Monthly Archives: May 2013

FOR YOU KNOW WHO

There is talk of warm, cozy Belgian cookies; of fluffiness; fashion and wintery Bruxelles interiors, of a ‘modern oriental’ with a ‘very short formula’ (you’re telling me), created by Malle and perfumer BrunoJovanovic to represent the style of a well-respected contemporary clothes designer as part of a new strategy, at Editions de Parfums, to branch out into the potentially more commercial arena of ‘celebrity fragrance’.

And in that world, of Gagas and Minajs and Perrys, you never get a perfume as proficiently constructed as this:  ‘Dries Van Noten’ is a nutty, textural sandalwood- gourmand, a perfume that feels to me a bit like Häagen Dazs Macadamia Nut (possibly my favourite ice cream)  – sweet, milky, and, delicately/moderately spiced, with measured, precise layers of strong-smelling woods (guaiac, and a dry, unluxurious sandal), oriental notes of vanilla, tonka and saffron, plus a light, shimmering top veil of smooth, synthetic violets.

The perfume is legible, direct and well made, and I can imagine it smelling pleasant – quite urban funky sexy – on the right person, a kind of Lutens Chergui meets Musc Ravageur, but to me, despite its neat efficacy, there is something rasping and unpoetic in these logical blocks of fragrance: soft, theoretically, yet pungent, direct and harsh on my own ungrateful skin. The designer the scent is inspired by strikes me as far more nuanced, eclectic and intelligent than this namesake perfume which, though convincingly rich and luxuriant in some ways, ultimately, to me, comes across as smelling too ‘blocked’, basic; even crude.

On the subject of ‘celebrities’, I thought it might be interesting to read the two Italian-American rivals in blonde proximity…..

Can’t believe it is already a year…..

From the classical, ladylike, put-together era of the late 1950’s, Jasmal, designed especially for the late Natalie Wood, is the effervescent, floracious, jasmine-imbued remake of Diorissimo.

While of similar breeding and olfactory structure, this beautiful perfume by Creed is however quite breathless: spinning, effortlessly almost, out of control.

Where Diorissimo breathes refinement – not a hair out of place in that ice blonde, well-kempt chignon– Jasmal is a romantic, hopeless; a hectic matriarch chasing her children around the house, hair come loose;  breathless, heart-pounding, and laughing –  perhaps just that little bit too hard…..

Kathmandu: Hindu temple, the Himalayas.

A ‘sacred’ aged patchouli from India; black pepper absolute, Peru Balsam, opoponax; vetiver; a musky shade of ambrette, and a story too….

Etat Libre d’Orange intends Nombril Immense (‘Giant Navel’) to be a study in humanity, an ‘initiatory voyage to discover new emotions and an open-mindedness to unprecedented spirituality,’ the enormous belly-button of the name, this nombril immense,  ‘leading the way to shedding one’s mortal coil…… to accessing timelessness’…….

And with such a precept, our appetites are surely whetted.

What will this smell like?

Will it really be ‘the smell of bliss’?

The answer, unexpectedly, is a qualified yes.

There is indeed something impossibly human about this scent; a bodily, skin-musked closeness evoking wise young mothers in their saris, and children, smitten, under their skirts; the fondness you feel for a lover in his week-worn cardigan. Families, close-knit; the coiled incense of afternoon smoke.

What the perfume achieves so well is an open-heart expansiveness, an ancient feel from the specially aged patchouli used that does, somehow, denote peace, love and spirituality. If I myself am uncomfortable in its unwashed tenderness, I can fully see why there are some who claim to have found their holiest of holy grail patchoulis.  In Hindu culture, when a father returns home from a long journey, and he is greeted by his children, the first thing he does is smell his child’s head. This is that smell.