As an avowed lover of vintage perfume, I prefer the real thing to modern approximations. If I am going to go for that vibe, I usually want it uncompromised, all the ingredients and elements intact. If I want something niche or modern, mainstream or artisan, I enter that mindset; wear it/dress for it accordingly. At the same time, I value eclectica in general, experimentation and genre crossing, revitalizing old forms. And while reformulations of beloved classics are something I try to avoid – where everything vital is leaked out like failed embalming fluids, only the prettified corpse remaining; cozying up and pretending to be your best friend like the cat out of Pet Semetary (having the nous to recognize a zombie from a living being, I immediately recoil in horror the moment I come into contact with a ruined masterpiece),I can enjoy modern niche perfumes made in the spirit of those parfums classiques of yesteryear; scents crafted similarly, while retaining a sanded down, less quivery and emotional, contemporary edge.
Darren Alan is an independent perfumer based in Pittsburgh whose sample set a friend brought over from America to the UK this summer (it’s a shame scent creators in the US can’t ship their wares overseas any more but there you go), the first one being, of course, Jonquille – as I can’t resist anything with that word in it. I am a deep lover of Vol De Nuit, whose bitter jonquil/spiced galbanum over costus and vanillic eiderdown powder is one of the all time greats – and in fact I was doused all over in the extrait on Sunday, lounging on the futon reaching out like a slattern to sample these Darren Alan perfumes again properly, leaving my hands and wrists free: Jonquille went very well with the Guerlain. D’s reaction amused me (“It’s filthy, isn’t it”) (true, the naturally indolic aspects of narcissus extracts, with musk and ambrette seed, do die down to a certain dirtiness – something that I realized again wearing Nuit; it perturbs), but there is, here, also a fresher, jasmine floral mimosa and galbanum tweak to the formula that makes it wear like a clarion call for spring – winter is barely beginning in Japan, but I am already anticipating those fervid green shoots coming up through the February frosts – and this scent would be perfect for that time.
Another somewhat animalic potion, but far more suited to Autumn in the collection is Hekate, a mulled spiced fir-balsam woody animalic with a big dose of castoreum that I wouldn’t wear personally but which certainly intrigues, especially if you feel like outdoor sex in the forest and want to enhance your surroundings even further – it is easy to see this working for disrobed lumberjacks aphrodisiacally.
More my cups of tea, more my personal style, are Sweet Repose and Vintage Novel, the former a deeply ambery, powdered violet orris in the manner of Lorenzo Villoresi’s Teint De Neige; sweet, pressed into itself, lingering a very long time on skin.
“This velvety amber-floral perfume combines the darkest, yet most delicately balanced elements of perfumery, and combines them into a sepia-tone painting of Victorian Era mourning rooms & opium dens.
Then the untold story of soft violet & orris root suddenly gives way to the lonely, sobbing tones of the sole iris. If the sentimentality & nostalgia for “that which has been lost” were to ever emit a scent…it would be the smell of Sweet Repose. “
FRAGRANCE TYPE: Iris-Amber-Floral
TOP NOTES: Lavender Absolute, Violet, Opium Poppy Accord, Lily
HEART NOTES: Iris, Orris Butter, Vanilla Bean Tincture, Tonka Bean Tincture
BASE NOTES: Fossilized Amber Oil, Myrrh Absolute, Frankincense Absolute, Cedarwood
I must say that not all of these notes come through clearly on skin, where the scent is very compressed and ‘at one’, taking its time to unfurl its intensity, but I can easily imagine wanting to wear this to bed after a bath of an evening- it is very comforting and has a loveliness and a soothe- but not necessarily, nor exclusively, when dead, being mourned in my rose-laiden funeral casket.
On the subject of roses, both Bathory and Vintage Novel are very rose-heavy、 in a good way. I love the Ta’if roses in the top accord of Novel (Ta’if essential oil and absolute – I had sniffed this particular type of rose out immediately, it is more crimson and poignant in odour than many other roses, but usually destroyed, for me personally, with crude and aggressive woody chemicals lying underneath). Here, the distended drydown is far gentler, balsamic, softly insistent. As well as roses, the perfumer is after the scent of
the “brittle & dusty smell of the card catalog…..an insanely long drydown of old musty books, murky ink, and leather bindings which crunch when opened…releasing a flurry of crumbled glue chips on the freshly polished hardwood table.”
With a base accord of “saffron, spices, tobacco (nicotine-free), vanilla Bean Tincture, tonka Bean tincture, sandalwood (S.album), white ambergris, Egyptian White Musk, and Indonesian Agarwood (Oud) tincture” you get a very balsamic extended conclusion to your rose in this perfume that makes me feel dreamy and disconnected from harshness and heaviness in a way that reminds me a little of the older melancholy rose perfumes such as Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie. As I am very much in reading mode at the moment, it was lovely, on a cold, rainy day to have some Sweet Repose on the back of my hand as an anchor , while delving into the searing psychological penetrations of Gabor Maté.
Another Hungarian, but a far less compassionate one, was one of the world’s most prolific serial killers of time, Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614), an alleged vampire on par with Count Dracula who bathed in the blood of her young female victims in order to retain the glowings of youth and is now part of the national folklore. I had (mercifully) never heard of her before and couldn’t wear this perfume myself – too smoky and resinous but not corrosively harsh; rather, there is a strange, chiffony lightness to the Bulgarian rose otto, Hungarian Paprika Tincture, beeswax absolute and base of ‘Dragon’s Blood Resin Tincture, Vintage Leather & Deer Musk Accord, Civet, and Frankincense Absolute’ that smells hauntingly light, as though the killer were bathing herself in carbolic soap post atrocity ,the steam from the shower room slowly flowing beneath the door, invading your now fading consciousness….
Far less sinister: much more homely and congenial in spirit: are Sacred Smoke and Fêtes de Noël.
The first of these – and which I will definitely be heading out in on very cold days come December and January, is a heady, but muffled and pleasing Nag Champa scent that does, as described, dry down to smell exactly like that hazy, actual Indian floral incense – just a more refined version.
“Exotic spices, woods & rare florals combine with rich, sweet amber, vintage Mysore Sandalwood & mellow, aged patchouli to create a more refined and luxurious iteration of the classic Nag Champa Incense experience.
Rectified birch tar and halmaddi resin offer a smoky incense nuance without distracting from the clarity & brightness of the delicate rose, jasmine & champaca absolutes. The drydown leaves behind an intoxicating earthy amber-vanilla with hints of Himalayan musk accord and warm, creamy East Indian Sandalwood. This is what genuine Nag Champa smells like.”
Alan’s descriptions here make the scent sound perhaps more wild than it comes across on skin, but I do like the roundedness and throw of this one. If you have hippieish tendencies at all, Sacred Smoke leaves quite a beguiling trail in its wake, with a dry, compressed texture of integrity to it that puts me in mind of the delightful parfum extrait version of Jean Charles’ Brosseau incomparable shadowy rose musk from 1981, Ombre Rose.
The hippie’s mother, or else more materialist and upright older sister, might instead be wearing Fêtes De Noël in order to seem traditional as the turkey is being roasted and the kids are opening their presents (but looks can be deceiving – she still might drag your husband willingly upstairs during the Christmas festivities when no one is looking: there is raunch from the rose tuberose ylang ylang accord in this accord buttressing the aldehydic spices and contemporary Mousse De Saxe musk base). Cloves, orange, bayberry, labdanum and a starring base note of natural sandalwood/ vanilla, create a contemporary Caronesque, nostalgic but not fuddy floral woody spice chypre that is rather adult and sly sexy, despite its more chaste and family-orientated holiday associations. I like it, and though it is not very imaginative of me, I might even wear it on the day.
In fact, I have to say, overall. with their non-IFRA abiding components and lack of abrasive low grade chemical attachments – the bane of commercial perfumery – and blending skill, the perfumes in this collection in general are a deft blend of naturals and synthetics that have a solid sensuality. They have sillage, but don’t choke you like a petrol station : instead, they are concentrated and skin-close with strong magnetizing capabilities. Chypre Nº1 and Devil’s Share (not reviewed here) didn’t grab me on first try – on Duncan at any rate; Devil smelled like Angel, and Nº1 smelled flat and rather morose, like a mix of Mitsouko and Eau De Givenchy, very oakmossy and deep but miserable. Dorian’s Fougere, the last one I am looking at today, was another matter though. And unsurprisingly, this batch has sold out.
“A vintage barbershop fragrance inspired by Oscar Wilde’s novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, this is what Dorian would have worn….a true gentleman’s scent…distinguished and refined, yet with a streak of something dark and mysterious that dwells just beneath the surface.
It opens with a bright bergamot, spike lavender, petitgrain and mastic leaf. The heart unfolds to reveal notes of carnation, geranium, hawthorne, artisanal hay absolute, sambac jasmine, neroli & artisanal tonka bean absolute. The drydown reveals smooth balsamic notes, resins, mysore sandalwood, oakmoss, saffron absolute, patchouli and vintage musk & civet accords that hearken to an era of bygone elegance”.
On D the vintage barbershop powderiness was unmistakeable and nostalgic, but also very vivid and wearable (although for some reason, as we lay upstairs lazily with the cat, he decided to pair it with a his ‘n hers Vivienne Westwood’s vintage Boudoir, which was an immaculate combination if you really want to up the powdery wooze factor): this duo, now, is possibly what he is going to wear out in Tokyo for an art performance in Shinjuku on Saturday night. Old-schoolish but not too dated; stylish; sensual; unplaceable enough to turn heads.
A beautiful post – I feel I have feasted on a sumptuous banquet and could almost smell these perfumes; I really desire some of them, especially Sweet Repose. Ah well, I will have to make do with my old Nuit de Noel (if I can find it). My husband used to work with a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory and said he was a jolly nice chap!
Hilarious.
( until you found his secret dungeon).
Of course the real Carons etc are better in many ways, more yearning and poetic, but I do like these as well: I could wear a fair few actually.
Oh my, you have me salivating for these perfumes (and also for Shinjuku – will I ever get back to Japan?). I can almost imagine Sweet Repose from your description; it sounds something like Bain de Champagne (and I’m scared of what might be happening to the historic Carons, given the banality of the new releases). The usual throb of disappointment that the line won’t ship outside the US. Luckyscent will ship full bottles to the UK, although the shipping cost is hairy. So they CAN ship, legally, it’s just expensive.
I don’t believe in blind buys but definitely recommend the sample set I got
Please ~ everyone ~ read extensive Vol De Nuit review:
Black Narcissus 2015 Journey Into Light
Yes I was going to put that one up again next
I love a good jonquil/narcissus/daffodil! I think I’ll have to try these.
Oh, Neil! These descriptions of yours are making me salivate. I do love a classic bone structure, whether vintage or contemporary. They don’t sound groundbreakingly original, but I’ll take beauty and quality over originality any day. Funny you should mention Fleurs de Bulgarie, because I dusted it off and wore it just days ago. It is good, better than I remember. I’ve noticed that about many of my bottles lately. Don’t know if it’s the colder weather or the aging curve of the formulas or just me, because I’ve needed their comfort more lately. Ric has gone to bed just now wearing MDCI Invasion Barbare and I was positively swooning.
A weird one that but sublime at certain stages !
I possibly went overboard in some of my descriptions – I have since found the strong amber note at the end of Sweet Repose a bit much but I do still like it – and Vintage Novel is rather gorgeous
PS what mind state / physical reality did Bulgarie put you in?