Montale – Gold Flowers

Picture: Polianthes tuberosa, 1816,

John Sims (1746-1799), Wikimedia commons

Montale Gold Flowers is one in the indefinite ranges of perfumes from the house of  Montale, created by the hyperproductive perfumer Pierre Montale some years ago. Gold Flowers belongs to the Edp line, which is the non-oud line of the house. Of course there are oudnotes in many of the blends in the Edp-line but the note is used as a woody note among others and not as the leading note of the creation as in the Oud-line.

In Gold Flowers I can’t detect any oud, Gold Flowers is a genuine, tuberose dominated spicy, bold flowery fragrance. Gold Flowers reminds me of at least three fragrances: Spellbound with it’s flowery spiciness, Fracas tuberose and the texture of the flowery, fruity chypre Jil Sander 4. But Gold Flowers is lighter, brighter and more contemporary than those three fragrances. As the fragrances of the early 90s has been one of the major trends in perfumery for some years, for example Burberry Body, Gold Flowers is quite in tune with time.

The sillage and longevity is great as almost always with the Montales. The composition is also well balanced. Gold Flowers is perfect for warming up a grey day in autumn- or winter but is also appropriate to summer as it last very well and has a certain transparency. With it’s character it is also suitable for evening wear. To summarize: Gold Flowers is not the most original composition but cozy and wearable spicy, tuby fragrance.

Rating: 4

Notes: Tuberose, pepper, clove, sandalwood, grey amber

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier - Tubéreuse

Picture: Polianthes tuberosa
Source: Wikimedia commons

The tuberose interpretation of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Tubéreuse starts with topnotes that reminds me of powdery lipstick. The tuby-note are evident even if embedded in lipstick. As the top notes fades and the perfume reach it's heart, a more polished version of the typical dirty "stable-like" jasmine note of MPG matsterly interpreted in the MPG soliflore Jasmine, appears accompaning the tuberose. There are a lot of similarities between Jasmine and Tubéreuse but the latter is more well modulated and polished even if some skankiness lurking behind it's elegant exterior. The former is straight forward, it smells as it has just left the stable. In both Tubereuse and Jasmine the top-and mid-range are infused with green notes that accentuates that respective flower. The green notes are slightly harsh, galbanum comes in mind but without the typical crispiness of that stuff. Just as Jasmine, Tubéreuse is grounded in the special MPG musc that contribute to the retro-like impression of their fragrances.

To summon all up, MPG Tubéreuse is a green floral scent accented by tuberose although there is a hefty dose of jasmine too. The scent is not an equally distinct and compact tuberose frag such as Annick Goutals Tubéreuse or Frederic Malle Carnal Flower. As Tubereuse is not very powerful and it is almost percived as thin in the projection. But it fills its place as a retro scent with a clearly nostalgic vibe. Tubéreuse is an EDT that fits well  wearing during daytime especially for spring and summer. 

Rating: 4

Notes: Green notes, tuberose, jasmine, rose, musc, amber

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier - Fraiche Passiflore

 Picture: A great Passionflower 

Photo: Simon Rudolf (cc)

Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved

Scroll down for an english version. This is from the unpublished archives, ca 2011.
Håll i er alla parfymsnobbar: MPG:s Fraiche Passiflore är något så hemskt som en fruity-floral! Men en hemskt trevlig fruity-floral och inte alls en sådan där generisk, klonad, massmarknadsprodukt som man normalt associerar med begreppet. Nej, Jean Laportes passionfruktsblommedoft med jasmin och persika har en helt annan klass. Det finns ju faktiskt fruktiga floraler som är jättebra, både bland niche och i designerdoftssortimentet. Frukt ihop med blomma blir precis lika bra ihop som tillexempel gräs och blomma bara parfymören komponerar med känsla och bra ingredienser används.

Så är fallet i Fraiche Passiflore som även om den inte tillhör MPG:s mer avancerade dofter i sin relativa enkelhet är riktigt originell, uppiggande och ger en viss spänning trots att den har rätt lite av den så för äldre MPG:s i bakgrunden lurande "skankynessen". Fraiche Passiflore inleds med en massiv dos persika och passionsfrukt. I det här stadiet är den nästan lite för söt men det går över när den MPG-gröna jasminen inträder och balanserar upp det hela. I den här fasen påminner passionsfruktnoten mycket om dito i Vero Kerns Edp-versionerna av Rubj, Kiki och Onda. Dessa tre dofter har genom adderandet av passionsnoten fått en gemensam aura som påminner om utstrålningen i Fraiche Passiflore. Även MPG:s egna fina Rose Muskissime har en mindre dos av passionsblomman, en not som uppenbarligen borde användas mer med hänsyn till de godingar till dofter som jag precis räknat upp. I FP:s notlista finns också spansk peppar, en not som jag inte känner direkt men säkert tar ut en del av sötman för i mellanregistret har FP stramat till sig. Sedan fortsätter den i samma stil ned i basen där den MPG typsiska lortmysken lurar men här i en ganska tvättad version. Dessutom finns en kittig not i basen. I basen påminner FP så otroligt om en doft som jag upplevt som liten, någons parfym eller någon hudcreme. Om FP skulle ges en färg så är den definitivt starkt orange för mig och den utstrålar glädje och värme.

Fraiche Passiflore är den perfekta, eleganta, fruity-floralen och den är som gjuten för cocktails ljumma sommarkvällar. Men den passar också för att pigga upp om vintern, faktum är att jag bar den ett par dagar före julafton, bland annat på årets mörkaste dag. Kanske en omedveten manifestation av att "nu vänder det". Men eftersom baksidan med FP är att den har en sämre hållbarhet under dagen än de flesta andra av mig testade MPG:s så passar den bättre på vintern eftersom dofterna inte radierar lika snabbt från bäraren i kyla som i värme.

Hold on all perfumesnobs: MPG's Fraiche Passiflore is something as awful as a fruity-floral! But a terribly nice fruity-floral, not one of those generic, cloned, mass-market products that's generally is associated with the fruity-floral concept. No, Jean Laportes passionflower brew with jasmine and peach has a completely different class and proof that there's really fruity florals which is very good both in the niche and the designer fragrance range. Fruit with flowers is just as well together such as grass and flowers. What's matter ist that the perfumer composes with a feeling, that the blend is balanced and good ingredients are used. And of course, that the production over the years is true to the original or if reformulatad, reformulation is done true of the spirit of the original.

In the case of Fraiche Passiflore, even if the fragrance does not belong to more sophisticated MPG blends, it in its relative simplicity, is quite original, refreshing and gives a certain exitement, although it has fairly small amount of the, in the background lurking skankinsess that is a sign of some of the earliest MPG's. Fraiche Passiflore begins with a massive dose of peach and passion fruit. At this stage it is almost a little too sweet but it will pass when the to MPG typical green jasmine enters and balances it all up. In this phase  the passionfruit note much resembles ditto in Vero Kern's EDP versions of Rubj, Kiki and Onda. In these three fragrances the addition of the passionflower note (and some other changes in the forumlas compared to the extraits) have lended them a aura reminiscent of the radiance of Fraiche Passiflore. Although MPG's own fine Rose Muskissime have a smaller dose of passion flower, a note that apparently should be used more seen in context to the fine fragrances I have listed. Among FP's notes also pimento is listed, I can't smell the note directly but surely it rounds out some of the sweetness because in  the midrange  FP has calmed down considerably. Then it continues in this style into the basenotes where the typical MPG dirty musk is waiting, but in FP in a rather cleaned version. There is also a putty note in the base. The base of FP  so incredible resembles a smell that I experienced as a child, probably someone's perfume or skin cream. If  FP would be given a color, it is definitely bright orange as I'm concerned. The whole fragrance also radiates joy and warmth, it's definitly a happy fragrance.

Fraiche Passiflore is the perfect, elegant, fruity-floral and it is perfect for drinking cocktails in balmy summer evenings. But it is also ideal to brighten up in the winter, I was as an example wearing FP at midwinter solstice, 21 December. And as FP:s longevity is not as good as most of the others MPG:s it's of course better to wear in winter as it stays longer in chilly air. But this doesn't stop me to enjoy FP during the summermonths either.

Rating: 4

Noter/notes: Persika, hallon, passionsfruktsblomma, spansk peppar, jasmin, mysk, sandelträ/ Peach, raspberries, passionfruitflower, pimento, jasmine, musk

In mood for tubereuse

Picture: My tuby companions
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Lately I've craving for tubereuse. It all started with my unsniffed purchase of Twilly d'Hermès, there where no tester in the airport tax free. As I trust Hermès, like Christine Nagels creations in general and tubereuse is one of the protagonists, Twilly was a safe bet. More about Twilly in a later post.

Twilly inspired me to rediscover the real deal and I started to wear some of my neglected tubereuse soliflores. Tubereuse is also the prefect flower for the transition from summer to early autumn, warm, embracing and calming.

In this post I'll compare the two tubereuse soliflores (or at least they're purports to be soliflores) I've worn the latest week: Annick Goutal Tubéreuse  (AGT) and Caron Tubéreuse (CT).

Both starts with an golden, warm, pollen/nectar flowery smell, in AGT this texture/impression is significantly amplified. The AGT smells like the greenery, the steam and some earth and grass from around the tubereuse plant is also blended in the juice. The AGT is robust, a bit harsh, like a wild, grassy, almost a bit oily, animalic and very natural smelling tubereuse. As character, it's the tough loner countryside tubereuse. Where AGT takes the rual path, CT domesticates to a polished, elegant tubereuse. CT has learned to interact and cooperate with some other white flowers as also juicy, soft fruits. Regardless of the companions, the tubereuse is the protagonist of the delicate bouquet and even if well mannered on the surface, the smell of nectar, rough greenery with an almost animalic touch, lurking in the depts and swirls up when least anticipated. CT is the ambiguous beauty of the posh salons.

Even if similarities from the characteristic notes of the tubereuse, the different characters of AGT and CT justifies to own them both. AGT is best suited for casual wearing and CT for professional or formal wearing.
And both are so beautiful, each in their own way.

Etat Libre D'Orange - Vierges et Toreros

Picture: La muerte del maestro, oil painting, 1884

by José Villegas Cordero (1844-1921)

Vierges et Toreros is a spicy-woody fragrance, created for the avantgarde perfumehouse Etat Libre D'Orange by the two Antoines, Lie and Maisondieu in 2007.

As often with ELDO perfumes there is something strange and fascinating with the blend, ELDO creates fragrances that makes us reflect and recalling images. VeT starts with a weird spicy, slight plastic note, plastic in a soft, pleasent way.  Then a anorectic light smoky leather, with the plastic spices still there, sets in followed by a very subdued tubereuse. Also some patch are present but as the creation is well blended, there is hard to discern the notes from each other. The plastic-spicy impression reminds me somehow of Masque Luci et Ombre another unusual tubereuse fragrance. Even if not the similar scent, I think Mona di Orios Les Nombres d'Or Tubéreuse, which is more sophisticated, warmer and more feminine, is a similar concept with a subdued tuby togther with subtle spices. Also Histoires de Parfums Tubereuse 3 Animale has the tuned down tuby in common despite the immortelle dominated Animale is much stronger, louder and demanding than the quiet VeT.

Over all this is a quite comfortable, light spicy blend with some edges. Compared to the quite violent associated name, VeT is a quit and peaceful perfume. Suitable to wear year around, expect the warmest days in the summer, fitting both for work and casual.

Rating: 3

Notes: Bergamot, nutmeg, pepper, cardamom, ylang ylang, tuberose, leather, animal notes, costus, patchouli, vetiver

Thanks to Fragrantfanatic for the sample to try.

Love Chanel - A side by side test of two Chanels

In my mind, I have thought of the Jaques Polge (former house pefumer of Chanel) creations Allure Sensuelle Edp (launched in 2005) and Coco Mademoiselle Edp (launched in 2001) as quite similar, always thinking of the other when wearing the other one. As I have to get clarity in this mystery, I've at last compared them side by side. Below my thoughts:

The similarity between the two is that they are on the same level of radiation, on the same stage on the fragrance notescale, both are somewhere between bright than dark even if containing heavy notes and accords. And of course, the elegant Chanel interpretation of patchouli is the core ingredient in both fragrances.

Picture: Chanel Allure Sensuelle Edp
Photo: PR Chanel (c)

Allure Sensuelle starts with radiant notes of spices and resins with an ambery, patchouli character. The texture is balsamic and almost like sweet rubber, I can imagine of a pink chewinggum. There are also glimpses of something resembeling menthol or nailpolish in Allure Sensuelle. The spicy notes are strict, well mannared and have an almost cold quality.  The ambery, spicy patchouli are accompanied with discrete flowers and dried fruits, everything very balanced and well behaved. When coming to Chanel oriental fragrances, the chilly, balanced and behaved  floral oriental  Allure Sensuelle contrasts to the warm, spicy and bombastic spicy oriental Coco (launched 1984). Compared to Coco Mademoiselle, Allure Sensuelle is sweeter and  more polished. It also feels more complicated, with some strange twists which gives the fragrance an overall more interesting drydown than Coco Mad.

Picture: Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Edp
Photo: PR Chanel (c)

Coco Mademoiselle starts with a contrasting orange/citrus and patchouli accord with elegant touches of bergamot. The heart of Coco Mad is classic florals interpreted in a clean, scaled down, contemporary way, there is no traces of a romantic floral bouquet or rural flower meadows. Coco Mad is a fragrance for urban life, a fragance which mingles well with asphalt and exhaust. The flowery heart is accompained by a musky patchouli, instead of the ambery patchouli in Allure Sensuelle, wrapped in light balsamic notes. The base of Coco Mad is the gold standard for the contemporary so called chypre, where patchouli blends became a different alternative to the banned oakmoss. Not in smelling the same, but to create a similar feeling. Compared to Allure Sensuelle, I find Coco Mad as lauder and more straight forward in its development, there are not the weired twists as in Allure Sensuelle. The patchouli is also more outstanding as single note in the basenotes of Coco Mad, in Allure Sensuelle the patch is more integrated with the amber and spices in the basenotes.

To summon up; two great classics where definitly Allure Sensuelle deserves more attention as an alternative to Coco Mad and Coco Mad doesn't need any attention as its one of the bestsellers, if not the bestseller of the 2000s.

Love Chanel

Picture: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel
Photo from the blog The Encanted Manor

Chanel is a house with an aesthetics to love (just as Hermès). The chic aesthetics  also affects, or maybe more correct, inspires the fragrances from the house. The fragrances are well made and even if not in love with every subline, my craving for Chanel fragrances is enough to qualify Chanel as one of my favorite perfumehouses. I think many of the Chanels in the regular line is as good as Les Exclusifs, the difference is more in price and distribution, not the quality of the production.

I very much appreciate the aldehydic classics like No 5 in its difierent versions, as also the mossy citrus of Cristalle and the greenery of No 19 in the different interpretations of those classics. Also the modern classics as the incredible spicy oriental Coco and the not as much talked about gem Allure Sensuelle are favorites as also the mega hit, the contemporary fruity-floral chypre Coco Mademoiselle and its balsamic, spicy follower Coco Noir.

When it comes to Les Exclusifs there are also plenty to love. The green and clean woody vetiver Sycomore, the putty, slight dirty aldehyde No 22, the strange amberette No 18, the elegant flowers of Beige and best of them all the smooth, light flower touched, gunpowder leather of Cuir de Russie.

I'm now curious to try the new Gabrielle and find out if the new Chanel pillar fragrance will qualify among my favourites.

Histoires de Parfums - 1969 Parfum de Revolte

Picture: "Riverbank of Peach Blossoms (portion)", ink and colors on paper,

1642 - 1707, located at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikimedia commons

From a perfume named 1969 Parfum de Revolte one routinely expect a blend with a dominant patchouli, maybe something as Reminiscence Patchouli or the airier Etro-version Patchouly. The 1969 Parfum de Revolte, created by the houses founder the perfumer Gerald Ghislain is anyting but this: Parfume de Revolte is a fruity, slight floral dessert-like gourmand creation, and there is indeed some patchouli very well blended among the ingredients.

1969 Parfum de Revolte starts with a wonderful peachy, rosy accord supported by a note that I percieve as freesia, which is not mentioned among the notes. The peachy note is somehow not especially sweet, it's not jammy instead it's more like the fresh ripe fruit. The peach note is present during the whole dry down but reduces in extent in the middle- and basenotes.There is also an  indefinite almost dense flower-iness which complements the peach very well. In the middle/base a patchouli which highlights the dark chocolate aspect of the note shines through. But the patchoulinote is cleverly interwowen in the blend as it never takes over the fragrance, just supports with it's darkness. In this stage some soft spices and a dark coffenote also appears, perfectly matching the patch. Everything is backed up by a soft musk. In the late middlennotes/early basenotes there is an accord as I percive as true aldehydic, there is something in common, not exactly in smell but in appearance, with Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche.

1969 Parfum de Revolte is another beautiful and artful composition from the quality house of HdP. This is not the ordinary, screechy, chemical, fruity-floral, this is a delightful, credible fruitiness. It's an unsual blend and I for once have hard to find other scents that I think it resembles. The opening peach have some similarities with Parfums MDCI Peche Cardinal despite PC also has a plumnote in it's top and I percieve 1969 as a cleaner peach but not as airy as the springlike By Kilian Flower of Immortality.

1969 Parfum de Revolte is a good fragrance for evening but I also think it's proper to wear at daytime during the cold and grey months in fall and winter. The fragrance has a great longevity and remains almost unfragmented until the next morning.

Rating: 5

Notes: Peach, rose, white flowers, caramon, clove, patchouli, coffe, chocolate, musk

Histoires de Parfums - 1740 Marquis de Sade

Picture: Portrait of Donatien Alphonse de Sade, "Marquis de Sade" (1740-1814).

The drawing dates to 1760, when the Sade was nearly 20 years old. Drawing by

Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, Wikimedia commons

This review was hidden in the archives, written in ca 2012.
1740 Marquis de Sade from the for me rediscovered house of Histoires de Parfums, tested fragrances from the house cirka two years ago but it's this year I really have started to appreciate it's sometime serious and "difficult" creations. 1740 Marquis de Sade definitly belongs to the difficult category. Originally  created year 2000 by Sylvie Joudet and as I understand updated by Gérald Ghislain in 2008 it is classified as masculine but as containing some sweetness there is also women that appreciate 1740 and I will classify it as unisex but leaning to the masculine side.

1740 Marquis de Sade is a very wellblended and multifacetted fragrance on the woody-oriental-herbal-leathery theme. It's starts with boozy, slight sweet notes from the davana (artemisia) which is said to, as an ingredient, developes different on different skintypes and therefore transforms a scent to be (to some extent) personal to the wearer. There are also hints of immortelle (even if not mentioned among the ingredients) in this part of 1740. When the boozy top fades away a dray, dark chocolate note, probably a finetuned patcholuli, accented withe a minty tune, appears. There is also a pleseant spicyness from corianer and caradmom even if some dirty notes are shining through now and then. Later on, immortelle, typical housnote in several HdP creation shows up again togheter with a discrete leathernote, the woody pepper of cedar and resins, which creates a resinous and longlasting base.

1740 Marquis de Sade is very pontent and a low dose is needed to avoid smelling of an old grumpy man as Mr Parfumista accused me to do when I spritzed too much. To me four spritz is the maximum to let this well blended juice flourish. Whitin each stage of it's slow and gradually drydown, many things are happening and there is as eache of the top, middle respecitve basenotes represents an own perfume within the whole fragrance ie there is three different fragrances of the same theme whitin the 1740 Marquis de Sade. The developement is very interesting and precipitates out different by different wearings. It's not a flattering scent and as it takes some wearings to understand and appreciate 1740, it is important to don't dismissing it by the first wearing. Associations to Marquis de Sade? Not so many as 1740 reminds me of a distingued, well-behaved gentleman living in a manorhouse in the english countryside, a 19th century gentry. Maybe the chocolate note associate to de Sade as I read somewhere that he was a chocoholic. The leathernote is to gentle and polite to be associated by the games of de Sade.

Other fragrances that is partly similar to 1740 Marquis de Sade is L'Oiseau de Nuit by Parfumerie Générale especially when it comes to the sweet and boozy davananote. Also, but to a lesser extent , some of the skankiness from L'Ombre Fauve from the same house is present in 1740 Marquis de Sade.

When rating 1740 Marquis de Sade I weighs together that the wellcrafted blend (5) doesn't precipitate in the best way on me, it's a tad to masculine (3) which makes a:

Rating: 4

Notes: Artemisia  (davana), bergamot, patchouli, coriander, cardamom, cedar, labdanum, leather, elemi resin

6 Fragrances for Summer 2017

Picture: Clover 2017
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Soon already in the late days of summer 2017, time for a list of perfumes I like for summer. And not just for this summer but for summers in general.

Reverie au Jardin (Tauer): This is imo a neglected fragrance from Swiss perfume meastro Andy Tauers earlier creations, worn by me for about ten summers now. Seems simple but is in the same time clever in construction: Lavender, greenery like clove, an outdoor, green incense and probably a woody violetnote as Mr Parfumista associates to Dior Farenheit when I'm wearing Reverie au Jardin.

Eau d'Orange Verte (Hermes): What more to say after decades with this tangy, green, bitterorange elegant "fresh" brew grounded in moss, than: A masterpiece, the best and most versatile Cologne ever.

Verveine (Heeley): Round, full, like what I imagine a green full moon in dark August would look like if such should exist. A sort of grassy-fruity green scent with what I percive as a figgy-woody accord. Delicious for summer.

Mon Patchouly (Ramon Monegal): Dark, earthy patch in some interpretations is refreshing for middle and late summerdays. Mon Patchouly is a delicious but non-sweet take on patch with its powdery, dry powdery cocabeenfacetts.

Coton Egyptien (Phaedon): Ultra blue skies over sunbathed dunes, a loose shirt in a light, almost transparent, white, crisp egyptian cotton. The fragrance is green like grass, with a clean accord which smells almost like a green, dry, laundry detergent.

Musk Samarkand (Les Neréidés): A clean, robust white musk with something slight dirty lurking in its depts. No detergent and refreshing as a chilly summer breeze a hot sunny day. Reminds me of a budget alternative (but just as good as) to the new interpretation of Parfumerie Generales old Musc Maori 04: Le Musk et la Peau 4.1. My bottle of Musk Samarkand is an earlier version, the bottle with the bookmark angels on the sticker.

Carner Barcelona - Sweet William (Floral Collection)

Picture: Sweet William
Photo: PR Carner Barcelona (c)

Sweet William is Carner Barcelonas modern interpretation of the old-fashioned fragrance floral concept of carnation. Perfumer is Rodrigo Flores-Roux.

Sweet Williams starts very attractive, like a light, fresh, dry, almost ozonic carantion, as wild carnations in a field a sunny and windy day. The texture is of paper. Even if bright and high in the octaves of the fragrancescale, Sweet William is not shrill or annoying. There is nothing of the traditional dense and dark carnationfragrance, heavy supported with clove. Anyway, there is a touch of spice in Sweet William, but light and sparkling from the wellbalanced harmony of white pepper and cardamon. After the topnotes, Sweet William becomes less papery in etxture and a pleasant tangy, slight leafy note with sort of clean earthy glimpses, appears, maybe hints of the tobbaccoflower. This gives the fragrance a deeper contrast and the pleasant tangy accord is the mainplayer together with the clean carnation for the rest of Sweet Williams drydown. There is also a touch of something that reminds me of a natural smelling pearnote, not the chemical cloying version, and also some light woody rosy touches are also present. The base is light ambery together with sort of a clean resin note.

When comparing to the classics, Sweet William could be the modern Caron Bellodgia in Edt version, it has the same light and tonality even if Bellodgia is spicier and if it has a colour, I imagine Bellodgia as orange and Sweet William as bright red. Oeillet Sauvage from L'Artisan Parfumeur in current version, has similarities with Sweet William with the fresh, light, bright and almost sparkling opening and in the overall light and airy impression. Etro Dihantus also comes to my mind when it comes to the light and bright style.

Sweet William is a pleasant, mostly linear, versatile, non-complicated carnationfragrance which is not as challenging or demanding as classic carnationfragrances. It's very easy to wear and it's a carnation for summer and daytime wearing. Sillage is close and longevity for a day. The most unisex of the three fragrances in the Floral Collection even if leaning slight to the feminine side.

Rating: 4

Notes: White pepper, cardamom. cinnamon bark, galangal, dianthus, ylang-ylang, rose water, tobaccoflower, ambrarome, iris, styrax, vanilla

Carner Barcelona - Besos (Floral Collection)

Picture: Besos
Photo: PR Carner Barcelona (c)

Besos (kisses) is my second try of the Floral Collection from Carner Barcelona, a house which fragranceline IMO is versatile and contemporaty in style, fragrances which cheer up in the everyday living. Besos is created by perfumer Shyamala Maisondieu.

Besos starts fresh, sparkling, moisty, musky with a hint of a flowery orangenote, probably the mandarine. Besos has a putty texture, and the colour (if Besos had a colour) I percieve as light grey. I come to think of fragrances as for example Chanel 1932 when it comes to texture and aura of the fragrance. Soon clean spicy elements occours, probably the pepper, a very well handled pepper, there is no traces of the pepper overdose which is persent in many fragrances especially in the "pour homme" section of the market. The white, musky tonality is present throughout the fragrance and the musk is inteacting and highlights other notable notes of  the fragrance for example a white, light spicy jasmine which comes me to think of a crisp minimalist, summervariation of the spicy jasmine in The Different Company Jasmin de Nuit. Iris contributing with a cold slight earthy note which moderating the most flowery aspects of the jasmine. Besos over all is a linear fragrance from and smelling almost the same the whole journey, a light note of resin renders a smooth quality to the musky base.

Besos is a comfortable, easy to wear, contemporary styled flower fragrance. If I didn't know it's a part of the Floral Collection I wouldn't think of besos as a floral fragrance, I would think about it as an musky, light spicy fragrance with some restrained flowery elements. Even if not a luminous bouquet, I think of Besos as a feminine fragrance even if suitable for men to. Besos is suitable for daytime wearing, both for work and casual, escpecially for the warmer months. Sillage is medium and longevity good, traces are present after 24h.

Rating: 4

Notes: Mandarin, black pepper, jasmine sambac, iris, benzioin, vanilla, musk

Carner Barcelona - Latin Lover (Floral Collection)

Picture: Latin Lover
Photo: PR Carner Barcelona (c)

For summer 2017 catalonian nichehouse Carner Barcelona introduces the Floral Collection which is in the opposite style compared to the excellent Black Collection of last year. The Floral Collection presented in stylish white bottles vs the Black Collection in stylish black ones. First out for test from the florals is the wristsniffer Latin Lover created by perfumer Jordy Fernandez.

Latin Lover strats with a burst of beautiful a tad watery flowers, dominated by magnolia sweetened by ylang-ylang. Magnolia usually is a bit tricky note for me as it could be almost harsh and sour to my nose. But balancing with ylang-ylang obviously is the trick, the magnolia blooms beautiful. Later on a clean, flowery jasmine and a detactable also flowery (not powdery lipsticknote), violet steps forward and add a certain elegance to the perfume. The bouquet is grounded in a just enough musky base with some contrasting, almost dark, a bit moisty, earthy elemets, probably the patchouli. The dark of Latin Lover is like sitting in the shadow of a pinetree near the sea a hot summerday. There is something familiar with Latin Lover and after a days wearing I know: It smells similar to Lalique Edp by Lalique but less sweet and fruity. Other fragrances I come to think of (even if not smelling the same but the same feeling/style) when wearing Latin Lover are Puredistance WHITE, By Kilian Water Calligraphy and Amouage Honour Woman.

Latin Lover is a happy fragrance which is a pleasure to wear, perfect for a mediterranean summerevening or just to cheer up a summerday which is spent in the office. The longevity is for at least a day and sillage is medium. Classified as unisex but to my nose lending to the feminine side. After my acquaintance with Latin Lover I have high hopes for the other two in the Floral Collection, Besos and Sweet William. Reviews will follow.

Rating: 5

Notes: Bergamot, ylang-ylang, violet, jasmine sambac, narcissus, benzoin, patchouli, musk

Eau D'Italie - Rosa Greta

Picture: The imagined colour of Rosa Greta
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Rosa Greta is a tribute to the timelessy beautiful Greta Garbo, created by perfumer Fabrice Pellegrain for italian stylish nichehouse Eau D'Italie. Eau D'Italie describes the inspiration of the fragrance as "In 1938 Greta Garbo suddenly vanished from Hollywood.  Later the paparazzi discovered her secret hideaway: a stunning villa in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast, overlooking the blue of the Mediterranean, its gardens fragrant with blooming clusters of the famous Ravello Rose.  The divine Garbo shone again all her light, having lived moments of secret happiness with her new lover.  To this tale of love and life we have dedicated Rosa Greta."

Rosa Greta starts true rosy combined with slight herbal tea notes similar to example Bvlgari Eau Parfumeé au Thé Blanc. This accord creates an almost ozonic, outdoor, by the sea accord and I can imagine bright, light red, crispy roses in an elegant Amalficostgarden. The litchi is not apperant as a detectable note by itself, probably it is there to balance the harsh aspect of the teanote and to highlight the fruity notes of the rose. The rose is very clean an natural (as Garbo herself) and it's present in that shape during the whole drydown of Rosa Greta. Somewhere in the first part of the fragrance, I can smell an element one of my favorite Eau D'Italie Un Bateau pour Capri, an element that somehow reminds me of the mediterranean air and sea from a distance, not the smell directly on the beach. The cedarnote is also bright and clean, underscored by the ambrox which gives Rosa Greta a bright radiance and a longevity for more than a day even if its a light, daytime rose in style. It's a uncomplicated, contemporary rose, very versatile and enjoyable to wear, especially for summertime. It's the counterpart rose to the dark, complicated, mysterious Eau D'Italie Pasteum Rose another favourite from the line. Rosa Greta appears a bit different in different wearings. Mostly i appears as the clean, sea-air-ish rose as described here, but in some wearings the airish notes becomes sparkling, fizzy somewhere in the middlenotes. This sparkling, fizzy apperance reminds me of Ramon Monegal Kiss My Name and Lovely Day but without the slight peppery note apperant in those. As the two mentioned Monegals, Rosa Greta is a happy fragrance.

Picture: Rosa Greta
Photo: PR Eau D'Italie (c)

Rosa Greta is a beautiful, versatile, daytime rosefragrance, with good longevity and medium silage. Suitable both for casual and at work especiall in summer. A fragrance that couldn't disturb anyone and not as intriguing as it's  muse. To me both Pasteum Rose and Un Bateau pour Capri is more Greta, but as the inspiration for Rosa Greta is the image of Greta Garbo in the context of the Ravello Garden and Gretas clean, blonde, classic look, I can see the connction.

Rating: 4

Notes: litchi, white tea, rose bud, damascus rose, ambrox, cedarwood

Midsummer

Picture: Midsummerrose
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Midsummer again, or just passed. The summer solstice here in the north is celebrated the weekend after the occurrence with Friday as a national holiday. This year the weather (always a big question in Sweden) is quite good, mostly sunny and warm. For exemple two years ago it was almost as cold as on Christmas Eve (which was warm) with only 8 C daytime and rain.

For Midsummer one should (?) of course, if warm weather anyway, wear florals to match the occasion. I couldn't think of any flowery fragrance that I wan't to wear today, strangely I crave for spices today, and yeserday too to be honset, So I'm smelling as an oriental spicemarket of Les Néréides Oriental Lumpur which is a robust, dry, warm, spicy, patchoulileaves fragrance, in the higher ocataves of the fragrance notescale. If it had a color it is a light green/grey nuance. There also a dry, grassy element, here there is actually a connection to a swedish meadow when the grass is dry in the late summer. But overall Oriental Lumpur is dry spices, contrasted by the fresh earthy patchoulileaves. A good niche fragrance to the fraction of the price of others in the dry spicy segement such as Tauer L'Air du Desert Marocain, Frederic Malle Noir Epices and Tom Ford Sahara Noir. A strong fragrance with distinct silage which should be applied in small doses. My vesion of  Oriental Lumpur is from the old anglesbottle.

Busy days...

Picture: Bird-cherry tree
Photo: Parfumista (c)

There are so much going on in the early summer and as my storage of edited pre-written reviews is empty there has been a shortage of blog posts lately. When (if :-), everything calms down reviews will appears about new releases from two favorite brands: Eau d'Italie and Carner Barcelona. Maybe also something inspired from the post about Zlatan and a Midsummerpost of course. Until then: Have a nice summer!

Once again...

Picture: Vase with pink roses (1890)
by Vincent van Gogh
Wikipedia commons

It's so extremely saddened, the horrible, evil terrorattack murdering so many innocent children and teenagers visiting the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester yesterday.  I'm missing words.....

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.

5 fragrances for a cold May

May, the month of spring has been very cold so far with tempratures beyond zero in the morning an and just some + degrees Celsius during the days. The crave for sheer and delicate fragrances which normally appears in spring hasn't arrived yet. As my longing for flowers remains unchanged my choices of fragrances are from the stronger and heavier cathegory this May.

Picture: Tubereuse Indiana
Photo: PR Creed (c)

Tubereuse Indiana (Creed): My boss nailed it when entering the room where I was working: "Oh here is the scent of the fine world". That´s Tubereuse Indiana in a nutshell, smooth, velvety, elegant tubereuse and mostly white flowers over the signature Creed ambergrisbase. Retrostyled, yet timeless elegance.

Picture: Honour Woman
Photo: PR Amouage (c)

Honour Woman (Amouage): Another beautiful white floral, this one is on the chillier side, accompanied with watery flowers. Elegant, versatile and comforting, contemporary yet timeless in style. In my book a runner up among the Amouages, it has grown to be one of my top favourites from this house.

Picture: Rose Ishtar
Photo: PR Rania J. (c)

Rose Ishtar (Rania J.): A cold, very dark and dry rose with a herbal/spicy contrast. Gives almost ancient vibes and it's androgynous, sometimes it leans to the masculine side and then suddenly it's strangely feminine. Maybe more of a autumnfragrance but anyway perfect for the moment.

Picture: Marni
Photo: PR Marni (c)

Marni (Marni): Another cold rose, but this time pink and bright with contrasting woody (cedar) and slight peppery notes, just perfect for accompaning a cold, frosty spring like this years. 

Picture: Graine de Joie
Picture: PR Eau d'Italie (c)

Graine de Joie (Eau d'Italie): A lush, fruity, berry floral which has become better the more I have tested it. Nothing chemical or sickenly sweet, just a warm red juicy nectar, giving hope of a coming summer after all. Delicious!

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