Like the rotting banana astride its 10 carat amphibian throne at Mar-A-Lago — is this rather wonderful perfume a cheeky reference to the plapface in chief and his Geminian, drooling brain-schisms? – any perfume with a thrillingly realistic banana peel and fruit top melange will immediately stand out in even the edgiest of niche perfumeries. It smells, quite simply- yes you guessed it – bananas.
I laughed out loud. That yellow blast of Floridian musa at the beginning of the perfume sent me on a whirl of nostalgic hyper-bananes : natural, synthetic – I loved chewy b-candies at the sweet shop as a kid as well as ice slushy milkshakes – Miami Split definitely has a whiff of dessert – and is probably more what Abel had in mind than an addled Ronald Clump sliding about on mushy slippered banana skins ; had I been flush with cash I would probably have purchased it on the spot.
It dries down to ‘white oud’- a curious proposition that shouldn’t work, but in my view emphatically does ( this perfume definitely won’t be for everyone, in particular my friend Michael who has actual bananaphobia and would immediately be sent a gaggin’), the perfumers at Abel – incredibly, an all natural fragrance house that elevates non synthetic ingredients to new creative heights – having a deft hand in layering ingredients, even novel, headspace fermentation techniques as they used here – to diaphanous, sophisticated effect.
I used up my extrait edition of the same house’s lovely Cobalt Amber many summers ago – a pink peppery labdanum that floats from the skin in a sensuously gentle manner – and would very much like another bottle; this is the kind of scent you can just spray on of a morning without too much thought, knowing that you will smell nice the rest of the day – and was also intrigued by the mood-fizzing aldehydic uplift of their very fresh and happy-inducing Laundry Day – soda-fresh lime, passion fruit layered over sinuous vetiver – this would make an excellent work perfume and I plan to make it mine come the hot weather – but it is undeniably the Banana that gets the most applause in this review. If only from the point of view of olfactive novelty, I need this in my collection. It made me smile – unlike that other old fruit in the ‘White House’ who is ready for the bin — and makes me retch.
It is also fortunate that you don’t have to ransack the coffers of your own banana republic to acquire these scented lovelies either: small affordable bottles are available at the Nose Shop in NewWoman Yokohama just enough to quench the thirst for the yellow Chiquita -while not sufficient to push you over straight over the edge of the dreaded banana precipice. Next pay day I plan on getting all three.
I perchanced upon Abel the last time I passed through NYC. Abel is doing something I find rare: natural perfumery that doesn’t smell like a health food shop or a Tibetan incense stick burning in a yurt. The headspace fermentation technique is real craft. That banana goes from candy-shop yellow to diaphanous white oud without faceplanting in the fruit bowl is actually kind of extraordinary.
I do wish I had bought Nurture or Laundry Day , amazingly Abel is available on Amazon too!
Yes widely available
Might check out the entire range more fully this week – what is Nurture like ?
I was kind of pulled in by the rum cherry note in The Apartment too – but am not keen on the new bottle design : another reason to get the travel size
Do you do banana ?
Nurture is a floral wood musk composition, developed for new moms with some kid’s clothing line in 2018.
Notes:
Mastic or Lentisque, Orange Blossom and Bulgarian Rose; middle notes are Ginger and Jasmine Sambac; base note is Sandalwood.
I don’t get the maternal aspect they were going for. It’s soothing in a walk through the garden sort of way, the mastic comes off as pine trees, the orange blossom and ginger is brilliant, rose and jasmine linger in the background, the sandalwood dry down is lovely. Nothing overwhelming, just calm. I’m such a pushover for simple floral/wood/musk compositions.
On bananas:
I avoid gourmands in general, something sticky icky about them in South Asian heat. Love some banana-y ylang ylang though.
Sounds highly pleasant !
I do love banana fragrances: slightly regressive, and then again not really. In honour of your post, I drenched myself in Patou‘s Sira des Indes (edp) — good lord, I somehow forgot how alarmingly potent (filthy) it is! My Bana Banana by Artisan Parfumeur on the other hand is is a very good child in contrast.
Love both of those – but yes …. that Patou is
MANURE !
So is this though potentially with that cow pat oudh in the base.
You would be bananas not to try it