I am a cynic.

Oftentimes I wish for a more positive worldview, and sometimes I even succeed, but there is no denying my nature, I am a real cynic. So the way I approached Puredistance was with a sneer of disdain. Oh, all those wonderful reviews, the refined attitude and noble reserve this brand demonstrates, the high exclusivity, the impossibly expensive crystal column that houses the perfume. Oh, please, I was thinking, that reeks of hype! How special can it possibly be? It is in all probability just another run of the mill scent in a nice designer outfit.

I live in Vienna, the city where Puredistance has its only showroom (a showroom for a single fragrance, I ask you!), so for the sake of the blog and to assuage my curiosity I went there. The Puredistance lounge, as it is called, is on Franziskanerplatz, in an old courtyard, a top address in the heart of the city. I arrived full of curiosity, and to my dissappointment was greeted by a sign stating “By Appointment Only”. Oh please! Now it is getting ridiculous, I thought. It is a perfume, not the pope.

So I did like everybody else not living in Vienna and wanting to try this fragrance does, I ordered a sample at “First in Fragrance”, a german niche fragrance boutique, with an excellent online shop.
So, that’s it, my friend, I thought, when it arrived a few days later, now your number’s up. Here you are, devoid of your embellishments and aura of the unobtainable, sitting in a profane plastic vial, decanted by the good people from Georg Wuchsa’s online store. Now you have to stand up to all the grandiose notions. And I smelled…

What can I say? The attentive reader already suspects what is coming (the title kind of gives it away, too).

I bow deeply before the altar of Puredistance. It indeed deserves all the accolades. Here, let me add mine:

In one word: good. I could leave it at that, since that is the overwhelming sensation of satisfaction I feel, shutting me and my inner cynic up for once.  Simply: good.

It is a high concentration (32%) pure perfume, which makes it smooth and round and longlasting. It is not at all strong or overwhelming, it is soft, fresh, light, incredibly elegant, sophisticated and timeless. Although the perfume itself is a golden amber color, it smells brilliantly white to me, like snow in the sunlight, covering the world in a veil of cold, but brilliant beauty, muffling sounds and whitening out everything that is imperfect. It is clean and pure and bewitching in its classy simplicity. I have gotten nothing but compliments when wearing it. (Even from my dear husband, who by the way has asked not to be cited in my articles anymore, since he feels he is not being represented fairly, so we bid his elucidating comments a sad farewell today.) The perfume was created by perfumer Annie Buzantian in concert with Puredistance’s founder Jan Ewoud Vos.
I am grateful for having been taught a lesson here.

Beauty does exist, and it is stronger than my skewered point of view. I can be influenced and bettered by real and true sublime beauty. I stand corrected (or kneel corrected, actually).

Now what?

I will actually meet the pope, meaning I will make an appointment at the Puredistance lounge, to purchase my very own flacon of pure beauty. Without the crystal column though. Not only can I not afford it, but even of I could, the perfume does not need it. It stands alone, (not really actually, because of its lab vial shape, but no matter. What? I am still allowed a little sarcasm, am I not? But I am very serious when I say)  it shines from within without any additional light needed. This is the first scent that evokes the desire in me to remain faithful to it forever.
This time the cynic remains silent.

Puredistance perfume costs 165 Euro for the 17,5ml vial (with either a gold or a steel cap), there are four crystal columns available, in either black or translucent with gold or steel colored accents, with or without the perfume included.  It can be purchased through its website www.puredistance.com, at First In Fragrance (www.ausliebezumduft.de) or a few other select retailers (see website).

Picture sources: puredistance.com, zucker.watte.livejournal.com, unlaughmymind.wordpress.com some rights reserved, thank you!