrance, in Jeunesse the fruits and berries are the stars of the show. Jeunesse is based on a white pleasent musk, not the laudery  version. which has taken over many muskbased fragrances the latest year. As Jeunesse mingles in the basenotes, the fragrance deepens and get a bit darker and there is a note similar to mango appearing. In this stage Jeunesse reminds me of a lighter version of Jo Loves....A shot of oud over mango but without the oud.

Usually I don't have opinons about which ages a fragrance fits for but when it comes to Jeunesse it is indeed very young, at least in the top and middlenotes. This should of course not prevent anybody to wear it when longing for a sparkling, juicy, happy and uncomplicated fragrance and in the basenotes, Jeunesse is age-neutral. The sillage of Jeunesse is quite impressie to be a "regulated" 2012 composition and the longevity is very good about 24 h. Finally, Jeunesse as a concept reminds me of Baby Doll Paris by Yves Saint Laurent where Jeunesse is a creamy and Baby Doll a sharper interpretation of the pink fruity theme.

Rating: 4+

Notes: Blackberry, raspberry, pomegranate, different florals, musk

By Kilian - Forbidden Games

Picture: Boy with a Basket of Fruit
Oil of canvas by Michelangelo Merisi Cravaggio ca 1593
Wikimedia commons

Forbidden Games is the third installment in The Garden of Good and Evil line from By Kilian. Forbidden games is created by Calice Becker and is said to express the following: "When going beyond the boundaries has never been so exciting and dangerously attractive".

Forbidden Games starts a bit chemical, in a good way, fruity-floral, with emphasis on fruity, sort of like a compot of fruits as peach and apricots. Forbidden games is slight gourmand compared to the other two in the Garden of Good and Evil trio In the City of Sin and Good Girl Gone Bad. There is also like a light trail of cacaopowder glimpsing throughout the composition. As the rest of the trio very light and somehow thin and fleeting in charachter when taking into account the quite distinct ingredients mentioned in the notelist. A nice and good officescent that smells nice and can't harm anybody. Even if light the longevity is good almost for a day and the projection is close.

Just as hinted of in the In the City of Sin and Good Girl Gone Bad posts I suspect that  these sort of indistinct, fleeting charachters as I perceive from the Garden of Good and Evil  fragrances, is a good example of the coming, even more regulated perfumeworld that could be effective from 1 July 2013. Probably By Kilian is just pre-compliant.

Rating: 3

Notes: Apple, peach, plum, cinnamon, rose, geranium, jasmine, vanilla, honey, opoponax

By Kilian - In the City of Sin

Picture: Still Life With Compotier, 

Painting by Paul Cezanne (ca 1879-1882)

Collection Mr. and Mrs. Rene Lecomte, Paris

Wikimedia commons

Sorry, but I get no sinful associations at all from this fleeting Calice Becker creation In the City of Sin. In the City of Sin is one of three initial offerings from the new ByKilian sub-line In the Garden of Good and Evil from handsome Hennessy heir, Kilian Hennessy. In the City of Sin is said to be "The temptation which leads to carnal desire".

In the City of Sin starts with a sparkling clean bergamot-cardamom dominated accord. Then some natural smelling fruity nots follows, there are no harsh chemical notes, instead the fruity notes are round, soft, fresh and perfectly ripe. The fruits reminds me of a tamer version of the fruity notes of Bombay Bling from Neela Vermeire creations.  The fruity notes are supported by a bright, pink rose and tha blend is grounded in a rather cold woody cedar-patchouli base.

As hinted above, instead of sinful, In the City of Sin is a quite innocent, very officefriendly scent that could be worn daytime year around but preferably during spring, summer and the early autumn. Nice and friendly but to be honest, nothing special when taking into account that In the City of Sin is created by the flower-champion Calice Becker. I have to admit that I like the two of many perfumistas critizised offerings of the Asian Tales line (Water Calligraphy and Bamboo Harmony) much better than this mediocre composition.

The question what is happening with the ByKilian brand is justified when smelling this fleeting (probably already fully IFRA-compliant) fragrance. Earlier there was body and strength in the By Kilians. The Arabian Nights collection is great as also many of the fragrances of the initial L'oeuvre Noire line.

Rating: 3

Notes: Bergamot, pink pepper, cardamom, apricot, plum, turkish rose, incense, atlas cedar, patchouli